just 31 votes fewer than the winning candidate Ngiratkel Etpison; the near-tie led Palauan electoral reform, where elections are conducted under majority voting, with a second round if no candidate received more than half of all votes cast. Faced with political defeat once again, Tmetuchl decided to focus on his business holdings and his family life. Business career Tmetuchl owned various businesses throughout his life, including real estate, several restaurants, a travel agency, and a hardware store. In the 1950s, Tmetuchl traveled with his friends to the United States. During the long trip, he learned how to make hollow concrete blocks which cost 35 cents. He took this technique to Palau and made blocks from Japanese concrete structures. With help from his uncle's saw mill, he built a number of houses from these concrete blocks. He established a construction company in 1952 and purchased land in Koror and Babeldaob. Tmetuchl and his associates helped William Vitarelli, an employee of the TTPI, build schools on Palau by fundraising the project and petitioning the TTPI for a builder's contract. After John O. Ngiraked accused Tmetuchl of not paying the project workers enough money, the courts examined this claim and found that the workers were actually being overpaid. The village of Ngchesar issued a public apology for the ordeal and Tmetuchl sponsored a party for the workers. In 1966, the high chief Ibedul Ngoriakl commissioned Tmetuchl and his work force to expand a small office building close to the TTPI District Administration office. While under construction, the structure was damaged by Typhoon Sally on March 1, 1967. Ibedul Ngoriakl re-located the construction of his office to the site of a chief's meetinghouse and allowed Tmetuchl to retain his previous damaged project. Tmetuchl repaired and expanded this building, now called the Pacifica Development Corporation Group building, into one of Palau's most important buildings in terms of economics and politics. In the late 1970s, Tmetuchl acquired the rock quarry on Malakal island from Hawaiian Rock. He helped fund the construction of the Seventh-day Adventist High School during this time. In 1983, Tmetuchl met the businessman Masao Nishizono in Japan, and they became business partners to build an airport terminal and hotel in Airai. Nishizono stopped construction for these projects in June 1984 and lawsuits delayed the opening of the Grace Hotel. Tmetuchl acquired this hotel after Nishizono committed suicide in 1990 and renamed it the