Business Briefs
Star-Bulletin staff
and wire services
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Hawaii
Union leader's status in limbo
The candidate who won the most votes to head the Laborers' International Union Local 368 was deemed ineligible for the position by the U.S. Department of Labor in June.
Oliver Kupau III, a former union executive, won 75 percent of the votes on Friday for the position of business manager, beating Bill Naone, who took 25 percent of the votes.
But Kupau, who was part of a ring that bribed a former police officer for illegal cockfighting and gambling activities in Ewa and Nanakuli, is prohibited from holding union office or employment because of a 2002 money-laundering conviction, according to a letter from Bruce Edgington, district director of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Kupau also is prohibited from holding a position as a job steward or shop committeeman and being involved in official decision-making concerning custody of or control over labor organization funds or assets.
A union representative didn't know what the next step would be in the management process.
Local 368, chartered in 1954 and also known as LIUNA, has more than 4,000 members in Hawaii, including workers in the construction, environmental remediation, food service, health care, and other industries.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FINAL STRETCH: BP's U.S. chief said yesterday the world's second-largest oil company is on target to finish replacing pipeline on Alaska's North Slope two years after corrosion-induced leaks crimped the nation's oil supply. Above, oil transit and other pipelines run from one BP's facility at the Prudhoe Bay oil field.
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A&B sells Texas retail center
A&B Properties Inc. said yesterday it has sold a Round Rock, Texas, retail center to affiliates of
Gemini Real Estate Advisors LLC.
The subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin Inc. did not disclose the price for Boardwalk Shopping Center - a 184,600-square-foot center that sits on 21 acres. The sale closed Thursday.
A&B Properties said it will invest some of the proceeds in a previously acquired logistics warehouse facility in Savannah, Ga., with the balance to be reinvested in other replacement properties. Each of these investments will be through tax-deferred 1031 exchanges, A&B said.
Major tenants at Boardwalk Center are Ross Dress for Less, PetsMart, Office Max, Party City and Dollar Tree.
A&B Properties' commercial property/investment portfolio now comprises 7.3 million square feet of retail, office and industrial space in Hawaii (22 properties) and eight mainland states (23 properties).
Promotions / New hires
» Grant Thornton LLP has announced the following promotions:
* Dustin Verity to senior manager of audit services. He has experience in the design and implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley compliant internal controls and accounting procedures.
* Kristoffer Pascual to manager of audit services. His audit and accounting experience includes educational institutions, government agencies, construction contractors, manufacturing and non-profit organizations.
* Mari Ishii to manager of tax services. Her tax compliance and planning experience includes individuals, estates and trusts, corporations, non-profit organizations and closely held businesses.
» Island Insurance Co. has named Michael A. Onofrietti as vice president of actuarial services, product development and management. He was previously vice president and actuary, director of underwriting and product management and senior underwriting officer at AIG Hawaii Insurance Co.
» CB Richard Ellis has announced the following promotion and new hire in its asset services division:
* Wesley Busser to associate accountant in client accounting. He was previously an accounting clerk at Alan Wong's restaurant.
* Levy Oktalia as a real estate service administrator. She was previously an executive accounting assistant at Digital Realty Trust.
» Assets School has named Paul Singer as head of school. Assets School is Hawaii's only independent K-12 school for gifted and/or dyslexic students. His experience includes serving as head of school at The Country School in Valley Village, Calif. and on the faculty at California State University, Northridge.
» University of Hawaii West Oahu has hired Ryan Mielke as executive director of public affairs. His 15 years of management and public affairs experience include serving as deputy asset manager at Actus Lend Lease and Hickam Community Housing and vice president of StarrPR (formerly Starr Seigle Communications).
BUSINESS PULSE