January is a significant month because it marks 20 years of HIC being in business. Throughout 2020, we’ll be marking this anniversary with a year-long celebration and monthly events to celebrate our history and our people.

It all started back in 1997 when a National Survey identified Hawaii as one of the worst states (49th) for electronic access to government services in the United States. By 1999, an RFP was issued by the state after they found that 7 of the top 10 states all used the self funding mechanism for services. We opened our doors in 2000 and grew to 4 partners and 7 services in our first year of operation. 

Today, we’ve grown to a staff of 34 and along the way, we’ve launched hundreds of services, won 72 awards, and survived and thrived through 4 administration changes. We’ve forged incredible partnerships and built lasting relationships. We’ve also worked incredibly hard to keep a feeling of ohana in our business. We work hard, have a lot of fun, and care about each other as a team.

So to kick things off, we began with a Hawaiian office blessing performed by Kahu Kordell Kekoa. He is a familiar sight at many special events throughout Hawaii and we were honored to have him perform the service for us. The blessing was a way for us to honor Hawaiian values and to provide a spiritual cleansing of our space, as we move forward with our new contract and new relationships into the new decade.