More than a Snack Pack from Home
If they can’t get home for the holidays, Wei Fang and Kina Mahi will help you send a bit of Hawaii to distant family and friends. The two business partners – already involved in a number of startups and other…
Beverly Creamer
Beverly Creamer has worked for almost four decades as a Honolulu newspaper and magazine journalist, covering everything from education and health, to government and lifestyles. She cooked with Aretha Franklin; mourned with Lorna Onizuka after the space shuttle explosion that killed her husband, Ellison; danced with Lawrence Welk; and interviewed Anwar Sadat’s widow, Gloria Steinem, Simon and Garfunkel, and many, many others.
Articles
Talk Story with John McComas of AlohaCare
McComas has led AlohaCare since 1996. The medical insurer’s largest group of clients are Medicaid/Quest beneficiaries in Hawaii, including families and individuals with incomes at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. That’s about 75,000 people. Gov. Neil Abercrombie speaks of transforming…
14 percent: Why are women under represented in the C-suites of corporate America?
In the C-suites of America’s biggest corporations, just 14.1 percent of the executive officers are women, according to the 2011 Catalyst survey of Fortune 500 leadership. That’s one woman for every six men, and Catalyst says that basic ratio hasn’t…
More-Affordable Legacies
It will cost about $2 million if you want to name – in perpetuity - the Information Commons at Windward Community College after yourself or someone you love. The coffee shop and terrace will run you $1 million and the…
Hawaii’s National Winners Update on Eden in Love
Tanna and Bryson Dang, owners of the boutique Eden In Love and winners of first prize in the “This is Retail” video contest, have pledged $75,000 over five years to help bring clean water to a Sri Lankan village. The…
Kakaako’s Building Boom
When the governor takes a meeting at the trendy Fresh Café in the midst of Kakaako’s gritty warren of body shops and warehouses, something big is cooking. When the meeting includes a major landowner and innovators from the community, you can bet…
Kailua seeks balance
It’s a hot Thursday and state Rep. Chris Lee is sitting in traffic trying to get out of Lanikai, his home neighborhood in Kailua. It’s 2:30 p.m., and Kailua and Lanikai beaches are still full of people, but cars trying…
Ekso Pro at Rehab Hospital enables wheelchair users to rise and walk
Problem: About 6 million Americans live with some form of paralysis. At Honolulu’sRehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, the staff works each year with 5,500 patients recovering from strokes or injuries, including brain, spinal cord, orthopedic and sports injuries. New Device: A robotic,…
Behind the Scenes at Eden In Love’s Online Launch
Tanna and Bryson Dang operate a popular women’s clothing boutique called Eden in Love at Ward Warehouse, and have been planning for a year to sell products online. Their site, edeninlove.com, was set to go live on Sunday, April 22, the…
Flooding and Nationwide Popularity Boost Lei Prices
A word to the wise this graduation season: Lei will be pricey because of the shortage of Thailand-grown orchids, not to mention the thousands of lei that are now being shipped to the mainland. It’s not just transplanted Islanders who…
Should a Hawaii High School Graduate Go to a Local or Mainland College?
Eric Yeaman runs Hawaiian Telcom, Gene Awakuni leads UH-West Oahu, Karl Fujii is VP and CFO of Hawaiian Building Maintenance, John Komeiji is senior VP and general counsel at Hawaiian Telcom, andRobbie Alm is executive VP at Hawaiian Electric. The common thread? They’re all…
Ocean Learning
There’s a new way for children and adults to view tropical sea life and even touch some of it. The Living Art Marine Center near the airport has a modest collection of fish tanks with creatures from around the Pacific,…
Pau Hana with Barron Gus
At 4 on a Sunday afternoon, Barron Guss – businessman, entrepreneur, inventor – is often at the field mauka of Kailua’s Kawainui Marsh flying part of his vast collection of remote-controlled helicopters and airplanes. His passion for flight began in…
New Voice for Hawaiians
With another Hawaiian Renaissance on the horizon, two local media companies are collaborating on a new forum to report on and explain coming events. The Kalaimoku Group and aio are launching Mana, a magazine designed for Native Hawaiians and others…
Is Your Subconscious a Bad Financial Advisor?
Afraid to make money? Are you recklessly sabotaging your financial security? Can’t bear to spend a penny, even though you have plenty of wealth? If any of this sounds familiar, Brad Klontz can help. Just as people develop personality traits from their life…
Innovation: Autism Training Solutions Teaches the Teachers
Problem: Autism diagnoses are increasing as much as 17 percent a year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but school districts nationwide lack enough highly qualified teachers to help these children. Solution: A Hawaii startup called Autism Training Solutions (ATS)…
Did APEC change the Hawaii Convention Center’s Future?
