Pacific Business News: Hawaii debuts first advanced manufacturing lab to fill workforce gaps in the trades
September 20, 2026
By Alexander Lugo
Mililani High School has debuted the country’s first advanced manufacturing lab focused on training Hawaii students to fill workforce gaps in the trades.
Hawaii’s trades are struggling to attract new talent as managers from the older generations retire while younger generations have simultaneously shied away from the trades.
Kui Hao, tied to the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, partnered with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Hawaii Department of Education and TECHnista to complete the $750,000 manufacturing lab, which opened last week.
The lab is part of the DoD’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, or IBAS, which seeks to address supply chain issues by beefing up the U.S. industrial workforce.
IBAS funded a statewide program to set up MEERA labs, which focus on teaching students about manufacturing, engineering and robotics. So far, the DoD has contributed $1.75 million to Hawaii’s program, which includes $750,000 for the Mililani High lab.
The program has six more pilot labs at Aiea Intermediate School, Aliamanu Middle School, Dole Intermediate School, Mililani Middle School, Wahiawa Middle School and Waipahu Intermediate School.
“It is funded by the DoD, but it benefits everybody,” Pono Chong, co-director of Kui Hao, said. ”If a student ends up with Hawaiian Electric, the Department of Transportation or in the construction industry, DoD is fine with that. They just want to establish a pipeline.”
However, the program did choose Mililani High because it has potential to feed into the Naval shipyard’s workforce, Chong said.
Hawaii’s DOE is also working on establishing similar programs focused on healthcare in at least three high schools, where the schools partner with private healthcare providers to build training facilities, and sometimes functioning clinics, within the schools.
See the story here.