Posted on: Friday, August 24, 2001

Editorial
A community builder decides to move on

Regardless of the reasons why, as Stanley Hong put it, "It's time for a change," our state is demonstrably a better place because of his years at the helm of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i.

Hong, 65, announced his resignation as the chamber's president and chief executive officer this week. Observers have credited him with patching long-strained relations between the chamber and the visitor industry.

It helped that he came to the chamber five years ago from a nine-year stint as head of the Hawai'i Visitors Bureau.

But more than anything else, we'd attribute Hong's success to his strengths as a community builder. Too many people in such positions are primarily out to feather their own nests, but not Hong. The theme of his whole career has been community building.

What a community we'd have if we had 1,000 Stanley Hongs!