Glenn K. Muranaka, an alumnus of Kapiʻolani Community College and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, will receive the UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources’ (CTAHR) 2018 Ka Lei Hano Heritage Award at the college’s 30th Annual Awards Banquet on May 4.
Muranaka, recently retired president and general manager of Meadow Gold Dairies, is being recognized for a lifetime of sound leadership and civic involvement. His solution-oriented ability to plan for strategic change, encourage product development, enhance organizational productivity and strengthen brand equity ensured the vitality of a local agribusiness in a challenging environment, while his commitment to employees’ professional development and community involvement enhanced societal wellbeing.
During a 45-year career with Meadow Gold, Muranaka became the first locally-born executive to head the state’s largest dairy. He joined the company in 1972 as a statistical clerk after earning an accounting degree from Kapiʻolani CC and studying management and accounting at UH Mānoa. Under his leadership, Meadow Gold has been a strong and longstanding supporter of CTAHR student and community activities as well as partnering with the Hawaiʻi Department of Education to promote health, fitness and nutrition. The company supports community organizations ranging from youth soccer to the American Heart Association and Hawaiʻi Island Food Basket and KauaʻiKaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital.
“It’s not always about price and it’s not always about location. It’s about doing what feels right,” Muranaka told Hawaiʻi Business in 2010. His formula worked: he boosted employee morale and consumer confidence to make Meadow Gold of Hawaiʻi a top 250 Company in Hawaiʻi and one of the top performing units in parent company Dean Foods.
The father of three has been inducted into the Halls of Fame of both his alma mater, McKinley High School, and the Hawaiʻi Food Industry Association. He has also been recognized by Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, named a Small Business Hawaiʻi Business Booster and acknowledged by the authors of 2011 book Executive Thinking: From Brightness to Brilliance alongside the likes of Harvard University business school dean and former prime minister of Singapore Stephen Covey.
