Building Industry Magazine - August 2014 - (Page 49)
Aloha and Mahalo
to BIA-Hawaii's
KAREN
NAKAMURA
As she steps down
after 16 years as CEO,
Nakamura talks about
role models, her legacy
and what direction the
industry should take
H
awaii's First Lady of Construction says
the last 46 years have been a great ride.
Though no one really expects it to end
soon, Karen Nakamura in November will
step down from the post she's held for 16 years-CEO of
the Building Industry Association of Hawaii (BIA)-and
tackle a few other projects she intends to take on.
Nakamura, 70, grew up in Kaimuki during the late
1950s and early '60s when girls were seldom, if ever, seen
on a construction site. She became a cosmetologist like her
mom, then went to work in her mother's beauty salon. But
by 1968 she had joined her father's contracting business,
and hasn't looked back.
The granddaughter of a conscripted Japanese farm
worker and his picture bride, Nakamura is a relentless
advocate for the building industry, the first woman in
Hawaii to receive a general contractor's license and an
outspoken critic of the state's permitting process, which
she describes as draconian. Among her legacy: Waipahu's
Construction Training Center of the Pacific, completed in
2009 and designed to ensure quality training and development within the industry. "We are building partnerships
and bringing new technology and building systems to
construction workers in the Pacific," she says.
A plethora of Nakamura's past honors and awards
include National Remodeler of the Year; Hawaii Business
Hall of Fame; BIA Builder of the Decade; Girl Scout
Council Distinguished Alumnae Hall of Fame; YMCA
Woman Entrepreneur and Leader in Construction; and
U.S. Department of Commerce Firm of the Year (Retail,
Minority Business Development Agency).
Nakamura and her husband, Bert, spent most of last
month vacationing in Spain celebrating Karen's birthday as
well as their 50th wedding anniversary. Another celebration
on the horizon will commemorate BIA-Hawaii's 60th year
and its charter in 1955 with the National Association of
Home Builders.
Building Industry Hawaii magazine invited Nakamura to
sit down and share her thoughts-about her career, about
Hawaii's construction industry and about her next challenge.
www.buildingindustryhawaii.com | 49
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Building Industry Magazine - August 2014
THE BIG ISLAND: KEEPING THE FAITH
INSIDE THE HICA
GET READY FOR WORK
CONCRETE MOVES FORWARD
INTERVIEW WITH KAREN NAKAMURA
NEWS BEAT
Datebook
Contracts Awarded
Low Bids
Company Profile: HPM Building Supply
Faces: ABC Hawaii Celebration
News Makers
New Products
Faces: Red, White and Blue
Faces: Hawaii Power
Building Industry Magazine - August 2014
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