Stephen Pause has been named Director of the Hawai’i County Department of Public Works (DPW) after serving as Acting Director for the past two months.

For the past two months he served as the DPW Acting Director following a role as the Department’s Deputy Director.  He previously worked as a engineer for the Hawai’i County Department of Environmental Management (DEM)

Pause, who holds a BS and MS degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is a licensed professional engineer (Civil) in the State of Hawaiʻi, has over 35 years of work experience with engineering firms and in corporate positions.  He spent over 17 years in a senior project management role for BP Oil.  Before relocating to the Island, he was the Director of Capital Projects for Cleveland Cliffs, a prominent US iron ore mining and steel company.  In this role he was responsible for planning, overseeing, and delivering significant maintenance and capital projects with values ranging between $10 million to $1 billion.  He has also volunteered in town government, including a Zoning Commission in Ohio, a Wetlands Commission, and working with a Board of Health in Massachusetts.

In a press release Pause stated, “I am honored to assume the role of Director for DPW.  I look forward to the opportunity to lead a talented team that is tasked with improving and maintaining County infrastructure and seeing that minimum design and construction requirements are followed to ensure safe and resilient structures.”