Construction Industry Partnership Award
The Construction Industry Partnership Award is presented to individuals or groups who have consistently demonstrated their support and dedication for Hawaii’s construction industry.
2026
(L to R) Glen Kaneshige, GCLA President, Ken Kawamoto, Vice President and Director of Negotiations Services, Hawaii Employers Council and Michael Inouye, 2026 GCA President at the 2026 Build Hawaii Awards
Ken Kawamoto
Vice President & Director of Negotiations Services, Hawaii Employers Council (Retired)
The General Contractors Association of Hawaii (GCA) presented Ken Kawamoto, formerly the Hawaii Employers Council’s vice president and director of negotiation services, with the 2026 GCA Construction Industry Partner Award.
GCA President Michael Inouye presented the award to Kawamoto at the GCA’s annual Build Hawaii Awards ceremony held at the Kahala Hotel and Resort on Saturday, Aug. 1.
“The construction industry remains strong in Hawaii. Ken has been instrumental in helping us maintain labor harmony with the unionized workforce critically needed to build the projects in the pipeline for Hawaii,” Inouye said. “Over the past two decades, Ken has helped bring construction trade unions and contractors together to reach fair agreements that have allowed our industry to keep moving forward.”
The General Contractors Labor Association (GCLA) retains the Hawaii Employers Council (HEC) to provide labor relations expertise and lead collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of its union-signatory contractors. As GCLA's lead negotiator, Kawamoto guided three rounds of collective bargaining - in 2014, 2019, and 2024 - by advising contractors on their collective bargaining agreement renewals with the unions while maintaining the collaborative relationships that keep Hawaii's construction industry moving forward.
Past Construction Industry Partnership Award Recipients
2010: Senator Daniel Inouye
2011: James Campbell Estate
2013: Kamehameha Schools
2015: Alexander & Baldwin
2016: Ronald Taketa
2017: Stanford Carr
2018: Art Ushijima
2019: Christine Camp
2022: Steve Jacobson
2023: Todd Barnes
2025: Dr. Brennon Morioka
GCLA represents contractors signatory to collective bargaining agreements with five construction trade unions: the Carpenters, Operating Engineers, Laborers, Cement Masons, and Bricklayers.
Kawamoto joined the Hawaii Employers Council in 1990 as a labor relations advisor during a time when labor negotiations in Hawaii’s construction industry were often contentious due to the strained relationship between the contractors and unions of the period. After five years, he became a commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, where he spent 16 years mediating collective bargaining, grievance, and employment disputes in the private, public, and federal sectors. There, he refined his ability to listen to both sides, find common ground, and build consensus – skills that proved invaluable when he returned to the Hawaii Employers Council in 2011 as vice president and director of negotiation services. He retired from HEC at the end of July 2026.
"We appreciate Ken’s guidance and 30-year, historical perspective of the construction industry. He has an in-depth understanding of the issues, is well respected by the construction unions, and has been the voice of reason in achieving settlements in a timely manner. His steady, even-keeled approach helped foster stable labor relations throughout his tenure, and the knowledge and experience he brought to the table will certainly be missed.”
Glen Kaneshige
GCLA president and president of Nordic PCL Construction
“We appreciate Ken’s guidance and 30-year, historical perspective of the construction industry,” said Glen Kaneshige, GCLA president and president of Nordic PCL Construction. “He has an in-depth understanding of the issues, is well respected by the construction unions, and has been the voice of reason in achieving settlements in a timely manner. His steady, even-keeled approach helped foster stable labor relations throughout his tenure, and the knowledge and experience he brought to the table will certainly be missed.”
Lance Wilhelm, vice president of the GCLA and president of The Wilhelm Group, agreed.
"Our industry is dynamic and ever-changing and the relationships we have with our labor union partners can be equally dynamic and complex. Yet they are rooted in decades of history and practice which provide us with both guidance and opportunities,” Wilhelm said. “Working in this environment is not easy and demands equal measures of patience, perseverance, creativity, and spirit of collaboration. Ken has been such a person for us and I, for one, will miss his steady hand and thoughtfulness as we navigate the waters ahead."
The Construction Industry Partner Award recognizes individuals whose leadership, collaboration, and service have made a lasting contribution to Hawaii's construction industry.
Kawamoto, a Kahuluu resident, is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a bachelor of business administration degree in personnel and industrial relations. He currently serves on the board of the Industrial Relations Research Association - Hawaii Chapter and is the chair of its membership committee.
Ken Kawamoto was honored with the Construction Industry Partnership Award at the 2026 Build Hawaii Awards event on August 1, 2026.