Senate Standing Committee on Economic Development and Tourism

Aloha and welcome to the hearing with the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism. Today is February 27, 2025. This is our 1:00pm agenda, and we are in Conference Room 229. This hearing is being streamed live on YouTube. In the unlikely in the unlikely event that we must abruptly end this hearing due to technical difficulties, the Committee will reconvene on Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 1:01pm in Conference Room 229.

This Committee has a 90 minute time slot, so there will be a one minute time limit for all testifiers. Today's agenda includes seven GMs for various boards. First we will address Governor's Message 512 Jacqueline Kaina so first up on the Test of Fire list we have Interim Director Sandy Kanemori in support.

Good afternoon Chair Vice Chair My name is Sandy Kadimor,i of HCC Hawaii Technology Development Corporation and it is our honor to support the confirmation of Jacqueline Kaina to our HCC Board of Directors. I've personally known Ms. Kaina for many, many years now through our professional work as a very highly respected leader in our economic development world.

Through her leadership passion to create not just a better Hawaii, but Hawaii, she has helped drive STEM efforts, workforce development programs and strategic initiatives to support local businesses, entrepreneurs and emerging industries. Ms. Kain has experience in economic planning, policy development and public private stakeholder collaboration makes her a valuable candidate for this position.

We very much look forward to working with Ms. Kaina and we kindly ask for your support. Thank you for allowing me to testify and mahalo.

Thank you. Next up, Craig Nakanishi, Hawaii Technology Development Corporation, in support. Representative D. Morikawa in support. Nalani Braun in supporting. DBEDT, there DBEDT.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair. DBEDT stands on his testimony.

Thank you. Next up, Daniel Hamada for Department of Education in support. Mahina Angio for Waimea High School in support. Robbie Melton in support. Catherine Avakuni in support. Ellen Ching in support. And anybody else wishing to testify, Wendy, please.

Good afternoon, Chair Vice Chair I'm Wendy Gaby, with ADC and I've had the pleasure of working with Jackie over the last two years on Kauai. And I hate to say that I covet, but I do covet the fact that it HTDC has the option of her on the board.

And what you get with Jackie is you get a collaborative partner. She's deliverable, she delivers and she's resourceful. But more importantly, she's a friend of AG and she really understands how technology is the future of AG in helping develop our workforce and develop profitability. I'm available for Any questions?

Thank you. Anybody else wishing to testify and support see None. Jacqueline, if you want to come up. Aloha.

So aloha Chair and Vice Chair. Mahalo for having me and excuse my nervousness. It's my very first time. Just a little bit about me. Jackie Kaina, Born and raised on the island of Kauai. I spent a good part of my life here on Oahu because I was lucky enough to attend Kamehameha Kapalama.

And you'll hear why that's really important in a little bit. Decided to move back home because I wanted to raise my family back on Kauai and I was lucky enough that my husband loves me enough and he decided to move back because he's from here.

Why I say Kamehameha is because as a child, you don't realize the abundant resources you have, you know, at that school until you come back home and, you know, experience what other schools have. Back in 2019, KDB has. We have been serving as a work based learning intermediary for the Kauai complex area.

And what that means is we serve all schools on Kauai. And I had the firsthand opportunity. Aloha. To see what the schools have and what they don't have. And that is what drives me today. It's how do we bring resources to Kauai? How can I be a voice on this board to represent all neighbor islands?

And my superpower is that I'm able to connect dots and I love people. And again, that's what drives me. That's why I'm here and that's why I put in extra time, because I want my kids to be able to come home and I want them to have homes that they can afford to live in.

And I want that for all of our people. So thank you for your time and I'm available for any questions if you have. Thank you.

Members, you have any questions. Senator Wakai.

I was looking at your. Q and A responses and you are very thorough. I mean, very excellent, excellent responses. That even just the spirit of collaboration that is just emanating from these responses is really evident. The Ways that Means Committee has gone to Kauai a number of occasions.

And when you think about technology and the golden opportunity there is pmrf, but doesn't seem like a lot of local Kauai residents are the ones that are actually taking the jobs. Are they bringing people from the mainland state two years back to wherever they came from? How do we get a better handle on that?

And then how in your role htdc at kind of the tip of the spear for Kauai's presence on the board. Can you help get more local residents deployed at PMRF or other technology companies on Kauai?

Yeah, thank you. That's a really good question. And it's not only PMRF that we're seeing hiring outside folks. You know, it's everywhere. Right. It's our county, it's even KDB sometimes. Well, not anymore, because I want to hire local. Yeah, we have a building out west, the West Kauai Tech Technology and Visitor Center.

And, you know, it was a gift from the late Senator Inouye. And the goal for that space is really to create high tech workforce development programs so we can train our own people to compete for those jobs. You know, in the past, it's just, I guess there's such a disconnect. Yeah. We're not getting the word out.

We're not bringing the right programs to our people. And when I say that, it's because, you know, we've done a lot of digital equity work. Right. On the west side, you're going to see a lot of Kupuna, a lot of folks from Niihaus. So English is a second language there. Right.

So we can bring all kinds of programs to Kauai, but if we're not bringing the right ones and we're not recognizing what the gaps are, it's for nothing. Right. So, for example, we have a cybersecurity training. Right. We got some funding from the Federal Government to do cybersecurity training. But what does that mean?

Do we have people there who are ready for this program? Maybe not. Like, maybe we have to create a program to prepare them for the next step. Right. And I think that's what we've been lacking in the past. We haven't done a really good job at knowing what the people need.

