Chapter focus: Hawaii.

Area Covered: The State of Hawaii

Year Founded: 1965

No. Members: 71

Member Companies Represented: Alexander & Baldwin, Pomare, Ltd dba Hilo Hattie, Coffee Partners Hawaii, Aloha United Way, Finance Factors, American Savings Bank, Elyte Pacific, Marsh, Anheuser-Busch Sales of Hawaii, Atlantis Submarines, Hawaii Pacific Health 

Annual Dues: $285

Meeting Schedule: Meetings and activities are held monthly between September and June. This year we featured speakers such as: Mayor Mufi Hanneman from the City and County of Honolulu; Dan O'Brien, CFO, Hawaiian Telcom; David McClain, President, University of Hawaii; and Stanley Kuriyama, President and CEO, Alexander & Baldwin, Land Division.

Regional Challenges: The majority of our members are located on the island of Oahu, but we have members who "walk on water and or fly over oceans" to get to our meetings and activities.

Recent Highlights: Recently, we celebrated our 40th anniversary as an FEI chapter in connection with FEI's 75th anniversary celebration at an evening social function at Oahu Country Club.

* To commemorate this momentous occasion, we established the "President's Circle of Honor" and recognized past and current FEI members who have risen to the position of President within their respective organizations.

* We also recognized recent inductees into the FEI Key Club for long-term service to FEI, including recognition of Keith Hudson, one of our chartering members, who is celebrating his 50th year of association with FEI.

* Our major fundraiser, called "The Deal of the Year," honoring Norwegian Cruise Lines, was actually held onboard the cruise ship The Pride of America.

* Andrej Suskavcevic, FEI V.P. of Operations, attended the event and recognized the chapter's accomplishments and highlighted the activities of the international organization. He said it was the first chapter visit he's been to where he had to be concerned about wearing "sunscreen!"

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Unique Qualities: We have much to celebrate and be proud of as a chapter of FEI. Over the 40 years, we have carried on a tradition of educating the financial leaders of Hawaii; providing scholarships and mentorship for Hawaii high school and college students, who have attained high standards of academic achievement in a financial curriculum; and always provided a supportive network of individuals committed to providing a "return on investment" for all of our members.

President's Comments: "Living and working in an island economy is challenging. With the majority of our supplies having to be shipped in, higher fuel costs continue to impact our economy, including attracting our valuable tourists to Hawaii. But, there are the benefits, too. Those include: beautiful tradewind weather year-round, first-class hotels and gourmet restaurants and partially-clothed people walking around in slippers on one of our beautiful beaches.

"If you are in the islands and would like to address our chapter at one of our meetings, please contact David Okabe, CFO, Hawaii Pacific Health, who is the incoming Program Chairperson, at 808.535.7202."

Chapter President: John A Kojima, CFO, Atlantis Adventures LLC, [e-mail], 808.973.9837.

--Edited by Ellen M. Heffes