State hotel occupancy rate (1998): 72.0% Oahu
(73.8); Hawaii (68.2); Maui (72.8); Molokai (43.1); Kauai (67.0) Average daily room rate
(1998): $140.63 Oahu ($122.83); Hawaii ($157.64); Maui ($161.37); Molokai ($75.46) Kauai
($154.20) A significant event in 1998 that impacts the visitor industry is the opening of
the Hawaii Convention Center. FEDERAL EXPENDITURES
Total federal expenditures (1998): $8.4 billion
Military personnel and dependents (1998): 101,311
The Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) is geographically the largest of
the U.S. unified service commands. It covers about 50% of the earth's surface from the
U.S. West Coast to Africa's east coast and from the Arctic to the Antarctic.
AGRICULTURE
Once Hawaii's primary source of income, agriculture remains a significant contributor.
Value of crop and livestock sales (1997): $485.7 million
Major crops (1997): Sugar, $85.5 million; pineapple, $91.7 million; flower and
nursery products, $68.2 million; macadamia nuts, $43.5 million; coffee, $28.2 million;
milk, $29.5 million; cattle, $14.3 million; eggs, $12.9 million.
Aquaculture farms statewide (1996): 117 small or medium-sized operations, often
diversified. Overall value of aquaculture (1996): $15.7 million; value of shellfish
production, $4.3 million.
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS
Hawaii's Foreign-Trade Zone No. 9 is one of the most successful trade zone programs
in the United States. In 1998, the Zone was used by 279 businesses handling $2.1 billion
worth of merchandise and providing 6,370 jobs.
RETAIL TRADE
Retail sales (1998): $15.7 billion
Hawaii's retail establishments include discount outlet malls, big box outlets
and national and international chain stores.
LABOR FORCE
Unemployment rate (1998): 6.2% Oahu (5.4); Hawaii (9.7); Maui (6.6); Molokai
(15.0); Lanai (3.5); Kauai (9.8) Civilian labor force (1998): 597,050 Composition of labor
force (1998): Male, 53%; Female, 47% Civilian employment (1998): 559,750 Annual wages per
private employee (1997): $26,978 In 1997, 8.7% of employed persons held multiple jobs.
Hawaii's economy is service-oriented with hotels and other service providers accounting
for more than one-fourth of the jobs. About three in ten civilian workers are professional
or managerial. Government and retailing account for half the number of employees. Hawaii's
workforce is skilled in Asian languages and business protocol.
LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS
Minimum wage (1998): $5.25 per hour
Principal unions: AFL-CIO, Teamsters, International Longshoremen's and
Warehousemen's Union (ILWU).
Largest memberships: Hawaii Government Employees Association, ILWU, and
Teamsters.
Labor union membership (1997): 170,399
In 1998, 26.5% of those employed were union members.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND INVESTMENTS
Banks (1998): 6 with 191 branches
Savings and loan associations (1998): 3 with 97 branches
Publicly traded Hawaii companies: 26
All major U.S. securities firms are represented.
BUSINESS FIRMS
Domestic corporations and partnerships on record (1998): 38,231; non-Hawaii
corporations: 7,731; non-Hawaii partnerships: 8,177; new domestic corporations formed:
2,983
Business starts (1998): 593
Business failures (1997): 630
Employers by industry (1997): Service (36%); Retail (23); Manufacturing (3)
Most of Hawaii's businesses are small. 53% have fewer than five employees and
95% have fewer than 50 employees.
The Hawaii Small Business Regulatory Flexibilty Act was passed in 1998 to ease
the process of creating and operating a business.
COMMUNICATIONS
Daily newspapers (1997): 6 English-language papers
Radio stations (1997): 70
Television stations (1997): 22
There are also foreign language newspapers, radio stations and television
stations.
Cable TV companies (1998): 4 with 345,631 subscribers
Cellular telephone companies (1998): 10
Hawaii has high data rate links with more than 30 state-of-the-art
telecommunications satellites. 29,000 miles of undersea fiber optic cables provide 140,000
voice equivalent circuits facilitating simultaneous voice, data, and image transmissions
to the continental United States, Canada and Asia along with a new
"super-carrier" cable providing an additional 130,00 circuits. 30 dedicated T-1s
link to every major business center in Asia and Europe. In 1998, 100% of local telephone
lines were converted from analog to digital switching.
Beginning with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the State of Hawaii launched
a program of deregulation to encourage increased competition among companies.
EDUCATION
The University of Hawaii system had 45,337 students enrolled in 1998 and awarded 2,528
bachelor's degrees, 1,932 master's degrees and 161 doctoral degrees. The three private
universities had an enrollment of 13,496 students.
Institutions with an international focus are the federally-funded East-West
Center, the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, the Japan-America Institute of
Management Science, Hawaii Pacific University, Chaminade University, Kansai Gaidai Hawaii
College, and the University of Hawaii.
Hawaii's state-wide public school system had an enrollment in 1998 of 187,395
students in grades K-12. In 1998, there were 10,300 high school graduates. There are also
132 private schools. Enrollment in private schools was 37,078 in 1996.
In 1998, Hawaii's state-wide public library system had 49 branches and combined
collections of 3,196,562 books. The University of Hawaii library system collections housed
3,597,854 volumes.
