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you aloha and welcome to business in Hawaii with reg Baker we're a show that broadcast every thursday at two o'clock from 22 to 30 on think takeaway com we highlight positive stories in Hawaii of companies and individuals that have accomplished I guess a lot depending upon the different negative stories of you here but they've they've overcome the obstacles they are successful despite the challenges and they share some of their secrets and how they've done that and we have a lot of good stories this year and we have for the past year today I've got Dennis wom who's a senior vice president over Hawaii National Bank and we have guy akasaki who is the owner of commercial roofing and waterproofing in Hawaii both of them have success stories to share with us today but we're gonna probably hear a little bit more from guy this time because we've had Dennis on the show before so welcome Dennis guy I'm glad you could make it today thank you rich why don't we just start to show off a little bit um Dennis why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and why National Bank and you are the one that really wanted to bring guy on to the show and highlight his accomplishments oh you know what's what's the relationship there oh this is my second appearance and thank you for having me on a show I always a pleasure and enjoy it because I have a passion and care for the people of Hawaii and also to assist business owners with their success stories i'm dennis wong from i work at Hawaii National Bank I'm the senior vice president so I basically oversee all the branches on the island of Oahu we have an itch that caters to the locally owned closely held businesses in Hawaii and the businesses will consist of all different type of industries anywhere from manufacturing down to retail so in my 39 years of banking and a privilege of working with many businesses through the years I've come across a very special friend and a client of mine and I wanted to share his success story which I thought was very unique and encouraging and uplifting to everybody and that's gaya kisaki from commercial roofing and waterproofing Hawaii very good well that's a lot to live up to their guy I mean it's amazing with 22 dollars and fifty cents who I'll pay you after that's a Starbucks cup of coffee but guy welcome to the show I'm glad you could make it I can you give us a little background on yourself uh just tell us were you were you grew up what you've done how you did actually has a military brat yeah uh age 6 my dad got drafted into the military well actually that drafted you got put in there well used to be one of the stewards like so to speak for the plantation so you got him drafted to get the troublemaker own oh so hands from age 6 all the way we lived in Washington see California Texas ok now and Germany knows that's it you could experience the trouble like that and then went to high school in Okinawa and that's basically where I came before I came here to Hawaii supposedly to go to school but but my major was surfing uh-huh and after six years of college my dad said I'm gonna have to learn in a one-day then one day when it was time for that check to come it never came I'm going oh no I better go away well what about weakening way I rude awakening from what I understand you're still working on that surfing degree right just uh every day you know when you're young you all guts no brains wait as you get older you have walgreens and no guts oh ok it's more fun you know like I wish I had less of a good but go ahead yeah so okay so you right out of school how did you get into what you're doing now well actually from junior high school into college my aspiration my inspiration was Frank Lloyd Wright summerfield architect oh I'm a field architec if you could say that and going through college you know and he's being young and impetuous you start to think about school and college and had friends that I graduated they were draftsman I'm going I got to do that after I graduate so I got young and impetuous and I got out I drop down went to work for hotels got into a hotel management then I realized that is tough does any vague another so he's a week and at that time my girlfriend now my wife I was working for a roofing contractor and he was having a tough time getting his company going so she had asked me says you know my boss is actually looking for someone to kind of help him with his construction company and I said sure what kind of construction company roofing oh that's beneath me a roofer I'm an architect but hands after a period of time yeah I went to go and help him out then I found a lot of his skill sets that I had applied mmm it was from that point on oh yeah sure what some of those skill sets might be that would apply you know a lot of it had to do with architecture and construction in generality from reading plans to understanding construction so you enter the industry you knew the business and you know how to read some of the the paperwork that was involved yeah yeah but I was uh you know the seasonality of experience and age and immaturity that was my portion the downside of life that we think will young we know and it was it was a season for me to learn good and you did well yeah it was really unfortunate was really fortunate to be what to do that so for about 12 years you know we we continued to continue to work for the first three or five years was a learning experience and they came they came a time in that period of time that I thought jeez you know I can do this better myself and so there was a there was a tugging on the inside where I thought you know what I could do it myself it was a small still voice on the inside and says you know what I think you need to stay and even though everything within me cried out that you can do it you could do it you can make kid there's something about commitment integrity and honesty and giving the opportunity that made me stay for about close to 12 years in 1993 when the economy tanked I really had no intention on leaving and as I came on the owner wanted to go ahead and sell the business and do any you know basically sell it to the employees we spent about a year and a half with unlegal you know attorneys drafting things we transition and esau people in that transition as we move through