UHERO Survey Seeks Input on Where Businesses Are Heading in Pandemic

PC: UH News

The University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO) is recruiting businesses to complete a second survey geared toward understanding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Hawaiʻi’s businesses.

The survey asks questions about changes in employment and employee wages, monthly revenue and revenue sources, the current state of operations, plans for opening trans-Pacific tourism, impact of the Paycheck Protection Program and future outlook.

“Much has changed since our last survey,” UHERO Executive Director Carl Bonham said. “The PPP program was expanded and modified, the Kamaʻāina economy has re-opened, and tourism is expected to begin a gradual re-opening next month. This survey will provide invaluable information about what businesses are experiencing on the ground and how the changing environment is affecting their expectations.”

Results from the April 2020 survey revealed the hardest hit industries were accommodations (hotels), down 83 percent in full-time employee reductions, and retail businesses, down 76 percent.  The first survey fielded responses from 623 businesses.  Individual county results are posted on the UHERO website here.

Findings of the first survey also showed that while there have been more cases of job loss on Oʻahu, its percentage (38 percent) is lower than for businesses on Maui (58 percent), Kauaʻi (52 percent) and Hawaiʻi Island (48 percent), due to a larger share of tourism-related companies on the neighbor islands.

UHERO, housed in UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences, is partnering with the Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce, Kauaʻi Chamber of Commerce and Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce to field the survey.

*Supporting information courtesy UH News / UHERO.