By Staff Reports

(Maui) — The Mayor’s Office of Economic Development (OED) today announced that applications are now being accepted for a fourth round of grants for businesses on the islands of Lanai and Molokai. The grant awards will range from $500 to $5,000; non-profit entities are not eligible for this program.

The small business revitalization grants are designed to assist businesses with fewer than ten employees that do business in Maui County’s rural communities such as Lanai and Molokai, which have been identified as the areas hardest hit in their ability to recover from the economic downturn of the past few years.

The grant funds may be used for new equipment, renovation, websites, marketing materials or other purposes that will help the businesses grow, prosper and create jobs. The grant program is a 40/60 match grant, which means that for applicants accepted, for every $40 they contribute they will receive a match of $60.

Applications and rules for this program are available online at www.mauicounty.gov/OED (click on “Grants & Awards” on the left side) or at Lokahi Pacific, which is managing the grant program. For more information, call 242-5761 or email susie@lokahipacific.org. The deadline for applying for this round of funding is November 30, 2017.

“This program is very innovative,” Mayor Alan Arakawa said, “because it allows each applicant to determine exactly what they need in their business and provides owners a great opportunity and low-cost way to grow their business.”

“Maui County’s Small Business Revitalization Grant will give Molokai small businesses an opportunity to leverage funds to grow their existing business,” said Councilwoman Stacy Crivello. “This will allow them to strive to produce more efficiently and assist in supporting existing jobs in our rural landscape.”

Councilman Riki Hokama stated that, “This program is innovative and gets to the core of what a business needs most to keep them moving forward.”

OED Director Teena Rasmussen said that these businesses strive hard to remain profitable, noting that “small matching micro grants are such a great way to give these companies a boost.”

Lokahi Pacific was selected by OED as the master grantee and fiscal agent for Small Business Revitalization grants. Susie Thieman, Lokahi Pacific Executive Director, said this has been an “exciting and popular project for our agency.”

The Mayor’s Office of Economic Development has a variety of grant programs targeted to different sectors in the economy. For more information on grant availability, visit the OED website at www.mauicounty.gov/OED.