County of Hawaii 1997 - 1998 Annual Report: Department of Research and Development

Diane S. Quitiquit, Director, attended the University of Pittsburgh and began her career in Hawaii 20 years ago with AMFAC Hotels and Resorts starting with their management training program, and in 1985 was named General Manager of King Kamehameha and the Keauhou Beach hotels. In 1989, she left the hotel and became the Big Island representative for Outrigger Hotels, Hawaii. In 1991, she and a business partner opened a small business in Kailua-Kona. Mrs. Quitiquit has been active in many community organizations including a term as a member of the Kailua Village Design Commission; past chair of HVB Big Island Chapter; past president of Hawaii Hotel Association, Big Island chapter; Vice President, Hualalai Academy Board of Directors; member, Onizuka Memorial Committee; and others. In January 1993, Mrs. Quitiquit joined the present administration as Director of Research and development. She has been the Mayor's representative on the board of directors of the Big Island Group and the Natural Energy laboratories of Hawaii, serving as Chairman of the NELHA Strategic Planning Committee and now serving as chairman of the Board of directors, Mrs. Quitiquit has been serving on numerous committees such as the Hawaii Visitors & Convention bureau-Big Island Chapter Board of Directors, HVCB Big Island Chapter Marketing Committee, the state HVCB Marketing Committee, University of Hawaii Strategic Planning Committee, Five Mountain Medical Community committee and serves as an advisor to the Hawaii Ecotourism Association. On behalf of the Healthcare Forum Foundation, Mrs. Quitiquit is one of two from Hawaii participating in the 1997-98 "Creating Healthier Communities Fellowship."

The Department of Research and Development is charged with the responsibility of promoting economic development in Hawaii County and collecting and developing data for decision-making, program development and policy-making. The department's focus encompasses numerous programs which include tourism, agriculture, new industry and industry development and research and statistics. The state-funded energy coordination program as well as the emerging film industry also fall within the department's responsibilities.

Headed by Margarita L. Hopkins, who has an undergraduate degree in accounting and a M.S. degree in agricultural economics. Prior to joining the department, Hopkins had taught and conducted research in agricultural economics and marketing at several universities and research institutions both in the U.S. and abroad. She has been with the department since 1989 as an Economic Development Specialist III and provides vital coordinative and clearinghouse services for the many agricultural communities and individuals on this island.

Headed by Howard I. Nakamura, a graduate of Hilo High School and the University of Hawaii, receiving his undergraduate degree in agriculture and MBA degree. Nakamura began his service to the County of Hawaii in 1971 with the Legislative Auditor's Office. In 1975 he joined the R&D staff and has since been the economist.

Headed by Colette Rapozo-Yamamoto, who has a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Hawaii at Hilo and a M.S. in Library and Information Science from Simmons College in Boston. Prior to joining the department, Colette worked in academic, health science, law and public libraries in Hawaii and Boston. She has been with the department since 1994 as our Resource Materials Specialist and provides vital knowledge management services by actively gathering, selecting, organizing and communicating information to numerous agencies and the general public.

Headed by Raymond G. Carr, Ph.D., who joined department as an Economic Development Specialist III in June 1993 and serves as our Energy Coordinator. Carr received his doctorate in metallurgical engineering from London University, England. Besides a 20-year career in the engineering field, Raymond has also worked private business, teaching and financial services. He has been a resident of the Big Island for the last 10 years.

Headed by Marilyn C. Killeri, a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a B.A. in psychology and additional coursework in communications. Prior to joining the Research and Development staff in July 1997, Marilyn spent the 2 prior years representing the County of Hawaii as Film Coordinator on contract and 13 years in film production. Marilyn has been a resident of Hawaii since 1969.

The big news in tourism this year has been the success of our very own Big Island of Hawaii. For the past three years, visitor arrivals, hotel/resort/condo occupancies, and average daily room rates have all shown marked increases. In addition, the length of stay for the visitors to our island has also increased from 6.4% in 1995 to 7% at the end of this fiscal year.

