Business Briefs
Star-Bulletin staff
and wire services
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FAST FACTS HAWAII
HAWAII
Time Warner changes name
Time Warner Telcom, which provides voice, Internet and other business data services, changed its name to
tw telcom inc. yesterday.
Tw telecom has offices in 75 U.S. cities, including Honolulu.
"Tw telecom is familiar; it is stable; it is consistent; it is clear, concise and focused," Cliff Miyake, vice president and general manager of the Honolulu office, said in a statement.
Phase 2 expands to mainland
Phase 2 International, which provides software services for businesses, said yesterday it has opened its first mainland office in Chicago.
The company also moved into a newer headquarters in Honolulu after "substantially" exceeding sales and profit goals for the first half of the year, it said in a statement.
Phase 2 said it is expanding its development and support staffs, enlarging its data center and adding sales presence.
First Hawaiian awards grant
First Hawaiian Bank has given a $100,000 grant to Child & Family Services.
The grant will support the organization's emergency and transitional housing facility for families who become homeless as a result of an abusive relationship.
The new facility will be twice as large as the current facility and will be able to accommodate 56 women and their children. They will receive supportive counseling while they make plans to transition out of the shelter. Last year, CFS's Leeward Domestic Abuse Shelter provided 5,298 nights of safety for 286 women and their children.
COURTESY SOLFOCUS
A new photovoltaic system called Concentrator Photovoltaics will be introduced in Hawaii this month.
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New solar technology hits isles
SolFocus, a Mountain View, Calif.-based solar technology company, is introducing Concentrator Photovoltaics in Hawaii at a demonstration project blessing on July 16 at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii.
SolFocus is collaborating with NELHA to test future generations of CPV, which uses a system of non-imaging optics to magnify sunlight 500 times onto small, highly efficient solar cells, to see if the technology is ideally suited to the needs of the state. This is the first time CPV technology will be commercially available here.
CPV solar panels are made mostly of readily available and cost-effective materials such as aluminum and glass, the company said in a statement yesterday.
NATION
Visa rescinds debit card rule
WASHINGTON » Customers can now use
Visa debit cards for smaller purchases without entering a personal identification number, the same way they can skip signing receipts.
Visa said yesterday it is no longer requiring merchants to treat its debit cards differently when customers use them as PIN-debit cards, as opposed to signature cards.
The move prompted the Justice Department to drop an antitrust investigation of the practice.
Judge blocks Cuban travel law
MIAMI » A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked a new Florida law that would have imposed a stiff bond and other restrictions on travel agencies and charter companies booking trips to Cuba.
Lawyers for the companies argued the measure seeks to pre-empt federal law and could put the agencies out of business. The law, which was set to take effect yesterday, would force agencies to put up a $250,000 state bond if they book tours to Cuba. Other travel agencies would only pay $25,000.
Court overturns lead paint verdict
PROVIDENCE, R.I. » Rhode Island's Supreme Court yesterday overturned a first-in-the-nation jury verdict against three former lead paint producers.
The ruling spares the companies from potentially billions in cleanup costs for several hundreds of thousands of contaminated homes.
Rhode Island was the first state to successfully sue former makers of lead pigment and paint, which can cause learning disabilities, brain damage and other health problems in children. The state had proposed that the companies spend $2.4 billion inspecting and cleaning Rhode Island homes believed to contain lead paint.
BRIEF CASE
BIG SETBACK: A federal judge in Miami ordered Swiss banking giant UBS to turn over the names of wealthy clients to prosecutors as part of an investigation of its offshore private banking practices. The ruling is a setback for UBS, which is struggling to maintain its tradition of Swiss banking secrecy.
MOODY'S SHAKEUP: Moody's Investors Service ousted the head of its structured finance unit and said employees violated internal rules in assigning triple-A ratings to last year's worst performing securities. Some Moody's employees breached rules for ranking European constant proportion debt obligations, the company said.
NEW HIRES/PROMOTIONS
» Outrigger Enterprises Group has promoted
Rob Solomon to chief marketing officer from senior vice president of sales and marketing. He will oversee strategic marketing of the company's portfolio of brands and lines of business from Hawaii to the Asia Pacific region. He also serves a member or board representative of the Oahu Visitors Bureau, the Hawaii Visitors & Conventions Bureau and the Japan Hawaii Tourism Council.
» Ke Ali'i Pauahi Foundation has named Kalei Stern as executive director effective Aug. 1. She will oversee the foundation's $13 million endowment which includes donor-supported scholarships, corporate partnerships and staff. She also serves as director philanthropic services for the Hawaii Community Foundation and grant reviewer for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
» ResortQuest Hawaii has named David Jenner as senior vice president of finance. His 30 years of hospitality experience include senior finance positions with Atlantis Island Resort in the Bahamas, Interstate Hotels Corp. and Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. He has also served as a senior auditor with Pannell Kerr Forster, CPAs.
» The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement has named Lilia Kapuniai as a communications specialist. She will oversee community relations, corporate development and national training contracts to bring resources to Native Hawaiian communities. She was previously operations manager at the organization's technology firm, Hawaiian Homestead Technology.
ProVision Technologies has hired Geoffrey Shuey as director of construction operations. He will oversee the company's solar energy projects on Hawaii, Maui, Kauai and Molokai. He has more than 30 years experience in the renewable energy and construction industries.
» Island Insurance Co. has named Kevin B. Miyahara as payroll/HRIS and benefits administrator. He will oversee all operations of the human resources information system and payroll. His 15 years of human resources experience include client support specialist for Ceridian Employer Services.
» Mauna Lani Resort has named Caren Murata to leisure sales manager. She will oversee domestic and European wholesale markets, and top retail travel accounts. She was previously regional sales manager at Aloha Airlines for 22 years and is an active member of the American Society of Travel Agents.
BUSINESS PULSE