Godfathers
&
GOODFELLOWS
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
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Moving Heaven and Earth
In a shifting landscape, one Maui business shows
what it takes to stay in it for the long haul
By Diane Haynes Woodburn
“We move earth.” The way Steve Goodfellow describes his company is as accurate as it is concise, but it doesn’t begin to tell the whole story. For more than thirty-seven years, Goodfellow Bros. has had an enormous impact in Maui County and beyond, constructing roads, highways, airports, harbors, schools, parks, reservoirs, sewage-treatment plants, golf courses, major resorts, even wind farms.
And though the head of that company is a man of few words—right down to his preference for abbreviation—Goodfellow Bros. has also built a rock-solid model of corporate citizenship through the generous service it provides the community year after year.
At the height of the economy, Goodfellow Bros. employed more than 1,100 individuals throughout Hawai‘i. The company boasts one of the largest fleets of excavating and earthmoving equipment in the industry, and is one of only a few companies in the nation with bonding capabilities for blasting technology.
When Moloka‘i wanted an airport on the tiny, isolated peninsula of Kalaupapa, Goodfellow Bros. brought in the technology, shipping in heavy equipment for an airstrip sandwiched between sheer cliffs and pounding surf. For the Big Island’s Pakini Nui Wind Farm, the Goodfellow team constructed more than 15,000 linear feet of access road, then excavated the foundation for fourteen wind turbines at the top of the 800-foot cliff that defines Mauna Loa’s southern volcanic rift zone.
When Maui wanted an arts and cultural center, Goodfellow Bros. literally moved heaven and earth to make it happen, bringing in bids that made construction possible when dollars were scarce. Nearly twenty years later, Goodfellow Bros. built Maui’s Central Park, the final puzzle piece in the Central Maui vision.
Goodfellow's technology and equipment have changed plenty since the 1920's, but the company's commitment to responsible corporate citizenship hasn't changed since Jim Sr. (below) set down those principles nearly ninety years ago.
“We’re a third-generation company,” Steve Goodfellow explains. “My father and his father laid down the philosophy that built this company. They believed that whatever we can do to give back is the right thing to do. That’s what builds a strong community, and a strong community supports business. And the first rule,” he adds, “is to hire local people.” The company currently employs about 700 men and women, 80 percent of whom live in Hawai‘i, the rest around Seattle and Portland, close to where the company was founded.
“I don’t consider us big, relative to a lot contractors,” says Steve. “We’re a family-owned business, with family values. We’ve worked in other places that are pretty cutthroat, where relationships don’t mean a lot. That’s why we love working in Hawai‘i. We believe in collaboration, in solving problems together. We care about each other.”
The company is headquartered in Wenatchee, Washington, where Goodfellow began. That was in 1920, when brothers Jack, Bert and Jim Sr. launched a construction company that focused on hard work in difficult and isolated terrain. According to a history written by Jim Sr., that first job was a subcontract on the Swakane Road project, in what was then frontier territory. The brothers built an on-site camp and cookhouse for about forty workers, and even ran a school to help those who were immigrants earn citizenship —establishing their philosophy of caring for their employees and community.
Completed projects run from sea level to mountain tops, among them the Big Island's Saddle Road.
The company incorporated in 1929 after winning the bid on the Vantage Ferry excavation—one of the largest “rock jobs” of the time—and went on to build the dams and canals of the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery, major highways such as Stevens Pass and the Rock Island Highway, and roadbed for the Great Northern Railway.
“My grandfather would talk a lot about farmers getting crops to market, and how the roads we built helped that happen, and how the dams provided irrigation water for the crops and animals. He instilled in us the belief that being in construction was building America—and that the most important factor in the foundation of our business was relationships and the responsibility to be good citizens.”
Moving the company’s center of operations from the Pacific Northwest to Hawai‘i might seem a surprising leap, but the Goodfellow–Maui connection began long before Steve and his father, Jim Jr., arrived.
“My grandparents started coming here sixty-seven years ago,” says Steve. They came every year. Dad’s cousins Buster and Betty Burnett lived Upcountry then and were good friends with many of the old families.”
In 1972, while Steve was in college, his dad called to ask, “Want to go to Maui for the weekend?” The Boeing Company was competing on a project to build a sewage-treatment plant in Kïhei, and had asked Goodfellow Bros. to bid on the infrastructure. They got the job.
“We came for six months,” Steve jokes, “and stayed for thirty-seven years.”
