Long-time Honolulu writer since early 1970s
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Articles by Beverly Creamer
“A Couple of Dreamers”: Audacious Beginnings for Hawaii Business Magazine
Ethel and Joe Murphy came to Hawai‘i in 1952 so Joe could sell vacuum cleaners. By 1955, they founded the first and oldest regional business magazine in the country. This article, originally published in the March 2015 issue, has been updated with further information and to reflect current timelines. It was 1955. The FDA approved the Salk polio vaccine and Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series for the first time and Disneyland opened.
How Collaboration Creates New Ideas and Projects
Where does innovation come from and how can creativity be fostered? Matt Ridley, author of “How Innovation Works,” offers some answers. “Innovation happens when people are free to think, experiment and speculate,” he writes. “It happens when people can trade with each other. It happens where people are relatively prosperous, not desperate. It is somewhat contagious.
5 Steps to Building DEI
What you can do to build diversity, equity and inclusion into your company’s culture and hiring practices. Illustration: Getty Images Susan Freeman is CEO and Founder of Conscious Inclusion Co. and Freeman Means Business, companies that consult with businesses nationwide on inclusive communications. Kitty Yannone is CEO of CommPac, Hawai‘i’s oldest public relations agency. The women-owned companies recently allied to help address diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. 1.
How 4 Hawai‘i CEOs Make Decisions
When there are no easy or obvious choices, good CEOs survey the available information, consult with stakeholders and then make the final, difficult decisions. Those decisions can have serious consequences for employees and their families, customers and shareholders, and often the broader community – and CEOs have to get them right, consistently. Some CEOs use a formal decision- making process. Others are more intuitive. Whatever they do, they need a process that works.
Sages Over Seventy
Six kūpuna whose passion, drive and wisdom have made a lasting difference in Hawai‘i for many decades.
Sages Over Seventy: Lloyd Sueda
He was the inspiration behind Kahauiki Village, an affordable housing community for formerly homeless families Photo: Aaron Yoshino Sixth in a series of profiles of Hawai‘i’s “Sages Over 70” After 50 years as an architect, Lloyd Sueda still gets up every morning and wants to go to work. “This is my life. If you gave me a choice if I wanted to be a doctor, lawyer or whatever it is, I would be an architect,” Sueda says. He says he initially followed his father and expected to be an artist.
Sages Over Seventy: Eddie Flores
The founder of the L&L family of restaurants still goes to work most days but is now also working on rejuvenating Honolulu’s Chinatown Photo: Aaron Yoshino Fifth in a series of profiles of Hawai‘i’s “Sages Over 70” At 7:30 on weekday mornings, Eddie Flores and his dog Lucky head into the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue offices, even though his daughter, Elisia, is CEO and has been running 80% of the operation for two years.
Sages Over Seventy: Pat Saiki
She exerted enormous influence during decades in public service though she is a proud Republican in a state dominated by Democrats Photo: Aaron Yoshino Fourth in a series of profiles of Hawai‘i’s “Sages Over 70” Miriam Hallreich needed help when she walked into state Sen. Pat Saiki’s office at the state Capitol in the late 1970s.
Sages Over Seventy: Simeon Acoba
Still active today, he was a Hawai‘i Supreme Court associate justice, member of the UH Board of Regents and chair of the Access to Justice Commission Photo: Aaron Yoshino Third in a series of profiles of Hawai‘i’s “Sages Over 70” Simeon Acoba is now 77, but he still remembers a part-time job he had during his undergraduate years at UH in the 1960s. With a chuckle, he describes working nights as a janitor. “That didn’t last long,” he admits.
Sages Over Seventy: Puanani Burgess
The tireless advocate for local communities and equal justice continues to work as a mediator with no thoughts of retiring Photo: Josiah Patterson Second in a series of profiles of Hawai‘i’s “Sages Over 70” Puanani Burgess has been seen working to provide equal justice and opportunities for communities since she was a law student. Now 74, she says she is busier than ever, with a waiting list of people who seek her help as a mediator.
Sages Over Seventy: Walter Dods
The longtime CEO of First Hawaiian Bank is well-known for a multitude of community-building efforts over 60 years and his public service continues today Photo: Aaron Yoshino First in a series of profiles of Hawai‘i’s “Sages Over 70” Walter Dods was working out at the gym about 10 years ago when he suddenly couldn’t move one side of his body. He was rushed to an emergency room, half paralyzed.
CSAs Became a Lifeline in the Pandemic for Consumers and Farmers
The organizations that sell produce directly to consumers have enjoyed dramatic increases in demand during the pandemic. Much of their produce came from farmers whose sales to restaurants declined. Hawai‘i-grown produce comes in many shapes, sizes and colors. | Photo courtesy of Go Farm Hawaiʻi If you walked into a grocery store on Kauaʻi in March 2020, you would have found the shelves bare. A delayed barge in July 2021 left the island short of burgers, pet food and more.
