Greenspan talks recovery to bankers in Hawaii

The speed and scope of recovery in the U.S. economy will be driven by business investment, because consumer spending won't increase as much as it has following past recessions, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said today.

Spending on housing and retail goods held up better than expected over the past year, Greenspan said in a speech via satellite to the Independent Community Bankers of America, meeting at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

"Although household spending should continue to trend up, the potential for significant acceleration in activity in this sector is likely to be more limited than in past cycles," he said, according to Bloomberg News.

Greenspan echoed earlier remarks that the economy is starting to recover from its first recession in a decade. That's supported by statistics showing the economy added jobs last month for the first time since July. Manufacturing ended an 18-month slump in February, and worker productivity surged 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the biggest gain since the middle of 2000.

Companies must boost spending in order for the recovery to gain speed, Greenspan said. The Fed chairman used much of the language from his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee last week in expressing cautious optimism about the prospects for growth.

"We have seen increasing signs that some of the forces restraining the economy over the past year are starting to diminish and that activity is beginning to firm," he said today. "In recent days, encouraging signs of strengthening underlying trends in final demand have emerged, although the dimensions of the pickup remain uncertain."

ML Macadamia declares 5-cents-a-share dividend

ML Macadamia Orchards LP will pay a dividend of 5 cents a share May 15 to shareholders as of March 26, unchanged from the dividend for the last quarter and a year earlier.

The partnership, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NUT, grows macadamia nuts on more than 4,000 acres of Big Island land. The shares technically are Class A partnership units and the dividend technically is a cash distribution of income.

Nextel Partners planning to open store in Honolulu

KIRKLAND, Wash. >> Nextel Partners Inc., which sells wireless-telephone service in smal- ler U.S. markets under the Nextel brand, opened its first retail store in Louisville, Ky. and plans a second store in Honolulu.

The new stores will help Nextel Partners serve its customer base that has more than doubled in the past year, the company said in a Bloomberg re- port. Nextel Communications Inc. and Nextel Partners are the only carriers whose phones have built-in walkie-talkie capabilities.

Louisville and Honolulu were chosen as the first markets for the retail stores because of strong customer demand for Nextel's "four-in-one" wireless service, which combines digital cellular, digital two-way radio, wireless Internet access and text/numeric messaging, in one phone. The company wasn't specific about when the Honolulu store will open.

In other news . . .

TROY, Mich. >> Kmart Corp.'s former CEO Chuck Conaway will receive at least $6.5 million as part of his severance package from the bank- rupt retailer.