Hawaii’s new DBEDT boss James Tokioka has a wealth of experience

For the third time in six months, a state agency overseeing economic development in Hawaii has a different leader.

James “Jimmy” Kunane Tokioka became director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism on May 5, and he brings a considerable mix of business and government experience to the job.

Tokioka, 61, has been hopscotching jobs since late 2022 when he left a communications services company and the Legislature to become director of the state Department of Transportation’s Airports Division under then-new Gov. Josh Green.

After the state Senate decided in March not to confirm attorney and longtime government servant Chris Sadayasu — Green’s first appointee to head up DBEDT — lining up a replacement led to Tokioka and what at first glance appears to be a good fit for the job.

Tokioka is a former hotel industry executive and restaurant owner from Kauai who also spent 10 years on the Kauai County Council initially as a Republican and 16 years in the state House of Representatives as a Democrat representing the Garden Isle.

This longtime public- and private-sector career aligned Tokioka well for Green’s need at DBEDT.

“That’s why the governor reached out to me,” Tokioka said Friday in his new office in the historic No. 1 Capitol District building just Ewa of the state Capitol.

Green, in a statement announcing Tokioka’s move, said, “Director Tokioka is stepping up to help move forward important priorities for the state. He will immediately hit the ground running and foster collaboration amongst the various attached agencies at DBEDT.”

DBEDT isn’t a high-profile agency, but its mission is far-flung. It has six divisions, including one housing the Hawaii Film Office, one producing economic research and one overseeing foreign trade zones. It also has 10 other state agencies attached to it for administrative purposes, including the Hawaii Tourism Authority, State Energy Office, Agribusiness Development Corp., Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., Hawaii Technology Development Corp. and Stadium Authority.

Tokioka is trying to get up to speed quickly in his new role, and said his top priorities are with HTA, replacing Aloha Stadium, the state’s continued push into renewable energy and expanding the film industry.

Compared with the statewide airport system, DBEDT has fewer employees to manage — 300 compared with 1,200 in rough numbers — but is a much more diverse entity to lead.

Tokioka said one of his operating philosophies is finding the smartest people in specific subjects to help realize goals.

“I’ve always been the type of person that I never feel like when I walk into the room, I’m the smartest guy in the room,” he said. “But I’ve always been the type of person that’s going to find the smartest people in the room and be a part of the team with these people and get things done that way.”

In that regard, Tokioka is already forming private industry working groups representing business sectors including retail, food serv­ice, real estate development, health care and other things on each island to advise DBEDT in an effort to help businesses succeed and grow the local economy.

This kind of assistance, in a way, led Tokioka to begin what unexpectedly to him became a long career in government service 27 years ago.

The 1979 graduate of Kapaa High School, who was born on Oahu and moved to Kauai when he was 4 years old, got into the hotel business as a busboy at the Holiday Inn Kauai Beach after going to Kauai Community College for a year.

At the hotel chain, Tokioka rose to positions that included restaurant manager and food and beverage director at different properties, and ultimately became a special projects general manager based in California opening new Holiday Inn hotels on the mainland.

In 1991, Tokioka left Holiday Inn and moved back to Kauai to start a restaurant, Da Box Lunch Place. But his plan suffered a setback when Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai in 1992, ruining businesses and homes on the island, including Tokioka’s.

After a long delay, Tokioka opened the breakfast and lunch okazuya. Several years later, in 1996, he was encouraged to make use of his hotel industry experience serving on the County Council.

Tokioka said his parents were good friends with Kauai’s then-Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, a Republican who asked Tokioka to run for a seat.

“I knew nothing about politics,” Tokioka said. But he won, and spent 10 years on the Council. During that time he served with Ron Kouchi, who is now Senate president, and became a partner in two other Kauai restaurants, Terrace Restaurant at Kauai Lagoons resort in Lihue and Fish Bowl’s in Waipouli.

When Tokioka ran for the Council, the race was partisan, and he chose to run as a Republican in allegiance with Kusaka. By the time he ran in 2006 to represent Lihue in the state House to replace retiring Rep. Ezra Kanoho, Tokioka had become a Democrat.

In the Legislature over the next 16 years, Tokioka spent time as chair of the House Legislative Management and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee and vice chair of several other House committees including ones focused on tourism, health, the military, the Judiciary and Hawaiian affairs.

Tokioka said his decision in December to leave the Legislature, where work is part time, was influenced by the loss of his private- sector job in November. That position, new-business manager for internet, TV and phone service provider Spectrum, was cut in a company reorganization. So Tokioka was on the lookout for a new job, and accepted an offer from Green to be a Transportation Department deputy overseeing airports.

After accepting that job, Tokioka moved to Oahu, which he said was a difficult decision, though he plans to spend every other weekend or so on Kauai.

Tokioka’s new position at DBEDT is subject to confirmation by the Senate. His prior appointment as a deputy Transportation Department director wasn’t subject to confirmation, though the Senate passed a bill earlier this year to make all deputy department positions subject to confirmation. The House did not act on the measure, Senate Bill 1122.

Because the Legislature adjourned May 4, the Senate isn’t likely to hold a confirmation hearing and vote on Tokioka’s appointment until early 2024 unless a special session is held later this year.