IT WILL TAKE a lot to pull us out of Hawaii’s housing crisis, but here are thoughts on some partial solutions. ADUs are a good idea, and each county has different rules on what are formally called accessory dwelling units. Honolulu…
George Atta, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting and a former principal at the architectural firm Group 70 international, knows just how swamped Honolulu's permitting system is. Hideo Simon can barely contain his frustration. “It took me six…
High-rises in Kakaako, condos and a new wing at Ala Moana Center, development in and around Kapolei, rail, sewers and a host of other projects are keeping developers and construction companies hopping. However, they know from long experience that what…
Barber had been Hawaiian Telcom’s COO since 2013. He was promoted this June when former CEO Eric Yeaman left for First Hawaiian Bank. Your career began more than three decades ago as a phone company lineworker in California. What was…
WAIMANALO – David Yarber hands out samples of his locally brewed kombucha, a popular fermented tea that’s touted for its health benefits, to a group of Japanese visitors at his Waimanalo brewery. It's obvious from their nodding heads and polite…
WE THINK WE DO good work at Hawaii Business magazine, but it’s always reassuring when we receive affirmation from others – whether our readers or peers. At the end of June, we got a lot of reassurance. In the annual statewide…
The payday lending industry in Hawaii offers short-term loans with annual interest rates of up to 459 percent. The companies say they are providing an important service, but critics argue they are soaking the needy and driving them further into…
Hawaii Business launched the list of Hawaii’s Most Profitable Companies in 2011 to add another dimension to the Top 250 list. We use the “top line” of gross sales to rank our Top 250. But the top line won’t stay…
It feels like offshore-owned companies are taking over Hawaii, but the reality is their number peaked in 2007. Meanwhile, the number of locally owned companies has grown seven times faster since 1995. The same forces that ate so many local…
FEW ASPECTS OF LIFE are as thrilling, complicated, satisfying and maddening as our jobs. Victory can puff us up with satisfaction, a promotion and a bigger salary. Defeat can destroy our confidence. That’s because we express and define ourselves via our…
G ov. David Ige surprised many when he appointed Iwase to replace Hermina Morita at the PUC. Clearly, the former city councilman, state senator, deputy attorney general and chair of the state Tax Revenue Commission has administrative and political chops,…
W Hen Iolani Palace’s monthly power bill doubled to more than $41,000 last fall, even drastic steps like cutting off the air conditioning in the adjacent barracks couldn’t bring costs back to where they had been just a few months…
"For one thing,” he says, “we’re not over budget at all, at this point. We’re estimating that, because construction costs are escalating so quickly in the current year, that next year, when we’re signing the remaining construction contracts, we’re going…
WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU COMBINE ELEMENTS OF THE 19TH, 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES? Start with the U.S. government’s oldest scientific agency, with roots stretching back to the early 1800s; add historic Ford Island aircraft hangars that survived the…
THE TRAVEL CHANNEL named Kona’s manta ray night dive one of the top 10 things to do in your lifetime. As they feed on the plankton attracted to the flashlights held by divers and snorkelers, the gentle yet massive rays,…
Ulrich Krauer has dedicated the past 40 years of his life to the hospitality industry – in Hawaii and around the world – but what he and his staff at the…
Count the cranes popping up along or near Ala Moana Boulevard…
Ex-Marine captain’s company, Keawe Adventures, struggled for four years until a concierge at the Halekulani gave him a chance. Now his business employs 12 people and focuses on small tours with six or seven visitors at a time. Makani Christensen…
Over the past 17 years, more than 2,000 local products have found their way into military commissaries and exchanges, giving Hawaii companies new customers for items such as coffee, macadamia nuts, aloha wear, kim chee and perfume. Decades ago, commissaries…
WAIALUA, Oahu – Liz Ryan takes a bite of asparagus, just plucked from the ground at Twin Bridge Farms in Waialua. “Man, that’s good,” says the 59-year-old from Hot Springs, Arizona, who had never eaten fresh-picked asparagus before. “It’s a…
The Sultan brothers are a major new force in Hawaii’s venture capital and startup communities. Their two platforms are Sultan Ventures, a Hawaii-based venture capital firm, and XLR8UH. Last year, the two of you and UH launched XLR8UH, a public-private…
A reliable cell phone signal is still hard to find in the sleepy town of Kaunakakai, but the robots have arrived. Kim Svetin’s family owns Molokai Drugs, the island’s only drugstore. Behind the counter, it’s Svetin’s Uncle Jon, her…
“When we log onto our computers to check email, buy something from Amazon or watch a movie on Netflix, it seems almost magical. We don’t see the inner workings that make this happen. What enables all of these things we…
“ABOUT $1.1 BILLION A YEAR IS PAID OUT IN PENSION BENEFITS NOW (TO STATE AND COUNTY WORKERS). IN THE NEXT 10 TO 20 YEARS, THAT’S PROJECTED TO GROW TO ABOUT $2 BILLION A YEAR.” –WESLEY MACHIDA Director, State Department of…