HAWAII

Kahala meeting rooms open

The 343-room Kahala Hotel & Resort said yesterday that its renovated meeting spaces and ballrooms are open with new carpeting, furniture and artwork. By the end of the year, the ballrooms will also have 6-by-9 foot LCD walls for displays of images and presentations.

The Waialae Ballroom has more than 2,700 square feet of meeting space, special lighting and sound capabilities for groups from 40-120 people. The Maile Ballroom can be divided into three smaller rooms, each 1,700-1,800 square feet, or fully opened to 8,800 square feet for larger functions accommodating up to 450 people.

Outrigger to manage China resort

David Carey, president and CEO of Outrigger Enterprises Group, said yesterday that the company will develop and manage the Outrigger Qingshui Bay Resort in Sanya, China. It is a new 500-plus room, luxury hotel to be built as part of a multi-billion dollar mixed-use development.

The hotel will be located along 7.5 miles of beachfront property within Hainan Island's Sanya Administrative Prefecture on the South China Sea. The Outrigger Qingshui Bay Resort, which is slated for completion by 2013, will be one of a half-dozen luxury accommodation choices within the development.

UH director named to academy

Patrick K. Takahashi, Ph.D., Director Emeritus of the University of Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, and co-founder of the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research, has been named a fellow of the World Business Academy.

The academy is a nonprofit business think tank founded in 1987, whose mission is to challenge and assist business to assume responsibility for society.

The 100 fellows of the academy shape, predict and report on the shifts in business and society. The academy said it invited Takahashi to join because of his leadership in renewable energy.

Takahashi has published more than 100 papers on ocean resources and renewable energy. He is also the author of two books, Simple Solutions for Planet Earth (2007) and Simple Solutions for Humanity (2008).

August agriculture harvests mixed

The isle vegetable acreage for harvest in August, when compared with acreage harvested in July, was higher for three crops, lower for four crops, and unchanged for four crops, according to data released earlier this month by the state Department of Agriculture.

The snap beans harvest rose 43 percent, mustard cabbage rose by a third, and sweet corn rose 6 percent. A decrease in acreage was seen for head cabbage, declining by 39 percent, head lettuce, dropping by a quarter, dry onions, dropping by half, and romaine, declining by 17 percent.

The crops for Chinese cabbage, cucumbers, semi-head lettuce and green onions remained unchanged in August from July.

First Insurance offers free service

First Insurance Co. of Hawaii said yesterday that some of its policyholders will receive free enrollment into a comprehensive identity theft management program in partnership with Identity Theft 911, a provider of identity theft education and resolution services.

All First Insurance 1st Choice Business owners will automatically be enrolled in the program that includes proactive measures to help reduce the risk of exposure to a data breach. Employees of the business and their immediate household members will also receive identity management services.

BRIEFCASE

SWEET SUCCESS: Hershey Co., the nation's second-largest candymaker and owner of Hawaii's Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp., said yesterday that profit doubled in the third quarter as major costs to restructure its operations subsided.