Our Mission

The Volcano Projectʻs (TVP) mission is to create and operate a self-sustaining, world-class hospitality and culinary institute at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park's Volcano House  concession, and provide training and job opportunities to the unemployed and disenfranchised, with a focus on youth at risk. Through meaningful and practical education in the hospitality industry, culinary arts, and Hawaiian culture, the Volcano Project will enhance the international and local visitor experience with the true Hawaiian spirit of Aloha.

RFP Process

Once in a blue moon, a rare opportunity presents itself. Such is the case with the National Park's Volcano House concession, an historic hotel and restaurant (the oldest operating hotel in Hawaiʻi since 1846), built on the rim of Kīlauea caldera, the worldʻs most active volcano, in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. As the owner of Volcano House, the National Park Service (NPS) has leased the property to various concessioners over the years.  These leases have run for 10, 20 or even 30 years.

After more than 27 years under the same concession management, on Dec. 9, 2009, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park released an RFP (request for proposals) for the management contract of Volcano House concession. The RFP conditions were surprisingly stringent, even in the best of economic times, but even more so two years into the worst recession since the Great Depression. Still, on Jan. 13, 2010, some 25 interested parties attended a site visit of the concession. The proposal submission due date was March 22, 2010. Not surprisingly, with such strict conditions no one bid. On March 24, and again on March 26, 2010, the NPS announced additional extensions to the RFP. Finally, on June 3, 2010, the NPS re-released an updated and less stringent RFP. Still, the conditions were demanding, especially during this prolonged recession. Nevertheless, TVP, who by this time had assembled a world-class team of hospitality and construction industries' experts, persevered and meticulously worked to submit a bid by the Sept. 1, 2010 submission deadline. And we did!

UPDATE:

After an unprecedented 10 months waiting for the NPS decision, on July 2, 2011, the Hawai'i Tribune Herald published an NPS press release which among other things stated the Park Service was re-soliciting its concession prospectus "because, the proposals received did not meet critical requirements for the concession contract. All proposals received in response to this solicitation were considered non-responsive and/or not qualified..."

"Non-responsive" and "not qualified" are technical terms used by the NPS within their concession industry division. They might refer to one or more of the Prospectus' question/s (or a portion of a question) not being answered fully, or at all, and to the structure of the bidding entity, an improperly filled out or missing document, or to the financing of the bidder.

Unfortunately, the publication of these NPS technical terms in various newspapers, without any layperson's definitions, especially the term "not qualified", has led to public confusion.

Obviously, our competitors, mainland-based NPS Concessioners, are qualified to run hotels, restaurants, and retail shops, or they wouldn't be NPS concessioners.

Likewise, The Volcano Project's management team has over 150 years experience in the restaurant and hotel industry, including Executive Chef & Senior Culinary Professor Jean-Louis Randriantiana, who ironically, on Saturday, July 2, 2011, the same day the NPS press release was published in the Hilo Tribune Herald, was chosen to give cooking lessons to Their Royal Highnesses, Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The lesson went so well, The Volcano Project's Chef Jean-Louis was subsequently invited to a Bar-B-Q at Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen of England!

The 3rd Volcano House Concession Prospectus was released by the NPS on July 25, 2011. TVP submitted our new proposal on time on October 25th, 2011. We should know the results sometime in late January or early February 2012. TVP remains confident our new proposal will meet all NPS criteria and win the bid.

Please drop by The Volcano Project table inside Cooper Center at each Sunday's Volcano Farmers Market for more information on how you can participate, or just talk story.

Our Proposal

TVP will submit a proposal, planning to transform this fabulous venue into a world-class hospitality and culinary institute, with the primary goal of serving the Park by enhancing the visitor experience while fostering economic independence and self sufficiency for our youth. This job creation initiative will be open to all local communities and surrounding Hawaiian Islands, and beyond.

The hotel and restaurant will remain open to the public, staffed by professionals, with students, and their professors training them in various positions of the hospitality industry. Our model is the famed Culinary Institute of America (CIA), a 501(c)3 non-profit and the premier hospitality and culinary institute in America.

This project is unprecedented in that TVP, a non-profit organization, with an educational job training and employment initiative, has placed a bid for this concession within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park! This is a landmark event!

As a non-profit, TVP can and will direct all revenues back to the concession for the benefit of the Park, park visitors, our employees, students and community at large, allowing us to deliver a superior experience for a reasonable price.

The NPS's Volcano House concession is a highly utilized, thus profitable, establishment as the park enjoys over 1.7 million visitors a year. With 32 rooms, 10 cabins and 12 campsites, it is the only hotel in the immediate area; due to various building restrictions, it will remain so, far into the future. The hotel is usually booked to capacity and, with the restaurant and boutiques, generates historical revenues of approximately $6 to 8 million a year - more than enough to support a self-sustaining hospitality and culinary institute!

How You Can Help Us Win the Bid!

To make the Volcano Project's Hospitality and Culinary Institute a reality, we need your help!  If you would like to support this world-class job creation and training center, click here.