Meadow Gold's Strategy: Double Down on Local
The company’s new owner plans to expand its dairy products and juices while adding a line of soy milk and other plant-based beverages – all with local ingredients Photos: Getty Images; Photo collage: Kelsey Ige Meadow Gold, a company stretching back 124 years in Hawaiʻi plans to continue its legacy by emphasizing local ingredients and local products.
Here’s How Hawai‘i Plans to Expand its Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
New styles to suit every need, personality and driving desire are about to debut in the electric vehicle market. By 2045, forecasts suggest half the vehicles on Hawai‘i’s roads will be electric. That’s half a million vehicles. The challenge facing the state and Hawaiian Electric Co.: Where will everyone plug them in? “We have about 14,000 EVs on the streets now,” says Aki Marceau, Hawaiian Electric’s director of electrification of transportation.
Care that Keeps on Giving
Kaiser Permanente worked with dozens of community organizations to make it much easier for underserved populations to access the COVID-19 vaccination. The COVID-19 Vaccine Challenge In the remote Hawaiʻi Island district of Kaʻū, the resources to vaccinate the entire community against COVID-19 were limited. Its community members rightfully became concerned.
Simple Fire Safety Steps Can Save Your Business
Even when there is no fire, a safety inspection that reveals serious issues could close a business until those problems are fixed. Photo: Getty Images Electrical malfunctions alone caused about 8,200 fires at businesses and other nonresidential buildings in 2019, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. The losses totaled almost half a billion dollars. Even when there is no fire, a safety inspection that reveals serious issues could close a business until those problems are fixed.
My Job: Why Olive Oil? “It’s Liquid Gold”
After Angèl Foster and her husband, Brian, opened Island Olive Oil Co. in 2012, they discovered their company was a lot like an onion, with far more layers than they could have ever imagined.
April Was Great, May Even Better for Hawai‘i Restaurants
The Food Gurus Hawaii Restaurant Index finds Waikīkī and Neighbor Island resort areas did especially well last month. The Nalu Health Bar & Café in Hale‘iwa on O‘ahuʻs North Shore is among the many casual restaurants enjoying a surge in sit-down customers.
“Solopreneurs” Hit Hard But Bouncing Back
Like many local residents, Jennifer Chun had a side business in addition to her full-time jobs, one as a mother and the other as a secretary with the Honolulu Fire Department. As owner of Craving Sugar, she bakes and sells decorative cookies. Chun’s cookies sold well at O‘ahu craft fairs – which also generated custom orders – but “it all just came to a stop” when the pandemic hit in March 2020, she says. “Craft fairs were the way for me to make connections for custom orders,” says Chun.
In-Person Events Are Back But Many Caveats Remain
Event planners want their old audiences back but many have also found new ones: For instance, some Mainland companies are moving in-person events from Europe to American destinations like Hawai‘i, where COVID-19 is less of a risk. “They feel like they’ve gone to an exotic destination, but they’re wrapped in a warm blanket of safety,” says Colleen Reyes, whose Island Style Innovations company books large events here.
15 Tips from Small-Business Owners Who Pivoted and Prevailed
The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Photo: Aaron Yoshino Collaborate with other businesses to dual-market products: Kevin Suehiro, owner of the hot-pot restaurant Nabeya Maido, piggybacked with the Donut King next door in Market City to add sweet treats to some of his hot-pot deliveries and pickups.
An Inspired Plan
Final part of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic Photo: courtesy of Kupu The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. Peter Thoene loved his work as a guide for Hawaii Forest & Trail on Hawai‘i Island, and then managing the company’s expansion to O‘ahu.
Monthly Index Tracks Robust Rebound in Sales at Hawai‘i Restaurants
Food Gurus Hawaii Restaurant Index is based on over 125,000 daily transactions at more than 130 restaurant units statewide. Diners enjoy good food and conversation at Off the Wall in Kaka‘ako's South Shore Market. Welcome to the first edition of the Food Gurus Hawaii Restaurant Index, which tracks the vigorous rebound in local restaurant revenue and customers. Sales in April increased a robust 9% over March, which itself had been stronger than previous months.
Laid Off, But He Found a New Field He Loves
Part 10 of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic Photo: Getty Images The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. The pandemic and an interest in conservation led Kekoa Plauche toward a new career – and possibly a chance to get his college degree.
A Green Formula for Rejuvenation
Kupu used stimulus money to protect the ‘āina and provide new opportunities for hundreds of people. Part 9 of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic. Photo: courtesy of Kupu The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. The ideal outcome is often a win-win – with both sides coming out ahead.
