Maui Business

After a recent fire severely damaged Makawao bicycle shop Krank Cycles, the shop, which focuses on community outreach, is on the road to recovery. Owner Aaron “Moose” Reichert said his flagship Makawao location nearly lost everything, but people in the community stepped in to help and he’s now opened a temporary location a couple doors down.

An additional 55,000 locations were enabled with fiber-to-the-premise service in 2022, including parts of Wailuku, Maui, Hawaiian Telcom reports.

The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua has unveiled a new room category – The Fire Lānai Collection, the final phase of its $100 million transformation.

The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority has released two Requests for Proposals to procure brand management and marketing services for the United States, as well as support services for destination stewardship.

Hawaiʻi’s very first SONIC Drive-In opens on Maui, Monday Feb. 20, 2023. The opening will feature the debut of the new SONIC Teriyaki Burger, developed exclusively for the Maui drive-in in partnership with the Aloha Shoyu Company.

Maui Office of Economic Development invites the public to participate for free in six events planned for the Maui County 2023 National Entrepreneurship Week.

The second Core Four Business Planning series of this year, offered by Maui Economic Opportunity’s Business Development Center, begins March 7 at MEO in Kahului. Core Four offers 24 hours of instruction on how to start, operate and grow a business and is perfect for those thinking of starting a business or in the early stages and in need of further direction, according to a news release.

When Gemma Alvior made her first lehua flower design in 2016, she had no idea her work would grow over the pandemic and bloom into nationally-recognized fashion line Pulelehua Maui. Now, the Maui designer is opening her flagship brick-and-mortar boutique in Kahului.

During a recent Maui TechOhana, 45 entrepreneurs heard a presentation from guest speaker Jen Chiu, who led a design innovation team at Google, about the “Future of Work.”

Hawaiian Telcom ran their annual campaign with the employees contributing $2,843 and Hawaiian Telcom adding $10,500 to bring it to a total of $13,343 for Maui United Way’s 2022-2023 campaign.

Maui had a 95.1% recovery in visitors in 2022, compared to 2019, with 2.9 million people visiting Maui last year.  Total visitor spending was $5.69 billion in 2022, up 11% from 2019.  The year-end data was released by the state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism.  

Maui County had the largest vacation rental supply, occupancy and average daily rates of all four counties last month, according to a recent state report.

Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE: CPF), parent company of Central Pacific Bank, recently reported net income for the fourth quarter of 2022 of $20.2 million, compared to $16.7 million in the previous quarter and $22.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

After the height of remote work due to the pandemic in 2020, Hawai’i now has about 20% of its workforce still working remotely, at home or in a hybrid arrangement — and that may not change much in the future, according to Hawai’i economist Paul Brewbaker. 

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement has been awarded a total of $1,053,000 in funding to expand operations for its Pop-Up Mākeke, an online marketplace supporting more than 500 of Hawai‘i’s businesses.

Krank Cycles, one of Maui’s original bicycle shops, gives away bikes to kids and helps repair bikes free in Maui County communities each year.

For the first time, Hawaiian Electric is seeking requests to develop firm renewable capacity on Maui and O’ahu.

Hilton Grand Vacations, a global timeshare company, has gifted $100,000 to 10 local nonprofit organizations in Hawai‘i, including Ka Hale A Ke Ola homeless resource center and the Pacific Whale Foundation on Maui.

Maui County again topped other counties last month when it came to hotel average daily room rates and revenue per available room, according to data recently released by Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority.

In his new role, Nāhoʻopiʻi is responsible for the administrative, fiscal, procurement, and human resources operations of HTA, as well as the management of the Hawaiʻi Convention Center. Nāhoʻopiʻi succeeds Keith Regan who departed HTA in August 2022.