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HAWAII
Marriott to lay off 52 for Maui timeshare

Marriott will lay off 52 workers, effective April 1, in preparation for the expansion of its Marriott Maui Ocean Club timeshare project.

Host Marriott Corp. bought the 720-room Maui Marriott in 1998 for $145 million and began converting the property into timeshares.

In 2001, Marriott completed a year-long $70 million renovation, converting one wing of the hotel into a 154-unit timeshare operation. Now Marriott plans to convert additional rooms into timeshare units.

Free rent grabs convention biz

A free rent promotion at the Hawaii Convention Center has snagged 11 bookings for upcoming meetings at the $350 million center and is expected to generate more than $120 million in visitor spending in the state.

New bookings include the American College of Gastroenterology, which will bring 5,000 attendees in 2011, and the Emergency Nurses Association, which will bring 1,000 attendees in 2008.

Other organizations that have taken advantage of the offer include the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and the National Pest Management Association.

Nonprofits can be ambassadors

The Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau is offering free promotional gifts for nonprofit organizations to take on overseas trips so they can serve as goodwill ambassadors for the tourism industry.

The program, called Sharing Aloha, is for nonprofits traveling for performances, special events and competitions.

Items include pens, pencils and stickers with the bureau's logo and aloha shirt bookmarkers.

More information is at sharingaloha.com.

Public companies less troubled

Some 12.9 percent of U.S. public companies are troubled, the second-lowest reading since July on a monthly index of companies reported by Manoa-based Kamakura Corp.

Kamakura classifies any company with a default probability of more than 1 percent as troubled. The index is near its cyclical lows, said Donald van Deventer, chairman and chief executive of Kamakura. The company produces risk-management software.

NATION
AARP sues to block benefits cuts

PHILADELPHIA » The nation's largest advocacy group for older Americans asked a federal court yesterday to block the government from making a policy change that would allow companies to slash health benefits for retirees when they become eligible for Medicare.

The AARP claimed in a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would overstep its authority if it gave final approval to rules exempting retiree health benefits from federal age discrimination law.

The new rule would allow companies to reduce or eliminate benefits to retirees once they turned 65 and qualified for the federal Medicare health program.

A U.S. District Court judge issued an order late yesterday afternoon blocking the EEOC from implementing any rule change for at least 60 days while the lawsuit makes its way through the courts.

Delta to close 2 reservation centers

ATLANTA » Delta Air Lines, continuing its push to streamline operations and cut costs, plans to close two reservation centers in Boston and Los Angeles by Sept. 1.

The closings will affect about 750 employees, but Delta said it hasn't determined how many jobs will be eliminated. Workers at the centers will be able to apply for jobs at Delta's nine remaining call centers in the United States, or in Delta's other operations.