Dr. John Corboy
President and Founder of the Hawaiian Eye Foundation

Dr. Corboy started his career in Hawaii at Kaiser and went on to found the Hawaiian Eye Center in 1975. From there, he built his practice and expanded to nine offices throughout the state. He was the sixth ophthalmologist in the country to offer outpatient cataract surgery and has introduced a number of services to the state of Hawaii ahead of other providers.

A few years after setting up his practice, he founded the Hawaiian Eye Meeting, an annual conference for ophthalmologists, nurses, technicians and office administrators to connect and train in Hawaii. He also taught as an Associate Professor at the John A. Burns School of Medicine for 25 years.

But Dr. Corboy’s greatest treasure is his non-profit Hawaiian Eye Foundation, which provides life-saving eye care and education to remote locations and patients throughout the Pacific Rim. He has founded conferences in Vietnam and Cambodia, teaching eight sub-specialties through lectures, skills transfer courses, consultations, wet labs and live surgeries.

Pacific Biodiesel

Pacific Biodiesel was founded on Maui in 1995 with the mission to divert cooking oil waste from local restaurants away from the central Maui landfill. Founders Bob and Kelly King found a way to recycle the oil into a 100 percent renewable, biodegradable and non-toxic fuel.

A leader in the industry, the company became the world’s first biodiesel producer certified by the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance and established the first retail biodiesel pump in America. They are the only commercial producer of liquid biofuels in Hawaii and are now the nation’s longest operating and most experienced biodiesel producer.

With nearly 100 employees, Pacific Biodiesel is a company creating local jobs and producing fuel sold exclusively in Hawaii, keeping revenue in the state. Its collaborative, community-based agriculture and energy-production model is a full-circle sustainability system designed to fight climate change and help Hawaii achieve a clean, sustainable energy future.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii

As the largest health maintenance organization in the state, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii serves over 250,000 members and provides access to over 600 primary care and specialty care physicians at 21 medical facilities across our four major islands.

Kaiser understands that healthcare extends beyond the doctor’s office, and that our health is determined by the way we live, play, work and learn. Their approach to healthcare includes a number of long-range strategies to improve community health and achieve big-picture impact, reaching everyone from keiki to kupuna.

Rather than merely sponsoring one-off events, Kaiser has provided the Department of Education with funding to educate staff and students on the importance of good nutrition, physical activity and healthy interpersonal relationships.

Kaiser also advocates for long-term changes to improve health in Hawaii, supporting policies that made Hawaii the first state in the nation to enact strict tobacco laws and restrict e-cigarettes.

In 2016 alone, dozens of organizations, ranging from non-profits to public entities, have benefitted from Kaiser’s $1.2 million in charitable giving.

Todd Nacapuy
Hawaii State Chief Information Officer

Shortly after joining the Office of Enterprise Technology Services, Todd reorganized and consolidated the State’s two technology departments to form a cohesive unit, centralizing and synchronizing the State’s modernization and IT workforce-development efforts while ensuring continuity of service and security.

He also worked to solve talent-recruitment issues within his department, utilizing platforms such as LinkedIn to make job openings visible to the right people.

Aside from modernizing the State’s IT infrastructure, Todd is helping transform government culture through technology. He is reshaping the way we do business, working to make State government more efficient, ethical and effective, and creating an industry in our state to further diversify our economy, retain local talent and attract talent from abroad.

Sun Noodle

From a small factory in Kalihi to facilities in Honolulu, California and New Jersey, Sun Noodle has grown from humble beginnings into a global company producing more than 300,000 noodle servings a day for top chefs, restaurants and retailers across North America, South America and Europe.

CEO Hidehito Uki founded the company here in Hawaii, joined by his wife, Keiko, soon after they were married. Their children, Jamie, Hisae and Kenshiro, grew up at the factory— packaging and delivering the company’s noodles and, no doubt, eating them at the many ramen shops that use Sun Noodle’s product on their menus. Growing up with these childhood experiences full of knowledge and love of ramen, Hisae and Kenshiro were inspired to join the family business after college.

Today each member of the family plays an important role in the company’s long-term success and growth as they continue to build on their core values of integrity, respect and commitment to quality.

Kisan Jo
President of Prince Resorts Hawaii

Kisan Jo transitioned this year from vice president of finance and administration to youngest president of Prince Resorts Hawaii. At just 39, he has over 15 years of experience in finance, strategy and hospitality.

