 I'm your host Cindy Matsuki. International Hawaii showcases local import and export businesses to help others new to the industry. And today my guest is Devin Cahill, Business Strategy and COO for Pacific Precision Builders, a local design-filled company. Also a new FTZ tenant, which is awesome. Devin, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you, Cindy. I'm glad you were able to give us the opportunity to jump on and conversate about what we're doing. Yeah, I know. I think you're a relatively new construction company. Maybe let us know more about what Pacific Precision Builders does, if you are. OK, that's a good question. So a design-filled enterprise, we specialize in residential new construction, remodels, additions, as well as commercial spaces for TI tenant improvement. One of our main goals and purposes as a company is to see people's vision become a reality. So one of our clients, whether it be commercial or residential, whatever their vision is for their home or their office commercial space, we'd like to help them bring that to fruition. Nice. And how did the company get started? OK, that's another great question. So John Moser, he's the president and operating owner of Pacific Precision Builders. He's been a contractor for the last 10 years, and he's also been in construction for the last 26. And about 10 years ago, he decided to branch out on his own and start cherry construction with one of his partners. And then we actually transitioned about four years ago to a corporation, and we decided to change the name to Pacific Precision Builders. Wow, do you know why he decided to go on his own? I think he was ready. I think he's gained enough knowledge when those 15, 16 years of doing construction, and he decided to take a chance on himself. I think he had enough of the tools in his toolbox to run it. Nice. I know construction is a competitive industry in Hawaii. It's busy. What were the biggest challenges that he faced when starting the business? So as a business. Any of them unique to Hawaii? Sorry. Yeah, actually a bunch of them. So as a business strategist, I spent a lot of time with John going over the past and seeing how we could improve our future in terms of what happened in the past. And I think one of the biggest obstacles or challenges that he faced was building a company and being able to bring on the right talents in order to have a company in construction. Because at the end of the day, as somebody that works in construction, you can have skills all day long, but it's not necessarily individual. It's about the collective. So I think it was finding the right people to be on the team for sure. And unique to Hawaii is he told me when he first started was he had so many folks from the mainland that wanted to come to Hawaii. That was their dream. And it was actually finding the right talent here. And construction goes back a long, long time. So being able to find the guys that are still working in construction that have the capabilities that like his standard of work, they don't really get on the internet as much and look for jobs. I mean, it's such an archaic industry that it's tough to find unless you're really involved in the community. So I think that was one of his biggest obstacles was. So he did have a hard time finding local construction workers to hire? Yes, that would be it. So did he actually bring in a lot of people from the mainland? He did not. I mean, he's been here for about 25, 26 years himself from the mainland. And he understands that Hawaii, it's about a culture and a family. And he didn't want to bring anybody in from the mainland. He wanted to keep it at home here in Hawaii. That's awesome. But he hired and tried to hire as much local as possible. It actually is. Yeah, and all these guys on the construction team were all local here. That's really good because it is challenging. Like, I know I've heard about a lot of people that come from the mainland and it is hard. It's a big adjustment. It's such a small place, such an expensive place. But such a beautiful place. And yet so many people from the mainland and from other places, it's their dream to come here. And unfortunately, he didn't want to bring anybody from the outside and from the mainland to Hawaii. He wanted to be able to feed the locals and to be able to provide for their family. That's awesome. That's awesome. I mean, I think just the workforce climate in Hawaii, it's so expensive that sometimes you don't have enough time to actually enjoy what makes it Hawaii. Yes. Yeah. So I think some people that actually move here realize that after a few years and then decide to go back. And it's such a big investment, right, for the company and then to lose somebody. So I'm glad. I'm glad that they chose to hire local, which is awesome. Yeah, definitely. And when we hire, we don't hire for short term. We set the expectation up front and we make it clear that when we hire folks that we want them to be a part of our team. I mean, part of our crew for the long term. Awesome. Very good. And then I know you guys have had a bunch of expansion recently. How did you grow your market and find your customers? Recently or from the beginning? I guess both, both. So from the beginning, again, John is an amazing constructor and he just built relationships with folks over time. And in the beginning, our company was strictly on referral services. So he would do a kitchen, bathroom, or complete renovation. And throughout that, I mean, John and the team were inside people's homes for extended period of time. So we end up building that relationship and that connection. At that