View source for Company:Alexander & Baldwin

{{Short description|Hawaiian real estate and agriculture company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.
| logo = Alexander & Baldwin logo.png
| type = [[Finance:Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{NYSE|ALEX}}<br/>S&P 600 component
| foundation = {{start date and age|1870}}
| founder = {{ubl|Samuel Thomas Alexander|Henry Perrine Baldwin}}
| location_city = Honolulu, HI
| location_country = United States
| location = 
| locations = 
| area_served = 
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|{{nowrap|Christopher J. Benjamin}}|{{nowrap|<small>([[Social:President (corporate title)|President]] & [[Company:CEO|CEO]])</small><ref name="10-K 2016">{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1545654/000154565417000003/alex201610k.htm|title=US SEC: Form 10-K Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.|publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission|accessdate=January 21, 2018}}</ref>}}|
                           {{nowrap|Paul K. Ito}}|{{nowrap|<small>([[Social:Vice president#In business|Vice President]] & CFO)</small><ref name="10-K 2016"/>}}}}
| industry = {{ubl|Real estate|Land operations|Materials and construction}}
| products = 
| services = 
| revenue = {{nowrap|{{decrease}} US$ 387.5 million <small>(2016)</small><ref name="10-K 2022">{{cite web|url=https://filecache.investorroom.com/mr5ir_alexanderbaldwin/857/ALEX%202022%20Annual%20Report%20%2B%20Form%2010-K.pdf|title=2022 A&B Financial Report|publisher=Alexander & Baldwin|accessdate=December 14, 2023}}</ref>}}
| operating_income = {{nowrap|{{decrease}} US$ 115.7 million <small>(2022)</small><ref name="10-K 2022"/>}}
| net_income = {{nowrap|{{increase}} US$ 33.0 million <small>(2022)</small><ref name="10-K 2022"/>}}
| assets = {{nowrap|{{increase}} US$ 1.59 billion <small>(2022)</small><ref name="10-K 2022"/>}}
| equity = {{nowrap|{{decrease}} US$ 1.808 billion <small>(2022)</small><ref name="10-K 2022"/>}}
| num_employees = {{nowrap|144 <small>(2022)</small><ref name="10-K 2022"/>}}
| parent = 
| divisions = 
| subsid = 
| homepage = {{URL|www.alexanderbaldwin.com}}
| footnotes = 
| intl = 
}}
'''Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.''' is an American company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company currently operates businesses in real estate, land operations, and materials and construction. It was also the last "Big Five" company to cultivate sugarcane. {{as of|2020}}, it remains one of the State of Hawaii's largest private landowners, owning over {{convert|28000|acre}} and operating 36 income properties in the state.<ref>{{cite web |title=Form 10-K, Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. |url=https://app.quotemedia.com/data/downloadFiling?webmasterId=101533&ref=115672887&type=PDF&symbol=ALEX&companyName=Alexander+%26+Baldwin+Inc.+REIT+Holding+Company&formType=10-K&dateFiled=2021-02-26&CK=1545654 |page=1 |date=February 26, 2021}}</ref>

Alexander & Baldwin has its headquarters in downtown Honolulu at the Alexander & Baldwin Building, which was built in 1929. The Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum exhibits some of sugarcane company's history.

== History ==

=== Before annexation ===
In 1831, Dwight Baldwin (1798–1886) and Charlotte Fowler Baldwin were sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) as medical missionaries to the Sandwich Islands, as the [[Earth:Hawaiian Islands|Hawaiian Islands]] were called at the time. Reverend William Alexander and Mary McKinney Alexander arrived the following year.

Alexander & Baldwin was founded by their sons Samuel Thomas Alexander and Henry Perrine Baldwin (1842–1911) as Samuel T Alexander & Co., in 1870. The two purchased {{convert|561|acre}} of land on the island of Maui between Pā{{okina}}ia and Makawao, on which they began to cultivate sugarcane.

