The Garden Island: Small business relief grants coming
September 30, 2026
By Dennis Fujimoto
LIHUE — The Chamber of Commerce of Kauai announced on Tuesday that the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii is partnering with the State of Hawaii Department Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) to distribute $2.25 million in grant funding made available by the state to support non-agriculture small businesses on Kauai that were impacted by Hurricane Lowell on Sept. 7 and 8.
Applications for the new Kauai Hurricane Lowell Business Recovery Grant will be available today by visiting the application portal at https://chamberofcommercehawaii.submittable.com/submit.
Applications will be reviewed and processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
No mail-in applications will be accepted. Application forms and assistance will be available in Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
According to the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, Kauai Chapter, the application portal opens today at 8 a.m.
Questions, or application assistance is available by calling 808-210-6839, or email lowell@cochawaii.org. The call center will be available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The grants are available to non-agriculture, for-profit businesses on Kauai that were impacted by Hurricane Lowell.
Small businesses with less than 500 employees, and less than $5,000,000 annual gross revenue, are invited to see if they qualify for a relief grant.
Tier 1, or Micro Enterprise, applicants are eligible for $5,000 awards. Tier 1 applicants include having annual gross revenue below $200,000, and having one to 10 employees, including the owner.
Tier 2, or Small Business Grant, awardees are eligible for up to $10,000 grants. Tier 2 applicants include having annual gross revenue between $250,000 to $5,000,000, and having 11 to 500 employees, including the owner.
Other eligibility requirements include: at least one owner is a Hawaii resident, and the applicant was physically operating on Kauai prior to Sept. 7, 2026; the applicant was registered with DCCA prior to Sept. 7, 2026; the applicant must be current in state and federal taxes.
The applicant sustained material, economic, or physical harm directly caused by Hurricane Lowell, and claims must be from unmet storm-related needs not already covered by insurance or other public/private recovery assistance.
For more information, email lowell@cochawaii.org, or call 808-210-6839.