Between July 2002 and July 2003, a net 2,129 people moved from the Mainland to Hawai'i — the most since the federal government began tracking such figures in 1990. That's a marked difference from 1990-99 when on average a net 11,000 residents each year left Ha-

wai'i's stagnant economy for the Mainland causing concerns about a loss of the state's talent pool.

The reverse may be happening today. With continued strong international migration, the state welcomed nearly 8,000 new residents on a net basis last year, which also was the most since 1990. Including births, the state's overall population increased by 16,945 in 2003 to an estimated 1,257,608 people, according to the Census Bureau.

Preliminary census figures do not offer more details on Hawai'i's incoming residents, but increased migration may be one factor behind a 3.9 percent growth in the size of the state's labor pool since 2000 and a housing boom that has resulted in a nearly 51 percent increase in median single-family home prices in Honolulu over the same period.

Among those recent arrivals is returning kama'aina Teri Ann Wong, a research associate at Hawaii Biotech in 'Aiea. The 'Aiea High School graduate left Hawa'i to attend a Mainland college in 1978.

"At first I thought I would be (gone) for one year, then two years, then I figured I'm just going to stay here awhile," said Wong, who worked in animal research. When Wong returned to the state in 2001 for family reasons she was surprised at the available job opportunities.

"I always planned to come back," Wong said. But, "I wasn't sure if I'd find something. I was really lucky."

The most significant trends behind the rise in Mainland migrants are a renewed military buildup and the influx of aging baby boomers, particularly on the Neighbor Islands, said Paul Brewbaker, chief economist for Bank of Hawaii. That's in contrast to the 1990s when military downsizing and a sluggish economy drove residents elsewhere.

"On top of all that, Hawai'i outperformed the US economy for most of the 1998-2003 period, which was a migration draw," Brewbaker said. "My guess is that population is really ramping up at the moment, judging from the traffic."

That economic strength is providing economic opportunities not just for former Hawai'i residents, but for others with ties to the state such as Scott Paul, vice president for business development and general counsel for Kalihi-based Hoku Scientific, a fuel cell technology researcher. Paul and his wife, who is from Hawai'i, moved to the state last July.

"Fortunately what I found was the perfect Silicon Valley job opportunity in the perfect location," Paul said. "So I made no sacrifices in terms of career goals."

Like Paul, Carolyn Weeks-Levy was drawn to Hawai'i by the state's small, but growing technology sector. She moved from Canada to Hawai'i in late 2002 to become senior vice president of clinical development at Hawaii Biotech.

"I think it's become more recognized, at least in the biotech sector, that things are happening here," Weeks-Levy said.

With help from people such as Weeks-Levy, Hawai'i's population has grown by about 45,000 since July 2000, compared with a 77,769 gain during all of the 1990s. While the state had a net loss of people to the Mainland in the 1990s, it gained population from overseas immigrants and births.

The so called brain drain of the 1990s — when a net 99,000 residents left Hawai'i for the Mainland — may not have been as disconcerting as feared at the time, Brewbaker said. Recent census figures may support that argument. Between 1995 and 2000 the state lost just 7 percent, or a net 2,129 people, from what some refer to as the "creative class," which comprises the young, single and college educated.

Additionally, any migration of the younger generation during the 1990s would have paled compared to the 1970s when the much larger baby boom generation left Hawai'i to explore the Mainland, Brewbaker said.

Hawaii Biotech executive Carolyn Weeks-Levy, right, and research associate Teri Ann Wong have found satisfying work in Hawai'i.

Apart from military and economic reasons, there will always be a group of young residents looking to leave Hawai'i to broaden their horizons, Brewbaker added.

"Young adults have always left Hawai'i to go to the Mainland, from the first bruddahs that swam out to Captain Cook's boat to catch a ride to England ... to the dudes who went to Pepperdine to play volleyball in the 1990s," he said.

Having a growing economy makes it easier to eventually bring those kama'aina back home. That's the eventual goal of McKinley High School graduate Kellie Onaga. Onaga, an associate producer at the NBC-11 TV-station in the San Francisco Bay area, left Hawai'i in 2000.

"I just decided I needed to gain experience elsewhere," she said. "My goal is to get back to Hawai'i, if the right job was there."