Hawaii Business Wins National Best Magazine Honor – Again

This year’s award for best regional business magazine comes after we won the same prize in 2018, 2019 and 2020

For the fourth time in eight years, Hawaii Business Magazine has been selected as the best regional business magazine in the country, beating magazines from much larger markets such as Dallas and Florida.

“This is a fabulous reading experience from cover to cover. Truly engaging, smart design elevates the concepts in feature stories.” Judges’ remarks in naming Hawaii Business as best regional business magazine.

The honor was announced Friday at the annual awards ceremony for the Alliance of Area Business Publishers, held this year in Ottawa during AABPʻs annual summer convention. Hawaii Business also won six other awards: first–place gold for best magazine cover, second-place silver in three categories – best profile, investigative reporting and explanatory reporting – and third–place bronzes for both overall design and use of photography/illustrations.

AABP has more than 70 member publications, mostly on the U.S. mainland with a few in Canada and Australia. This year’s awards are based on work published in 2024.

In naming Hawaii Business as the best magazine, the judges from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism wrote: “This is a fabulous reading experience from cover to cover. Truly engaging, smart design elevates the concepts in feature stories – such as ‘Gen Z in the Workplace’ or ‘A Renter’s Purgatory.’ Cover stories and features are varied and deep. Other stories are rooted in local context and clearly elevate the conversation for the local business community.”

The gold for best magazine cover was for the July 2024 issue’s illustration by Hawaii Business Creative Director Jeff Sanner featuring a young woman wearing nine hats, with the title “Gen Z Is on the Job.”

“The clever and colorful illustration is a lovely and perfect way to convey the idea of multitasking and flexibility,” the judges wrote. “The illustration and cover design work wonders and wear a multitude of hats literally and metaphorically. The colors are captivating. The design is attractive and engaging, with a creative concept, sophisticated style, and a nice variety of complementary type choices that are both fitting and appropriate.”

The silver medal for best investigative reporting among magazines and large newspapers was for our 12-page January 2024 report titled “Private Equity Owns a Big Chunk of Hawai‘i’s Hotels – Here’s Why that Matters“ by Noelle Fujii-Oride.

“The reporting tapped into corporate and land records to show how private equity firms have expanded their footprint on the Islands. Sidebars and graphics help break out key parts of the story, which also incorporates many voices including everyday workers,” the judges wrote. First place in investigative reporting went to Crain’s New York Business.

In the category of explanatory reporting, Hawaii Business won silver among magazines and large publications for Catharine Lo Griffin’s report on “Seeking a Way Forward on Ceded Lands.”

In the best profile category, Griffin won another silver medal for her profile of CEO of the Year Christine Camp. “A 360-degree profile on Christine Camp shows the CEO’s dedication to lifting the whole community through strategic investment and development. Beyond her business sensibilities and key projects, the story explores her personality and family life to give the reader a full picture of how she is strongly rooted in the local area’s needs and achievements.”

Creative Director Sanner was the artistic force behind the other two design awards: bronze medals for overall design and best use of photos/illustrations. For overall design, the judges wrote, “Outstanding use of color and playful illustrations, notably demonstrated on the Gen Z cover, convey a perfect and wonderful sense of the spirit and culture. The art and design of “A Renter’s Purgatory” is hilarious and exemplifies an innovative and engaging approach to visual storytelling. Type treatments are adventurous and gorgeous, while the page designs align well with the voice and tone of the content. The overall design is unique, interesting, and entertaining.”

Publisher Kent Coules attended the convention on behalf of Hawaii Business and was delighted with his frequent trips to the front of the room to collect prize after prize during the awards ceremony.

“I sat with my new friends, three young female executives from the Ottawa Business Journal among them, and they commented on how beautiful our product looked on the slides being presented every time we were recognized in another category. The last awards are basically the grand prizes for Best Magazine and Best Newspaper. After we won for Best Magazine, one of my OBJ friends leaned over and said to me, ‘Well, that was the most obvious category of the whole night.’ ”