Tech firm for nonprofits
wins 'Deal of the Year'

Honolulu tech firm 4charity.com Inc., a provider of software and Web services for the nonprofit industry, will receive the "Deal of Year Award" today during the Hawaii Venture Capital Association's monthly meeting.

4charity, which moved to Hawaii this year from San Francisco, was recognized for receiving start-up funding from Bank of Hawaii, PacifiCap Group LLC and a few other venture capital firms. The firm was founded in 1998 by MBA students from Stanford University, and received an influx of staff when troubled Web firm WorldPoint Interactive Inc. closed its offices earlier this year.

Rural EAS air service funding maintained

Air service to the Big Island's Kamuela and Hana on Maui will be maintained with congressional approval of $63 million for the federally funded Essential Air Service, Sen. Daniel Inouye said yesterday. The EAS, which had been a candidate for elimination, is a federal program which helps maintain airline service to rural communities. In Hawaii, air services are subsidized to three neighbor island communities, Kamuela, Hana and Kalaupapa on Molokai.

The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation. But a shortfall in the department's budget would have eliminated a number of small rural airports. In Hawaii, those airports would have included Hana and Kamuela.

The elimination and the loss of the EAS subsidy would have jeopardized the ability of Pacific Wings, the commuter airline serving a number of the state's more remote locations, to maintain air service. Pacific Wings receives federal EAS money to provide air service to all three locations.

During a conference committee on the matter, Inouye was able to successfully delete an administrative proposal that would have made the two communities ineligible to receive EAS funds.

The national EAS program will also receive an increase in funds, up to $63 million, from its previous $58 million budget.

Levin stepping down as AOL Time Warner CEO

NEW YORK >> AOL Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Gerald Levin is stepping down as head of the world's largest media company and will be replaced by co-chief operating officer Richard Parsons.

Punahou graduate Steve Case will remain as chairman, while the company's other co-COO, Robert Pittman, will become the sole COO.

Levin, 62, will retire at the board meeting in May.

The timing of his departure came as a surprise to some analysts because Levin had given no indication he planned to retire before age 65. But they said the announcement did not appear to result from friction in the company. In an e-mail to employees, Levin said he made his decision after a year of discussions with the board about succession issues and "much personal reflection."

The 53-year-old Parsons, one of the highest-ranking black executives in corporate America, has been in charge of the company's content businesses, including movie studios, Warner Music Group and Time Warner Trade Publishing.