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Maui%20County
The Maui 10
Who’s the county’s most powerful player?

by By Anthony Pignataro

August 17, 2006

RANK    PREVIOUS     COMPANY



    1                1               Alexander & Baldwin



    2                2               Maui ElectricCo.



    3                6               Maui Land & Pineapple Co.



    4                3               Tesoro Hawai’i



    5                4               Monsanto Hawai’i



    6                5               Hawaiian Telcom



    7                7               Dowling Co.



    8                8               Weinberg Foundation



    9                9               Makena Resort



   10              10              Wailuku Water Co.







Is Maui Land & Pineapple so powerful that they actually own the old Hawaiian name “Kapalua?” They seem to think so: according to the Pacific Business News, the company is suing Oregon-based Golf Gateways Ltd., saying that company’s “Kapaluagolf.com” website infringes on the name “Kapalua Land Co.,” which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Maui Land. Golf Gateways denies any infringement, saying that “Kapalua” is just the name of a place. “I feel like Maui Land & Pineapple Co. is trying to use its financial clout to force small guys like us into submission, and I won’t do that,” company president Bernd Reumann told PBN. Now I’m not an attorney, but if Maui Land should win, they might want to contact the people who publish the book Place Names of Hawaii and The Ready Mapbook of Maui County (2nd Edition). Both are filled with references to “Kapalua,” and don’t seem to have any copyright notice anywhere. MTW