By Tino Ramirez
Advertiser North Shore Bureau
WAIALUA — A bill making its way through the Legislature would create a task force to study the creation of a center for high technology in Waialua to educate students and residents, as well as boost the local economy.
A high-tech center would take Waialua in the right direction, said Rep. Michael Magaoay D-45th (Waialua, Kahuku), the bill’s author. Waialua is an economic enterprise zone, which gives tax breaks and other incentives to businesses. The former sugar mill has space and is already zoned for industrial use, and the center could be a draw for entrepreneurs, Magaoay said.
"The main emphasis right now is to get the community together and see what we can do," said Magaoay. "The bill will provide computers, and from there we’ll see how it can expand."
Residents have discussed the center for several years, said Jenny Vierra, president of Friends for Waialua Town, a grassroots group involved in community planning.
Attracting high-tech firms would fit with the community’s vision of replacing sugar cane cultivation with new industries that don’t alter the environment, she said. The center could attract Internet providers, for example, or help local entrepreneurs market products on the Internet.
"The bill is a positive thing. We’ve been trying to find a way to bring the center into the community, to find a place for it," said Vierra. "It could help bring in people and new ideas, and also help generate other support businesses."
Development of a high-tech center has strong support from Waialua and Hale‘iwa’s public schools. Aloha Coleman, principal of Waialua High and Intermediate School, said there would be many benefits for students.
They would have a place to learn everything from word processing and online research, to building Web sites, which Waialua High students already are doing for area merchants in partnership with Hale‘iwa Main Street, the local business association.
"It’s bigger than just the schools and we’re looking at it from the whole community perspective," said Coleman. "The kids get the training, then they go back into the community to help the small businesses. It would also provide access to technology for the kids’ parents and senior citizens."
One hope for the center is forming partnerships with businesses that are using high technology, such as seed corn producer Pioneer Hi-Bred International.
Richard McCormack, manager of Pioneer’s Waialua plant, said the company supports the center. Working with Waialua High on an internship program for students showed him there’s a lack of technological expertise in the community, he said.
Although it won’t be clear what the center will do until the task force looks at what’s needed in the community, Pioneer is willing to involve its staff, said McCormack.
"What we’ve seen over and over again is that you can get all the high tech that money can buy, but the people side is just as important," said McCormack. "You need people to walk others through or you don’t make the connections."
Coleman hopes the center and a local high-tech industry will give youth an opportunity to stay in the community to work rather than move to Honolulu.
"We see so many talented people move out of the community," Coleman said. "And yet, when I talk to businesses, they have to bring people in from outside to help them with technical aspects. There just seems to be a disconnect there."
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