And at KDB, we're lucky because we're boots on the ground. That's what we do. Yeah. And our building happens to sit on HTDC land, so it's a natural partnership with HTDC in terms of, you know, we want that to be the Kauai sandbox. We just want it to be a safe place for people to learn. Yeah.

And again, we are not only going to bring the programs to Waimea, but it's island wide. We serve the whole island. Yeah.

So, yeah, I recall when we were. At the Wham site visits, one of the missing pieces was Kaua' I Community College. The. They were not creating the majors there that would feed into a technology sector. They were doing traditional medicine and education stuff, but not really getting the majors that feed into the vision that you.

Have for the ia.

Yeah, I think you're going to be super excited, Senator, because we have partnered with them. We have a new chancellor, you know, and she is super amazing. We've talked about, you know, bringing some of those programs to Waimea, so some of their OSET programs to Waimea.

I think there's movement going in the right direction now, and we just have the right leadership now. So I hope we can make you happy. Thank you, Senator Fukunawa.

You know, as a follow up to Senator Wakai's question, Kauai also has a really strong creative media and technology, you know, network. And I don't know to what extent you've ever encountered Kevin Matsunaga, who has also served on the National STN Board and on the PBS board.

To what extent do you see people like him, his students, other educators on Kauai as helping to play a role in getting those connections made and built upon.

Because in a lot of instances, it sounds as though for a lot of Kupuna, they would do best if their grandchildren and people from their community help them really learn digital technology, et cetera.

So you'll be happy to hear that Mr. Matsunaga recently retired and I grabbed him. So he is now a consultant with kdb. Kauai is small. We know what's happening. Right. And Kevin has developed some programs for us. So this is the first time ever on Kauai. We are doing digital media clubs island wide.

And this is from K To. We are even partnering with the college. The interesting thing about what he did is, you know, Jackie, the problem is we don't know what's. He was in the middle school for a very long time, Right. And there was no real articulation time for all of the teachers island wide.

So, you know, the middle schools didn't know how to prepare the students to go into the high school digital media programs. So. So this year he actually started, I mean, where he's meeting with all digital media teachers four times. So quarterly we are providing professional development. So we are partnering with, I believe it's Creative Industries or hcc.

It's in a box. Yeah. We're going to provide professional development for all of these teachers this summer. We're doing drone clubs. So he's doing drone clubs and media clubs island wide. And again, first time ever. Right. You don't hear of a whole. All of the teachers coming together. They don't have that time.

So KDB is offering, you know, stipends for substitute teachers. We're paying for that time for them to meet. We're providing lunches, and, you know, always looking for funding to support his efforts. So at the end of the year, our goal is to do, for the drone clubs anyway, is to do a drone competition.

So Kevin's been coming to Oahu. I believe it's Eva Makai School. They have a really robust drone program. We want that on Kauai. So the one thing about us on Kauai, right, is if we see it happening somewhere else, we want it to happen on our island, too.

And, you know, going back to now, my role on the HTDC board, I'm not only advocating for Kauai anymore. Now it's Hawaii, you know, now we're gonna look at the big what's out there and what can we bring here and how can we support our hd?

Thank you. That's very encouraging because people like Kevin know everybody on the island. And so if you really want to, you know, move rapidly, he would be a great partner. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Kim.

Aloha. Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. Now you realize your role is for all of Hawaii and not just for Kauai. But are you familiar at all with what Kauai and the instructors there, if they have any experience with ACM West Oahu in the facility and what resources are there guys taking advantage of that at all?

Not yet.

That is what Kevin is now out there to do is to, you know, the first thing he did when he came on and he did an asset mapping on Kauai to see where the schools are. There are some schools who don't even have a digital media teacher. Right.

So he is there helping them to build their curriculum and, you know, even finding, we're building up even students of his that can help, you know, teach even there. But in terms of knowing and the partnership with West Oahu, we're not quite there yet.

But that's the University entity on Kauai as far as their programming. Because supposingly, ACM Academy of Creative Media System is supposed to connect all of the programs and the campuses, and that that facility was built for statewide and not just for West Oahu. Apparently it's not been so, well, you know, integrated into the overall program.

So we hope that's something that will happen as we move forward.

Me too. I mean, so I can't speak to what's happening at the college, but, you know, I know that they have that indigenous data hub happening. And I know there's a partnership with Kcc, so if, you know, I believe that's part of the, uh, West Oahu program as well. And we're part of that, too. Yeah.

So there's sparks happening, there's movement. Yeah. So I hope we can do more.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So, Jacqueline, thank you for being here.

You know, and as you covered the outreach and what you wanting to do to help the state, can you kind of give us an idea, you know, coming from Kauai, and as you look towards what Honolulu has to offer at the state level, is there anything else you would think that this body here at the Legislature could do to help assist in some of the shortfalls that we have?

Senator, that's a loaded question. Thank you. How can this body assist? I think right now it's just you guys are listening, right? Your ears are open and being the eyes and ears for us anyway, and letting. Because you. I mean, you hear more than we do, I'm sure. Right.

Letting us know what's out there and how we can chase it. And, you know, I'm still learning. Right. I'm still learning a lot about HTDC. I just had to ask them, how many employees do you guys have? You know, I didn't even know that.

So maybe come back to me later and I'll have a better answer to that question.

Sounds good. Thank you.