The Big Island's success has much to do with the positioning of the Kona International Airport as the United States most southern gateway to the Pacific Region. The following carriers are now bringing flights to the Big Island:

Charter flights Include flights from New Zealand, Canada and seven cities in Japan. Canada 3,000 has brought weekly flights for four months out of the year and will increase to six months in 1998.

The island also saw a marked increase in meeting and convention business with the hosting of Pepsi's 100^th anniversary. Other convention business included PlaceMakers (1,500 participants), PartyLite (2,800 participants), MicroAge, Cuna Mutual, Firestone, Burger King, Lucent Technologies, Mitsubishi, Sprint, Hiram Walker, Abbot Laboratories, Sony, MCI and many, many others. In all, the meetings, convention and incentive travel segment brought well over 138,000 visitors to the island. This type of business is very important to the island as it brings with it a strong average rate and high occupancies.

Our department's goals in the area of tourism are to increase the number of visitors to the island and extend their length of stay. In order to achieve these goals, we partner with the visitor organizations on the island. We work with some of the finest experts in the arena of sales and marketing. We blend our talents and dollars to have a stronger marketing and advertising reach. This is first accomplished by working with the Big Island chapter of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. Through funding provided by the County, the BI HV&CB has been able to attend more trade shows, arrange for familiarization tours of the island by travel agents and wholesalers and extend the advertising program.

We also work with the Big Island Group, which is a non-profit membership organization, which partners with BI HV&CB and the County purely for the purpose of advertising in domestic markets. It was through the efforts of BIG that the Big Island was able to attract the Wheel of Fortune to film on the Big Island. BIG uses market research to direct their marketing campaign, and this method has proven to be effective.

Full-page, full-color destination ads have appeared in Islands, Travel & Leisure, Golf, National Geographic Traveler, Hawaii, Seattle, San Diego, Town & Country, and many more.

As we continue to develop more reasons for visitors to come to the island, we look to the island's strengths in sporting events. We continue to support the following events:

These events carry wide media coverage that attracts sports enthusiasts from all over the world.

In tourism, visitor satisfaction is critical to the success of the industry. Therefore, we use small amounts of funding to assist community organizations to greet passenger ships on both sides of the island. The cruise industry is growing significantly on the island and it is important that we make our visitors feel welcome and provide port information so they may take advantage of sightseeing and shopping. Both of our ports in Hilo and Kona have become very popular due to these greetings.

In addition to sporting events, the department supports local festivals and events that have a domestic or international appeal. They include:

Hawaii produces a wide variety of high-quality agricultural crops. Most of these crops are sold outside of the Big Island. Therefore, the availability of adequate, efficient and affordable transportation is essential to insure that these products are received by the buyers at the stipulated time and place. Thus, R&D has funded a project which encourages commodity groups to work together in consolidating their shipments in order to negotiate contracts with air cargo providers for direct service from Hilo to US mainland and foreign markets at preferential freight rates. Currently, negotiations are being finalized to provide one flight per day, five days per week, of direct cargo service from Kona International Airport. In addition, efforts are underway to establish a new cargo terminal in Hilo International Airport in cooperation with the DOT.

Production of diversified crops will increase substantially in Pahala with the construction of the Ka’u Agricultural Water System in the area. The contract for this project was awarded to Ka’u Agribusiness Company in June 1998. The total cost is approximately $1 million of which one half was provided by Ka’u Agribusiness Company with the remainder from State funds. Phase I, which is currently underway, provides one million gallons of water per day to the Keaiwa Agricultural Park. Phase II will be constructed in about two years.

Although a genetically engineered papaya (the Rainbow variety) which is resistant to the Papaya Ringspot Virus (PRV) is now available for commercial production, Kapoho Solo still remains the most popular commercial papaya variety. Superior quality Kapoho Solo papaya can only be grown in the Kapoho-Kalapana areas of Puna. Unfortunately, these areas are heavily infected with PRV. In an effort to insure the continued production of Kapoho Solo papaya in Puna , the County of Hawaii is participating in a project to grow Kapoho Solo commercially in a heavily PRV infested area using the Rainbow as a buffer. The project started in June 1998 and is located in Kahuwai, Puna. Collaborators include the Department of Agriculture, UH-Manoa College of Agriculture and Human Resources, Research Corporation of University of Hawaii and Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate.

