Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard made an early stop on the West Side in September 2013, joining members of the West Oahu Economic Development Association at the organization's 10th annual meeting held at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Kapolei. It was one of her first major district outreach events since being sworn in to represent Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District earlier that year.

The West Oahu Economic Development Association — known as WOEDA — was formed in 2001 by a coalition of local business owners, community leaders, and government officials with a straightforward mission: promote West Oahu as a place to do business, live, and grow. In the decade since its founding, the west side had seen its business base double and its population grow faster than any other part of the state. The 10th annual meeting was a moment to take stock of that growth and talk about what comes next.

A congresswoman who came to listen

Gabbard, who had campaigned on economic opportunity and community engagement, spent a significant portion of the meeting listening rather than talking. Attendees — a mix of small business owners, real estate professionals, contractors, and community organizers — brought a consistent set of concerns to the table: traffic, infrastructure, the cost of doing business in Hawaii, and access to federal programs designed to help small businesses grow.

Among the topics raised was the SBA 504 Loan Program, which had been a recurring subject at WOEDA meetings. The program partners the Small Business Administration with third-party lenders to help businesses finance fixed assets — equipment, real estate, renovation — with longer repayment terms and lower down payments than conventional financing. For West Oahu businesses looking to expand into a region with significant new commercial development underway, the program represented a practical tool that not enough local owners knew existed.

Gabbard committed to working with the SBA's Hawaii District Office to raise awareness of federal small business programs across the district, with particular attention to neighbor island communities and areas outside of urban Honolulu that historically had less access to federal support.

West Oahu's business case

Commercial real estate on the west side had been gaining attention from developers and investors who saw Kapolei's planned city infrastructure as a foundation for long-term growth. The Kapolei area had emerged as Hawaii's second city in planning and partial execution, with retail, industrial, and office development accelerating through the early 2010s.

WOEDA's leadership had spent years making the case to elected officials and the business community that West Oahu deserved investment in proportion to its growth rate — not as a suburb of Honolulu but as an independent economic center. Gabbard's presence at the 10th annual meeting signaled that the message was being heard at the federal level.

"West Oahu is growing faster than anywhere else in the state," one WOEDA member noted during the meeting. "We need our representatives to understand that growth comes with needs — infrastructure, transportation, workforce development. We're not asking for special treatment. We're asking to be treated like the economic engine we already are."

Looking ahead

For Gabbard, the WOEDA meeting was part of a broader district engagement strategy during her first year in Congress. Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District covers a wide geographic range — from the west side of Oahu through Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, and the outer islands — and she was working to establish relationships with business communities across all of it.

WOEDA has since merged with the Kapolei Chamber of Commerce, consolidating West Oahu's business advocacy under a single unified organization. The work the association started — making the case for West Oahu as a serious business destination — laid the groundwork for the region's continued commercial development in the years that followed.

For local business owners looking to connect with resources, the Hawaii Business Online directory lists businesses and services across Oahu's west side and every island in the state.