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Kauai Economy Sizzles
Dr. Leroy Laney says Kauai's economy is stronger than it has been at any time in the last 15 years he has been doing an economic outlook. "Development on Kauai is quite literally exploding now, beginning a boom that should continue for at least several years and even longer", Laney told an audience at the Princeville Resort recently during the Kauai Chamber of Commerce quarterly general membership meeting. Most of the development is either visitor accommodations or other developments being fueled by the island's strong visitor economy.
From 1997 through the first half of this year, the state unemployment rate fell 2.8 percentage points, while Kauai's rate fell 7.2 points. In 2003 and so far this year, Kauai's rate of job creation has been nearly twice the state average. Kauai's job strength has been pervasive, including construction, business and health services.
New Kauai YMCA to Open
Ground breaking ceremonies were held recently for the new $9 million dollar YMCA, to be located on the highway in front of Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Puhi. So far, $900,000 has been raised for the facility, with the first phase having a $2.5  million budget. The first phase will include a multi-purpose building ($685,000) and Olympic size swimming pool ($1.8 million) including the pool house and wellness center.
Community Development Block Grant funds from the U.S; Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered by the county Agency on Housing in the Offices of Community Assistance will be used for facility construction costs, and U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye was responsible for securing additional federal funds for the endeavor.
All of the necessary zoning and permits are in place, and hopefully the multi purpose building and pool will be completed at about the same time. The ground breaking was for the first of several buildings that will eventually be the permanent home of the YMCA of Kauai. The current office is at Kilohana, in a former plantation service worker's quarters.
The multi-purpose building is the first to be built. The entire project includes the Olympic sized swimming pool with pool house and wellness center, batting cages ($600,000) gymnasium (nearly $4 million) administration building ($480,000) and day care center ($685,000) to bring to total project cost to $8.78 million. The YMCA enjoys a $1 a year lease on the county land along Kaumaulii Highway that was originally slated to become a county park.
Kauai Tourism Office Gets Chinese Approval
The Chinese government has cleared the way for Hawaii to open a tourism office in Beijing, making the state just the second in the nation to receive such approval. Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona, received word of the approval during a recent business and tourism development trip to China; a trip that included meetings with Chinese officials. Nevada is the only other state licensed to do business in China, having received it's approval in June.
During the trip, a group of companies, including the architectural firm of Wimberley Allison Tong & Goo and business consultant revaComm, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Geely Holding Company., one of China's top 10 private holding companies, to develop a resort on Hainan Island in the South China Sea.
Aiona also presided over the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the University of Hawaii Travel Industry Management School and Nankai University in Tianjin to develop exchange programs. In addition, more than 100 Chinese companies met with representatives from 24 different Hawaii firms.
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