Kisan began his career at Deloitte, an international public accounting firm in Seoul, South Korea. From there, he transferred to Deloitte’s Honolulu office, eventually making his way to Prince Resorts Hawaii. During his first eight years with Prince Resorts, Kisan was responsible for developing financial management strategies and overseeing the finance and operations teams for Prince Resorts, playing a significant role in the company’s financial improvement and standing and increasing top-line revenue by more than 40 percent from 2010 to 2017. He also managed capital improvements and renovation projects totaling over $100 million.

Kisan is a problem solver with a long-term vision, utilizing technology to ensure efficiency within the company and to help individuals within the company succeed.

Mana Up Hawaii

Founded in 2017 by Meli James and Brittany Heyd, Mana Up is a Hawaii-based accelerator focused on supporting homegrown Hawaii products and transforming them into multimillion-dollar brands. Mana Up’s goal is to increase economic opportunity for local companies, expand the market for local products and create career opportunities to keep kama‘aina at home and support the cost of living in Hawaii.

Mana Up also supports Hawaii’s entrepreneurs through mentoring sessions and facilitating access to community workshops and an extensive network of mentors.

More than 85 applicants vied for one of 10 spots in Mana Up’s inaugural cohort. The companies sold and pitched their products at an end-of-session showcase attended by more than 500 members of the public. Early results show that all 10 companies are expanding their teams, and they’re projected to earn more than $10 million in revenue for Hawaii and collectively produce exports totaling $575,000 in 2018.

Peter Scheider
National Sales Manager for Maui Brewing Company

From draft line cleaner to national sales manager, Peter Scheider has built his sales team with care, working to increase points of distribution and deepen relationships with local, national and global retailers. He works directly with representatives, wholesalers and managers in addition to traveling to events, festivals, tastings and charitable fundraisers to promote Maui Brewing Co. products and expand the company’s reach.

Peter sees Maui Brewing Company’s target demographic—the craft beer drinker—as more than just a market, connecting directly with individual consumers and hosting tastings at special events and at the company’s brewery and tasting room in Kihei, Maui.

Thanks to Peter’s efforts, Maui Brewing has seen growth in a difficult, increasing sales by over 50 percent in 2016 and more than 40 percent in 2017. Though Maui Brewing Company is a fiercely local company, doing all of their production on Maui, Peter was able to double its mainland and international presence to over 23 states and five other countries around the world.

Glenn Dela Cruz
Marketing Manager, Hawaiian & Pacific Islands for
Jack in the Box & Jamba Juice Hawaii

Glenn Dela Cruz handles the overall marketing strategy for both Jamba Juice and Jack in the Box in Hawaii, overseeing the company’s marketing needs for a combined 65 locations across the state of Hawaii and Guam.

Glenn has taken the lead on the company’s community-giving initiative with the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii and serves on the Young Professionals’ Alliance Board. He’s responsible for establishing and maintaining local business partnerships and has spearheaded brand sponsorships with homegrown talents such as professional surfer Bethany Hamilton, NFL player DeForest Buckner, Major League Baseball player Kolten Wong, and Chef Lee Anne Wong, to name a few.

Glenn has also donned the chef’s jacket for in-store recipe development and taste-test programs, and facilitated 12 Hawaii-exclusive product launches—the most recent being the Lychee lineup at Jamba Juice, and Jack in the Box’s “Drive Thru” local fried rice.

Shelley Wilson
President & CEO of Wilson Care Group

Shelley’s ‘can-do’ attitude and entrepreneurial spirit helped her turn a personal tragedy into a triumph.

During her three-year recovery after an auto accident while on active duty as an Army Reserves medic, Shelley saw the benefits of professional home health care services and founded Wilson Homecare to fill this need in the community. In 2013, Shelley opened Wilson Senior Living Kailua, an Adult Residential Care Home that up to 22 residents call their home, and combined the two under the parent company Wilson Care Group.

In the last two years alone, the company’s gross revenue has grown 46 percent and her staff has increased by 17 percent. Wilson Care Group’s 400 care professionals now provide about 8,000 hours of care a week, making it the largest private-duty home health care agency in the state.

Shelley’s commitment to care also extends to her staff—she allows employees to set their own hours so that students and working moms, for example, can work while honoring their other educational and family commitments.

Even after 22 years, Shelley is as enthusiastic and passionate as ever about her team and mission as she continues to make her mark on Hawaii’s long-term care industry.