| Dear Chamber Members, Election day is just around the corner – Tuesday, November 5. Be sure to vote and have your voice count. (I already mailed in my ballot last week.) As a Chamber, we are continuing to make connections with our local politicians and educate them on the role small business plays in the economy and how to support the work we do. Carla and Chistina recently invited all our local east side politicians to join us at the chamber for a fireside chat. Both County Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz and State Senator Lorraine Inouye took them up on the offer and shared their priorities in the cozy and intimate Chamber office. It is a great venue to interact with them and hear what they are trying to accomplish. If you know anyone else you would like to hear from, especially before January when the State Legislature gets rolling again, please have them call Carla and Christina at the office. The better we can connect with our representatives, the more open they will be to listening to us. Our Government Affairs Committee Chair, David Kurohara, and Economic Development Committee Chair, Dennis Lin have taken my goal of providing more educational opportunities and run with it. Some recent events included the following- On Friday, August 30, Dennis invited David Kobayashi from the State of Hawaii Office of Planning & Sustainable Development, Jacqui Hoover from the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board, and Doug Adams from the County of Hawaii Department of Research & Development to discuss the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the State. This is a State document built from each County’s plan and then submitted to the Federal government. They use this document as a guideline for providing funds to entities in the state that are looking for assistance. On Wednesday, October 16, David invited Zendo Kern from the County of Hawaii Planning Department and Steve Pause from the County of Hawaii Department of Public Works to update the Chamber membership on ADUs, building codes, and permits. Zendo started by highlighting the passage of Bill 123 which will allow up to three ADUs per property. They will have to meet code (notably water and sewer), but it is a step towards creating more affordable housing. He also touched on State and County zoning with the goal to change some Ag zoning to Rural to allow for increased density in areas such as HPP, HOVE, etc. Steve then discussed the work they are doing to update the building code and make it fit this island (something that Ashley Keirkiewicz is working on as well) and then provided an update on the EPIC system. Notably he talked about bypassing the clerks when a plan is resubmitted in response to a plan reviewer requesting more information. This is the bottleneck in the system and will hopefully speed things up (more than what Steve says is happening already). Click here for a recording of the session. You may have noticed that Carla and Christina are extremely busy highlighting all the events that are on tap. Coming up this week is a Chamber Cash Mob at Basically Books, a pop-up event for Chamber members to support the member business, at 10am on Thursday, October 31st. The Social Committee, headed by Vanessa Carlson, has planned business after hours hosted by Big Island Climbing, Kitchen & Beyond, and Mary Begier Realty in recent months, and we have a visit to Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home scheduled for Thursday, November 7 at 5:00 pm. Please sign up for these events if you can. In addition, the Young Professionals have been extremely busy as well, highlighted by the Young Professionals Recognition Gala at the Arc of Hilo on Thursday, October 17. Brandee Menino with Hope Services was the keynote speaker and she did a great job offering advice to the award recipients: Ashley Yamamoto (HPM) – Young Professional of the Year, Jessica Carriaga (HFS FCU) – Professional Excellence Award, Kellie Miyazu (EHCC) – Community Service Award, and Krystle Chai (Community First) – Chamber Service Award. I haven’t seen so many leis since graduation! Not to be outdone, the Chamber office put on our 1st General Membership Meeting on Monday, September 16. Carla really wanted to get Glenn Furuya with Leadership Works® to speak and we decided to try a zoom speaker for the first time at a live event. With a little help from Jase Takeya on sound, it came off wonderfully with Glenn highlighting the work of several of our local businesses – KTA, Big Island Candies, and I Kitagawa & Co. He is a very engaging speaker and really brought his upbringing in Hilo to the party. Keep an eye out for many more upcoming events, but save the date for a few in particular: Athena Leadership Awards Luncheon (2nd GMM) – Thursday, January 30 Whitey Rose Memorial President’s Cup Golf Tournament – Monday, February 17 at Mauna Lani Have a great holiday season and I hope to see you all soon. Participate, be flexible, and keep smiling! Aloha, Keith |
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