Business View Magazine | April/May 2022

33 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 BUI LDING INDUSTRY ASSOC I AT ION OF HAWA I I (B I A-HAWA I I ) include developers, general contractors, specialty contractors, suppliers, and associate members such as realtors, designers, and architects.” BVM: What is your current mandate? Leorna: “We see ourselves as the voice of construction in Hawaii. Our motto is: Together we educate, advocate, and grow. Meaning we educate our member businesses and professionals through professional development, we do advocacy efforts, and we do a lot of networking opportunities and other growth measures that professionals in the industry can partake in. “One huge project that is ongoing, but especially during the pandemic, we are heavily involved in advocacy efforts. Last year, we poured over 3,000 bills in legislative session which begins in January and runs through May. In was created before Hawaii was actually a state – it was still a territory with a very agricultural economy but there were visionaries in the construction industry who foresaw the imminence of statehood and the building and infrastructure boom that would follow. They recognized that there would be significant growth to come in the home building and construction sectors and that there would be some value in coming together as an association before that happened. “In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state in the Union, and then in 1979, the original organization expanded its reach and became the Building Industry Association of Hawaii. NAHB is our umbrella entity on the national level, and there are also state and local associations. BIA- Hawaii is a local association. “We currently have 317 member businesses that