Episode 158: Resources for farmers and small businesses affected by the Kona Low storms

Allison Grosche and Alex Narrajos from the City’s Office of Economic Revitalization (OER) talk about assistance for farmers and small businesses affected by the Kona Low storms.

Help for Farmers

aerial shot of an Oahu neighborhood flooded with storm water — Photo of the Waialua area, seen from a Honolulu Fire Department helicopter on Sunday afternoon.

The USDA’s Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) is available for agricultural producers affected by the Kona Low storm. This cost share program is available for producers to help clean up debris, replace fences, replace irrigation, and other conservation structures. The deadline to apply is July 31, 2026.

“For the cost share piece, affected farmers are required to put up 25% of the costs incurred, and then the ECP program would cover the other 75%,” explained Alex Narrajos, OER’s Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Program Manager.

There is also assistance available through our partners at Agricultural Stewardship Hawaiʻi. They provide helpful steps to assist you in securing relief funding: https://agstewardshiphawaii.org/

Free soil and plant testing is also being offered to flood affected farms by the Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center (ADSC).

Help for Small Businesses

OER is also encouraging small businesses who have experienced disaster damage to their property, equipment, and/or inventory to apply for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) low interest disaster loans.

“There’s two different ones,” said Allison Grosche, OER O‘ahu Business Connector Resource Connector. “There’s the business physical disaster loan, which has an upcoming deadline of June 14th, as well as economic injury loans, which aren’t due until January 7, 2027.”

The SBA has a representative at the Waialua United Church of Christ (67-174 Farrington Highway, Haleʻiwa, HI 96791) from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

For more information on any of these programs, visit OneOahu.org and navigate to the “Help & Resources” tab.

About OER

The Office of Economic Revitalization was established in the City and County of Honolulu in 2020 to provide leadership, information, and resources for Oʻahu’s economic development.

For more information on the resources, programs, and reports provided by OER, please visit https://www.revitalizeoahu.org/

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