Business View Magazine | April/May 2022

36 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 because there’s a shortage of skilled labor. We work closely with the city and county of Honolulu to provide course content for their ‘Youth Build’ program, which is pre- apprenticeship construction training (PACT) for students who might be interested in a career in the industry. We teach that program at our CTC facility with a lot of hands-on work, math skills, and management skills across the board for a construction business. It really promotes construction training as an option for students. “We also have a Leading Young Professionals Council – they travel to schools to teach about what it’s like to be in the construction industry and what kind of jobs are out there. Going forward, we want to focus some of our education and advocacy efforts on encouraging and incentivizing women in the workforce.” BVM: What items are high on the agenda for the next three to five years? Leorna: “Over the next five years, we want to continue what we’re doing because it is really helping the industry. Fire sprinkler systems is an issue that keeps coming up in the legislature and we need to keep our advocacy focused on that. With regard to environmental regulation, we want to make sure that there is a good balance. Obviously, BIA-Hawaii supports environmental safety and conservation but there has to be a balance for the businesses that have to function in Hawaii. “Having our first BIG Home Building & Remodeling Show in two years –April 29th to May 1st – is super exciting for us and for the entire industry. Just for our members to be on the trade show floor interacting with consumers is really important to the industry overall and the economy. It gives a lot of positive energy, to be able to see one another and talk face to face – it’s that “Aloha” that everybody misses so much right now.”