Fellows mentioned in this story: Sherry Menor-McNamara, Cohort IV

From Pacific Business News:

Unemployment in Hawai‘i remains high — 9% through March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — despite a wide availability of jobs in the Islands about a year into the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the Hawai‘i Legislature passed a measure to allocate nearly half of the state's $1.6 billion of American Rescue Plan Act funds toward repaying a $700 million federal loan taken out by the state to keep making UI payments to unemployed residents. The state also passed a stopgap measure in March to keep UI payments for businesses at a moderate schedule through 2022.

The funding allocation, for which Sherry Menor-McNamara is grateful, awaits Gov. David Ige's signature. However, the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii's president and CEO told Pacific Business News recently that it won't be a permanent solution to the problem.

Continue reading at bizjournals.com.