Core & Main Supports Lahaina Recovery with Efficient Service
CORE & MAIN CASE STUDY: Core & Main supports Lahaina rebuilding efforts as a valued local supplier with a national supply chain at its back.
Wildfires Leave Community Without School, Homes
In August 2023, a devastating fire scorched approximately 6,500 acres in Lahaina on the west coast of the Hawaiian island of Maui. Moderate drought conditions and strong winds starting on Aug. 7 combined with the fire to take the lives of more than 100 people and become the deadliest modern U.S. wildfire. Roughly 3,000 properties were destroyed, many of them densely built single-family homes from the 1960s-80s, with estimates of total losses in the billions of dollars.
More than 18 months later, Lahaina's long cleanup process continues. Rubble and burned remnants remain. Yet, efforts to return survivors to a sense of normalcy have progressed with the completion of a primary school. Rebuilding required extensive infrastructure. Local contractor Goodfellow Bros. (GBI) relied on long-time partner Core & Main, via Pacific Pipe, which joined Core & Main in 2021, to be its one-stop shop supplier.
Rebuilding for Recovery Requires Collaboration
It was important to get the kids of Lahaina engaged, seeing their friends, and having the normal daily activity of going back to school, said Core & Main area director Ken O. "It is inspiring to see those kids play in the playground and kind of go back to their normal setting."
Building the school first required Core & Main to provide water and sewer infrastructure and erosion control solutions. Once those were installed, Core & Main met GBI's irrigation and landscape supply needs for the playground and school exteriors.
The timing was a big challenge, Ken O. says. "We had to make sure we had the inventory to start the project, but also have the continuation of supplies for the contractors to still keep on working to get to the finish line."
"A big part of Core & Main's vision is always helping our communities thrive and also build sustainable infrastructure for generations."
KEN O.,
Core & Main, Area Director
By calling on other Core & Main resources along the West Coast, the local branch was able to meet a tight, tough schedule, he said.
"Nothing Short of Outstanding" Project Support
The school project involved design-build plans, so the materials lists, quantities and product lines would change constantly, yet GBI's Ryan M. lauded Core & Main's flexibility and reliability.
"Sometimes, when you are dealing with multiple suppliers, it can be confusing," Ryan M. said. But working with Core & Main simplifies things. While Hawaii has limited resources, he knows he can count on Core & Main to provide quality materials that meet Maui County requirements in a timely fashion.
Plus, "they don't just purely drop off product," he said. When he had questions, they would find the answer, even going back to manufacturers to get the needed information. "Their personnel are nothing short of outstanding."
Even with the nearest Core & Main branch in Kahului, roughly 45 minutes away, the company was delivering daily - sometimes twice a day - to Lahaina to make sure GBI had the right supplies and could keep working.
Next Up: Supporting the Future of Lahaina
The new school is only temporary. But it helps rebuild a sense of community during the three-to-five years it's expected to take to rebuild Lahaina's permanent infrastructure.
As part of that ongoing effort, Core & Main's Hawaii branch rounded out 2024 by providing water and sewer infrastructure that has begun installation in 2025.
"A big part of Core & Main's vision is always helping our communities thrive and also build sustainable infrastructure for generations," Ken O. said. "That's what we're trying to do here on Maui."
"They don't just purely drop off product.
Their personnel are nothing short of outstanding."RYAN M.,
GBI