David Y. Ige

HONOLULU – The Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA) announces Gwen Yamamoto Lau as its new Executive Director, effective today.

Yamamoto Lau joined HGIA in May 2016 as Managing Director and brings more than 30 years of strategic leadership and management experience in commercial and credit union banking as well as community development financing.

Prior to joining HGIA, Yamamoto Lau served as Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer for HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union and President of the Hawaii Community Reinvestment Corporation (HCRC).  While at HCRC, Yamamoto Lau expanded the organization’s mission from a singular focus on affordable housing to include community and economic development, providing innovative financing to private and nonprofit organizations in the form of below market, long-term permanent debt for affordable rental projects (primarily projects leveraged with Low Income Housing Tax Credits) and eligible small businesses in the State, in addition to providing Loan Loss Reserve incentives for participating lenders for solar hot water and solar PV system financing.

“Gwen comes to HGIA at a critical time with the program gaining momentum,” said DBEDT Director and HGIA Chair, Luis P. Salaveria. “She brings a wealth of knowledge and has already helped to move the program forward since her arrival.”

Yamamoto Lau received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Hawaii and graduated with honors from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“I look forward to working with the HGIA board, program partners and stakeholders to effectively deploy GEMS capital enabling ratepayers to lower their energy costs and contribute towards Hawaii’s 100 percent clean energy goals,” said Yamamoto Lau.

About HGIA (Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority)

HGIA is a state agency, attached to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT). HGIA was constituted in 2014 to administer Hawaii’s Green Energy Market Securitization (GEMS) Program, an innovative financing vehicle that makes clean energy improvements affordable and accessible for a broader cross-section of Hawaii consumers. The GEMS Program is intended to create market-driven public-private partnerships that will open access to financing for more Hawaii customers and democratize access to clean energy.

About DBEDT (Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism)

DBEDT is Hawaii’s resource center for economic and statistical data, business development opportunities, energy and conservation information, and foreign trade advantages. DBEDT’s mission is to achieve a Hawaii economy that embraces innovation and is globally competitive, dynamic and productive, providing opportunities for all Hawaii’s citizens. Through its attached agencies, the department fosters planned community development, creates affordable workforce housing units in high-quality living environments, and promotes innovation sector job growth.

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Media Contacts:

Gwen Yamamoto Lau

Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority

Office: (808) 587-3868

Email: [email protected]

Website: gems.hawaii.gov

 

Christine Hirasa

Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism

Phone: (808) 587-9006

Mobile: (808) 286-9017

Email: [email protected]

Website: dbedt.hawaii.gov