Q. We have some great managers in our company but still need to improve our leadership skills. What do you suggest? A. Managers play a vital role in cultivating work environments where employees feel valued and customers are satisfied. Companies can…
Douglas Smith, the president and CEO of Hawaiian Island Shine, was fortunate that when local sales began to slump because of the recession, his export business began to takeoff. His car-care products are now sold in six countries and he…
Imagine the huge cost to your small business if the 2010 Legislature had raised the general excise tax or failed to cut unemployment insurance premiums. Every year at the state Capitol, similar make-or-break laws are debated and that’s why it’s…
12:35 P.m., Wednesday Coconut Island Photography by David Croxford >> Last year, more than 4,000 people visited Coconut Island, home to the University of Hawaii’s Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. One of the institute’s research projects is on the echolocation…
Hawaii’s people have lost control of their economy, but this election campaign is a great opportunity to begin taking back control and restoring common sense to our future. If we succeed, we can preserve what is precious about Hawaii, because…
In March, the embattled Central Pacific Bank named John Dean as CEO and executive chairman. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the financial industry, including serving as CEO and chairman of Silicon Valley Bank. Q: You came to…
Some Republicans and Democrats stand out as best, but when we tried to ID the worst, business leaders were reluctant to name names. In this time of severe budget cuts, lots of people are unhappy with their state lawmakers. But…
Top candidates for governor explain how they would make it easier for businesses to succeed. Those in Hawaii struggling to maintain a business or start a new one can rest easy on one thing: Our next governor has no plans…
Tom Park, founder and owner of Leather Soul, which carries exclusive men’s shoes, can’t believe his success in following a dream. “I’ve always loved shoes, from when I was in kindergarten,” he says. In March, his flagship Waikiki store moved…
I’ve been hunting archery since I was a kid,” says Jeff Grundhauser, owner of the 5,500-acre Arrow One Ranch in Kula, Maui. And for more than a decade, his prowess with a bow has helped keep the ranch afloat. In…
13 Number of new episodes already ordered by CBS 12 Seasons for the original series 278 Original episodes 250 Estimated millions of dollars that will be spent on film-industry production this year in Hawaii 3,000 Jobs expected to be created…
An emerging way for stores, restaurants and other businesses to connect with customers is location-based social-media networks like MyTown, Foursquare, GoWalla and Whrrl. Rob Bertholf, chief search architect of Chapter Three LLC, a San Francisco consulting firm, says there are…
Dustin Shoedel and Brian Brooks have an interesting new product – a relaxing drink made from kava and orange juice – and plan to tell the story of bringing it to market month-by-month on the Internet. The pair created RZO…
What’s your advice to business executives thinking about volunteering? Do it. Get involved. Volunteer for something. If you don’t know what you like, try them all; find out what you don’t like. It’s just like restaurants: Sometimes you don’t know…
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…
Need a comfortable, upscale place in Honolulu to meet and impress clients that doesn’t just serve lattes? Try the Plaza Club, renovated this year and located downtown on the 21st floor of Pioneer Plaza. Furnishings that had been around since…
You may have heard that Hawaii Pacific University’s dean of the College of Business Administration, U. Aytun Ozturk, holds a degree in industrial engineering and a Ph.D. in stochastic optimization and scheduling. But did you know this 33-year-old native of…