Nov 17, 2011 | Small Business
Valley Isle Gymnastics is not just Maui’s longest-lived gymnastics training center offering wholesome and healthy activities for young athletes of all skill levels in a fun and safe atmosphere. Once again this September, the gym hosted the Special Olympics Cartwheel Festival, which has raised $26,500 for Special Olympics Maui over the last eight years. Being involved in voluntary community service has resulted in numerous awards and recognitions, and Valley Isle Gymnastics’ success as an enterprise as has brought it the Maui County Small Business of the Year Award.
Founder and co-owner of Valley Isle Gymnastics, Rusty Gage, believes his business also stands out because of the honesty and character in its members and staff. “I think our business has been successful because its foundation is based on work ethic and passion,” said Gage. “I’m thrilled to have staff members with spirit, in a world where workplace complacency is all too common.” The gym goes to great lengths to screen potential staff members and seek the most positive character traits. “Character and integrity probably best sums up our daily operations.” Gage believes business success is down to “implementing and knowing your craft, knowing how to be financially responsible with the business, and knowing how to relate to the clients who are responsible for your existence.”
Gage moved to Maui from Texas, where he ran a similar business. In pursuing his dream of living in the tropics, Gage now has nine employees and the center currently serves nearly 500 young athletes from infants to 18, offering developmental, recreational and competitive gymnastics. “We do not seek to convert every young person into becoming a gymnast,” Gage said. “Rather, we seek to motivate and encourage Maui’s youth to explore the fun things their bodies can do, and to challenge themselves while ensuring that they know the option to become more of a focused gymnast is always available.”
Sep 22, 2011 | Environment, Events, Small Business
This year’s Advanced Maui Optical and Space Technologies (AMOS) Conference provided an unmatched opportunity for Maui Oceanit Program Manager Curt Leonard. “To remain relevant in any business environment it is important to maintain close ties with “old friends” from industry while at the same time exploring new companies and emerging technologies,” Leonard said. The AMOS Conference is a program of the Maui Economic Development Board, whose mission includes taking innovative actions that strengthen existing industry as well as diversifying through new opportunities. The event held in Wailea earlier this month drew more than 600 participants from across the United States and countries such as Spain, Germany and Italy. The growing interest in the event is testament to its worldwide reputation as the premier space situational awareness conference in the world, taking full advantage of its location on Maui and the island’s cutting-edge telescopes atop 10,000-foot Haleakala.
Oceanit typically sets up an exhibit booth during the conference to help facilitate introductions to the company’s capabilities and serve as an ice breaker for business development discussions. Leonard said the event also gives Oceanit a chance to give back to the local community. “As a company we are committed to making a difference in our community, a mantra that is woven into Oceanit corporate fabric,” he said. This year Oceanit volunteered staff to guide students making a tour of conference exhibits and attending a session with an astronaut. “This is a huge hit with middle school students and Oceanit is proud to play a small role in a wonderful opportunity to expose and encourage Maui students to consider career paths in science, technology, engineering and math,” Leonard said. He added that part of Oceanit’s vision is to contribute to a thriving technology industry in Hawaii, to diversify its economy, and ensure that students who go into science and technology fields have a place to work in Hawaii. Oceanit’s Maui office has expertise in optical sciences and design, robotic systems, and consulting engineering; it currently has a contract to evaluate Kahului Harbor shoreline protection options to prevent beach erosion.
Jan 6, 2011 | Small Business
The New Year is a time of renewed optimism, and for all of us, including business, to look ahead. Small businesses are key players in economic sustainability, as the Focus Maui Nui process has verified. Bill and Maureen Marrs believe being in business means respecting and taking care of people—starting with the people closest to them, their children.
Those personal values are the key reasons their Marmac Ace Hardware Store will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2011 after being named the 2010 SBA Family-Owned Business of the Year for Maui County. The 4th generation of the Marrs-McCurdy family is working at the store, alongside several dozen other employees who might as well be family.
Running a successful small business takes a personal commitment to customers, but also to employees. It also takes flexibility to adapt to changing economic conditions while understanding what the customer needs – even if the customer doesn’t know. The key is having staff that knows.
“Among my employees, we have 150 diplomas in trades. Everybody is certified in my plumbing and electrical sections. All the employees in the departments not only have know how to sell it, they have to know how to replace it,” Marrs says. It means providing training for the staff, providing compensation and benefits that keep them onboard and respecting their opinions, he says.
“I think we have it right with the campaigns to buy locally and to support home-grown businesses. You want to keep the money here on Maui, where the dollars are spent again right here on the island,” says Marrs. “I believe in leadership. I believe if somebody else has a better idea, we’ll go with that idea. I believe you respect and reward your employees.”
Dec 15, 2010 | Small Business
Focus Maui Nui participants have consistently cited the value of small businesses in our community as an important economic asset. One small business that has survived successfully in a changing marketplace is Hamai Appliance, in large part because it has adapted to the change. But a business also survives by doing what it does best. Doing both is Hamai Appliance’s not-so-well-kept secret to success.
“We’re fortunate that we’re still around, but I think one of the reasons is we continue to provide servicing for what we sell,” says President Clyde Hamai. “That’s what makes us different from our larger competitors; we do our own servicing.”
The last independent appliance/electronics businesses on Maui, Hamai recalled when all the appliance stores were locally owned businesses. Maui’s growth brought more customers, and it also brought the warehouse retailers.
Since his parents, Lester and Clara Hamai, founded the appliance business in September 1969, the business has adjusted its product line. It relies on mainstays Panasonic and GE, but there are new lines such as top-end brands like Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Thermador – and new merchandise such as Simmons mattresses.
Hamai joined a national buying group to counter the purchasing strength of the “big box” warehouse stores and set up its own website, www.hamai.appliance.com. “The customers have changed too,” observes Hamai. But Hamai Appliance customers know what they are getting: quality products, service and a staff of 18 people who know their products. “When you’re small, everybody has to do everything,” he says.
“Sure, the larger stores may sometimes undercut us on pricing, but we have a track record for servicing. At most of our competitors, if something breaks, the customer has to find someone else to fix it, and there are some brands for which there is no local servicing available. We even keep records of our customer’s major purchases in our system so they won’t have to worry about warranty information. Our customers recognize that.”
Valley Isle Gymnastics is not just Maui’s longest-lived gymnastics training center offering wholesome and healthy activities for young athletes of all skill levels in a fun and safe atmosphere. Once again this September, the gym hosted the Special Olympics Cartwheel Festival, which has raised $26,500 for Special Olympics Maui over the last eight years. Being involved in voluntary community service has resulted in numerous awards and recognitions, and Valley Isle Gymnastics’ success as an enterprise as has brought it the Maui County Small Business of the Year Award.
