“I first started working with my father who operated his own security and investigations firm when I was 15. It was inspirational, learning the business from the ground up. Knowing that ownership was possible reinforced my early decision to pursue a career in security. I figured that I would continue several more years under his guidance to gain more experience and build capital before taking a more active role in the company. I’ll be forever grateful to him for showing me the way. Unfortunately, when Hilo Security & Investigations had to suddenly close, waiting wasn’t an option. I had to move quickly, so with every available source of credit exhausted and a small family loan, Aloha Security was established. I’ll admit that starting your own business takes a tremendous amount of planning, paperwork, and logistics. It was pretty tight in the early days where it actually came down to selling a few personal items to survive on ramen and purchase diapers for one of our children. Luckily, with a little determination, perseverance and a lot of hard work, we’ve built the company over the years to become a solid contributor to our community. From those humble beginnings with about a dozen people, we now employ over 90.”

– Mark Lafita, President of Aloha Security, Inc.