State Of Hawaii Depart Of Business & Economic Development & Tourism

The State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, through its Business Development & Support Division (operating as Strategic Marketing & Support Division), serves as a federal grant recipient providing economic development, labor statistics, and small-business export support services across 14 federal agencies. This is a state government entity operating as a prime recipient (85% of recent awards) on direct federal grants and as a sub-recipient on pass-through funding from other state agencies; the division does not hold federal contracts or contract IDVs.

The division's federal grant portfolio centers on three distinct capability areas. Labor market intelligence dominates by volume — the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics has awarded ten cooperative agreements over recent years (CFDA 17.002 for Current Employment Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; CFDA 17.005 for occupational safety and health statistics). Representative recent awards include $1.271 million cooperative agreement from BLS for labor force statistics data collection and analysis through September 30, 2026, and $152.164 thousand cooperative agreement for occupational safety and health statistics collection under the same performance window. The division also administers the SBA Office of International Trade's State Trade Expansion Program (CFDA 59.061), including a $750,000 project grant for FY 2023 and a $525,000 award for FY 2024, both funding export training, trade missions, international marketing, and technical export support for Hawaii small businesses through September 2026. A third stream comprises Department of Defense Washington Headquarters Service Office of Economic Adjustment project grants supporting federally-impacted community capacity building and school redevelopment, including a $595.465 thousand award dated September 1, 2026, with performance through February 29, 2028, and prior capacity-building awards totaling $520 thousand across a multi-year runway.

The division's customer concentration splits between recurring data-collection relationships and targeted economic-development programs. BLS accounts for ten awards covering multi-year labor statistics cooperative agreements; the SBA Office of International Trade has issued six awards under STEP; and the DOD Office of Economic Adjustment has placed five project grants. The SBA Office of Entrepreneurial Development funded a $936.5 thousand Cybersecurity for Small Business Pilot Program project grant (CFDA 59.079) through August 30, 2025. The Federal Communications Commission funded Affordable Connectivity Outreach program work in June 2023. Combined dollars obligated across all 41 awards total $39.7 million, with activity averaging roughly five to six awards per year from 2022 through 2025 and only one award recorded in the first month of 2026. Only two awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating low near-term recompete pressure. In its sub-recipient capacity, the division received pass-through funding from the Executive Office of the State of Hawaii supporting digital equity and coronavirus capital project administration, and from the Hawaii Department of Defense and Department of Labor and Industrial Relations for outreach and digital literacy promotion.