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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Tuesday, June 27, 2000

State Labor chief to join law firm

Lorraine Akiba, director of the state Department of Labor & Industrial Relations, confirmed today that she is leaving Gov. Ben Cayetano's cabinet to join a private law firm.

Akiba, who has headed the labor department since December 1994, said she'll join McCorriston, Miho, Miller, Mukai. She said she understands that Cayetano will name Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs Deputy Director Gilbert Coloma-Agaran to succeed her. Akiba said she will probably leave the post in a couple of months.

Hawaiian promotes longtime pilot

Hawaiian Airlines Inc. said today it has named veteran pilot Rolland F. Lawrence as vice president for flight operations. Lawrence joined the airline in 1966 as a first officer flying propeller-driven DC-3 aircraft interisland and is now a captain flying DC-10 jets on Hawaiian's mainland-Hawaii and Hawaii-South Pacific routes.

He was director of flight operations from 1985 through 1987 and in the next two years supervised Hawaiian's expansion from an interisland-only business into a trans-Pacific operation. In his new job, he reports to Robert W. Zoller, executive vice president for operations and service.

Icahn plans to buy 15 percent of CSX

CSX Corp., a Richmond, Va.-based railway and shipping company, said today financier Carl Icahn plans to buy 15 percent of the company's shares. Icahn told the company he has no specific plans for CSX but considers the shares undervalued and a good investment, the company said.

Among the CSX operations is the former Sea-Land Service Inc., now called CSX Lines, whose operations include hauling ocean cargo from the mainland to Hawaii and Guam. CSX shares have fallen 53 percent in the last 12 months.

A&B purchases historic building

Alexander & Baldwin Inc. has purchased the five-story Judd Building from Bank of Hawaii for an undisclosed price. The building, at the makai-Diamond Head corner of Merchant Street and Fort Street Mall, was built in 1898 and served as A&B's headquarters from 1890 until the company opened its own building on Bishop Street in 1929. It was the main branch of First Federal Savings & Loan Association, which was acquired by Bank of Hawaii in 1998. The bank remains a tenant on the second and third floors. The building, with 20,200 square feet, sits on 5,049 square feet of fee-simple land and was extensively remodeled in 1979.

Isle business wins $7.2 million contract

A Honolulu small business, Primatech Construction Inc., has been awarded Navy contracts worth $7.2 million for two projects at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai. The firm will build two earth-covered missile magazines and a missile assembly building, said U.S. Rep. Patsy T. Mink, (D, rural Oahu-neighbor islands), who said Primatech won over six other bidders.

In other news . . .

HERNDON, Va. -- Road Runner, a provider of Internet service over cable-television lines, said it expects to sign its 1 millionth subscriber in early August. The service is provided in Hawaii by Oceanic Cable.