Seeing no further questions. We're gonna move on, and then we're gonna come to our decision making. So thank you. Thank you for being here, Jaclyn. Okay, next up, GM 539. Submitting for GM 539, Gregory Uehara. First up testifying, Sandi Kanemori. Oh, Wayne.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair. Wayne Inouye from Hawaii Technology Development Corporation. We stand on our written support for Mr. Uehara to be on our board. You know, to be honest, I met Greg, Mr. Uehara, about a year ago. And, you know, again, he. You know, from our first meeting, it was very obvious that his passion for technology.

He is a technologist. We share a similar background being semiconductor engineers and technologists for manufacturing. So we had a very good conversation. But I think the benefit of what Mr. Uehara brings to HTDC is the technology side. I think there's a couple of bills currently going through the process for your review that really talks about technology insertion, of how we leverage technology, whether it's in value added food manufacturing, in fashion, in any types of different types of industries that we're trying to revive for the State of Hawaii.

So I think the benefit for HTDC is to have Mr. Uehara as part of our board to really help with understanding the technology aspect. He's an engineer, he's a technologist. And these are the types of people that we really want to work with as part of our programs to really help us understand how we leverage technology for the better good for the agency and for the whole state. So I'm looking forward and here to answer any questions.

Thank you. Next up, Craig Nakanishi for HTDC Corporation. Or that was that Wayne? Okay. In support. DBEDT, Dane.

Chair, Vice Chair, Members. So I was gonna block the two HTDC nominees, but much has been said about Jaclyn. And I just wanted to add prior to the GM 512, that facility we've learned now HTDC has assets on Maui and Kauai. And as we work with our sister agencies, ADC as well as aerospace with PMRF, having KEDB at the table on the board will help us create synergies, whether it's that curriculum to career, whether one of fitting one of our four pillars.

Moving on to Greg, having him serve. And I'd ask for the Committee's support in both of these nominees. Greg brings the expertise and the export potential for HTDC, specifically in IP and services. And going back to our economic landscape, he looked at one of our major focuses on things that we can export for the State of Hawaii. And one of those is services and IP. So ask for your support. I'm looking forward to Greg's contribution to helping us figure out that tech aspect for the State of Hawaii. Mahalo.

Thank you. Next up, Jamie Detwiler on Zoom.

IT, do we have... Oh, there we go.

Aloha, Chair. Can you hear me?

Yep. Aloha.

Aloha, Chair. Chair DeCoite, Vice Chair Wakai, and Senators on the Committee. My name is Jamie Detwiler. I'm testifying today as an individual. It is my honor and privilege to support the nomination of Dr. Uehara for the Board of Hawaii Technology Development Corporation. I've known Greg for 50 years. We really dated ourselves when we were talking about this.

We met in our sophomore year in high school. And today I'd like to speak to his passion and excellence, intelligence, and his compassion for humanity and his sincere commitment to the people of Hawaii. You know, we were just kids growing up in Kaneohe, living our simple but great, fun life.

And I've kept in touch with Greg over the years, and I know his passion for technology, innovation, and his ability to share and mentor that with so many others. He is also very passionate about keeping local talent here at home in Hawaii and wants to share that so that our future generations can come home and stay home and raise their families here. So thank you so much for this opportunity to testify.

Thank you. Next up, Wayne Shiroma in support with University of Hawaii Manoa, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Larry Khoo, Spinal Surgery Focal Therapies, in support. Brennon Morioka in support. Kymberly Sparlin in support. Isar Mostafanezhad in support. Jennifer Sabas in support. Greg Uehara, if you would like to join us. Good afternoon.

Hello, Senators. I'm very honored and excited to have been nominated to the board of HTDC. I grew up in Kaneohe, went to Castle, and my undergraduate degrees are from the College of Idaho and University of Washington. And I went to Berkeley for my Master's and PhD.

After graduating in 93, I joined the faculty here at the University of Hawaii in the Department of Electrical Engineering. And I love teaching, love doing research, but I went through the tenure process. I got early tenure. But in my undergrad, I started this dream to impact technology development here in Hawaii.

And toward the late 90s, I knew how to develop a new idea, a new technology. You could write a paper, but I didn't know how to productize it. I didn't know how to make it manufacturable, testable, and capable of being manufactured in high volume and how to sell it.

So in 2000, my wife and I made a difficult decision to go back to the mainland, and we ended up in Austin, Texas. And I worked there for 12 years. I worked for two public companies. I spent a year as an entrepreneur resident at Austin Ventures when it was the third largest VC in the US. That was a thrilling year. In 2012, we decided we wanted our daughters to grow up here.

So we returned to Hawaii and I worked three more years from home and then I left to start working on a startup of my own, which I continue to work on today called Alert Core. We developed this core muscle technology, sensing technology. And we want to, with Dr. Khoo, launch it this year.

And I've continued to consult with chip companies mainly. I currently have 45 issued US patents. 10, I'm very excited, belong to Alert Core. And I'm looking forward to, if confirmed, to utilize my experience in academia, in industry, and with startups to help to grow the commercial technology industry here in our state.

Thank you. Members, any questions for the nominee? Senator Fukunaga.

You know, I had a brief opportunity to talk with Dr. Uehara, and I was really struck by his interest in really engaging with a lot of the different companies and startups in Hawaii. And maybe if you could talk a little bit about some of your ideas for connecting many of the entrepreneurs that are here as well as some who are on the mainland and who would like to come back.

