Overview
The Hawaii Island Agricultural Partnership (HIAP) is an industry-driven, cross-sectoral network of committed individuals focused on supporting the growth and prosperity of agriculture on Hawaii Island. Launched in April 2019, the partnership identified opportunities and actions needed to promote agricultural sectors. Since then, the group of farmers, business leaders, nonprofit and university representatives, have made progress on those action items through four teams focused on different issue areas. Below is an update from each team after the February 18th, 2020 meeting.
Value-Added Processing Action Team
· Latest Actions
o Certification/Permitting Process – No specific date has been set, but effort is still ongoing to convene a work session with County government officials to share and commit to improvements to the certification/permitting process for value-added agriculture processing.
o Accelerator Program – HCC considering developing curriculum by working with Chris Rehkamp or the faculty from MFIC will administer the program through a commercial kitchen in Kona. Waiting on HCC to finalize decision.
o Food Innovation Center - Proposals were submitted for funding feasibility study and carrying out value chain analysis of key commodities that can be processed there. No firm decision has been reached yet and discussions are ongoing.
· Next Actions
o Certification/Permitting Process – Hold county work session to explore options for streamlining certification and permitting processes for value-added agriculture processing, including micro-dairies. Broader advocacy opportunities will be explored with the other action teams prior to meeting with the County. (Axel)
o Accelerator Program – HCC to finalize decision on program. (Rachel, Jason).
o Food Innovation Center – Finalize decisions on funding proposals. (Jason, Leanne)
o Establish agreements for better collaboration between researchers and extension agents. (Eva)
Talent Pipeline/Agricultural Entrepreneurship Action Team
· Latest Actions
o Agricultural Scholarships – Promotion for Mahi’ai a Ola program completed. Mahiʻai 4-year scholarship application window closed 2/7/20 but applications are still open for GoFarm and the Kohala Center’s Ōhāhā Highs School program that runs during spring break.
· Next Actions
o Combine Talent Pipeline team with Agricultural Entrepreneurship team and manage the activities under one team, but with two main work streams – Agricultural Talent Development and the Pipeline of new Agricultural Entrepreneurs. Review and revise who should be co-captains and champions. (Executive Committee)
o Plan session for next meeting to further review and identify development priorities for these two work streams and revise action lists. (Conveners)
o Explore using software (such as ClubHouse IQ) for enabling team members to communicate and share info, stories, etc. (Conveners)
Branding and Marketing Team
· Latest Actions
o Jason completed survey of the cornerstone principles to reflect in a brand narrative and logo.
o Hawaii County R&D called a meeting about the Made on Hawaii Island Festival. During the meeting, the Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce announced that they were going to do this Festival on their own. Sarah and Jason invited the Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce to attend the February 18 HIAP meeting to share their plans and see what collaboration might be able to develop. They expressed an interest in collaborating with HIAP, but were unable to attend the meeting.
o Draft logos and branding image for the Made on Hawaii Island Brand were developed and shared at the meeting.
· Next Actions
o Incorporate feedback from group on logo/branding concepts and continue developing brand narrative and logo. Explore opportunities for funding of logo and brand development, possibly through , (Jason, Olelo)
o Share logo and lessons learned from the “think local, buy local” campaign to provide insight to these new efforts. (Andrea)