Founded in 1978 and based in Honolulu, it’s a nonprofit membership organization committed to advancing information and communications technologies globally, with an emphasis on the Pacific Ocean and Pacific Rim.

“Our organization and our members focus on satellites, subsea cables, data centers, landing stations, mobile, fiber … we have members across the entire industry,” says Brian Moon, who has been PTC’s CEO since 2022. “As we’ve evolved, we’ve started to use the term ‘digital infrastructure,’ but it’s essentially telecommunications and connectivity.”

PTC has 12 full-time staff, some working on O‘ahu and others on the continent.

Members include megawatt names like AT&T, Starlink, Meta and Oracle; Islands-based companies like Hawaiian Telcom and Hawaii Pacific Teleport; and entities such as Japanese public broadcaster NHK and Fiji’s Ministry of Communications. There are more than 400 member companies, with 4,000 people total participating in the organization.

One member organization, Google, recently announced plans for a $1 billion project called Pacific Connect, which will create new fiber-optic internet subsea cables and link hubs throughout the Pacific, including Japan, Hawai‘i, Fiji, Australia, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

“The bigger picture is it not only increases connectivity and reliability of internet on the Hawaiian Islands, but will also become literally the lifelines to Pacific islands that many of us haven’t heard of,” says Moon. “When you talk about opportunities of what the internet can do, what technology can do, that’s what our organization’s mission is. When you can connect more and more people, especially the next generation, that opens opportunities, whether it is for remote learning, access to digital health or remote work. Some of these locations, we’re not talking about getting access to social media; they’re just trying to make a consistent phone call or start doing SMS messaging.”

“There are certain areas, Latin America and Africa, that are also going to be hotbeds of opportunity for the industry moving forward. But right now, there’s certainly a focus on the Pacific,” says Moon. “We’ve got companies like Google, who are investing a lot of resources financially. From a business opportunity, there are lots of people in the Pacific who aren’t connected, so it’s an opportunity to reach them. But it’s also an opportunity for the United States to connect with Asia.”

Annual Convening

PTC’s flagship event is its annual conference, which has grown into one of the industry’s most important meetings of the year. “It has become synonymous with the organization,” says Moon. “I like to call it the Davos of digital infrastructure.”

The PTC Conference is held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, typically in the second or third week in January. Several thousand people fly in from all over the world, with attendees from China and Singapore rubbing elbows with badge-wearers from Finland and India and striking up conversations over a mai tai with people from Kenya and Nepal.

“It brings the people with the research and academic credentials together with the movers and shakers, the people who are actually doing things. And there aren’t that many times when those people are together in the same hotel, over the same few days, sharing ideas,” says David Lassner, president of the UH System. Lassner is a former chair of PTC’s board and a lifetime member.

Lassner notes that along with conference sessions, plenty of business is conducted on the sidelines. “The major corporations that work in this space, they just rent a lot of rooms, and they are setting them up for offices and conducting business meetings all day, and hosting parties for their clients.”

He says the conference is better known outside the Islands than in it. “I think it’s known to a niche group here, but most of the participation is from outside Hawai‘i,” he says. “And it’s kind of amazing that we have one of the major global events, year in and year out, taking place here, and most people have no idea that it’s going on. Everybody who’s deploying major telecommunications infrastructure, certainly in this hemisphere, but anywhere in the world really, gathers in Honolulu in January. I think for Hawai‘i, we should be very proud that we’re a place that brings these people together.”

This year, PTC added a mid-year conference called PTC’DC that will take place in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 5 and 6.

“This will be approximately 250 to 300 attendees, much more intimate, and it’s very specific,” explains Moon. “What I mean by that is, we are convening with the government – the policymakers, regulators – and we’re bringing them together with the audience that PTC is known for, which is the C-suite.” There are a lot of potential regulations regarding digital infrastructure, and the group wants to educate the lawmakers on the issues.

PTC also conducts webinars year-round on timely topics such as AI. It also has an initiative, PTC Beyond, that supports emerging digital infrastructure professionals aged 35 and younger.

“We’ve also partnered with an organization called the ITU, the International Telecommunications Union, specifically on a program called Girls in ICT (information and communications technology). It focuses on young women professionals, promoting opportunities and careers in telecom,” Moon says.

“This specific one is around the Pacific, so when you look at islands like Fiji, Tuvalu and others, there are so many bright young women who are just looking for an opportunity. Let’s get them connected. … Then you can become an engineer, then you can become whatever you want to be, but you need this foundation first.”

Jason Chang served for nine years as chief operating officer, executive VP and then president at the Queen’s Health Systems.

Then on July 12, Jenai Wall, chair of the system’s board of trustees, announced that Chang would take over as CEO. Immediately.

Jill Hoggard Green, hired as CEO in 2019, was out and Chang was in. “The board extends its heartfelt mahalo to Jill for her dedicated service and leadership over the last five years,” Wall said in a written message to the Queen’s leadership team that did not explain the abrupt transition.

In the weeks after Chang’s responsibilities changed overnight, he had few openings on his calendar and twice had to reschedule my interview. But he smiled frequently and showed no signs of stress when I eventually sat with him in his old office (he had not yet moved into the CEO’s office), a room lined on one side with pictures of his wife and three children and on another with a large picture of a beautiful Kaua‘i waterfall.

Though he was born in Fresno and spent his early career in California and Texas, Hawai‘i is now home for him and his family. “We fell in love with Hawai‘i. God willing, I want to retire here,” he says.

Following is a condensed, lightly edited version of my exclusive 40-minute interview with him.

Q: What are your short-term and long-term goals for the Queen’s Health Systems? Let’s start with short term.

I think the most immediate thing is we need to stabilize our financials. Not just here, but health care around the nation. The last two years have been really challenging. Costs have gone up with inflation. There’s wage increases among our regular staff and our physician staff. I can’t just raise prices. It’s basically fixed pricing.

So you have to figure out how you can be more creative within. And the needs for access to care for the most vulnerable patients, patients with behavioral issues or homelessness issues – that’s not slowing down. In fact, it’s actually increasing. So how do you take care of patients that need us the most, yet still be financially sustainable? There’s a very fine balance and that margin that used to be there, it’s gotten tighter.

Sustainability is the first thing. Got to take care of our people, that’s the second-most important thing. Our staff. We have really loyal people here. If you’ve ever walked through the hallways and talked to any one of them, you’ll feel that aura of living and working for the queen. The values are aligned.

That’s special. I’ve worked in California and Texas and you don’t get that same feeling. People are here to take care of their community, people are here because of the mission. So we have to make sure they feel valued and know there’s a future for them at Queen’s.

We just celebrated 165 years this year and largely our mission hasn’t changed. Our job is to fulfill the intent of Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV: to provide in perpetuity, quality health care services to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and all the people of Hawai‘i.

King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma went door to door to raise funds for the original hospital.