point, they just love the company and they become rating fans. And they tell their friends. Just word of mouth. Right. And up until recently, which is a great point, because we've expanded so much, we need to make sure that we're able to still provide for the folks that are on the company and the new ones coming on. So we've expanded our marketing services. We're on platforms such as House, Home Advisor, Instagram, Facebook, just like all the other companies here, the other businesses, as well as just reaching out to those referrals that we got in touch with five years ago and touching base and rekindling that friendship and that relationship and saying, hey, we just went through this expansion. We'd love for you to leave us a review or let your friends know about us. And at that point, it's kind of like a momentum shift. Once we have that momentum rolling, it's easy just to continue. Nice. So that whole campaign was really successful in finding new clients. Yes. I must say, and this is not an ad for Home Advisor, but they're a great company to have there. If you're a local contractor or a handyman, we recommend jumping on there and finding some business. It's very cool. Oh, that's cool. Interesting. What was that site platform? We call it Home Advisor. That's a good tip. And then you also mentioned that your company is looking into importing. And how did that decision get started? And where are you now? So John and I in Caroline, we sat down in one of our board of directors' meetings with a few other folks, and we decided that the direction of the company is moving fast. And we're doing a lot of custom work. And when you do custom work, it becomes so expensive, especially when you're bringing in from California, for example, a California closet that is definitely custom. But it's just so expensive. And at this point, we're just buying it from a retail perspective. And we said, how can we help our clients and add massive value and help save them some money? I mean, if they're going to be doing a full renovation on their home, building a home, this is upwards six, seven figures. So whatever we can do to help save some funds on that end, which was, we thought, importing and bringing in products ourselves as basically the wholesaler and being able to offer those products to our clients at a lower price. Nice. And so how did how do you get that process started? Like, how do you find someone to source your supplies from? I would say we definitely are lucky. John and Caroline, like I said, they're all about building relationships and friendships. So they built a relationship with Mr. Lin Lee. He's an architect originally from Hawaii here. He ended up moving back to Vietnam to start a company. And him being in Hawaii, he knows what quality is and what we expect here in Hawaii. He actually did a few big projects here. And I have them listed. Let me see if I can hold them up. OK, he did the Hokuwa project. He did Sunset Tower, High Rise. He did the Coral Commercial Center. So when we talk about quality and importing, we want to make sure we're offering our clients the highest quality. So him moving back to Vietnam was such a great connection for us because the company he started was actually a quality control company. And he's the one that's making the connections with the factories. And at that point, he's able to look over QC and let us know that it's up to Hawaii standards. Nice. And so is he actually referring you to companies in Vietnam that are up to the quality standards? And then is he connecting you with them to help build that relationship? He is. And he's an integral part in what we're doing and importing. And you ask, how do you get started? I would say we're definitely in the infant stages. And we're still working that out. We're not expert by any means. But because we have such a great connection there and a resource, he's made it so much easier for us to do so. Because you have him there, do you still have the need to visit Vietnam yourselves to actually seeing the factories and the manufacturers? Of course. So John is all about meeting the people we're doing business and John and Caroline, they've spent many, many trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, places, and so on that we're very interested once we have it up and running, a well-oiled machine to go out there to see Mr. Lin, to spend some time with him, and to go and meet the folks that are actually in the factories. So it's on our list of to-dos. We're just not quite there yet. Nice. And I think that is also like an Asian cultural thing, where you need to build that relationship first before you can start doing business. Somebody, I think that is important, that they're going and visiting in person. I mean, I don't know. I mean, it's probably hard right now, but. Definitely. And again, I must say and shout out to Mr. Lin. He's an amazing resource. He's very instrumental with us and being able to import custom products, whether it be furniture, cabinets, flooring, tile, marble. He's very integral in making sure that we can get the quality. So you're going to bring, you're planning to import a whole range of items. Yes. And we're going to do it project by project basis. Wow. It would be very tough on just a small kitchen, unless we have five or six clients want to do it. But in a custom home build, we can go ahead and we can source all of it from Vietnam or other places as well, as well as if we were doing, I know a lot of condos and hotels right now is such a perfect time for them to change out old furniture. And every five to 10 years, I mean, it's a must. It's budgeted for them to do so. So at this point, if we can get in connection with them and build that relationship, we can do 20, 30, even 100 units. I mean, it's rinse and repeat. It's the same products. So it's just getting in touch with the condos, the hotels, and the other custom home build clientele. That's amazing. It sounds like you're contacting Vietnam is key. Yes. Mr. Lin is amazing. I hope he's able to do this. That's what everybody needs. