GARRETT MARRERO: Maui Brewing Company is the first brewery making craft beers on Maui to succeed. We’ve been growing exponentially since our start in 2005 in our Kahana location when we took over a functioning brew house in a restaurant. Our Waikiki location opened in February 2017, and we completed our third expansion at our Kihei facilities in February 2018. Most recently we opened our fourth location in Kailua on Oahu.

We are proud of the partnerships we’ve built with local retailers as well. We sell a little over 80 percent of our beer here in Hawaii. In 2005, we produced 320 barrels of beer; in 2018, we produced about 55,000 barrels. One barrel in the U.S. is 31 gallons.

Our simple vision was to make authentic, local, high-quality Hawaiian craft beer using a lot of local agriculture, whether that be fruits or spices. The reason we’ve become the biggest brewery in the islands is that we weren’t willing to compromise our vision. We weren’t willing to yield local production; we wanted to build local jobs. Investing in the community, being good neighbors, supporting philanthropic pursuits are all part of who we are as a company.

MELANIE OXLEY: We have found it incredibly important that our bank understands our business. The craft brewing industry was small when our company started, and with that came uncertainty, and possible risk. Our commercial banking officers have continually made it a point to not just understand what we do, but understand what is going on in our markets globally.

Bank of Hawaii has been a critical player in helping to facilitate our growth by securing financing necessary for our brewery projects, and some of the restaurant projects. With growth has come efficiencies and higher revenues that have allowed us to set aggressive sustainability goals. The successes allow us the opportunity to increase our employee wages and benefits, creating a better future for the company and its people. We aren’t here just to make a quality beer; we’re here to make a positive impact here on our island community.

GARRETT: One of our goals is to be a leader in sustainable manufacturing, and really lead by example. You can manufacture in Hawaii, do it responsibly and still be profitable. By leading the charge, we hope to encourage others to this same pursuit.

In 2018 we completed the third expansion of our Kihei site; it’s now about 82,000 square feet. It has about 1.2 megawatts of solar power, 3.5 megawatt hours of battery storage, 600 KW of biodiesel generators, and CO2 recovery systems. We’ll be grid- independent in 2019.

BOH helped with the entire facility. One of the lots we bought was REO from Bank of Hawaii, and we bought the second lot next door. Bank of Hawaii financed everything from the ground up. The solar was a partnership between Bank of Hawaii and Hawaii’s Green Energy Market Securitization (GEMS) program.

I value the fact that Bank of Hawaii’s Maui team and the executive team on Oahu have our backs. I don’t doubt for a minute that they believe in everything that we’re doing, and that they share our vision. We have a relationship with all of them that’s been nurtured over the years.

MELANIE: We have not only created a strong working relationship, but we feel a real sense of camaraderie. Our professional and personal banking relationship with Greg Knue is wonderful. The care and friendliness of everyone at the bank—for not just our business, but also our personal well-being—is such a pleasure.

GARRETT: Melanie and I have worked very hard to get to where we are today, but Maui Brewing Company isn’t about two people. It’s about the almost 800 people on our team. We’re always indebted to our #TeamMBC for living the vision and helping us grow every day.

And a big nod also goes to Bank of Hawaii for believing in our ideas; they’ve done a great job in helping us grow.