TRANSPORTATION
Overseas airline passenger arrivals (1997): 7,788,367; interisland airline
passengers: 10,448,099
Licensed drivers (1996): 733,486 Motor vehicle registrations (1998): 893,427
Streets and highways (1997): 4,164 miles
The availability of public transportation varies from island to island.
Commercial airports (1997): 9; General aviation, military or semiprivate
airports: 16; Heliports: 5; Active pilots (1996): 2,561; Active civil aircraft in general
aviation (1996): 364.
Harbors: 7 deep-draft and 2 medium-draft harbors on the five major islands in
the State.
There is barge service between islands.
INCOME AND COST OF LIVING
Per capita personal income (1998): $26,137
Median annual income of households (1997): $41,832. Ranked 7th highest of the
fifty states and District of Columbia.
The cost of living for a family of four has been estimated to be 27% higher than
the U.S. average for a comparable standard of living.
GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND TAXATION
State revenue receipts in 1997 totaled nearly $6.7 billion, chiefly from taxes
(46.1 %), intergovernmental revenue (19.4) and insurance trust (17.5). The general excise
and use tax ($1.6 billion) and individual income tax ($997 million) are the major sources
of tax revenue.
The four counties establish real property tax rates and assess and collect these
taxes. Except for licenses, permits and fees, other tax collections are the responsibility
of the State which operates a centralized tax system. Hawaii has no personal property or
inventory taxes.
There is a general excise tax (GET) of 4% that is applied to retail sales of
goods and services.
The corporate tax rate is 4.4 percent of income up to $25,000, 5.4 percent of
taxable income up to $100,000, and 6.4 percent of income exceeding $100,000. The capital
gains tax rate is 4 percent for corporations.
HOUSING
Total housing units (1997): 442,867
State median resale value (1998): $251,500
Average monthly mortgage (1997): $1,319
Average monthly rent (1997): $897
Housing is expensive in Hawaii, partly because of the limited availability and
the high price of land. Mobile homes are not found in Hawaii as zoning and building code
regulations are stringent.
PUBLIC UTILITIES
Electricity sales: (1998): 9.3 billion kilowatt-hours
Electric utilities: Hawaii Electric Light Co. (Hawaii); Hawaiian Electric Co.
(Oahu); Kauai Electric (Kauai); Maui Electric Co. (Maui, Molokai and Lanai)
Gas sales (1998): 33.1 million therms of utility gas
Gas utility: The Gas Company
ENERGY RESOURCES
Imported petroleum (1998): about 90% of energy needs.
Other sources of energy: Solar, geothermal, garbage power, bagasse (waste from
sugarcane) and wood chips from trees, wind power, water-driven turbines and coal.
Given its nearly total dependence on oil imports, Hawaii's top energy priorities
are alternate energy and conservation.
RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Research and development spending by the Federal government (1997): $153.7 million
Hawaii supports science and technology research and development through a
multitude of agencies. Key among these agencies are the High Technology Development
Corporation, the Maui Research & Technology Center (home of the Maui High Performance
Computing Center), the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (an ocean science and
technology park utilizing deep ocean water technology), Center of Excellence in Ocean
Sciences (CEROS), the Pacific Center for High Technology Research, the Hawaii Natural
Energy Institute and the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
The University of Hawaii fosters research in all aspects of science and
technology with international recognition in areas such as astronomy, ocean sciences,
geology and biomedical research.
Notably, astronomy plays a key role in Hawaii's commitment to scientific
research. The exceptionally clear skies at the summits of the Big Island's Mauna Kea and
Maui's Haleakala offer optimum conditions for astronomical observations. On Mauna Kea
alone, 13 major facilties representing the cooperation of 10 countries are in operation.
The Subaru Telescope Facility, the newest observatory, represents a new class of
revolutionary telescopes. Supported by a dedicated supercomputer in Hilo, its ultra-thin
and light mirror permits extremely high accuracy in imaging celestial objects.
In the area of biotechnology, a team lead by Professor Ryuzo Yanagimachi of the
University of Hawaii's School of Medicine developed the "Honolulu Cloning
Technique" producing 50 identical mice. The Hawaii Institute of Biogenesis is being
established to support this research.
HAWAII'S BUSINESS INCENTIVES
Hawaii has only two levels of government taxation: state and local
No personal property tax
No tax on inventory, furniture, equipment or machinery
Credit granted against taxes paid on the purchase of capital goods, machinery,
and equipment
No state tax on goods manufactured for export
No stock transfer tax (all security exchange transactions are exempt from
general excise tax, as an incentive to financial institutions)
No unincorporated business tax
Banks and financial institutions pay only one business tax
Manufactured products or those produced for export are exempt from the general
excise tax, including custom computer software
The corporate tax rate is 4.4 percent of income up to $25,000, 5.4 percent of
taxable income up to $100,000, and 6.4 percent of income exceeding $100,000. The capital
gains tax rate is 4 percent for corporations.
The Immigrant Investor Program and the Enterprise Zone Program are available for
qualified applicants.
Hawaii's Department of Labor and Industrial Relations administers the Employment
Training Fund which provides industry or employer-specific training
programs in high growth occupational areas.