One hundred and sixty-five years ago, that’s what they set out as the mission, when they saw 70% of the native-born population dying over their lifetime because of disease. And so they went door to door to raise funds, founded a hospital right here on this campus, the Manamana property. And that’s why there’s this aura when you walk across this campus – that legacy is now our job.

Q: What about long-term goals, maybe five, 10 years from now?

I think that there’s a lot of opportunity for Queen’s to expand our reach. We have hospitals on O‘ahu, a hospital on Moloka‘i and a hospital on the Big Island. And now we have a medical group that’s dispersed around, but mostly in the same places.

We’re not on Kaua‘i or Maui, we don’t have a presence over all the Big Island. There are rural communities where people are not getting care, preventive care, cancer care, cardiac care.

Long term, I think we can use technology, we can expand our footprint, we can build culturally sensitive care that communities around the state embrace, so we become the true health care system for the entire state of Hawai‘i.

Q: One project you recently launched was the Aukahi Center, which collects data to help manage patients throughout the Queen’s Health Systems.

That is a special project to me. The name Aukahi is fitting because it means water rolling down a mountainside, converging and flowing into a larger stream. I feel the data that’s flowing through this command center is exactly that. Information about patients in our hospitals, patients that need to be transferred, wanting to see a doctor or get an MRI. Aukahi is like an air traffic control center. We can oversee things that we’ve never been able to see in real time before.

Say a patient needs an MRI, a cardiac consult and physical therapy before they can go home that day; we can see that and assign a cardiologist, then get that patient into an MRI, and then get that physical therapist there so the patient doesn’t languish in the hospital longer than they need to. It helps move people through the system.

Chang at the Aukahi Center, which was one of the projects he helped launch before becoming CEO. It is designed to help manage patients more effectively by using data collected throughout the Queen’s Health Systems.

We can do other things like remote patient monitoring. We can see if a patient’s diabetes is becoming uncontrolled, call them and say, “You need to see your doctor,” before they end up in the emergency department. Aukahi is the first of its kind in Hawai‘i.

I think the piece that will add to it is the ability to dispatch the state’s helicopter system – getting patients from a Neighbor Island to a destination they need as expeditiously as possible.

Q: Queen’s is taking over the dispatch function of Medevac helicopters on Maui this September, but Queen’s is not on Maui. Why take on that contract?

It’s us dipping our toe into dispatching the helicopter. There’s one helicopter now and we will learn how to dispatch this helicopter safely – getting a patient from Maui to the next destination they need. It could be within the Queen’s Systems, it could be to a different system. Essentially, we’re doing something good for everybody.

There will be more helicopters in the future, but let’s start with one, and then it’ll grow to three, and then we’ll go to five and seven. That’s the way we’re partnering with EMS to get patients to and from places as quickly as possible.

Now, if you get into a car accident on the Big Island, the ambulance picks you up, takes you to the nearest hospital, they stabilize you, put you back in the ambulance, drive you to the airport, fly you to O‘ahu. You get picked up by the ambulance, they drive you here to The Queen’s Medical Center. What if the helicopter picks you up at the crash site and flies you here? Then you’ve cut three, four hours.

For patients that have heart attacks, strokes, trauma, this could be the difference between life and death or not having quality of life.

Q: Let’s talk about one of your biggest challenges: staffing. It’s always been hard for health care to fully staff, then the pandemic and the retirement of baby boomers made it harder.

One of our biggest challenges over the last three, four years has been recruitment. And it’s not just nursing. But we’re trying to partner better with universities, community colleges, high schools, get people interested in health care, show them that you don’t just have doctors and nurses in a hospital. There are hundreds of different jobs we need.

What we haven’t done in the past is hire them without any experience. In the past, if you are clinical especially, we wanted you to get three years of experience. The risk is that, nurses in particular, go to the mainland and never come back. So let’s give them a job. Provide protected time for them to train, get oriented, be safe, and then let them fly and give them career opportunities to grow.

If you want to be a cardiac nurse or ICU nurse or surgical nurse, they can see the path within the organization. We’ll take that journey together.

Security is another area having challenges finding qualified people. But you come in with us, get a few years under your belt and there’s a career ladder for you to step up and get more competency. Maybe your aspiration is HPD or with Honolulu Fire. This could be that career ladder to you, maybe not just within the organization, but helping provide the security we need today.

Q: What are your other challenges?

Access. What we’re living through today, we didn’t anticipate. We knew there was going to be more patients, more need for diagnostic imaging and doctors, but the pandemic accelerated it. Now we are seeing our hospital census in the range of 102 to 105% of capacity. And the patients are sicker.

We need to figure out ways we can use technology to be really smart about how to get a patient through the acute part of the health care system so they can transition to post-acute. We have partners in the community that they can move to, because as the quaternary facility (where patients receive the most advanced and specialized level of medicine), we need to be ready for the sickest patients.

Our community hospitals are also running full. Queen’s Medical Center-West O‘ahu is now seeing nearly 185, 186 patients a day in the emergency department. It’s just a hair behind the Queen’s Medical Center-Manamana (the original Punchbowl Street facility), which is the trauma level-one emergency department.

The main building of the hospital around 1898.

It’s a big challenge. Our teams have been fantastic. You walk in, you would never know that they were under such stress. But we know they are. So how can we help alleviate the working environment challenges?

Step number one includes building more facilities. West is going to add 48 beds to their emergency department. We’re expanding the emergency department here at Manamana. That helps relieve some of that pressure.

Making sure everybody on the team knows the path we’re on. Make sure they know, “This is the plan and we’re going to walk this plan arm in arm.” Then give people an opportunity to have a voice. We’re not talking about unilateral decisions; we want open-door policies where people can come in and talk about the things they think should happen.

I’ve always believed that the best guidance comes from the people working on the front line; they know what’s happening, they can tell the temperature of the organization. And if they feel safe enough to tell it to you, all I have to do is listen. So you’ve got to have a great relationship with the people doing the work. The best part of my day is walking the halls and talking to people.

Q: When you look back at your career, what experiences especially helped you prepare for this job as CEO of Queen’s?

I’ve had great mentors over my career, people who took time to help me grow and learn how to succeed in the hospital industry.

One amazing piece of advice early in my career was that I needed to get experience in the for-profit world. So I went from a Catholic hospital to a for-profit, publicly traded health system in Texas and worked there for several years before I came to Queen’s.

It’s very different than the not-for-profit health care world. It’s predicated on making a margin. You have shareholders, calls every quarter. I learned to advocate for the things that are important to that health system, to that hospital you’re running, which is an asset of the corporation. And if you sacrifice patient experience, patient access, trust in the community, then you diminish the value of that asset for that corporation. In that for-profit world, you learn to balance advocating for the services the community needs yet have enough margin for the parent corporation. It’s a very challenging environment – pressure cooker every day.

Coming to Queen’s allows me to use that business acumen and to be a good steward of resources, but at the same time, embrace the mission that Queen’s has been leading for 165 years. It gives me personal fulfillment, being able to do things for the community, plant roots and be here for the rest of my career, God willing.

