Farrah-Marie Gomes has been named director at UH Hilo’s North Hawai‘i Education and Research Center in Honoka‘a.

Gomes has been interim director at the center since January 2006, presiding over a period of rapid growth for the educational outreach facility, which offers credit and non-credit courses from UH Hilo and Hawai‘i Community College. The center also serves as a community meeting place.

“People in North Hawai‘i have been waiting for the educational service that NHERC provides for a long time,” said Gomes, a Pa‘auilo native who lives in Waimea. “The rising price of fuel plus the distance to Hilo have made our mission to bring higher education to North Hawai‘i even more important.”