Customer Service Lessons
Pacific Pump and Power’s motto is: “We say what we are going to do, we do what we said we would do, and we check to make sure that we did it.” Jeremy Leonard, CEO of the Hawaii-based company that…
Hawaii Business Magazine - May 2010
Ask SmallBiz: Collecting your debts and solving a cash-flow issue
Q. A lot of customers are long overdue on paying me. I’m reluctant to take them to court, but I’m forced to borrow to pay my employees and bills. What do you suggest? A. Many small businesses face the same problems.…
5 Steps to Saving on Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Bob Dove, president of Hawaii Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company (HEMIC), offers these ways to save on the premiums for workers’ compensation insurance. 1. Run a safe operation This is by far the most important step. “Prevent the accidents before they…
This is a Tourist Spot?!
When Mitch D’Olier left Honolulu’s Victoria Ward Co. to lead Kaneohe Ranch, the largest landowner in Kailua, on Windward Oahu, he thought he would see few tourists on the job. “When I was at Victoria Ward, about 30 percent of…
Parting Shot: Traffic Central
Traffic Central 10:03 A.m., Wednesday Honolulu Traffic Management Center Kinalau Place, near Ward Avenue >> Staff here control more than 350 traffic signals within Honolulu’s central business district. Cameras at major intersections provide live images 24 hours a day,…
Innovation: Do-It-Yourself Sustainability
Susanne Friend wants Hawaii to take back its food supply. “Over the last 50 or 60 years, we’ve let our food supply be taken over by agro-businesses with massive transportation lines,” Friend says. In response, she and her husband, Tim…
Editor's Note: Everyone’s Problem
Education may not seem like a cover story for a business magazine, but I’m convinced that the biggest economic crisis facing Hawaii is our public schools. I’m not alone: A Hawaii Business survey of business leaders in December found a…
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…
The Billion Dollar Gamble
What a difference a billion dollars makes. Until recently, the state treasury – officially, the Treasury Management Branch of the Financial Administration Division of the Department of Budget and Finance – has operated in relative obscurity. With its staff of…
Pick a Color, But Not Just Any Color
Colors are all around us, but most people rarely think about how colors subtly influence our decisions. “Color Professor” Jill Morton, who has been studying color psychology since 1988 and has advised clients such as Tylenol and Xerox through her…
Meth in the Workplace
Crystal methamphetamine not only ruins lives, it can also ruin businesses. A meth-addled employee raises your risk of absenteeism and workplace theft, increases healthcare costs and lowers morale, says Cindy Adams, executive director of the Hawaii Meth Project. “Costs associated…
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…
Preservation’s Payoffs
Preserving historic buildings and sites in Hawaii makes sense culturally and morally, says Rep. Cindy Evans, but it also makes good economic sense. Preservation boosts the economy by attracting tourists, who enjoy visiting Iolani Palace, heiau, museums, Pearl Harbor, fishponds…
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…
My Favorite Things
After nearly a decade reporting news in Vermont, Wisconsin and Washington State, Lara Yamada is back in Hawaii, co-anchoring the KITV news with Paula Akana. This active Kauai girl wants to make up for lost time. Food While away, Yamada…
Kau Kau Corner
Don’t be alarmed if you see smoke billowing and a crowd gathered in front of the Davies Pacific Center around lunchtime on the second or fourth Tuesday of the month. It’s not a fire, it’s the Merchant Street Market, which…
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…
Changing the School System to Put Our Children First
In January, Hawaii’s three former governors offered this plan for fixing our school system. The effort was organized by a nonprofit group called Hawaii’s Children First, which is dedicated to reforming public education in Hawaii. (Disclosure: Steven Petranik, editor of Hawaii…
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…
Brighter Future
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…