Q: What’s one other thing happening at Queen’s?

We’re looking at populations that are very vulnerable and seeking creative ways to care for them. Behavioral health is a good example. And we’ve learned we can’t do that by ourselves. Building partnerships with like-minded organizations has been tremendously fruitful.

Q: Who are some of those partners?

Kamehameha Schools, Lili‘uokalani Trust, IHS (the Institute for Human Services), St. Francis Healthcare System. There are so many out there. And the more we partner, I think the better health care is going to be.

After all, it’s often said that “if you find a job you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve done in my 37-year career, but I did hit a mental roadblock 11 years ago. I had just left a job and felt lost. Day after day I would sit alone on Sunset Beach thinking that maybe my best workdays were behind me.

Then two kids asked me to play. We danced in the waves and built what they thought was an epic sandcastle. That experience changed everything, and my empty tank was now full. I wondered: Can what just happened to me help others in the workplace?

Yes, it can and I’ve seen it happen over and over. Like you, I have faced the challenges posed by unhappy, unengaged employees. Play can help them love their job, interact better with co-workers and turn them into employees worth retaining.

Playfulness at work spawns innovation, develops future leaders, improves mental wellbeing and raises the level of social awareness among employees, which promotes balanced and meaningful diversity, equity and inclusion.

I’ve coached over 450 business leaders and the testimonials they’ve shared after experimenting with play are amazing. Let’s run through a few.

Have you ever been in a boardroom where conflicts run so deep you could cut the tension with a knife? That’s what conditions were like at a trades company on O‘ahu that sought our help. We gave everyone puppets to represent their best selves. Through those puppets – and using playful acting and kindness – employees talked about the conflicts at the company. Forty-five minutes later the conflict was resolved and didn’t come back.

The chief HR officer of a Fortune 100 company became known as the puppet master for his use of puppets to resolve challenges playfully and efficiently. Everyone at the office would at some point pick up a puppet and share their grievances.

We asked the leaders of a company with 17 department heads to define their superhero powers and share how they would create a team of Avengers to deal with the inter-departmental challenges that had plagued their workplace. Within 60 days all departments were operating at greater efficiency.

And we worked with a company that had tragically lost its founder and CEO during the pandemic. We brought together the remaining 11 team members and asked each to create a triumphant story about how the company would go on – written like a children’s story. While each employee foresaw a different path forward, all the stories had similar outcomes. Those stories became the baseline for a strategic plan to lead the company back to success. After all, anything is possible when seen through the eyes of a child.

Writing a children’s story, playing with puppets or summoning the superhero within are just a few ways that play can save the day in your workplace. I double dog dare you to give it a try.

This Month’s Expert:

Steve Rix, Chief Experience Officer at PlayLab

“We draw on our collective years of experience as Kanaka, living in this place and observing the natural world,” says Hina Kneubuhl, one of the company’s co-owners.

Kealopiko, which sells its clothes for women and men online, has nine wāhine employees. “It’s their hands that choose the placement, how much ink to put on the screen, how hard to press, what colors to use. Everything’s hand dyed, so they mix colors that vary slightly. They really have a lot of choice and agency over how each piece is printed, so no garment is exactly the same,” says Kneubuhl.

Even the weather affects each piece. “The way it comes out might differ depending on how sunny or windy it is that day. Those elements influence how the fabric dries and dye comes through. Everything is touched by loving hands and unique in its making.”

thekealopikoshop.com

American Savings Bank (ASB) has been honored by Forbes Magazine as a top-ranked bank in Hawaii for the fifth year and was recognized on its prestigious 2024 “Best In-State Banks” list. This accolade reaffirms ASB’s status as a leading financial institution, recognized for its excellence in serving Hawaii’s residents, businesses and communities. 

Out of 4,000 financial institutions nationwide, only 185 banks achieved this recognition, placing ASB in the top 4% of banks across the United States. The distinction underscores ASB’s nearly 100-year commitment to providing easy and convenient banking solutions tailored to the unique needs of Hawaii’s diverse population. 

“American Savings Bank is proud to be recognized as Hawaii’s top-ranked bank on Forbes’ Best In-State Banks list for the fifth year,” said Ann Teranishi, president and CEO at ASB. “This national honor reflects our team’s dedication to offering personalized financial solutions to make our customers’ dreams possible. We’re grateful to our customers for their trust and recognition of our service.”  

ASB was named a distinguished Hawaii bank on the list based on high ratings in several key areas: trust, branch services, digital services, customer service, financial advice and terms and conditions. In 2023, ASB stood out as the only bank in Hawaii to receive this honor. ASB has been named to the Forbes “Best In-State Banks” list five out of seven times, achieving consecutive recognition in 2023 and 2024.  

This consistent “Best In-State Bank” recognition by Forbes is a testament to ASB’s dedication to excellence and innovation in banking. ASB’s continued success is driven by its commitment to make banking accessible and beneficial for all its customers, enhancing financial well-being and contributing to a stronger Hawaii.  

For more information and to view the full list of Forbes’ 2024 Best In-State Banks, click here.   

Photo: courtesy of American Savings Bank

Team leaders have said they are committed to him for the long haul, but the two sides (as of press time) have yet to reach agreement. Tagovailoa has said he expects to be paid his market value, which likely means something comparable to the four-year, $212-million contract recently signed by the Detroit Lions’ QB Jared Goff.

Even if a new deal is not reached, Tagovailoa still tops Hawaii Business Magazine’s 2024 list of Hawai‘i’s highest-paid professional athletes – and he will earn the highest annual salary ever for a Hawai‘i athlete.

As a reminder that the window of opportunity for even top athletes is brief, consider Kolten Wong. The former UH baseball standout and two-time Gold Glove winner, who turns 34 on Oct. 10, ranked third on our 2023 survey of Hawai‘i athletes with a salary of $10 million. Today, Wong is out of the major leagues.

Here is our list of athletes with Hawai‘i ties and their 2024 salaries. We list their hometowns and schools if they are in Hawai‘i. Our primary source is Spotrac.com, a website that tracks the contracts of athletes in the major professional sports leagues.

1. Tua Tagovailoa

Quarterback, Miami Dolphins
‘Ewa Beach, Saint Louis School
2024 Salary: $23,171,000
Details: Team exercised fifth-year option on his rookie contract signed in 2020.