In that time, Goodfellow Bros. has built not only a great company, but a reputation for being on the front lines in every major emergency, from mudslides to forest fires.
“We have equipment the County doesn’t have, and employees with the heart to get out there and use it,” says Region Manager Ray Skelton, who has been with the company for twenty years. In 2008, the Maui County Fire & Public Safety Commission presented Skelton with the Kahu‘aina Award, recognizing his and his company’s years of service in providing equipment and personnel to help fight fires. Skelton deflects such praise. “It’s the men and women who work for Goodfellow who volunteer to put their lives on the line to cut the fire lines or stop a mudslide. That’s what makes working here so different—the people who make up the company understand and live by the same values that Steve leads with. There’s no compensation in fighting fires; that’s just heart.”
As a good corporate citizen, Goodfellow Bros. provides leadership, funding, and support to many of the Islands’ nonprofits. Steve Goodfellow has been on the board of the Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i since 2000, and is a member of its Corporate Council for the Environment.
“Steve loves the outdoors, and provides tremendous insights on how to partner with other organizations for strategic collaboration,” says Conservancy Executive Director Suzanne Case. “As a result of his leadership we have a wonderful partnership with Maui Coastal Land Trust and other organizations that help us achieve our mission.”
Dale Bonar, executive director of the Maui Coastal Land Trust, agrees. “Because of Steve’s ability to build bridges and create collaboration, Governor Linda Lingle signed a bill in 2005 earmarking 10 percent of all conveyance fees for a legacy land fund. This puts nearly $5 million a year directly into conservation land funds.”
Building a legacy is something the Goodfellow family knows how to do, from the ground up. Steve’s partner at the helm is brother Dan, a vice president of Goodfellow Bros. The company’s newest vice president is Steve’s son, Chad, who recently directed the final two phases of Central Maui’s Mokulele Highway expansion. “Chad is the future,” Steve says proudly. “Now we’re a fourth-generation contracting company! My grandfather would have loved this.”
Copyright © 2006 The Maui No Ka Oi Magazine .
http://www.nokaoimagazine.com/printversion.aspx?article_id=471
June 6, 2009
Foreclosure filed against
Maui project
By Andrew Gomes, Advertiser Staff Writer
A planned agricultural home subdivision in Upcountry Maui is facing foreclosure after permitting delays and the deflated housing market upset the project, called Waiakoa Ranch.
An affiliate of lender iStar Financial filed a foreclosure suit in state Circuit Court last month against Kula 1800 Investment Partners LLC, which was working on subdividing about 1,860 acres of land zoned for agriculture into 86 home lots between five acres and more than 40 acres.
The suit, filed May 22, claims that Kula 1800 arranged to borrow $71.5 million, and defaulted on payments for an outstanding balance of about $18 million.
The lender is seeking to have the property sold at auction.
Charlie Jencks, a representative of Kula 1800, said the developer is hopeful of reaching an out-of-court agreement with iStar that will keep the project afloat with its present owner until the real estate market recovers.
"They're well on their way toward that," he said.
Kula 1800 bought the land in March 2006 from Maui Land and Pineapple Co. for $22.9 million.
The partnership included Steve Goodfellow of Maui construction firm Goodfellow Bros., though Jencks said Goodfellow is no longer involved.
Another Kula 1800 principal, according to public business records, is Michael Rosenfeld of Woodridge Capital, a developer of large-scale real estate projects on the Mainland and Canada over the past 20 years.
Kula 1800 also said it is a partner in Maui Cattle Co., a partnership among several Maui ranches including Haleakala Ranch, which leases the Kula 1800 property for cattle grazing.
Jencks said the developers of Waiakoa Ranch encountered some delays drilling wells to supply the subdivision, and obtained preliminary subdivision approval from the county in December 2006.
A sales office was established, with the project represented by Island Sotheby's International Realty. But Jencks said no sales were made. Road and utility infrastructure also has not been built, other than the supply wells.
Waiakoa Ranch is one of several controversial subdivisions pursued by developers in recent years seeking to capitalize on what was a booming housing market by selling home sites on land zoned for agriculture.
The project was marketed as an opportunity for peaceful living that balances private residences with agricultural activity, conserving open space and ensuring that cattle ranchers have long-term access to much of the property kept in pasture land.
Such projects, often called ag subdivisions or gentleman's farms, exploit a loophole in state law generally permitting one or two "farm dwellings" on lots as small as two acres if they are accessories to a primary agricultural operation.
