Military housing projects compete for workers

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

•	Whom to call Actus Lend Lease: 536-8886 C.F. Jordan: 422-4269; Fax: 422-8258.

"We're going to fight like hell between us for every local worker there is," said Mike Miller, executive vice president of El Paso, Texas-based C.F. Jordan, which is part of a hui of companies that on Friday won the Navy contract to build the first phase of the Navy's eventual 7,300-home project.

"We live in the most distant archipelago in the world," Miller said. "It doesn't make sense to import labor another 2,000 miles and then pay to house them. We couldn't afford it."

The job fairs that will be held sometime in the next few months will be the first major step to hire thousands of local construction workers and subcontractors for the biggest military construction jobs of their kind.

The recruiting will occur as O'ahu's red-hot civilian construction boom continues and Norwegian Cruise Lines continues its hiring of 2,000 workers to staff two additional ships that it's bringing to Hawai'i.

So the big issue is whether Hawai'i can double its construction workforce of 26,000 in time to meet the expected demand.

"We want to use all local labor," said Miller, speaking for the hui that is going by the name Hawaii Military Communities LLC. "Our question is, where are these folks going to come from?"

On Friday, perhaps a third company will enter the picture when the Air Force selects the prime contractor to build and renovate roughly half of Hickam Air Force Base's 2,658 homes.

Last month the Army selected Napa, Calif.-based Actus Lend Lease to build, renovate and maintain 7,700 homes on O'ahu for the following 50 years. Actus Lend Lease remains in the running for the Air Force contract.

The Army project was followed by the Navy's selection of Hawaii Military Communities, which will enter into negotiations with the Navy for the first phase involving 1,948 units. The Navy retains the option of negotiating with another company for the three remaining phases to build and renovate another 3,052 Navy homes and the Marine Corps' entire O'ahu inventory of 2,300 homes.

"If Actus has 7,000 homes and we get 3,000 and the Air Force throws in another 3,000, are we going to be forced to go off island for workers?" Miller asked. "There's plenty of young kids sitting on the island that would love to learn a trade. This is the perfect time to do it."

Several groups are scrambling to find enough training programs for the needed workers. And Gov. Linda Lingle plans to introduce some form of related legislation this session.

Actus Lend Lease will let state and private officials take the lead in training, company spokesman Tom Swain said yesterday. But by late November or December, Actus hopes to put on a job fair aimed at subcontractors.

Actus' Bishop Street office has been getting calls every day from potential workers and subcontractors since it won the Army's contract. "And the phones have been flooded sometimes," Swain said.

Hawaii Military Communities hopes to put on its own job fair within the next 60 days, Miller said.

The fairs — and the fact that they are conducted by two different primary contractors — was welcome news yesterday to Buck Buckner, sales manager of Skylights Hawaii.

Buckner didn't know yesterday whom to contact with Hawaii Military Communities. And Buckner isn't sure whether Actus officials still have the contact information he gave them several weeks ago.

But with the upcoming job fairs, Buckner can't wait to talk to the two companies about working on their separate projects.

"I don't have to be said 'no' to once," Buckner said. "I have an opportunity to be said 'no' to twice. Or, hopefully, said 'yes' to twice."

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