IN HAWAII
Hawaiian Electric says it expenses options
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., seeking to put to rest any concerns about its accounting practices, said yesterday it has been expensing stock options over their vesting period for several years.The company said that through the first six months of this year it recognized net compensation expense of $1.5 million, or 4 cents a share, for outstanding stock options.
"There's been a lot in the news about whether companies should expense options or not, and we wanted to confirm for our shareholders that we do expense options currently," HEI spokeswoman Suzy Hollinger said.
Other companies, particularly technology firms, have refrained from expensing stock options because they are used as part of the employees' compensation and expensing the options would reduce the company's earnings.
HEI said it has been applying one of the two acceptable accounting standards for expensing options. Although the method it is using now is the least preferred of the two, HEI said it plans to transition to the other method once new transition rules being considered are put into place.
Hawaii near bottom in new tech study
Hawaii ranks among the worst-prepared states to succeed in the information age, according to a new report.Hawaii ranked 43rd among the 50 states in a new study by the California-based Milken Institute. The survey evaluated states in five tech-related categories: research and development; risk capital and entrepreneurial infrastructure; human capital investment; technology and science work force; and technology concentration.
The study said states that make a strong investment in science and technology infrastructure, then leverage those assets for economic development are more likely to bolster their economies.
Topping the Milken Institute's list is Massachusetts, followed by Colorado and California. Hawaii finished behind Nevada and South Carolina, but just ahead of Louisiana and North Dakota. In last place is Arkansas.
HVCB to take part in 2 international events
The Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau said it plans to participate in the 10th World Travel Fair to be held Friday through Sunday at Pacifico Yokohama in Japan.The fair is expected to attract about 90,000 visitors, including travel industry representatives and consumers. Eighteen travel-related Hawaii companies will attend with bureau officials.
The bureau also plans to promote Hawaii tourism at the Beijing International Cultural Tourism Festival Sept. 21-24 in China, which is expected to draw more than 200,000 attendees.
ON THE MAINLAND
Execs should announce stock sales, group says
NEW YORK >> Corporate leaders should be required to announce in advance plans to sell company stock so they can't take advantage of inside knowledge that allows them to predict fluctuations of shares better than the investing public, a leading business group said yesterday.The proposal by a commission formed by the New York-based Conference Board is designed to help restore investor confidence amid an atmosphere of deepening suspicion that top business executives have been out to enrich themselves at the expense of average shareholders.
Peter Peterson, co-chairman of the Conference Board's commission on public trust and private enterprise, said the commission has not yet decided how much advance notice executives should provide about impending stock sales.
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[Hawaii Inc.]
NEW JOBS
>> Baldridge & Associates Structural Engineering Inc. has hired Scott D. Wong as senior project manager. He will be responsible for commercial projects, including the Keeaumoku Superblock. He was previously at Cary Kopczynski and Co., where his projects included the new Ala Moana Center mauka parking structure.>> Mason Horiuchi has joined Atlantis Adventures as director of sales for the Asian market.
He will oversee Atlantis' eastbound sales and marketing program and develop strategies to increase the company's share in group and direct sales to Asian visitors. Horiuchi has more than 28 years of travel industry experience in Hawaii, with an emphasis on serving Japanese visitors. He was most recently director of Japan sales for Hawaiian Airlines.
>> Joan Young of Honolulu has become a consultant for Tastefully Simple Inc. She conducts in-home sales efforts for the Minnesota-based retailer of gourmet foods.
RECOGNITION
>> Three graduates of the Junior Achievement High School program have received scholarships: Judy Relosimon received a $750 scholarship from the Sales & Marketing Executives of Honolulu and plans to major in business, marketing and advertising at the University of Hawaii at Manoa; Kurt Nakamura received a $500 scholarship from the Hawaii Venture Capital Association and plans to attend the University of Southern California; and Mijken Ray received $1,000 from We, the Women of Hawaii and plans to major in international business management at Brigham Young University.>> Hawaiiana Management Co. Ltd. executive Ed Robinson has earned the large-scale manager designation from the Community Associations Institute. The title was created to recognize management professionals skilled in supervising the operations of a large-scale community. Hawaiiana Management runs Ewa by Gentry and the Waikele Community Association.