2. Deforest Buckner

Defensive Tackle, Indianapolis Colts
Wai‘anae, Punahou School
2024 Salary: $20.25 million*
Details: Part of a four-year, $84-million contract signed in 2021. In April 2024, he signed a two-year extension totaling $46 million
*Includes an $18-million signing bonus

3. Isaac Suemalo

Guard, Pittsburgh Steelers
Born in Honolulu
2024 Salary: $7,875,000
Details: Three-year contract (2023-2025): $24 million

4. Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Shortstop, Toronto Blue Jays
Honolulu, Mid-Pacific Institute
2024 Salary: $7.5 MILLION
Details: Two-year contract (2024-2025): $15 million

5. Ka‘imi Fairbairn

Placekicker, Houston Texans
Kailua, Punahou School
2024 Salary: $6.33 million*
Details: Three-year contract (2024-2026): $15.9 million
*Includes $4.3-million signing bonus

6. Marcus Mariota

Quarterback, Washington Commanders
Honolulu, Saint Louis School
2024 Salary: $6 million*
Details: One-year contract
*Includes a $3-million signing bonus

7. Alohi Gilman

Safety, Los Angeles Chargers
Lā‘ie, Kahuku H.S.
2024 Salary: $5,625,000*
Details: Two-year contract (2024-2025): $10,125,000
*Includes a $4.5-million signing bonus

8. Kirby Yates

Relief Pitcher, Texas Rangers
Līhu‘e, Kaua‘i H.S.
2024 Salary: $4.5 million
Details: One-year contract

9. Nate Herbig

Guard, Pittsburgh Steelers
Līhu‘e, Saint Louis School
2024 Salary: $4 million
Details: Two-year contract (2023-2024): $8 million

10. Josh Rojas

Third Baseman, Seattle Mariners
UH
2024 Salary: $3.1 million
Details: One-year contract

11. Jahlani Tavai

Linebacker, New England Patriots
UH
2024 Salary: $2,875,000*
Details: Three-year contract (2022-2024): $4.4 million
*Includes a $510,000 roster bonus, $100,000 workout bonus and $1-million incentives bonus

12. Jamin Davis

Linebacker, Washington Commanders
Born in Honolulu
2024 Salary: $2,541,024
Details: Four-year contract (2021-2024): $13,794,176

13. Rigoberto Sanchez

Punter, Indianapolis Colts
UH
2024 Salary: $2.5 million*
Details: Three-year contract (2024-2026): $7.5 million
*Includes $1.25-million roster bonus

14. Roman Wilson

Wide Receiver, Pittsburgh Steelers
Kīhei, Saint Louis School
2024 Salary: $1,793,304*
Details: Four-year contract (2024-2027): $5,745,168
*Includes a $998,304 signing bonus

15. Marist Liufau

Linebacker, Dallas Cowboys
Honolulu, Punahou School
2024 Salary: $1,754,284*
Details: Four-year contract (2024-2027): $5,691,514
*Includes a $959,284 signing bonus

16. Kamu Grugier-Hill

Linebacker, Minnesota Vikings
Honolulu, Kamehameha Schools Kapālama
2024 Salary: $1,377,500*
Details: One-year contract
*Includes $142,500 signing bonus

17. Netane Muti

Guard, Detroit Lions
Leilehua H.S.
2024 Salary: $1,055,000
Details: One-year contract

18. Breiden Fehoko

Defensive Tackle, Pittsburgh Steelers
Honolulu, Farrington H.S.
2024 Salary: $1,055,000
Details: One-year contract

19. Darius Muasau

Linebacker, New York Giants
Mililani H.S., UH
2024 Salary: $995,912*
Details: Four-year contract (2024-2027): $4,220,912
*Includes a $200,912 signing bonus

20. Bradlee Anae

Defensive End, Atlanta Falcons
Lā‘ie, Kahuku H.S.
2024 Salary: $985,000
Details: One-year contract

21. Nick Herbig

Linebacker, Pittsburgh Steelers
Kalaheo (Kaua‘i), Saint Louis School
2024 Salary: $915,000
Details: Four-year contract (2023-2026): $4,512,920

22. Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu

Tackle, Baltimore Ravens
Kea‘au H.S.
2024 Salary: $915,000
Details: Four-year contract (2023-2026) $4,013,192

23. Andrei Iosivas

Wide Receiver, Cincinnati Bengals
Honolulu, Punahou School
2024 Salary: $915,000
Details: Four-year contract (2023-2026): $3,999,384

24. Kana‘i Mauga

Linebacker, Las Vegas Raiders
Wai‘anae, Wai‘anae H.S.
2024 Salary: $915,000
Details: One-year contract

25. Jonah Laulu

Defensive Tackle, Indianapolis Colts
UH
2024 Salary: $899,520*
Details: Four-year contract (2024-2027): $4,124,520
*Includes a $104,520 signing bonus

26. Jordan Murray

Tight End, Indianapolis Colts
UH
2024 Salary: $795,000
Details: One-year contract

27. Cade Smith

Pitcher, Cleveland Guardians
UH
2024 Salary: $740,000
Details: One-year contract

United Football League

In late 2023, the United States Football League and XFL merged to form the United Football League. Co-owned by one-time Hawai‘i resident Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (McKinley H.S.), the eight-team league debuted in March 2024, with each team playing 10 regular-season games and the top four teams advancing to the playoffs.

While the UFL does not release individual player salaries, the stated goal is to pay players equally, regardless of position. Minimum salaries are $5,500 per week ($2,500 for inactive players), plus additional money for housing $400 per week), training camp ($850 per week). There are also performance bonuses. (For example, former UH offensive lineman Kohl Levao received $2,500 for earning All-UFL Team honors.)

Here are UFL players with Hawai‘i ties:

1. Dae Dae Hunter

Running Back, Arlington Renegades
UH

2. Kohl Levao

Guard, San Antonio Brahmas
UH

3. Jordan Ta‘amu

Quarterback, DC Defenders
Pearl City, Pearl City H.S.

4. Mika Tafua

Defensive End, Michigan Panthers
Lā‘ie, Kamehameha Schools Kapālama

5. Calvin Turner

Wide Receiver, San Antonio Brahmas
UH

LPGA

1. Allisen Corpuz

Pro Golfer, LPGA Tour
Honolulu, Punahou School
Earnings so far in 2024: $167,383

Diversity helps define Hawai’i, so it’s not surprising that a diversity of ideas and approaches from designers helps define alohawear, the clothing of Hawai’i.

When I talked with Island designers about trends in alohawear, they described several distinctions. One that kept coming up was the differences between alohawear worn by locals and some tourists and resort wear mostly worn by tourists. And they talked about their inspirations, among them the Hawaiian culture and the real stories of local people – not tourists’ illusions about the Islands. Another common inspiration is nostalgia – re-creating the look of an earlier generation of alohawear.

Alohawear “represents us, our lifestyle, our culture and our aloha,” says Tom Park, director and head of brand at Kahala, a local maker of aloha shorts and other alohawear since 1936.

Duke’s pareo from Kahala, left, is based on a 1960s design. Right, Craig Katsuyoshi, owner of Helena’s Hawaiian Food, partnered with Kahala to create aloha shirts inspired by favorite menu items.| Photo courtesy: Kahala

“It is an easy way for us to share our aloha with the world. In Hawai‘i, an aloha shirt can be worn casually or dressy. Kids wear aloha shirts to school, bankers and attorneys wear aloha shirts in the boardroom. It really is the most versatile piece of clothing you can wear here in the Islands.”