in the 11th hour as the principal at that time saw the excitement of everybody even though the economy was tanking that was around the unique II time he decided not to so really it's a way that he was excited about so as we transition that was pretty much the point of departure where there was a difference of intent direction so and that really kind of embarked me to kinda i was going to be a franchise owner for a subway but um you know I've been a switch yeah big time but I think was the wisdom of a wife this it guy you can it be make a sandwich at home when did you think you're gonna do so hands you know following that we had actually opportunities I had made a commitment to the power owner that even if I did go out and I plan to do this or if I even got back into the construction industry of the roofing industry I made a verbal commitment I had no employment contract I made a verbal commitment maybe young dumb idiot I made a commitment to verbally not compete with him for one year at a time the economy was bad and so hence you know we got into I said and got into just minor repairs and I would not touch any of the clientele because 12 to 13 years is a big network well and I must have been a long year it was a very long year but in that period of time in the first month somebody one of the largest roofing I mean construction companies offered me a big project all filing this was the westin when he got hit by any key was a big jump no and he said nobody knows this better than you so we'd like you to do it and I went I can't take it I'd love to they were gonna fund it they're gonna cash it they were gonna support everything all I had to do it engineering and all those ethics just getting away all the time don't they big time paid time so I'd gone away they were really upset then three weeks later someone else called me when people were making money you know a Westlaw they were flipping houses one person and gentlemen a contractor offered me he had 250 grand and a bank says it's yours you set it up you set up the way you wanted what size company is there but two million dollar contracting company and he goes do it you set up how you want to do it quite excited but in the end a small still voice again basically told me he says um this guy is all about money so at the end of the day you borrow the money you have to make sure that you repaid and you follow through what he gave to you so how can you allow your purpose and destiny to be fulfilled if you go this path so he too I had to tell him i said you know I'm just gonna start really small I don't know what I'm gonna do probably your franchise and it didn't then i embarked on a very small like roof repair this is thinking that the big stuff is just crazy because we became the largest at the time prior and as we did I thought you know what I did that was right I i told no when I would not compete I had these opportunities come to me and I did not take them because of my integrity and commitment and honesty and for the next six months I suck rocks I would imagine it was very thoughtful it was very tough you know to the point that I remember working out of my office in Kalama Valley little eight-by-eight office I had a businessman and this is where Dennis came into the picture I showed him the business plan that I started eight months earlier and it says guy this is the worst time to get into business especially construction I said I can do it and it was you should just do business friend and I remember sitting in my office close to eight months later looking at it and eleven a pocket night going into one o'clock in the morning and I said this is supposed to work why is it not working I remember taking that book and so frustrated because I had helped a couple of other residential contractors get started in doing well I took that book and I slammed it against the wall and I cried I said why and then all i could see the picture of Dennis Wayne I told you so enhance in the morning when I got up I was down in a fetal position on the floor papers all over the place more further what happened here tsunami came through and there were some things that internally I really had to kind of rest with and came to peace with and as I got up in the morning began to do the things that I needed to do and it was just amazing at the end of the year the first year where we were thirty percent down we'd hit it was just amazing Alyssa it's one of those experiences that you never want to go through well no of course not that sounds horrible but what what were those things that you did differently to turn things around one of those things that I did to make it turn around I think it really really is a fine I mama what do you call a self-starter I am I know how to get things started I know how to frame it I know the pieces that have to have I know though the financial aspects but for me was just really being able to release it to the guy upstairs to know that you know what it's in a sense it's not labeled him but it was him it was gone that really kind of gave me the opportunity and what I was going through wasn't so much um everything was going wrong there were things that just happen and I had to be able to trust him and when I began to realize that I needed to trust him things started to happen and in that last quarter close to about six hundred thousand dollars revenue to come in in the last quarter of the year when holiday season economy was on it was virtually impossible 80 out of a network I don't know people that I knew all over this island and not one of them were you I me not one of them were oh they're all on you it's an amazing feat in itself very interesting well we're gonna have to take a short break believe it or not we've already gone through the first segment we're gonna be going into the second segment here shortly and Dennis we might want to get your take on some of this and how you were there to work with guide to help him with this company emotion great how exciting alright very good but this is a business in Hawaii with reg Baker i'm here with dennis wong a guy acha sake and we were talking about how he was able to build a commercial roofing company in Hawaii and one of the more challenging times in the economy we'll be right back Aloha my name is Richard Emery host of condo insider more than a third of Hawaii's