Target to hire up to 350 for Kona store

Target Corp.'s hiring event for its Kailua-Kona store on the Big Island is set for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through May 17 at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa Convention Center.

Target is planning to hire 300 to 350 employees for its 160,000-square-foot store, which is slated to open in July at Kona Commons.

Target is looking for cashiers, pharmacists and team members for its sales floor, fitting room, photo lab and Starbucks, among a variety of other positions. Applicants can apply online at target.com/careers, although application forms also will be available at the event. Potential hires must go through a background and on-site drug test.

Mokulele delays jet delivery again

Mokulele Airlines has delayed again the delivery date of its fourth 70-seat Embraer jet that it will use for interisland service. Interim Chief Executive Scott Durgin said the aircraft is committed to another location now and that the earliest it will be in Hawaii is midsummer. Previously, the jet was scheduled to be delivered in May and then was put off until June.

Durgin also said that the company's search for a permanent CEO is ongoing.

Last month, Indianapolis-based Republic Airways, which provides Mokulele with the aircraft and crew under their partnership agreement, became a 50 percent shareholder in Mokulele.

Republic also replaced then-CEO Bill Boyer with Durgin and put Boyer in charge of sales and marketing.

Tesoro to reduce output at Kapolei

Tesoro Corp., which operates the larger of two refineries in Hawaii, said it plans to reduce capacity at its Kapolei facility in the second quarter to between 60,000 and 70,000 barrels per day.

The facility, which has a capacity of 95,000 barrels a day, had total throughput of 73,000 barrels a day in the first quarter and averaged 69,000 barrels a day in 2008.

Altogether, the San Antonio-based company said its seven refineries will run between 83 and 89 percent of their combined capacity of 666,000 barrels per day in the second quarter, as the recession continues to dampen demand for motor fuel.

San Diego newspaper cuts 192 jobs

SAN DIEGO » The San Diego Union-Tribune is cutting 192 jobs in another round of layoffs affecting all departments at the newspaper.

The Union-Tribune said yesterday the layoffs amount to about 18 percent of its staff, which will be reduced to about 850 workers after the cuts become effective July 6.

The layoffs come three days after Platinum Equity, a Beverly Hills private equity firm, completed its acquisition of the newspaper from Copley Press Inc.

The newspaper did not disclose the number of cuts in each department, including in the newsroom.

David Black, whose company, Black Press Ltd. of Canada, owns Oahu Publications Inc., parent of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and MidWeek, is a senior adviser and partner for Platinum in association with the Union-Tribune purchase, but he is not on that newspaper's management team and does not have a daily role at the newspaper.

ON THE MOVE

The Hilton Waikiki Prince Hotel has hired Janelle Cram as director of sales and marketing. She has more than 20 years' experience including as sales manager, director of sales, traveling director of sales, and sales and marketing regional director at Aircoa/Richfield Hospitality Services as well as regional vice president of sales for Prime Hospitality.

Finance Factors Ltd. has announced the following promotions: Alvin Ige to senior vice president and chief credit officer; he joined the company 30 years ago as a management trainee. George Nip, vice president and controller, joined the company in 1990 as a certified public accountant. Aaron Sato is now vice president and treasurer.