Adding New Skills to Open More Doors
Part 8 of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic Photo: courtesy of Robbieana Leung The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. Robbieana Leung liked being a gig worker, despite the uncertainty of finding each new job.
She Sees a Better Future
Part 7 of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic Photo: Getty Images The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. When Kilara Sutton was laid off from her bartending job in March 2020, she barely had enough savings to last a month.
Free UH Training Aimed to Fill Job Openings
Part 6 of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic Photo: Aaron Yoshino The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. UH, in collaboration with the City and County of Honolulu, used $3 million in CARES Act funding to support 76 types of free classes to retrain residents who lost their jobs.
Survival with Support from Others
Part five of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic Photo: Aaron Yoshino The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. Kalyn Kim’s Business usually picks up in March: The weather is warmer, and folks are hankering for shave ice from Shimazu Store at 330B N. School St. in Nu‘uanu.
A Pueo and his Keeper
Five-year-old Makamae perches on Shari Nishikawa’s protected arm at the Honolulu Zoo. Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino The Hawaiian short-eared owl was rescued on Kaua‘i in 2016, blinded in one eye and too young to know how to hunt on his own. His doting animal keepers now care for him, though he likes Nishikawa best.
Chocolate and Determination Create a Community
Part three of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic Photo: Karen De Borja The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. Erin Kanno Uehara makes upscale chocolates and sells them to locals, tourists, hotels and companies.
Home Hot Pots and Help for Schools and Teachers
Part two of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic Photo: Aaron Yoshino The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. The pandemic upended the future of Kevin Suehiro’s restaurant. And in the long run, that may be a good thing.
Reinventing a Local Tradition: Businesses Helping Each Other
Part one of a series of stories about resilience during the pandemic Photo: Aaron Yoshino The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation. Here is one of those stories. During the first eight months of the pandemic, David Oyadomari says he helped 120 small businesses survive. In fact, many went from the brink of failure to renewed success.
POW! WOW! Celebrates 10 Years at the Bishop Museum
POW! WOW! The First Decade: From Hawaiʻi to the World Presented by Hawaiian Airlines brings Queen Street and Kakaʻako to Bishop Museum in a one-of-a-kind art exhibit. This May, POW! WOW! comes to the Bishop Museum. Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino Putting a city street into a museum is about as hard as you think it would be, but the folks at Pow! Wow! and Bishop Museum have done it. All it took was months of preparation, roughly 800 cans of spray paint and a donated car.
How to Resolve Community Conflicts
Recent high-profile conflicts have blocked Hawai‘i’s efforts to generate renewable electricity, build affordable housing and improve parks. This report looks at recent community conflicts and discusses ways to find common ground and collaboratively move forward. Hundreds of people spent 39 nights in 2019 blocking the arrival of eight 568-foot-tall wind turbines that they said would be set up too close to residences and schools in rural Kahuku.
Secrets of Success After Prison
Photography by: Aaron Yoshino, Jordan Murph, and Candence Feeley It starts with a willingness by former inmates to change and includes supportive programs and caring employers. Perfecting the formula in Hawai‘i is crucial as more inmates are released because of the pandemic and judicial reforms. Carlos Bellotto had been running from the law since he was 22. For eight years he was in and out of prison for drug offenses, promising he’d get treatment if released. But then he’d run again.
Hawaiʻi's People to Watch 2021
Each year, Hawaii Business Magazine honors 20 people who we believe will have a major positive impact on Hawai‘i over the next two decades. They have already proven themselves, but we expect even more from them in the future. Nominate an Emerging Leader: Know someone who belongs on next year’s list of the 20 for the Next 20? Nominate them for the Class of 2022 at hawaiibusiness.com/nominations.
Longtime Airport Lei Seller Stacy Farias Keeps Her Family’s Tradition Going
Since the 1940s, Sophia’s has offered fresh blooms daily. Stacy Farias. Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino Stacy Farias holds up a strand of precious pakalana, strung together with hundreds of delicate flowers, and the sweet scent perfumes the air. More flower lei are arrayed on the table in front of her: pale orange pua kenikeni, plumeria in rainbow shades, precious pakalana, ti twisted into handsome lei for men.
20 for the Next 20: Josie Howard
Josie Howard Executive Director, We Are Oceania During surges of COVID-19 in the Islands last year, Jocelyn “Josie” Howard and another We Are Oceania staff member took food, masks, dignity bags and other personal necessities to more than 100 Pacific Islander families every month. Then the nonprofit added staff and increased donations to more than 200 food boxes and 600 hot meals every week.
