Hawaii On the Hill
It makes sense for the leaders of local small businesses and county governments to fly 4,800 miles every year to visit a hill. That's because when you are on Capitol Hill, there are opportunities all around you. "As of today,"…
Success Stories
aio: Small Name, Big Promise
When translated from Hawaiian, the word aio is defined as “a wave that rises and falls without breaking.” But if you ask aio Hawaii founder Duane Kurisu what it means, he’ll tell you that “aio is about discovering who we…
Talk Story: Rick Blangiardi & Scott Humber
Hawaii news now General Manager Rick Blangiardi and News Director Scott Humber are the leaders of local TV’s most watched news stations, but they also operate the state’s most popular digital news platform. Blangiardi says that, on a busy news…
How Family Businesses Survive and Thrive
As Baby Boomers retire, thousands of local family businesses are facing difficult transitions to the next generation. A groundbreaking local survey identifies challenges and solutions. Here’s how family businesses can survive and thrive. There’s a perfect storm ahead, and most…
Can You Keep a Secret?
Ever wonder what customers really think of your business, and what sort of service they receive when you’re not around? Mystery shopping firm Insight Twenty20 can tell you. “Michelle Chun and her team understand the hospitality industry and what keeps…
Talk Story: Sig Zane
Sig Zane is an icon of aloha wear. His mastery of hand-cutting rubylith is the signature of the SZD aesthetic and the sharp lines of his artwork make Hawaiian flora and fauna come to life like no other company. The…
Hawaii Business Wins 8 National Awards and 14 State Awards
UPDATED 7/10/2017 ADDED 14 STATE AWARDS FROM THE 2017 SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS (SPJ) Hawaii Business is the state’s best business publication and we just won eight national awards and 14 statewide awards to prove it. The prizes were for…
Leadership Conference 2017 Information
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE Join Hawaii Business magazine for the largest professional development conference in Hawaii. The conference aims to help build smart, confident and authentic leaders through a full-day of skill-building workshops, speakers and networking. The State's most prominent leaders…
Putting Soul Into Your Business
Soul. It’s defined in multiple ways: the immaterial essence or actuating cause of an individual life, a person’s total self, the moral and emotional nature of human beings. Back in the old days, being told that you had soul was…
Family Cycle
The Montgomery family has been in the motorcycle sales and repair business for more than 70 years. “It all started in the living room of my grandparents’ house in Pearl Harbor housing, back in 1945,” says Ross Montgomery, VP of…
Hawaii News Now wins two Emmy® Awards for newscast excellence at the 46th Annual Northern California Emmy® Awards
Hawaii News Now received two regional Emmy® Awards at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences San Francisco/Northern California Chapter Awards Gala on Saturday, June 3, 2017. The Emmy® Award is presented for excellence in television. Hawaii News Now:…
Spreading a Little Aloha on Capitol Hill
It’s not every day that you smell sizzling Spam as you roam the halls of Capitol Hill or see a crowd of Congress members adorned with lei. On June 13-14, however, the aloha spirit will be on proud display in…
Top 100 Realtors 2017
Hawaii Business magazine is honored to publish the Top 100 Realtors, the gold standard in identifying the highest producers in Hawaii’s residential real estate industry. This section lists the Top 100 Realtors, based on transactions that closed in 2016. It…
Maui Brewing Founders Named Hawaii and National Small Business Persons of the Year
UPDATED: MAY 1, 2017 Maui Brewing founders honored as 2017 National Small Business Persons of the Year WASHINGTON, D.C. – Linda McMahon, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, today announced that husband-and-wife business partners Garrett and Melanie Marrero of Maui Brewing Co.…
Repurposing With Style
Ross’ Appliances & Furniture was founded in 1975 by Ross Wigney, an Australian who served as an electrician’s mate aboard Jacques Cousteau’s ship Calypso. “He met a girl on the Mainland, and when the Calypso pulled out of port, Ross…
His Formula for Success: Fail, Fail, Fail, Prevail
Kalin Uluave didn’t let business failures stop him. Good thing, because the fourth succeeded, and the fifth and sixth are on track, too, with a seventh on the way. Uluave, a business-management major at BYU-Hawaii, topped three other contestants to…
The Best of Startup Paradise 2017
Startup Paradise Is Good for All of Us. Everyone in Hawaii can and should be an advocate and champion for Startup Paradise, because we all benefit from…
Kainoa McGee’s Company Named Startup of the Year
Kainoa McGee’s life always revolved around the ocean. In middle school, McGee was already making surfboards. He would buy a stock board, reshape it and seal the board with Sunday newspaper comics and wax. The board didn’t stay sealed, but…
Transmitting Aloha Over the Phone
When Max Tsai and Matt Cooley were college roommates at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in the ‘90s, both were “unimpressed” with the customer call center service they received from companies. “Whether you have to call your utility company or cell…
Meticulously Whimsical
It’s hard to tell if it was her business model or her impressive multimedia presentation that won Jana Lam the second annual Pitch Panel at Honolulu Fashion Week. Whatever did it, she received an impressive package of business services, advertising…
Not Your Father's Stock
Three Big Island breeders have welcomed 14 new alpacas to their pastures, part of what they say is a small but growing market in the state for the South American animals that resemble miniature llamas. Big…
Game On
In the virtual world of apps and video games, a locally founded startup called GamePress has created a global gathering place. GamePress’ site, pokemongo.gamepress.gg, drew a staggering 20 million unique visitors in July when the popular GPS-based mobile game was…
Small Place with Big Island Taste
When chef Cary Peterson opened his Kohala Burger & Taco eatery on Hawaii Island in 2010, all the money he had – $80 – was in the register to make change for customers. “I had exhausted every resource available to me,…
Hawaii Business magazine's Top 10 Stories of 2016
Hawaii Business is thankful to be strengthening the local economy and helping our communities thrive by offering insightful and engaging content for the past 61 years. This attitude of gratitude has us looking back on all of the editorial features…