The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaiʻi Authority is filling the gaps in leadership it’s had for months — sparking discussion about how to grow the agency’s ocean-based energy and aquaculture output.
NELHA has been without its top official since the death of former Executive Director Riley Saito in May. Former Deputy Director Laurence Sombardier, who has been with NELHA for two decades and has stepped in multiple times as interim director during leadership transition periods, announced her retirement soon after.
The agency, one of the state’s leaders in researching and supporting ocean-based technologies, announced on Sept. 22 that it appointed 12-year NELHA employee Pamela Madden as its new deputy director.
Madden is a marine scientist who has been serving as NELHA’s water quality laboratory manager. In her new role, she will “focus on expanding NELHA’s client portfolio, cultivating strategic partnerships and accelerating innovative ocean-based solutions to strengthen Hawaiʻi’s blue economy.”
The agency’s board on Friday also held interviews with three finalists for its vacant executive director role. The board and the candidates also focused on the tenants at NELHA’s Hawaiʻi Ocean Science and Technology Park in Kailua-Kona, along with potential work with outside partners, as key to growing the agency.
The three finalists are Nathan Tsao, the general manager of HOST Park tenant Jamestown Seafood; Anthony Ostrowski, who has spent more than 30 years leading or working with marine institutions, including about a dozen local organizations; and James “Kimo” Lee, Jr., a Hawaiʻi Island development executive who bills himself as “deeply connected across Hawaiʻi’s civic, business, and Native Hawaiian communities.”
Tsao, during his Friday interview with the board, spoke about the importance of the tenants.
“The tenants are the heart and soul of this place. We are the ones who keep the lights on. We are the community down here,” he said. “I really think that a wide variety of tenants … and doing real business, real profitability is what's going to anchor this place for the next generation.”
Tsao led a tenant-run effort against NELHA for a water quality issue that started over a year ago. It led to a high mortality rate of the larvae some tenants were raising.
Tsao and others close to the NELHA operations said that the water quality has improved considerably after the agency flushed the HOST Park water pipes, which may have been overgrown with organisms and could have contaminated the ocean water being pumped into the park.
The tenants are NELHA’s economic drivers. There are about 50 at the HOST Park, and their work ranges from “bottling deep sea water to producing aquaculture and developing renewable energy technologies,” according to a NELHA economic impact report published by the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization in 2024.
The report said the tenants’ activities led to about $150 million in sales and $7 million in state taxes that year. They also supported nearly 700 jobs.
Tsao said his vision for the future for the park includes many other businesses and entities, rather than just researchers and ocean-based companies. He wants restaurants and retail stores down the road from the tenants, as they could also attract visitors like traveling scientists.
Ostrowski said NELHA is at an “inflection point,” and his vision includes expanding its reach beyond Hawaiʻi.
“It's really operated as a tenant kind of driven ocean science park, with revenues that are tied and dependent upon only lease rents and utility charges, but very limited global impact,” Ostrowski said.
He said NELHA’s access to deep ocean water and its seawater air-conditioning potential are some of the “unique assets” it has that can attract international partners.
“I would look at rebranding NELHA, rather than a location to come to, as an innovation district so we can attract people from around the world,” he said.
Lee’s vision for NELHA includes strengthening the agency’s staff, its relationship with its tenants, and the HOST Park’s infrastructure. He also wants NELHA to be more connected to the community, in part by “incorporating more cultural components into the park.”
He said his interest in becoming NELHA’s executive director is driven by the potential for the agency to expand globally, along with the jobs that it is supporting and could support.
When asked why he’s interested in the job, Lee said, “I look at my expertise, and it can be utilized. Providing a global platform for NELHA is one of the ‘whys.’ When it breaks down to me personally, you look at the way that jobs can be created, and that's a big ‘why.’ If we can provide that for this generation and our next generation, that's a big win for the state and for our children.”
It’s not entirely clear when NELHA will choose a new executive director, but the board said it would make a public announcement when that decision is made.
