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[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

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[ HAWAII INC. ]

NEW JOBS

» Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa has appointed Fujie Murakami marketing strategy director. She will be responsible for overseeing 13 people and managing revenue in rooms and catering and overseeing the reservations department. She previously served as the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa revenue analysis director.

» Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines has hired Reginald J. Maldonado as sales manager. He will be responsible for maintaining good customer relations and developing and managing new business in Hawaii. He has over 30 years of managerial, sales and marketing experience.

» Communications Pacific has hired Kim Randall as marketing division senior vice president and Terrence Sing as editor. Randall previously served as Visa USA's advertising vice president. She has over 20 years experience in advertising, promotions and public relations. Sing previously served as Pacific Business News' economic development and high-technology writer. He has more than 10 years experience in writing, editing, journalism and public relations.

» American Savings Bank has hired Puamana Kim Darnell Park as regional vice president. She will be responsible for overseeing the company's East and Windward Oahu branches. She has over 32 years of domestic and international retail banking experience.

» Ferraro Choi and Associates Architects has hired Shawn Moynahan and Kurt Katada as interior designers. Moynahan is responsible for managing the interior architecture group. She previously worked for an international healthcare architectural firm. Katada is the firm's senior designer. He previously served as an interior design consultant on specialized military projects.

» FlyHawaii has hired two employees. Daniel J. Mueller has been appointed marketing associate. Wes Chong has been appointed sales director. He has over 20 years of experience in sales and marketing in the Hawaii marketplace.

» Hawaii Pacific University has appointed Nancy Ellis community relations vice president. She will be responsible for working with several campus-based programs that have high visibility. She has served the university in various capacities for 23 years.

» Castle & Cooke Waikoloa LLC has hired Michael Tobias as construction manager. He will be responsible for supervising the construction of the company's first neighborhood on the Big Island. He has over 30 years of experience in the industry.

» Peter Vincent & Associates LLC has hired Audra Treadaway as an architectural designer. She has more than 13 years of architectural design experience in high-end residential, hospitality and gaming, hospital and collegiate design. The company also has hired Brian Lim as an architectural designer. He has four years of experience in architectural design.

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NATION

United offers miles to ease flight delays

CHICAGO » Passengers arriving late on some United Airlines flights can take this bit of solace: Their frequent flier accounts will be a little fatter for their troubles.

United said yesterday it will give 500 miles to passengers delayed by at least 30 minutes on flights to and from O'Hare International Airport, its largest hub, and seven destinations: Philadelphia; Boston; New York's La Guardia; Newark, N.J.; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Dallas-Fort Worth; and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

United will honor the offer even for flights delayed because of bad weather or air traffic control problems. The program, which began yesterday, will run through the end of the year and might be extended beyond that, United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said.

SEC is investigating OfficeMax

OfficeMax Inc., the No. 3 office supplies retailer, said the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a formal order of investigation after the company revealed it had fabricated $3.3 million in rebates billed to suppliers.

The SEC inquiry follows the company's own investigation into its accounting for supplier income, Itasca, Ill.-based OfficeMax said in a statement yesterday. That internal probe led to the resignation of former Chief Executive Christopher Milliken in February and the termination of six workers.

OfficeMax's investigation began in December after a supplier complained some employees acted "inappropriately" in requesting promotional payments, the company said. OfficeMax is the latest in a series of retailers whose supplier practices have been investigated. Saks Inc., which owns Saks Fifth Ave., is being probed by the SEC for the improper collection $20 million in vendor markdowns.

Viacom board OKs company split

Viacom Inc. approved Chairman Sumner Redstone's plan to split into two companies to help boost a share price that's fallen 48 percent in five years and free the faster-growing cable-television business from the CBS broadcast network.

Directors elected Redstone's daughter, Shari Redstone, 51, as non-executive vice chairman yesterday, New York-based Viacom said in a statement. Redstone, 82, will be chairman of both companies after the tax-free split slated for the first quarter of 2006.

Redstone is breaking up a business that he spent two decades building into the third-largest U.S. media company. He's seeking to reverse a slide in asset values caused by stagnant growth at CBS and the Infinity radio stations.

The MTV cable network and Paramount film studio will anchor a unit run by Tom Freston that will keep the name Viacom Inc.