HAWAII

HMA expands its Hawaii business

Arizona-based HMA Inc. will administer health care benefits for the 8,000-member Hawaii Teamsters Health and Welfare Trust.

The benefit plan was previously administered by University Health Alliance. The new contract became effective Sept. 1. 2002, the company said. HMA entered the Hawaii market in January when it secured the 19,000-member Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 5 trust fund.

HPU signs China cooperation pact

Hawaii Pacific University and China's Liaoning University have agreed to explore joint programs in travel industry management and international business.

HPU President Chatt Wright and Liaoning University President Cheng Wei signed the agreement Sept. 27 with a China delegation to the HPU campus in downtown Honolulu. The agreement is a framework for the schools to look into cooperative programs, such as joint degrees and student and faculty exchanges.

Liaoning University, with more than 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students, is one of 10 universities in China designated "key educational institutions." It has affiliations with more than 20 higher learning institutions in several countries. Liaoning is a province in northeast mainland China.

Grace Pacific purchase of Niu is complete

Grace Pacific Corp. has completed its acquisition of Kauai general contracting firm Niu Construction Inc. The company will retain it's name and be a wholly owned subsidiary of Grace Pacific.

The acquisition provides Grace Pacific and its subsidiaries with about 20 additional employees and annual revenues of $6 million. Norman Shinno, who oversees Grace Pacific's Maui operation, will serve as island manager for Niu Construction on Kauai.

Genetically modified coffee to get review

HILO>> The Hawaii County Council has passed a watered-down version of a resolution that had called for a moratorium on genetically modified coffee plants in Kona.

Instead, the council last week approved a nonbinding resolution that asks for a regional review before any such plants are released or planted in coffee-growing districts.

Kona coffee growers had sought the moratorium, saying they feared genetically modified coffee plants could diminish their premium variety.

Kona Coffee Council president Christine Sheppard said modified plants could make Kona coffee unmarketable in areas of the world where genetically modified foods aren't accepted.

But critics said the attempt to protect the Kona coffee industry could actually hurt business by linking genetic modification with Kona in the public's mind.

MAINLAND

Dole sues shippers over stranded bananas

LOS ANGELES >> Dole Food Co., the world's largest fruit and vegetable producer, sued a group of shipping companies to retrieve 8 million pounds of bananas sitting at the Port of Los Angeles because of the dock lockout. Dole sued the Pacific Maritime Association on Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. It is seeking a court order to get more than 240 containers of Ecuadorian-grown bananas and plantains that have been at the port since Sept. 26.

U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder was scheduled to hear arguments today. But the question may be moot as efforts by President Bush and an offer by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 10,500 dockworkers, appeared to be headed toward reopening the docks.