Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
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AT&T to hire 100 in Hawaii
AT&T Hawaii will hire 100 new employees beginning in September, the company said yesterday. Available positions include customer sales associates and records clerks. Salaries range from $8-$20 an hour.The large number of opportunities are due to AT&T call center's expansion as well as in-house promotions, the company said. The Hawaii call center in Waterfront Plaza is one of four such AT&T centers in the U.S.
AT&T has more than 600 employees statewide.
Interested applicants can call Carolyn Saiki at 526-6644 or visit http://att.hire.com.
MLP shareholder adds to stake
Farhad Fred Ebrahimi, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Quark Inc., has increased his family's stake in ML Macadamia Orchards LP to 10.4 percent.Ebrahimi, the Big Island company's largest shareholder, now owns 781,000 shares of the company's 7.5 million outstanding shares.
Ebrahimi, who has been gradually increasing his holdings over the past several years, purchased 24,000 shares Monday between the prices of $3.57 and $3.62, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Ebrahimi's company, Quark, makes the desktop publishing software QuarkXPress.
As of Aug. 1, Ebrahimi and his wife, Mary Wilkie Ebrahimi, jointly owned 526,700 shares; Farhad Fred Ebrahimi and Farhad Alexander Ebrahimi jointly owned 243,800 shares; and Farhad Fred Ebrahimi and Crescent River LLC jointly owned 10,500 shares.
ML Macadamia Orchards' stock, which closed yesterday at $3.70, offers a dividend yield of 5.4 percent.
Most business is small business
Nearly 97 percent of Hawaii's businesses fit the definition of a small business, about the same percentage the state has seen for the past five years, according to a new government report.The 2003 edition of the U.S. Small Business Administration's State Small Business Profiles, reports the number of businesses in Hawaii inched up 0.8 percent to 28,800 in 2002, while the number of self-employed workers rose 8.6 percent. Women represented 46.5 percent of self-employed workers.
Small businesses -- 96.7 percent of all business in the state -- employed 57 percent of workers in the state, according to the report. The report defines a small business as one employing fewer than 500 workers. Another 23.5 percent of the state's workers are employed at companies with payrolls larger than 500.
Readers rate Hawaiian Air high
The readers of Travel and Leisure magazine rated Hawaiian Airlines the fourth best among all domestic air carriers in the magazine's annual "World's Best Awards."Travel and Leisure sent a questionnaire to its subscribers during the first quarter of 2003. Respondents were asked to rate airlines on five characteristics: cabin comfort, food, in-flight service, customer service and value. The three airlines ahead of Hawaiian were Midwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines.
State awards technology grants
The state High Technology Development Corp. has awarded $105,500 to six local firms companies to match $672,040 in federal grants.Those companies, which received grants through the Small Business Innovation Research program, are: Novasol, Oceanit Laboratories, Hawaii Biotech Inc., Hawaii Agriculture Research Inc., Black Pearls Inc. and Pacific Paradise Orchids.
The state said it provides guidance and technical help so companies can snag SBIR funding.
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[ BRIEFLY ]
Ceatech to test new disease-free shrimp
Kauai shrimp grower Ceatech USA Inc. will evaluate the commercial viability of a new line of disease-free shrimp provided by the nonprofit Oceanic Institute on Oahu.The Pacific white shrimp are also being tested in different conditions in southern Texas. The institute bred the shrimp to perform well in intensive production systems.
Fleming splits unit sale among 4 buyers
DALLAS >> Bankrupt grocery distributor Fleming Cos. has sold its core business to four buyers instead of the single buyer who had been previously identified.Fleming said in a regulatory filing Monday that it sold wholesale-distribution facilities in California, Hawaii and Wisconsin to C&S Wholesale of Vermont; a plant in Garland to Grocers Supply Co. of Houston; Miami operations to Associated Grocers of Florida; and facilities in the Midwest and Southeast to Associated Wholesale Grocers of Kansas City.
Terms of the sales were not disclosed.
In other news ...
>> Vivendi Universal on yesterday narrowed the field of bidders for its entertainment assets to two -- General Electric Co.'s NBC and an investor group led by former Seagram Co. executive Edgar Bronfman Jr.>> Amazon.com Inc. has filed federal lawsuits against 11 e-mail marketers, contending they faked their e-mail addresses to appear as if the messages were sent by Amazon.com.
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[ HAWAII INC. ]
Promotions
>> Tiki's Grill & Bar has promoted Slade Neeley to general manager from office manager. He will oversee the day-to-day operations of the restaurant, succeeding managing partner and chief executive officer Bill Tobin, who will focus on new business opportunities. Neeley has more than 18 years of food and beverage experience. In addition, Floyd Tabios has been promoted to manager from food server. He has been with Tiki's since the restaurant opened in October of last year.
On the Board
>> Joy Miyasaki has been appointed Hawaii Women Lawyers president. She is an attorney at the Law Offices of Shuichi Miyasaki. Other officers are: Starn O'Toole Marcus & Fisher attorney Lane Hornfeck as vice president, Anne Lopez as secretary and Lauren Sharkey as treasurer.>> The Association of Records Managers and Administrations, Hawaii Chapter, has elected Rob M. Alston president for 2003-04. He is director of operations at FileMinders. Other board officers are: Vice President Grace Chinen, First Hawaiian Bank; Secretary Salina Sanchez, FileMinders. Directors are: Rosalie Brissette, Pat Akana, Bernie Boltz, Brian Moriki and Debra Musgrove. Ruben Lum of the state Archives Division is the immediate past president. The association has more than 10,000 members and 150 chapters worldwide.