The expansive Hawaii Convention Centerhasn’t always lived up to its original billing as a regular gathering spot between East and West. It is rarely fully used and has often sat empty since it opened in 1998, squeezed onto the former lot…
Hawaii Business CEO of the Year: Eric Yeaman
In the 4 a.m. darkness each workday, Eric Yeaman slips out of his house and into the garage. Closing the door, he flips on a large-screen TV for the latest news and sports, and runs three to six miles on…
Unique Scholarships Give Second Chance at College
Jasmine “Tita” Kuhaulua never thought college was an option while she was in high school. After graduation, she had three children in quick succession and the possibility of college receded further. But, the Waialeale Project has changed everything for the 25-year-old, part-time…
4 Successful Women’s Roads to the Top
Each person’s road to success is unique, but these four women shared similar challenges and goals. Each explains that success has never been about money or power, but about personal goals and helping communities. • Attorney Crystal Rose, chair of Central…
Mobile Entrepreneurs Meet Clients at the Coffice
It's Monday morning and Melissa Chang has gathered her laptop and smartphone, and is on her way to her "coffice," a comfortable setting likeBlue Hawaii Lifestyle, Burgers on the Edge or Good to Grill. There she can settle down with coffee, free Wi-Fi and her…
Sir Lancelot and Me
Judy Boyle Chun took her first horseback-riding lesson at the age of 6 and her love of horses has lasted ever since. “You’re two athletes partnering to achieve a result,” says the CEO of Hawaii-Western Management Group, an insurance agency/broker…
Brides Love Kauai Weddings
And Kauai’s romance industry loves the money wedding couples and their families spend on the Garden Island On an April afternoon, Pamela Wen stepped off a plane in Lihue, 5,020 miles away from and 40 degrees warmer than her New…
Carrots and Sticks for Workers who Smoke
Smoking in Hawaii Hawaii has the fifth-lowest rate of cigarette smoking by adults among the states — and that rate is falling. 2000: 19.7% 2008: 15.4% Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Smoking cuts workplace productivity in Hawaii by…
Architect Gerald Choi Integrates Solar Power in Home Design
LEED-accredited architect Gerald Choi is on the cutting edge of a new trend – integrating a photovoltaic system into his home as both an energy producer and an architectural element. When he needed to replace the aging 45-foot-by-5-foot skylight running…
Talk Story With UH President M.R.C. Greenwood
Greenwood, who has been leading theUniversity of Hawaii for two years, talks about the university system’s broad, new goals. HB: What’s your philosophy on leadership? A: It’s very important to understand and appreciate the organization you’re working in, both the cultural context…
Businesses Support Public Schools
The new track at Lahainaluna High School on Maui, along with the field and turf, have been made possible because of millions of dollars worth of in-kind and cash donations by Maui businesses and residents. Additional changes are coming in…
Advanced Training for Small-Business Leaders
Leaders of Hawaii small businesses can now enroll in training similar to an executive MBA program – and get the $10,000 program for free. The six-month E200 Leadership Initiative is aimed mostly at minority-oned companies that have at least one…
Launching a Business Group
As Kakaako transforms from an industrial area into a work-play-and-live neighborhood, small business owners saw the need for a cohesive business organization in which they could network and promote themselves. Spearheaded by Susan Snyder, an aesthetician who opened Susan Snyder…
Changes Help Artists Hit Record Sales
The 15 artists at the Artists’ Cooperative Gallery at Ward Center were astonished: December 2010 sales increased by 168 percent over the previous December and broke all their records. While stores were closing around them, the gallery was booming. Their…
Talk Story with Chris Tatum, Marriott Resorts Hawaii Executive and Hawaii Hotel and Lodging Association Chair
The new chairman of the Hawaii Hotel & Lodging Association is Vice President in charge of Marriott’s hotels and resorts in Hawaii, North Asia and the South Pacific. Tatum says growing up in Hawaii has given him a valuable perspective on how the hospitality…
What’s it Worth?
This wooden monkeypod vase from Gump’s, circa 1930s or 1940s, is carved with a shallow relief of torch ginger. Gump’s Hawaii store opened in 1929 in Waikiki on Kalakaua Avenue and commissioned local artists to produce works of art, many…
Technology Makes Living at Home Safer
For families worried about parents or grandparents living alone, Hookele Health Navigators, LLC has introduced the iHealthHome monitoring system that pulls together existing wireless and computer technologies to keep seniors connected and safe. “We can really bring assisted living to…
Pau Hana with Jay Fidell
Attorney Jay Fidell hasn’t met a gadget he didn’t love and wanted to learn. When the first Apple computers came out about 30 years ago, he learned to program and has been programming ever since. It was an easy leap…
Business Support Helps Build Science Workforce
Sleek as seals, 24 high school students slip into the turquoise water off Coconut Island, snorkels and swim fins in place, gripping scientific gear to measure the health of the underwater reef. The work – part of a summer program…
Caregivers Need Care, Too
Life doesn’t run smoothly. Crises arise – with children, parents or other relatives – and the generation in the middle can be called on to deal with them. That might mean dropping everything else. “There are countless numbers of women…
Creating Family Traditions
When we were kids, my folks liked to load us all in the old green Buick and head off for an adventure. Maybe it would be a drive-in movie, us in PJs snuggled in the back seat under warm blankets.…
Not-Quite-a-Date Night
No time to “date” your spouse? Can’t remember the color of your true love’s eyes? Try an un-date or not-quite-a-date night. That’s the magic of this concept: It doesn’t even have to be at night. All you need is a…
Amping Up Job Training to Spur Kauai’s Recovery
Except for college and graduate school, Jodee Crane has spent her whole life on Kauai and she can’t remember when the job situation has been so bleak. She says there’s desperation in their words as unemployed workers wonder what will…
5 Steps to Start Investing in Real Estate
Independent investor and author Kim Kiyosaki bought a single rental home in 1989 and has 2,000 today. Here’s how she did it. 1. Prepare well Invest in an area you’re familiar with, where you know the market. Also, read about…
