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HAWAII

Bidders vying to buy Hilo's Naniloa Hotel

HILO » The Naniloa Hotel, the city's aging grand dame facing Hilo Bay, will be sold and the land lease auctioned on Sept 30.

At least two potential buyers have prequalified to bid on the 6.35-acre hotel property and adjacent 63.8-acre golf course owned by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Under the new 65-year lease, annual rent on the property is expected to exceed the current $147,000, said Keith Chun, the department's planning and development manager.

The buyer will also be required to buy the 325-room hotel for $6.1 million and spend at least $5 million in the next three years on improvements. Permitted uses include hotel, restaurant, and spa facilities, all of which exist on the current property. Condominiums and condo-hotels will be prohibited.

Although the state would not confirm the number of approved bidders, Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Outrigger Enterprises are each partnering with developers and bidding for the right to manage the property.

Central Pacific exec will resign

Douglas Weld, executive vice president and chief credit officer of Central Pacific Bank, will resign effective Oct. 3 for personal reasons, including health matters.

The bank, a subsidiary of Central Pacific Financial Corp., has retained an executive search firm to find a replacement. In the interim, Curtis Chinn, Central Pacific Bank's senior vice president and commercial banking manager, will be appointed acting chief credit officer, effective Oct. 3.

Hawaiian Air to fly Oakland Raiders

Hawaiian Airlines will serve as the official carrier of the Oakland Raiders football team for the sixth straight year, the airline announced.

Starting with this weekend's season opener against the New England Patriots, Hawaiian will fly the Raiders to eight cities for road games, including Philadelphia; Nashville, Tenn.; Washington, D.C.; Newark, N.J.; and Denver.

NATION

Ex-VP says Microsoft blundered

A former Microsoft Corp. vice president testified yesterday that the company's "blunders" and "unethical" behavior in China drove him to join Google Inc.

The executive, Kai-Fu Lee, is at the center of an employment dispute between Microsoft, the world's largest software company, and Google. Microsoft claims that Lee broke a noncompete contract by agreeing to open Google's research center in China.

"Microsoft wasn't getting it in China," Lee said at a hearing yesterday in Seattle. He said members of his Microsoft team working in China insulted and threatened government officials, and engaged in "unethical business activities."

Wal-Mart to speed up China expansion

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, plans to accelerate store openings in China and expand into smaller Chinese cities after the government relaxed laws on foreign retailers operating in the country, an executive said.

"With the lifting of restrictions and with the talent pool we have accumulated, we can expect that the growth will speed up a bit," James Lee, vice-president of corporate affairs for Wal-Mart China, said in an interview from the southern city of Shenzhen.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart plans to open 14 superstores in China this year, an increase of a third, to catch up with Carrefour SA and domestic chains in China's $652 billion retail market.

In other news ...

» J.&W. Seligman & Co., a New York investment firm, sued the state's attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, yesterday, asserting that he had overstepped his authority in his investigation of improper trading in Seligman's mutual funds. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, seeks to suspend Spitzer's ability to investigate "allegedly excessive advisory fees paid to Seligman."

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[ HAWAII INC. ]

New jobs

» Aloha Cargo Transport has appointed Joan V. Nacino regional sales manager for Hawaii. She has more than 18 years of experience in inter-island cargo transportation. She previously worked in customer service and operations at Young Brothers Ltd.

» McNeil Wilson Communications Inc. has appointed Darcie Scharfenstein to corporate/public affairs division account supervisor. She will be responsible for working with a variety client accounts in the areas of public issues and corporate image management. She has 10 years of experience in the public relations and marketing industry.

» Finance Factors Ltd. has hired Nancy Higa as vice president and operations manager of the residential loan division. She will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company's residential processing, secondary market underwriting and closing departments.