Much of the criticism of ag subdivisions is that the farm dwellings — often luxury mansions and sometimes vacation rentals — are being built primarily as residences for nonfarmers and are making farmland unaffordable for bona-fide farmers.
Several ag subdivisions on Maui — including Pu'unoa, Launiupoko and Ukumehame — have been challenged as violations of state land-use law.
A Big Island project called Hokuli'a was ruled an illegal use of agriculture land by a state judge in 2003 after opponents challenged the project in court.
Hokuli'a comprised 750 one-acre home lots primarily around a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, which previously was an allowable use on ag land, and also included 200 acres for a leased coffee farm, a spa, tennis courts, club and beach house. The lawsuit was later settled, allowing completion of the luxury home subdivision.
Other projects, including Pe'ahi Farms and Ka'anapali Coffee Farms on Maui, have tried to more closely integrate farming with residential lot sales.
The plan for Pe'ahi Farms was 16 mostly two-acre home lots priced from about $1 million to $3 million, plus a 170-acre farm leased to a farm operator.
About $2 million from lot sales would help capitalize a nursery covering 15 to 30 acres, a 10-acre organic farm, high-protein grass for cattle grazing and fruit trees.
Ka'anapali Coffee Farms planned 108 house lots starting at $1.2 million amid 500 acres of existing coffee trees above Ka'anapali Resort.
On O'ahu, an affiliate of Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Kennedy Wilson Inc. is trying to develop 77 home lots on the roughly 2,700-acre Dillingham Ranch that would create 5-acre home lots over about 400 acres and help preserve the historical North Shore ranch.
May 15, 2009
Panel finds Couch exceeded
donation limits
By ILIMA LOOMIS, Staff Writer
WAILUKU - The Campaign Spending Commission on Wednesday found that Don Couch, who ran unsuccessfully for the Maui County Council's South Maui seat last year, exceeded the limit for out-of-state donations for one of the election's reporting periods.
The commission dismissed additional allegations that Couch exceeded limits in other reporting periods. It also threw out a separate complaint accusing Couch and a donor of "bundling" contributions in order to skirt limits on campaign donations by a single individual....
The two complaints against Couch were filed with the commission by Pukalani resident Sean Lester earlier this year. He said he was concerned about the influence of large corporations and nonresidents on local elections.
Under state law, no more than 20 percent of the political contributions a candidate receives may come from non-Hawaii residents.
Couch, who attended Wednesday's commission meeting in Honolulu, said two donors he had believed were Maui residents were found by the commission's investigation to actually be Mainland residents.
The donors were Stephen Goodfellow, who gave $1,000, and Kay Lloyd, who gave $500.
Couch said he was surprised by the finding, because he was acquainted with both Goodfellow and Lloyd and had believed they were Maui residents....
Couch said he would ask the Campaign Spending Commission to reconsider its finding on Goodfellow, since Goodfellow is registered to vote in Hawaii, a key factor in determining a person's residency.
He said he was told that commission staff had spoken with one of Goodfellow's secretaries who said he was a resident of Washington state.
But Couch said he would be over the limit for nonresident contributions even if Goodfellow's donation were not counted....
Campaign Spending Commission Director Barbara Wong said businesses or people can have mailing addresses on the Mainland, but that the commission uses the same criteria used to determine if a person is eligible to vote in Hawaii to determine if they are counted as a resident.
"It can be difficult for the candidate to determine, but if there's an out-of-state address, that should raise the flag to do a little more follow-up," she said....
In his second complaint, Lester alleged that a Couch donor tried to get around contribution limits by "bundling" his donations.
Businessman Michael Rosenfeld donated $1,000 personally to Couch on Nov. 6, 2008; on the same day, two businesses in which Rosenfeld is a partner, Honua'ula Partners LLC and Maui R&T Partners LLC, also donated $1,000 to Couch.
Donors are allowed to give up to $2,000 to candidates in Maui County Council races.
Wong said the commission investigated and found no evidence Rosenfeld "financed, maintained or controlled" either company - the criteria that would have made the donations illegal. Just being a partner or member of a corporation that also gives to a candidate doesn't make the donation bundling, she said.
Couch narrowly lost the race for the council's South Maui residency seat to returning Council Member Wayne Nishiki, getting 40.9 percent of the vote to Nishiki's 44.8 percent.
Couch outspent Nishiki by a wide margin, spending $87,558 on the race, to Nishiki's $3,181.
Lester said he filed his complaints because he was fed up with corporations and nonresidents trying to influence local elections.
