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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
Richmond “Rich” Chang always wanted to own a business. “I was a finance major at UH and, when I graduated in 2000, I didn’t know what sort of business I wanted, but I knew I wanted to buy one,” remembers…
When Billy Ng told his former boss at Island Sign Service Inc. that he and his brother, Min, wanted to eventually buy the business, his boss didn’t think the two would succeed. “Imagine, we were two immigrant boys from Cambodia…
It’s true,” says David Striph, senior VP for the Howard Hughes Corp. and the man occupying a corner office with two walls of windows framed by the iconic concrete arches of Honolulu’s IBM Building. “I sit here every day and…
By sixth grade, Cedric Gates' future already looked bleak: Severe childhood obesity had pushed his weight over 200 pounds. A year later things got worse: His mother collapsed at work and died from heart disease. By the time he was…
Our cover was created by Matt Tapia, a nationally recognized illustrator and hand-lettering artist, born and raised in Hawaii. He’s done work for clients ranging from Nike to Zoo York. His approach is…
In many impoverished countries, students are required to wear uniforms to attend school, yet often they cannot afford one. Akin Clothing Ltd. mixes business with humanitarianism by providing school uniforms for those children…
With the wealth he amassed during a successful business career, Edmund C. Olson could afford to treat the rest of his life like a vacation. Instead, the 81-year-old Hilo resident continues adding to his significant Hawaii Island land holdings and…
Who would have thought that a company started in the middle of a recession could succeed so quickly? Hawaii Human Resources, or HiHR, has been growing steadily since its start in early 2009. A provider of human resource needs ranging…
Tom Park, founder and owner of Leather Soul, which carries exclusive men’s shoes, can’t believe his success in following a dream. “I’ve always loved shoes, from when I was in kindergarten,” he says. In March, his flagship Waikiki store moved…
Teddy’s Bigger Burgers does well in a good economy and better in a bad one, says co-CEO Ted Tsakiris. That’s one reason Teddy’s opened its fourth restaurant on Oahu in May, at 2424 S. Beretania St., near University Avenue. In…
Online competitors were killing off bricks-and-mortar music stores when Peter Dods bought Honolulu’s Easy Music Center from Servco Pacific in 2005. Since then, Dods has opened a second store and, with the two locations, has tripled sales and quintupled profits,…
Michael Fairall doesn’t go to great lengths to advertise the “green” side of Mokulua Woodworking, his Kailua-based construction company. Never mind the sometimes surreptitious adherence to LEED standards, like low-flow plumbing (“Basically, we bring that approach to anything that we…