Park says Kahala’s designers get inspiration from all over the Islands, and their creations tell the stories of those places. “Whether it’s Uncle’s mango tree, the beautiful heliconias they saw on a stroll through the garden or the sea life off the shore of Hanauma Bay, they are always looking for inspiration from daily life.”

Outsiders often consider aloha shirts, Hawaiian shirts and resort shirts to be the same things, but they’re not.

Authentic Versus Inauthentic

Tory Laitila, Honolulu Museum of Art’s curator of textiles and historic arts, created the “Fashioning Aloha” exhibit at the museum, which runs through Sept. 1. He says the only connection some so-called “Hawaiian shirts” have to the Islands is they’re called “Hawaiian.”

A scene from the Honolulu Museum of Art’s “Fashioning Aloha” exhibit, which runs through Sept. 1. | Photo courtesy: HoMA

“Alohawear and aloha shirts are designed for people in Hawai‘i,” he says. “The Hawaiian shirt can be for anybody who came to Hawai‘i … even the shirt with the birds that’s referencing Central America with their patterns.”

Laitila compares these kinds of Hawaiian shirts to “Hawaiian pizza,” a Canadian invention made with pineapple and ham, and has nothing to do with Hawai‘i.

As for a loud, brash Hawaiian shirt created outside of the Islands, he asks, “Is it even Hawai‘i? Is it a Hawaiian designer? I don’t know, but they market it as Hawaiian shirts.”

Many of the people I interviewed say Hawai‘i residents tend to look for authentic storytelling and actual local colors and images in their alohawear, rather than the loud styles frequently worn in mainland offices on casual Fridays and by similarly loud characters on TV and in B movies.

Andy Reilly, a professor of fashion design and merchandising at UH Mānoa, says local residents look for alohawear “that isn’t your typical tourist Hawai‘i with the bright colors and the sunsets and the dolphin jumping in the background. They’re looking at things that are more representative of what Hawai‘i is, so maybe more greens, browns, blacks.”

Reilly says his research also shows that locals prefer clothing that represents Hawai‘i or Hawaiian culture accurately and are turning to local and Hawaiian designers for that look.

“With tourists’ shirts it’s less about the story” than the aloha shirts that locals lean toward.

Inspired by Native Plants and Chants

Sig Zane Designs, a Hilo-based design company, has been educating and sharing Hawaiian culture through design for almost 40 years. Creative Director Kūha‘o Zane says “the term Hawaiian shirts has taken on an aesthetic that was created outside of Hawai‘i.”

While discussing the difference between aloha shirts and Hawaiian shirts, Zane says he does not want to cede either term to outsiders, including Hawaiian shirts. “I don’t want to give them that term. I think we should own both terms. They can have resort wear. I don’t want the term resort wear, but we can own aloha.”

Zane has been working with the company for 21 years and has been helping his father, Sig Zane, since he was a little kid hanging around the Hilo shop. Sig Zane Designs integrates the teachings of Hālau O Kekuhi, the family hālau, into its work. The design of their shirts is inspired by chants, mo‘olelo, hula and nine native plants: ‘ie‘ie, ‘ōhi‘a, palapalai, pala‘ā, koa, ‘ōlapa, maile, kukui and laua‘e.

“In our hula kuahu, there’s a core of nine plants total. And those are our main inspiration, because those are the ones that we learned to make leis out of. They’re the ones that we use in our kuahu practices,” Zane says.

The inspirations for designs can be historical. “Sometimes it might be like a mo‘olelo that my dad hears from some kūpuna in the area about a specific plant, and it may have an additional use, or may be a part of a larger legend of that area. And so it ranges, but I would say a lot of it has to be based within cultural narrative.”

In fact, Zane says, an accompanying narrative is now expected in local designs. “We were able to shift what the norm is in Hawai‘i. … You’ve got to have a narrative behind it.”

Designs Beyond Clothing

Zane says he is constantly looking for opportunities to expand his designs beyond clothing. As an example, he says he was a part of the conversation when UH Mānoa planned new wayfinding signs on campus. Initially, the university had contracted two mainland designers and Zane sat in on their meeting as a consultant. During the meeting, a UH staff member said designers should not create a Hawaiian design without a narrative behind it.

Examples of how Hawaiian designs have moved beyond clothing. Left: The wall pattern was inspired by Kapa textures. Right: The bilingual building signs at UH Mānoa showcase plants from that valley. | Photos courtesy: Sig Zane

The resulting bilingual signs – in English and Hawaiian – that stand in front of various buildings were recognized with a design award as part of Fast Company’s 2023 World-Changing Ideas Awards.

Zane says aloha shirt designers can bring unique perspectives from their clothing into “all aspects of the design industry.”

“I would hope that no matter if it’s a developer from the mainland, or if it’s even a company from the mainland, that they tap into the talent of visual artists” in the Islands. Designers who make their living off of alohawear, he says, “can also help design the spaces within Hawai‘i.”

That’s what Zane and his father have done: Their designs have appeared in Louis Vuitton stores, the foyer of American Savings Bank branches and the exterior of Hawaiian Airlines planes.

“We’re using the visual artist talents that we have here and implementing them beyond just the platform of fashion,” Zane says.

“We use the aloha shirt as more of an aesthetic platform that can be almost like a storyboard to tell a story. But now we’re starting to take some of those values and some of those functionalities that we talk about in these narratives, and now we’re starting to implement those into our real world today.”

Bringing Back Vintage Designs

Alexis Akiona, owner and founder of the clothing company Lexbreezy Hawai‘i, says her mission is to inspire all generations to wear alohawear every day, not just on Fridays.

“Anytime I’m seeing somebody with their alohawear on, it gives me a sense of pride,” she says. “We live in Hawai‘i, we have the aloha spirit here. It’s a sense of home, it’s a sense of our culture. … It connects us to not only now, but generations.”

Akiona says she creates comfortable alohawear that shares the stories of Hawai‘i’s people, plants and patterns. But she says that when she started her business, “alohawear wasn’t really trendy. It was for lū‘au, weddings, family parties.” Now, it’s making a comeback – and that includes mu‘umu‘u or other vintage styles that people sometimes find in their tutu’s closet or at thrift stores.

Lexbreezy Hawaiʻi says it is modernizing alohawear for all genders, ages and sizes. | Photos courtesy: Lexbreezy

“I’ve seen it mostly with professionals or maybe people in their 30s or 40s and young people.”

At UH Mānoa, Reilly says he oversees the world’s largest historic collection of aloha shirts and other alohawear, a part of the university’s historic costume collection. He estimates it has 10,000 to 15,000 pieces, with clothing from the 1930s to today. People can study Hawai‘i’s fashion trends over the decades, including those inspired by 1970s pop art and the corporate ’90s, with their more muted colors.

The collection includes early alohawear made from rayon, often nicknamed “silkies” for its silk-like feel, from the 1940s and ’50s to contemporary versions of Hawaiian shirts, plus representative examples of clothing – including traditional pieces – from Southeast Asia, Pakistan, Turkey, Western Europe and other places or examples influenced by those places.

