Nan Inc Owner Patrick Shin is well-known in Hawaii. Most of the people in Hawaii know Patrick Shin as a successful Hawaii general contractor and a popular philanthropist but only a few know how he reached this level. Nan Inc went from a small local construction company to one of the biggest firms receiving government contracts every year. But how did he get to that level? The journey wasn’t easy. Let us start at the beginning.
Also Read: civilbeat.org/beat/nan-inc-prevails-in-rail-related-whistleblower-lawsuit/
How it all started for Patrick Shin
His journey from being a common man to a well-known public figure of Hawaii was far from easy. Patrick Shin was born in South Korea as Nan Chul Shin. Later when he emigrated to the United States he changed his name to Patrick Shin. He thought a name like that fit better with the culture in the USA. His brothers and sisters also came over to the USA, so he had to share a one-bedroom with all his siblings. He always had the dream to move to the USA. His dream eventually came through when he had the change to live with his older brother in New York to help him with his fish business.
Founded Nan Inc. Construction
As it turned out, destiny had different plans for Patrick Shin. While he was still living in New York he earned a scholarship for soccer by Bowling Green State University, which further helped him to go for his majors in business administration at the same university.
This can be seen as a turning point. Because without this he wouldn’t be able to go to university. After his graduation, he moved to Hawaii and worked as a laborer for a construction company for almost two years. He must have liked construction a lot because after that he decided to start his own company. He started his construction company Nan Inc as a one-man business in 1990. 20 years later, Patrick Shin, as the owner and founder of Nan Inc., was managing one of the most successful construction companies on Oahu with over 500 employees working for Nan Inc.
Nan Inc was a new company but quickly received many multi-million projects over the year. The construction company was a major player in the hospitality industry, having different chains of hotels such as the Hilton giving them contracts. Thanks to the trust of the Hawaiian community and local businesses, Nan Inc grew to one of the largest construction companies in Hawaii.
Having the first couple of big projects is usually the hard part. Once people noticed that we actually delivered (and fast) more and more new projects came. From undertaking new constructions, renovating historic buildings, shaping up the office and administrative facilities, looking after warehouses and multi-family facilities to road and highway construction, civil utility construction, and Anti-terrorism construction. According to Nan Inc’s Bloomberg profile, they also provide design-build services. Construction services in all these fields made Nan Inc the great company that we know today. Since the day of Patrick Shin’s first success, he never looked back.
When becoming successful
When a person becomes successful, he becomes more prideful in a lot of cases. For Patrick Shin this was the contrary. When he had his first success he became more humble and grounded as a result. He started to give back to many charitable organizations (see in the video below how he helped a school in The Philippines) and even started some as an individual initiative.
What The Future Has in Store for Patrick Shin
As the owner of Nan Inc., one of Hawaii’s biggest construction contracting firms, what else does Patrick Shin want to accomplish? It never has been about the money for Patrick Shin. It wasn’t really a goal that motivated him. Instead, he always wanted to build think and actually contribute to Hawaii by working on great projects.
He still hasn’t lost this drive and passion, and still wants to make Hawaii a better place to live. It was his serious efforts, determination, and desire to serve the society, which made his venture Nan Inc the largest locally owned general contractor in Hawaii.
Today, he is also a charity leader who has donated a lot of money to noble causes such as hospitals, schools, food banks, healthcare foundations, cancer societies, and orphanages in and around Hawaii. This makes him a real man with a heart of gold.
With no fanfare and no fuss, Patrick Shin is not just a construction company owner, but also a leader of underprivileged, poor, and the needy. Certainly, he’s a true human away from all the vices!