Born in '59: David Morihara -- President, Morihara Inc.; State representative, 10th District, Maui

Abstract

My family has a grocery store called Morihara Store. My grandfather's brother started it in 1932, then came my grandfather, my father, and then I took it over. I'm the fourth generation in Hawaii. We recently acquired a deli business, Kula Country Store, which was our competition across the street for a long time. In gross revenues, we do about $2.5 million. In the early '60s, it was a slow period for Maui. A lot of people moved away. We were fortunate--being store owners, we always ate, so there was never the feeling of poverty for us. But my family, at one time, considered giving up the business and moving to Oahu. There was a lot of opportunity on Oahu. (excerpt)

My family has a grocery store called Morihara Store. My grandfather's brother started it in 1932, then came my grandfather, my father, and then I took it over. I'm the fourth generation in Hawaii. We recently acquired a deli business, Kula Country Store, which was our competition across the street for a long time. In gross revenues, we do about $2.5 million.

In the early '60s, it was a slow period for Maui. A lot of people moved away. We were fortunate--being store owners, we always ate, so there was never the feeling of poverty for us. But my family, at one time, considered giving up the business and moving to Oahu. There was a lot of opportunity on Oahu.

Then the tourist industry started to boom here, and Maui started to get a reputation as an upper-class destination. The lifestyle changed dramatically. I grew up in the country with a little country store where I dealt with farmers and ranchers. We used to go into the woods and cut the kiawe trees and make bonfires on the beach. Now there are hotels with security guards and we can't camp out on the beaches any more. Kula hasn't changed as fast, but it is no longer the agricultural community it was. Now it's more of a bedroom community. There's a little melancholy about how things have changed.

My father was born and raised in a plantation camp. He attended the same high school I did--Maui High. He's a 1938 graduate, I'm a 1977 graduate.

At UH, I studied economics because it made sense to me and was easier than getting into the College of Business Administration. I wasn't 100 percent sure I wanted to take over the family business, but I liked business. About my junior year, my dad asked me if I wanted to take over I could have pursued other things--more education, a job--but he would have retired and sold the business. When I went back to Maui in 1984, my dad told me, "If you want a 40-hour work week and a nine-to-five job, work for the county, don't work for me." There were times when I worked three months straight, seven days a week.

I went back when I was 24 and put five solid years into the business. We grew from doing $600,000 in sales to about $1.5 million. I wanted to keep the family tradition going, and I thought the best way to do that was by being competitive.

When I turned 30, things were kind of settling in and the business was humming. I said, "Oh good, I have some time for myself." But then I said, "Why not take out papers and run for office?" I was already involved in the community. I coached kids in basketball. I was president of my community association. My friend Mark Andrews, the former representative, was retiring. I knew it wasn't often a wide-open race comes up, and I wanted to represent my area.

This legislative session, we formed a small-business caucus. We tried to find ways to help small business with things like workers' comp insurance and the high cost of doing business. I try to give my colleagues insight on how things government does affect small businesses. Some legislators don't understand the reality of running a business.

My legislative duties take up most of my time. The last few years have just gone by. Now I'm 35. I think I would like to settle down.

I think our generation is a little spoiled. As far as immigrants are concerned, the first and second generations paved the way. I mean, the first generation knew they had to make it better for their kids. Now, we are the generation that's had something better. What we need to come up with is a vision of Hawaii that goes beyond a tourist-oriented state with some ag and some military. Do we want to be a metropolis? What are we going to leave for the next generation? What other choices can we give them besides having to work in the hotel industry? We don't quite have that vision yet, but maybe it's coming.