State agency chief takes seawater job
By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer
The executive director of the state agency that oversees use of Hawai'i deep-sea water has left his post to take a job with a company gearing up to bottle deep-sea water as drinking water.
Those interested in applying for the chief executive position for NELHA can write to The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, c/o the board of directors, 73-4460 Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740, or call (808) 329-7341.
Jeff Smith was head of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, or NELHA, when it negotiated a lease with Deep Seawater International Inc. earlier this year. He joined Deep Seawater Inc. as chief operating officer this month.
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Smith said he abided by all state ethics laws in his dealings with Deep Seawater and NELHA. Additionally, terms and conditions of the company's lease with the ocean research facility were set by NELHA's board, Smith said.
"I did not want to become a bureaucrat that just pushes paper," Smith said of his decision to leave NELHA after four years as executive director. "The challenge is the big thing."
State ethics laws do not prevent state workers from working for a company in such a situation, so long as they don't lobby on behalf of their new employer before their former agency for a year. In addition, any decisions by a state worker concerning contracts or leases must be made on the merits, according to the Hawai'i Ethics Commission.
Ted Liu, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said that Smith's actions were reviewed and that nothing improper was found.
Smith's exit has resulted in a nationwide search for a new director by NELHA's board of directors.
The state agency was established in the 1970s as a research facility for ocean thermal energy conversion and since has become a center for aquaculture research and production. The lab at Keahole Point on the Big Island had been running in the red, but now is expected to generate revenues largely because of a rapidly growing deep-sea water bottling industry. Deep-sea water bottling is the fastest growing export industry for the state.
Among those bottlers is Koyo USA, which is expected to generate more than $2 million in licensing and royalty revenues for NELHA this year. Overall, NELHA works with nearly 30 companies that employ more than 200 people and generate between $30 million and $40 million in annual spending.
As part of its search for a new director, the NELHA board will focus on recruiting local talent and advertising heavily to former islanders living on the Mainland, though no candidate will be ruled out, Liu said.
The recent success of commercial activities by NELHA should allow the agency to become self-sufficient and expand its science research to other Neighbor Islands, he said.
"What I want to do is find qualified candidates that share that vision," Liu said.
Reach Sean Hao at 525-8093 or shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.
