Isle talk to focus on arts and economy

An arts chat on Hawaii’s creative economy will be featured Wednesday at the Hawaii State Art Museum.

Randy Cohen, vice president of research and policy for Americans for the Arts, will present the results of the Arts and Economic Prosperity 5 report. Data for the report were collected from 341 study regions across all 50 states, and provides information about spending by arts organizations and event-related spending by their audiences. The Bureau of Economic Analysis showed in its most recent report that 4 percent of the state’s gross domestic product is attributed to arts and culture.

Georja Skinner, chief officer of the Creative Industries Division for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, will give metrics and information on the impact of creative industries in Hawaii.

The event, which is free, will be held from 9-10:30 a.m. at the No. 1 Capitol District Building, Multipurpose Room (ground floor) at 250 S. Hotel St.

The reports can be downloaded from hawaiiartsalliance.org/aep5. To register for the event, go to conta.cc/2w8vN9H.

Japan grows at 4% pace in quarter

TOKYO >> Japan’s economy grew at a hearty 4.0 percent annual pace in the April-June quarter, helped by stronger consumer spending and corporate capital investment.

Economists had been forecasting a relatively strong performance for the world’s third-largest economy, though the actual numbers were better than expected.

The last quarter’s growth was the sixth straight quarter of expansion and the fastest since the first quarter of 2015. The economy expanded at a revised 1.5 percent annual pace in January-March.

On a quarterly basis the economy grew at a 1.0 percent pace, up from 0.4 percent in the previous quarter. The data released Monday are preliminary and likely to be revised.

Industrial output is forecast to slow in the current quarter, but will remain robust enough to keep the economy growing at a fast clip, said Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics.

ON THE MOVE

>> Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel has hired Ashley C. Chinen for the firm’s labor and employment practice group. Chinen comes from a San Francisco office of a national defense firm. She has experience in representing employers in employment and labor matters, including wage, discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination claims, and Equal Pay Act claims.

>> Homebridge Financial Services has hired Jean Miller as a mortgage loan originator for its new Aiea Town Square office. Her more than 10 years of experience includes being mortgage loan originator for Castle & Cooke, Kamaaina Mortgage Group and Bank of America Home Loan. She also held numerous additional positions with Castle & Cooke including contracts administrator, property management supervisor and loan officer.

>> Island Air has named Christopher Gossert vice president of finance. He was previously an audit senior manager at Ernst & Young LLP with 12 years’ experience in its airline industry practice.