Advertiser workers get layoff notices

Honolulu Advertiser employees received layoff notices yesterday from their owner, Gannett Co., which recently reached an agreement to sell the newspaper and related assets to Oahu Publications Inc., owner of its longtime rival, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

David Black, majority owner of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, has put it up for sale. However, he has announced that if a buyer is not found, the two newspapers will merge and further layoffs will occur.

The notices, which were sent to satisfy state and federal plant closing requirements, said Advertiser employees would lose their jobs with Gannett when the deal closed. The sale is expected to be completed between April 12 and April 30, according to the notice. Most of the former Gannett employees will be offered work by an arm's-length management services company that will continue to publish the Advertiser during the transition.

The Advertiser has about 600 employees, with 120 people in the newsroom. The Star-Bulletin and MidWeek have about 300 employees, with about 75 in the newsroom.

MetLife closes isle mortgage office

MetLife Home Loans shut down its Honolulu office at the end of February. Its lease was to end this month and the company decided it no longer made business sense to operate the retail mortgage office here, according to spokesman David Hammarstrom.

Six of the office's 26 employees were retained, while 20 were laid off.

“;Current customers of MetLife Home Loans will continue to be serviced by the company,”; Hammarstrom said, and Hawaii residents can still obtain mortgages from MetLife Home Loans through other brokers. MetLife also continues to offer reverse mortgages in Hawaii, he said.

Watts Constructors lands Guam pact

Honolulu-based Watts Constructors, in a joint venture with its small-business partner Bulltrack Construction Co., has been chosen as one of the six contractors for a Guam small-business, multiple-award construction contract valued at $500 million.

The contract is for the new construction, renovation and modernization, repair and maintenance of government shore-based facilities on Guam. The expected completion date of the project is March 2015.

Watts relocated its headquarters to Honolulu from Novato, Calif., in 2007 to better serve its Pacific markets.

Foreclosure avoidance seminar set

Avoiding foreclosure will be at the core of a seminar by Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Hawaii Home Ownership Center at 1259 Aala St.

Presenters will discuss the federal financial stability plan and how it can help homeowners modify their current mortgage, which could push interest rates to as low as 2 percent, or refinance, though home values have declined. Reservations may be requested at 947-8110.

On the Move

» Aloha Air Cargo has appointed Jeff Bell as senior director of sales and business development. He has 20 years' experience in sales and customer service, was director and central Pacific district manager of Lynden International, and held various sales and account manager-level jobs in the United Kingdom and Guam.

» The Hawaii Medical Assurance Association has donated $10,000 in matching grants to the Women's Fund of Hawaii. The grants will be used to help the organization focus on the needs of women who have been hit hardest by the economic downturn.

» Wealth Strategy Partners has named William Fernandez to principal financial representative in charge of client-relationship building for the expanding gay and lesbian market.

» The Friends of the Library of Hawaii has given the following awards:

—Gabrielle Casart as the “;2009 Public Librarian of the Year.”; She is branch manager of Laupahoehoe Public & School Library.

—Margie Akita of Hanapepe Public Library, Barbara Gambsky of Mountain View Public & School Library and Lorna Lau of Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped were honored with the “;2009 Excellence in Service Awards.”;