Kauai Economic Development Plan (CEDS)

In 2004, the Office of Economic Development, in partnership with the Kauaʻi Economic Development Board and the Office of State Planning, spearheaded a community-based effort to create an economic development plan for the next ten years. The plan focused on diversifying our economy beyond tourism, while also playing to the strengths of our tourism-based economy and the values our community has embraced through the County's General Plan Update of 2000.

The Kaua‘i 2022-2026 Comprehensive Economic Development Plan (CEDS)(PDF, 12MB) started in the summer 2021 as an update of the 2016-2020 CEDS. The CEDS Plan Steering Committee took as its theme – ‘Kupa‘a Kaua‘i – Kaua‘i Forward!’ – aligning with the County’s pandemic recovery plan to come together as a community to work collaboratively to rebuild, restart and re-energize the future of Kaua‘i 1. It brought together a broad spectrum of community leaders from business, government, education, nonprofits, technology, and agriculture to exchange ideas and to discuss common challenges and opportunities for making Kaua‘i County a better place. The Kaua‘i CEDS update for 2022-2026 maintains the focus of the previous CEDS plans on diversifying Kaua‘i’s economy by focusing on 6 industry clusters – Food and Agriculture; Renewable Energy Sustainable Technologies and Practices; Science and Technology; Visitor Industry Management and Preservation; Health and Wellness and Arts and Culture. The CEDS process enabled networking opportunities among these same community members during which they were able to discuss and debate issues important to the Kaua‘i County.  During the 7 months in which the CEDS plan development process unfolded, a total of 25 virtual meetings were held focusing on topics such as the economic growth, tourism management, agricultural practices, infrastructure improvements, leveraging technology, strengthening healthcare, transportation alternatives, and climate change. The 2022-2026 CEDS plan will act as the roadmap and eventual framework for assessing and achieving progress toward the economic goals that the county’s stakeholders have collectively outlined.  Over the next five years, the Kaua‘i County CEDS Steering Committee, industry clusters and the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board will monitor the progress and continue building the partnerships necessary to achieve the CEDS goals. In the spirit of ‘Kupa‘a Kaua‘i – Kaua‘i Forward!’, this document intends to serve as a tool for better communication and collaboration toward the work of building a more thriving, equitable and sustainable regional economy. 

This document also serves as our Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the purpose of accessing grant funding through the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA).

Funding to create this plan was provided by EDA and the County of Kauai.