Business

Independent grocer manages his family’s business.

By Melissa Kelsey

“Independent grocers are a dying breed,” said Kevin Misaki, the General Manager at Misaki’s in Kaunakakai. The father of three children and an avid fisher and diver, Misaki is the third generation manager of the Molokai family-owned grocery.

From new refrigeration equipment to fresh coats of paint, shoppers at Misaki’s have enjoyed the shop’s recent improvements. New cash registers will be installed in six months or so, according to Misaki. The roof has been repaired and internal construction renovations have made the grocery more shopper-friendly. Misaki said Molokai’s small population dissuades large chain-store competitors and helps small businesses like Misaki’s thrive.  

Misaki came back to Molokai in 1979 to continue his family’s business after he graduated from college on Oahu. He said he had initially considered majoring in Oceanography, but later changed course and graduated with a degree in Marketing because he thought it would be easier to find a job on Molokai in that field.

“I think for young people, it is how important it is to actually live here,” said Misaki. “It is about what they are willing to sacrifice.”

Business Center hosts Resource Day.    

By Melissa Kelsey

For an island of old, family establishments where new ideas can involve piles of bureaucratic paperwork, Molokai might seem like a daunting place to start a business. But for Molokai Business Resource Day attendee Suzanne Olsson, new businesses are one avenue toward creating an even more sustainable lifestyle for Molokai’s residents, building a thriving micro-economy.

“I feel positive and hopeful for Molokai,” said Olsson. “We have so many resources here.”

Molokai Business Resource Day provided resources and training for Molokai entrepreneurs at the Kuha`o Business Center in Kaunakakai last Wednesday. The event was sponsored by the County of Maui Office of Economic Development and the State of Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Molokai Small Business Specialist Annette Pauole-Ahakuelo said most attendees were either newcomers to Molokai or were returning home after having lived off-island. Lots of people are starting their own businesses as a result of having trouble finding employment, according to Pauole-Ahakuelo. During regular business hours, Kuha`o Business Center offers free assistance to Molokai residents who have a goal of starting their own business.

“Our center is very special and we try to make it as Molokai friendly as possible,” said Pauole-Ahakuelo. “If aunty does not know the answer, we can find it together.”

MEC gets funds for land acquisition.

A depiction of Phase 1 and 2 of the MEC campus shows the current buildings to the left of the dashed diagonal line in the picture’s left half. The portion to the right of the line shows Phase 2 on the three acres of land to be acquired.

By Catherine Cluett

Molokai boasts many successful college graduates, and now, thanks to $500,000 recently allocated by the state legislature to expand the Molokai Education Center (MEC), students will have more opportunities to complete their education right here on Molokai.

The three-acre land acquisition project was at the top of Senator Kalani English and Representative Mele Carroll’s legislative priority lists this year, according to Donna Haytko-Paoa, MEC’s Coordinator and Professor. She said the development project is phase two of the campus’ original plan, expanding the current two-acre campus to five acres.

Dept. of Parks and Recreation gets a new base yard

Officials from the Department of Parks and Recreation break ground at the department’s future base yard facility.

By Catherine Cluett

It’s been a long, cramped wait for a space to call their own for the Department of Parks and Recreation on Molokai,. Last Friday marked the groundbreaking for a new base yard at Duke Maliu Park, a project that first came to the table about six years ago, according to Molokai’s Zachary Helm, Deputy Director of Maui County Parks and Recreation.

Reverend Jimmy Duvauchelle offered a blessing for the effort, and participants dug golden shovels in the earth where the future building will stand.

By Melissa Kelsey

For Kalaupapa residents waiting to hear if and when this year’s barge delivery would be made to the peninsula, an announcement last Friday assuring their life-line delivery came as a relief to many. The settlement’s annual barge that delivers fuel, food and equipment will sail on August 1 from Honolulu to Kalaupapa, according to Kalaupapa National Park Service (NPS) Superintendent Steve Prokop. Because of a shortage in the fuel supply delivered last year, the settlement has already been observing strict fuel rations since last winter.

For the first time in Kalaupapa’s history, Prokop said the NPS secured a five-year contract with Young Brothers to manage a barge delivery to Kalaupapa every summer through 2014. Before this year, the NPS has negotiated a barge delivery contract and sailing date on an annual basis.

Owners put business up for sale.     

By Melissa Kelsey

From relaxing and playing pool with friends to savoring a tasty burger and a cold beer, Paddlers Inn Restaurant and Bar has been a favorite hangout for Molokai residents for the past four years. It was also one of only two bars on the island.