Yes, excellent. So there's two... Thank you for your question. So there are two aspects to that. One is I recently was on a committee that evaluated Hawaii state matching grants to SBIRs. And there I saw a number of the startups, not all of them, but all of them, some of them were early stage. And I know the struggle of the early stage startups. Haven't thought about manufacturability and IP, et cetera. And so I would like to figure out a way for HTDC to provide a structure for these early stage companies.

Secondly, wherever you are, whether you're in Silicon Valley or in Austin, Texas or here in Hawaii, it's not easy to start new companies. And so what we need to do is we need to connect to, you know, startups need to connect to good problems, good, real problems and then develop technological solutions to address those problems in a, in a high value way.

And so what, you know, one, of the things that when we need to have more entrepreneurs who want to develop technology. But once you have an idea, you need a team, you need people to validate your idea, you need people to help develop a first prototype or a demo. And as we spoke yesterday, Senator, I'd love to see a directory of skill sets. There's a number of engineers that are working here from Hawaii but for mainland companies who have a lot of the kind of skill sets that might be interesting for startups.

And I think that if we can build this directory, both with folks who are already here and folks on the mainland who would like to come back. When I was in Austin, when I had this new concept, I called friends of mine that I had right there, and one was a software person, different skill sets. And I think that'd be really neat if we can start to create that kind of discussion in a very broad way. Right. So this is something that I'd certainly like to grow.

Well, definitely, you know, that would really contribute to connecting the dots so that more companies could reach out and actually expand and become successful. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

So just as a roll off and, you know, I mean, your resume is super impressive. We're in here, going off, you know, going into the areas in Texas and of course Silicon Valley. The high tech is there. While your time teaching at the University of Hawaii, do you feel we graduating enough students to work in the high tech industry in Hawaii?

Okay, so I'm not, I'm not clear about the numbers of students right now. When I was on the faculty there, right, I was very aware of where our graduates were going and making sure that their training was good in the area that I was in, which was integrated circuits.

And so what I think we... You know, Dean Morioka is a good friend of mine. Right. And as well as Professor Shiroma. I recently became an adjunct in the past year, and I would like to get better connected as well with, you know, where the graduates are going.

And then I'm always available to them if they want to look at curriculum and things like that. Right. But I think the main thing about training is that employers really want to see certain kinds of background and understanding in the graduates that they have. And I'm just not clear on where the current status of that is, so I wouldn't want to answer any further than that.

You're in the right place to find out though, but thank you. Senator Kim.

So what are your thoughts. About the innovation centers that we have, like the Manoa Innovation Center and now the RISE Innovation Center and the RISE. And you have some thoughts about those?

Yes. Well, I think what's becoming clearer to me, right, is we need to help to incubate companies. Right. We have to help develop, provide a structure for our entrepreneurs. I mean, I think it's awesome that people are willing to take the big risk to start a company. Right. And I'm only now learning about... For me what the team at HTDC has done in terms of providing all kinds of seminars and things for SBIR on patents. Fantastic, right? And I would just like to see more connectivity of folks that are technologists here.

And we have also picture there are other activities going on in the state and maybe I don't know that we need more coordination, but I think that folks need to be aware that there's a lot of possible support here. So back to your specific question about the Manoa Innovation Center.

I do consult at Nalu Scientific, and you know, been very impressed with what Isar has done with the team there. And I'm not frankly aware of the other companies at this point. But, you know, the SBIR matching was one way for me to get introduced to some of the companies. And I would like to over time become more aware of the other activities of companies that have already been started.

Okay. And I'm not sure who this will probably fall under, but maybe people like yourselves that go in and look at whether or not the facilities that we're putting up and, you know, the bricks and mortars and all of the resources that are going into these innovation centers as to whether or not it's adequate or it's producing the type of things that we want to come out.

Because besides the Manoa Innovation Center, you have the innovation center that was just recently built with RISE and then Shidler has innovation centers and then I know Kakaʻako. So, you know, we're sort of like sprouting up these innovation centers, but I don't know where the seed capital will be coming from and whether or not this is in fact the way we should go about it because there's so many other greater needs like in AI and as we're moving forward of resources.

I understand your question. I appreciate it a lot. Actually, I think that being a technologist, and I appreciate the ground up, right, the bottoms up approach to starting a company. And I think it's very important that we also focus on that. The moment a startup takes money, the clock is ticking and the bank account is coming down.

And so we have to be very efficient, very capital efficient and very time efficient to execute on the right things. And when I, you know, when I started managing engineers in industry, I found that most engineers, even the best ones, spend about 50% of their time working on important stuff. Right.

And what we need to do is make that, you know, my goal is always as a manager to make it 90%. Right. And I think that I would like to understand, and if through HTDC I have the opportunity to do so, let's survey what people are focused on. Talk to the CEOs, what's the most important thing to you and make sure that they're focused on the right things.

Yeah, I don't want to see a disconnect because I think they should all be connected. What is University doing to bringing up these startups for these students and their creative minds, as well as what's going on with government, what's going on in the private sector, and how do we make sure that the University is in fact putting forth what is needed in society? Right?

Yes. So there's two aspects to that, right? There's engineers who are going to go graduate from here and then go to a large company or go to work for Pearl Harbor. But those that are going to feed the entrepreneurial activities here in our state, I think that's kind of a different focus. And I hope that with my academic background I can kind of help to connect and like to see more bridges formed, right. Between those who understand and have serious problems to solve, the technologists, and the University.

Thank you. That's why I posed that to you.

Very, very good. Thank you.

