The Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs has received a $100,000 grant to help ensure Hawai'i's construction industry has enough of the right kind of workers to meet its demands for the next several years.

The one-year project is designed to ensure a steady flow of qualified construction workers, said William Kaneko, president and CEO of the Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs, a 3-year-old, downtown-based public policy institute.

"Part of it is assessing who's doing what in the community (for construction worker training), whether it's the community colleges or the unions — identifying what the existing pipeline is and identifying their training schedule to meet the demand," Kaneko said. "The other component is to serve as a coordinating entity to bring all the different parties to the table. Part of it is making sure the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, connecting the linkages from the trades to developers and contractors to make sure supply and demand are actually met."

The Legislature approved the $100,000 grant following a jobs summit last year at Fort Shafter that brought together local, state and federal officials as well as trade unions, construction companies and developers who were trying to ensure Hawai'i has enough skilled construction workers for the next decade.