HCIA Annual Meeting 2010
Honolulu Country Club – May 11, 2010
This year’s annual meeting brought together more than 150 members, allies and stakeholders of Hawaii’s agriculture industry, who share a commitment and interest in the collective ability to address the challenges and solutions that will impact the future of Hawaii.
Former president of HCIA, Adolph Helm opened the meeting with a welcome speech that touched on the importance of agriculture’s role in the state of Hawaii and the continued growth of the agricultural biotechnology sector.
Douglas Jones, Executive Director of Growers for Biotechnology, gave the keynote address on Food, Fiber and Fuel for the Future: Embracing Biotechnology. Growers for Biotechnology is an organization formed by a group of farmers that promotes and facilitates the research, development and acceptance of biotechnology. Loren Mochida of the Hawaii Papaya Industry Association also offered an address on Planting the Seeds of Importation: Japan & Hawaii’s Rainbow Papaya, discussing the evolution of Hawaii’s Rainbow papaya and its potential to be imported into Japan.
The annual meeting also offered insightful discussions with legislative leaders Speaker Calvin Say, Representative Clift Tsuji, who serves as the chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Senator Clayton Hee, also the chair of the Senate Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs. Meeting attendees were also able to engage in a dialogue with local political columnists and reporters Dan Boylan of MidWeek, Richard Borreca of the former Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Jerry Burris of the former Honolulu Advertiser, and Chad Blair of the newly formed Civil Beat on the 2010 elections.
The meeting was concluded by Fred Perlak, HCIA’s new president, who pressed on environmental sustainability, conservation of natural resources, and the continued embrace of Hawaiian cultural values.
