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