Business View Magazine | April/May 2022

42 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 rebuilding effort. Thankfully, we were able to do that and, today, even dealing with the challenges of COVID, HPM is a stronger company. We’re larger and doing more things for our customers and our communities than we ever have before.” The COVID-19 pandemic forced all businesses to change their old modes of operation very quickly. When it comes to e-commerce – buying online and then picking up at the store – that process was accelerated by five years for HPM. They already had it planned and anticipate launching a full e-commerce platform this year. In terms of availability of supplies, the pandemic has also had a monumental impact on the construction industry and home building, in general. Fujimoto elaborates, “Now that the home has become even more important for remote and hybrid working, it catalyzed the whole migration from the urban core out to the suburbs, where those houses were suddenly very desirable. So on top of the short housing supply that Hawaii was already in, pre-COVID, this exacerbated that whole dynamic and created challenges for all of us in the industry because housing surged in demand and it completely disrupted our supply chain. We didn’t have the capacity in the industry to support this sort of demand. That’s why prices have increased, lead times have been extended and, overall, things are becoming more expensive HPM’s first Kamehameha Avenue building in Hilo, Hawaii was decimated by a tsunami on April 1, 1946 The original Hawaii Planing Mill storefront located in the old town of Shinmachi, Hilo