Maui Pineapple Co. David Cole, president and chief executive officer of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, will be speaking at Kaua‘i Community College on Tuesday, Oct. 5 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. His topic is “Agriculture and Development: Building Sustainable Communities.” Admission
Maui Pineapple Co.
David Cole, president and chief executive officer of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, will be speaking at Kaua‘i Community College on Tuesday, Oct. 5 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. His topic is “Agriculture and Development: Building Sustainable Communities.” Admission is free and open to all. With a background in organic farming and telecommunications, he brings a unique perspective to his new position and will share some of the innovative ideas he is proposing for his company and employees.
Marriott gives $60K to Habitat
Marriott Resorts Hawaii has donated $60,500 to Kauai Habitat for Humanity as part of its “Spirit to Serve Our Communities” program. Stan Brown, vice president of Pacific Islands and Japan for Marriott International, presented the check to Jay Furfaro, president and county councilmember, and Tito Castillo, incoming president of Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity.
“With Marriott’s portfolio of lodging properties expanding in Hawaii, we’re pleased that we are able to contribute more money to a wonderful cause and when the time comes to build, many of us from Marriott will be there to lend a hand,” Brown said. Simon Jongert, Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club general manager, and Mari Olson, Marriott’s area director of human resources, also were part of the special presentation last week at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club.
The monetary donation will go toward building the first family home on the 24-acre Habitat for Humanity site located in Eleele on the southwest side. With a potential for 124 homes, the first phase for the site is slated to start construction before the end of the year.
Atlanta to Honolulu
Delta Air Lines is turning Atlanta’s Hartfield Airport into a “super hub” and last week unveiled thousands of planned new flights, including one more daily non-stop to Honolulu beginning Jan. 31, 2005, bringing to two the number of daily flights to Honolulu. It’s all in an effort to save money through what Delta calls “de-hubbing” at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. They’re also getting $1 billion in concessions from its pilots. Atlanta’s Hartfield is the busiest airport in the nation by number of passengers service.
Prime rate
As the Federal Reserve Board this week raised interest rates a quarter point, Hawaii lenders cut an eighth from their 30-year fixed-rate home mortgage rates. Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank, American Savings Bank, Central Pacific Bank and City Bank moved their rates to 5.25 percent, while Hawaii National Bank and Territorial Savings held at 5 3/8 percent. For 15-year notes, City Bank (soon to be Central Pacific Bank) quoted 4.75 percent but the other top five banks all quoted 4.625 percent. Selected 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates this week:
American Savings Bank: 5.375 percent (1.5 points, 5.557 APR).
Bank of Hawaii: 5.25 percent (2 points, 5.431 APR).
Central Pacific Bank: 5.25 percent (2 points, 5.478 APR).
City Bank: 5.25 percent (2 points, 5.476 APR).
Countrywide: 5.25 percent (1.875 points, 5.809 APR).
Finance Factors: 5.25 percent (2 points, 5.482 APR).
First Hawaiian Bank: 5.25 percent (2 points, 5.443 APR).
Hawaii HomeLoans: 5.25 percent (2.125 points, 5.469 APR).
Hawaii National Bank: 5.375 percent (2 points, 5.557 APR).
Territorial Savings: 5.375 percent (2 points, 5.572 APR).
Wells Fargo: 5.25 percent (2 points, 5.43 APR).
Western Pacific: 5.125 percent (2 points, 5.341 APR). Source: Honolulu Board of Realtors and Pacific Business News.
More Carnival ships
Carnival Corp. & NLC, which controls about 60 percent of the world cruise market, has signed an agreement with Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard to build four cruise ships and redesign a fifth ship already on order. The multi-million dollar agreement is a strong vote of confidence in the long-term health of an industry, 60 percent of which Carnival controls. They will pay for the ships partly in Euros, partly in dollars.
The ships are:
One 110,000-ton Carnival Cruise Line cruise ship, for $500 million, for delivery in 2007.
One 116,000-ton Princess Cruise Line cruise ship, for $525 million, for delivery in 2007.
A second ship of each class, for delivery in 2008.
Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration has a new online application function that makes it easier, cheaper and faster to apply for SBA loan certification. The application went up this month on the SBA Web site www.sba.gov for those who want to apply for 8(a) Business Development and Small Disadvantaged Business certification, which can help with getting loans and offering tax credits, among other things.
Search engines?
