The Hawaii Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) has its sights set on Maui for its board of directors meeting scheduled for October 16, 2025. Since its inception in 1994, the ADC has stepped in to redevelop farming lands and facilities that sat unused post the sugar and pineapple industry era. The board's meeting, a first for Maui, will take place at the University of Hawaii Maui College Pilina Event Center, and signals a continued effort to bolster a diversified agricultural sector across the state.
In keeping with its mandate, the ADC is putting its finishing touches on a strategic plan aimed at reinforcing the state's agricultural framework, which includes acquiring lands suitable for farming, and injecting funds into infrastructure beneficial to farmers, the community, and the environment. ADC Chair Jayson Watts, as per a report by the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism website, emphasized the significance of the meeting on Maui, stating that “Local food security is bigger than any one agency — it takes all of us.” Watts highlighted the cooperative nature of the endeavor involving various stakeholders from farmers to food industry leaders.
The ADC's upcoming session aims to gather public feedback on potential land acquisitions and ways to improve infrastructure, such as establishing shared facilities for cold storage and processing that could lower costs and enhance market accessibility for local farmers. Reflective of the ADC's push to amplify agribusiness, this gathering follows a similar session in Kauai and anticipates a future meeting on Hawaii Island in November.
The importance of expanding Hawaii’s food manufacturing capacity was underscored by Meli James, co-founder of Mana Up, in a statement released by the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism website. James pointed out that ADC's investments, like those in the Wahiawa Value-Added Product Development Center, and a High-Pressure Processing facility, have been instrumental in scaling local businesses to global markets. Mana Up itself, with over 100 companies aided, has been pivotal in generating significant annual revenues and creating thousands of jobs in Hawaii.
The Oahu Food Hub and the Entrepreneur Product Manufacturing Facility (EPMF) in Wahiawa serve as ADC's baseline projects focused on assisting food businesses in scaling from small-batch production to commercial operations. With Maui's own Food Innovation Center as a reference, the ADC seeks public input to determine the evolving needs in agribusiness infrastructure and innovation on Maui. Interested parties can offer written testimony, with further participation details and livestream information for the Maui meeting expected to be forthcoming on the ADC website. Meanwhile, the community is encouraged to present ideas and engage with the ADC by reaching out via email at [email protected] or by phone at 808-586-0186.