The land the partners cultivated was [[Earth:Semi-arid climate|semi-arid]] former dry forest, not ideal for growing sugarcane, a crop that required much water. Samuel Alexander realized that rain was plentiful miles away in the rainforests on the [[Windward and leeward|windward]] slopes of [[Earth:Haleakalā|Haleakalā]] mountain. Thus, he designed a {{convert|17|mi|adj=on}} long [[Earth:Irrigation|irrigation]] [[Engineering:Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]] that diverted water from that part of Haleakalā to their plantation. Work started on the aqueduct in 1876 and was completed two years later in 1878.

After completion of the aqueduct, the company was eventually renamed Alexander & Baldwin Plantation. Between 1872 and 1900, the company took over more land and sugar mill operations. In 1898, Alexander and Baldwin purchased a controlling interest in one of its rival companies, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S) from Claus Spreckels.<ref>{{cite web |title= About Us |publisher= Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company |work= web site |url= http://www.hcsugar.com/about_us.shtml |accessdate= November 27, 2010 }}</ref> By 1899, the company had bought out Maui's two main railroad lines (Kahului Railroad Company and Maui Railroad & Steamship Company). In 1900, the company incorporated and was renamed Alexander & Baldwin, Ltd.

===Big Five era===
Following incorporation, the company continued to prosper. It came to be one of Hawaii's Big Five companies which held a virtual [[Philosophy:Oligarchy|oligarchy]] over Hawaii's [[Finance:Economic system|economy]] during the region's territorial years. In this period, the company entered many new businesses and controlled more than {{convert|100000|acre}} of land in the Territory.

In 1905, Alexander & Baldwin and other Big Five companies took control of the California and Hawaiian Sugar Company (C&H), giving Alexander & Baldwin a factory where they could refine its sugar.  Over the following decades, the company opened or bought out sugar operations at Pu{{okina}}unene, Kahuku, and [[Earth:Kauai|Kaua{{okina}}i island]] as well as [[Biology:Pineapple|pineapple]] operations on Maui and Kaua{{okina}}i.

In 1908, the company bought a portion of the Matson Navigation Company, a major shipping line operating in the territory. The company sold its sugar interests on Kaua{{okina}}i and consolidated all of its Maui operations into an enlarged Hawaii Commercial & Sugar Company in the 1930s while continuing its pineapple operations as well as its sugarcane plantation in Kahuku until the 1960s.
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Alexander and Baldwin Building
| nrhp_type    =
| image        = Alexander&Baldwinbldg.JPG
| caption      = Headquarters built in 1929
| location     = 822 Bishop Street, Honolulu, Hawaii
| coordinates  = {{coord|21|18|46|N|157|51|54|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = Hawaii
| built        = 1929
| architect    = Charles William Dickey, Hart Wood
| architecture =
| added        = September 7, 1979
| area         =
| refnum       = 79000755<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}

Following [[Social:World War II|World War II]], the company entered a new business: land development and real estate. The company formed a new subsidiary, the Kahului Development Co., to develop housing in the Kahului area. In the following years, the company became more involved in the development of its land and the Kahului Development Co. became A&B Properties, Inc.

In 1962, the company purchased all outstanding interests in the Hawaii Commercial & Sugar Company and the sugar operation became wholly owned by Alexander & Baldwin. In 1964, the company also bought out the interests in Matson Navigation Company held by three of its fellow "Big Five" competitors: American Factors, C. Brewer & Co., and Castle & Cooke. In 1969, the company purchased all remaining, outstanding shares in Matson and the shipping company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin.

===Diversification===

In recent decades, the company's development and real estate division has grown as A&B Properties developed new residential and commercial projects on other land the company owned. In addition, Alexander & Baldwin entered diversified agriculture, beginning to cultivate coffee and [[Biology:Macadamia|macadamia]] nuts in the 1980s.

