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BRUCE ASATO / AUG. 20
Alan Oshima, senior executive adviser and former CEO of Hawaiian Electric Co., has been chosen by Gov. David Ige to lead the Hawaii Economic and Community Recovery and Resiliency Plan.
Gov. David Ige announced Wednesday that he has appointed Hawaiian Electric Co.’s senior executive advisor Alan Oshima to lead a statewide COVID-19 recovery initiative.
Ige signed a proclamation to give Oshima a role in his office to lead the Hawaii Economic and Community Recovery and Resiliency Plan “to lead a collaborative effort with government, business, nonprofits and the community to develop and carry out” a plan for Hawaii to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.
“I asked Alan to take on this role based on his experience, reputation and long-standing commitment to community service here,” Ige said in a news conference Wednesday.
Ige, who was joined by House Speaker Scott Saiki and Senate President Ron Kouchi to announce the initiative, emphasized its collaborative nature.
“We are all on the same team,” he said. “This is the biggest crisis we face today, and will ever face in our lifetimes. There is no time for personal agendas or self-interest. We are all in this together.”
Oshima, a former CEO of Hawaiian Electric, said, “What we’re going to do is bring people from all aspects of our community … to address the critical needs of our community post-COVID-19. It’ll be transparent. We’ll all work from one data set that everyone’s going to contribute to.”
In a news release from Ige’s office after the news conference, the plan was broken down into three parts: stabilization, recovery and resiliency.
For “stabilization,” the goal is “to identify and address critical economic and community impacts, including the allocation of the federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act funds and state and local funding to mitigate the collapse of key economic sectors.”
In “recovery,” the goal is to “identify and support economic and community development activities which provide recovery, job growth and capital investment in the economy.
For “resiliency,” there would be a re-evaluation and restructuring of Hawaii’s economy “to meet the new normal and desired future for Hawaii.”
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