Maui Business

Skechers officially opened its new Maui store Friday with a ribbon-cutting event at its Dairy Road location. The national shoe store retail chain contributed $75,000 to help with Maui recovery after the August 2023 wildfires.

The LahainaTown Action Committee, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, hosts a special holiday edition of the Kōkua for Maui Shop Local and Show Aloha event, taking place on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa. This event invites the community and visitors to come together in support of Lahaina’s resilient local businesses in time for holiday shopping.

Honolulu Cookie Company has opened a store at Whalers Village in Kāʻanapali.

The state Department of Accounting and General Services and the Stadium Authority announced the approval of Aloha Halawa District Partners as the preferred offeror for the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District and that the NASED process is on track to open the new Aloha Stadium for the 2028 University of Hawaiʻi football season.

Nathaniel Kinney is the new executive director of the Pacific Resource Partnership, a nonprofit representing the Hawai‘i Regional Council of Carpenters, the largest construction union in the state with about 6,000 members.

Joshua Gately has been appointed as vice president of development for the James Campbell Company LLC, a $5 billion private, Hawai‘i-based real estate investment company with origins that date back to 1860.

In its 13th annual Share the Love event, Subaru Hawaiʻi will donate $350 to a local nonprofit for every Subaru purchased in Hawaiʻi. The promotion began Nov. 1 and runs through Dec. 31.

Maui Federal Credit Union has a new trade name, “MauiFed.” The move to simplify the financial institution’s name and avoid confusion comes after 86 years of serving the Maui community.

Queen Kaʻahumanu Center welcomes the popular Aloha wear brand Lexbreezy Hawaiʻi to the center for an exclusive pop-up, Nov. 8-11, 2024.

More than 350 supporters gathered at the Wailea Beach Resort–Marriott, Maui, on Saturday, Oct. 26 for Maui Economic Development Board’s Ke Alahele Education Fund Benefit Dinner & Auction. Proceeds from the event will directly support MEDB’s STEM programs, which provide students here at home with learning opportunities spanning from kindergarten to college and beyond, shaping future generations of innovators and leaders.

The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Small Business Regulatory Review Board, which oversees rules and regulations for Hawai‘i small businesses, has announced its officers for fiscal year 2024 to 2025.

Maui County continued to have the largest vacation rental supply in the state in September — 263,900 available unit nights, compared with 230,500 on Oʻahu, 214,600 on Hawaiʻi Island and 136,600 on Kauaʻi, according to a monthly vacation rental performance report by the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism is urging local small businesses to complete the Federal Reserve Bank’s annual Small Business Credit Survey.

The Hawaiʻi Pacific Export Council, in partnership with key Maui business support organizations and Amazon, successfully hosted the Maui Business Resilience Summit at UH Maui College’s Pilina Building.

The US Small Business Administration has awarded the Hawaiʻi Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism $525,000 to continue the Hawaiʻi State Trade Expansion Program.

Four local food-focused entrepreneurs will share a total of $50,000 in cash prizes to expand and scale their businesses as winners of Kamehameha Schools’ 2024 Mahi‘ai Match-Up, a business plan competition that aims to strengthen Hawai‘i’s food system. The winning companies — Hā Tonics, The Local General Store, Polipoli Farms, and Manu Brewing Co. — were honored Thursday at ʻAha ʻAina Pauahi, a celebration at the Royal Hawaiian Center. 

Hawaiian Airlines commemorated 40 years of service connecting Honolulu and Pago Pago in America Samoa on Thursday. Hawaiian Airlines inaugurated flights to Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa on Oct. 24, 1984, with DC-8 aircraft, starting its long relationship with the US territory.

The Hawaiʻi State Federal Credit Union announced its merger with HMSA Employees’ Federal Credit Union following a final member vote on Oct. 15, 2024.

The county’s unemployment rate in September was 4%, compared to the 8.5% rate in September 2023, a month after the Maui wildfire disaster in early August last year. In August of this year, the county’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 4%.

A new deal between the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, Meet Hawai‘i and JTB seeks to recover the pipeline of Japan business meetings in Hawai‘i.