Posted on April 17, 2023
The Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company, started by Walter Dillingham, has played a big part in shaping the built world of our islands.
More than a hundred years ago it dredged the mouth of Pearl Harbor, as well the Ala Wai Canal and much of the Honolulu Harbor waterfront.
Now in a new joint venture with Dragados USA and Orion Government Services LLC, the company will return to Pearl Harbor to modernize its shipyard. The Navy awarded the contract worth close to $3 billion a few weeks ago.
“It’s the replacement of Dry Dock #3. And just to help us look for the talent that we need and try and solicit and keep our people here and employed is an opportunity for us that we’re working side by side with Dragados on,” said Manu Bermudes, vice president for human resources.
The company is holding a career fair at the Entrepreneurs Sandbox in Kaka’ako on Saturday as it prepares to scale up for the project.
“We are trying to do everything we possibly can to keep people here in Hawaiʻi and provide them the opportunities to continue working here. And so when we were notified of this job, we thought, okay, it’s full steam ahead,” she said.
The career fair is on Saturday, April 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Entrepreneurs Sandbox in Kakaʻako.
This interview aired on The Conversation on April 14, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
