Business Revitalization Task Force

Act 142 of the 2024 Legislative Session established a Business Revitalization Taskforce within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to identify methods to improve Hawaii’s general economic competitiveness and business climate, including the mitigation of regulatory and tax burdens.

First Meeting December 10, 2024

Meeting Notice and Agenda
Meeting Minutes
No Packet

Second Meeting January 16, 2025

Meeting Notice and Agenda
Meeting Minutes
No Packet

Third Meeting April 10, 2025

Meeting Notice and Agenda
Meeting Minutes

Permitted Interaction Groups Presentations & Reports

Packet 1: Group.1 Regulation
Packet 2: Group 2. Workforce Development
Packet 3: Group 3. Business Cost
Packet 4:Group 4. Access to Capital/Entrepreneurship/Growth Prospect
Packet 5: Group 5. Innovation and Economic Climate

Fourth Meeting May 15, 2025

Revised Meeting Notice and Agenda
Meeting Minutes
No Packet

Fifth Meeting June 05, 2025

Meeting Notice and Agenda
Meeting Minutes
Packet 1: DBEDT-READ Presentation
Packet 2: Hawaii General Economic Competitiveness and Business Climate Report
Packet 3: Hawai‘i – Finding the Future

Sixth Meeting July 17, 2025

Meeting Notice and Agenda
Meeting Minutes
Packet 1: Hawaii Business Competitiveness Act(draft)

Seventh Meeting September 12, 2025

Meeting Notice and Agenda
Meeting Minutes (draft)
Packet 1:Hawai’i Business Competitiveness Bill (draft)

The Taskforce is Composed of the Following Members:

 

  1. James Kunane Tokioka, Director
    Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism
  2. Dean I Hazama, Deputy Director
    Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
  3. Kristen Sakamoto, Deputy Director
    Department of Taxation
  4. David J. Rodriguez, Equal Opportunity Officer
    Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
  5. Sandra Fujiyama, Director of Pacific Asian Center For Entrepreneurship
    University of Hawaiʻi  at Manoa Shidler College of Business
  6. Amy Asselbaye, Executive Director
    Honolulu Office of Economic Revitalization
  7. Jade P. Rojas-Letisi, Executive Assistant
    Office of the Mayor, County of Maui
  8. Dennis Lin, Deputy Director
    Department of Research & Development, Hawaiʻi  County
  9. Nalani Brun, Director
    Office of Economic Development , County of Kauai
  10. Tessa Gomes, Representative
    Small Business Regulatory Review Board
  11. Brian Miyamoto, Executive Director
    Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau
  12. Alec Sou,  President & General Manager
    Aloun Farms
  13. Jimmy Chan, Owner & Founder
    Hawaiian Chip Company
  14. Lauren Zirbel, Executive Director
    Hawaiʻi  Food Industry Association
  15. Roseann Freitas, Chief Executive Officer
    Building Industry Association of Hawaiʻi
  16. Kurt Miyashiro, Manager
    MK Equipment Corporation
  17. Tina Yamaki, President
    Retail Merchants of Hawaiʻi
  18. Monty Pereira, GM and Sales & Marketing Director
    Watanabe Floral
  19. Dr. Patrick Sullivan, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
    Oceanit
  20. Jeannine Souki, Senior Manager, Government & Regulatory Affairs
    Hawaiian Telcom
  21. Sue Kanoho, Managing Director
    Island Chapters & Executive Director, Kauaʻi Visitors Bureau
  22. Jacob Aki, Public Affairs Manager
    Alaska Airline
  23. Constancio Paranal, Representative
    Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiʻi
  24. Sherry Menor- McNamara, Chief Executive Officer
    Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi
  25. Wendy Laros, President & Chief Executive Officer
    Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce
  26. Tonga Hopoi, Vice President, Economic Development, Government & Community Relations
    Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiʻi