Known for his integrity, wit and commitment to people, Nordic PCL Construction Inc. President Glen Kaneshige has become a mainstay across the Hawaiian Islands during his more than 40 years in the construction industry. But he didn’t initially plan on this career.

“When I was in high school, I thought I was going to follow in my brother’s footsteps to become a doctor,” he recalls. “Somewhere between my junior and senior year, I realized that working at a hospital wasn’t my gig.”

The summer before Kaneshige’s senior year, his father, Mitsuru Kaneshige, who was president of Nordic Construction at the time, helped him land a job at a local equipment company making deliveries to jobsites. “I thought it was cool—I liked being outside, and I also liked math. That’s when I decided I was going to ditch the plans for medicine and go into engineering,” he says.

While earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a master’s from the University of California at Berkeley, both in civil engineering, Kaneshige spent his summers back in Hawaii on jobsites as a union worker with both the laborers and carpenters unions. He did a bit of everything, from placing concrete and formwork to nailing frames into place. “I had no experience, but I liked working with the crews—they were very intelligent and were very skilled,” he says. “And so I thought, this is a great industry. I made the right move when I ditched health care and decided that engineering and construction was for me.”

After graduating, Kaneshige started at Nordic Construction as a project engineer, working his way steadily upward over the next 15 years to project manager, vice president of operations and executive vice president. He was president and CEO of Nordic from 1999 through 2008, when Nordic merged with PCL to form Nordic PCL. Kaneshige served as executive vice president of the newly formed firm until 2011, when he was named president.

“Glen grew up in the business, literally. The result of his lifetime of training is that when he speaks, people know that he’s coming from a place of personal experience. He knows what is possible, because he’s done it himself,” says Lance K. Wilhelm, president of the Wilhelm Group. “In our business, there simply is no substitute for hands-on experience.”

The James Campbell building was the first major commercial building in Kapolei, sparking the community’s development after its completion in 1993. The 73,493-sq-ft, three-story building is the headquarters of the James Campbell Co.
Photo courtesy of Nordic PCL Construction Inc.

The Greatest Teacher

One of the first projects Kaneshige worked on was for Kamehameha Schools, the largest landowner in Hawaii. “We were constructing several buildings on their campus. It was a tough job logistically, the team was very difficult to work with and we had an inspector who intended to make the job very difficult for us,” he recalls. “Projects present their own challenges, but then the people element throws a whole different perspective and challenge. So I learned very early in my career how important it is to understand contracts and documentation.”

While the project reached the finish line with no disputes, the conflicts that Kaneshige encountered on that job did give him pause, making him wonder if all projects were going to be so contentious.

“But I persevered, and I learned a lot because suffering is the greatest teacher,” he says. “Early in your career, the knowledge gap is huge. On one project, I learned a lot not only about construction but about people.”

Every single project is different, as each job has a different character, he says. Those early obstacles gave Kaneshige confidence to tackle new challenges ahead.

“When you go through a series of tough projects, you become more durable. Each experience makes you wiser and stronger,” he says. That kind of strength and mental grit often has proven vital, especially on some of the most demanding jobs with the most impossible deadlines.

“On one such project, we were nearing the end of the schedule and there was still some significant concrete work to complete outside of the building. I happened to be driving by the last concrete pour on the exterior of the project in the middle of downtown Honolulu and there was Glen with a steel trowel in his hand, working right alongside his craftsmen and foremen,” Wilhelm recalls. “The fact that he went out there with no fanfare and no notice to the clients told me everything I needed to know about Glen. He takes personal responsibility for the work his firm does, and it is a big part of Nordic PCL’s success.”

 

Life’s Landmarks

Construction has the great advantage of resulting in a tangible product, yielding structures by which those in the industry will often landmark their lives. While Nordic PCL has led work on a wide range and number of projects throughout Kaneshige’s tenure, there are a few standouts.

One of those is the 73,493-sq-ft, three-story James Campbell building—one of the few stone clad buildings in Hawaii—built on the west side of Oahu in Kapolei, which became known as “second city,” in 1993. The James Campbell estate, a large landowner in Hawaii, wanted to develop an urban area on the west side of the island. With Nordic as general contractor, the estate committed to build a new office building on a greenfield site in the middle of former sugar cane fields. That office building ended up being a catalyst for the city of Kapolei, transforming cane fields into the bustling area that it is today.

Over in downtown Honolulu, Nordic PCL is currently located in Alii Place, a 24-story, 316,000-sq-ft office building that the firm helped build in 1992. Most commercial office projects like this are built using reinforced concrete, but Alii Place is a large structural steel building atop a concrete podium. “There aren’t many, but at that time it was the largest steel project. It’s clad with precast concrete that was fabricated in Denver,” Kaneshige says.

