Maui Business

The Rotary Club of Kīhei Sunrise, the Rotary Club of Kīhei-Wailea, the Rotary Club of Upcountry and the Rotary Club of Wailuku fared well at the District 5000 Convention, competing successfully in a field on 51 clubs in the district.

This year’s Josh Jerman Maui Nui Scholarship recipients are Sarah Jenkins from Moloka‘i High School, Marc Pader from Lāna‘i High School and Ja‘ie Victorine-Dyment from Hāna High and Elementary School.

Hawaiian Airlines and Executive Chef Chai Chaowasaree have announced the launch of a new inflight culinary program featuring menu items specially designed by five of Hawaiʻi’s top chefs.

Thanks to Kula resident Arnie Koss and his twin brother, Ron, there’s a new choice in Hawaiʻi for ice cream lovers who want a treat that’s both richly delicious and smartly nutritious. The new product, Brio, can be found at all Foodland, Sack N Save, KTA and Don Quijote stores statewide, as well as in Pukalani Superette, Haʻi-kū Grocery Store and Island Grocery Depot on Maui.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige applauds the preclearance program, in which immigration, customs and agriculture inspections can be completed before departure from the originating country, allowing passengers to avoid additional processing or delays at domestic airports.

Seascape Māʻalaea Restaurant has been awarded TripAdvisor’s 2015 Certificate of Excellence and Maui Ocean Center has been inducted into its Hall of Fame for achieving a Certificate of Excellence for five consecutive years.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security intends to expand preclearance to 10 new foreign airports, including Japan’s Narita International Airport, providing greater ease of access to the Hawaiian Islands.

County of Maui Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and the Maui Chamber of Commerce released a new brochure this week outlining the impact of the annual Made in Maui County Festival on local businesses. This information is part of an effort to encourage private sector sponsorship of this year’s festival, a popular event dedicated to growing our islands’ business community.

Cargo shipments between Honolulu and six Neighbor Island ports decreased by 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year, according to the Young Brothers Quarterly Shipping Report.

Matson Inc. has recently completed its acquisition of Horizon Lines Inc., which includes Horizon’s Alaska operations and the assumption of all non-Hawaiʻi business liabilities, according to a PRNewswire release.

For the first quarter of 2015, total visitor expenditures increased on Maui by 5.4% and Kauaʻi by 6.2%, but declined on Hawaiʻi Island by 8.3% and Oʻahu by 1.8%. Total visitor expenditures of $5 billion were similar last year during the same time period, according to preliminary statistics recently released by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority.

Wailuku’s gas price average of $3.38 remains unchanged since last Thursday; the price is 14 cents more than on this date last month and $1.07 less on this date last year, according to the AAA Hawaiʻi Weekend Gas Watch.

Pūlama Lānaʻi has promoted Harrilynn Kameʻenui to senior vice president of administration and Edwin Petteys to senior vice president of natural resources.

The Friends of the Children’s Justice Center has launched its Summer Volunteer Drive.

The Maui Hemp Institute for Research & Innovation Organizing Committee invites the public to a free open house in Kīhei on Sunday, June 7, showcasing Maui’s first home built with hemp construction materials.

Waikapū Properties, LLC is proposing the development of nearly 500 acres for a mixed-use residential community within and around the Maui Tropical Plantation.

Walgreens is proposing the construction of its fourth full-service Maui location at a site currently used to host a daily open air market next to McDonald’s on South Kīhei Road. Construction on the 12,550 square foot store is proposed to begin once plans and permit applications are approved, and is expected to be completed by 2017 according to a Draft Environmental Assessment filed for the project.

Maui Business Brainstormers is kicking off its third year of “Masters of Retail Success on Maui” on Wednesday, June 10, when guests will have the opportunity to hear “How I did it” from four retail business owners, who will share “the bad times and the good, embedding valuable insights and gems of advice.”

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations reported today that the unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) for Maui County in April 2015 is 4.1%.

Aloha United Way has allocated $3.6 million dollars in community impact funding to 45 local nonprofits organizations in the areas of education, poverty prevention and safety net.