Fellows mentioned in this story: Sherry Menor-McNamara

From Pacific Business News:

Increasing affordable housing and strengthening workforce development are among top priorities for the 2025 legislative session, Hawai‘i legislative leaders told members of the Chamber of Commerce Hawai‘i.

Senate President Ron Kouchi, House Speaker Nadine Nakamura, and James Tokioka, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, participated in a panel discussion as part of the Chamber’s third annual State of Business event at the YWCA O‘ahu's Café Julia in Downtown Honolulu.

“Everything is interconnected, and each has a direct result in impact on the next thing,” Kouchi said of the connection between workforce development and housing.

A few years ago on Kaua‘i, for instance, he said that 23 new teachers were offered positions with the Department of Education.

“Eventually, all 23 called and had to decline the position because they couldn’t find housing,” he said, adding that the issue is not only applicable for education, but for employers across “every sector of our economy.”

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