[TAKING NOTICE]

NEW JOBS

>> Michael Loo has been named controller for the Kamehameha Schools. He will oversee accounting, purchasing, financial and investment reporting and systems functions. Loo was previously controller and treasurer of Hawaiian Airlines.

>> David Ige has been named vice president of engineering for NetEnterprise. Ige comes to NetEnterprise from Pihana Pacific, where he was a project manager. Ige is a state Senator.

>> Brett Hindi has been named director of event management at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort. He was most recently senior catering sales manager at Marriott's Dessert Springs Resort in California.

>> Alison Mortlock has been named branch manager for the captive insurance division of Marsh Hawaii. Mortlock, who also serves as vice president, will be responsible for tracking the captive insurance industry and for creating new programs for clients. Mortlock joins Marsh Hawaii from the company's Bermuda office.

>> Gordon S. Wood has been named project manager at AM Partners' Honolulu office. He joins the company from the city and county Department of Planning and Permitting, where he was a project manager. Wood will be responsible for community planning projects.

>> Andrew B. Conboy has joined Grubb & Ellis/CBI Inc. as an investment specialist. He will be responsible for investment analysis, sales and leasing. Prior to joining the company, Conboy spent 13 years as a commercial real estate appraiser with Hastings, Conboy, Braig and Associates Ltd.

PROMOTIONS

>> Bill Weza has been named general manager of the Outrigger Marshall Islands Resort. A 28-year veteran of the hospitality industry, he had been overseeing food and beverage operations at the resort since 1997.

>> Douglas Kurth has been named an associate in AM Partners' architecture division. He was previously a project manager at the company.

>> Odette Generalao has been named assistant vice president of sales for Hawaii Insurance Consultants. She will be responsible for the personal lines sales division of HIC and will continue to manage all branch operations of AIGH/HIC. Generalao previously was the branch office manager for AIG Hawaii Insurance Co.

>> Linda Lewis, Gene Tsuji, Chanelle Akamine, Nelly Sampaga and Dana Takushi have been named vice presidents at Bank of Hawaii.

Lewis joined Bank of Hawaii in 1994. She will be responsible for governmental guarantee, agriculture lending and community development lending programs. Tsuji will be responsible for developing commercial real estate loan opportunities and managing a commercial real estate loan portfolio.

He has been with the bank since 1971. Akamine joined Bank of Hawaii in 1987. She will be responsible for developing commercial equipment leasing opportunities and managing a commercial equipment leasing portfolio.

Sampaga will be responsible for development and support of the bank's information systems for the branch system, backroom operations and product groups. Dana Takushi will be responsible for managing corporate banking relationships between Hawaii and west coast companies. She has been with Bank of Hawaii since 1993.

RECOGNITION

>> The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA has named Hawaiian Electric Co. engineer Fred Kobashikawa winner of a national award for his leadership role in guiding high school students to consider engineering as a profession. Kobashikawa, a registered electrical engineer and 28-year HECO employee, was recognized for leading the "TEAMS" high school engineering program and competition since 1996. He received the award at a ceremony in Tampa, Fla. yesterday.

>> Annabel Murray, coordinator of Na Keiki Law Center, has been named winner of the Hawaii Women's Legal Foundation Rhoda Lewis Award for Public Service. The award was given to Murray in recognition for her service and dedication to children's rights.

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[WINNERS & LOSERS]

WINNERS

Maui Land & Pineapple Inc., which is hailing an International Trade Commission ruling imposing high tariffs to prevent pineapple dumping from Thailand. Prior to the tariffs, Maui Land & Pineapple took a $16 million loss, blaming it on Thai pineapples offered for below the cost of production. After all, Maui Land & Pineapple has enough challenges, with earnings down 60 percent this quarter.

The shipbuilding industry remains on a crest, with consolidation both here and on the mainland. General Dynamics Corp. looks poised to acquire Newport News Shipbuilding in a multibillion-dollar deal, and United States Marine Repair is buying Marisco Ltd., for an undisclosed amount, likely not in the billions.

Bank of Hawaii parent Pacific Century Financial Corp., which has a credible plan for focusing its future. After wallowing through a failed "New Era" program and marginal investments scattered from Encino, Calif., to Queensland, Australia, the bank has remembered its prime customers are in Hawaii.

LOSERS

Pacific Century Financial Corp., which is admitting its prior strategy was a failure. It is reversing years of expansion beyond the isles by selling off or closing nearly all of its properties outside the state. Symbolically, the holding company is renaming itself Bank of Hawaii Corp. You can take the bank out of Hawaii, but you can't take Hawaii out of the bank.

The Japanese economy, which continues to be disparaged. The Bank of Japan, the country's central bank, now predicts economic growth of less than 1 percent, far smaller than optimistic government estimates. The election of outsider Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister was met with a yawn by most economists, who don't see him doing much to improve things quickly.

The Hawaii economy, which is poised to continue slowing, according to the latest leading economic indicators from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The indicators fell for the eighth straight month, pointing to slower growth toward the end of the year, yanked down mainly by economic woes on the mainland and in Japan.