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Honsador buys Kauai contractor

Honsador Lumber Corp. said it has agreed the Kauai contractor and lumber sales business of Hale Kauai Ltd. at Nawiliwili and will operate Hale Kauai's ready-mix concrete and tile block operations in a joint venture with another Honolulu firm, Jas. W. Glover Ltd. Honsador said the new owners will try to retain as many of the Hale Kauai employees as possible.

Honsador and Glover have both been in business in the islands since 1935.

In an unrelated matter, Jim Pappas, Honsador chairman, said he has broken off talks about selling a majority interest in Honsador and its subsidiaries, Honolulu Wood Treating and Ariel Truss. He and Texas investor Rick Foreman were unable to agree on a final price and negotiations were complicated by Honsador's business growth, which is estimated at a 20 percent sales increase this year to more than $100 million.

Cruise line wants local produce

The state Department of Agriculture will have special meetings for Hawaii farmers next week, to encourage them to grow produce for Norwegian Cruise Line's passenger liners working in Hawaii waters. NCL, already operating one ship year-round in the islands, will bring in a new one next year and eventually will have four ships in the islands, averaging 2,000 passengers per ship.

That creates a big demand for fresh produce and NCL said it is looking not only for locally grown basic fruits and vegetables, but for ethnic vegetables, herbs and aquaculture products. Its search for local suppliers is being coordinated with the state Department of Agriculture.

Farmers and distributors based on Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Kauai can attend a meeting next Tuesday from 1-4 p.m. at the agriculture department's plant quarantine branch at 1849 Auiki St., on Sand Island. Big Island businesses may attend a meeting the following day, from 10 a.m. to noon, at Honpa Hongwanji, 398 Kilauea Ave., Hilo.

For information, call 973-9595.

Borgata's opening costs Boyd Gaming

Boyd Gaming Corp., whose downtown Las Vegas casino hotels have been popular among Hawaii residents for decades, yesterday reported a profit of $7.7 million, or 12 cents a share, for the three months through Sept. 30, down 32 percent from $11.3 million, or 17 cents a share, in the third quarter of the previous year.

The company's Las Vegas properties all showed a year-over-year decline in profits, but the biggest factor in the drop in net income was preopening expenses for Borgata, the big new casino in Atlantic City that opened July 3. Boyd's share of the expenses for the joint venture with MGM Mirage was $3.5 million in the latest quarter.

Hawaii's importance to Boyd was illustrated by the revenues earned in the latest three months by Vacations Hawaii, the subsidiary that sells Las Vegas air-hotel packages to Hawaii residents. Vacations Hawaii showed revenues of $11.7 million in the latest quarter, the same as the sales reported for the third quarter of 2002. The company's total revenues for the quarter were $310.5 million, up 0.8 percent from a year-earlier $308 million.

Fairmont earnings fall but Maui resort strong

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc., manager of the Fairmont Kea Lani Maui, said third-quarter profit plunged 70 percent, hurt by Hurricane Fabian in Bermuda and a SARS outbreak in Canada. Net income fell to $11.6 million, or 15 cents, from $39 million, or 49 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 5 percent to $188.6 million from $179.5 million, aided by the acquisition of hotels in Boston and Hawaii. Both The Fairmont Kea Lani Maui and The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess had strong rate growth in the quarter.

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[Hawaii Inc.]

NEW JOBS

>> Bobbie E. Ma has joined Coldwell Pacific Banker Pacific Properties' King Street offices as vice president and assistant area office leader. She will be responsible for strategic planning, financial management, marketing strategies and personnel support and development. She was previously at First Insurance Company of Hawaii as special projects and nontraditional product development head.

>> Anna M. Elento-Sneed and Terry E. Thomason have joined law firm Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing as directors; Prof. Danielle Conway-Jones as counsel; and Jessica M. Horiuchi as associate. They were previously with Carlsmith Ball's labor and employment division. Elento-Sneed was the division's law group head and a partner. Thomason, also a partner, focused on labor and employment law, government contracting and federal grants. Conway-Jones is a tenured University of Hawaii law professor. Horiuchi was an associate and served as law clerk to The Honorable Robert G. Klein, Hawaii Supreme Court.

PROMOTIONS

>> AT&T Hawaii has promoted Jillian C. Reynolds to sales manager. She will be responsible for increasing Hawaii revenue market share through management of team development leaders and approximately 200 customer sales associates. She has worked at the company for nine years, beginning in 1994 as an account representative and quality analyst in Missouri.