Local Industry News & Notes for Sunday, December 14, 2008

• CERT program graduates 104 community volunteers

• WestJet and Mokulele announce partnership

• First Hawaiian Bank signs first contract for seawater air conditioning

• Four U.S. supermarkets receive ‘passing’ scores in Greenpeace

CERT program graduates 104 community volunteers

Kaua‘i  County recognized 104 Community Emergency Response Team training graduates at a ceremony held Dec. 4 at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall.

The community-based “CERT” program was initiated in 2003 during the Baptiste administration and is collaboratively managed by the Kaua‘i Fire Department and Civil Defense Agency. 

Fire Chief Westerman opened the ceremony with a message of support and appreciation from Mayor Carvalho, who was detained on O‘ahu, for all of the CERT’s dedication and volunteer contributions to their communities. CERT’s has coordinators in 16 towns from Kekaha to Ha‘ena and currently has 350 members.

Marsha Tamura, state Civil Defense Citizen Corps coordinator was a guest speaker at the event and reported that “Kaua‘i County is currently ranked second in the state for number of CERT members and CERT graduates in 2008 with Honolulu County taking the lead.”

For more information on the Community Emergency Response Team program and 2009 training sessions, visit www.kauai.gov/cert or contact Catherine Stovall, CERT coordinator, Kaua‘i Fire Department at 241-4928.

WestJet and Mokulele announce partnership

WestJet announced a partnership with Mokulele Airlines, an inter-island airline based in Kona, Hawai‘i.

The partnership, designed to enhance service for inter-island travelers, follows an announcement last month by WestJet that the airline was increasing its Hawaiian service to 23 flights per week.

This partnership with Mokulele allows those guests traveling with WestJet greater access and convenience in connecting to the many islands served by Mokulele as well as providing the people of Hawai‘i greater access to WestJet’s network of 51 destinations.

Mokulele and WestJet are finalizing details of an arrangement to promote each other on their respective Web sites. WestJet Vacations, a division of WestJet, will also be selling sightseeing air tours on Mokulele Airlines.

For more information on Mokulele Airlines, contact Kerry Welch at Loomis-ISC at (808) 853-3049 or e-mail kerry@loomis-isc.com.

First Hawaiian Bank signs first contract for seawater air conditioning

First Hawaiian Bank is the first customer to sign a contract with Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning, a renewable energy system that will dramatically reduce the amount of electricity required to operate air conditioning systems in downtown Honolulu. 

First Hawaiian Bank signed a multi-year agreement to be a customer to utilize this renewable energy resource.

When the system is fully operational, HSWAC will reduce electrical use by 77 million kilowatt-hours/year; save 292 million gallons of potable water/year; reduce sewage production by up to 114 million gallons/year; and reduce the production of greenhouse gases by 84,000 tons/year, among other benefits.

Four U.S. supermarkets receive ‘passing’ scores in Greenpeace Seafood Test

While all 20 supermarkets continue to sell destructively fished and overfished species, several companies have begun developing and implementing sustainable seafood policies and practices.

To date, eight companies have demonstrated their commitment to improving their seafood sustainability by removing from sale some imperiled species such as orange roughy and sharks.

These are: Whole Foods, Ahold USA (brand names include Stop  Shop and Giant), Target, Wegmans, Safeway (Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Randall’s and Von’s), Wal-Mart, A (The Food Emporium, Pathmark, Super Fresh, Waldbaums), and Price Chopper.

To help ensure the long-term sustainability of fisheries and marine ecosystems, Greenpeace advocates the creation of a worldwide network of marine reserves and fisheries management based on a precautionary, ecosystem-based approach.