Thank you. Senator Wakai.

In your responses, I noticed that one of the areas that you want to attack if allowed to be on the HTDC board is to focus on AI and AI modeling. And what little I know about the AI infrastructure, you need for to do all of that is that you need to have a large capacity for data and you need good, clean, firm power. So a lot of the AWS is in the Microsoft of the world are investing in data houses as well as nuclear reactors to power those data houses, both of which we don't have in Hawaii. So what role is Hawaii or can Hawaii play without that infrastructure?

Yes. Okay, great question. So I'm also still learning about AI myself, but the idea is to develop models. For example, I'm interested in models of body movement, using sensors to detect different kinds of body movement. Those specific models may or may not be already available.

If they're available, you can already license them, but if they're not, the development of models do not take the infrastructure that you're talking about. Right. These can be written in a much smaller server type environment, and the big service that you're mentioning really is needed when there's huge problems. Right.

And there's a lot of users in parallel using the hardware and that's when you need the AWS type of servers. What I'm talking about is let's not just be users of AI technology, but let's put a little bit of effort, right, some effort into building models that we develop here in Hawaii. Right. And maybe those models can be close to the kind of problems that are special here in Hawaii. Like, for example, in agriculture or things like that.

Thank you. Okay, thank you. Very impressive. Next up, we have James Kimo Lee, first one testifying. Jonathan Schick testifying for Small Business Regulatory Review Board.

Thank you. Chair, Vice Chair, Committee Members, Good to see you all again. I'm Jonathan Schick. I'm currently the Chairperson for the Small Business Regulatory Review Board. I come before you in support of James Kimo Lee's renomination to the Small Business Board. I've been on the board with him for almost six years now.

We definitely enjoy his enthusiasm and his energy that he brings to it, but more importantly, his connections within the business community and also just the community on the Big island of Hawaii and how important it is to be able to have that outreach for our goals as a board on Big island.

Because there's a lot of business there, a lot of small business owners and operators, and it's really important to have them there. So I stand in support of his renomination. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up, DBEDT. Dane. Thank you. Anybody else wishing to testify on behalf of the Member? Seeing none. Do we have... Okay, we'll come back to... He's supposed to be on Zoom, but we'll come back to him later. Moving on to GM 514, Jennifer Salisbury, up for a regulatory Small Business Review Board. First up, Jonathan Shick.

Thank you again. I'm here in support of Dr. Jennifer's nomination to the board. So just in the short period of time that she's been attending our board meetings, we've been able to see quite a valuable resource as well as a wealth of knowledge and connection within the business community on Maui. And she's also very, very connected with the different community organizations on Maui and actively involved in helping the community and helping business there, not only as a small business owner, but also on those boards.

So I think that having her as part of our board, particularly for Maui and everything that's happening in Maui right now, between the growth that was there as well as the redevelopment that's going to be needed for Lahaina, is going to be a very valuable asset for us. And we definitely look forward to having her continue to be on the board and stand in support of her nomination. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up, DBEDT. Dane. Okay, anybody else wishing to testify on this measure? Okay. Seeing none. If we could have Jennifer on Zoom. Thank you, Jennifer, for being here or on Zoom.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair. Mahalo nui loa for allowing me to be here today. I apologize, I'm traveling away from the state with family, otherwise I'd be in the room right with you. Appreciate it. Such an honor to serve my community with Small Business Regulatory Review Board. I've been involved with small business on Maui Island for, geez, 20 plus years.

My parents are housing providers, and then of course I I married a contractor, so he's a housing provider as well. And we are actively employing, actively working with folks that are trying to rebuild the west side and supporting folks rebuilding in Kula as well. My time on Maui United Way.

I've been on the board of Maui United Way for over five years, and super happy to support the regrowth of the nonprofit partners and individuals with unmet needs and keiki with mental health needs. There's all kinds of things that are happening and that I am so pleased to support the state in general with this small business representation. So I apologize if it's loud where I am. I'm not sure what else I need to say, Chair. Mahalo for the opportunity.

No, that's great. Thanks, Jennifer. And we do have your resume and the questions and answers to it. So I'm just going to open up to the board, to the Committee if they have any questions for you. See, all your information spoke for itself. You have no questions. Thank you. Okay, moving on.

Next up we have Nikki Ige for Small Business Regulatory Review Board. First up, Jonathan Shick.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to come before you. Just like I said with Dr. Salisbury and James Kimo Lee, having Nikki be a part of the board representing the island of Kauai is super important, super valuable for us because, as we heard with the HTDC testimonies as well as with SBRRB, we know that there's a lot of business on the outer islands that's occurring and how important it is that we get their voice and get their support.

So having Nikki on on the board also provides us with that opportunity to really have a voice on Kauai and help support those small business owners and that business community. So again, support her nomination to the board, and thank you guys very much for your time.

Thank you. Next up, DBEDT. Dane. Thank you. Anybody else wishing to testify on behalf of the nominee? Seeing none. Nikki. Nikki.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Nikki Ige, and I am very, very honored to be considered for this role. I am currently the community impact director for a local credit union here, and my family are small business owners. I really feel that our community, especially on Kauai, is beneficiaries of all of the small businesses that do contribute to our economy, and especially just the social fabric of what we do every day. I also sit on the Chamber of Commerce Board, and so I really have a passion for helping small business. And look forward to answering questions that you may have.

Thank you. Members, any questions for the nominee? Okay, Nikki, I just got one question for you. Do you think that small businesses are overburdened with governmental rules? And if yes, what are they?

