14 JANUARY 2022 NEWSLETTER
2022 MAC & HDA Partnership Conference
On Jan. 6 – 7, 2022 Hawaii Defense Alliance joined the MAC to host the 2022 Partnership Conference. This annual conference provides an opportunity for MAC and HDA members and partners to learn about the military’s priorities in Hawaii and the Indo-Pacific Area of Responsibility, as well as the steady and increasing economic opportunities the defense sector brings.

Jan. 6 featured ADM John Aquilino, Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), who provided his insight of the Indo-Pacific Region. Followed by MG Ken Hara, Adjutant General, Hawaii Department of Defense (DoD), who provided an update of the Hawaii National Guard (HING).

On Jan. 7, the conference opened with welcome remarks by Dennis Ling, business & industry development administrator of Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) followed by an update of the Hawaii Defense Alliance with John Greene, defense industry specialist at, DBEDT, and Pono Chong, project manager of Hawaii Defense Alliance.
Dr. George Kailiwai III, director of requirement and resources (J8) at USINDOPACOM; GEN Charles Flynn, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, VADM William Galinis, commander of NAVSEA; Cliff Bean, director of Navy missions and defense sector at Peraton and former NSA Hawaii Commander; and VADM William Galinis, Commander, NAVSEA also provided insight from their respective roles.

The Emerging Workforce Opportunities Panel featured panelists representing the DoD, academia and industry professionals who shared their experiences and insights to increase opportunities for locals and local businesses within the defense sector. Panelists included:
  • Lance Askildson, Provost, Chaminade University 
  • Cliff Bean, Director of Navy missions and defense sector, Peraton
  • Tim Faulkner, Senior Executive Advisor, U.S. Army Pacific G2 
  • Jairus Grove, Director of the Hawai’i Research Center for Future Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa 
  • Chris Loftis, Site Lead, Huntington Ingalls Industries 
  • Leeanne Phillips, J2C Readiness, Plans, and Exercises Branch Chief, INDOPACOM  
To watch the recording of day two, click here.
Geospatial Analytics Careers
The Hawaii Defense Alliance hosted a virtual webinar focusing on geospatial analytics careers. The objective of this is to increase awareness – for the tech community, educators, students, and government audience – of the career and certification pathways and hundreds of jobs being created in Hawaii over the next three years. These jobs are being driven by the Federal government and contractors. To watch the full webinar, click here.
Panel members included:
  • David Abreu, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
  • Brandt Dillion, U.S. Army Pacific Geospatial Intelligence Advisor
  • Nicholas Jacob, Huntington Ingalls
  • Chris Johnson, Maxar Technologies
  • Christine Mackrell, U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF)
  • Mark Speck, Chaminade University

This webinar is part of a broader series of events hosted by the Hawaii Defense Alliance, “Building Hawaii Intel Career Pathways Together” to open up more Federal opportunities for residents and local businesses and promote economic resilience in Hawaii.
U.S. Army Small Business Contracting Panel
Last month the Alliance hosted a U.S. Army Small Business Contracting Panel featuring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Honolulu District, USACE Pacific Ocean Division (POD), and the Army Contracting Command (ACC) Outside Contiguous United States (OCONUS) Regional Contracting Office-Hawaii/Alaska. Mahalo to those who joined the live webinar, to watch the recording, click here. To view the U.S. Army Garrison forecast, click here.

Panelists included:
  • Lieutenant Colonel Eric S. Marshall, Commander, Honolulu District, USACE
  • Joan Kaimikaua, Assistant Director, Office of Small Business Programs, USACE POD
  • James (Jim) A. Mastin, Director for the Office of Small Business Programs, ACC OCONUS Regional Contracting Office-Hawaii/Alaska
  • Master Sergeant Daunte D. Graves, Contract Specialist, Honolulu District, USACE
  • Monique Holmes, Deputy for Small Business Programs, Honolulu District, USACE
HDA Members Tour USS ESSAYONS at the Pacific Shipyards Drydock
Upcoming Events
Below are a list of upcoming events hosted by Hawaii Defense Alliance or its partners. If you are interested in sharing your event on our website, click here to submit an event. For a full list of upcoming events, visit hawaiidefensealliance.org/events.
Evolving Government Contractor Cybersecurity Requirements
January 19 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am
This is a Hawaii PTAC hosted event on cybersecurity with guest speaker, Adam Austin of Totem Tech. Adam will be giving an update of the evolving government contractor cybersecurity requirements (CMMC 2.0).
Government Contracting 101
January 26 @ 8:30 am - 10:00 am
What are the potential benefits of doing business with the government? The objectives of this workshop are to learn how the government buys goods and services; how to become certified and registered on the federal, state, and local levels, and find government contracting prime and subcontracting opportunities.
IT Workforce Presentation: Building Hawaii’s IT Workforce of the Future
January 26 @ 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Join us as we share findings from the recent IT Workforce Needs Analysis and identify collaborative action that leaders can take, together.
Hawaii Defense Alliance | hawaiidefensealliance.org
The Hawaii Defense Alliance is established by the State of Hawaii Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) through a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Local Defense Community cooperation (previously, Office of Economic Adjustment). For more information about DBEDT’s Hawaii Defense Economy project visit DefenseEconomy.hawaii.gov.