===Matson spinoff===
In 2012 the Matson Navigation Company, in which the Alexander & Baldwin had held an investment for 140 years and gained full ownership of in 1969, was spun off as the independent [[Company:Matson, Inc.|Matson, Inc.]] company with its headquarters moving from Oakland, California to Honolulu.
<ref name="Matson-Jul-2012-8-K">{{cite web|url=http://pdf.secdatabase.com/1034/0001104659-12-047269.pdf |title=Matson, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Jul 3, 2012 |publisher=secdatabase.com |accessdate =Jan 3, 2013}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20130221073826/http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=85663&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1710846&highlight= "Matson, Inc. spun off as a separate company from Alexander & Baldwin"]</ref>

===End of sugar production===
On January 6, 2016 Alexander & Baldwin announced plans to transition out of sugar farming on Maui, discontinuing the Maui Sugar brand and ceasing production of sugar at the last remaining plantation on the Hawaiian islands.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Alexander & Baldwin Announces Transition Of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company To A Diversified Farm Model |date=6 January 2016 |publisher=Alexander & Baldwin |url=https://investors.alexanderbaldwin.com/2016-01-06-Alexander-Baldwin-Announces-Transition-Of-Hawaiian-Commercial-Sugar-Company-To-A-Diversified-Farm-Model}}</ref> The company's last sugar mill closed in December of that year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/12/17/505861855/the-final-days-of-hawaiian-sugar |title=The Final Days Of Hawaiian Sugar |work=The Salt |first=Molly |last=Solomon |publisher=National Public Radio |date=December 17, 2016 |accessdate=October 16, 2020}}</ref>

==Criticism==
Before ceasing sugar production in 2016, Alexander & Baldwin had drawn repeated criticism from Maui residents over the use of pre-harvest field burning by its subsidiary Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company. HC&S had cultivated up to 35,000 acres of sugarcane on Maui, with roughly 400 acres per week being burned from March to November each year to remove dried leaves from the cane before it is harvested and processed.<ref name="sickle">{{cite web|url=http://mauinow.com/2012/03/23/mauis-cane-burning-how-dangerous-is-it/|title=Maui's Cane Burning – How Dangerous Is It?|last=Sickle|first=Allison|date=March 23, 2012|publisher=Maui Now|accessdate=2014-01-31}}</ref> A spokesman for HC&S claimed that "burning, in the field, is the only economical means HC&S has found to-date of removing the dried leafy material from its crop."<ref name="volner">{{cite web|url=http://mauinow.com/2012/03/26/hcs-responds-to-cane-burning-dangerous-article/|title=HC&S Responds to 'Cane Burning Dangerous?' Article|last=Volner|first=Rick|date=March 26, 2012|publisher=Maui Now|accessdate=2014-01-31}}</ref> Maui environmentalists and physicians countered by asserting that the burning process caused increased rates of asthma and respiratory disease, especially among children, released carcinogens from burning PVC pipes used in the irrigation system,<ref name="sickle"/> and resulted in highway closures and car crashes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mauinow.com/2013/06/11/smoke-from-cane-fire-forces-intermittent-closures-on-kuihelani/|title=Smoke From Cane Fire Forces Intermittent Closures on Kuihelani|last=Osher|first=Wendy|date=June 11, 2013|publisher=Maui Now|accessdate=2014-01-31}}</ref><ref name="kos">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/13/1215985/-Maui-Cane-Burn-Car-Crashes#|title=Maui Cane Burn Car Crashes|date=June 13, 2013|publisher=Daily Kos|accessdate=2014-01-31}}</ref> Community organizers called on A&B to replace burning with green harvesting methods,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mauiweekly.com/page/content.detail/id/511645/Cane-Burning-Must-Stop.html?nav=16|title=Cane Burning Must Stop|last=Bowie|first=Irene|date=August 22, 2013|website=|publisher=Maui Weekly|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416183743/http://www.mauiweekly.com/page/content.detail/id/511645/Cane-Burning-Must-Stop.html?nav=16|archivedate=April 16, 2014|accessdate=2014-01-31}}</ref> and in 2012, presented the Hawaii Department of Health with a petition signed by 8,700 Maui residents, asking it to deny the company a burning permit for the coming year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/19651081/maui-cane-burning-controversy|title=Maui Cane Burning Controversy|last=Nunes|first=Daniel|date=September 27, 2012|publisher=Hawaii News Now|accessdate=2014-01-31}}</ref>

The company's Puunene Mill had also attracted criticism from residents, who pointed out that its equipment did not meet federal emissions standards and that its high coal consumption produced unsafe levels of sulfur dioxide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stopcaneburning.org/hcs-mill-coal-smoke/|title=HC&S Mill Coal Smoke|last=Andrews|first=Christine|date=December 18, 2013|website=Stop Cane Burning on Maui|publisher=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126195809/http://stopcaneburning.org/hcs-mill-coal-smoke/|archive-date=2014-01-26|url-status = dead|accessdate=2014-01-31}}</ref>

Some activists had reported receiving threats from or being assaulted by HC&S employees and members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which had been active in lobbying for continued cane burning on behalf of Alexander & Baldwin.<ref name="sickle"/><ref name="kos"/>

The company's agricultural practices, as well as its history and the careers of its missionary founders, were satirized by Maui author Tim Parise in the novel ''Totum Hominem''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnMHAwAAQBAJ&q=anatomy&pg=PA21|title=''Totum Hominem''|last=Parise|first=Tim|date=2013|publisher=The Maui Company|pages=21–28,278|isbn=9781304222176|accessdate=2014-03-17}}</ref>

==List of businesses owned by Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.==

*A&B Properties, Inc. (real estate and development company)
* Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (sugar growing division) Production was ceased in 2016
* East Maui Irrigation Co., Ltd. (maintains irrigation ditches originally built in the 1870s as noted above)
*Maui Brand Sugars (unrefined sugar brand) Production was ceased in 2016
*Grace Pacific (Paving and quarrying) acquired by Alexander & Baldwin in 2013<ref>[https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alexander--baldwin-inc-to-acquire-grace-pacific-corporation-210511481.html PR Newswire: Alexander & Baldwin to acquire Grace Pacific Corporation]</ref>
*A&B Fleet Services (trucking and fleet-related parts and repair services)
*Kahului Trucking & Storage

==See also==
*Economy of Hawaii
* List of S&P 600 companies

==Alexander & Baldwin family tree==

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title= Alexander & Baldwin, Ltd. and the predecessor partnerships  |author= Arthur Lyman Dean |publisher= Alexander & Baldwin |year= 1950 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NCfRAAAAMAAJ }}

== External links ==
* {{Finance links
| symbol = ALEX
| sec_cik = ALEX
| google = ALEX
| yahoo = ALEX
| bloomberg = ALEX:US
| reuters = ALEX
| nasdaq = ALEX
}}
<!-- Per WP:ELMINOFFICIAL, choose one official website only -->
*{{cite web|url=http://www.alexanderbaldwin.com/our-company/history.php |publisher=on A&B corporate website |title=Alexander & Baldwin company history |accessdate=2009-07-26 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713213340/http://www.alexanderbaldwin.com/our-company/history.php |archivedate=2009-07-13 }}
*[http://www.secdatabase.com/CIK/1545654/Company-Name/ALEXANDER-%26-BALDWIN-INC. Alexander & Baldwin SEC Filings]
*[http://www.secdatabase.com/CIK/3453/Company-Name/ALEXANDER-%26-BALDWIN-INC Alexander & Baldwin - Matson SEC Filings]
*{{HABS |survey=HI-531 |id=hi0844 |title=Alexander & Baldwin Building, 822 Bishop Street, Honolulu, Honolulu County, HI |photos=4 |color=1 |dwgs= |data= |cap=1}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander and Baldwin}}
[[Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange]]

{{Sourceattribution|Alexander &amp; Baldwin}}