Economic leader to look
at Big Island priorities
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Warren H.W. Lee» The president of the Big Island power company, Hawaii Electric Light Co., Lee has been named chairman of the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board.» He previously worked at Hawaiian Electric Co. from 1972 to 1989, then became executive vice president of Hawaii Electric Light in 1990 and president in 1991. » He is a retired lieutenant colonel and is chairman of the North Hawaii Community Hospital board.
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Yes, in fact our peak continues to grow. It grows every year. We expect the peak this year to be about 190 megawatts. Definitely we're seeing the way the island is growing right now. The peak is seeing 3-4 percent annual growth, the sales is about 4 percent. But most of the economic growth is in two areas.
The first area would obviously be in the West Hawaii area, the hotels, the new homes, the new subdivisions, new commercial services to provide basic services to the growing population. And then on the east side are some economic drivers also.
There's some new facilities that came on in recent years, the irrigation facility, Kamehameha Schools' new campus, University of Hawaii-Hilo continues to grow. Residential subdivisions in the Puna area, which is pretty large in itself, continues to grow also.
How affordable are homes on the Big Island for the average local resident?
I think for the average local resident that's something you need to define. But I can tell you that a lot of local people feel they cannot afford housing, even if it's labeled affordable. I think what people forget is there is affordable housing to own and affordable housing to rent.
Sometimes we forget about the rental market. I think on the Big Island on the west side there are homes you can rent, but you may have to share the home. Certainly in Hilo there's very little left in inventory. Some of the problems UH-Hilo is facing is dorm space. They're limited by housing.
What can be done about affordability, without wreaking the hot housing market?
That's a good question and I'm not sure I have the right answer. What I can say is because construction is booming it's difficult to get contractors and that means higher prices.
At some point I guess interest rates are going to go up and larger projects are going to go down and that will free up the work force and maybe prices will start to level and that will be an incentive to build inventory. Because there is a lot of commercial construction.
How is the board helping to develop a more skilled work force?
We have several projects right now. The most prominent is the Women in Technology program. We're part of this with the Maui Economic Development board. The point is to give women or girls an early-age exposure to tech-type jobs, which would naturally lead to more education and higher pay.
For example, we just did a program that was part of this women in technology and in conjunction with Kamehameha Schools and what they did was they did a two- to three-day session primarily slated to girls for the recording business. There was such a demand that enrollment was filled. That's for the long term. It's not going to be a short-term solution.
What else is the board doing?
Part of the problem is infrastructure. In Kona-West Hawaii unemployment is 1 percent. If you look at East Hawaii it's probably running 5-6 percent. So you have the work force in east but the work is in west. Some of these jobs are not that high-paying.
People on the east side, if they catch the bus to get to the job at the jobs at the resorts, they have to catch the bus at 3:30 in the morning and ride two and a half hours there and back.
The counties have been trying to improve public transport. Also employers are trying to assist. Some of them buy the bus passes for employees. Some have shuttles but it's a problem that needs to be addressed with the locations.
Another way HIEDB is helping is the improvement of the Saddle Road because that will cut travel time, instead of having to go around the Hamakua Coast to Kohala.
Another is affordable housing. If you have someone who's working at minimum-wage level or above, can they afford housing in West Hawaii? If they are employable but not employable because you have to find affordable and good child care?
So there's a lot of social issues that go along with that. Can we meet the demand in the workplace? And there is no easy solution.
How's traffic around the Big Island's populated areas?
Much better than Oahu. We have traffic jams primarily in the urban areas during rush hour especially going home. Any time you're on Queen Kaahumanu Highway going to Kona -- there's only one highway -- rush-hour traffic starts from 3 p.m. and it can take a half hour to get from airport to Kailua town, which is normally a 10-15 minute drive.
The Puna area is one of the fastest growing areas. There is one highway, and that is backed up also in the morning and afternoon. So we have our traffic problems too but not as bad as Oahu.
With you as the new leader, what directions will the board take?
What we're doing right now is reassessing priorities as far as where we should be focusing our efforts and that's going to be a process that we are going through with our board members. There's new issues that need to be addressed. There's housing, astronomy development at Mauna Kea, Saddle Road, interisland travel, cruise ships and superferry. We need to be revising them.
What has the board been doing?
We were very involved with the astronomy with Keck Observatory. We did intervene in the contested case at the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the astronomy business is one of the drivers for the economy of the Big Island but the HIEDB position is it's got to be done taking into account the cultural issues. It's easy to say we're all out for astronomy but it's got to be done with the community.
We're involved with the Saddle Road also, the new phase being constructed in the Pohakuloa Training Area. It doesn't mean we're going to abandon these things, but revisit our priorities. These things may continue on. They're all good programs.
We're also real strong supporters of UH-Hilo in expanding and making the university a better university.
How is the interisland flight situation from the Big Island?
The flights that I'm on, they're all booked. If you don't book ahead early enough, you may not get a seat. I think people would like to say they wish there were more flights especially from Hilo. Of course the price has increased but so have fuel costs.
Are cruise ships having an impact on the economy?
We've seen increased traffic from cruise ships. I recently spent time down at the harbor. They have to manage the harbor traffic. They have limited pier space and same in Kawaihae. You have cruise ships, Young Brothers barges. It's getting pretty congested.
Cruise ships do add a lot for the economy. They stop, visiting Hilo during the day and the Volcanoes National Park.