Grant Crowell, a search engine expert who started his own online business in Hawai‘i a decade ago, is back to give a seminar on why search engines are the key way to reach customers even for small Hawaii businesses. Principal of Grantastic Designs Inc. and a columnist for the SearchEngineWatch.com, Crowell will explain how search engine advertising works at a free seminar at the University of Hawaii College of Business Thursday, Sept. 30, 5:45 p.m.-7 p.m., Room C-101. For reservations call: (808) 956-6902.
Welfare to work
Employers with welfare recipients working for them can get the employee for six months, and possibly up to 12 months, at virtually no cost, thanks to Hawaii’s new welfare to work program slated to start Oct. 1.
Under the program, the state pays, assists with transportation, health care, child care, and other things. In return, the employer trains, mentors and develops the new worker. The employer remains in control in hiring and firing. For the past year, the Department of Human Services has been streamlining the welfare-towork program with the help of the American Institute for Full Employment (AIFE). For information, call 864-1776.
Cruise ship snafus
Norwegian Cruise Lines is still having image problems with its Pride of Aloha cruise ship that plies Hawaii waters. The company is getting reams of complaints about everything from smelly bathrooms, dirty sheets and cabins and poor-quality food to long waits for service and few onboard activities.
Company officials insist improvements have been made, and are blaming the troubles on their all-American crew, who they say require more training. NCL was required by law to hire Americans in order to sail under the American flag between American ports. There’s little precedent for the company, especially since they are one of the first to have American crews in a long time. And international crews lines don’t hire Americans, making it nearly impossible to find experienced workers.
DOT deputy director
Barry Fukunaga has been named deputy director of harbors for the state Department of Transportation beginning Oct. 1. Fukunaga currently serves as the director of the Department of Enterprise Services for the City and County of Honolulu, managing the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Waikiki Shell, the Honolulu Zoo and various golf courses. He previously served in city’s Department of Environmental Services, and served in various capacities for 25 years with the state DOT, Airports Division, including airports manager, airports operations manager and airports services supervisor. From 1968 to 1973, Fukunaga was a commissioned officer, command pilot and co-pilot in the United States Air Force. Fukunaga received master of public administration and bachelor of business administration degrees from the University of Hawai‘i.
HI Airlines lawsuit
Hawaiian Airlines has come to an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2002, a $25 million self-tender stock transaction while under the control of John Adams, prompted questions as to the propriety of the tender offer. A bankruptcy court removed Adams and appointed a trustee in the company’s bankruptcy case. Under the settlement, the SEC will not file any claim or seek any monetary penalties against Hawaiian and the airline pledges to comply with tender offer disclosure rules if it should ever again make a public tender offer. A lawsuit against Adams filed by trustee Joshua Gotbaum remains outstanding. The settlement with Hawaiian Airlines is subject to court approval.
‘Hawaii’ is hot
For last week, the special airing of “Hawaii” netted a 6.2/10 rating, putting NBC in a solid second behind CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond” (6.9/11) and “Two and a Half Men” (6.5/10). NBC’s average for primetime was second at 4.9/8, but was number one among adults 18-49 (3.3).
For comparison, the premiere of “Hawaii” the week before, in its regular Wednesday night time, won the hour with a 7.0/10 rating (and giving NBC the overall prize for primetime with a 5.9/10 average).
Medicare and Alzheimer’s
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last week that it has expanded Medicare coverage of positron emission tomography (PET) to include some Medicare beneficiaries with suspected Alzheimer’s disease and to include other beneficiaries at risk for Alzheimer’s disease who are enrolled in a large and easily accessible clinical trial.
Medicare beneficiaries who meet specific criteria may participate in the clinical trial and receive a PET scan while CMS continues to review evidence about the benefits of these scans in additional populations.
“We concluded that the technology is promising for patients with early dementia, but is only reasonable and necessary in the context of a peer-reviewed clinical trial that will ensure that the technology is properly used to help families and doctors to diagnose and manage their cases,” said CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. The National Coverage Decision expands the coverage of PET to include beneficiaries who meet the diagnostic criteria for both Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontal-temporal dementia (FTD), who have been evaluated for specific alternate causes of dementia, and for whom the cause of the clinical symptoms remains uncertain. Medicare coverage of PET also includes other patients with suspected AD who enroll in a large, CMS-approved, practical clinical trial.
“Together with outside experts and other agencies we examined the available data and determined that we ought to approve coverage for patients who’ve been worked up but whose diagnosis is uncertain,” McClellan said.
CMS posted a draft decision in June after the agency completed an extensive literature review. www.edwardjones.com Member SIPC For the investments