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. This is International Hawaii on Think Tech. And we'll see you in a little bit. Welcome back to International Hawaii on Think Tech Hawaii. I'm your host Cindy Matsuki. And my guest today is Devin Keio from Pacific Precision Builders. And we're talking about their early steps into learning how to import to Hawaii. So I'm excited. So I'm excited. And I wanted to hear about you had told me that you met with a customs broker. And what is the role that they're going to play in your importing? I think it's going to be a huge role. And us being at the foreign trade zone, we've connected with Mike Bowers. Bowers and Co. They're a customs broker here. And they've done an amazing job educating us with what it takes to import and the steps necessary to make sure it goes as smooth as possible. So nothing's held up. And we can get our package as soon as it arrives. We spent a lot of time with him back and forth with emails and in-person meetings. And he's been such a great connection for us to learn how to do this. Yeah, I've only been at the foreign trade zone for a year or so. And I feel like I'm still learning about the whole process of importing. I mean, there's so many details and requirements and restrictions and so many agencies involved. So I'm sure Mike told you how to thought those too. Just what you need to make sure and all the information that you're providing when you start importing. Yeah, so that's good. I'm glad you've connected with a broker. I think that's a key thing for people that want to start importing is to start working with your broker before you start importing. Yes, definitely. Yes, I've heard from some brokers who say that companies will call them when their shipment is stuck at the dock in Hawaii and they can't get to it. And then they're like, what do I do? So I think that's people, they're very optimistic with the process of what it actually takes to get packages over here. Exactly. Really not as easy as find a product and ship it to Hawaii. There's a few more steps that are involved. And like you said, if we don't do it the right way, things could get held up and shipments can take a lot longer. And we're paying for them to sit there and not be released. So if you are optimistic and you think this is something you can do on your own, like eventually hopefully we can, I would say start with a broker, learn what it takes, and then eventually try to veer out on your own. Yeah, definitely. So another question I wanted to ask is if the pandemic has affected your company and if so, what kind of changes have you had to make? I would say the pandemic has affected many, many industries here in Hawaii, especially the tourism, excuse me, industry. But we were very lucky. And I use the word lucky a lot because we do feel like God is on our side. But with the construction industry, it's actually ramped up quite a bit here since the pandemic. I'm guessing people are sitting at home. They're looking at their outdated kitchen, their outdated bathroom. And they're saying, hmm, I think we need to do something about this. So it's actually affected us in a positive way and more so than just work. Since the pandemic and the cyclical downturn, we actually decided to grow our company. And we doubled our back office. We brought at least five guys to our construction team because there's been so much growth. And we've been able to employ folks in this hard time. And it's such an amazing feeling to be able to help the locals out in Hawaii in terms of providing jobs when there's not too many out there right now. And other than providing jobs and being able to connect with more clients, during the cyclical downturn, we've actually expanded our office space. We got two offices here at the foreign trade zone. So it's just been an amazing thing. And we're just trying to position ourselves for when things are on its way back to normal. So when a cyclical downturn happens, it's about here where everybody panics and then about here where everybody tries to position themselves. But it's one of our clients, his name is Greg Autry. He actually wrote a book with Peter Navarro, which is the president's trade advisor. And it was actually about these specific things when cyclical downturns happen, you wanna be ahead of it. So right on that downturn is when you wanna find great talent that other folks are laying off, find office space for a good price. That way, when everything is starting to come back up, that we are positioned well enough. And because we've had great mentorship from one of our clients, Greg, and we've built that relationship, we have positioned ourselves well enough for the future to be successful. It's smart and I'm glad you're able to hire some local people, especially now. I think that's really awesome. So I did wanna take a look at some of your projects to show people what kind of work is a big precision builder. Awesome. Your name is a tanklister. Oh yes, this is one of our favorites. This was a custom home build here. Oh, can we go back to the other one? Sorry, the first one. Yeah, where is that? Is that in Hawaii? Yeah, yes, that's in Hawaii. It's actually in the Dowsett