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HIGH ACHIEVERS

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM The Junior Achievement of Hawaii inducted three laureates into its Hawaii Business Hall of Fame at an awards banquet Thursday at the Sheraton Waikiki. From left, Mrs. Henry A. Walker Jr. accepted a legacy award in memory of her husband, pictured at the back of the stage; also inducted were Hawaii Pacific University President Chatt Wright and Eddie Flores, founder and president of L&L Drive Inn. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, who also attended, was presented with a Friend of Business award.

Interest in China high among local businesses

More local business people seem to be interested in opportunities in China than even the perennial boosters at the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism anticipated.

A videoconference planned for Tuesday at the Hawaii Convention Center has already been moved to a bigger room following the registration of more than 130 people, according to DBEDT spokesman Mark Want.

And it's not too late to sign up.

"Breakfast with China ... in the Afternoon" will feature the U.S. Commercial Service's senior commercial officer in China, Lee Boam; the director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center, Mike Murphy; and DBEDT Director Ted Liu.

The event is the first in a series designed to allow Hawaii organizations both new to the Chinese market and those firms already doing business in China to learn about business opportunities presented by the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and China's entry into the World Trade Organization.

There is no charge for the event, which will be in the center's Emalani Room from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

For further information, call DBEDT's Want at 586-2751 or send e-mail to mwant@dbedt.hawaii.gov.

Theo Davies adds to food unit

Theo H. Davies & Co. has acquired another food franchise, combining Long John Silver's seafood business with A&W All American Food, and said it plans to expand the businesses in Hawaii with dual-brand restaurants.

Davies, one of the old "Big Five" sugar companies founded in Hawaii's sugar business, already has the Hawaii Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurant franchises in Hawaii.

It has acquired the new franchises from Yum! Brands Inc. The only Hawaii operation, a joint A&W/Long John's operation in the Moanalua Shopping Center, has been taken over by the TheoDavies Food Group.

By the end of the year, TheoDavies will open another such combination and will go on to open free-standing combination restaurants, with seating and drive-through service, as well as limited-seating restaurants in malls, said Henry Katsuda, president and CEO of TheoDavies Food Service Group.

The group operates 86 Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants in Hawaii and Guam. Many of them are dual-brand combinations like those planned for A&W and Long John's, Katsuda said.

The terms of the brand acquisition deal were not disclosed.

TheoDavies said the deal is part of an "overall multi-branding strategy."

Maui Land narrows CEO search

Maui Land & Pineapple Co. has narrowed its search for a new chief executive to about 12 candidates but the company's incoming chairman said the goal of having a CEO in place by the May 27 shareholders meeting likely won't be reached.

David Heenan, who will replace Richard Cameron, said yesterday that the dozen finalists for the CEO post "have either worked here, are here or passed through here."

"That's a very important ingredient to that job, preferably if they've had some time over on Maui," Heenan said.

The current CEO and president, Gary Gifford, is retiring after the meeting.

Heenan, who was re-elected yesterday to Bank of Hawaii Corp.'s board of directors, also said Maui Land & Pineapple is intently studying ways to improve its pineapple operations, and expects to sell Queen Kaahumanu Center in the next few months.

"(The pineapple group) for the last year or so has been working on a plan really examining the economics of it, where the high growth markets in the future are, the high margin markets, and shifting more of the production to those areas and exiting segments that are less attractive," Heenan said.

Queen Kaahumanu Center is jointly owned by Maui Land & Pineapple and the state Employees' Retirement System. It has lost money every year since ERA became a 50-50 partner in April 1995 and is being shopped around.