Lia Young Hunt: President & Chief Educational Officer

Lia has a lifetime experience in the aviation industry. From an early age, the HNL south ramp was her backyard. She is an International Baccalaureate graduate of Mid Pacific Institute and went on to Santa Clara University where she was a stand-out athlete leading the Broncos toward back-to-back championships in the West Coast Conference, earning honors all four years. Shortly after, she received her Aviation Maintenance Technician certificate and Private Pilot’s license; then spent several years competing professionally on the AVP Beach Volleyball Tour. While on tour she was featured in several USA and global ad campaigns for Nike, Bolle, Shiseido and more. She returned to Goldwings and in 2007 served as Director of Operations and Strategic Development. In 2015, she was named President and Goldwings received our 8(a), SB, WOSB, EDWOSB, HUBZone and DBE certifications. This same year, Goldwings was recognized as a finalist for Pacific Business News “Innovative Company of the Year”. In 2019 Goldwings was among 3 other Oahu businesses selected to meet with SBA Administrator Linda McMahon on her “Inspire Tour” and was also selected to be the featured business on Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ “Financial Loans Campaign”. Lia’s title of Chief Educational Officer reinforces our corporate culture, emphasizing education as a core asset.

Lia and her family reside in Honolulu, Hawaii and spend nearly every weekend in the ocean. She continues to serve the community working with at-risk youth to discover meaningful career opportunities and in 2012 started a national ranked junior beach volleyball program at the Outrigger Canoe Club, earning college scholarships for future leaders of today. She is a proud member of the Hawai’i Military Affairs Council; serves on the Hawai`i Defense Alliance Steering Committee, the advisory boards of the Hawaiian Islands Freight Association, Honolulu Community College Department of Aeronautics and the University of Hawaii Shidler Family Business Center, where she has also served as Membership Chair for the past 10 years. In 2017 she was a recipient of Pacific Business News “Women Who Mean Business” award.  Most recently, Lia was selected as a member of the prestigious Omidyar Fellows Cohort VII! Our organization is honored to have one of Hawaii’s transformative leaders as part of this societal change program.

• Lia Young Hunt, Chief Educational Officer
• Keoni Wasano, Director ITS Engineering
• Jeff Varenkamp, Business Development Manager CONUS
• Kymber-Lee Char, Sr. Brand Manager / Media Contact

Please have all inquiries go through our Contact Us form and the appropriate technical representative will respond within 24 hours.

We provide immediate and effective solutions with minimal impact on operations so you can achieve your objectives. We are a trusted source by our first line of defense, meaning integrity and reliability.
We modernize safety — air, land, sea.™

Goldwings Supply Service, Inc. began when Frank Young returned to Hawaii from his job at United Airlines as an Aircraft Mechanic in San Francisco, CA. Prior to this, he served in the US Air Force, competing on the USAF volleyball team and received a degree at Golden Gate University. He started Goldwings as an aircraft parts supply house. As visionaries do, Frank formed the company as Women-Owned, before “WOSB” was a certification. His wife and daughters were original shareholders, making up 51% of the majority stake.

In the early 90s the business retained clients such as Aloha Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and local startups Mahalo, HATS, Genavco servicing every commercial and general aviation aircraft in the Pacific. It was a great time for aviation and the business expanded into airfield lighting. Customers included State airports, which added military airfields and mid-pacific port authorities throughout the Republic of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. During this period his daughter Lia assumed a secondary role having graduated with a business degree, aircraft mechanic’s license, and pilot’s license.  She would balance her role as Office Manager with her pro beach volleyball career.

The new millennium brought diversity with the addition of Aviation renewables, which would expand to Traffic, Obstruction and Outdoor Lighting. The company also added Pavement Preservation, specifically targeted at Airfield pavement maintenance and scripted the first pavement preservation program at Kaneohe MCAS in 2007. This same year Lia formally assumed the responsibility of Strategic Development Officer, taking the company through one of the worse economic periods in our nation’s history. With this new philosophy of Hawaiian values and network leadership, the company took its first steps toward a critical transformation and in 2015 Lia became the majority shareholder and President. Commonly referred to as “GSSI”, Goldwings has annual revenues of more than $10M, serving the warfighter and customers all over the globe.

To this day, a sense of place and community is one of the most vital components to our organization. Our how and why will always be more important than “what” we do. Each employee is considered ʻohana, or family. Cultural traditions and indigenous wisdom passed on by our kūpuna and kahiko kūpuna (elders & ancestors) are unspoken bylaws. This commitment to a deep sense of place transcends each opportunity to serve a customer and elevate a community. Modern day terminology translates this to a social value investment blueprint: process, people, place, portfolio, and performance. With each and every decision and interaction, we are mindful to share aloha and to be pono. Pono is the personal and organizational value of rightness and balance. It is with Hawaiian values that we conduct the art of business, delivering the art of the possible.

Mahalo nui loa, me ke aloha pumehana