Island Inc. | Business briefs 9-2-13

Vendors sought for West Hawaii Building & Design Expo

The Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce is seeking vendors for the ninth annual Building & Design Expo Oct. 25 to 27 at the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay.

On Friday, the event is open to the public from 5 to 8 p.m. and includes a no-host bar and musical entertainment.

Weekend expo hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. There will be more than 60 exhibits featuring home design, construction and remodel ideas including home decorating; roofing and decking; flooring and window treatments; kitchen and baths; solar products and more.

Vendor booths will offer products, services and information relating to the building and improvement of homes, apartments and condos. There will also be a variety of local plants for sale and cooking demonstrations with Chef Ivan Whitworth.

For more information, call 329-1758 or visit kona-kohala.com.

Endowment helps develop future business leaders

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii has created The Keith Vieira Hoowaiwai a Hoonaauao Endowed Scholarship to honor Keith Vieira’s 36-year career in the visitor industry, 33 of which he spent with Starwood. Vieira currently serves as senior vice president and director of operations for Hawaii and French Polynesia at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

The announcement of the scholarship was made at a celebration honoring both Vieira’s end-of-year retirement and Starwood Hawaii’s 50-year partnership with Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts.

“As a valued friend, mentor and colleague, we created an endowed scholarship in Keith’s name at his alma mater, the University of Hawaii’s Shidler College of Business,” said Cheryl Williams, Starwood Hawaii’s regional director of sales and marketing. “The scholarship will support undergraduate and graduate students from Hawaii high schools pursuing degrees at the Shidler College of Business.”

Williams added, “Hoowaiwai a Hoonaauao means to be enriched by education, a phrase that best reflects Keith’s passion for mentoring others and for his ongoing commitment to education.”

Under Vieira’s leadership, Starwood has grown to 14 hotels in Hawaii and French Polynesia. Born and raised in Hilo, Vieira graduated from the Shidler College of Business with a degree in personnel and industrial relations. He began his career with Starwood in 1980, beginning a rise into progressively more responsible management positions. He was named to lead the region in 1998.

Vieira has served two terms as a member of the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Vieira also serves on the boards of numerous local charities.

For more information, visit uhfoundation.org/keithvieira.

Lumber demand led by construction boost

With continued growth in the local and national construction sector, the lumber industry is expected to enter a cycle where production demands remain strong and increase steadily over the next few years. The start of 2013 showed a 9.5 percent rise in lumber production levels from the same period in 2012, according to a report from the Wood Resource Quarterly.

“The lumber industry is about to take off,” said Ken Laughlin, Hawaii Lumber Products Association president. “As demand and production rates rise, so will the popularity of this renewable and sustainable building material.”

Nationwide starts of privately owned housing this past July shot up 20.9 percent from July 2012, as recently reported by the U.S. Commerce Department. Authorization of building permits for privately owned housing also went up by 12.4 percent.

Local experts believe Hawaii will be on trend to follow the national rise in construction.

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations released its employment forecast for the third quarter of 2014, and it shows a 12.8 percent increase in construction employment, equaling 3,750 more jobs. Construction is expected to lead all other major industries to help bump the state’s overall employment by 4 percent or an additional 26,690 new jobs.

The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization stated in its latest release that the local construction industry is in “cyclical expansion” and predicts a jump in job opportunities by more than 9 percent for this year. It is estimated that by 2015 there will be around 10,000 more construction jobs than in 2012.

UHERO also believes that there will be a 3.3 percent rise in inflation-adjusted personal income in 2014. A healthy economy and more disposable income will continue to boost lumber demand as home improvements and remodeling account for a major portion of current lumber sales.

With Hawaii’s aging homes facing damage from fungal decay and pests such as termites, repairs and additions eventually become necessary. One small sign that homeowners may be ready to upgrade is the 25 percent jump in attendance of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii’s annual “Remodel It Right, Remodel It Green Expo” held earlier this month — nearly 10,000 local residents showed up.

Even on a global level, lumber seems poised to benefit from the expected 70 percent surge — $15 trillion — in worldwide construction by 2025, according to the “Global Construction 2025” report issued by Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics.

Hilo Hattie celebrates Hawaii’s coffee industry with new line

Hilo Hattie has partnered with the Hawaii Coffee Association by launching a line of products celebrating the 200th anniversary of cultivating coffee in Hawaii.

