type public traded as nyse alex industry real estate agriculture headquarters honolulu hi united states key people stanley m. kuriyama christopher j. benjamin revenue us 1.722 billion fy 2011 1 operating income us 132.3 million fy 2011 1 net income us 34.2 million fy 2011 1 total assets us 2.544 billion fy 2011 1 total equity us 1.123 billion fy 2011 1 number of employees 2 100 dec 2011 1 website www.alexanderbaldwin.com alexander & baldwin inc. is an american company that was once part of the big five companies in territorial hawaii . the company today operates businesses in real estate sugarcane and diversified agriculture . it is also the only big five company that still cultivates sugarcane . it remains one of the state of hawaii s largest private landowners owning over 87 000 acres 35 000 ha throughout the state . in addition the company owns 47 income properties in the hawaii and the continental united states . 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 . contents 1 history 1.1 before annexation 1.2 the big five era 1.3 diversification 2 matson spinoff 3 criticism 4 list of businesses owned by alexander & baldwin inc. 5 see also 6 alexander & baldwin family tree 7 references 8 further reading 9 external links history edit before annexation edit 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 hawaiian islands were called at the time . reverend william alexander and mary mckinney alexander arrived the following year in 1832 . 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 561 acres 227 ha of land on the island of maui between p ia and makawao on which they began to cultivate sugarcane . the land the partners cultivated was 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 slopes of haleakal mountain . thus he designed a 17 mile 27 km long irrigation aqueduct that diverted water from that part of haleakal 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 grew and was eventually renamed alexander & baldwin plantation . between 1872 and 1900 the company gradually 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 spreckles . 2 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. hawaii s big five c. brewer & co. theo h. davies & co. amfac castle & cooke alexander & baldwin v t e the big five era edit following incorporation the company continued to prosper . it came to be one of hawaii s big five companies which held a virtual oligarchy over hawaii s economy during the region s territorial years . in this period the company entered many new businesses and controlled more than 100 000 acres 40 000 ha 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 unene kahuku and kaua i island as well as pineapple operations on maui and kaua 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 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 . alexander and baldwin building u.s. national register of historic places headquarters built in 1929 location 822 bishop street honolulu hawaii coordinates 21 18 46 n 157 51 54 w 21.31278 n 157.86500 w 21.31278 ; 157.86500 coordinates 21 18 46 n 157 51 54 w 21.31278 n 157.86500 w 21.31278 ; 157.86500 built 1929 architect charles william dickey hart wood nrhp reference 79000755 3 added to nrhp september 7 1979 following 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 edit 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 macadamia nuts in the 1980s . matson spinoff edit as of june 2012 matson shipping in which the company had held an investment for 140 years was spun off as a separate company . 4 5 criticism edit alexander & baldwin has drawn repeated criticism from maui residents over the use of pre harvest field burning by its subsidiary hawaiian commercial & sugar company . hc & s cultivates approximately 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 . 6 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 . 7 maui environmentalists and physicians have countered by asserting that the burning process has caused increased rates of asthma and respiratory disease especially among children released carcinogens from burning pvc pipes used in the irrigation system 6 and resulted in highway closures and car crashes . 8 9 community organizers have called on a & b to replace burning with green harvesting methods 10 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 . 11 the company s puunene mill has also attracted criticism from residents who have pointed out that its equipment does not meet federal emissions standards and that its high coal consumption produces unsafe levels of sulfur dioxide . 12 some activists have reported receiving threats from or being assaulted by hc & s employees and members of the international longshore and warehouse union which has been active in lobbying for continued cane burning on behalf of alexander & baldwin . 6 9 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 . 13 list of businesses owned by alexander & baldwin inc. edit a & b properties inc. real estate and development company hawaiian commercial & sugar company sugar growing division east maui irrigation co. ltd. maintains irrigation ditches originally built in the 1870s as noted above maui brand sugars unrefined sugar brand a & b fleet services trucking and fleet related parts and repair services see also edit economy of hawaii alexander & baldwin family tree edit v t e alexander & baldwin family tree this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message william p. alexander 1805 1884 mary ann mckinney 1810 1888 amos starr cooke 1810 1871 juliette montague 1812 1896 dwight baldwin 1798 1886 charlotte fowler 1805 1873 j. w. smith 1810 1887 david dwight baldwin 1831 1912 w. o. smith 1848 1929 william d. alexander 1833 1913 abigail baldwin 1847 1912 samuel t. alexander 1836 1904 martha eliza cooke ann elizabeth alexander 1843 1940 henry p. baldwin 1842 1911 emily whitney alexander 1846 1943 agnes alexander 1875 1971 annie montague alexander 1867 1950 c.w. dickey 1871 1942 belle dickey 1880 1972 james dole 1877 1958 henry alexander baldwin 1871 1946 ethel frances smith 1879 1967 j. walter cameron 1895 1976 francis baldwin 1904 1996 colin c. cameron 1927 1992 kapalua notes references edit a b c d e f alexander & baldwin form 10 k annual report filing date feb 28 2012 pdf . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 3 2013 . about us . web site . hawaiian commercial & sugar company . retrieved november 27 2010 . national park service 2009 03 13 . national register information system . national register of historic places . national park service . matson form 8 k current report filing date jul 3 2012 pdf . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 3 2013 . matson spun off as a separate company a b c sickle allison march 23 2012 . maui s cane burning how dangerous is it . maui now . retrieved 2014 01 31 . volner rick march 26 2012 . hc & s responds to cane burning dangerous article . maui now . retrieved 2014 01 31 . osher wendy june 11 2013 . smoke from cane fire forces intermittent closures on kuihelani . maui now . retrieved 2014 01 31 . a b maui cane burn car crashes . daily kos . june 13 2013 . retrieved 2014 01 31 . bowie irene august 22 2013 . cane burning must stop . maui weekly . retrieved 2014 01 31 . nunes daniel september 27 2012 . maui cane burning controversy . hawaii news now . retrieved 2014 01 31 . andrews christine december 18 2013 . hc & s mill coal smoke . stop cane burning on maui . retrieved 2014 01 31 . external link in publisher help parise tim 2013 . totum hominem . the maui company . pp. 21 28 278 . retrieved 2014 03 17 . further reading edit arthur lyman dean 1950 . alexander & baldwin ltd. and the predecessor partnerships . alexander & baldwin . external links edit alexander & baldwin official website company history . on alexander & baldwin corporate web site . retrieved 2009 07 26 . a & b properties inc. official website alexander & baldwin sec filings alexander & baldwin matson sec filings historic american buildings survey habs no . hi 531 alexander & baldwin building 822 bishop street honolulu honolulu county hi 4 photos 1 color transparency 1 photo caption page retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title alexander % 26 baldwin & oldid 743457146 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangecompanies based in hawaiiagriculture companies established in