An exotic ornamental plant called Miconia, which was introduced into Hawaii in 1959 from Central America, has become one of the "10 Most Wanted Weeds in America." The Big Island has the most extensive invasion of Miconia infesting as much as 20,000 acres of forest, agricultural and urban lands. Since 1996, R&D has provided funding of $181,000 for a Miconia eradication program on the Big Island. In addition to the County funds, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, US Forest Service, Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Campbell Estates and Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate also provided funds for the project. The mapping of the Miconia infested area on the Big Island has been completed, over 3,000 acres were treated, all known mature trees in Puna area have been destroyed and over 52,000 immature trees and countless seedlings were destroyed.

R&D has continued to work with the Finance Director and the Real Property Tax Office in proposing comprehensive revision of the County Tax Code. R&D is also involved in the current revision of the General Plan.

R&D’s approach of providing "seed money" for innovative research applicable to the Big Island’s unique environment, continues to prove to be very helpful and effective in addressing the needs of the farmers. During the fiscal year 1997-98, R&D awarded eight new research projects with a total cost of $29,400.

The marketing project of the cattle beef industry produced the ISLAND FRESH BEEF logo that was approved by the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture. The logo will be placed on the labels of locally-produced beef sold in supermarkets and on restaurants menu serving island-grown beef. With this logo consumers will be able to tell at a glance that the beef products are from animals grown in the State and that they are of the freshest quality. The industry had another very successful food show this year. Thirty-one chefs joined the show as compared to twenty two chefs last year. Attendance to the show was more than 1000 that was double the last year’s attendance.

Providing the potential client the personal experience of meeting the producer and visiting the farm to gain an insight of how the product is produced, creates a strong and lasting loyalty between the producer and buyers. Basing on this belief, the potted foliage and the cut flower industries have sponsored events that allows producers and buyers to establish such partnership. This year’s Hawaii Export Nursery Association’s trade show attracted 600 buyers from South Africa, Japan, Central America, Europe and Southeast Asia. This annual event is co-sponsored by R&D and has proven to be a very effective marketing strategy for our potted foliage and flower industry. The FTD Convention held in Oahu included two days field trip to flower farms and packing houses on the Big Island. Over 80 flower shop owners from all over the US mainland participated in the field trip. Everybody was impressed with the quality and variety of tropical flowers produced on the island and our flower producers experienced increases in flower sales as a result of the direct personal contact with the buyers.

The County of Hawaii’s 100% Kona coffee logo program which assures the buyers that the coffee bought is high quality State certified 100% Kona coffee sold 41, 632 seals in this fiscal year.

In addition to providing funds for marketing and promotion, R&D attended the Producers Marketing Association trade show in Anaheim, California in mid -October 1997 to help the Papaya Administrative Committee promote the genetically engineered papaya and the Tropical Fruit Growers industry promote irradiated tropical specialty fruits.

During the fiscal year 1997-98, R&D awarded nine market development and promotion grants with a total cost of $82,500:

The lack of practical information on beekeeping hampered the growth of the bee and honey industry on the island. The potential of the honey industry on the island is tremendous since we have vast forest and extensive farming activities on the island. R&D funded the production of the training manual on beekeeping to provide farmers, students and interested individuals with easy instruction on honey and bee production.

The direct foreign flights to the Big Island resulted in the increase of visitors to our island. To keep these visitors on the island longer, worthwhile activities and places to visit will have to be developed. As farm tours are gaining popularity among visitors, R&D funded a workshop to bring together the businesses involved in the visitor industry and the farmers to develop farm tours and farm activities for the visitors of the Big Island.

