Pacific Century's new name now Bank of Hawaii Corp.

Pacific Century Financial Corp. shareholders today overwhelmingly approved a management recommendation for a name change.

"The company's name is now officially Bank of Hawaii Corporation," Michael O'Neill, chairman, CEO and president told shareholders after the vote.

He said before the vote at the company's annual meeting that the name change was intended to build up Bank of Hawaii's brand recognition.

The company changed its name to Pacific Century Financial in April 1997, from Bancorp Hawaii Inc., at a time when it was expanding on the mainland and in the Pacific and Asia.

For more than a year, the company has been divesting itself of losing operations to concentrate on its core businesses in Hawaii, the Western Pacific and American Samoa. As a result of that and other actions, nonperforming assets at the end of 2001 were down 63.7 percent from their peak in the third quarter of 2000, O'Neill told an uneventful meeting in the bank's cafeteria.

A&B forms pact to expedite Kukuiula development

Alexander & Baldwin Inc. said it has entered into a joint venture agreement with an Arizona business so it can speed up development of its 1,045-acre Kukuiula resort, a residential, golf and commercial development on A&B-owned land at Poipu, Kauai.

The new partner is DMB Associates Inc., a privately held real estate development company based in Scottsdale, Ariz. The joint venture, called Kukuiula Development Co. (Hawaii) LLC, will refine the master plan for the project and move ahead with it, A&B said.

In separate news, A&B announced it will pay a dividend of 22.5 cents per share June 6, to shareholders of record as of May 6.

The amount is unchanged from recent quarters.

Architect Yamasato elected to City Bank parent's board

Architect Maurice H. Yamasato yesterday was elected a director of CB Bancshares Inc., parent of City Bank, a 21-branch Hawaii commercial bank.

Born in Lima, Peru, Yamasato came to Kauai as an immigrant, graduated from Kapaa High School, furthered his education at California State Polytechnic College and graduated from the University of Hawaii with a bachelor's degree in architecture.

He opened his own architecture business in 1973 and in 1987 formed his current firm, Yamasato, Fujiwara, Higa & Associates, where he is president.

Hawaii group purchases C. Brewer truck center

A group of five local investors has purchased HT&T Truck Center from C. Brewer & Co.

The purchase price by the group, called Phoenix V LLC, was undisclosed. But according to a statement the center, headquartered in Iwilei, has annual revenue of more than $15 million.

"This is our second acquisition as a group," partner Richard Hill said. The purchase "fits into our strategic plans, as the executives of Phoenix V ran the Truck Center for the past 10 years."

Hill serves as president and chief executive of the truck center, which will continue as the exclusive statewide distributor of Peterbilt, Volvo, Autocar and medium-duty GMC trucks. The center will also sell parts and provide repairs and maintenance for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

Phoenix V also owns BEI Hawaii, a distributor of fertilizer, agricultural and industrial chemicals and provider of environmental consulting services.

ResortQuest promotes executive to president

ResortQuest International Inc., which manages more than 30 properties in Hawaii through its Aston Hotels & Resorts subsidiary, said today that Chief Operating Officer James Olin has been promoted to the additional role of president.

Olin, whose new role is effective immediately, will be responsible for overseeing the company's more than 50 vacation rental and real estate locations across North America. He was formerly president and chief executive of Abbott Resorts Inc., one of ResortQuest's largest operations, from 1992 to January 2000.