The University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO) website has been nationally recognized for excellence by the premier professional organization for regional economics centers.
The Association for University Business and Economic Research (AUBER) judged entries based on content (text, animation, etc.), visual appeal, ease of navigation, functionality and overall experience.
This is the second time that UHERO has won the AUBER website award. In 2011, the additions of a new chart gallery, a blog with analysis of Hawaiʻi’s economy, and a forum on Facebook led to UHERO’s first recognition.
Since then, the website has added an Economic Pulse index, a new tool that captures the state’s evolving economic landscape during COVID-19 and a panel of interactive data dashboards. Daily visitors to the website have increased at least 10-fold since the beginning of the pandemic.
“UHERO is constantly raising the bar to meet the needs of the community, a commitment made particularly clear during the current COVID-19 crisis,” said Director Carl Bonham, who credits Specialist Kimberly Burnett for leading the website committee and Assistant Software Developer Victoria Ward for designing and building the website.
Past AUBER awards include: recognition of Bonham as a 2018 Fellow, recognizing a lifetime of achievement; the 2016 Polzin Prize for Best Paper by James Jones, Ashley Hirashima, Peter Fuleky and Bonham; and 2012 Outstanding Conference Host.
UHERO is housed in UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences.
