2013 Hawaii Business Top 250

August 14, 2013

Hawaii Business Staff,

Welcome to the Hawaii Business Top 250, the most comprehensive ranking of Hawaii’s business elite.

We list local companies based on annual gross sales, and include the number of full-time employees, names of key executives, a description of the business, parent company, website and headquarters.

For companies not based here, we include only the gross sales for their Hawaii operations. The information is based on a search of public records and information self-reported by the companies. Unfortunately, there are large companies that operate in Hawaii but are not listed for one of three reasons:

Their U.S. or international parent does not provide separate data for Hawaii operations;
The company is Hawaii-owned, but lacks sufficient data;
The company is Hawaii-owned, but refuses to disclose its annual gross sales.

How we collected the data

Starting in January, Hawaii Business researchers used national databases, annual reports, previous Top 250 lists and other methods to create a list of companies to survey. Every effort was made to collect correct information, but the databases used by Hawaii Businessand its research partners may reflect some human error, and some companies that should be included on the list might be missing.

Referrals and databases were only a starting point. We studied current annual reports, federal tax forms 990, and Securities and Exchange Commission filings. When these documents could not be found, Hawaii Business researchers surveyed the companies and asked for self-reported financial data.

Businesses were asked to use generally accepted accounting principles for their industry or industries in calculating gross sales. If questions about GAAP arose, we relied on the expertise of the accounting firm Accuity LLP.

Nonprofits on the list reported

their total annual revenue. Depending on the organization, this might include contributions, funding for services or proceeds from activities that support the nonprofit’s mission

Hawaii Business does not assume any liability for the absolute correctness of the information.

Our definitions

Rank: Companies and nonprofits are ranked by total gross sales. Some companies are tied based on the data we collected; others may appear tied, but only because their gross annual sales have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand dollars.

Gross annual sales: The latest available annual company revenue for the local operations and its subsidiaries. Calendar year revenues are requested, but fiscal year revenues are reported if calendar year information is not readily available. For companies headquartered in Hawaii, sales reflected the revenues of the company and all of its subsidiaries in the state, on the mainland or overseas. For a company whose parent was based outside of Hawaii, revenues reflected Hawaii sales only.

Employees: In most cases, the figure reflects full-time employees only.

Parent company: This refers to the parent of the ranked company. Each company surveyed was asked to identify its ultimate parent company and its headquarters location.