NELHA contracted the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) to estimate its economic impact on the State of Hawaii. Specifically, this research determined NELHA’s contribution to local business sales, employee earnings, tax revenues, and number of jobs in Hawaii from the expenditures of its tenants in 2022.
To estimate expenditures made by NELHA tenants in 2022, UHERO researchers developed a survey where expenditures were broken down into 17 named categories and one catch-all category (other). Respondents were asked to provide total expenditures in 2022 and the share of these expenditures that were paid to Hawaii vendors. UHERO received responses from 31 NELHA tenants (out of 45). Expenditure levels for the survey non-respondents were estimated using various techniques. Total NELHA tenant expenditures were estimated at $148.4 million, of which approximately $90.3 million (or 61%) were paid to Hawaii entities, which represents an increase of 36% and 18%, respectively from 2018 levels (all measured in 2022$s). This growth is against a backdrop of a 2.6% contraction in the Hawaii economy during this same time period.
