The Contractors Association of Kaua’i (CAK) was registered as a Hawai’i business in 1957. Shortly thereafter it was granted a federal not-for-profit 501(c)(6) trade association status. The Association has been active since 1957.
The key founder of the Association was the late Tetsuo “Rosy” Maeda, then president of Kaua’i Builders. Mr. Maeda served as president of the Contractors Association of Kaua’i from 1957 till his untimely passing in 1966.
It was during the tenure of Mr. Maeda that the association’s scholarship program began. It was his vision to support local students pursuing higher education in the construction field to build a stable workforce of construction professionals.
After Hurricane ‘Iniki demolished Kaua’i on September 11, 1992, the Contractors Association of Kaua’i re-organized with assistance from the Honolulu-based Building Industry Association (BIA) of Hawai’i and the General Contractors Association (GCA) of Hawai’i. Technical assistance to help the Kaua’i community rebuild also came from the National Association of Home Builders, an organization CAK became affiliated with just a month before Hurricane ‘Iniki.
In the aftermath of ‘Iniki, the association provided “hands on” assistance and referral services to home owners looking for contractors, filing complaints against contractors, verifying contractors licenses and proper insurances, and also providing “rebuilding home expos” for consumers as they began the long rebuilding process. CAK also provided safety trainings for contractors and their employees/staff to mitigate injuries as much as possible. The scholarship program continued even through these difficult years.
Several years after ‘Iniki’s devastation, CAK partnered with First Hawaiian Bank to provide Kaua’i homeowners and potential homeowners with a Rebuilding Expo that eventually evolved into a Home Show. That concept ran until 2019 when the COVID pandemic essentially closed the 2020 show just weeks before it was to run.
One of the Association’s major benefit for qualifying members is the group health insurance program that was established in 2016 in partnership with Hawai’i Medical Services Association (HMSA), for non-union staff and employees.