OED unveils 5-year economic plan

LIHU‘E — A looming economy over the Hawaiian Islands does not deter from wishing a sunnier future. The County Council’s Economic Development and Renewable Energy Strategies Committee cast doubt on a list of wishes and goals for Kaua‘i.

The Kaua‘i Economic Development Board and the county Office of Economic Development presented on Wednesday to the committee a detailed economic plan for the island’s next five years, plus described and prioritized projects for federal funding consideration.

Council members, despite saying the plan lays a good foundation for development, questioned KEDB director Susan Tai Kaneko and OED director George Costa about the feasibility of some of the projects.

“What really needs to happen is to see: ‘Are these projects really feasible?’” Councilwoman Nadine Nakamura said. “What is it going to take to not only build these facilities, but operate them over time?”

The need for feasibility studies will be important, she said, to point the county to the “next steps.”

Councilman Derek Kawakami said some of the projects “are feasible, some of them we are not quite there yet,” but noted that one of the positive aspects of KEDB and some of the projects identified is that they are “laying out the blue print.”

Despite the plan not necessarily being for any one organization to take the lead, Kawakami said, it presents a model for “different entities to come together and figure out what role or what piece of the puzzle they’re going to fill in order to move us forward.”

Nakamura agreed with Kawakami, saying that KEDB is able to bring together different partners and stakeholders. “That’s what’s needed for every cluster. It takes resources to do that.”

“That’s the beauty of KEDB,” Kawakami said. “It starts to facilitate that discussion. Without it, you have a shotgun of random thoughts.”

Kawakami said it’s going to be a challenge to see what is feasible in the plan, so the county can start working toward the short- and long-term goals of the plan.

“The plan needs to give some clarity to some of the capital improvement plans,” said Council Chair Jay Furfaro, adding that the plan needs a business concept and available funding to invest in some of the training programs.

Mostly importantly, Furfaro said, the council is “looking for the administration to send over some reflection of feasibility studies that’s in the budget.”

Nakamura said the council wouldn’t necessarily implement all the projects in the plan, but called it a “good road map for the future.” She said she still had questions regarding what approach to take, adding that she’s open to suggestions.

One of the plan’s long-term goals is a 7,500 seat multi-use arena, to be used in key sports events, meetings, conventions, concerts, cultural and arts events. The arena had previously been discussed as a 2,500 seat facility.

“I want to ask about this 7,500 seat arena. Boy, that’s grown,” said Furfaro, noting that they had considered maybe doubling the 2,500 seat capacity. “But how did we get to this 7,500 number?”

Costa said a 45-person focus group, comprised of community members and stakeholders, brainstormed ideas. During the discussions, the sports-and-recreation and culture-and-arts focus groups “almost instinctively” talked about opportunities lost.

The Blaisdell and Stanford arenas on O‘ahu were used as examples of multi-use facilities, Costa said.

“I know it’s a stretch in our wish list, but that was the consensus of those two industry clusters,” said Costa, adding that the number may go back down. “Obviously, that’s a huge capital outlay venture.”

Kaua‘i Economic Development Plan

The update of the Kaua‘i Economic Development Plan, released last year, is a revision of the original Kaua‘i Economic Development Plan 2005 – 2015, done in 2004. Both plans were created by Nakamura’s private consulting company, NKN Project Planning, along with 3Point Consulting. 

The purpose of the plan is to provide a guide for the federal government in determining funding priorities, broken down into clusters, for future projects. Nakamura said the report is required in order to qualify for federal funding.

West Kaua‘i Tech Center is an example of a federally funded project originated from an economic development plan.

In 2004, six target clusters were identified through focus-group discussions with community stakeholders and leaders. The key clusters were agriculture, health and wellness, sports and recreation, culture and arts, science and technology, and sustainable technologies and practices.

Following the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009, the government ordered states and counties to revisit their priorities and issue an updated five-year plan.

Since 2005, Kaua‘i’s unemployment has increased from four to 10 percent, the report says, the cost of oil has increased, Aloha Airlines and ATA went out of business, and Gay and Robinson shut down sugar operations.

OED and KEDB chose to keep the six original key clusters, and developed focus groups around them to help determine priorities. Each group met three times, Costa said in a previous interview.

“For each cluster, we created a focus group of respective industry members and came up with projects that they felt were important. Some of the projects may not see funding, but it’s still important to list them for the community.

The report’s intent is to look at projects that could be approved by the Economic Development Administration or federal funding, Costa said.

“This year, when we did the update, our goal was to look at projects that would be approved of by the EDA,” Costa said. “But we said we should not only look at projects they would fund, we should look at projects that would help the community.”

For example, the island’s seed companies — Pioneer, Syngenta, BASF, DowAgro Sciences and Monsanto — are important, he said, because they make up 12 percent of Kaua‘i’s economy, and they are willing to pay a premium price for land.

Therefore, Kaua‘i Community College has developed a two-year agriculture program designed to help integrate students into the seed corn industry, Costa said.

“Culture and arts will always be there … because that’s what people come to Kaua‘i for,” he said. “When the plan was done in 2004, it was just assumed that the visitor industry was not changing.”

Nakamura said “this time around, when we talked to our citizen advisory group we asked if the clusters were still relevant. Five out of six agreed they still made sense in going forward.”

She said the approach of using clusters is an EDA requirement, and the idea is to look at the industry vertically and horizontally.

Small business, education, housing, the airport and the harbor appear in the report under the Economic Development 2020 Vision.

“I think the next big challenge is how do we implement this plan,” she said, “and how serious is the county going to be in investing in some of these projects. We need to move discussions forward. That’s what’s going to create jobs.”

Go to www.kedb.com for more information.

• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.

