Hawaii Small Business Regulatory Review Board commemorates 20th anniversary

The Hawaii Small Business Regulatory Review Board (SBRRB) is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The SBRRB is the “watchdog” for the more than 128,000 small businesses in that may be impacted by rules and regulations promulgated by state and county agencies. Small businesses in Hawaii employ more than 52 percent of the private workforce in the state. Their primary role is to provide recommendations to the Office of the Governor, the Hawaii State Legislature, and state agencies on proposed and existing administrative rules that may negatively impact small business.

SBRRB Chair Anthony Borge, general manager of RMA Sales, has been a board member since December 2012. Borge’s strong commitment to this board and the small business community have helped to encourage Hawaii business organizations such as the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce to become involved in the beginning stages of the rule-making process.

“The board members have worked so hard and accomplished a lot in the past several years and I am enthusiastic about the many successes to come,” Borge said.

This year, the SBRRB worked closely with state and county agencies by encouraging the agencies to engage small business stakeholders early-on in the rule-drafting/amendment process instead of at the end, where the fact-finding information would be timely.

The SBRRB is comprised of 11 volunteer members – 10 current/former owners or officers of businesses from across the state, and the DBEDT Director serves as an “ex officio” member.

Board members are appointed by the Governor, and confirmed by the Hawaii State Senate. Appointees represent of a variety of businesses in the state with no more than two members from the same type of business and at least one representative from each county.

The SBRRB meets every third Wednesday of the month at No. 1 Capitol District Building, Conference Room 436, 250 South Hotel Street, Honolulu, HI.

The board currently has three open seats and is actively searching for a small business person on Oahu or any of the neighbor islands. If you are interested in knowing more about becoming a member of the SBRRB, call (808) 586-2594.