Honolulu Star-Bulletin Business /2004/12/08/

[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

Businesses will get new tax ID numbers

The state Department of Taxation is notifying businesses of new Hawaii Tax Identification numbers that will replace their general excise and other business tax license and registration numbers.

The new numbers are non-confidential and can be provided to others as proof of being licensed for tax purposes. The numbers are part of a just-completed five-year project to streamline the department's tax information management system.

Additional information on how the new system works can be obtained by calling 587-7572.

Aloha starts e-ticketing with Delta

Aloha Airlines has begun an electronic ticketing arrangement with Delta Air Lines that allows Aloha customers to make Delta connections with e-tickets from Aloha's or Delta's reservation centers, airport locations and ticket offices.

The agreement means that either airline's passengers no longer have to hold separate tickets for each carrier. Aloha also offers electronic ticketing when passengers connect with Island Air, United, American, Continental, Northwest and American Trans Air.

Cruise firm admits dumping sewage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska » A cruise ship company will plead guilty to discharging 20,000 gallons of untreated sewage from one of its ships while docked in Juneau harbor, the U.S. attorney's Office said yesterday.

In addition to paying $200,000 in fines and $500,000 in restitution, Holland America Line Cruise Ships will spend $1.3 million on a plan to prevent a similar accident.

The Seattle-based company also will be placed on three years probation after the plea agreement is signed Monday in federal court.

"It was a mistake and shouldn't have happened," company spokeswoman Rose Abello said. "We apologize and we admit it and we are sorry, and we have taken significant measures to make sure it doesn't happen again."

California economy to grow in '05

LOS ANGELES » California's economy will experience solid growth next year, but the state's fortunes could change if the national economy falters amid rising consumer debt, a growing trade imbalance and bloated housing market, according to a prominent economic report.

The state, home to the world's sixth-largest economy, should see a 1.5 percent increase in payroll employment and a 4.8 percent rise in taxable sales next year, said Christopher Thornberg, senior economist and co-author of the quarterly University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson Forecast to be released today.

[HAWAII INC.]

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NEW JOBS

» Olelo Community Television has appointed James "Sparky" Rodrigues and Alan Sutterfield to community development managers. They will be responsible for assisting communities in accessing services offered by Oahu's public access television provider. Rodrigues will concentrate his community outreach efforts in Leeward Oahu, primarily in the Waipahu area. Sutterfield will lead the company's effort in Windward Oahu, from Waimanalo to Kaaawa.

» The Hawaii Convention Center appoints Derrick B. Franklin its regional sales manager, based in Washington, D.C. He will be responsible for selling citywide conventions, reserving and booking function space, creating and evaluating sales programs and responding to sales inquiries and leads. He previously worked as the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau sales director.

» Maui Land & Pineapple Co. has hired Dennis Stoltenberg as vice president of human resources. He most recently served as GE Access human resources vice president in Denver. He replaces J. Susan Corley, who will retire.

RECOGNITION

» The Organization of Chinese Americans awarded Gerald Shintaku a corporate achievement award. He is the customer service manager of Kraft Food North America, Northwest Region -- Hawaii.