Kupaianaha

The Hawai‘i Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development (HACBED) has been contracted by the State of Hawai‘i Office of Planning (OP) through a planning grant from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The broadly-stated goal of this project is to encourage and guide investment by the private sector and government agencies in culturally, socially and environmentally compatible economic development projects and strategies in and adjacent to native Hawaiian homestead communities throughout the State of Hawai‘i. While EDA funds and supports a range of projects, including those that are land based and non-land based, such as technical assistance, planning, revolving loan funds, research and studies, this report focused on landbased projects in and adjacent to native Hawaiian homestead communities. Kupaianaha roughly translated as “amazing” or “wonderful,” is fitting to encapsulate this project and describes the efforts and projects that have been generated from the visions and values of homestead communities. In the process of developing this report, numerous homestead communities expressed the desire for more support in moving their economic development projects forward, which resulted in the creation of tools that would help them to do so in the near term.