“In my role as curator, I’m looking at it as, ‘What is the story of the people of Hawai‘i?’” Reilly says. “A lot of other museum collections focus on pictorial garments and very high-end garments. And while we do have great examples of those, this focuses more on what the people were wearing.”

At left, this 1968 ‘Iolani fashion Hapa Jac shirt is showcased alongside more than 50 other garments in the Honolulu Museum of Art’s “Fashioning Aloha” exhibit. At right, a late 1950s Kahala tunic top for women from the HoMA exhibit. | Photo courtesy: HoMA.

So the clothes can be accessible to all on the web, Reilly is starting to digitize pictures from the collection, like palaka shirts worn by plantation workers in the 1940s and shirts made from rice bags in the 1950s. For now, access to the collection is solely through Reilly, and his busy schedule allows only an hour or so a week to accommodate visitors.

Old styles are coming back, Akiona says. “It’s kind of a new trend. It just reminds people of what fashion was years ago before it got all modern. … It’s just a reminder of their kūpuna.”

Kahala and Tori Richard are among the local companies bringing back historic designs and selling them as collector’s editions.

“We are always looking to our extensive archive of thousands of prints dating back to 1936 for inspiration,” says Park, the Kahala director. “A lot of what makes Kahala special is reintroducing our heritage prints to a new generation of aloha shirt fans.”

HoMA’s Laitila says that in his eyes, nostalgia will always be trendy, “whether you’re looking back on your parents or your grandparents.” At least 20 years must pass before nostalgia sets in, he says.

But the aloha shirt itself is a Hawai‘i icon, and Laitila predicts that won’t change.

“I know that fast fashion does exist, but there is opposition to fast fashion. So having clothes that are well made, and that can be serviced, is desirable, and a lot of our alohawear is. I know some sons that have inherited their fathers’ and grandfathers’ shirts, and they wear them proudly.”

Thirty-two years after Hurricane Iniki made landfall on Kaua’i in 1992, few physical reminders remain of the storm’s destruction, but there are many reminders of the island’s resilience.

They include 20 homes in the 189-unit Hokulei Estates subdivision in Puhi, over 160 homes built around the island by homeowners in partnership with Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity, and the Kalepa Village low-income rental project in Hana – mā‘ulu. These residences were part of about 565 new affordable homes built in the decade after Iniki using disaster relief funds.

“In a way, a disaster can have very positive benefits for the community if it’s designed and worked out right,” says Chad Taniguchi about Kaua‘i’s recovery. He served as Kaua‘i’s housing administrator from 1990 to 1995.

He and others familiar with Kaua‘i’s recovery say some of the Garden Isle’s lessons may provide insights for Maui, though they acknowledge the disasters had starkly different impacts. In August 2023, wildfires on Maui destroyed over 2,200 structures, caused $5.5 billion in damage and claimed 101 lives, making it one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in the last century. Hurricane Iniki, in contrast, severely damaged or destroyed over 4,000 Kaua‘i homes, caused over $6 billion in damage in today’s dollars, injured about 100 people and killed seven.

Maui is already implementing some of Kaua‘i’s lessons by building temporary housing projects that can later be used for permanent housing and by establishing an office to expedite rebuilding permits. That office issued its first permit to rebuild in Lahaina in mid-May.

“If you have the concept that you want this disaster to be of benefit for the long term for the people who are already there and who are being displaced, use that as overall value or principle, I think you can find ways to make that come true,” Taniguchi says.

Different Disasters and Impacts

Iniki, a category 4 hurricane, was the strongest recorded hurricane to hit Hawai‘i. JoAnn Yukimura, who served as Kaua‘i’s mayor from 1988 to 1994, recalls sleeping on her office floor the night before Iniki made landfall on Sept. 11, 1992. She and her team watched from her office as Iniki came ashore during the afternoon.

Winds up to 160 mph flattened wooden structures, tore off roofs and knocked out about half of the island’s power lines, leaving many communities without electricity for weeks. Thousands of residents were displaced and found shelter with family or friends, at hotels or on the beach.

Most hotels were so damaged they closed; those still operating housed relief workers and displaced residents. But the island’s tourism industry, which comprised between 65% and 70% of Kaua‘i’s economy, came to a standstill.

Yukimura recalls viewing the island from a helicopter the day after Iniki. While flying over Kekaha on the island’s west side, she saw residents checking on neighbors, fixing their roofs and waving to her. “There was already such a community spirit,” she says.

Within a month, the Kaua‘i County Council and Yukimura approved the creation of an Office of Emergency Permitting to process rebuilding permits and waive permit fees. The Federal Emergency Management Agency funded the OEP.

Several repairs and replacements were exempted from permit requirements. Among them were repairing or replacing non-retaining walls and fences, and non-bearing walls, ceilings, floors and windows.

Kaua‘i also required that structures be rebuilt with hurricane connectors and other requirements to better withstand future hurricanes. Yukimura says among the lessons learned from Hurricane Iwa, which struck the island in 1982, was adopting stronger hurricane requirements and requiring permits for major repairs and rebuilds of existing structures. If Kaua‘i had done both after Iwa, it may not have sustained as much damage from Iniki, she says.

“Hurricane Iniki created the urgency to get things done,” she says. “And as long as you could guide it to get it done right – because there’s often the temptation to just do it fast and not do it right – if you can do it right, then it is a long-term foundation.”

Kaua’i habitat for Humanity received Iniki relief funds in 1997 to build 95 for-sale homes in its ‘Ele’ele iluna subdivision. | Photo: courtesy of David Bieker

Separate Permitting Office

Kaua‘i’s Iniki recovery generated a construction boom. The OEP issued nearly 14,300 permits between October 1992 and the end of May 1995. The office was run by Keith Companies, a private engineering and surveying firm.

Reconstruction or repairs of hurricane-impacted structures had to comply with health and building requirements that were in place in 1992.

An owner would have to go through the normal permitting process if he or she wanted to rebuild a hurricane-damaged structure substantially larger, change the structure’s use or density, or rebuild in a high hazard area. The OEP also did not process Special Management Area permits or zoning changes, says Peter Vincent, an O‘ahu architect who helped establish and run the office.

In addition to processing permit applications, the office conducted outreach to help residents understand the new requirements. Staff held seminars, participated in radio programs, distributed flyers and went house to house to hang door hangers. Vincent says the OEP even wrote letters to insurance companies to explain what homeowners needed to do to rebuild.

He adds that the office was meant to be a one-stop. At its peak, it employed 64 plans examiners, inspectors, clerks and administrative staff, but the office also for a time housed representatives from the state Department of Health. That helped expedite decision-making.

The one-stop shop “short circuited a lot of the issues or finger pointing or ‘go see somebody else’ kind of thing. And that was really needed. I think something like that on Maui would be super helpful because permitting is such a hard process,” Vincent says.

He adds: “For people once they finally are able to rebuild, they don’t have to wait two years to get a building permit. It’s just ridiculous. I mean, they’ve been through enough hardship.”

