Business View Civil and Municipal | September 2022

24 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 could feed their families and continue to bring business to local restaurants. The program was a great success, helping our entire supply chain of farmers, ranchers, fishermen, produce suppliers, supply companies, and many more. It also boosted our economy – a $5 million investment was able to return $150 million to our state.” There are a number of collaborative partners that have worked with COC Hawaii over the years towards a better future for the state’s economic environment. Ms. Menor-McNamara would like to extend particular thanks on behalf of the chamber to neighboring island chambers, and the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism for their hard work and dedication. Ms. Menor-McNamara concludes with reference to COC Hawaii’s plans moving forward. “In the future, our chamber is keen to further champion sustainability in Hawaii. Environmental responsibility is critical to our island state, so we need to look at what we need to do from a policy standpoint to ensure support for local supply chain operators, energy providers, etc. It’s all about creating a business ecosystem that will allow future generations to thrive. “We are also committed to becoming more community focused. The pandemic showed us our ability to make real progress in this area, so we want to look more closely at how we can connect businesses within the community and address some of the socio-economic challenges that our state faces. COC Hawaii actually gave birth to a number of community organizations such as Aloha United Way, Blood Bank of Hawaii, Better Business Bureau, Mental Health Association in Hawaii, and others. So, you can see, there are a number of community-focused organizations that started back in the day thanks to our efforts, and we hope to circle back and be more directly involved in their work.” products that provide for and promote Hawaii. The 4HI Campaign seeks to secure Hawaii’s future in four key areas: Economy, Environment, Education, and Entrepreneurship. Our Young Professionals Program has more than 300 members, ages 21 to 39 years old, and works to prepare emerging professionals to eventually become the state’s future leaders. “We also launched COVID-specific resources – Boost 4 Business, which supports the provision of vaccines to employers and their staff, and the Hawaii Restaurant Card Program, which supplied $500 gift cards to local residents who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, so they