• Vanessa Van Voorhis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or vvanvoorhis@thegardenisland.com.

The Kaua‘i Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy presentsan overview of the island’s economy, a vision statement, strategicprojects, project recommendations and performance measures.

The CEDS was designed to involve government, business and communityin the process. The Office of State Planning funded the project,which was sponsored by the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board andthe county Office of Economic Development.

The report’s main goals are to update Kaua‘i’s CEDS for 2010-2015,and describe and prioritize projects for federal fundingconsideration.

The report identified five big-picture goals for Kaua‘i:

• Assist businesses to create jobs.

• Facilitate career plan for students.

• Expand and train workforce.

• Promote affordable housing.

• Improve skill level and work readiness of students.

There were three priority infrastructure improvements:

• Relief route on Kuhio Highway between Hanama‘ulu andKealia.

• Waimea wastewater treatment plan.

• Widening of Kaumuali‘i Highway between Lihu‘e and MaluhiaRoad.

The project identified six target clusters, groups of relatedindustries that share infrastructure, labor, customers, suppliesand services. Such clusters often face common opportunities andthreats. The clusters are:

• Food and agriculture.

• Health and wellness.

• Sports and recreation.

• Culture and arts.

• Science and technology.

• Sustainable technologies and practices.

Between November 2009 and January 2010, three focus group meetingswere conducted for each cluster, which discussed the 2030 vision,accomplishments, challenges, opportunities, project priorities andimplementation.

Food and Agriculture

Key accomplishments:

• Kaua‘i Made brand.

• College-level business training for farmers and landscapecertification.

• Community college farmers market.

• Doubling of seed industry.

• Coffee plantation has highest acreage nationwide.

Priorities:

• Increase Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau.

• Develop Kilauea Agricultural Park.

• Create marketing resources for producers.

• Improve irrigation, electricity and roads for agproduction.

Long-term goals:

• Modular slaughterhouse, processing and chill facility.

• Renovate Kekaha ditch system.

Health and Wellness

Key accomplishments:

• Wilcox Memorial Hospital new imaging center and six new operatingrooms.

• Emergency room at Mahelona Hospital.

• First assisted living facility at the Regency at Puakea.

• Creation of Kaua‘i Health and Wellness association, with over 60members.

Priorities:

• Conduct feasibility study for a health and wellness retreatcenter.

• Advocate policies to improve health and wellness.

• Increase diversity of health care education and training.

• Develop prevention and wellness services to address obesity,eating disorders and diabetes.

• Promote complete streets and walking paths.

Long-term goals:

• Community-based health and wellness retreat center.

• Residential drug and alcohol treatment facilities.

• Affordable assisted-living facilities.

Sports and recreation

Key accomplishments:

• Nawiliwili Harbor improvements.

• Phases I and II of multi-use coastal path.

• Lydgate and Koloa-Po‘ipu soccer fields.

Priorities:

• Restore beach at Po‘ipu Beach Park.

• Complete multi-use coastal path from Nawiliwili to Anahola.

• Build and maintain athletic facilities and communitycenters.

• Conduct feasibility study on multi-use arena and multi-useregional parks.

Long-term goals:

• A 7,500 seat multi-use arena for key sports events, meetings,conventions, concerts, cultural and art events.

• A multi-use regional park to host fairs and statewide tournamentsfor soccer, baseball, tennis and football.

Culture and Arts

Key accomplishments:

• Garden Island Arts Council art and culture calendar sent toapproximately 4,000 recipients, two-to-three times per month.

• ARTS newsletter circulation of 33,000 copies and onlinepresence.

• Increase in music, theater, dance and visual art offerings.

Priorities:

• Consolidate calendar of culture and arts events.

• Provide skill-building technical assistance.

• Conduct feasibility study for the Kaua‘i Center for Culture &Arts.

• Support programs that teach Hawaiian language, art and culture toyouth.

Long-term goals:

• Acquire, rehab and adapt historic facilities for commercialpurposes.

• Construct Kaua‘i Center for Culture & Arts.

Science and Technology

Key Accomplishments:

• KCC provide structured training for this cluster.

• KEDB Aloha ‘Ike sponsored 67 school projects — $330,00 in grantsto teachers.

• Robotics program engages majority of schools.

• KCC, in partnership with Hawai‘i Space Flight Lab, will be hometo telemetry and weather station.

Priorities:

• Develop training and learning opportunities at KCC.

• Support Aloha ‘Ike and other programs.

• Support robotics programs.

• Provide science and technology exposure to K-12 teachers andcounselors.

• Develop age-appropriate Department of Education career messagesand empower career counselors to deliver these messages.

• Conduct feasibility study for a film, digital media andproduction center.

• Conduct feasibility study for a sustainability center.

Sustainable Technologies and Practices

Key accomplishments:

• Kaua‘i Island Utilities Cooperative actively promoting energyefficiency programs.

• Kaua‘i has the highest penetration of photovoltaic energy ontothe KIUC grid per capita in the nation.

• Biodiesel plant in operation.

• Phase I of algae for jet fuel plant is in operation.

Priorities:

• Form a Sustainable Technologies and Practices Committee.

• Promote residential solar water heating.

• Plan, construct and maintain a biomass facility.

• Promote energy efficient products.

• Build a materials recovery facility and expand roadsiderecycling.

• Advocate regulations to promote energy efficiency.

Long-term goals:

• Develop concentrated solar power projects.

• Incorporate renewable energy at public facilities.

In order to achieve a successful implementation, the plan will needtechnical assistance in assessing the feasibility of funds, capitalimprovement funds, capacity building funds from lead entities, suchas non-profit organizations, plus monitoring progress throughannual CEDS committee meetings.

Potential funding sources were identified as foundations, thegovernment, the private sector and potentially new market taxcredits.