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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, October 10, 2003

EDITORIAL
What's that sound? Opportunity knocking

Dormancy gets to be a habit. After a decade of economic sluggishness, we forget how nimble and aggressive we must be to take advantage of new windows of opportunity.

Suddenly we see a number of them opening, or poised to open:

• Military planning to transfer an aircraft carrier group to Hawai'i, which would involve transfer of thousands of sailors and their families. This might involve new schools, new harbor facilities and a landing field for the air wing. It's the equivalent, says the Hawai'i Business Roundtable, of transferring an "instant" high-tech industry to our shores.

• Preparations are already under way to bring an Army Stryker brigade here, along with its supporting squadron of C-17 aircraft.

• New high-rise condominiums slated for Kaka'ako, as well as the ongoing construction of the University of Hawai'i medical school and the allied businesses it is expected to attract.

• An unprecedented boom in military housing is about to sweep across the island, with literally billions of dollars in new building and renovation.

Hawai'i's congressional delegation is right to try to get a handle on the labor demands that all this activity will bring. The contractors for the new military housing make clear their preference for hiring local, but are Hawai'i's 26,700 construction workers nearly enough?

We cannot stress too strongly that we must realize these opportunities without overrunning our heritage, our environment and our beauty. These spurts of growth present huge challenges in this respect.

Further, our planning here must be sophisticated enough to recognize that construction booms are bubbles, not in themselves sustainable.

Hawai'i has plenty of previous experience with bubble and post-bubble situations, and we should invest right now in the infrastructure needed to prepare our workforce for coming job requirements, as well as subsequent retraining.

Most of us remember previous construction booms when imported Mainland workers were being housed in hotels at great expense, making premium wages, while local workers continued to struggle. Our high schools and community colleges must begin now to bring new training programs online, and the state must ensure that local firms get a fair share of the new contracts.

If we're akamai, we'll look to this opportunity to set a course for sustainable growth for the next 50 years. We must upgrade our visitor attractions and accommodations, prepare our workforce for changing job availabilities, and align public and private resources to take bold action in the coming months.

What is the sound of opportunity knocking when there's no one home? Let's not find out.