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Duane Kurisu embodies all that is great of a business man-and he is seemingly, to most if not all, an epitome of success. Duane started his entrepreneurial career in the real estate business at the age of 29. With former colleague Mike Fergus, they put together a partnership aptly named Kurisu & Fergus. Today, he owns a conglomerate of businesses-the AIO Group-which spans several industries including media, publishing and food manufacturing. Duane also owns a stake in companies such as Star Bulletin, Mid Week and the San Francisco Giants baseball team.
From employee to employer
Duane's University of Hawaii credentials would prove useful to his quest for career success, having obtained both his baccalaureate and MBA awards from the institution. His first taste of the corporate world came as an employee for the American Security Bank. Eventually, he was recruited by a man named Ron Petty who he worked with for seven years. Realizing his drive as a business person, Duane, along with Mike Fergus, started their real estate company in 1985. In a span of one year, they were able to accumulate a number of properties which expanded their business profile. As Duane explained, this was due to their focus and drive to succeed in their endeavor, which complements their humble approach to doing business.
"We went and bought a piece of property and then another and another. It was all based upon cash flows and how-like Mike and I would say we put our heads down and we really worked hard and one year later we looked up and we realized how many properties we had amassed, I mean-we never really kept count."
Subsequently, in the late 80s, Duane started to veer off from the property business to extend loans to Hawaii companies on the verge of breaking apart. This move could be seen as his first bid on social entrepreneurship-by keeping the local business community thriving.
"In 1988 and 89 there started to be this whole mergers and acquisition trend across the United States and people were buying companies then breaking them up. It came to Hawaii on a significantly smaller scale. So what we decided to do was, we wanted to keep companies, rather than having them break apart, so we had people come to us to invest in their companies to keep their companies intact."
Duane eventually took some time off and went fishing for three months, literally. The serendipitous break from his usual business activities brought him to realize his true passion-making a difference in other people's lives.
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