He cited a Maui judge's ruling last year that struck down a Campaign Spending Commission rule limiting donations from corporations to $1,000 per election period, after Mayor Charmaine Tavares sued to challenge the limit....
Lester said Thursday he was glad the commission heard his complaint.
"I feel they're doing the best they can within the constraints that they're given, and we need to go back and give them more tools to work with," he said.
http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/518549.html
October 15, 2007
Stryker brigade expansion will force realignment of Saddle Road
Hawaii Saddle Road faces realignment
By Eloise Aguiar, Advertiser Staff Writer
The state must realign a part of its Saddle Road highway improvement project after the Army acquired 24,000 acres of land near Pohakuloa Training Area that sits on part of the newly aligned highway.
The $220 million Big Island highway improvement project, under way since 2004, is an ambitious effort to straighten, repave and separate military training from motorists.
But with the Army’s acquisition from Parker Ranch last year of a section called Ke’amuku, the state Department of Transportation must find a new route for the road that will bypass military operations.
The planned alignment crosses the 24,000 acres, said DOT Highways Deputy Director Brennon Morioka in an Oct. 4 letter. The state wants to minimize contact between military training vehicles and civilian traffic in the Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area.
“Consequently, the state DOT will be attempting to establish an alternative alignment which will be infrequently disrupted by military activities and provide an efficient travel route for the general public,” Morioka wrote.
Planning studies have been initiated and a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared, he said, adding that agency and public informational meetings will be held.
The Ke’amuku land is north of and now a part of the Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area that is used by several military branches, said Stefanie Gardin, Army spokeswoman.
“We purchased it as a nonlive-fire maneuver training area,” Gardin said.
Built by the Army in 1942, the two-lane Saddle Road extends 48 miles from the rainy Upper Kaumana area east of Hilo to a junction with Mamalahoa Highway six miles south of Waimea.
It connects the Mauna Kea Science Reserve International Astronomical Observatory Complex and the Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area to the rest of the island.
Before the beginning of repair work, much of the highway was a patchwork of repaired potholes, winding over and around blind hills and curves as it runs along miles of old lava flows, pasture land and thick rainforest.
Rental car companies had prohibited their customers from driving on the Saddle Road, but local commuters routinely barreled down the center line to avoid the bumps.
The state has completed a section of the road, mileposts 28 to 35, that is now open to the public, said Scott Ishikawa, DOT spokesman.
“There’s another section, (mileposts) 19 to 28, that’s being worked on,” Ishikawa said. “Goodfellow Brothers is looking to complete the work, probably in late summer 2008. There are other phases that they are trying to gradually connect as funding becomes available.”
Source: Honolulu Advertiser
http://www.dmzhawaii.org/?p=678
http://www.dmzhawaii.org/?tag=aole-stryker
Kamehameha Schools Maui, HI
The Kamehameha Schools Maui Campus is located in Pukalani, on the gentle slopes of the spectacular dormant volcano, Haleakala.
Goodfellow Bros., Inc. was the site contractor clearing and grubbing the 180-acre site, including excavation, onsite crushing, sewer, water and storm drain, curb and gutter.
http://www.goodfellowbros.com/services_private01.html
August 16, 2002
Harris inquiry
focuses on park
Prosecutors are probing campaign
donations and contracts at
Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park
The mayor is suspected of receiving
an illegal contribution from the firm
that got the contract
By Rick Daysog and Gordon Y.K. Pang
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle's investigation into Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' political campaign is taking a close look at the city's handling of the $23 million Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park.
During the past several months, Carlisle's office and the Honolulu Police Department have questioned several contractors that took part in the massive Leeward Oahu sports complex, people contacted by the investigators told the Star-Bulletin.
Carlisle's office also has enlisted the aid of the San Francisco district attorney's office to interview several California residents who made political donations to the Harris 2000 re-election campaign on behalf of Stringer Tusher Architects, one of the major contractors that worked on the project.
It is unclear whether the Waipio project is a focus of an Oahu grand jury investigation into the Harris campaign, but people contacted by Carlisle's office said the prosecutor continues to pursue its investigation into the project.
Jim Fulton, Carlisle's executive assistant, declined comment. The prosecutor's office also declined comment on the grand jury proceedings.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa, upon learning yesterday that prosecutors are investigating the project, declined comment about the complex.
William McCorriston, attorney for the Harris campaign, defended the city's contracting process, saying the City and County of Honolulu was the first county government in the state to implement firewalls to prevent political contributions from influencing the awards of city jobs.
"The Harris administration has made a dedicated effort to construct a system that is free from outside influence," said McCorriston.