R&D continued its involvement in educating the public about the role of the proposed irradiation facility in stimulating the diversified agriculture industry. Presentations have been given to community groups and informational materials provided at meetings and upon request from the public. R&D and the State Department of Agriculture represented Hawaii at the Irradiation Conference in Washington D.C. last April. An informational booth was set up and a presentation was given about the Hawaii’s efforts to establish a commercial irradiation facility in Hilo. Also, R&D sent three officials from Hawaii to attend an Irradiation Hazmat Workshop in New Jersey which included visits to irradiation facilities in New Jersey, New York and Chicago.

In fiscal year 1997-98, R&D awarded four agriculture information and education grants with a total coat of $15,000:

In addition to providing supplemental grants, in-kind support was extended to various agricultural events. R&D continues to provide vital coordination and clearinghouse services for the many agricultural communities and individuals on this island.

Located at the old Hilo airport site, the Hilo Foreign-Trade Zone continues operation under Foreign-Trade Zone 9 in coordination with the Department of Research and Development (R&D). Presently, one tenant, the Gemini telescope, occupies the entire building. Gemini is assembling components for the northern telescope to be sited on Mauna Kea to complement the southern telescope in Chile.

The County of Hawaii coordinates administration of five enterprise zones on the Big Island. Providing tax incentives for agricultural, manufacturing, wholesaling/distribution, aviation maintenance, and technological enterprises, the program includes areas in Hilo, Puna, Hamakua, Ka'u, and Kona. Action is being initiated to increase the area presently designated the Hamakua EZ to accommodate the changing business mix of the district. R&D is also evaluating the possible designation of one last enterprise zone on the Big Island.

Because of increasing interest in cultural and historical aspects of plantation life and old Hawaii, R&D has funded several corridor projects throughout the Big Island. The Hamakua corridor now includes a visitor center in Laupahoehoe, which was once the train station for the area. Honokaa has a visitor center and several wall-sized murals depicting plantation and paniolo life. Other murals are planned to present a unique look at life in the past. The department has funded the printing of brochures to highlight the various attractions along the corridor.

The preservation of the Na'alehu Theatre has been a priority with R&D. This project has seen good progress with internal repairs and the restoration of the sign which once was the prominent landmark entering Na'alehu from the south.

In Kona, seed money has been appropriated to start a historic organization, which will evaluate and preserve structures in the rural areas. Assistance is also being provided for a biking/hiking path from Kailua to Kawaihae.

Research and Development works with several economic development organizations in Ka'u including Huliau 'O Ka'u, Hana Laulima Lahui 'O Ka'u, Inc., Na’alehu Main Street, and Na’alehu Theatre. Efforts have been concentrated on developing economic activity and training; and establishing a job-creation entity to accommodate the unemployed of the area.

Research and Development has submitted an application for technical assistance to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for a feasibility study for a food-processing facility in Ka'u. The County will provide matching funds for this project which is intended to evaluate the potential for processing food crops in the area. Possible commodities include coffee, taro, awa, pineapple, and other crops suitable for growing and processing in Ka'u. The County of Hawaii plans to nominate Ka'u for empowerment zone designation for the Federal fiscal year 2000. Such designation would qualify the area for technical assistance, grants, loans, and loan guarantees to assist the residents. Submittal of an application would also enable Ka'u to be designated a "champion community" providing the district with priority in dealing with Federal agencies in the future.

To comply with EDA requirements for funding of projects, the County of Hawaii is working on an Overall Economic Development Program (OEDP) for the Big Island. The OEDP analyzes local conditions, identifies problems and opportunities, sets goals, and designs strategies to achieve these goals. EDA plays an important part in coordinating strategies and assisting with funding, not only from EDA, but from other Federal agencies which may have relevant involvement in the strategies.

The department is participating in preparations for the 2000 census and will serve as the County's liaison with the Bureau of Census.

Research and Development is assisting with the coordination of the 1999 World Indigenous Peoples' Conference on Education (WIPCE) which will be held on the Big Island. Anticipated participation in this conference is expected to be 5000 people.

