Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism

For Immediate Release: August 11, 2021

Launch of new website and expanded partnership

HONOLULU—The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) announced the release of a new website that consolidates programs for residents seeking remote work opportunities and employers looking to hire Hawaii residents for remote work.

This new website (invest.hawaii.gov/remote) provides residents with direct links to partners of the Hawaii Remote Work Pilot Project and the local American Job Center (AJC). Registering on this site sends an automated message that notifies the AJC that Hawaii residents are interested in remote work opportunities in their county of residence.

Current remote work partners providing opportunities for Hawaii’s residents include:

• Instant Teams – Remote Ready Hawaii Project, building a team of locally based workers who are qualified residents, to address remote customer service needs through paid training, internship and placement on a team.
• Nexrep – Selecting workers from Hawaii to provide customer service solutions.

The new website provides businesses located outside of Hawaii with labor law information for hiring or employing a remote Hawaii workforce; including Unemployment Insurance, Prepaid Healthcare, Temporary Disability Insurance and Workers Compensation.

“The Hawaii Remote Work Pilot Project website creates a digital online presence that is helping to pivot the State towards a digital economy and focus on creative and technology innovation as part of the Hawaii 2.0 Pillars and Goals. This website brings together economic and workforce development opportunities to best serve the current and future needs of our communities as we build a stronger, more resilient economy for the future for our keiki”, said Gov. Ige. “Coupled with the launch of AWS Cloud Based Training in April of this year, this is another tool targeted at expanding the export of professional services to increase Hawaii’s economic resilience.”

“The new Hawaii Remote Work Pilot Project website consolidates all of DBEDT’s remote work demonstration projects in one convenient online site for both Hawaii’s residents and businesses interested in hiring Hawaii residents.” said Mike McCartney, director of DBEDT. “The vision for this new site is to create an online presence for current and future remote work and digital livelihood opportunities such as the new partnership with NexRep, that brings together remote work opportunities, remote business hiring opportunities and is linked with the Workforce Development Council’s Workforce Resiliency Initiative that provides both digital assessment and training opportunities for the residents of Hawaii.”

Residents will also have access to a new partnership with NexRep on the website. The intention of including Nexrep is to employ a high quality, high performing virtual workforce. NexRep offers a proprietary digital platform for work-at-home agents by providing the tools, processes and knowledge required to consistently deliver world-class customer engagements. According to NexRep CEO Teddy Liaw, “For twelve years, NexRep has offered the ability to work from home and choose their own schedule. We’re proud of the expertise we’ve developed in supporting remote opportunities and we continue to be inspired by the many ways these opportunities positively impact thousands of lives every day.”

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About the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT)
DBEDT is Hawaii’s resource center for economic and statistical data, business development opportunities, energy and conservation information, and foreign trade advantages. DBEDT’s mission is to achieve a Hawaii economy that embraces innovation and is globally competitive, dynamic and productive, providing opportunities for all Hawaii’s citizens. Through its attached agencies, the department fosters planned community development, creates affordable workforce housing units in high-quality living environments, and promotes innovation sector job growth.

Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR)
The DLIR administers programs designed to increase the economic security, physical and economic well-being, and productivity of workers, and to achieve good labor-management relations, including the administration of workers’ compensation, employment security, apprenticeship training, wage and hour, and industrial relations laws.

About the Hawaii American Job Centers (AJCs)
There are four American Job Centers, one in each county providing free services to job seekers and employers. Services for job seekers include career counseling, HireNet Hawaii support, skills training, job search assistance and a resource center; while businesses can receive recruiting and job training assistance, along with labor market information.

Media Contacts:
Scott Murakami
Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism
m: (808) 282-1588

Charlene Chan
Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism
m: (808) 824-0134