Business Briefs
Star-Bulletin staff
and wire services
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HAWAII
DCCA debuts online service
The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Business Registration Division said yesterday it is offering a new service to help businesses obtain official documents.
The Web site, hbe.ehawaii.gov/documents/search.html, allows customers to buy filed and certified business registration documents online from the department.
More than 10,000 documents are available for download, the department said, and those not available immediately will be e-mailed within three days.
Yard House workers to get equity
A hundred employees working for the Yard House restaurant chain will receive equity from the company after a five-year vesting period.
Yard House, which opened its first Hawaii restaurant in February 2007 at Outrigger's new Waikiki Beach Walk, reached projected sales of more than $12 million in its first year.
The company, founded by Hawaii native Steele Platte and headquartered in Irvine, Calif., first began offering limited ownership opportunities in 2005. The first equity shares then went to three longtime employees credited with the restaurant's success.
Yard House has 20 locations throughout the U.S., including Southern California; Arizona; Honolulu; Denver; Chicago; Kansas City, Mo.; and Las Vegas.
NATION
30-year loan rates increase
WASHINGTON » Rates on 30-year mortgages edged up this week, while rates on other home loans were a mixed bag.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported yesterday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.37 percent this week. That was up from 6.35 percent last week.
Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, dipped to 5.91 percent this week, compared with 5.92 percent last week.
Meanwhile, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 5.82 percent this week, up from 5.78 percent last week. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages held steady at 5.17 percent, unchanged from the previous week.
US may take over mortgage giants
WASHINGTON » Alarmed by the growing financial stress at the nation's two largest mortgage finance companies, senior Bush administration officials are considering a plan to have the government take over one or both of the companies and place them in a conservatorship if their problems worsen, people briefed about the plan said yesterday.
The companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been hit by the tsunami of mortgage foreclosures. Their shares are plummeting and their borrowing costs are rising because of investor worries that they will suffer losses far larger than the $11 billion they have already lost in recent months. Now, as housing prices decline further and foreclosures grow, the markets are worried that Fannie and Freddie themselves may default on their debt. The government officials said that the administration also has been exploring the option of seeking legislation that would offer an explicit government guarantee on the $5 trillion of mortgage debt owned or guaranteed by the companies. But that is a far less attractive option, they said, because it would effectively double the size of the public debt.
GE targets spinoff of unit
NEW HAVEN, Conn. »
General Electric Co. said yesterday it wants to spin off its iconic lighting and appliance businesses, the latest aggressive move by one of the world's largest companies to reshape its portfolio to focus on faster growth businesses. The consumer and industrial businesses have 50,000 of GE's 300,000 employees, sales of $13.3 billion and a profit of slightly more than $1 billion last year. GE Lighting invented the world's first incandescent light bulb in 1879.
Fairfield-based GE announced in May that it planned to sell or spin off its appliance business, but now says it is looking to spin off the entire unit, which includes household appliances such as dishwashers and clothes dryers as well as lighting, motors and electrical distribution.
New hires / promotions
» Central Pacific Bank has announced its new community-based banking management team:
* Roland Chang oversees 50 employees at five branches from Mapunapuna to Kaneohe as well as a commercial banking team. He has 35 years service with the bank.
* Alvin Imada oversees 75 employees at seven neighbor island branches from LIhue to Hilo. He joined the bank in 2004.
* Candice Naito oversees 40 employees at four branches in downtown Honolulu area. She has 30 years of service with the bank.
* Heather Piper oversees 71 employees at nine branches from Moiliili to Kailua. She joined the bank in 2004.
* Joji Seta oversees 50 employees at five branches in the Waikiki, Kapiolani and Keeaumoku areas, working closely with the bank's Japanese and Korean customers. He serves as international banking regional manager and has 30 years of commercial and international banking experience.
* Susan Utsugi oversees nine branches from Pearl City to Kunia. She joined the bank in 2000 with extensive experience in commercial and business banking.
Awards / certificates
» The U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA) has honored
Castle Resorts & Hotels' Hilo Hawaiian Hotel with the 2008 Best of Hilo award in the Banquet Rooms category. The Washington D.C. based association's Best of Local Business award program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country that enhance the positive image of small business through community and customer service.
» The U.S. Department of Defense has honored Coastal Windows with its 2008 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to employers for their support of employees serving in the National Guard and Reserve. Coastal Windows is the only employer from Hawaii to receive the award since its inception in 1996 and was selected from 2,199 nominations from National Guard and Reserve members and their families across the nation.
BUSINESS PULSE