While Kaua‘i’s rebuilding started quickly, Maui’s has taken longer due to the hazardous materials that must be cleared after the fires.

“Many of the Kaua‘i properties were damaged but not burned to the ground,” says Carl Bonham, executive director of UH’s Economic Research Organization. “And there’s a difference between replacing all your windows and roofs and repairing something versus starting from scratch.”

In an email, Maui County’s Communications office wrote that the county learned lessons from all its state and county partners, including Kaua‘i, which was among the first to send its people and other resources to Maui to help with emergency response after the August 2023 fires. The County also received assistance from California’s Sonoma County.

Maui County opened its Recovery Permitting Center at the end of April. The center is run by 4Leaf Inc., a California-based professional services firm that specializes in fire recovery and also helped Sonoma County with its permitting needs after wildfires.

“It’ll be very important for folks who are trying to rebuild once the debris is all removed,” Bonham says. “I think we’ll see that permitting activity in the latter half of this year start to ramp up for folks literally going in and rebuilding their destroyed properties, particularly in Lahaina.”

As of June 21, the Recovery Permit Center had processed about 80 permit applications and issued 15 permits. Applicants can request that their permit fees be deferred if they are rebuilding residential structures. And permit fees may be assessed at half of what they would normally be if residential and commercial structures were built not long before the August wildfires. In an email, Maui County’s Communications team wrote that the county has not deferred permit fees for any single-family houses that are being rebuilt in fire-affected areas.

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii argues that permit fees should be waived instead. Malia Blom Hill, policy director of the nonprofit public policy research organization, says those fees can block residents from rebuilding.

Permit fees are set in Maui’s annual budget ordinance and vary based on the valuation of the construction work. For example, projects valued from $100,001 to $500,000 are charged $880 for the first $100,000, plus $5 for each additional $1,000. Electrical, plumbing, driveway, grading and other permits have additional charges.

Gov. Josh Green joins the April 30 groundbreaking of Ka La’i Ola, which will create 450 housing units for Maui wildfire survivors who aren’t eligible for FEMA assistance. | Photo: courtesy of Ka La‘i

Limited Time Frame

It’s hard to miss the Coco Palms hotel along Kaua‘i’s Kūhiō Highway. Until recently, the Wailua hotel, located on culturally and historically significant land, has sat largely derelict since it was battered by Iniki.

Now, construction activity abounds under the latest rebuilding effort. Developers are rebuilding under a so-called “Iniki ordinance” that allows non-conforming structures to be rebuilt to their pre-hurricane conditions. Coco Palms’ previous owners received permits to rebuild prior to the now-repealed ordinance’s 2015 expiration.

Gary Hooser, a former Kaua‘i councilmember and state senator, says the hotel should not be allowed to be rebuilt under decades-old standards. He voted in 2013 against the county bill that extended the ordinance’s expiration to 2015. He says that the ordinance had a valid purpose after the storm – to allow people to rebuild – but “it should be limited to that purpose and not held out forever.”

Maui County is now considering a proposal that would allow nonconforming structures impacted by natural disasters, such as the August wildfires, to be repaired or rebuilt in a similar fashion while complying with existing building and fire safety requirements. Building owners would need to have their final inspections done within four years of the governor’s original state of disaster.

Jonathan Helton, policy researcher for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, says he questions whether four years is long enough, especially for Lahaina structures located in the special management area and historic districts. Structures in those areas require additional approvals.

One option, he says, is for Maui to provide flexibility to building owners by including language in the proposal to allow the mayor to extend its time frame.

Maui’s nonconforming structure proposal passed its Planning Commission in late February, with an amendment to allow the structures five years to rebuild, with an option for a two-year extension; at press time, the Maui County Council had yet to introduce the bill.

Build Lots of Homes

Taniguchi recalls a meeting he had with a representative from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development after Hurricane Iniki. The Kaua‘i Housing Agency had just built 35 simple cottages around the island on lots where homes were destroyed. The first cottages were mostly built by volunteers, but the project was considered a failure for costing twice its budget after volunteer labor couldn’t be sustained.

However, HUD was blown away by the county government’s efforts to meet its residents’ needs, Taniguchi says. In 1994, the department gave the Kaua‘i Housing Agency $41 million in disaster funds. Prior to Iniki, the agency received about $700,000 to $1.2 million in federal monies each year.

According to a September 1993 article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the island then needed about 6,000 new homes to meet housing demand. Monthly rents for a two-bedroom apartment averaged $1,100 compared with about $900 pre-Iniki; for a three-bedroom, rents averaged about $1,400 compared with $1,000 prior.

Insurance covered most of the rebuilding for existing homes and commercial buildings, so the $41 million was largely used to build 563 affordable homes under the agency’s Pāku‘i Housing Program over 10 years.

The agency held a series of community meetings to get feedback on the affordable housing projects that developers proposed. Ken Rainforth, who worked for the Kaua‘i Housing Agency in various roles between 1979 and 2009, says that helped projects get approved without opposition. Projects were given grants and no-interest loans; the paybacks went into a revolving fund to fund other affordable housing projects.

Disaster funds also helped the county to rebuild 10 homes damaged by Iniki, establish a homebuyer loan program that funded eight homes, construct two water wells in Kekahā and Hanamā‘ulu, and hardened existing infrastructure in other areas.

“If you look at it from afar, you don’t want anything to be left after you spend all this money for short term efforts,” Taniguchi says, adding that he doesn’t know the specifics of Maui’s recovery. “If you can minimize the amount of money going out for the short term and invest in things that will be a benefit to the people and the island for the long term, then that’s the best way. That’s how you use a disaster for positive things.”

Several interim housing projects are underway to house displaced Maui residents and will have longer-term benefits after those initial uses.

One is the 450-unit Ka La‘i Ola being built in Lahaina. The project will house survivors ineligible for federal aid for up to five years, after which the state will commit the land and permanent infrastructure to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. And the 175-unit Hale ‘O Lā‘ie, the former Maui Sun Hotel in Kīhei, will transition to teacher and workforce rentals with public kindergarten space after it is initially used to house survivors.

An artist’s rendering of the Ka La’i Ola temporary housing project for wildfire survivors in Lahaina. | Rendering: Courtesy Ka La’i

Challenging Recovery

It took Kaua‘i’s economy eight years to recover after Iniki, according to a 2009 working paper by the UH Economic Research Organization. Unemployment rose to 19.1% immediately after the hurricane, compared with 6.8% just before. The island lost about 3,000 private sector jobs – about 12% of the island’s employment – amounting to $225 million in 2008 dollars in annual lost income.

Kaua‘i’s unemployment rate did not return to pre-Iniki levels until 1999, and the number of private jobs available didn’t return until 2002. While visitor arrivals to the island stabilized in 1995, they didn’t reach pre-Iniki levels until 2008.

