IN HAWAII
Local Arthur Anderson office breaks away
Arthur Andersen Hawaii has succeeded in its struggle to break away from its embattled parent company.The Hawaii accounting firm's partners, who encountered several delays during three months of negotiations, have begun independent operations as Karns Murakami & Hanashiro LLP. The new accounting firm is named after former Andersen partners Randy Karns and Ross Murakami, as well as new partner Peter Hanashiro, who worked for Andersen Hawaii for 14 years. No purchase price was disclosed.
"Our office has always enjoyed a unique level of autonomy, and the formation of the independent LLP is a natural progression of that relationship with our clients," said Karns, the managing partner.
The new firm will retain all existing local clients, maintain its work force of about 50 and continue to operate in its existing Bishop Street office. However, it is changing the extension on its e-mail address to: @kmhllp.com. The company Web site, kmhllp. com, is under construction.
Manoa tech center adds 4 new tenants
A high-tech entertainment company, a software developer, an energy producer and an audio news service are the newest tenants at Manoa Innovation Center.The state High Technology Development Corp.'s 46,000-square-foot business incubator facility is near 100 percent occupancy.
Its four new tenants are: Blue Lava Wireless, which publishes mobile entertainment content for third-generation cellular phones and wireless devices; ITS Solutions Inc., a computer systems engineering company that designs software and computer systems; Quality High Tech Research, which uses technology to recycle grease into energy; and Vitex Inc., whose Newsfone produces audio news broadcasts for on-demand telephone delivery.
The Honolulu incubator boasts a 74 percent success rate, according to its management. Of the 59 firms that have left, out of 87 to have gotten their start there, 44 are still in business.
Federal tax extension deadline is next week
For the 36,000 Hawaii taxpayers who opted to take the automatic extension offered by the IRS and want to avoid late penalties, the deadline to file tax returns is Aug.15. The penalty for those who fail to file a return is 5 percent per month of the unpaid tax.Taxpayers with special circumstances, such as hardship, who cannot file by the Aug. 15 date may request an additional two-month extension until Oct. 15. Those granted the additional time to file by the IRS will not be penalized for late payment of tax if they pay the balance of their 2001 tax when they file their tax return by Oct. 15.
To request additional time, taxpayers must file IRS form 2688 by Aug. 15. The form is available at www.irs.gov. The IRS will advise taxpayers in writing if their request is granted.
Macy's to open second teen-focused store
Macy's will open its second Hawaii dance-club-style fashion store for youth Saturday at Pearlridge Center.Announced in April, the store of 17,800 square feet occupies space formerly used by Shirokiya. It features a young men's department and a young women's shop. There will be free entertainment Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
Macy's opened a similar youth outlet last week at its Ala Moana Center store.
ON THE MAINLAND
In other news ...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. >> Spirit Airlines said today that its Sept. 11 flights will be free. Spirit serves five Florida airports, as well as Atlantic City, N.J.; Oakland, Calif.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; New York, Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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[Hawaii Inc.]
NEW JOBS
>> Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has hired John R. Connelley as a sales associate and vice president in its Kapiolani Office. He has recently returned to real estate sales after serving a year as the chairman of the Honolulu Board of Realtors. He was previously the broker in charge of the Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties' Kahala Office for three years.>> Pacific LightNet Inc. has promoted Brian Sing to director of information technology and hired Russell Nimura as the director of application development. Sing, who previously served as senior manager of Internet service provider and information technology operations, is now responsible for all operations of PLNI's Internet service provider, Hawaii OnLine, and all corporate information technology. Nimura is responsible for overseeing the implementation of PLNI's new billing system. He has been in the telecommunications industry for 16 years, starting with Pacific Bell in the 1980s.
PROMOTIONS
>> Eric Nagao has been promoted to manager of provider relations and contracting at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii. He is responsible for managing contract negotiations with non-Kaiser Permanente medical care providers, care delivery planning, outside provider relations activities, and compliance monitoring.He previously served as senior financial analyst, claims and referrals supervisor, and administrative assistant of three outpatient clinics in Honolulu.