Your Business Grows Here
Al Medeiros tilts back on a folding chair in the shade of his panel truck as the crowds line up at his Paniolo Popcorn booth, lured by the smell of warm butterscotch. The sun is climbing high, but business is…
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
Advice From The Top: Chason Ishii
Chason Ishii, president, Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties. Best advice you received that you live by? My parents stressed that life is about growing inside a little every day. Every time you learn something new you grow a little; every time…
Chores Let Kids Have Skin in the Game
We usually call them chores. But in the broader perspective, they’re a sensible way to share the load of a household among all its members. Call it skin in the game for kids. Call it helping everyone get through the…
My Favorite Things: Ernest Nishizaki
Ernest Nishizaki, executive VP and COO of Kyo-Ya Management Co. Ltd., which owns the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and four other Sheraton hotels in Waikiki and on Maui, is a local boy and Leilehua High graduate with deep roots in the…
Talk Story – Chatt Wright
After 39 years at HPU’s helm, Wright steps down in June 2011 even as he’s helping launch a $100 million expansion at the Windward campus. Though he’s retiring just short of his 70th birthday, he still plans to fundraise for…
Making Hawaii Green, One Meal at a Time
A group of Punahou School students has persuaded 10 restaurants to rethink their use of plastics and how to recycle, and they want to persuade more. The LEAF project’s primary target is the ubiquitous use of plate lunch containers made…
Advice from the top: Rose Tseng
Rose Tseng Tseng retires this summer after 12 years as chancellor at the University of Hawaii-Hilo. Father’s best advice: When I was trying to decide whether I should take the dean’s job at San Jose State University when I was…
CEOs and EOs Need ‘Me Time’
By midafternoon every workday, Hank Wuh is ready for a break. For the CEO of Cellular Bioengineering Inc., that means 45 minutes swimming off Diamond Head. “I need it,” Wuh says simply. This down time — “me time” — recharges…
Rainforest in the City
When the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association began turning a cow pasture into a station to test new crops and species for reforestation back in 1918, its members probably didn’t realize they were also sowing seeds for a modern Honolulu rain…
Best School System in North America
Mike Strembitsky launched an education revolution in the northern Alberta city of Edmonton in the 1960s and, today, many people consider it the best public school system in North America. It has inspired many districts across the United States to…
Innovation Academies
While other students around the state begin their day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or listening to announcements in traditional classrooms with four walls, the 85 students at Halau Ku Mana charter school chant in Hawaiian under a tree-shaded tent…
Brighter Future – Extended Version
Participants, in the order they begin speaking: Steve Petranik: Moderator and editor of Hawaii Business. Candy Suiso: Teacher at Waianae High School and program director of Searider Productions. Bruce Coppa: COO of Communications Pacific and chairman of the education committee for the Chamber…
Loving Liliha
It’s late afternoon in Liliha and minutes are ticking by on the new town clock high above Finance Factors at the crossroads of North Kuakini and Liliha streets. Schoolchildren and early diners squeeze onto stools at Liliha Bakery for $4 hamburgers, hot cakes and…
Talk Story with Robin Campaniano
[Note: An earlier version of this story reported Sopogy sells affordable solar photovoltaic cells. To clarify, Sopogy sells affordable compact solar thermal collectors.] Robin Campaniano General partner, Ulupono Initiative, since January Campaniano, former president and CEO ofFarmers Insurance Hawaii (formerly AIG), now…
Spicing Up Kauai’s Nightlife
Three Kauai couples have launched Oceanside Productions, a small theater company trying to fill an entertainment void for tourists and residents alike. Their experience includes operating small businesses and nonprofits, and they love to perform. So the six did their…
Save the Science Fair
Jeffrey Peroutka, from Our Saviour Lutheran School, displays his project at the 2009 Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. The Hawaii Academy of Science has raised the money needed to hold the 2010 Hawaii State…
Rejuvenate family and self once a year
Author and investor Kim Kiyosaki, whose book “Rich Woman Hawaii” maps strategies for financial independence, takes goal-setting seriously. So seriously, that every year she and her husband, author Robert Kiyosaki, who created an industry around his book “Rich Dad, Poor…
Sharing Secrets
President Tim Schools has been in the driver’s seat at American Savings Bank for just over two years. In that time, he says, the bank has bumped up its profile, increased profitability, and improved job performance and job enjoyment. And it made…
Talk Story with James Koshiba
In 2008, James Koshiba helped launch Kanu Hawaii, a nonprofit that promotes and supports Island-style sustainability. He brings us up to date on the commitments and campaigns taken up by its 9,000 members, including one of his own pledges —…
Hawaii satellites aim to help build the future
Kauai will be doubly involved in the launch of two satellites being built by University of Hawaii scientists and students, in cooperation with NASA. UH hopes the satellites will create economic opportunities for the state, including training a workforce…