During the last FY the Big Island Film Office provided liaison services between government agencies and the film industry for over 150 productions worldwide, resulting in approximately $7 million in production expenditures brought into the Big Island economy. The office also developed and implemented advertising and promotional campaigns with advertisements placed in Locations Magazine and the Hawaii Productions Index. Additional listings in industry directories included: The Hollywood Reporter Blue-Book Film and TV Production Directory, the Pacific Coast Studio Directory, the Motion Picture TV and Location Service Guide. Promoting the Big Island as a film destination included meetings with Hollywood studios:Warner Bros., Disney, Columbia Tri-Star, DreamWorks, and numerous production companies.

The Big Island Film Office participated in trade shows, festivals and conferences as the Big Island film representative including: Locations ’98 International Trade Show, the Association of Film Commissioners International Cineposium, Sundance Film Festival and the Hawaii International Film Festival. The office also provided Big Island stock photographs for the distribution to inquiring production companies with copies sent to the State Film Office. Finally, we continued development of a computerized data base of production companies, film industry personnel and Big Island resources and the upgrading of a Big Island web site on the World Wide Web.

TOP 30 BIG ISLAND FILM INDUSTRY PRODUCTIONS (partial list of numerous completed productions):

The Municipal Reference Center (MRC) is a service agency of the County of Hawaii currently charged with a twofold responsibility. As the library, its original and continuing function is to meet the information needs of the Department of Research and Development. The Library provides a full range of information services in support of the promotion and economic development of the Big Island. As the MRC it centralizes the holdings of 12 County departmental collections, currently with 9,280 titles on file.

The MRC is responsible for classifying and cataloging all resource materials and for adding and deleting entries in the Library Information System (LIS) database. The LIS is an online library catalog that centralizes the holdings of the 12 County departmental collections. Access to the LIS database is available to all County personnel via the County's WANG VS 100 system.

Each department is responsible for sending new acquisitions to the Municipal Reference Center to be cataloged, processed and entered into the LIS database. Once entered into the LIS database all printed resource materials and publications housed by the County becomes accessible to all County departments and personnel. Besides centralizing access and allowing for the sharing of resources, this system may effectively prevent funds from being used to purchase multiple copies of resource materials.

The MRC is a depository for some U.S. Bureau of the Census publications, and state as well as county statistical sources. The MRC promotes economic development through continuous data collection and documentation for public use.

Tracking of building permits, tourism counts, labor force, gasoline consumption and tax collections are updated (and distributed upon request) on a monthly basis as the "County of Hawaii Statistics." A newspaper clipping file and index of articles of interest to, and in support of, departmental activities and of the County in general, is also maintained and updated on a daily basis.

The MRC provides reference service to County departments, other governmental agencies, businesses, students and the general public. During the 1996-97 fiscal year, information requests averaged over 50 per week.

The Hawaii County Building was retrofitted by performance contract early in 1997 and the first year of post retrofit operation was completed on March 31, 1998. The Year-One Cost Avoidance Report showed total savings amounting to $69,207 which is $6,043 more than the cumulative energy and operational cost savings stipulated in the performance contract guarantee.

This retrofit project has been a very favorable experience for the County. Major upgrades were carried out to the building's aging energy systems all financed through the energy and maintenance cost savings generated. This ability of the equipment upgrades to fund the entire project costs was particularly important at a time when County revenues were stretched to meet on-going commitments. In view of this experience, a Request for Proposals was issued in

November 1997 for energy efficiency retrofits to the remaining inventory of County-owned buildings, and in June 1998 Honeywell was selected as contractor for this project. Contract negotiations have started with a view to completing this project in FY98-99.

The retrofit project for the Hawaii County Building was Phase I of the 'Rebuild Hawaii Island' Action Plan that was nominated for the Energy Champion Award at the 1998 National Rebuild America Conference of the US Department of Energy. The County also received $15,083.20 from the Hawaii Electric Light Company under its DSM incentive payment program for the energy efficiency measures installed at the County Building. Later in the year, the County was awarded another incentive payment of $6532.74 by HELCO for efficiency measures installed at the new community swimming pool in Pahoa.