Last week, owners Robert and Sharon Spruiell of Arizona announced their decision to shut down Paddlers and put the restaurant up for sale. The eatery stayed open through last Friday and hosted a graduation party. The Spruiells hope to sell the business to a buyer who will re-open the space as a restaurant.

“It is sad for Molokai because it is one less place to eat and have some drinks with friends,” said employee Michael Helm, who worked there from day one.

Mrs. Spruiell said she and her husband decided to close Paddlers because it was too difficult to operate from the mainland. She also cited the economy and dwindling clientele as contributing factors to the decision.

Paddlers employed 26 employees on its regular payroll, in addition to artists and contractors hired for individual events, according to Mrs. Spruiell. Manager Curtis Akiona said he will miss the regular customers, his co-workers and the owners.    

Helm said the employees were given very short notice about the closing.

Robert and Sharon Spruiell inherited Paddlers last year after their son Robert Spruiell Jr., known on Molokai as Kamuela Kamakana, died in Florida.   

West end mansion moves forward.

By Melissa Kelsey

For an island that prides itself in having no building taller than a coconut tree, many are wondering how construction has been approved for a west end home that some say will be the largest single-family house on agricultural land in the State of Hawaii. But the short answer is simple: there are no laws preventing it.

After their 6.5 acre land purchase in Kaluakoi, the Zappacosta family submitted an application to Maui County to build a farm dwelling. The single-family home’s design calls for eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, covering a total of 21,642 square feet, roughly the size of 20 Molokai homes combined. County of Maui Department of Planning Director Jeffrey Hunt said the estate plan also includes several acres of farmland designated for fruit trees.

Some Molokai residents welcomed the project because of the jobs its construction will create for the island.

“Everyone on my construction crew is Hawaiian, and most of them are saving up to buy a home of their own,” said one Molokai building industry representative.

“I never asked to be in a society in which you need money to survive, but we need money to pay our bills,” he said in support of the project.  

Another community member expressed concern that the extensive operation would not be conducted in a way that is pono, and encouraged everyone involved in the project to study native Hawaiian protocol.

“I am worried about the future of Molokai and I am trying to protect the lands of my ancestors,” he said, pointing out that the construction workers may find human remains.

Molokai slaughterhouse re-opens for business on Wednesdays.

By Melissa Kelsey

Living a sustainable lifestyle on Molokai is not always glamorous. The Molokai slaughterhouse has re-opened for business, but its set-up has changed. Molokai Homestead Livestock Association President Viola Mundrick explained that the slaughterhouse is now open on Wednesdays, but is following a minimal business plan of only slaughtering animals – sales and marketing services are currently on hold.

“We are no longer doing a retail sale,” said Mundrick. “We do not want to mislead people into thinking we are operating in the same way we were before.”

The slaughterhouse directors are volunteering their time once a week to run the business and bring the organization out of debt. Four of the volunteers are Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certified to monitor hazards and ensure food safety.         

“The business is open on a dime,” explained Mundrick.

The slaughterhouse is accepting only home kills at $100 for cattle and $50 for swine. They are also accepting goats and deer. Customers are offered free hang for 24 hours, and charged $10 for each additional day of hang time.         

By Catherine Cluett

If there is one problem all Molokai residents agree on, it is water. Once an island of many streams and clear wells, Molokai has become a place where large-scale agriculture competes with Hawaiian homesteaders, one water utility lobbies against the other, and every year, another well seems to go brackish. But Maui County has gathered its experts and rallied Molokai residents to look for solutions by drafting a new Water Use and Development Plan for the island.

Carl Freedman, a consultant for the County Department of Water Supply (DWS), has proposed the connecting of all Molokai’s water systems. He said interconnection was first proposed back in the 80’s and that the idea is being put back on the table in the process of examining options for meeting Molokai’s water demand.

New Kaunakakai fire station breaks ground.

By Melissa Kelsey

Molokai fire fighters may be experts at putting out flames, but they have not put out their faith in the construction of the new Kaunakakai fire station. When community members picked up golden shovels to dig up earth last Monday for the groundbreaking of the new station, it had been more than seven years since the idea for the project was originally conceived. At its future location just east of town, across the street from the Molokai Education Center, Reverend Jimmy Duvauchelle said a blessing and spoke on the importance of keeping faith.

Time for an Upgrade

There are several reasons community members want a new fire station, according to firefighter Greg Jenkins, the County of Maui coordinator for the project.