President's Message
The year has gotten off to an outstanding start thanks to our Staff, Board, Committees, and our General Membership. Thanks to all of you, the Chamber works. During the past two months we have been busy on many fronts. We have been meeting with our joint Government Affairs Committee comprised of representatives from our Chamber, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaii, the Hawaii Island Contractors Association, the Hawaii Island Board of Realtors and KIAA to assist our memberships in understanding legislation and other issues which impact all of us. We recently met with Neil Erickson and Jai Cheng of the County Building Department to obtain a better understanding of County Bill 270, which effectively adopts the 2006 International Building Code with amendments.
Many members have also given their time to show support of the University of Hawaii and the TMT by attending the contested case hearing which has lasted many days and at the time of this message has not been completed.
We were also honored by Governor Neil Abercrombie agreeing to address our membership on August 2nd. This was the first time Governor Abercrombie made a public address in East Hawaii since taking office and we thank him for choosing to candidly speak to our organization and appreciate his recognition of Bobby Fujimoto.
On the economic development front, we brought you the Intrastate Water Transportation System – Critical Issues Pending, informational luncheon and have planned our Business Outlook Forum with First Hawaiian Bank. We promise to bring our members more events like these in the coming months.
Please be on the lookout for event announcements from our Social Committee. These events are a good way to meet other members, network and build lasting relationships. They are also fun!
We also want to offer more educational opportunities for our members. Our Education Committee is currently planning events for the coming year. Stay tuned.
In closing, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Jonathan Maesato for volunteering over the summer and truly making our Chamber better. Jonathan has been busy assisting Miles with all sorts of things and was instrumental in updating our website and creating many of the event flyers we all received. We wish Jonathan well in his studies as he returns to Vassar College for his second year as an economics major. When I asked Jonathan why he chose economics, very candidly he said, because accounting is too boring. And with that, I say good bye until next month.