population live in some form of Association and our show is all about educating board members and owners about the responsibilities and obligations and providing solutions for a great Association you can watch me live on Thursdays 3 p.m. to 4pm each week Aloha you're watching think tech Hawaii 25 talk shows by 25 dedicated hosts every week helping us explore and understand the issues and events in and affecting our state great content for Hawaii from think tech Aloha how you doing welcome to u Bochy talk I'm here Gordo the techs are on think tech Hawaii I'm here with my good ol buddy and drew the security guy hey everybody how you doing la good good good to have Andrew here the house please join us every friday from 1 to 1 30 and follow us up on youtube and remember as we say at the end of every show how are you doing welcome back this is business in Hawaii with reg Baker we've got dennis wong here from Hawaii National Bank who his last appearance was about a year ago and he's coming back for an encore presentation and then we've got guy akasaki with commercial roofing who's going to be sharing his success I guess secrets because he's he's has a company that was in very humble beginnings and and now it's a one of the top businesses in the country and I'm talking about the United States so we'll we'll talk a little bit more about that but Dennis I guess you were you were with guy during some of this these challenging times what role did Hawaii National Bank play in helping guy get his company focused in the right direction let me back up a little bit and give you a little preview and how I National Bank it's a we work closely with our customers the dynamics is more like a private banker so the old cliche is no your bar know your customer and that's our job and that's what we did so knowing guy with the previous company that he operated and he had left that and there was a time that passed until he was able to start his new company and of course there was a struggle as he previously and then when he was ready to go we had a background of him for about at least 45 years that we knew directly dealing with him who the character of the person yes and we knew what his expert his expertise was his character and that knowledge character cut meant commitment and follow through I think that's a secret way guys showed so it showed us enough where when he brought his has brought us his business plan contractors because they have to upfront lot of the cost when they do constructions and typically what they require and what we offer is working capital where it's a timing differences between having to pay bills vs to collecting receivables for jobs that they've done and completed so with this without the line of credit it would be impossible because they would have they wouldn't have the capital to perform their jobs so we brought our think tank together our brains together we work collaboratively together and we're able to offer him a credit for study that grew and grew as his company grew as well and his company was well managed and it gave us the opportunity to finance him and we're quite proud of that and very happy because one of think most rewarding parts of my job as a banker is helping people start off the business and seeing them become successful and then sharing the stories of their success to others because there's a lot of success stories out there edging veg mm-hmm now there are and we've got probably one of the better success stories right here with us today so um guy I guess you know dennis is sherry I mean I guess he was he's almost like a Parker you guys worked very closely together of over the years haven
t you oh absolutely absolutely I think they've been a tremendous support and as you actually Dennis's personal friend but professional finit that even though I total men roofing contractors are Honolulu's finest crooks liars rookies pleased to believe in me that's not surprisingly but I think on that really had a lot to do with it and they give us a lot of support as we kind of moved into it I think one of the key element suspicions study but business is really kind of knowing what your core value something and for ourselves the core values is that in it's an intangible framework that sets the tapestry of who you are that allows you to be able to to push through what you need to push through and for us it was being the unified team of professionals taking her experience and talent to be on the cutting edge of the technology of the industry that win and in the end exceed the clients expectations a few sentences that it doesn't matter when you apply it to HR you apply to anything it has its application and it's worked very well for you as you put this organization together with these core values yes and it's taking you some pretty high levels yes can you can you just share with us just you know briefly I don't embarrass you but with some of these accolades and awards you've been winning over the last few years I mean you've you've done a hell of a job yeah well we've actually since its inception in 93 we've actually formed six different other entities in many of the entities as well as commercial roofing with one Pacific Business News Fest is 50 mm-hmm we've actually just recently won the commercial roofing contractor of the year and this was a designation nationwide right that's the entire is not Hawaii that what's the whole United States amazing I thought it was a skin but it was actually forbidden but uh um you know if I'm Pacific Business News this business leadership away so we actually were nominated and when you got thrown in with lots construction and these big companies that I thought I don't think we're going to at least were in good company and it was amazing you know the interview the information was provided and they chose us so we're so honored to to have that this that's that's another example and I try to establish his team a little bit but you know we do have some amazing success stories in Hawaii um and in a lot of times and a lot of ways we're able to compete at a national level with anybody out there I mean we absolutely we've got some good people here with some good skills and um and we've got a lot to be proud of absolutely I think a lot of times in Hawaii we always have this saying there were island mentality but if we think about