Posted on: Wednesday, March 9, 2005

Firm run by Hawaiians lands Navy contract

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

A downtown Honolulu company run by Native Hawaiians has won a Department of Defense contract worth $17 million, which could grow to $26 million, to repair and maintain about 2,500 Navy homes, playgrounds, community centers and common areas around Pearl Harbor and Central O'ahu.

The contract with Hui O Hawaii Hale LLC runs from April 1 through March 2006, with the possibility of a six-month extension. The work is intended as interim maintenance until the Navy homes and grounds are taken over by Hawaii Military Communities LLC, which will renovate and maintain them for 50 years.

Hui O Hawaii Hale LLC won the sole-source contract under the U.S. Small Business Administration's 8(a) program for disadvantaged enterprises. Its parent company, Hana Engineering, is run out of the Davies Pacific Center on Bishop Street by David Cooper, Irwin Cockett and Alvin Pauole, who are all Native Hawaiian, Cockett said yesterday.

Hana Engineering was formed in 1994 and employs about 200 workers.

One of its subsidiaries, Hui O Ka Koa LLC, has a separate Navy contract to provide security for Navy facilities at Pearl Harbor, West Loch and Wahiawa. Another Hana Engineering subsidiary, Hana Oleo LLC, performs information-technology work for the Navy, said Don McGee, Hana Engineering's director of contract accounts.

The latest contract "is sizeable," McGee said. "It's up there with the other things we have."

Andy Poepoe, the district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Hawai'i office, has been pushing to expand the number of federal contracts for 8(a) firms, especially businesses run by Hawaiians.

Poepoe, who is part of a prominent Hawaiian family, oversees a one-of-a-kind federal program that makes it easier for Hawaiian small businesses to win Defense Department contracts within the Islands.

Jane Sawyer, assistant district director for the Hawai'i SBA office, said Hana Engineering's latest contract "mean(s) that the government is recognizing that 8(a) firms can deliver. We're really excited about this opportunity for another 8(a) firm and pleased with what it means for other small businesses. There are lots of opportunities available."

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