When you’re in your 90′s, what will you judge to be your greatest accomplishments? As a company with very humble origins, we’re very proud of our long history of innovation, perseverance and progressiveness in providing for customers and employees.
TIMELINE
August 8, 1921 — Hawaii Planing Mill, Ltd. is founded by local building contractors Kametaro Fujimoto and Sanzo Kawasaki as a lumber milling operation, planing and re-sawing timber from the mainland into finished lumber.
1929 — Kametaro’s son, Barney Fujimoto, becomes general manager and adds other product lines such as paint, plumbing supplies, and hardware items.
1941-1945 — During World War II, the U.S. Department of Defense orders Navy Seabees to assume control of inventory, operations and employees.
April 1, 1946 — A tsunami destroys a major portion of HPM leaving only an office and a small warehouse area.
1954 — Barney’s son Robert “Bobby” Fujimoto, who joined the company in 1951, is installed as President.
1955 — HPM relocates to Kamehameha Avenue, next to Hilo Ironworks, after the County issues a new bay front area development plan in response to the 1946 tsunami.
1959 — The Kona branch opens in Captain Cook as “Captain Cook Building Supply.”
1959 — HPM is one of the first companies in the state to establish a profit-sharing plan, allowing employees to share company profits.
May 22, 1960 — Once again a tsunami completely destroys HPM’s Hilo facility. HPM resumes operations out of a county warehouse designated for temporary use by victims of the tsunami.
1961 — HPM reconstructs and opens at the location of our Hilo Home Design Center on Kanoelehua Avenue.
1963 — Custom Metal Roofing begins supplying customers statewide with custom cut lengths of rolled formed metal roofing in different patterns and sizes.
1965 — The lumber department is reestablished since its closing during World War II. By 1965, the lumber milling operation became an important department within the corporation.
1973 — Kona branch moves to the Liliuokalani Industrial Area. In this transition, the branch is merged under the umbrella of Hawaii Planing Mill, Inc. (no longer a separate corporation).
1977 — HPM is one of the first companies in Hawaii to create an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) providing employees an opportunity to own company stock and participate in the growth of HPM.
1978 — The Wood Protection Company begins pressure treatment of lumber and wood products in Keaukaha.
1980 — HPM begins its pre-hung door manufacturing operation.
1982 — HPM begins providing “packaged” homes and home planning consulting.
1983 — HPM opens the Waimea branch at its current location on the Mamalahoa Highway and the Hilo, Waimea and Kona branches unite under the name “HPM Building Supply.”
1992 — After 38 years as President, Robert Fujimoto retires and son Michael Fujimoto is installed as President and Chief Executive Officer.
1994 — HPM’s corporate offices move to Shipman Industrial Park in Keaau along side a lumber yard and its Custom Metal Roofing, Truss and Door manufacturing facilities.
1996 — HPM’s new Hilo retail store opens under “Do it Best” brand.
1997 — HPM Custom Metal Roofing opens its sales office and warehouse in Honolulu.
1998 — HPM Hilo’s Kitchen & Bath Showroom (now called Home Design Center) opens at the Kanoelehua Avenue location in Hilo.
2001 — HPM’s Kona branch relocates to its current 6-acre location with the first drive through lumber yard in the State.
2005 — HPM develops a Distribution Center in Keaukaha, adjacent to its wood treatment facility.
2006 — HPM becomes 100% owned by its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
2007 — HPM expands its Honolulu sales office and begins offering lumber and building materials to Oahu, Maui and Kauai.
2008 — HPM adds pre-fabricated wood wall panels to its manufactured product mix. Wall panels help builders reduce the time it takes to frame a home by over 25 percent as well as reduces jobsite waste. HPM also begins offering Unisolar photovoltaic thin-film laminate. The PV laminates can be applied directly to HPM’s standing seam metal roofing to produce a roofing product that also generates electricity.
2009 — HPM relocates its Custom Metal Roofing operation to a new 3-acre branch at the Campbell Industrial Park on Oahu.
2010 — HPM adds lumber and building materials to the product assortment at the Campbell Industrial Park branch.
August 8, 2011 — HPM Building Supply celebrates its 90th Anniversary!