More recently, Nordic PCL and G70 joined forces on Maui to build Kulanihako’i High School, the first public high school designed to be net zero under the Living Building Challenge. It has won multiple awards, says Charles Kaneshiro, president and COO of G70.

“We have a long history of working with Nordic PCL with Glen at the helm, and a number of these projects are some of the most recognized buildings in Hawaii and have been award winning projects,” says Kaneshiro, who went to high school with Kaneshige (but admits he has no “dirt” to share since Kaneshige was a model student).

“Most recently, our firms finished a new office building that was an award winner on multiple fronts called the Civil Beat Plaza. We’ve also done more than 20 years of work at Iolani School with Nordic PCL,” he adds.

Nordic PCL is located in Alii Place, a $59.6-million, 24-story, 316,000-sq-ft office tower in Honolulu completed in 1992.
Photo courtesy of Nordic PCL Construction Inc.

Walking the Walk

When it comes to doing business, Kaneshige has a few key philosophies. One is to always do the right thing, regardless of what the contract states—especially since contracts can’t address every single situation that could arise during a project. And when it comes to being an effective leader, Kaneshige quoted samurai Miyamoto Musashi, who famously wrote, “To win any battle, you must fight as if you are already dead.” From a business standpoint, that translates to: “You have to manage as if you’ve already been fired, because fear will always hold back how effective you can be,” he says.

His leadership and influence across Nordic PCL is obvious to industry peers. “His quiet strength translates into a deep commitment to his company’s vision and culture,” says Bettina Mehnert, president and CEO of AHL. “Nordic PCL is our contractor of choice, which is a direct reflection of Glen’s leadership.”

On top of his responsibilities at the office, Kaneshige serves on the boards of multiple professional associations and the local AGC chapter. “It’s part of our business to give back into the communities that we build in,” he says. Today, he is a trustee for the carpenters trust fund as well as the masons union trust fund and sits on four charitable nonprofit boards, including Hawaii’s largest and oldest local charitable nonprofit called Child and Family Service, where he’s completing a two-year term as board chair. He’s also deeply involved with the National Association for Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP).

“NAIOP has an award ceremony every year, and they used to hire notable personalities to emcee,” Kaneshiro recalls. “One year they asked Glen—he co-emceed the award ceremony with Lance Wilhelm, and they’ve done it ever since.”

Wilhelm adds that while he and Kaneshige have built a reputation for throwing barbs at these events, “the one thing I hope people realize is that I don’t think you can have that kind of relationship unless there is deep mutual respect. Having said that and with all of my kind words here, what is clear to everyone is that I am a vastly superior public speaker and Glen will forever be in my shadow in that regard. Yes, you can print that,” he quips.

 

A Stalwart Reputation

While construction has transformed greatly over the last four decades, Kaneshige admits he stays in the industry for the people, the collaboration and the challenges.

“There’s so much unpredictability in what we do. It’s figuring out how to identify the risks, making sure everybody at the table understands them and how they’re going to get addressed. It’s all about problem-solving and the challenges that we face,” he says.

Kaneshige’s team-focused mindset is one that Mehnert has observed firsthand. “He has a highly collaborative approach with the entire design team, which is only surpassed by his willingness to entertain out of the box thinking. Once a project is awarded, he remains involved and checks in with the project and its teams,” she says. “Glen wants to make sure that the project is successful, fully understanding that it is a team that delivers a project to a client. It is fair to say that his sole focus is on the success of the project, not on the success of his firm.”

Kaneshiro agrees, calling Kaneshige one of the industry’s most trustworthy people. “You know, sometimes architects have crazy ideas—he doesn’t call them crazy ideas, but instead he’ll just say, ‘Well, that’s interesting. Let’s explore it.’ He’ll really listen. That’s a great quality that separates him from others in this industry,” he says.

In 2011, the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters honored Kaneshige with the Outstanding Union Builder of the Year award, which is given to an individual in management who has made significant contributions to labor management relations and industry. Then in 2024, Kaneshige became the first person to win it twice.

“I’ve worked with Glen for many years on various labor relations issues. Negotiations are always challenging, but time and again, I’ve watched Glen thoughtfully and skillfully manage both labor and management leaders through these treacherous waters,” Wilhelm says. “He remains calm as temperatures rise and makes his points clearly, without malice or judgment. He understands that at the end of the day, the relationships that we share are more important than a few cents on a wage package.”