HAWAII

Finance Factors opens in Liliha

Finance Factors celebrated the opening of its Liliha Branch yesterday at the former home of Masu's Massive Plate Lunch.

The new branch at 1808 Liliha St. (corner of Liliha and North Kuakini streets) will be lead by operation supervisor Emerlie “;Merl”; Eusebio, who previously worked at the Kalihi Branch.

Finance Factors renovated the entire building, adding a high-tech global positioning system to an old-style town clock above the branch which it hopes will become a landmark for uptown Liliha. SunTech Hawaii is also installing a solar photovoltaic system onto the branch's roof.

Inside, Finance Factors outfitted the branch with a cozy lounge area, plasma TV and personal-computer access.

Finance Factors' planned branches in Manoa and Chinatown recently received regulatory approval to move forward, and are expected to open in early 2009.

UH travel school to track tourism

The University of Hawaii School of Travel Industry Management is launching a new research Web site intended to aid the state's leading economic sector in determining key tourism indicators.

The Hawaii Tourism Dashboard will present findings on resident sentiment, environmental impact of tourists and the sector's performance and competitiveness with other destinations.

The goal of the project is to increase public awareness of other tourism indicators, identify trends and develop indexes.

To link to the prototype of the Web site, which will launch shortly, go to http://www.tim.hawaii.edu.

School officials presented the concept yesterday at an event sponsored by the American Marketing Association.

DBEDT announces first 'RegAlert'

The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism yesterday announced its first “;RegAlert”; by the Small Business Regulatory Review Board.

Starting this month, the board is issuing electronic regulatory alert notices of proposed administrative rules or amendments that might be of possible interest to small business, and is providing small-business owners the opportunity to submit comments.

The first RegAlert relates to a Department of Health proposal for a new administrative rule, HAR Chapter 11-81, entitled “;Smoking in the Public Places.”;

To review the rule, visit: http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/business/start_grow/small-business-info/sbrrb.

Through RegAlert, business owners will be kept apprised of proposed rule changes and given an opportunity to provide input to the proposed or amended rule via e-mails to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Mesa Air stock jumps 50 percent

The stock of Mesa Air Group, parent of interisland carrier go!, rose 50.3 percent, or 14 cents, to a three-week high of 41 cents yesterday on volume of 664,067 shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares hit a 52-week closing low of 25 cents on Friday.

[ Taking Notice ]

Promotions / New Hires

» Colliers Monroe Friedlander has announced the following appointments to its Kamehameha Schools property management team:

* David Asakura as account manager. He has experience in information technology, building engineering and facilities management.

* Maria Chan as lease administrator. She is a senior associate at the firm with experience as a landlord representative and in client advisory services, and as a solicitor in Hong Kong specializing in real estate sales and leasing.

Board Elections

» The Hawaii Theatre Center has elected its board of directors for 2008-2009: Officers are Shelley Thompson, chairman; vice chairs Linda Ahlers, Richard Fried, Karen Huffman, Jeffrey Miller, Mary Weyand and Mark Wong; Paul Schraff, treasurer; and Anne Swanson, secretary. New directors include John Blanco, Richard Bradley, Sharon Shiroma Brown, Terri Ann Motosue, Don Murphy, Keoni Wagner and Barbara Wong.