Scholarship honors Ace Hardware and Ben Franklin Store Owners Tadami and Kimei Kamitaki.
HONOLULU – The Kamitaki family, which operates the HouseMart family of Ace Hardware and Ben Franklin Crafts Stores, has established a $35,000 endowed scholarship in honor of their parents, Tadami and Kimei Kamitaki. The Tadami and Kimei Kamitaki Endowed Memorial Scholarship will provide support to undergraduate students attending the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Shikano Kamitaki, mother of Tadami Kamitaki, started the company with a small dry goods store in Kahului, Maui. With the help of his sister Matsuko Mizoguchi, Tadami acquired the franchise rights to Ben Franklin stores in 1951 and grew the business into a chain of stores. The first Ace Hardware Store was added in 1984. Now in its 3rd generation, HouseMart operates 31 Ben Franklin Crafts and ACE Hardware Stores across Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Hawai‘i.
“We created this scholarship to honor our mom and dad, who were both graduates of the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business,” says Guy Kamitaki, co-owner and treasurer of Maui Varieties, Ltd. “They appreciated the education they received at UH and strived to give all five of their children a good education.”
“Our father had a great drive and will to succeed,” Guy continues. “He created a profit sharing program for our employees over 60 years ago and laid the groundwork and culture for this company. It’s a testament to his leadership and vision that our company continues on today.”
“We are grateful that the Kamitaki family has chosen to establish an endowed memorial scholarship in honor of their parents,” says Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business. “This family has such a strong tradition of community involvement. They are a long time member of the Family Business Center of Hawai‘i and continue to share their business philosophy with other local family businesses.”
Donna Vuchinich, president and CEO of the University of Hawai‘i Foundation concluded, “We are honored to partner with the Kamitaki family in creating this meaningful philanthropic legacy that honors Tadami and Kimei Kamitaki.”
# # #
The Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Established in 1949 as the College of Business Administration, the College was named in 2006 after alumnus Jay H. Shidler, founder and managing partner of The Shidler Group. The Shidler College of Business is renowned for its expertise in international management education and is consistently ranked among the nation's top graduate schools for international business by U.S. News. Long recognized for its Asia-Pacific focus, the College is a professional school offering a wide variety of degree, certificate and executive programs. The UH Shidler College of Business is the only graduate program in the State of Hawai‘i accredited by AACSB International. For more information, visit www.shidler.hawaii.edu.
The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing more than 225 different degrees. Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students thrive in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit http://manoa.hawaii.edu and http://manoa.hawaii.edu/media/. Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/uhmanoa and Twitter http://www.twitter.com/UHManoaNews.
The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawaiʻi System. The mission of the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation is to unite donors' passions with the University of Hawaiʻi’s aspirations by raising philanthropic support and managing private investments to benefit UH, the people of Hawaiʻi and our future generations www.uhfoundation.org.
