Chamber meeting Hawaii businesses should act now to protect themselves in case of a war.
gears up for war
Presenters outline steps
businesses can take to
prepare for a conflictBy Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.comThat was the message delivered by state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism Director Ted Liu at a morning meeting today of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.
"If you have lines of credit with the banks, you can start having discussions with your loan officers" about restructuring payment arrangements, Liu told an audience gathered to discuss Hawaii's preparedness for war. "It's better to talk to them now" than when you are really in trouble, he said.
DBEDT can help in such talks and it has loan programs of its own that can help businesses that are distressed because of the type of economic slump that is likely to accompany a national and international emergency, Liu said.
But he and other speakers also said Hawaii is far better prepared for such an emergency now than it was on Sept. 11, 2001, and Liu said the best policy is "stay the course," get on with life and don't overreact to the threat of war.
Tony Vericella, president and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, said there are already some good signs.
For example, the Japan Association of Travel Agencies has said it will not issue a blanket recommendation to Japanese not to travel, as it did after 9/11, "and it will not encourage its members to waive cancellation fees" for Japanese who change their minds about traveling, he said.
As has happened before in times of international crisis, the Japanese and other travelers can be expected to stay close to home and travel within their own regions, Vericella said. That is likely to help Hawaii with a boost in domestic travel, as Americans opt for Hawaii rather than foreign destinations because it is American and is also recognized as "the essence of peace and harmony," Vericella said.
"We are everything that people are looking for in times of stress," he said.
The HVCB is working with the hotel industry, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Hawaii Convention Center and the rest of the tourist industry to prepare marketing that will "reinforce the reasons why you should still be traveling to Hawaii," Vericella said.
But the HVCB is strongly discouraging those in the travel business from heavily discounting Hawaii, even though the Japanese business has not recovered from 9/11 and U.S. advance bookings for Hawaii are down, he said. Once the value of Hawaii is cut in the market, it takes an enormous amount of time to recover, he said.
Brig. Gen. Robert Lee, Hawaii adjutant general and head of the Hawaii National Guard, said businesses should not worry too much about having their employees called up in the event of hostilities in the Middle East or Asia. Like Liu, he said the best approach by concerned small business operators is to talk about to officials who can help.
"Yes we have some mobilized, but less than 2 percent of the forces, about 100 (people)," Liu said. If a business has a key employee that it completely depends upon for its survival, that person won't need to be called up if arrangements are made in advance, Lee said.
He said about 10 percent of the personnel in the Honolulu Fire Department and the Honolulu Police Department are in the reserves and could be called up, but the departments have assured him they can function normally if that happens.
Tax breaks for businesses hurt by the crisis are being considered, said Rep. Sylvia Luke (D-Pacific Heights-Punchbowl). "If you have a long war, the effects are going to be severe," said Luke, who chairs the House Select Committee on War Preparedness. She said economists told her committee that in a "good scenario" of a short war, Hawaii's economy could be set back for one or two quarters. In a longer war, it may be as much as year before the island economy recovers, she said.
She said her committee, which has representation from the state administration and the private sector as well as legislators, has been working on a number of ways to help. One is to provide some relief to airlines so they don't cut flights to Hawaii, she said, but that won't happen if all it does is help an airline's bottom line. Benefits would come with a condition that airlines don't cut the number of seats to Hawaii, Luke said.
Her committee also is looking into tax deferrals or forgiveness, which could be applied to distressed Hawaii businesses, she said. Businesses that pay taxes monthly might be allowed to pay quarterly instead, so as to keep cash on hand a bit longer to keep the business going, Luke said.
Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism
Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii