Oahu Economic
Development Board hires
CEO, changes name

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By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.com

The Oahu Economic Development Board today announced that it has hired a respected Florida business development expert as its top executive.

The OEDB, which is changing its name to Enterprise Honolulu, said that Michael Fitzgerald will become the new president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit economic development organization.

Fitzgerald will be paid about $300,000 a year under a three-year contract.

The move is effective Nov. 5.

Fitzgerald, 53, previously served as president and chief executive officer for the business development division at Enterprise Florida Inc., a government and private sector agency with an annual budget of about $15 million.

During his four-year tenure at Enterprise Florida, Fitzgerald helped the state create 168,000 new jobs, secure $11.9 billion in new business investment and generate $1.5 billion in export sales.

Prior to that, Fitzgerald was director of the state of Washington's Department of Community Trade and Economic Development, an agency with 400 employees and an annual budget of about $700 million.

At Enterprise Honolulu, Fitzgerald will head an organization with an annual budget of about $2 million and whose mission is to create and maintain local jobs, diversify Hawaii's economy and attract new businesses.

He said the organization hopes to target a number of industries that would fit in with Hawaii's business infrastructure, such as high-tech firms, biotechnology companies and captive insurers.

Fitzgerald was initially offered the Enterprise Honolulu position about 18 months ago but turned it down because he didn't believe there was enough support in the local business community.

Since then, the local business leaders have shown the kind of backing that's needed to revitalize Hawaii's economy, he said.