In this month’s Mahalo from the Chairman piece I wanted to recognize a very special person to the Hawaii Restaurant Association, Matt Rose from the Sanikleen Corporation.
Matt has been an active member of the HRA since 2015 and has been making a noticeable impact ever since. Matt has been serving on the Marketing and Communications Committee almost from the day he joined our organization. Since then Matt has been instrumental in helping to set a clear picture of what the goals and objectives for that committee need to be. Because of his leadership and caring nature, Matt was asked to be the Vice Chair of the Marketing and Communications Committee in July of 2017. If you ask me, Matt has one of the hardest and most demanding tasks of anyone on our board. He is in charge of the monthly newsletter that you are reading today. In just a short time Matt has helped to retool, refocus, and reformat our newsletter into something that we can all be proud of. Because of his passion and commitment to this vital communication piece, click through’s and impressions have never been higher. Content is stronger than ever and more and more people are looking to this news piece for insight into Hawaii’s everchanging restaurant scene.
Matt has lived on Oahu for over eleven years, married to a local girl born and raised on the Windward side. They live in Kaneohe with their three children. Prior to moving to Hawaii, Matt spent more than a decade working for Japanese companies with offices in California as a sales executive in the global manufacturing industry. Matt moved to Oahu in order to work in his father-in-law’s papaya business, Kamiya Farm, and subsequently joined the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture as a staff project coordinator for the Agribusiness Development Corporation. Half of his career in Hawaii has been in agriculture. Prior to joining Sanikleen, Matthew gained additional experience in marketing and advertising sales working for Seek Spot and PacRim Marketing Group.
Currently Matt is the Sales Manager for Sanikleen Corporation USA. Some of Matt’s clients at Sanikleen include: Gyotaku Japanese Restaurants, Buho Cocina y Cantina, La Mariana Sailor’s Club, Kaiwa Teppan & Sushi, Heavenly Island Lifestyle, and Goofy Café, as well as several restaurants in the Waikiki Yokocho Gourmet Alley.
When asked what he loves most about the HRA and the restaurant industry as a whole he replied, “I have always had a strong appreciation for restaurants, some of my best experiences in life are with family and friends eating, drinking, and socializing at a favorite restaurant. It gives me a strong since of fulfillment to be able to support the industry that provides such enjoyable and enriching experiences.”
In addition to all of the time Matt donates to the HRA, he also helps to support: Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii (former volunteer), Japan-America Society of Hawaii, and Bishop Museum.
Matt, not only because of your tireless efforts on this newsletter, but also because of your overall commitment to helping the HRA succeed, I wanted to recognize you for all that you do to support the HRA. Your help with the Marketing and Communications Committee and everything else that you do is not lost on me or any other member of our organization. From all of us at the HRA – THANK YOU!
Tyler Roukema
2017-2018 Chair
0 Comments