20 for the Next 20: Makena Coffman
Makena Coffman Director of UH Mānoa’s Institute for Sustainability and Resilience Makena Coffman has become a go-to person on local environmental issues: everything from climate change and sea level rise to electric vehicles and emission standards. She is director of UH Mānoa’s Institute for Sustainability and Resilience; chair of Honolulu’s Climate Change Commission; and a member of UHERO, the university’s economics research organization. “Reducing greenhouse gases is going to be hard work.
20 for the Next 20: Jamie Cheng
Jamie Cheng Director of Commercial Operations American Savings Bank When congress passed the Paycheck Protection Program in March 2020, Jamie Cheng’s team of a dozen commercial bankers at American Savings Bank was ready. Working in shifts, they and the bank’s credit team handled 4,100 loans, secured $370 million in federal funds and saved an estimated 40,000 Hawai‘i jobs, says Ann Teranishi, her ASB manager. “The first time around it was madness,” Cheng remembers.
A Legacy in Lei-Making with Stacy Farias
Lei stand Sophia's—located at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport—has been passed down through three generations, and continues to sell colorful handcrafted lei to visitors and locals alike. Stacy Farias holds up a strand of precious pakalana, strung together with hundreds of delicate flowers, and the sweet scent perfumes the air.
6 Marketing Principles for Hawaiʻi
Illustrations: Kelsey Ige Experts explain how to ensure your marketing campaigns are effective in the local market AND for the particular audience you want to reach 1. Consider Both Traditional and New Media Dennis Christianson, a marketing master who has spent a career successfully helping to sell the goods of Hawai‘i’s large and small businesses, has an important rule: When you begin a marketing campaign, start with a blank slate.
2020 CEO of the Year Micah Kāne
Photography by Aaron K. Yoshino Join us to honor Micah Kāne, the 2020 CEO of the Year, on Thursday, December 10 at 3PM HST. Register today! The Hawai‘i Community Foundation has been an important charitable force in the Islands for 104 years, but never more than in this year of the pandemic. Kāne ensures the foundation focuses on both the long-term quality of life statewide and the immediate needs of people who might otherwise be forgotten.
Going, Going, But Not Yet Gone: Gender Bias in Family Businesses
Trilogy Excursions is a family business on Maui. Co-founder Randy Coon, center in the blue shirt, is surrounded by family members on board the boat Trilogy II in Ma‘alea Harbor. Some of those working in the family business are in this photo: Gabe and Ginger Lucy (front row at left) and Denver Coon (front row, second from right) and Lily Campbell, at the right end of the top row.
COVID-19 Could Spell the End of Honolulu’s Decades-Old Lei Shops at the Airport
Milan Chun. Photo: Beverly Creamer Half a dozen long white orchid lei are carefully laid out along the table in front of Charles Umi at Gladys’ Lei Stand at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. Umi’s daughter, Bonnie Groendyke, picks up another half dozen and holds the glorious display that the family was producing for a friend’s wedding.
At Honolulu’s Airport, Only a Few Lei Stands Open Each Day
If there is an epicenter for business hardship in Hawai‘i’s flower industry, it may be at the lei stands at Honolulu’s Inouye International Airport. “I cried when we shut down in March and April. I couldn’t stand seeing this place when no one was here,” says Bonnie Groendyke, whose family has operated the booth named Gladys’ for three generations. Groendyke grew up at the airport lei stand with her family working around her. “Day and night, this is where we were.
Construction Helps Drive the Local Economy in Tourism’s Absence
Seth Gonzales of Honolulu Proper runs koa boards through a jointer in his Kailua workshop | Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino Projects big and small, public and private, keep construction as the major economic sector with the fewest layoffs A spacious and well-stocked warehouse in Kapolei is helping power the strongest major sector in Hawai‘i’s hobbled economy. So is a custom-cabinet maker based in Kailua and a woodworking shop in Kāne‘ohe.
The Pandemic is Not Gender Neutral
Nikki Nakamura had to change jobs in the middle of the pandemic. Read her story and that of others below. | Photography: Aaron K. Yoshino Working women suffer disproportionately from the recession in their finances, careers and health Nikki Nakamura and her husband still sit at each end of the dining room table, just as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. But so much else about their lives has changed. And though both work full time, it is her work that has been disrupted the most.
Reopening Hawai‘i Tourism Part II: Should We Change the Visitor Industry?
View of Hanauma Bay | Photography by Aaron Yoshino Many people inside and outside the tourism sector want a reinvention of Hawai‘i’s No. 1 industry so that it welcomes tourists while enhancing sustainability of nature and culture here. Second of a two-part tourism report. The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact offer unexpected opportunities, according to Kalani Ka‘anā‘ana, director of Hawaiian Cultural Affairs and Natural Resources for the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.
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