New Army contract opens job opportunities

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

The company selected to build $1.7 billion worth of Army homes on O'ahu began looking for people yesterday to do everything from making signs to managing purchasing orders to cleaning swimming pools.

The contract to Napa, Calif.-based Actus Lend Lease, the biggest U.S. military contract of its kind, dwarfs the $1.3 billion that went into building H-3 Freeway, one of the nation's most expensive stretches of highway. And to put the Army contract's size into context, economist Leroy Laney said, the entire state's gross state product is valued at about $40 billion.

"That's the order of magnitude we're talking about," Laney said. "So $1.7 billion ... will certainly stimulate the economy."

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism estimates that a $1 billion construction contract would amount to 12,436 jobs and $583 million in household income.

On Thursday, the Army selected Actus Lend Lease to build and manage what company officials call the country's biggest Army housing project. The Navy and the Air Force are also expected to select their primary contractors for similar privatized housing projects on O'ahu this month.

Through the Department of Defense's new "privatized" model of building military homes, Actus Lend Lease will build, maintain and operate the homes for half a century. The spending will rise to $6.9 billion over the 50-year life of the project.

"It's good that it's a sustainable project," said Andy Kish, associate economist for Economy.com. "It's not like it's going to be a boom and a bust. That will definitely be a boost to the economy."

Actual construction won't begin until at least the middle of 2004, said Lucien Wong, Actus Lend Lease's Honolulu-based regional vice president.

But the Bishop Street office of Actus Lend Lease was swamped yesterday with phone calls from local small businesses trying to get some of 90 percent of the subcontracting work that Actus Lend Lease has promised will stay in Hawai'i.

Much of the interest came from carpenters, painters and other trade workers who want to be directly involved in building the 7,700 homes. So, Wong said, Actus Lend Lease also is compiling names of companies that aren't necessarily tied to building homes.

"Just in this office alone, we're going to need people to do purchasing, accounting," he said.

"We'll need blueprint plans. All of that comes long before actual construction begins. We won't even need construction workers for almost another year."

The project also includes community centers that will need playground and exercise equipment, someone to build swimming pools, and someone else to clean them and monitor the water condition, Wong said.

Actus Lend Lease also wants each Army housing community to have its own entrance with a sign and will need someone to build the signs, Wong said.

For now, Actus Lend Lease will merely collect names and contact information from companies interested in getting subcontract work, Wong said. Actus Lend Lease plans to update each of them as the project moves along.

Wong hopes that by the first part of September, he'll be able to give a more specific deadline for the small businesses.

"We want to explain the process so they understand when things are supposed to happen," Wong said. "We'll send out information and let them know what to expect and when to expect it."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.

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