A Community Blueprint
Larry Heim
By Larry Heim President of HONBLUE
HONBLUE was founded in 1967 by my father and was then called Honolulu Blueprint and Supply Company, since it spe-cialized primarily in the printing of blueprints for the architectural, engineering and construction industries on Oahu.
As the business began to expand into other sectors of the commercial printing industry, my brother Matthew and I revamped and renamed the business, and today our printing repertoire encompasses everything from blueprints to business cards, fliers to bus wraps, marketing services to digital color printing.
Many things have changed through the years – technology, methods, markets and customers – but the one thing that remains constant is that at the end of the day, HONBLUE is a family business.
At HONBLUE, we aim to foster a family orientation and sense of camaraderie among our team. One of the best and most rewarding ways in which we’ve found to do this is through involvement with many different charitable organizations in our community.
Each year we pick events and organizations that everyone on our team feels they can passionately support and that have a special meaning to them as a group.
Some of our most successful and popular events are the annual Hawaii Foodbank food drive, the Iwilei Neighborhood Adopt a Block, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids’ Sake charity event.
We offer incentives and hold internal contests for most of the drives and fundraisers we participate in to increase the engagement and excitement of supporting the chosen community activity.
It’s a lot of fun and creates some friendly competition, but most importantly it maximizes what we can donate to the charities.
More motivating than the prizes and the bragging rights, though, is the sense of community and accomplishment participating in these events together nurtures. It’s a solidifying feeling to come together in support of a goal, especially when it’s for a good cause. That’s why so many of our employees continuously choose to participate in so many of our charitable projects.
HONBLUE is a local company, born and raised in Hawaii as I and many of our employees were. Giving back to the community that has always supported us is vitally important to us all.
Each year HONBLUE also sponsors many events and organizations where we donate services such as flier printing, banners and website hosting for groups that we feel align with our philosophy and mission.
We just recently co-sponsored the NAIOP Hawaii Charity golf tournament, with proceeds going to benefit the HUGS Hawaii Foundation, and are now gearing up for another blood drive at the end of the month.
At the end of the day, good business is about good people, and when our community thrives, we all do.