That's a tricky question because I think regulations are so varied according to industry, and I think for us it's more about not eliminating risk. You know, I think the purpose of regulation is really to mitigate and manage it. So I think it's always a fine balance and I feel like it's always going to ebb and flow. Sometimes it's going to be heavy on regulation, and it's our role, specifically with the board, to make sure that we are balancing that.

Thank you. Follow up, Senator Kim.

Thank you very much. Can you just share with us what are some of the areas in which we can help our small businesses? Because small business is the backbone of our community. And you hear so often some of the regulations and taxes overburdens, and we see so many of our small businesses go out of business and get replaced with the big box, big box stores and stuff. So how is there any, do you have any thoughts about that?

Well, I think first of all, your support of our, of our board is huge. Mostly because I think for most small businesses, they don't have somebody that's monitoring all the regulations and they don't know until it comes out or it's too late. So I think first of all, your support of our board is really important.

Secondly, I think maybe just helping educate small businesses and let them know what resources are out there because I think awareness of what is available is really the first step. So they're aware and they're educated to know that there are organizations that are looking out for them and encouraging them to reach out to us early and often when they do have something that is a frustration.

So is the board, should the board just be reactive or should the board be more proactive in helping the small businesses?

I think our role, and my understanding is based on my experience thus far. I feel like we're more of an advocate, and because of the process which requires the departments to come to us when they do have proposed changes, it gives us the ability to, one, make sure that they are, they're not just checking the box to say we consulted with small business, but we can be advocates for the small business.

And specifically for me on Kauai, knowing, you know, we're a small neighbor island, knowing the different business owners and understanding them from personal relationships, we can reach out to them early and figure out what is the impact rather than them having to be watching and being aware of everything.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none. Let's move on to GM 587, Agri Development Corporation gubernatorial nominee Dean Okimoto. First up testifying, Wendy Gady for Agri Development Corporation.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. I'm Wendy Gady with the Agribusiness Development Corp, and we stand in strong support of Dean Okimoto on our board. He is a farmer. He represents the opportunity to get into large retailers and understands the importance of food safety. And probably the best story that sticks is he's been out looking at the different farms and farmers who have applied for land.

He called me at nine o' clock on a Sunday night, and I said, is everything okay? And he said, no, I cannot sleep. These farmers, they really need us. We need to get moving faster. They need our land. Some of these people are month to month. I said, I know that. So he definitely understands the importance of land and water and urgency. I'm available for any questions.

Thank you. He should call me that time. No, just playing. Next up, DBEDT. Dane. Thank you. Next up, Brian Miyamoto, Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Senator Richards. Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. You have our written testimony, and we are in strong support of Mr. Dean Okimoto. Dean Okimoto. I've personally known Dean for 20 years. Actually, it'll be 20 years in June.

Mr. Okimoto was a President of Hawaii Farm Bureau when I was hired at the Hawaii Farm Bureau. So I have a lot of experience with Mr. Okimoto. Mr. Okimoto is a visionary. Hawaii Farm Bureau President, 10 years Hawaii Ag Foundation Chairperson. Just a couple of things that he did. The Farmer's Market, KCC Farmers Market, he started in 2003.

And look at the boom of the farmers market, right? The direct sales for farmers, ranchers and our food manufacturers. Hawaii Food and Wine Festival has its roots in Mr. Dean Okimoto. Ag Day at the Capitol, we just celebrated last week that was started in 2007 under the leadership of Mr. Dean Okimoto as the President of the Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Again, he is a visionary. He is somebody who has experience as a farmer, has seen the trials and tribulations of what it is to be a farmer, how difficult it is. So he'll bring that valuable experience and background to ADC. I know amount of time. Really, he is the right person for ADC. He can bring ADC into the 21st century, move ADC forward. So we are in strong, strong support of the nomination of Mr. Dean Okimoto. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. Next up, Danny Cup Choy with Hawaii Crop Improvement Association in support. Ronald Weidenbach for Hawaii Fish Company in support. Alan Takemoto,

Chair, Committee Members. Alan Takemoto. I just wanted to show support for Dean. Known him for a while and he'll be a great asset to ADC. Thank you.

Thank you for pronouncing his name correctly. Please help the Farm Bureau. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify on behalf? Denise.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. I stand in strong support of Brian Miyamoto's testimony. Just kidding. But in all honesty, I feel that Dean Okimoto would do a great job on the ADC board. I've known him for over 25 years. My husband has known him for 25, over 25 years.

As Brian has said, he started Hawaii Ag Foundation, was the President of Hawaii Farm Bureau, actually helped start Hawaii Food and Wine Festival, even though he's not named as a founder. Poor thing. We forgot all about the farmer again. But again, stand in strong support of Dean Okimoto. He's an advocate for farmers and will do a great job. So thank you very much.

Thank you. Anybody else wishing to testify on his behalf? Seeing none. Members, any questions? Okay, Dean, if you would come up and give us a background and clarify the correct pronunciation of your name and your age and why you're getting up so early, you know, and stuff like that.

You guys really want to know my age? Well, I gotta tell you that I really appreciate the nomination to be on ADC to help with this endeavor out in, you know, statewide actually. And before I get started, Senator Richards, I'm wearing the cowboy hat not only in honor of you, but I had surgery on my skin. Skin cancers removed, so I have stitches in my head. So I figured you guys didn't want to see that, so that's why I'm wearing it.

