Ticket seller, promoter win OK

LOS ANGELES » The U.S. Justice Department cleared the way yesterday for concert promoter Live Nation and ticket seller Ticketmaster to combine after imposing major conditions meant to create stronger competitors and lower ticket prices for consumers.

Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney said Ticketmaster would have to license its ticketing software to competitor Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc. and sell its subsidiary Paciolan to Comcast Corp. subsidiary Comcast-Spectacor.

The merged entity would also be under a 10-year court order prohibiting it from retaliating against venues that choose to sign ticket-selling contracts with competitors

Hawaii to lose 40 Sam's Club jobs

The elimination of 11,200 jobs from Sam's Club warehouse stores nationwide includes an estimated 40 employees in Hawaii, according to scant information on the company Web site. Walmart, which also owns Sam's Club, announced an outsourcing contract that would replace the roughly 1,000-member product sampling and demonstration staff, as well as the downsizing of its business member recruiting staff.

Hawaii has two Sam's Club stores, in Pearl City and on Keeaumoku Street, both on Oahu. The national job-cut announcement said about 18 demonstration program associates and two business membership associates per store would lose their jobs and that the company would not release specific information for each location, nor would interviews on the job cuts be granted.

At the time of the announcement, the commonly owned Walmart and Sam's Club employed 4,209 people in Hawaii in eight Walmart stores and the two Sam's Club locations.

Martin & MacArthur to open on Maui

The fourth and largest Martin & MacArthur store in Hawaii will open in Kaanapali with a blessing at 10 a.m. Friday by Kumu Charles Kaupu. Leokane Pryor and his band Pohai Kealoha will perform free for the public at the store's grand opening at 10 the next day.

The 3,300-square-foot store at Whaler's Village has seven employees and joins its store in the Shops at Wailea as the second location on Maui. Its other stores are on Oahu, at Ward Centre and Ala Moana Center.

The company will expand in the next three months, opening three more stores in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Westin Maui Resort & Spa and St. Regis Princeville Resort.

State jobless can join intern program

Hawaii's unemployed can now register in the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations' Volunteer Internship Program.

The program will allow unemployment insurance claimants to gain work-force training by interning at local businesses for up to 32 hours a week for eight weeks, while still receiving unemployment benefits.

All of Hawaii's jobless may be eligible, including those with only part-time work, provided they are registered in Hirenet Hawaii, the state-sponsored online job board, at http://www.hirenethawaii.com. The volunteer internship program begins in February and will continue through December. To sign up and register, visit http://www.hawaii.gov/labor/ui/vip or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Better Place gets new financing

Better Place, a startup that hopes to create networks of charge posts for powering electric cars without government subsidy, has signed an investor consortium for new equity financing of $350 million. Better Place is hoping to launch a mass-market vehicle system in Hawaii.

HSBC Group is leading the financing, contributing $125 million in exchange for 10 percent of the company's shares. HSBC's head of global capital financing, Kevin Adeson, joined Better Place on its board of directors. The deal now values Better Place at $1.25 billion.

Farm bureau gets new leader

Luella Costales is the new executive director of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, overseeing the nonprofit organization's administrative functions, fiscal responsibilities, internal and external programs, advocacy, communications and membership support, the group announced yesterday.

Costales has more than 20 years' experience in nonprofit development, serving most recently as director of development with the University of Hawaii Foundation.

ON THE MOVE

Carmel Partners has hired Tom Tschudin as development manager of Kukui Gardens Mauka. His experience includes supervising development and construction of the Kalele Kai condominiums and townhouses in Hawaii Kai and the Hawaii Kai Town Center retail center.

Baldridge & Associates Structural Engineering Inc. has promoted Kulia Pacheco Boerstler to senior structural engineer from project manager. She has eight years of structural engineering experience.

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced that Diane Ito has been designated as a previews property team member.