[Taking Notice]

NEW JOBS

>> Robert Rowland has been named CEO at Straub Clinic and Hospital. He was previously a principal of ECG Management Consultants, based in Seattle. Rowland is also a fellow of the American College of Medical Practice Executives.

>> Michelle Phillips has been named director of interior design at Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo's Honolulu Office. Philips joins WATG with more than 20 years of experience, most recently managing and designing projects for Disneyland Resorts.

>> Neal Kunde has been named vice president of the workers' compensation Unit at American Pacific Insurance Company Inc. The company has also named Phillip Ogata risk management manager and Frances Obata claims manager at the company. Kunde has more than 25 years of underwriting and management experience.

>> Both Kazuyo Kitane and David Nozomu Watanabe have been named Far East regional sales managers for HTH Corp. Kitane had been employed at Roberts Hawaii's Kailua-Kona office before joining HTH. Watanabe was Far East service manager with the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort.

PROMOTIONS

>> Robert "Mick" Minicola has been named general manager of the Ohana Maui Islander by Outrigger Hotels and Resorts. He will be responsible for the first Ohana property located outside Waikiki. A 20-year veteran of the Hawaii hospitality industry, Minicola has been with Outrigger for the past 12 years.

>> Elson Labasan, a Central Pacific Bank employee since 1991, has been promoted to assistant vice president and personal banking officer at the bank's Mapunapuna Branch. Lloyd M. Okazaki and Alvin Y. Takahashi also were promoted by CPB. Okazaki, who joined the bank in 1998, was named vice president and business relationship officer in the business banking division. Takahashi was promoted to vice president and senior corporate relationship officer in the corporate banking division. He has been with CPB since 1998.

ON THE BOARD

>> Constance H. Lau has been elected to Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.'s board of directors. Lau is president and chief executive officer of American Savings Bank, an HEI's subsidiary. Until Friday, Lau was senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of American Savings. Prior to joining the bank, Lau was HEI's treasurer as well as chief financial officer of HEI Power Corp., HEI's international power subsidiary.

>> Clifford Tong has been appointed to the board of directors of Finance Factors Ltd. Tong, CEO of Oakland, Calif.-based Diverse Strategies, is a member of the Asian Business Association, Asian American Manufacturers Association and the Industry Council for Small Business Development.

[WINNERS & LOSERS]

[WINNERS]

The University of Hawaii, which has signed a deal worth up to $181 million to run the Defense Department's second most powerful computer at Maui. UH takes over the deal from the incumbent operator, the University of New Mexico. While the contract is the largest in the university's history, its prime benefit is in the access and experience it will provide for students and faculty.

Tourism to Hawaii, which despite the slowdown on the mainland and in Japan, is barely off last year's record pace. Year-to-date tourism is less than 1 percent lower than it was last year, and April numbers were the second-strongest on record for the month.

First Hawaiian Bank, which is continuing its expansion by acquiring three branches of Union Bank of California. The branches, two in Guam and one in Saipan, will bring First Hawaiian about $200 million in customer deposits, plus some loans. However, the two Guam branches will be closed and merged with First Hawaiian's existing locations.

[LOSERS]

The Hawaii Tourism Authority, which seems near panic by tourism slower than last year's record. Despite volume nearly keeping pace, the HTA already says the sky is falling and to prevent it needs more than its $61 million budget. If tourism slows further, we suggest top floor windows at the convention center be locked.

The state tech industry, which caught a minor blow when a deal between Adtech and the state fizzled out. Citing a slowdown in spending by its mainland customers and the expense of building a facility, Adtech backed out of a plan that would have provided it cheap rent on land in Kakaako in exchange for being the keystone to a tech business center in the area.

The state of Hawaii, which could lose $9 million in fuel and general excise taxes as part of a bankruptcy deal between BC Oil Ventures, which ran Arco gas stations here, and the stations' owner, U.S. Restaurant Properties. Under the deal, BC Oil would turn the stations over to U.S. Restaurant, which could do what it wants with them. The state, though, could be left waiting at the pump.