U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $3.8 million grant, funded by the American Rescue Plan’s Indigenous Communities program, to Hi‘ipaka, LLC, Haleiwa, Hawaiʻi, to boost tourism through the renovation and expansion of an important Native Hawaiian cultural site and popular tourist attraction on Oahu.

The project will support the renovation and expansion of the Waimea Valley Center by adding cover for the center’s luau area, constructing an outdoor native plant learning facility, and other improvements. This grant is expected to create or retain nearly 240 jobs and generate $1.2 million in private investment, according to grantee estimates.

The EDA’s American Rescue Plan Indigenous Communities program allocates $100 million in American Rescue Plan funding to specifically support the needs of Tribal Governments and Indigenous communities to develop and execute economic development projects they need to recover from the pandemic and build economies for the future.

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