2000 Annual Report Executive Summary
Molokai Enterprise Community
In its second year of operations, the Molokai Enterprise Community prioritized sixteen of the projects in its 10-year strategic plan for immediate implementation. Enterprise Community funds were allocated to each of these sixteen projects as seed money, and project leaders worked to leverage these funds with a broad array of partners.
All sixteen of these prioritized projects moved ahead with the guidance and support of the Enterprise Community board, Ke Aupuni Lokahi, and the volunteer efforts of many Molokai citizens.
Governance and Administration: The Molokai Enterprise Community continues to be governed by a volunteer community board, Ke Aupuni Lokahi Leaders Working Together. The board has formally met at least once a month over the past year to set policy and establish budgets for the EC funds appropriated through the USDA. Ke Aupuni Lokahi contracts with a locally-based 501(c)(3) organization, the Molokai Community Service Council (MCSC), to provide administrative, fiscal, and program development services, paying 15% of the annual USDA EC award for these services. The remaining funds needed for administration of the EC have been leveraged from external governmental and private sources.
Jobs Created: To date, the Molokai EC has created a total of 63 full-time jobs for the following projects and administrative services:
Funds Leveraged: Since receiving notice of its EC designation in January of 1999, the Molokai EC has leveraged a total of $17,509,077 for both program and operational expenses. This amount does not include the annual $250,000 EC grant. Currently, the Molokai Enterprise Community's leveraging ratio is 35:1 (i.e., since January 1999, $35 has been raised for every dollar from the USDA EC grant). The administrative expense of leveraging these funds and administering the Enterprise Community amounts to only 3% of the overall total of all funds raised to date.
Community Involvement: Community involvement with the EC process has been significant, with a total of 181 meetings on projects and governance held during the past year. 128 meetings were held on individual EC projects; 13 EC board meetings were held; 9 Executive Committee meetings were held; 25 EC subcommittee meetings were held. Six open community meetings were also held on six of the EC projects. Over 300 people participated in these EC meetings. To further publicize the EC progress to the community, newspaper articles were printed in the local papers regarding the most of the prioritized EC projects.
Partnerships: Since being designated an EC two years ago, the Molokai EC has attracted a total of 37 partners for EC projects and administration. These partners have provided and/or pledged to provide funds, technical support, project leadership, and/or in-kind services. Twenty-one of these 37 partners is private entities, while 16 are governmental partners, including federal, state and county agencies.
Progress on EC Strategic Plan: One year ago, the Molokai Enterprise Community board, Ke Aupuni Lokahi, prioritized sixteen EC projects to be implemented immediately. Over the past year, work has proceeded on all sixteen projects. As is more fully described in the subsequent section, major progress has been made on several of the EC top projects:
Aquaculture/Fishponds: Restoration of another of Molokai's ancient ocean fishponds, was completed this year, and experimental commercial fish cultivation began in net pens located within a previously restored pond.
Brownfield Clean-up/Business Incubator Development: The Molokai Electric Co. Brownfield site was assessed for pollutants by the EPA, and the U.S. SBA established a Business Information and Counseling Center on the site, as the first phase of the business incubator that will be located in the redeveloped Brownfield buildings.
Commercial Kitchen: The Hoolehua Commercial Kitchen is in the construction phase, and funds have been raised for equipment and staffing.
Dialysis Treatment: The Molokai Dialysis facility is open and treating patients.
Learning Centers: The Enterprise Community assisted in establishing two learning centers over the past year, and with the support of a recently-awarded 21st Century Learning Center grant, three more centers are slated to be opened soon.
School-to-Work: The School-to-Work project is now fully funded through the Youth Opportunity program, and has begun serving clients.
Slaughterhouse: Construction of the slaughterhouse building is almost complete.
Watershed Protection: The first phase of the Watershed Protection project, a 6-mile long fence along the perimeter of the native rain forest, is nearly finished.