HONOLULU – Defense-related expenditures bring in approximately $2.5 billion to Hawai‘i’s economy. This spending is expected to increase during the upcoming years, highlighted by the recent award of a $2.8 billion Navy contract for work at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.

Prime contractors need local subcontractors.

On April 11 at the Ala Moana Hotel, the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) and its Hawai‘i Defense Alliance will present a conference called “Meet the Primes.” Local businesses will hear directly from U.S. Department of Defense contracting officials and prime defense contractors on opportunities and how to take advantage of them.

DBEDT is focused on supporting local small businesses and, through its Hawai‘i Defense Alliance, increasing the opportunities for local contractors and service providers to enter the burgeoning defense sector economy.

This conference will also provide opportunities for local businesses to meet one-on-one with officials from defense contracting offices, representatives from prime contractors, and community resource partners.

Speakers include: Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke; Maj. Gen. Mark Hashimoto from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; and Arveice Washington, deputy director, Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs.

Sessions include:  insights from the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, small business strategies for government contracting, a Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Dry Dock V update, a large contractor panel, and a discussion with the deputy director of the Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs.