Maui Brewing owners win national honor

The husband-and-wife team who started Maui Brewing Co. were recognized Monday as the most outstanding small-business operators in the nation and were congratulated in Washington, D.C., by Vice President Mike Pence, who threw out a shaka.

Garrett and Melanie Marrero received the award for Small Business Person(s) of the Year from the U.S. Small Business Administration a week after being selected as Hawaii’s small-business person(s) of the year by the agency’s Hawaii district office.

Linda McMahon, SBA administrator, said in a statement that the Marreros achieved impressive growth with their company, which is the largest craft brewery in Hawaii.

“Their innovative spirit, with assistance from the SBA and its lending and partners, created a thriving business and hundreds of jobs for their community,” she said.

Maui Brewing was established in 2005 as a small brewery and brewpub restaurant in Kahana with help of an SBA loan. A second location opened in Lahaina in 2007, and by 2013 it was producing more than 19,000 barrels of beer and revenue over $10 million annually. Last year Maui Brewing opened an 18,000-square-foot restaurant in Waikiki; it has two more slated to open later this year in Kailua and Kihei, Maui.

By the end of next year, Maui Brewing expects to employ about 700 people.

“Garrett and Melanie have shown impressive growth, expanding in size, sales and scope of their business,” McMahon said.

Pence, who attended the awards ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace, not far from the White House, said 99.7 percent of all businesses in America are small businesses and that nearly half of all private-sector jobs in the country are at small businesses.

“The truth is that small businesses are the foundation of our communities and pillars of the American economy,” he said, according to a written transcript from his office. “I want to give congratulations to the national small business person of the year — the two persons of the year, Garrett and Melanie Marrero of the Maui Brewing Co. in Hawaii,” he said.

Pence also sent out a bit of aloha to the crowd by returning a shaka given by Garrett Marrero after he was greeted by the vice president onstage.

“You just did that Hawaii thing,” Pence said, drawing some laughter. “I just learned that. I was visiting troops (on Oahu) on the way back from the Asia-Pacific, and they taught me that little Hawaii thing. There you go.”

Marrero said Pence was gracious and that he took it in good stride when the vice president mistakenly called his wife, who was on Maui during the ceremony, Melania.

Melanie Marrero said it was a great honor to be selected for the award, especially because businesses in Hawaii face extra challenges.

“It’s more expensive and more challenging in many ways,” she said.

Jane Sawyer, director of the SBA’s Hawaii office, said the Marreros became the third winner from Hawaii for the national award. The two others were Thanh Quoc Lam of Ba-Le Inc. in 2002 and Charles “Charley” Nishioka of Charley’s Wholesale Auto Parts, Charley’s General Tire Service and Charley’s One Hour Photo in Waipahu in 1987.