it we're really the stepping stone to the emerging countries into the global community at that and that's powerful me you can connect the dots and it is you know and you've got so many different experiences just talking with you I mean you've got experiences all over the world all over the country you've brought all these skills together that you've accumulated over the years and it's all come together in creating what you're doing now right you know and this is uh I think there's examples of this whole over you know Hawaii i think if i can add that what guy did correctly and he had the foresight to do is form a management team that was made up of good support people that could provide strength to all the areas that he needs because your business has to be balanced it can't be off-kilter at one side or the other and how do you balance that is what guy has done his form a good advisory team he's connected himself with the bank myself as well as an insurance agent as well as a CPA and is very important as you know Reggie as a CPA or accountant it's critical to have good Pete bookkeeping report book bookkeeping reporting and then also he has his marketing team him so there was a balance when he went in there and you know to your point not to belabor it but having those two being able to monitor and evaluate performance against standards or against targets that crosses all sectors of the company every one of the different areas of the company it doesn't have to be accounting related it just gives me the Dutch and related or or compliance related in some areas I mean you've got to be able to monitor and watch that and so having a very sophisticated internal monitoring system which is probably just as much I T as it is anything else is pretty important to any company would you agree with that oh yeah absolutely this is stomach controls and having a good grasp on that is is so important the other thing that I seen in the formation of the entities it's really be aware of your surroundings in your environment you know we started as a roofing company and again Hawaii is a very labor driven market and you have a lot of contractors at a signatory and people because you do a good job they they want you to do the work but you cannot cross lines so we actually find another roofing company that was Union and we're able to do that we've done that likes of bloomingdales I mean a lot of big projects as we did that we got into the a day program and that allowed us as oriental asian to be able to participate in that temple what are you for those members of the viewing audience who doesn't know what an 8a program is can you explain that real quick it's a set-aside program that's put out by the federal gun or SBA to allow minorities to be able to do business with the federal government so use of a priority priority correct so as a result of that we started a company which is how a line Pacific builders and we did set aside we're building renovations for the military and then newburgh yes we've got they took us into areas Hawaii Oscar into one that helped us as well too because at Hawaii National Bank has a preferred lender and we can sba loans that were able to go and offer a very specific product for that specific need to help the contractor through the 88 contracts right hand Ed's and that's important because i think the the SBA has got a lot of different types of programs could be very helpful yes for small businesses of all kinds I and with huy national bank with you're involved in with the SBA and your knowledge at all the different products you could be instrumental in helping do a little matchmaking and figure out what makes the most sense yes the SP offers first of all if somebody was interested in sba loan they wouldn't go to SB they would come directly to the bank and so through the sba products the banks might be able to offer terms of interest rates that would be a little bit more flexible or generous outside of the standard underwriting for banks you know I full disclosure I'm a national board of directors for the SBA I'm chair the 9th region for regulatory fairness and as such I get on a lot of newsletters almost every district office in a western United States sends me stuff and I can tell you there's I would say a couple hundred programs a week that's available and some of them are online you know so there's a tremendous resource there we've got a few minutes before we have to wrap up and I'm wondering guy if you were to leave the audience with any final thoughts or words of wisdom what do you think they might be what is a ton of not enough time in a will to say no pressure no pressure 30 seconds I would probably say you know if you look at starting a business know where you want to be but more than anything else at the end of the day whatever you feel that you desire your passion the focus that you want to get into know that honesty integrity and commitment be the tapestry of bed structure because if that's the rest you can learn I swear well some of that is built into the DNA you've got a it's in a very tapestry of who you are right that's so so critical and the other part know your numbers know your accounting you know as yet said rich knowing your balance sheet drinkin see know how things fit together because at the end of it it's just the way the world operates and if you're watching it closely you'll see that nail stick up and you know there's a problem there you had to go look at it Hennes you have any final words of wisdom you'd like to share with the audience yes I would encourage any business owner or operator to have a close relationship with his or her banker and the banks actually prefer getting to know a person so we're very open we have money to lend one of the things is keeping proper financial records and timely financial records I say this truly because it's in order for the banker to assist them he must have properly core financial reporting very good well you know I appreciate you both being here today maybe the next time you win another award you can come back on and tell us all about it in Dennis it's always a pleasure to have you thank you for having me but this is a business in Hawaii with reg Baker we broadcast live every thursday at two o'clock oh and we highlight success stories in hawaii hoping to see you next week until then allah
