In brief

Credit union promotes Ayers

Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union recently announce dthe promotion of Jason Ayers from assistant vice president/loan manager to vice president of lending. As vice president of lending, Ayers will be responsible for the overall supervision of HCFCU’s daily lending activities, including production, compliance, and loss mitigation.

“Jason has a complete understanding of the purpose of our lending activities, and the underlying Credit Union values that guide them,” said Mel Ventura, HCFCU executive vice president of member services.

The move comes as HCFCU begins the work for the Holomua Hawaii program.

The Holomua Hawaii Program will distribute up to $22 million of Hawaii County’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Funding. HCFCU is the lead credit union contracted by Hawaii County to provide reimbursement grants to businesses and nonprofits affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ayers has helped many families throughout his 19 years at HCFCU. He has worked as a loan officer, a senior loan adjustment officer, and assistant vice-president/loan manager. His career in the financial service industry dates back to 1997 having worked as branch manager for Associates Financial Service Inc. on Oahu and CitiFinancial in Kona.

He is also an active community member having served as a Pop Warner football volunteer for 15 years; and, as a member on the Board of Directors for the Westside Eagles and Kona Marlins. When not working or volunteering, Ayers enjoys fishing, spending time with his family and working on cars.

Hawaiian Telcom to expand broadband access

Using wireless spectrum licenses acquired by its parent company Cincinnati Bell, Hawaiian Telcom will further expand broadband coverage in Hawaii. Licenses were acquired for Hawaii, Kalawao, Kauai and Maui counties.

The wireless spectrum licenses were won as part of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Auction 105 for Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) Priority Access Licenses (PAL). The FCC announced the results of this auction on Sept. 2.

President and General Manager Su Shin said the company will use the wireless spectrum licenses primarily to deliver broadband service of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to residents and business customers that are located outside the company’s robust and growing fiber network, which spans nearly 5,000 route miles throughout the island state.

“The wireless spectrum is another tool we can leverage to deliver our world-class broadband service to more local residents and businesses in certain areas of our state where it’s not feasible to build out fiber infrastructure,” said Shin.

The wireless spectrum will enable Hawaiian Telcom to deliver broadband service using transmitters and receivers and radio waves instead of cables. The FCC will award the licenses at the end of this year and services are expected to launch starting in 2022.

“As a local provider that’s committed to Hawaii, we understand that broadband connectivity is critical to maximize economic development, education, and quality of life initiatives throughout our state. This reality has only been reinforced by the work from home and remote learning environments as well the growing telemedicine requirements in our rural communities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Shin. “Hawaiian Telcom remains committed to expanding broadband throughout our state.”