Exceptional Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services employees took center stage during the department’s recent annual Incentive and Service Awards Ceremony.
One of those employees was the Kauaʻi District Office manager.
Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services Director, State Comptroller and Acting Hawaiʻi Lt. Gov. Keith Regan praised the group for its hard work and service to the people of Hawaiʻi.
Three Incentive Awards were given to workers who performed great work in calendar year 2025:
- Team of the Year: Surplus Property Office staff at the State Procurement Office. Team members are:
- Mei Phillips
- Bee Kelsey
- Chihiro Kleinhans
- Fai Goya
- Elly Raguindin
- Manager of the Year: Kauaʻi District Office Engineering Program Manager Eric Agena.
- Employee of the Year: Office of Enterprise Technology Services technical analyst Kelli Wang.
Agena might be Kauaʻi District office manager, but he’s willing to do anything to get the job done, including raising flags and collecting meter coins.
That “can-do” attitude became very apparent in 2025 when he helped support district offices on Maui and Hawaiʻi Island.
There were eight vacant engineering positions — four of them chief positions — covered by just one person. For most of that year, he worked 6 or 7 days a week, flying between islands every other day.
Surplus Property Office collects and sells secondhand government items as well as those travelers surrender to the Transportation Security Administration at state airports.
Its impact reaches agencies and nonprofits statewide because it redistributes a lot of federal equipment to state and county agencies at a small fraction of the market cost. It supported 27 organizations in 2025.
Wang has been central to advancing the enterprise information technology strategy.
She played a key role in shaping information technology standards last year, reviewing departmental budget requests and guiding agencies through complex governance requirements. Wang’s efforts help keep the department aligned with statewide policies and long-term strategic plans and strengthened the enterprise as a whole.
These awardees will represent the department at the state level at the Sept. 15 Governor’s Awards Ceremony.
Service Awards also were presented to employees with 10, 20, 30 and 40 years of service to Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services.
There were 27 people who met their 10-year anniversary in 2025, 11 workers who made 20 years of service, 4 people who worked 30 years for the state and 2 people who hit 40 years: Ross Kurashima from Enterprise Technology Services and Jessie Inada Kahili from the East Hawaiʻi District Office.
