Changes are in the works for two organizations focused on improving Waikīkī.
Starting July 1, the Waikīkī Business Improvement District, or WBID, and Waikīkī Improvement Association, or WIA, will align management in an effort to streamline operations, reduce overhead and enhance efficiency.
It's not a merger; WBID, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, will continue to operate independently under the umbrella and management of WIA, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, joining three other nonprofits that already do so: Waikīkī Beach Special Improvement District Association (WBSIDA), the Waikīkī Transportation Management Association (WTMA) and Aloha Festivals. Each organization will maintain their own boards, funding and decision-making abilities.
"It's important because what we wanted to do was bring together and make more efficient the way that these organizations operated," Trevor Abarzua, president and executive director of WBID told Aloha State Daily this week. "They're all in Waikīkī. They all have similar but different missions, but there isn't necessarily a need for the duplication of staff, the duplication of resources, whether that's accounting or lawyers or everything that goes into overhead for a company or an organization. The reason we want to do the management alignment was to consolidate the overhead and then consolidate some of the roles."
Here's what that looks like:
Abarzua will become the president and CEO of WIA, replacing retiring CEO Rick Egged. John Zerfas, currently director of strategic initiatives for WBID will become the vice president of operations for WIA and a new position will be created for the vice president of community engagement. WBID's Administrative Director Suzanne Kirio will carry that role over to the WIA. There's also an opening for an events and member services position, replacing a vacant WIA communications director role.
Those five positions will be under the auspices of and paid from WIA funds.
That consolidation means "a savings across the board, not only for the WBID, but for all the other organizations, [as well as] consolidating who that leader is in Waikīkī, or who you go to for things," Abarzua says. "What we want to do is have a one-stop shop, that the WIA is a one-stop shop where you could get anything done in Waikīkī, whether you want to meet with the business community, you want to meet with the Neighborhood Board, you want to talk about the beach replenishment projects, you want to talk about the [Aloha] Ambassador program. You could reach out to one entity and they'll have the answers for everything, rather than having different spokespeople or different staff for all these different things. It made sense."
Abarzua says WIA will also be a bridge between the broader community and government.
Meanwhile, Each 501(c)(3) nonprofit will have a day-to-day director.
WBID Deputy Director Dave Willard will oversee WBID operations under the new structure while Dolan Eversole and Blaine Kia, alongside other cultural and community leaders, will continue in their roles with WBSIDA and Aloha Festivals, respectively. There's currently an opening for a full-time position with WTMA.
According to a timeline on its website, WIA actually established the WBID in 2001 — but the organization branched off on its own a few years later.
"Now's a great time to bring it back together under this management alignment, under this umbrella of services, just based on the growth of Waikīkī, the growth of the initiatives that both the BID and WIA have worked on, and I think it just makes it more aligned for the organizations to be working hand-in-hand," Abarzua says.
How it works
According to Abarzua, the nonprofits each pay a management fee to WIA.
WBID will pay an annual fee of about $345,000, about 6% of its budget, to WIA, "providing executive leadership, board support and coordinated communications," according to information provided during WBID's annual meeting in May. Meanwhile, a 25% cost share, about $76,000, will support the two VP roles.
"By taking the executive director and admin director salaries off the WBID books, and paying only a 25% cost share of the new VP of operations and a 25% cost share of a new VP of community engagement at the WIA level, WBID is able to generate significant administrative savings," the information noted.
All told, WBID stands to save nearly $170,000. The money saved will be reinvested for more community services, Abarzua says.
So what will the people who live, work and visit Waikīkī notice with this change?
"With the alignment itself, one of the things they will notice is more efficiency in the way these organizations are run," Abarzua says. "But what the vision is for WIA is that we want to really reimagine what the organization does and how it's portrayed."
That means a rebrand.
"We want to, again, rebrand WIA, with a new brand, a new name, a new look, new feel ... and we're going to do that over the next six to 12 months, starting in July, to be more community-facing," Abarzua told ASD. "Waikīkī Improvement Association's been around for a number of years, but we wanted to not only manage these key, crucial nonprofits, but I think this is a really great opportunity for the organization to really lead on how is Waikīkī branded?"
For his part, Abarzua, 33, says he couldn't be more excited to step into his new leadership role.
"There's a lot of momentum right now and I stand on the shoulders of giants that I've been able to learn from," he says. "Rick Egged in particular has been a staple in Waikīkī for 27 years. ... I've been able to learn under them for three-plus years in this role at the WBID, and being able to see what works and to learn from these guys that have so much wisdom, but then what I'm excited for, too, is to bring my own touch to it. I'm a younger guy. I have fresh ideas. I have fresh energy, so to take the things I've learned and to take the historical aspects of what's been going on, but then to really drive the idea of 'hey, we want to do new things. We want to really grow what Waikīkī is doing,' just to make it the best possible destination in the world and the best possible community, not only to come to visit, but also to live in, to work in, to hang out and surf in. We want this to be for everyone."
According to its website, WBID was formed to help supplement city services and is supported by grants, donations and commercial property assessments on nearly 3,800 commercial properties in the Waikīkī Special District.
Part of WBID's efforts to keep Waikīkī clean and safe include the Aloha Ambassador Program, Safe & Sound Waikīkī, houseless and mental health outreach, and disaster preparedness training, its website notes.
(ICYMI: Read about Aloha Ambassador General Manager Solomon Kaimimoku here and about WBID's outreach team here).
Meanwhile, Abarzua says that WIA's main focus is representing the entire community of Waikīkī, not just businesses, but the residential community, the workforce, "just anything Waikīkī related."
WIA "works to enhance Waikīkī's physical, economic and cultural environment," its website notes.
Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
