Editor’s Note

A frank conversation with the head of the State Commission on the Status of Women opened my eyes to the reality of many women’s lives.

The folks at Hawaii Business Magazine publishes an article called “25 for the Next 25” in 2007 – 25 people they thought would have a major positive impact on Hawai‘i for the next quarter century. And they nailed it!

Small step could pay big dividends The pandemic has put a hold on a perennial Hawai‘i debate: Do we need more tourists to drive job creation, tax revenue and the overall economy or do we have too many tourists who…

A commencement speech is a huge responsibility. The celebration part of the speech is easy. You congratulate the perseverance and hard work that earned graduates a vital piece of paper, whether it is a high school diploma or a college…

Some of you may have been skeptical when you learned the media was labeled an essential business by county governments in Hawai‘i. Of course, as someone who has spent his whole life in the news business, I agree that we…

The mission of Hawaii Business Magazine is holding steady. What changes is how we keep adding to the ways we fulfill that mission. Throughout our six decades, our role in driving positive change in Hawai‘i has been to provide important…

When I want to know a CEO’s biggest long-term concern, I ask: What keeps you up at night? Sometimes, my question is focused on the CEO’s own company or industry. Sometimes, my question is about Hawai‘i or our whole world.…

The editorial team at Hawaii Business Magazine spent a lot of time, energy and brainpower last year producing six CHANGE Reports. I am as proud of those reports as anything I have worked on in 34 years of journalism in…

It’s amazing how much passion there is within local businesses to support Hawai‘i’s schools and students. But how to connect the two, because many businesspeople don’t know many teachers and vice versa? Inspired by the momentum for CHANGE in Hawai‘i,…

We could spend hours discussing which industry has been disrupted the most over the past few decades, but certainly the media ranks near the top. Remember, media is a plural noun and it encompasses millions of different businesses, nonprofits, platforms…

We are in the middle of a man-made climate crisis that will get increasingly worse because nations and individuals have put off serious action for decades. The evidence is massive and undeniable, but too many leaders and their followers deny…

I am among the most privileged people on the planet: a well-educated, healthy, tall, white, heterosexual male. I am not sure which of those adjectives provide me with more privilege than the others but I’m pretty sure the noun tops…

We take our mission seriously: “To strengthen the local economy and help our communities thrive.” And to keep us on track with that mission, we created an editorial mantra: “Big Issues, Useful, Unique, Accessible.” Let me walk you through those…

One of the main goals of  Hawaii Business Magazine is to be useful to our readers and one of our most useful services is Today’s Hawaii News. The email newsletter was launched in April 2017 to give you a quick…

Conservative writer David Frum has stirred a hornet’s nest on the issue of immigration, and since that’s a topic that sharply divides Americans, I think it is worthwhile to dive in and provide local perspective. Frum’s article in the April…

The original question was: How can businesspeople and their companies support Hawaii’s schools? That question brought together about 20 people for a brainstorming session during the Hawaii Executive Conference in early October. The answer became the Education Bridge, a still-evolving…

If you are going to die in, say, the next 30 years and have no children or grandchildren and don’t care about the future of Hawaii, you can probably ignore our story on “The Cost of Climate Change.” For everyone…

I am often asked, “Where do you get your story ideas?” The short answer is from everywhere and everyone. I get story ideas when I walk past a construction site or a worn old building on my way to my…

I have been reading a lot of U.S. and world history as I try to understand a way out of our nation’s political divisiveness. What I reaffirmed is that capitalist democracy is the best economic and political system ever created…

Kahauiki Village is a great model for helping homeless families, but duplicating it will solve only one important part of the homeless crisis The state Legislature has set aside $30 million to construct “ ohana zones” – six encampments providing temporary shelter…