Year In Review: 2020

The last print issue of the year is when we check which of our stories resonated the most with readers over the past 12 months on our digital platforms – like a greatest hits collection. Which of these stories did you read?

Our Website

These stories are ranked by most page views on hawaiibusiness.com from Nov. 1, 2019, to Oct. 31, 2020. As in previous years, some of the most read articles are annual features and the others are especially interesting one-time articles. The No. 1 story was the 2019 Black Book, with 18,980 page views and an average time on page of 1 minute, 40 seconds. That suggests most people were using the Black Book to learn more about one or a few local executives. Smart move.

Here are the top articles from the past 12 months (asterisk indicates it was online only and did not appear in print):

1. Black Book 2019
2. Best Places to Work 2020
3. 20 for the Next 20 – 2020
4. Restarting Tourism: Residents, Visitors Must Trust They’ll Stay Virus-Free
5. Harry Kim Talks About How Hawai‘i County is Supporting Local Businesses*
6. Factory-Built Housing Made in Hawai‘i
7. A Condominium Can Last Hundreds of Years, But Not Its Components
8. Tech Entrepreneur Says Shift to Remote Work Offers Opportunity for Hawai‘i
9. Who Is Hiring in Hawai‘i Now*
10. The Best of Small Business 2020
11. Talk Story: Eric Yeaman, CEO, Hoku Capital
12. Restaurants’ New Normal Comes with a Takeout Bag*
13. Hawai‘i’s Future Liabilities are Expected to Cost $88 Billion
14. Hawai‘i’s Oceanit Says Its Latest Innovation Aims to Render COVID-19 “Inoperable”*
15. 2019 CEO of the Year: Bettina Mehnert of AHL
16. The Pandemic is Not Gender Neutral
17. 5 Ways to Boost Local Innovation
18. Three Ways to Pay Back Nature Before it Forecloses on Hawai‘i
19. Turn Your Rent Renegotiation into an Honest Give-and-Take, Not a Tug of War*
20. Hawai‘i’s Top 250 Companies 2020 (posted online on Oct. 1, 2020)

Today’s Hawai‘i News, AM and PM

Our twice-daily newsletters that summarize the top stories from all of Hawai‘i’s major news media are extremely popular. Today’s Hawai‘i News AM currently has 23,558 subscribers and the PM edition has 15,775.

Both are ideal for busy people who want to keep up with news across the Hawaiian Islands but don’t have the time to read all the major news websites, including those of five daily newspapers, three TV stations, Hawai‘i Public Radio, our own stories and online-only sites. We check all of them for you, summarize the top items and provide links to the original reports in case you want to learn more.

Subscribe to THN here.

Here are the top 10 stories between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, 2020 from Today’s Hawai‘i News based on click-throughs to read the full story.

1. June 12 THN AM – Expert: 1 in 4 Hawai‘i restaurants might not weather economic crisis (1,152 clicks), source Hawaii News Now
2. May 14 THN PM – Governor says he’ll extend “safer-at-home” order through June, Hawaii News Now
3. April 14 THN AM – Hawai‘i’s Oceanit says its latest innovation aims to render COVID-19 “inoperable,” Hawaii Business Magazine
4. Oct. 9 THN AM – Green calls for clear statewide mask mandate as state prepares to welcome visitors back, Hawaii News Now
5. Aug. 18 THN PM – New restrictions on social gatherings take effect on O‘ahu in bid to rein in COVID-19 surge, Hawaii News No
6. Sept. 11 THN AM – Over 50 Hawai‘i restaurants have permanently closed since pandemic began, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
7. Aug. 31 THN AM – A frank conversation with U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz about Hawai‘i’s “terrible” virus response effort, Civil Beat
8. Aug. 24 THN PM – Parent complaints mount over use of DOE-approved platform for online learning, Hawaii News Now
9. July 30 THN AM – Alleged O‘ahu crime boss’s nightclub was a popular place for political fundraisers, Civil Beat
10. July 15 THN PM – Prosecutors to argue alleged crime boss poses “grave danger” to community, Hawaii News Now

Social Media

Here are the top posts over the past 12 months on each of the social media platforms we use.

A LinkedIn Post about one of 2020’s 20 for the Next 20, John Hulihe‘e of Central Pacific Bank, collected 7,182 impressions.

Our tweet tied to our story on Neighbor Island entrepreneurs gained 6,699 impressions on Twitter.

A Facebook post about our 2019 CEO of the Year, Bettina Mehnert of AHL, garnered 3,880 impressions.

And our most popular post on Instagram referred to a story about the potentially high cost of condominium repairs; it got 7,230 impressions.