Companies That Buy

Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke is an award-winning vocational training program for at-risk youth in Hana, Maui—an isolated community on the island’s east coast with over two-thirds its population of Native Hawaiian ancestry.

Our approach is to teach academic subjects through real-life, hands-on application, where students can understand the concepts they’re learning through tangible examples. But these aren’t just examples for learning’s sake. Our projects meet real school and community needs, so our students’ education immediately serves those whose lives it touches.

Self-sustenance, community relationship, cultural connection—these are some of the principles we aim to pass onto the next generation, as we create caretakers of our future, leaders of our island.

The mission of Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke (“In Working, One Learns”) is to provide Hana youth with a way to learn that makes sense to them, that builds their self-esteem and shows them they have the power to change their future.

Woodworker

Keith Maile is a native Hawaiian artist whose work can be found in galleries around Oʻahu, including Nohea Gallery, Native Books: Na Mea Hawai’i, and the Bishop Museum’s Shop Pacifica. His art can also be found occasionally at the downtown MaMo Art Gallery. His works reference older forms and styles, but he is known for a number of commission work held in private collections in Hawaiʻi and overseas.

His artworks use a variety of media, including bone, shell, wood, stone, native fibers, along with other natural materials.

McKenzie River Associates has been providing professional forestry services in Hawaii since 2002. I specialize in forest inventory, forest appraisals, forest management plans, conservation easements, harvest planning, marketing of forest products, and forestry education. With over 40 years experience as a licensed professional forester, I also provide expert witness services.

My Hawaii experience is in native species forests. I am particularly interested in improving utilization and helping clients maximize the value received from harvests, achieving full stocking of native species on their land, and expanding the acreage of native forests through planting of non-stocked land.

Mendocino is the distributor of Redwood, pressure-treated lumber and clear douglas fir lumber to The Home Depot in Hawaii and Guam.  Between our companies, we sustainably manage nearly a half-million acres of timberlands in the State of California and are FSC certified.  Our facility on Oahu is strictly set up for distribution, but we work with local businesses to create opportunities to add value to wood products for retail sales through The Home Depot.

Michael’s interest in art began as a young boy growing up in Chicago. He attended the University of Cincinnati as an industrial design student but left after three years, discontented with the formality and lack of freedom the design business allowed.

Michael moved to Hawai‘i in 1981, and spent ten years traveling throughout Asia, buying and selling antiquities. However, the allure that art had always held for him crept back into his life when he attended several local wood shows in Hilo and was instantly attracted to the turned wood. The idea of taking a segment of a tree and spinning it to form, hollowing and finishing it: that was something he had to do for himself. He followed the woodworking scene for the next few years and saw a transition in wood-turning design. Basic bowl shapes were starting to break the boundaries of tradition, hinting at what an art form the craft could become. He researched woodturning, talked to woodworkers, worked with another woodturner, and finally began to turn his own work.  Although Michael is relatively new to woodturning, he has received recognition in all the juried wood shows that he has entered, including two first-place awards in the statewide Hawai‘i Forest Industry Association’s Hawaii’s Woodshow.

“From the beginning, it was my quest to find what form or style that would be recognized as mine; what would separate my work from the others. It took a while to come full circle and realize that my greatest asset is my versatility. Whether it be burning, artwork, carving, relief work or just pure form, my desire is that as each piece evolves, it will be unique, artistic and beautifully executed.”

Custom wood and metal pieces of home decor and furnishings made to order from giant slab or resin tables and countertops to fine veneer casework and cabinets. Often incorporated in our builds are stainless steel bases or structural components giving contrast to the warm wood and providing ample strength while creating sharp clean profiles.