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State awards $600,000 to employer groups
The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has awarded more than $600,000 in grants designed to strengthen local small businesses through training programs. The grants will be used as seed money to develop innovative education and training curricula in economic sectors identified by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the county workforce investment boards, employer organizations, industry and trade associations, and labor organizations.
"Too often small businesses lack the ability to provide training for their workers, which impedes their ability to both remain viable and grow," said DLIR Director Dwight Takamine. "These grants will assist small businesses and their workers by providing training that would otherwise not be available."
The grant recipients are Retail Merchants of Hawaii ($125,000), Japan Hawaii Travel Association ($112,500), Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association ($125,000), Hawaii Island Workforce and Economic Development Ohana Inc. ($117,502), Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers ($70,886) and Service Corps of Retired Executives Association ($94,000).
U.S. airlines add jobs for 6 months in a row
WASHINGTON » U.S. airlines have been adding jobs for six straight months, though the gains aren’t big ones.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday that the nation’s passenger airlines had the equivalent of 385,619 full-time workers in May, up 1.1 percent from May 2013. That’s the highest level since September 2012.
Delta, American, US Airways and JetBlue added jobs while United shrunk 2.5 percent and Southwest slipped by 0.3 percent. Some smaller low-fare airlines are growing faster than bigger airlines in percentage terms. Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air increased jobs by nearly 13 percent.
All the major airlines except United made money in the first quarter on strong travel demand. All are expected to post profits for the second quarter, including United.
The government counts two part-time employees as one full-time worker.
Allergan to lay off 1,500 in restructuring
Botox maker Allergan will cut about 13 percent of its workforce as part of a push to become more efficient while it fights a hostile takeover bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
The Irvine, Calif., company said Monday it plans to trim about 1,500 employees and around 250 vacant positions as it restructures to focus on its "highest-value opportunities."
Allergan said its restructuring will yield annual pretax savings of about $475 million in 2015. It announced the cuts the same day it said second-quarter results trumped analyst expectations, as earnings grew 16 percent to $417.2 million.
Allergan Inc. has rejected several takeover attempts from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management. The latest amounts to about $53 billion in cash and stock.
McDonald’s, KFC in China face food scandal
BEIJING » McDonald’s and KFC in China faced a new food safety scare Monday after a Shanghai television station reported a supplier sold them expired beef and chicken.
The companies said they immediately stopped using meat from the supplier, Husi Food Co. Ltd. The Shanghai office of China’s food and drug agency said it was investigating and told customers to suspend use of the supplier’s products.
Dragon TV said Sunday that Husi, owned by OSI Group of Aurora, Ill., repackaged old beef and chicken and put new expiration dates on them. It said they were sold to McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants.
The report added to a series of food safety scares in China that have battered public confidence in dairies, fast-food outlets and other suppliers.
Thirst for U.S. craft beer grows overseas
RICHMOND, Va. » Helping to quench a growing thirst for American craft beer overseas, some of the United States’ largest craft breweries are setting up shop in Europe, challenging the very beers that inspired them on their home turfs.
It’s the latest phenomenon in the flourishing craft beer industry, which got its start emulating the European brews that defined many of the beer styles we drink today. The move also marks a continuing departure from the status quo of mass market lagers or stouts, demonstrating a willingness of American breweries to explore — and innovate — Old World beer styles from Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.
German supermarket tycoon Albrecht dies
BERLIN » Karl Albrecht, co-founder of the Aldi grocery store empire and one of the world’s richest people, has died in the western German city of Essen. He was 94.
Albrecht and his brother Theo, who died in 2010, both worked in their parents’ grocery store as they were growing up. After both serving as German soldiers in World War II, the two took over the business and began a rapid expansion. Today the group has thousands of stores in 17 countries in Europe, North America and Australia, and a family trust established by Theo Albrecht in 1979 bought the U.S. specialty grocery chain Trader Joe’s. Karl Albrecht was ranked No. 24 on this year’s Forbes list of the world’s richest people with an estimated net worth of $25.9 billion.
ON THE MOVE
Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing announced it has added three new associates:
» Aryanna Abouzari practices in commercial litigation with a focus on health care. She previously served as an executive officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Region III (Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia).
» Morgan Early practices in health care law and litigation as well as public interest matters and civil rights litigation. Prior to joining AHFI, she served an internship as a law clerk to Federal Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler at the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
» Samantha M. Sneed practices in business transactions, government contracts and intellectual property with an emphasis on the energy industry. Her internship experience includes working at the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Strategic Industries Division, Energy Planning and Policy Office; and at the Hawaii Procurement Institute.