Harris was the Democratic front-runner for this year's governor's race before he pulled out on May 30.
On Monday an Oahu grand jury issued dozens of subpoenas to city officials, architects and subcontractors who worked on several city projects to appear at a Sept. 5 hearing at state Circuit Court.
Witnesses subpoenaed by the grand jury include Rae Loui, director of the city Department of Design and Construction; Randall Fujiki, the Design and Construction Department's former head; former city Budget Director Caroll Takahashi; and former city Finance Director Roy Amemiya.
The grand jury has not issued a subpoena to Harris.
The 288-acre Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex, touted as a world-class sports facility, opened in September 2000, but construction has continued.
The city awarded a $2.5 million nonbid design contract to a team of architects and engineers headed by Stringer Tusher Architects Inc. in January 1998. That contract was amended six times at the city's request, adding another $400,000 in costs.
According to a state Campaign Spending Commission investigation, Stringer Tusher allegedly funneled $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the Harris campaign on Dec. 31, 1997, or about a month before the firm received the city contract for the soccer complex.
The contributions were made in the name of friends and relatives of Stringer Tusher President David Stringer but were paid by cashier's checks purchased by Stringer or his company, according to the commission.
The donors, who were interviewed by the San Francisco district attorney's office at Carlisle's request, included:
>> John Stricklin of Mill Valley, Calif., who is Stringer's former son-in-law.
>> Peacock Properties, which is based in San Francisco.
>> Wedge Holdings Inc., also based in San Francisco.
>> Gil and Vicki Gilfix, who are retirees living in Mountain View, Calif.
>> Todd Leventhal of San Francisco, who is a salesman for Miller Brewing Co.
>> Casper Mol, a San Francisco-based architect.
Stringer declined comment when asked about the Waipio complex and the cashier's checks linked to his firm. But he said that his firm "has not given in any substance" to any campaign in the last 35 years.
"The only thing we've done is provide them with an award-winning project," Stringer said. "In fact, we've only completed four projects for the city in 20 years, and they've all been award winners. We have no apologies."
According to people familiar with the commission's investigation, the Stringer Tusher firm was sent an additional $20,000 worth of Harris campaign tickets. Some of the tickets were later purchased by subcontractors and other companies.
One donor, Moss Engineering Inc., wrote a $400 check in April 1998 to the Harris campaign that included the notation "Stringer Tusher" and listed Stringer Tusher's address, according to a person familiar with the commission's investigation.
Richard Moss, president of Moss Engineering, recalled that he made a contribution to the Harris campaign but said he did not write "Stringer Tusher" on a check.
Moss said he has worked with Stringer Tusher, but his firm did not work on the Waipio project.
The project's price tag has soared since the initial contract because of multiple change orders to the original plan.
The first phase, consisting of 19 soccer fields and a 4,000-seat stadium, incurred 14 change orders totaling nearly $8 million, an increase of nearly 72 percent from the original $11.1 million contract.
Phase 2-A of the project, consisting of four new fields and additional parking, will increase costs by $3.4 million, but it has no change orders and is not yet completed. Phase 2-B, for a ticket booth and restroom station, carried a $695,500 price tag and has not incurred change orders.
The project's general contractor for phases 1 and 2-A is Goodfellow Brothers Inc., which was selected through a bid process. Company president Stephen Goodfellow did not return several calls to his office. Phase 2-B was completed by 57 Builders Inc., also through a bid process....
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/08/16/news/story2.html
# # #
MORE PAVING TO BE POURED.
In the meantime, you can browse through the following as you’re having your breakfast birdseed in a paved parking lot or under a bridge somewhere:
BCCI: THE BANK OF CROOKS & CRIMINALS
CONFESSIONS OF A WHISTLEBLOWER
Dirty Money, Dirty Politics & Bishop Estate
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V - Part VI - Part VII
FLYING HIGH IN HAWAII: THE RON REWALD STORY
THE GRAND (AND DIRTY) KO OLINA
HUD: THE HOUSING & URBAN DISASTER
THE INDONESIAN CONNECTION: SUKAMTO SIA
CENSORED >>> THE HARMON ARBITRATION <<< CENSORED
THE VULTURES IN MAUNAWILI VALLEY
VAMPIRES IN THE CASTLE (AND COOKE)
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CHRONOLOGY
June 6, 2009: Originally posted on www.the-catbird-seat.net
March 13, 2007: Judge David Ezra signed Order to shut down website
June 8, 2009: Latest update on www.kycbs.net
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