neighborhood. I think you can go see that place. It's Kaohinani Drive. Such a beautiful place. Beautiful. Wow. Yet. Okay, I'm sorry. Actually, so that project there, that project there, our client and us, we actually brought in a lot of the materials outsourced from other places, China, Vietnam, some of it was from Italy. So it's an experience, but our client was well-versed in importing, so he was the one really spending the time to look for those materials. But we were there along the way and we picked up some nuggets, but that was a beautiful project. That's amazing. I mean, yeah, I think you would have to be well-versed to actually bring in, especially individual items, right, from different countries. It was a process, but the finished product was amazing. Yeah, it looks amazing. Can we see the next picture? That's the kitchen mirror. That's nice. There's one of the bathrooms. Oh, I love the tub. That is crazy. That was where we got the stone from Italy, I believe. Well, that is the Waia condo in Ward Village that we worked with Mora from Fishcake. She's actually a design company. So if you need some design work, look out for Fishcake, amazing, amazing company. That's a beautiful space and the view from that place is crazy too. Yes, it was amazing. Nice, was it the last one? Waailaiki, that was a great project as well. Amazing clients, turns into great friends. Nice. I know, especially in Hawaii, like when you have a good relationship with somebody, like people don't hesitate at all to tell their friends all about you. That's what we're building our culture off of. We actually implemented a program. We called it the Huey program. And if you refer a friend to get a project done, we'll offer up to 1% of the gross project. So, again, let's work together. That's crazy. Yeah, we wanna be able to take it back. So if anybody's helping us, we'd love to give back. Especially in these hard times, people need some extra funds and they know somebody, then send them our way and we'll take care of them. That's great. It looks like, I mean, they all look like high-end homes that you're working on. Yes, we're very lucky. We work with a lot of high-end clients, but I don't want to completely disregard some of the folks that are just one of your kitchen and bathroom. We do decks as well. So if you're looking for a new deck. Nice. What's next? What's next for your company? So we have these talks, every board of directors meeting and we try to set goals and strategic planning. And what's next for us is, first and foremost, when the pandemic is over, we wanna be able to give back to the community. And a few of the ways we plan to do that are community barbecues, a triangle park near Diamond Head, in Hawaii Kai, we wanna do some free car washes and bring some of the local kids in and give them some shirts and be able to help them out and possibly pay them for their work. And we wanna be able to sponsor some of the communities like the paddle community, the surf community. It's just so tough right now with the pandemic being able to be in the community. Everybody has to stay six feet away and wear a mask. It's definitely putting a damper on some of the goals that we have here in the future. That is amazing. I mean, that's awesome to hear that that's what you guys are looking forward to. Where can people connect with you to find out more information? I would say I'd recommend checking out our website. It is designbuildimprove.com. That's our slogan. Let's design it, let's build it, let's improve it. And that's not just in construction, right? It's also in our everyday life. So if you wanna design a life that you please, you can design it, you gotta work towards building it. And once you get there, this kind of ties in to one of our cultural sayings. It's Kaizen, which is continuous improvement. So once you reach one of your goals, let's set out another one and let's improve upon that at each and every day. But other than our website, you can check out our Instagram. We have, it's called our idea book. So our Instagram will post pictures of our projects. But what we like to do is actually highlight other architects, designers and construction companies and what they've done and give them an opportunity to showcase their work and give our clients ideas on some things they may be interested in doing. That's awesome. And then one last random question to close out for show. What is your favorite book? Ooh, wow, I love that question. I'm actually an avid reader. And I would say the first book that started me on my journey for reading was called The Slight Edge. So I have to give credit to The Slight Edge. And that book was all about either you're growing or you're de-gressing. So at that point, it really ties into our Kaizen culture. We're either getting better or we're getting worse. So I'll give a shout out to The Slight Edge. But I also love one of the books I've been reading by Jim Collins called Good to Great. The Great is another great one. Nice, very cool. I do sound like amazing books. Thank you so much for being on the show and joining me. I look forward to, when you guys are able to do community service, I think that's so awesome. And I appreciate your time. And thank you for joining us at International Hawaii on Think Tech. Thank you. Next time. Cindy, you might ask you a question. Sure. What would be your favorite book? So my favorite author is Stephen King. So I'd have to say Stephen King, anything. Not so big into the self-help of the business book. Sorry. That's okay. I thank you so much, Devin. Thank you. You too. Mahalo's talk soon. Yeah, until next time. Thank you.