Kekepana International Services

April 29, 2010
Steve's article about Hawaii's Top Ten markets for international tourists was picked up by ETurboNews.com.  The article raises questions about Hawaii's over-dependence on the Japanese market, limited marketing in Europe, and lack of marketing in Latin America.

April 16, 2010
The Honolulu Advertiser ran a front page article on April 10 entitled "APEC may hurt businesses", citing one retailer's fear that motorcades during the 2011 APEC Summit in Honolulu might hurt store traffic.  My rebuttal was finally printed, pointing out the immense long-term benefits Hawaii can derive from the APEC meetings. You can't say much in a letter to the editor, so see what I really thought on Business Beyond the Reef.

March 18, 2010
ETurboNews.com featured Steve's report on the Hawaii Tourism Authority's spring market briefing.  HTA spends its money in North America, Japan, China and South Korea, with a little going to Germany, the U.K., Australia and Taiwan.  The rest of the world is uncovered.

August 11, 2009
Hawaii Public Radio interviews Steve Craven about the growing success of the Hawaii Pacific Export Council, which he chairs.  Steve talks about the importance of exporting for small firms, and emphasizes the impact of Hawaii's services exports.  Listen to the interview at HPR.

October 3, 2007
The Wall Street Journal published an article about how newly-designed American Embassies are becoming less user-friendly and are often isolated from the local communities.  WSJ ran a response from Kekepana that pointed out that security concerns often hamper the work that other parts of an Embassy (e.g., the commercial sections) must do to support global business.

October 20, 2006
Pacific Business News highlighted an intense how-to-export seminar conducted by international business consultants Steve Craven and Chuck Steilen on behalf of the Hawaii-Pacific Export Council and the U.S. Department of Commerce.  "The whole idea is to build [overseas] markets for our small companies here in Hawaii," Craven said. You can read the article at PBN.