08-11-2019, 09:13 AM
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/08/1...-big-isle/
The owner of tour firm Mauna Kea Summit Adventures said nine of his 12 employees had to be laid off ...
A 2010 University of Hawaii at Hilo report said these telescopes, which exclude two being decommissioned, cost $70 million a year to operate. That’s $5.8 million a month representing economic contributions that likely are higher today given inflation since 2010.
...the development effort that has already cost $450 million and 11 years overcoming legal challenges and obtaining all regulatory approvals...
As for TMT's $1.4 billion construction cost, most of that involves work to be done outside Hawaii, including the dome enclosure from Canada and the telescope structure from Japan.
TMT spokesman Scott Ishikawa said at least 20% to 30%, or $280 million to $420 million, would be spent in Hawaii -- mostly on the Big Island.
Operating TMT is projected to cost $25.8 million a year, including $13 million for labor based on 140 full-time employees, or $92,857 per worker, UH Hilo said in the project's 2010 environmental impact study.
UH Hilo also said in the report that an instrument development office in Hawaii was planned in conjunction with TMT and expected to manage and coordinate construction of new instruments worth up to $20 million a year.
According to a 2014 University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization report, the astronomy industry spent $88 million locally in 2012 and about 70% of that, or $59 million, was on the Big Island.
Brewbaker said the $88 million figure from 2012 would be about $100 million today with inflation. Losing that contribution would be like losing every coffee and macadamia nut farm in Hawaii in terms of annual crop value.
If you add in other spending either indirectly supported or induced by astronomy in Hawaii, the statewide economic impact was $168 million in 2012, UHERO's report said.
Brewbaker said this indirect and induced spending from high- paying astronomy jobs that support jobs outside astronomy equates to 2.37 times the direct industry output -- meaning the loss would be $20 million and 100 jobs if astronomy ceased on Hawaii island for a month.
The owner of tour firm Mauna Kea Summit Adventures said nine of his 12 employees had to be laid off ...
A 2010 University of Hawaii at Hilo report said these telescopes, which exclude two being decommissioned, cost $70 million a year to operate. That’s $5.8 million a month representing economic contributions that likely are higher today given inflation since 2010.
...the development effort that has already cost $450 million and 11 years overcoming legal challenges and obtaining all regulatory approvals...
As for TMT's $1.4 billion construction cost, most of that involves work to be done outside Hawaii, including the dome enclosure from Canada and the telescope structure from Japan.
TMT spokesman Scott Ishikawa said at least 20% to 30%, or $280 million to $420 million, would be spent in Hawaii -- mostly on the Big Island.
Operating TMT is projected to cost $25.8 million a year, including $13 million for labor based on 140 full-time employees, or $92,857 per worker, UH Hilo said in the project's 2010 environmental impact study.
UH Hilo also said in the report that an instrument development office in Hawaii was planned in conjunction with TMT and expected to manage and coordinate construction of new instruments worth up to $20 million a year.
According to a 2014 University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization report, the astronomy industry spent $88 million locally in 2012 and about 70% of that, or $59 million, was on the Big Island.
Brewbaker said the $88 million figure from 2012 would be about $100 million today with inflation. Losing that contribution would be like losing every coffee and macadamia nut farm in Hawaii in terms of annual crop value.
If you add in other spending either indirectly supported or induced by astronomy in Hawaii, the statewide economic impact was $168 million in 2012, UHERO's report said.
Brewbaker said this indirect and induced spending from high- paying astronomy jobs that support jobs outside astronomy equates to 2.37 times the direct industry output -- meaning the loss would be $20 million and 100 jobs if astronomy ceased on Hawaii island for a month.