Hawaii Business Magazine - December 2010

5 steps to Writing a Press Release

Many small businesses don’t have the budget to hire a marketing firm to disseminate information about new products, special promotions or upcoming events, so it’s important to know how to get the word out when you are your marketing team.…

Ask SmallBiz: Protecting Your Data

Q. My business would be a disaster zone if our data were lost or stolen. What should I do to protect it? A. Today’s small businesses are under assault on many fronts. In October, the FBI warned of a new wave…

Building Customer Loyalty

There are many reasons Luibueno’s Mexican and Seafood Restaurant in Haleiwa has made so many loyal customers since it opened in March 2010. The Spanish and Baja Mexican family recipes from husband-and-wife owners Luis and Taryn Silva have a lot…

How to Reduce Risks & Lower Costs

It’s no secret that small businesses typically don’t qualify for the risk-assessment and loss-prevention counseling that large firms get from insurance companies. Big customers paying tens of thousands of dollars in premiums can get specialists to visit their businesses to…

Parting Shot: Paper Cuts

9:10 A.M., Thursday Aiea Photography by Olivier Koning >> Mika Fonoti of Access Information Management Hawaii stands in front of 1,200-pound bales of shredded documents. Every month, the company destroys more than 500,000 pounds of material containing confidential information. Its shredder has…

Talk Story with Jim Scott

Q:How has the process of fundraising changed in your time at Punahou? A: When I first got hired, Punahou was leaning on its traditional donors, the kamaaina families that had sent their kids here for generations. But, as we expanded our…

Top-Flight Leadership

Mark Dunkerley turned Hawaiian Airlines into a world-class carrier “You’d have to be crazy to get into the airline business,” Mark Dunkerley said wryly. The Hawaiian Airlines CEO was speaking late last year to a group of young leaders from…

New Governor Promises Prosperity That’s Good for Business

There’s no question the business community came into the 2010 elections with more than a few concerns about candidate Neil Abercrombie. While Abercrombie has been a good friend of the Hawaii economy through his work on military appropriations in Congress…

Hurry up and Wait on Taxes

Businesses must pay GET earlier, but state takes longer to cash checks For decades, the state has taken weeks on average – even months – to cash taxpayers’ checks. Now, with government-worker furloughs and restrictions on temporary hires, the check-cashing…

New variety of locally grown Christmas trees

It took five years – from test pot to harvest – for a new variety of local Christmas trees to be available this holiday season from Helemano Farms. The Leyland Cyprus, a popular tree usually grown in the U.S. South,…

Broke da Face

Hot sauce isn’t a common condiment for pizza, but it works when it’s from Broke Da Face Sauces. Used at the V Lounge Kiawe Fire Pizza in Honolulu, it gives a flavorful, spicy kick that does more than just “broke…

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…

Concierge to the Rescue

Helping guests in every way possible Guests usually ask the hotel concierge basic questions like, “What’s a great place for a romantic dinner?” or “How do I get to the North Shore?” But the request is sometimes more challenging, like…

Feedback

Aloha United Way changing with the times While it is true that the dynamics of charitable giving have changed (“New Culture of Giving,” November), it is important not to understate the value that Aloha United Way provides to the community…

Spread Out Your Taxes (This Year Only)

It’s not every day that the federal government allows people to pay taxes over two years instead of one. But that’s what it’s offering to those who convert their traditional individual retirement accounts into Roth IRAs. The catch is people…

State closes highways for aliens, pirates and McGarrett

Hundreds of Ewa-bound vehicles came to a standstill on the H-1 Freeway near the airport when space aliens attacked a baseball field filled with Little Leaguers. After each one- or two-minute attack, police cars moved out of the way and…

Abalone, By the Numbers

Big Island Abalone Corp. has been operating on a 10-acre farm at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority in Kona since 1996 and is currently expanding. Over the years, its abalone has been served at some of Hawaii’s finest…

Green Tea/Noni Combo Catches a Wave

In its first few months, Haleiwa-based greenteaHawaii has generated a buzz. The October issue of “Life & Style” magazine mentioned that “Dancing with the Stars” contestant Bristol Palin (Sarah’s daughter) drinks its green tea for energy and weight loss. Ryan…

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…

Some Kind of Jedi

This fictional short story will be published in March in the local journal Bamboo Ridge I dunno how for respond to da boss’s question when she asks me, “What are you, some kind of Jedi?” I nevah intend for anybody see…