Steve Petranik has been an editor and reporter for almost four decades and now is the editor of Hawaii Business. Before joining the magazine in 2009, he spent 18 years as an editor at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and five years at the Honolulu Advertiser. He’s reported from six countries on three continents and his stories have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.
Molokai and the battle over GMOs remind me of another island whose people struggled to control their destiny against outsiders. Newfoundland is the poorest of the Canadian provinces, much like Molokai is the poorest of the main Hawaiian Islands. The…
I was at a meeting and listening to one of the most powerful women in Hawaii when something astonishing happened. Her recently promoted male deputy interrupted her. Not once, but several times. Many studies tell me that I shouldn’t have…
For the 18 years I worked in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s newsroom, we never used diacritical marks – the okina and kahako – in Hawaiian words. When I moved to The Honolulu Advertiser in 2004, we used them in the newspaper,…
You may have had this daydream, too: A letter arrives saying there is unclaimed property in my name worth $20 million (it’s a fantasy, so I didn’t scrimp). In my daydream, I collect the money and live happily ever after.…
As Dennis Hollier’s story on page 40 points out, there are many impediments to local farming, but a shortage of farmland is not one of them. In fact, 45.8 percent of Hawaii’s 4.1 million acres are classified as agricultural district…
My wife earns more money than I do. For many men, that would be a humiliating admission, but I’m proud of that fact and of her. And, though most of the credit for her success belongs to her hard work…
As a journalist, I get more chances to meet our leading politicians than the average citizen. But Hawaii is such an intimate and casual place you don’t always need special access to talk story with the powerful – or someone…
Hawaii Business won two national awards and two statewide awards for its Hawaii Quality of Life Report in the December 2013 issue. In total, the magazine won 18 awards this summer from two journalism competitions that judged work published or…
I recently read “Flash Boys,” Michael Lewis’ account of how Wall Street has stolen from you, me and our 401ks. I was astonished by the sophisticated corruption, and about how many people and companies thought it was OK to cheat…
We all live with beliefs that are not perfectly compatible. Look deeply and think carefully, and you can find contradictions or at least tensions within your morality and worldview. Excuse me for being presumptuous, but if your whole belief system…
About the time this issue reaches you, I will be emerging from a digital detox center known as Haleakala. My daughter and I will have spent four days hiking in the crater without our phones, laptops or any other devices…
Why do families end up homeless? One big reason is they have no savings, so when a crisis hits – getting laid off or paying a big bill – they don’t have a couple thousand dollars in the bank to…
As Abercrombie heads into an election year, Hawaii Business met with him and Young to ask how their policies affected local businesses and about their plans for the future. In our December 2013 BOSS Survey, we asked business leaders if your policies helped…
Dennis Hollier is one of the best writers I’ve worked with during 36 years in the news business. His rare combination of intelligence, curiosity and writing skill generates stories that are both a pleasure to read and an insider’s guide…
When people tell me they never go to Waikiki, I wonder why they would want to miss so many wonderful things. Sure I love to play in the ocean and climb our green mountains far from the madding crowds, but,…
I think most of Hawaii’s people feel ambivalent when they hear that their home is the best place to live in America. We feel proud and probably agree that Hawaii ranks No. 1 in quality of life, but we also know…
I am writing this column while not checking my email, fielding a phone call, consulting with colleagues or eating my lunch. Sadly, I am only writing this column. To my complete shame, I am awful at multitasking. I can only…
I get a few requests each month from sources who want to review stories before they go to press. Implicit or explicit in that request is the right to make changes. Each time, I tell them no and have to explain why, so maybe a lot of readers don’t understand that bedrock principle of journalism.
My wife says I’m crazy for taking on this subject and she’s right. The reasons for caution are endless: I’m no theologian; passions are running high; I have friends and family with strong views on both sides; this is a…
Office layouts? Thank you for asking. Yes, I have thought a lot about the issue and do have strong views. Senior writer Stacy Yuen dives deep into the debate and you’ll read a lot of opinions on what works for different types…
It’s inevitable that China’s economy will overtake America’s in the next 20 years, right? After all, Chinese gross domestic product grew at an average annual rate of 9.3 percent over the past five years, according to the World Bank, while…
Hawaii Business won 18 awards this year from the Hawaii chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, more than any other organization. The prizes were announced June 24 and covered all media in the state, including newspapers, magazines, TV and radio…
This month’s feature on the “Best Advice I Ever Got” suggests a complementary article, “The Worst Advice I Ever Ignored.” Every successful person has followed lots of good advice to get where he or she is, and, along the way,…
A lot of you have shared this bittersweet moment: Your child is graduating from college (hurray!) and has found a great job (double hurray!), but that job is thousands of miles away. Sigh. My son, James, our first child, graduated…
18 Insights from the BOSS survey of 401 local business leaders Plus 10 nuances we thought you should know about 1. Performance Plateau The Performance Index is at 113, virtually unchanged from October 2012. This index is the BOSS survey’s…
On weekends, Mark Dunkerley loves taking people for a spin around Oahu to see Diamond Head, Makapuu, the Pali and more. Appropriately, the CEO of Hawaiian Airlines conducts his sightseeing tours at 1,500 feet by flying the plane that launched…
Inside this issue, we explain how public school teachers, principals and administrators are evaluated and held accountable for their on-the-job performance. You already know that students are held accountable every time they hand in an assignment for grading or take…
The most important person in creating your Best Place to Work is almost always the company’s owner or CEO, so choose well when you join an organization. The second most important person is not your immediate supervisor. It’s you. That’s…
Think you have a tough job? Try being an economist. Every November, economists around the world issue their forecasts of the coming year. There is always a huge range of opinions: One American economist may suggest U.S. GDP will rise…
I’ll start with bad news, and then get to good news before explaining why all of it belongs in a business magazine. As Valentine’s Day approaches, the most depressing news for me does not involve violence or political deadlock, but…
You are reading this magazine because you think my staff and I have worthwhile things to report. Thank you for your support and trust. The main way we do our job is simple: We listen to lots of people, read…
During his first term, Barack Obama invited historians to the White House so he could learn about Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and other American presidents. History teaches us valuable lessons and Obama looked for guidance from some of America’s greatest…
The grand ambition of the No Child Left Behind law was proudly contained in its name: Everyone deserves a chance to succeed. That meant teachers, principals, school administrators and taxpayers should give every child – rich, poor or in-between –…
I’ll save you some time in case you are looking for the most depressing number in this month's edition of Hawaii Business magazine. It appears in our story, "How much does it cost to start up a business?" That’s where we…
When I first came to Hawaii in 1980, I knew I had found paradise and never wanted to leave. However, so many of the people I talked with would say, “No, no, Hawaii used to be much better. Now, it’s…
The world can be divided into two kinds of people: those who like to shop and those who have to be forced into it by a personal crisis, like hungry children, a broken stove or shoes with soles worn through.…
One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me as a child was something I did not want. That bittersweet legacy is a big part of who I am, yet I am thankful that my children will not inherit it.…
Chinese visitors in their 20s and 30s. At least I assumed they were Chinese and, judging from their features, probably from the northwest provinces of China. But when we reached a security checkpoint, they pulled out their Mongolian passports. (Please,…
Starting each August, the editorial staff of Hawaii Business debates the pros and cons of each candidate for CEO of the Year. Though we call the honor CEO of the Year, we never take just one year into account. We chose both Eric…
What looks like can’t-miss, all-star potential often turns out a few years later to have been all potential and no actuality. But baseball scouts and managers have to keep looking because they need new players all the time to replace…
