Critical University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO) research to help Hawaiʻi on its path to economic recovery has received a boost of $1.2 million in private support.
Donors include Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, Bank of Hawaiʻi Foundation, Kamehameha Schools, First Hawaiian Bank Foundation, DGM Group, Hawaiian Electric Industries, Hawaiʻi Medical Service Association, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, American Savings Bank, Stanford Carr Development, HPM Building Supply Foundation, First Insurance Charitable Foundation, Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association and Hawaiʻi State AFL–CIO, Island Insurance Foundation and Harold K.L. Castle Foundation.
The $1.2 million will enable UHERO to hire two full-time faculty and build capacity for applied research on the most pressing issues facing Hawaiʻi.
“Throughout the pandemic, businesses, nonprofits and public sector decision-makers have relied on us for our trusted and independent analysis of the Hawaiʻi economy,” said UHERO Executive Director Carl Bonham. “With the addition of these new team members, we will be able to sustain and grow our research efforts, and continue to help our state navigate through the current economic upheaval and the nascent recovery.”
Added Bank of Hawaii Chairman, President and CEO Peter Ho, “It is becoming increasingly evident that Hawaiʻi’s battle with the novel coronavirus and its aftermath will not be a sprint, but a marathon. Together, through innovative public-private partnerships, we will be able to meet the economic uncertainty armed with the best information to guide us to sustainable economic revival.”
UHERO was co-founded in the 1990s by four UH Mānoa Economics faculty members—Bonham, Byron Gangnes, Sumner La Croix and Denise Eby Konan, current dean of the College of Social Sciences.
“We are thankful to our community partners for their support of UHERO during the pandemic and into the future,” said Konan. “The primary goal of the College and its units has always been to provide evidence-based social sciences research that brings to light important data and analysis, so it can assist Hawaiʻi’s leaders in making informed policy and business decisions.”