Advice from the top: Robbie Alm
Robbie Alm, executive vice president at Hawaiian Electric Co., talks about the most important things he learned from his mentors. From his parents: Be grateful for the gifts you have, don’t covet the gifts of others. From Sen. Daniel Inouye:…
Management Style Works At Home, Too
Chuck Sted’s “prioritization” management style has helped keep Hawaii Pacific Health on an even keel while other companies have faltered. The same approach can keep families on track. Prioritization management means taking one thing at a time, not everything at…
5 Steps to Handling the Media
Hawaii presentation coach Pam Chambers offers five steps to successfully speaking to the media without feeling you’ll have to leave town the next day. 1. Take charge of the interview Don’t give all the control to the reporter, or you…
Hogan Students Help the Homeless
Over the past five years, a program developed by the Hogan Entrepreneurs at Chaminade University of Honolulu has helped about 75 homeless individuals write resumes and prepare for job interviews so they can find employment. Hogan students worked one-on-one with…
“Kauai Made” Label Protects Local Shop
Come Valentine’s Day, there will be a line of customers outside the Kauai Chocolate Co. for the giant strawberries from Kula, Maui, that are hand-dipped in an exclusive line of Belgian chocolate. Manager Patrick Greer this year ordered 4,000 of…
Empathetic talking keeps love alive
With Valentine’s Day a heartbeat away, candy and flowers are no match for good communication with your mate. When done right, it improves and restores family life and intimate relationships, says licensed clinical social worker Renee Rokero. Rokero teaches “assertive…
Talk Story with Dr. Michele Carbone
Carbone united Hawaii’s hospitals with the University of Hawaii in the plan to build the cancer center next to the UH Medical School as part of a biotech park in Kakaako. He made it happen by inviting key players to…
Early Education
For geography professor Tom Giambelluca, having his daughter in high-quality childcare just steps from his University of Hawaii-Manoa office means he can pay full attention to his job, knowing she’s safe and happy. And, in a pinch, he can be…
Start New Year With Family-Savings Plan
With the holidays over, the budget in tatters and allowances long since spent, it’s a great time to get the family together to talk about money management. A key part of this family project is teaching children how to budget…
Adaptability Lessons
Audrey Fu spent 42 years running two trendy and successful boutiques, Villa Roma and Chocolates For Breakfast, before closing them in 2005 and 2007 as profits dipped and overhead soared. Now she has a new template for successful retail: Take…
5 Steps to Making a Million Dollars
There’s a reason some people are wealthy: they learn to manage their time, resources and passions. Leading financial adviser Diane Kimura of Merrill Lynch shows how you can get your life in order, financially and emotionally, so you can make…
Businesses Help Students
Eighty Hawaii businesses have committed to helping public-high-school students complete senior projects as part of a special recognition diploma, but more businesspeople are needed. The mentor program, led by the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, comes after a chamber survey…
Sliming the World Clean with Blue DeconGel
The Problem How do you decontaminate military aircraft after they’ve collected dangerous air samples from nuclear tests? The prime method — pressure-washing with soap and chemicals — leaves thousands of gallons of contaminated water to dispose of. The Solution Hank…
Dinner Makes Big Difference
Helping people balance their work, home lives and down time. The research is clear: family meals create a protective bubble around kids. The September 2009 report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University clearly shows that…
Build Employee Loyalty by Helping Parents
Early childhood education is everyone’s issue. It’s about having successful families and contented workers now, but it’s also about building a high-quality workforce for the future. As part of its mission to improve early education in Hawaii, Good Beginnings Alliance…
Whats it Worth?
$500 What Is It? The No Ka Oi black rooster was first bred by Paul Romias from stock developed by William McRae. These blacks, members of the Mel Sims family of roosters, are highly valued as breeding stock, say members…
MBA Has Big Costs but Big Payoffs, Too
David Akina spent $50,000 over two years and sweated through evening and weekend classes for a master’s degree in business administration. He’s never been sorry, not for a single moment. That degree launched his company, Paradise Pages, into the stratosphere,…
ZAP! POW! BAM! WOW!
Not only is Oceanit one of the state’s largest and most diverse high-tech engineering companies, it’s now popping out superheroes from a coloring book called Team Oceanit. Designed to intrigue Hawaii children and inspire them to pursue local careers in…
Young People, Big Thoughts
The idea: Invite 13- and 14-year-olds to a week of creating business plans, conducting market research and making “pitches.” Tantalize them with the stories of how a half-dozen Hawaii CEOs created successful businesses and teach them how to work as…
Childcare: A Smart Investment for Business?
How can business support early education and childcare services for its workers? Why does it make economic sense to do so? Find out at an Economic Summit on Early Childhood Investment on Oct. 14, hosted by the Good Beginnings Alliance,…
