Hawaii Business magazine won four first-place and 11 finalist awards in the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter 2011 Excellence in Journalism Awards.

The following stories were recognized. (Listed by entry name, author, ranking, category, judge’s comments if applicable. Some web articles have different titles than their printed versions.)

• $7 Billion Short and Growing by Dennis Hollier. Finalist, government reporting. The judges said, “Stories about public employee retirement systems with massive unfunded liabilities are all too common these days. This piece by Hawaii Business stands out as exceedingly clear-minded, well written and researched — showing along the way that things may be even worse than we’re being told.”
• The Digital Divide by Andrew J. Catanzariti. Finalist, editorial cartoon/illustration. Judges said, “Creative illustrations helped move the reader along the story.”
• Women and Money by Jen Tadaki Catanzariti. First place, informational graphic.
• Hawaii 2011: Our Quality of Life by Jen Tadaki Catanzariti. Finalist, informational graphic.
• Parting Shot: Greasing the Gears by Twain Newhart. Finalist, feature photography.
• Hawaii 2011: Our Quality of Life by Beverly Creamer, Steve Petranik, Jen Tadaki Catanzariti. First place, special section. Judges said, “Stuffed with information that readers will come back to again and again. Took what could have been a dull report and transformed it into useful, accessible graphics that both catch and keep the eye. Articles stay brief and all answer the question ‘What does this mean for me? Tremendous work.’”
• Best Places to Work 2011 by Beverly Creamer, Shara Enay, Steve Petranik, Jen Tadaki Catanzariti. Finalist, special section. Judges said, “The one main article offers tremendous information, but I would have liked to have seen it broken up throughout the issue. It didn’t necessarily have to read as one article, and would have created easier access for readers in bite-sized pieces. Short company profiles are well done. Good use of color. Cover could have used more imagination.”
• $7 Billion Short and Growing by Dennis Hollier. Finalist, public service reporting. Judges said, “Great job explaining a complicated subject in easy to follow detail.”
• Not Made in Hawaii by Shara Enay. Finalist, business reporting in magazines. Judges said, “A fun story with wide appeal here on the mainland.”
• Local Experts Offer Good Advice for Small Company by Shara Enay. Finalist, business reporting in magazines. Judges said, “The unique presentation was nicely done and covers many of the key challenges faced by small business. I was rooting for [Wine the Experience].”
• Toxic Waste in Paradise by Dennis Hollier. First place, feature writing/long form in magazines.
• Hawaii’s Most Profitable Companies by Jen Tadaki Catanzariti. Finalist, page design in magazines. Judges said, “Informative and clean. Designer didn’t try to make the story about design, let the information tell the story and got out of the way.”
• The Price of Beauty by Janel Lubanski. First place, student journalism in any media. Judges said, “Nicely done: interesting story, excellent layout, good sources, helpful information.”
• Some of my best workers are ex-cons by Janel Lubanski. Finalist, student journalism in any media. Judges said, “Especially interesting human interest stories.”
• Using marginal land to grow fish and plants by Janel Lubanski. Finalist, student journalism in any media. Judges said, “Good story with great layout: wish the story had more substance, though.”

PacificBasin Communications, the publisher of Hawaii Business, won 28 awards. PacificBasin Communications publications that won SPJ-Hawaii awards included Honolulu Magazine, Hawaii Magazine and Huakai.

A full list of SPJ-Hawaii 2011 Excellence in Journalism awards can be found at its website, www.hawaiispj.org.

Photo: Hawaii Business magazine staff members show off the magazine’s Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii chapter, 2011 awards. From left: Steve Petranik, editor; Jason Ubay, managing editor; Stacy Yuen Hernandez, senior writer; Beverly Creamer, senior writer; Marcie Kagawa, intern. Photo courtesy Stirling Morita.