Economic board rights ship, hires new president
By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer
The first time the O'ahu Economic Development Board asked Mike Fitzgerald to be president and chief executive officer, he said no — and told the board to get its act together.
More than 18 months later, Fitzgerald has accepted the job, saying the board and the business members who pay for it are finally showing commitment and providing the money needed to advance the diversification of O'ahu's economy.
Fitzgerald, who previously worked with business development groups in Florida, Washington and Montana, will earn about $300,000 a year as head of the board, which has changed its name to Enterprise Honolulu. He starts work in November under a three-year contract.
Fitzgerald's hire marks the end of several years without a president for the board, which observers said has been handicapped in its mission of promoting economic growth and diversification on O'ahu.
For the past two years, the board has been quietly building a network of contacts, constructing a Web site, and securing money.
The board has been able to increase its budget from about $300,000 in 1999 to about $2 million per year, thanks largely to money provided by private companies, said Lisa Gibson, the board's chief operating officer.
That additional money was key to recruiting Fitzgerald, who Gibson said was always the leading candidate for the job. In February 2000, Fitzgerald turned down the board's initial offer, saying local businesses hadn't committed enough money to let the board do its job.
"There was not enough broad-based support to sustain a development group," said Fitzgerald. "The business people weren't urgent about the idea; there was really no commitment there. I hated to turn them down, because I was very excited at the idea, but I knew people weren't ready then. I would have just wasted a year of their and my time."
Board members acknowledged that Enterprise Honolulu has had little affect on economic development.
"In reality, there's always been some talk of serious economic development, but there's never been much done," said Kitty Lagareta, member of Enterprise Honolulu's board of directors and owner of public relations firm Communications Pacific. "In my 30 years in business here, this is the first time someone is taking a real step to put a private-sector development structure in place."
Fitzgerald said his first task will be to create an effective network of service professionals to help start-up companies. After that, he said he hopes to develop a marketing plan for Honolulu, targeting specific companies that may thrive in Hawai'i. Observers said they hope Fitzgerald can bring some unity to economic development efforts in Honolulu.
"What is needed on O'ahu is a very focused business attraction mechanism that can extol all the island's positive attributes," said Gary Baldwin, chairman of the executive committee of the Kaua'i Economic Development Board.
Fitzgerald has 30 years' experience in business development. He most recently led the business development division of Enterprise Florida Inc., an Orlando, Fla., development group, and managed 60 employees, 12 international offices and an $8 million budget.
Before that, he was director of the Washington state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development in Seattle, where he oversaw 400 employees, 200 development programs and a $200 million annual budget. He also was president of the Montana International Trade Commission from 1978 to 1986.
