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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Wednesday, November 1, 2000

Construction pacts in Hawaii fall 64%

Contracts written in September for future construction in Hawaii were down 64 percent in value compared to permits written in September 1999, at $102 million from $288.5 million in September 1999, according to the F.W. Dodge division of McGraw Hill Companies, which monitors construction activity nationwide.

The only area to show growth was residential construction, up 3 percent at $41.14 million, compared to $39.89 million in the year-earlier month. Nonresidential construction, for work such as office buildings, hotels and churches, was down 78 percent, at $40.1 million worth of contracts signed in September compared to $182.7 million in September 1999. Nonbuilding contracts, for streets, bridges, sewage facilities, etc., were down 67 percent at $21.5 million from a year-earlier $65.9 million.

Cyanotech reaches pact with Tokyo firm

Cyanotech Corp. said today it has agreed with a unit of a large Tokyo biotechnology firm to distribute the Kona-based microalgae producer's BioAstin product in Japan. The agreement, signed with Kyowa Engineering Consultants Co., carries a term of three years and includes an upfront payment to Cyanotech and another payment that will come before two planned clinical trials for BioAstin begin. After trials end, Kyowa has agreed to buy BioAstin capsules from Cyanotech, and pay royalties. Payment details were not disclosed. Kyowa is an affiliate of Tokyo-based Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., a pharmaceutical, chemical and biochemical producer.

In other news . . .

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Covad Communications Group Inc., a seller of high-speed Internet access service whose shares have fallen 84 percent this year, said Chairman and CEO Robert Knowling resigned.

DALLAS -- A federal appeals court has refused to delay payment of a multimillion-dollar judgment against the union representing pilots at American Airlines over a sickout against the Texas carrier. The union can now either negotiate a payment with American or seek an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.