Bonham, the UHERO executive director, says Maui has a challenging recovery period ahead. Maui was already suffering from a severe housing shortage, and in the immediate days after the fires, nearly 8,000 Lahaina residents were sheltered in 40 hotels. His organization estimates that 3,500 people have left the island and that the labor force is down about 5,000 people.

The Maui wildfires led to the loss of 7,000 jobs in September 2023 compared with pre-wildfires, so there has been some recovery, he says. Many employers in industries heavily impacted by the pandemic struggled to find workers even before the fires. But he expects the jobs recovery will slow moving forward, especially for the food service and retail sectors.

About 60,000 visitors spent about $250 to $300 each day on Maui before the fires. Bonham says that number is down by 15,000 people as of the first quarter of this year. The daily visitor count isn’t expected to return to 60,000 people until the end of 2025.

“It’s going to get harder for that recovery going forward to the extent that we don’t add housing quickly,” he says. “As long as we add 2,000 to 3,000 housing units and free up some of the visitor plant over the next year, then I think our visitor forecast has a chance of coming true and will continue to see some growth, but we will still see average daily census on Maui that’s well below pre-wildfire.”

Twice a year, Hawaii Business Magazine asks the Anthology Marketing Group to take the pulse of the local business community. This spring, owners and executives of 407 companies each had unique stories to tell about their firms’ financial situations – ranging from awesome to awful and everything in between.

When taken as a whole, the results of this latest BOSS Survey are worse than last fall’s survey. Much more disturbing is that optimism about the local economy’s future fell dramatically.

“We’re bruised but back on track. We have not fully recovered from 2020 yet, but we work on this every day. We tackled higher food, liquor and labor costs by raising prices, but a lot of hidden costs affect our bottom line.”

— Kaleo Schneider, Director of Operations, Buzz’s Original Steak House (O’ahu)

“We are flourishing. Our sales are strong. We have really good staffing and all our positions are full. We have a good future.”

— Leila Thompson | GM, Window Trends (Kaua’i)

“Barely surviving. We have only booked 3 new weddings since the August fires. The message potential clients get is that those who live on Maui do not want them to come. Another issue is many wedding groups can’t afford the available accommodations.”

— A Maui wedding company that asked to remain anonymous

Optimism about the future – or the lack of it – is a huge factor in business decision-making. Optimistic business leaders will hire more workers, launch expansions and offer new products and services. Less optimistic leaders may freeze or cut staff, delay expansion and reduce product lines or services.

To further probe these attitudes, the survey’s respondents were asked which of these statements best describes their companies’ spending plans for the coming 12 months.

“The economy will hold steady. There’s still a lot of willingness to come to Hawai’i.”

— Byron Kay, Owner, Kona Honu Divers (Hawai’i Island)

“It’s hard to predict… but if housing continues to rise in cost, the economy will fall, because we don’t have the workforce.”

— Nichole Hutaff-Nakamura, President, Valley Isle Excursions

“Speaking with tons of friends, vendors, colleagues in the tourism and wedding industry this year, they are all in the same boat as I am. we’re not getting new business and not sure if it will happen any time in the next few years.”

— A Maui wedding company that asked to remain anonymous

“The economy is getting worse, and I expect this trend will continue until 2026. There are many issues worldwide and until they are cleared up, it will affect our economy.”

— Kaleo Schneider, Buzz’s Original Steak House

What Changes in Hawai‘i Taxes Do You Favor?

In May, state legislators passed, and Gov. Josh Green signed into law, a major income tax cut for Hawai’i residents. However, this year’s Legislature rejected Green’s proposed $25 visitor tax and a proposed exemption to the excise tax for food sales.

Please note: We conducted most of the BOSS Survey of local business owners and executives and all of the 808 Poll of the general public during the legislative session, before the income tax cut received final approval.

“I see businesses picking up more of the tax burden, whether it’s car registrations or in our employment taxes. Visitors too. They get dinged all the time with an extra fee for renting a car.”

— Leila Thompson | Window Trends

“I strongly oppose a visitor tax. If you want less of something, you tax it. If you don’t want less tourism, which drives our economy, then don’t raise taxes.”

— Byron Kay | Kona Huna Divers

Did the Cost of Goods and Services Go up a Lot, a Little or Hold Steady?

One recent phenomenon in the news concerns inflation and people’s perceptions of it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says consumer prices nationwide for all items rose 3.4% from December 2022 to December 2023 – a little more than half the rate of 6.5% in the previous 12 months. And though the inflation rate fluctuates from month to month, the overall inflation rate for the first four months of 2024 is similar to 2023’s.

Nonetheless, surveys show many people do not feel inflation has fallen. One commonly cited explanation: These people see that prices overall have not come down but remain much higher than before the pandemic. In this explanation, people equate today’s persistent high prices with continued high rates of inflation.

The next two questions in the BOSS Survey aim to test similar perceptions about higher prices among businesspeople. First, we asked businesses how much they had raised their own prices in the past year – something they are unlikely to exaggerate. We also asked them how much their vendors had raised prices in the same period. We compare the answers side by side.

I think that if people’s perceptions of prices were generally accurate, then the numbers in each row would be more similar. After all, the BOSS Survey includes many local businesses that supply goods and services to other local businesses. Both groups of businesses have imposed higher prices on others, and paid higher prices imposed by other buinesses.

While only 15% of businesses surveyed said they raised their prices a lot in the past year, 41% of them said their vendors raised prices a lot. Knowing a bit about human psychology, I think it only natural that people and businesses are more likely to emphasize in their minds the price increases imposed on themselves, and less likely to emphasize in their minds the price increases they impose on others. I would probably think that way myself.

Who Should Lead Lahaina’s Fire Recovery?

Methodology for These Surveys

The BOSS Survey and 808 Poll were conducted by Anthology, a Hawai‘i marketing group that is part of a global company called Finn Partners.

The respondents for the BOSS Survey were found by using a company listing purchased from a third-party business sample provider, as well as Hawaii Business Magazine’s Top 250 list and classified yellow page listings.

Interviews were done online as well as by telephone with owners, senior executives and other people at participating companies who were knowledgeable about their companies’ operations and finances. A total of 407 random interviews on O‘ahu, Maui, Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i were conducted from March 27 to May 15, 2024. A sample of this size has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.86 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.

The sample of companies was stratified based on number of employees. Businesses with one to nine employees were designated as “very small” and those with 10 to 49 employees were designated as “small.” Medium-sized companies were those with 50 to 99 employees and companies with 100 or more employees were classified as “large.” The data was weighted to reflect the proper proportions of each company segment based on numbers of employees as reported by the state of Hawai‘i Department of Labor.

A secondary goal was to complete interviews with a target set of companies that derive relatively significant proportions of their revenues from retail sales. A total of 71 were surveyed in this segment.

A separate online survey called the 808 Poll was conducted of the general public. A total of 459 surveys were conducted from March 22 to April 1, 2024. Respondents were screened to ensure they were at least 18 years of age and fulltime Hawai‘i residents.

The margin of error for a sample of this size is plus or minus 4.57 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.