Hawaii County also received a Certificate of Recognition from the US Department of Energy for early support of President Clinton's Million Solar Roofs initiative. This program is aimed at having environmentally friendly solar systems installed on a million building roofs across the country by year 2010. Besides reducing the use of fossil fuels for energy production, this initiative will greatly stimulate production of photovoltaic systems. In turn, this will maintain US leadership in this emerging technology as well as result in decreased costs of production making PV a more competitive resource in the long term. Hawaii Island is recognized as the premier location in the US for early implementation of cost-effective photovoltaic systems mainly as a result of an excellent solar resource and relatively high utility rates. The County has strongly supported the initiative of the Hawaii Electric Light Company in its major commitment to the Million Solar Roofs program that has resulted in a US Department of Energy grant for $25,000 to fund a 'kick-off' demonstration photovoltaic project on the Big Island.

In August 1997, a report was issued by the 'Aina Institute on an integrated resource management action program to harvest solid and liquid waste streams in West Hawaii and convert the materials into resources for profitable, environmentally sound businesses. In January 1998, the Na Makani Energy Initiative of North Kohala issued a report on Phase I of their community based planning for a "soft energy path" into the 21^st century. The Na Makani Energy Initiative was awarded a second grant of $3,500 by the County to complete Phase II of their community action plan in 1998.

Beginning Budget	$1,177,351
Additional funds provided for various projects	$ 200,572
Total funding appropriation for FY 1996-97	$1,377,923

Agriculture	$304,250
Energy Program	$ 78,912
New Industry Program	$ 84,500
Tourism Program	$482,500
Film	$ 90,000

Description of Support	Requester	Amount
1998 Senior Skins Game	HVB, Big Island Chapter	150,000
1998 Mardis Gras Festival	Hilo Downtown Improvement Assn.	3,000
1998 Hawaiian International	Hawaii International Billfish Assn.	5,000
Billfish Tournament

1998 Merrie Monarch Festival	Merrie Monarch Festivals	5,000
1998 Bankoh Old Hawaii on	Waimea Preservation Association	3,000
Horseback Festival
Chinese New Year Celebration	Hawaii Chinese Dragon Association	300

Description of Support	Requester	Amount
Hilo Harbor Pier Greetings	Destination Hilo	$ 7,000
Kona Pier & Airport Greetings	Destination Kona Coast	28,000
Big Island Advertising Program	Big Island Group	150,000
Tourism/Asia-Pacific Promotion	Big Island Visitors Bureau	100,000

Abbreviated Title	Institution	Amount
Identifying Slug Feeding on Taro	University of Hawaii	$1,500
Queen Rearing of Honeybees	University of Hawaii	3,000
in East Hawaii
Supplemental Irrigation of Dryland Taro	University of Hawaii	4,000
Effects of Irradiated and Heat Treatment	University of Hawaii	4,500
on Quality and Nutrients of Papaya
Nutrient Concentrations in University of Hawaii	6,400
Hawaii-Grown Papayas
Greenhouse Propagation of	Papaya Administrative Committee	3,000
Rainbow Papaya Under Mist
Screening of Fungicides and	Papaya Administrative Committee	5,000
Insecticides
Structural Testing of Bamboo	Save Hawaii Foundation	2,000
as Construction Material

Abbreviated Title	Completion Date
Cost & Returns of Selected Crops in Hawaii 12/01/98
Papaya Ringspot Virus Control Program	12/31/98
Hot Water Disinfestation of Potted Foliage Plants	03/31/99
Improving Norfok Pine for Christmas Tree Market	10/31/99
Containment/Eradication of Miconia	06/30/99
Perennial Forage Peanut Pastures for Cattle in Hamakua	12/31/99
Impact of Grazing Methods on Kikuyu Grasslands	12/31/99