Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism

Update: March 18, 2020 — SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance is coordinating with the Hawaii Governor’s Office to certify the state for Economic Injury Disaster Loan Assistance.

DBEDT released its first quarter 2020 Statistical and Economic Report today. In the report, DBEDT lowered Hawaii’s economic growth forecast for 2020 to 0.5 percent from the 1.2 percent projected in the 4th quarter of 2019.

Hawaii State Energy Office — The State Senate has confirmed Scott J. Glenn to serve as Hawaii’s first chief energy officer. Glenn will lead the Hawaii State Energy Office in its mission to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation.

Hawaii’s first Foreign-Trade Zone administrator, Homer A. Maxey, is being honored by the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ) with its first ever, annual award inaugurated in his name.

Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. — A consortium of state and county housing agencies released the “2019 Hawaii Housing Planning Study.” Included in the study are data on housing supply, demand, and estimates of housing units needed by levels of affordability.

DBEDT today released a report, “Hawaii Migration Flows: 2013-2017,” which shows that 5 percent or 69,600 Hawaii residents over the age of one-year old were migrants who moved from out-of-state.

Governor's Office — Hawaii Governor David Ige, military dignitaries, legislative leadership and project engineers celebrate the grand opening of the Pacific Energy Assurance and Renewables Laboratory (PEARL) with a Hawaiian blessing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH).

Hawaii State Energy Office — The State of Hawaii has launched a new online mapping tool as part of its Hawaii Brightfields Initiative.

DBEDT raised its economic growth forecast for 2019 by one-tenth of a percentage point from the third quarter forecast to 1.2 percent and kept the growth rates for the next three years unchanged at a range between 1.2 and 1.3 percent.

DBEDT's Creative Industries Division (CID) continues to grow opportunities for Hawaii’s entrepreneurs.