I'm not trying to be tantaran, but yeah. So, you know, it's kind of embarrassing. With what these guys just said about me, but. And some of it I forgot already. So, you know. But yeah, I think my whole thing with ADC is about helping the farmers. Getting the farmers on the land, making sure they're successful, making sure they're following all of processing rules, all of those things, having the infrastructure for them so that they can become successful in the long run. The other thing that I think really has been missing for all these, especially immigrant farmers and things like that, are the markets.

The distributors, you know, getting the distributors to, getting the products to the distributors to sell. Because what's happening right now is there's a lot of guys that will go to the farm, they'll buy the product, and then they go to the distributor and sell it to the distributor. So, you know, the farmer is not getting the value of a lot of this stuff. And that's the disgusting part to me that I want to see these farmers successful. I want to see them make their living off of farming, you know, and hopefully that that opportunity comes up with ADC.

Thank you. Members, any questions for the nominee? That's a good sign. You see how important you are? Okay. I have no questions as well. You know, you speak for yourself. You've been there, done that, battered, bruised, and you're still coming back. So true farmer. Thank you. Let's move on. Next up, GM 588, nominee for Agribusiness Development Corporation, Nathan Trump. And our first testifier.

Ms. Wendy Gady, please.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. ADC stands in strong support of Nathan joining the ADC board. I think one of the key differentials is we have members that represent counties and we have members at large. One of the things that was important to me is that the member from the County of Hawaii was somebody that was approachable by a lot of different people and that they were approachable in a way that they would feel heard and respected even if they felt that their opinion might have been different than Nathan's.

And he hit the ground running. He is a second generation mac nut farmer. He understands processing, he understands playing well with others. He understands it's really hard to get an organic certification and keep it. He's approachable to the community, and he's been a big part of going through the applications and helping us figure out, you know, who would be a good fit and who wouldn't. But he represents the county at the board. It's not just about ADCs being represented in the community.

And early on he invited us to the Kohala Summit. He said, you guys must come here and listen. And then he drove us around the island and said, see this is DOA. That's DLNR. We should be here. We need that. We need to help these. He already has a vision, you know, for the island, and that's what we need. I'm here for any questions.

So you know you're going to be staying up 25 hours a day instead of 24. Okay. Next up, Brian Miyamoto, Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Senator Richards. Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. You have our testimony and we are in strong support of Mr. Nathan Trump. We've worked with Nathan Trump for many years. I've personally known him for several years.

He is highly intelligent, experienced, and his background in business in manufacturing I think will really be an asset to ADC. Having been born and raised on Hawaii in Kohala, you heard the Director of ADC talk about the importance of having neighbor island representation. You also heard the deputy talking about expanding our F pins, expanding ADC's assets and reach.

So I think he'll be very valuable in helping to expand, especially onto Hawaii Island, and bringing that neighbor island experience again as somebody who is in the ag industry, somebody who does represent iconic crop as macadamia nuts, somebody who's been working on some of the issues that have been before you past several years.

So we are very supportive. We believe that he can help with the Food and Product Innovation Network and all the other programs and projects that ADC is working on. So we are in strong support of Mr. Nathan Trump's nomination to the ADC board. Mahalo.

Thank you, Brian. Next up, DBEDT. Dane, please.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Again, so speaking to both for Mr. Okimoto as well as Mr. Nathan Trump. In their time serving in the interim, they brought tremendous value to the board, specifically when it came to understanding the geographical regions of the state for our manufacturing facilities and future assets to acquire and tying it back again to the economic landscape plan exports, value added products.

Their expertise is helping us move the needle much faster and identifying where and when and how to do these processes in place. Difference from innovation centers. I was actually looking that up when you brought it up because I somewhat mistakenly said we're pushing innovation and really we're taking innovation now to the next level which is manufacturing.

So what you're seeing done at Leeward Community College is innovation. The next step with this team coming on the ADC is and help us with the manufacturing, which is what is going on in Central Oahu, Kauai, and hopefully soon Maui and Big Island. So mahalo.

Thank you, Dane. Next up, Benson Medina from County Department of Research and Development in support. Leelen Park, North Kohala Community Resource Center in support. Hawaii Fish Company, Ronald Weidenbach, in support. Danny Cup Choy, Hawaii Crop Industry, in support. Maya Parish, Kohala Food Hub, in support.

Sandra Tran testifying for Kapanaia Farms in support. Kahua Pa'a Mua, David Fuertes, in support. And Kathleen Matsuda, Annalene Williams, Leslie Nugent, all in support. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify on behalf of the nominee? Seeing none. Nathan, can you join us and give us... Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Chair DeCoite, Vice Chair Wakai, Members of the Committee. Really honored to be able to be nominated for ADC. I feel like it's a really important organization for our state for, you know, in my humble opinion, as a farmer, one of the most important sectors and industries that the state has, which is agriculture. We really need to push our state forward in terms of economic diversity, getting away from just tourism, and also with food security, growing our own food.

And I believe that ADC is something that needs to be taken full advantage of. And it's been great so far to work alongside, you know, Deputy Director Wicker, Executive Director Wendy Gady, and the rest of the board and staff to explore what are the next steps and how do we kind of increase agricultural production.

For myself, I'm born and raised in Kohala, graduated from Kohala High School, and after a few years on the mainland, came back to work with my family business growing macadamia nuts. Since I had returned, we expanded into value added production. So we have our own retail line of macadamia nuts, as well as growing ulu and now limes. We also grow sheep, but that's more my dad's hobby. So. And really looking forward to seeing the portfolio of ADC grow to Hawaii Island. Right now, it's a very limited asset portfolio over there.

And so the first thing I wanted to do is kind of look at, you know, what do the farmers need there and what do, what does the community need. And the first thing that people told me is we need long, stable land leases, land licenses where farmers can just farm and get out of the way. I think we see a lot of investment from big money into agriculture into the state, and oftentimes those big money investments don't work out.

When I look at a lot of the successful farming businesses in our state and on the Big Island, it's people who started small who are able to get, you know, a foothold and then grow from there because they were successful. And so I think that's what ADC can provide to farmers on the Big Island and across the state is really giving them a chance to succeed. Thank you.

Thank you. Members, any questions for the nominee? Okay. Senator Richards, you showed up, so I'm sure you have a question.

No, I came in to listen to testifiers and also to support Nathan Trump. I've known him essentially since he was born. In the family a long time. And something that the Director Gady said about he hit the ground running. He hit the ground running hard and starting to identify some of the portfolios that we need to.

Nathan and I have worked together. We were working on the mac nuts, the mac nut labeling, and that was a challenge to get people to the same table. He's the President of the Macadamia Nut Association, and being able to get opposing sides to the table is key. Agriculture is famous for not wanting to talk to each other.

But Nathan's been very helpful in facilitating some of that. And so I know I'm not here to testify on his behalf, but like I said, I wanted to hear, and I'm not surprised what I'm hearing. I do have a question, though. Nathan, you've been working on some of the assets that we could explore and get into on the Big Island. What's your vision as far as that? What's your top priority, second priority, third priority?

Yeah. And thank you for the kind words, Senator Richards. It's been great to work alongside you in the Kohala District and the Island of Hawaii to identify, help identify some of those key assets that could move agriculture forward. I think the biggest thing is to find small parcels for small farmers to get their foot onto as soon as possible. You know, I look at our communities on the Big Island, and there's a lot of agricultural skill, but there's not a lot of available land.

And I think that, you know, I don't think we're ready yet for 1,000 acres on the Big Island necessarily for ADC. But I think if we can get, you know, 200-300 acres and then put some skilled farmers onto that land, that'll give us an opportunity to really grow more food and help diversify our economy. Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none. I'm just impressed with your background and your resume. You know, as a family farm growing up, the diversity. I get the part where we got to keep the parents with the animals, keep them busy. But you know, I think that says a lot. You know, it's not as if you come in and we just push daddy and mommy to the side.

So that sees a lot about, you know, you and your background. So thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you, all of you. I wanted to jump back to James. James Lee. Since he's not on Zoom, I do want to tell you, I did meet with James Lee for the Committee, and I have asked him to reach out to the rest of you. I think he's very qualified. He's brought a lot to the table as well. I know if he could have been here, he would have been here.

But with that being said, if you guys did not have any questions for that individual, I was going to go straight into decision making. Okay. Okay, here we go. First up, GM512 submitting for consideration and confirmation Technology Development Corporation Gubernatorial borrow nominee Jacqueline Kaina for term to expire 6/30/2028. The recommendation is to advise and consent.

Any discussion seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote. Chair goes I I vote yes.

Senator Fukunaga, Senator Kim. Senator, your recommendations adopted.

Thank you. Next up, GM539 submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation Gubernatorial nominee Gregory Uehara for term to expire 6/30/2028. Recommendation is advising consent. Any discussion seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote. Chair goes I I vote yes. Senator Fukuna. Senator Kim. Aye. Senator Oah Chair recommendations adopted. Thank you.

Next up, submitting for consideration GM513 and confirmation to the Small Business Regulatory Review Board Guar nominee James Lee for term to expire 6302028. Recommendation is to advise and consent Any discussion seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote. Chair goes I I vote yes. Senator for Kai. Senator Kim. Senator Oah Chair recommendations adopted. Thank you.

Next up, GM514 submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Small Business Regulatory Review Board Gubernatorial nominee Jennifer Salisbury for term to expire 6/30/2028. Recommendation is to advise and consent Any discussion seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote. Chair goes aye.

I vote yes. Senator Fukunaga, Senator Kim, Senator Awa share your recommendations.

Thank you. Next up, GM617 submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Small Business Regulatory Review board Governor nominee Nikki Ige for term to expire 6/30/2028. Recommendation is to advise and consent Any discussion seeing nonviser for the vote. Chair goes aye. I vote yes. Senator Fukunaga Senator Kim Aye. Senator Oah Chair, your recommendation is adopted. Thank you.

Next up, GM 587 submitting for consideration and confirmation to the board of directors of Agribusiness Development Corporation Gubernatorial nominee Dean Okimoto for term to expire 6/30/2020. Recommendation to advise and consent any discussion seeing none. For the vote, chair go I.

I vote yes. Senator Fukuna, Senator Kim. Aye. Senator Awa, I show your recommendations.

Thank you. Next up, GM 588 submitting for consideration and confirmation to the board of directors of the Agribusiness Development Corporation Gubernatorial nominee Nathan Trump for term to expire June 6th 30th, 2020. Recommendation to advise and consent any discussion seeing non place here for the vote. Share goes I.

I vote yes. Senator Fukunaga, Senator Kim. Aye. Senator Awa. Aye. Your recommendations adopted.

Thank you. And thank you all and congratulations for wanting to serve. With that being said, this hearing is adjourned.

Thank you.