Mayor Caldwell announces new economic development team

News Release from Office of the Mayor, January 31, 2014

Honolulu – Mayor Caldwell today announced the appointment of Linda Chu Takayama to lead the Office of Economic Development as Executive Director.  She will be joined by Peter Tomozawa, appointed as Executive Director of Business Development, and Minnie Ko, Executive Director of International Affairs. 

As Executive Director of the Office of Economic Development, Linda Chu Takayama will be responsible for cultivating tourism and hospitality, agriculture, film, and other industries, advancing small businesses, strengthening relationships with state, military, federal, and international partners, and coordinating cultural and community festivals and special events.

Takayama comes to Mayor Caldwell’s administration after a highly successful legal career as a private practice attorney specializing in county, state, and federal regulatory and governmental affairs, health care, insurance, and corporate business law.  Her impressive resume includes time as Deputy Director of the State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, as Hawaii Insurance Commissioner, and as Chief of Staff to the United States Senate Sergeant at Arms.  She currently serves as the Chair of the Hawaii Foodbank and as director on the boards of the Hawaii Health Information Corporation and Zephyr Insurance Company.  She was a director for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle and the East-West Center.

Takayama graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and holds a Juris Doctor degree from George Mason University School of Law in Virginia.

As Executive Director of Business Development, Peter Tomozawa will spearhead entrepreneurial projects which will bring revenue to the City and County of Honolulu, catalytic projects related to transit enhanced neighborhoods, and economic development projects to stimulate business activity within the city.

Tomozawa retired in 2010 from Goldman, Sachs & Company after a 17 year career in which he was named Partner in 2006 and Managing Director in 2000.  He was global head of Foreign Exchange sales from 2004 until his retirement. 

Tomozawa is currently a member of the State of Hawaii Charter School Commission, the Nature Conservancy board, the Iolani School Board of Governors, and is Chair of the State of Hawaii American Red Cross Disaster Preparedness Committee. In addition to the work he does on various boards, he is an active investor in real estate and in the financial markets.  He holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania and an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan.

Minnie Ko will step into the role of Executive Director of International Affairs, where she will continue her focus on affiliations between Honolulu and foreign cities around the world.  She leads Honolulu’s sister city relationships and coordinates high-level meetings between Mayor Caldwell and foreign dignitaries.

Ko has been with Mayor Caldwell’s administration since he took office in January of last year.  In her private career, she has founded a number of small businesses, including publications Aloha China and Aloha Korea, a boutique in the Moana Surfrider named DBA Hoku Boutique, MKO Corporation, and Go Global MPR.  She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Mânoa and holds an MA in International Relations from Sogang University in Seoul, Korea.

Also on Mayor Caldwell’s economic development team are Agriculture Liaison Dr. Po-Yung Lai and Honolulu Film Commissioner Walea Constantinau.

Dr. Po-Yung Lai is an entomologist with both a master’s degree and PhD from the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR).  He served as the Assistant Dean for Extension for CTAHR before returning to his native Taiwan in 1997, where he established the Institute of Tropical Agriculture at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.  Prior to joining the Caldwell Administration last year, Dr. Lai served as Special Director of Contracts and Grants for CTAHR.

Walea Constantinau has been Honolulu Film Commissioner since the office was first established in 1993, and is Vice President of the Association of Film Commissioners International.  She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

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