Read magazine - Hawaii Food Industry Assocation - HFIA

A Legislative UpdateDick Botti is a lobbyist. He figured outwhat the critical bills were. Although Bottiis gone, the legislative arena is still one ofHFIA’s major responsibilities. Accordingto Alan Nakamura, HFIA ExecutiveCommittee vice chair, Hanagami hit theground running with regard to legislativeissues. “We’re not talking about savinga nickel,” he says. “We’re talking aboutthousands and thousands of dollars.”Nakamura, a Kalani High Schoolgraduate, earned degrees in psychologyand Japanese at the University of Hawaiiat Manoa. He was planning to go intotravel industry management, and hisfirst job was with a small Japanese tourcompany. However, Nakamura wentback to his roots in the food industry, firstat Perry’s Smorgy and Zippy’s restaurants,then for the next 18 years at Fast Stopconvenience stores. He is now going on11 years at Tesoro, and is a regional merchandisingmanager working out of theirPalama convenience store and gas station.Food seemed to fit, as his father was insales at Kraft Foods, and Nakamura fondlyremembers helping him restock shelveson occasion. He also worked at Foodlandduring high school as an assistant manager,and made enough of an impression to bepulled aside and asked if he was interestedin becoming a store manager.The Association needs to be strongto get our issues heard, noted Taniguchi,who would rather be involved insupporting concepts than getting intothe weeds of particular bills and theirspecific drafts. That’s the job of lobbyistLauren Zirbel, who is onboard to ferretout the particulars. “Gary has taken it onestep further,” says Taniguchi. “There’sa bi-weekly conference call for anyonethat’s interested.” Formed the second weekafter Hanagami came on board, thelegislative “round table” is a time whenretailers and wholesalers can come toa middle ground with the purpose oflobbying with one voice on an issue.Change You Can(Really) Count On“I recall the good ol’ days when theeconomy was healthy, membership wasstrong, and our conventions rotatedbetween the major islands eachyear,” says Nakamura. “In recentAlan Nakamuratimes, our membership has decreasedthrough closings, mergers, and financialchallenges…but with our new executivedirector Gary Hanagami, we have seen arenewed energy and enthusiasm, and thisbodes well for HFIA.” For Nakamura,there is still tremendous value in HFIA,despite the difficulties. “It’s a wonderfulgroup,” he says. “they’re like a family. Weneed to have a liaison for new members sothey feel welcome and can feel comfortablewith the group.” For Nakamura, it’snot just something to say. If he had toleave HFIA for a job, he says, he’d have tothink about it. Anyone who has dealt withHFIA, even for a short time, will tell youthere’s something special there, and leaderslike Nakamura aim to keep it that way.Nakamura relates that Hanagami isBuy Local It Matters®Join the movement!Congratulations to the new HFIA administrationhttp://hawaii.gov/hdoa22 HAWAII RETAIL GROCER - CONVENTION ISSUE 2011