The first evidence of the introduction of coffee plants to the Hawaiian Islands is a journal entry by Don Francisco de Paula y Marin dated Jan. 21, 1813, of having planted coffee seedlings on Oahu. While not much is known of the fate of those first plants, it set the stage for a coffee industry that is cultivated by hundreds of farmers and stretches from Hawaii Island to Kauai.

Hilo Hattie customers will find assorted mugs, coasters and T-shirts printed with coffee-related designs. There’s also a line of coffee-inspired, conversational aloha shirts utilizing Hilo Hattie’s new Classic Sandcloth.

– MOVERS & SHAKERS –

Matson receives awards

Logistics Management magazine recently awarded Matson Navigation Company Inc. and Matson Logistics Inc. with Quest for Quality awards. In the transportation and logistics industry, this is an important measure of customer satisfaction and performance excellence. For the past 30 years, buyers of transportation and logistics services have ranked service providers on five criteria: on-time performance, value, information technology, customer service and equipment and operations. This year’s survey was completed by more than 6,000 participants.

Matson was one of 12 companies honored in the ocean carriers category. Matson Logistics was one of five logistics providers recognized in the intermodal marketing companies category.

“Matson’s mission is to move freight better than anyone,” said Matt Cox, president and CEO. “The recognition is a direct reflection of the commitment to excellence throughout Matson, in every line of our business.”

The Quest for Quality awards will be formally presented to Matson and Matson Logistics Oct. 23 in Denver, in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ annual conference.

Hilo Hattie, Merrie Monarch Festival earn awards

The Hawaii Tourism Authority recently presented this year’s Tourism Legacy Awards during the 2013 Hawaii Tourism Conference Legacy Awards luncheon at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Recipients included Hilo Hattie and the Merrie Monarch Festival, both of which are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year.

Miho heading UH-Hilo’s development team

The University of Hawaii Foundation has promoted Mariko Miho to executive director of development, Hilo. She most recently served as the senior director of development, regional and community colleges at the UH Foundation. In this new role, Miho will manage the UH-Hilo development team and expand the partnership with UH-Hilo, one of the fastest growing colleges in the UH System.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Miho graduated from the UH-Manoa in 1980 with a bachelor’s of arts degree in psychology and has been working in leadership and development positions supporting public higher education for the past 18 years.

Japanese Chamber announces new officers, strategy

The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaii has begun strategic planning to set the agenda for the future of the 63-year-old business organization.

Carol VanCamp, chamber president, said the strategy is aimed at the next five to 10 years, making sure the chamber is meeting current needs of its members and community. VanCamp is a senior associate with CBRE Inc., and set up CBRE’s first Hilo office. She has been active in East Hawaii business and community organizations for many years and is secretary of Hawaii Health Systems Corp. statewide board of directors.

VanCamp is the third woman in its history to lead the chamber; Jan Higashi was president in 1999-2000 and Phoebe Lambeth was president from 2006-08. VanCamp was installed this summer as chamber president during ceremonies that included representatives of the Higashi-Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce.

Other new officers include: David Honma of First Hawaiian Bank, first vice president; Darren Nishioka of CU Hawaii; second vice president; Russell Arikawa of Ginoza Realty Inc., third vice president; Donn Mende of Hawaii County, treasurer; Ivan Nakano of Kamaaina Nissan, auditor; Naomi Menor of Naomi’s World Travel Service, Japanese secretary.

The strategic planning is being led by chamber board member Mike Miyahira of Business Strategies Inc.

The chamber fosters economic sustainability, as well as perpetuating the Japanese cultural heritage and traditions in Hawaii. Its mission is to promote the wellbeing of our community through business and personal relationships that embody the values of “Kahiau and Okage Sama De.” In Hawaiian, Kahiau means “giving without expecting anything in return.” “Okage Sama De” is a Japanese proverb that means “I am what I am because of you.”

The chamber sponsors the annual Taste of Hilo. It also hosts business and cultural events and information sessions throughout the year and works with other business organizations as a watchdog over state and county legislation.

Airline promotes loyalty marketing director

Hawaiian Airlines has appointed Matthew Chang to the position director of loyalty marketing. In this role, he is responsible for developing strategies and initiatives that will expand the airline’s network for millions of its HawaiianMiles members.

Chang has 18 years of direct and loyalty marketing experience in the areas of retail, e-commerce, media and publishing and education. Prior to joining Hawaiian Airlines, he held various senior marketing management positions at various major U.S. corporations, including Toys R Us and Babies R Us, Williams-Sonoma, Time Warner, and Simon Property Group.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Honolulu, Chang graduated from McKinley High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics with concentrations in marketing and accounting from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s of business administration degree from Columbia University.

By local sources