Philippines trade act endorsed

A measure that would expand U.S. trade in Asia by allowing apparel manufactured in the Philippines with U.S. fabrics to enter the country duty free was introduced Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, Sens. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii; Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii; and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., announced.

The Save Our Industries Act (SAVE) has the potential to create upward of 2,000 jobs in the U.S. fabric mill sector while spurring an incentivized export market for the U.S. textile industry. With almost 99 percent of the U.S. apparel market now served by imports, U.S. textile manufacturers are reliant on export markets for their survival.

The SAVE Act is patterned after the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, which permits tariff-free import of apparel assembled in those countries in return for using cotton and manmade fiber fabrics still made in the United States.

Halekulani Living wins top award

Oahu Publications Inc.’s Halekulani Living magazine received a "Maggie" award, recognizing the "Best of the West," at the recent 60th annual gala of the Western Publishing Association.

Halekulani Living was recognized with the WPA’s highest honor as the Best Semi-Annual Trade & Consumer Publication. It also earned a certificate of excellence as a finalist for Best New Trade & Consumer Publication.

HILuxury, which also is published by Oahu Publications, received two certificates of excellence as a finalist, one in the "Lifestyle & Alternative Lifestyle Consumer Magazine" category and one for "Best Interview or Profile" for its feature on acclaimed Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.

Oahu Publications is the publisher of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and MidWeek.

Hawaii economic outlook ranks 46th

Hawaii ranked 46th among states for the poorest economic outlook in a study released Wednesday by the American Legislative Exchange Council. The fourth edition of "Rich States, Poor States" analyzes the real effects of current policies within each state and ranks the states according to their economic growth.

The publication outlines two sets of state rankings. An economic performance ranking is based on the past 10 years of economic data and takes into consideration income, population and job growth. An economic outlook ranking uses 15 policy variables, including various tax burdens, recently legislated tax changes, regulatory burdens and labor policy.

First Wind marks Kaheawa anniversary

First Wind, a U.S.-based wind energy company, and its partner Makani Nui Associates, commemorated the five-year anniversary Wednesday of successful commercial operations of their 30 megawatt Maui-based Kaheawa Wind Power I (KWP I) project. As Maui’s first utility-scale wind project, KWP I has generated nearly 563 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity since it went online on June 22, 2006. The equivalent amount of energy from a traditional fossil fuel facility would have required more than 902,604 barrels of oil. KWP I powers approximately 11,000 homes on Maui a year — about 9 percent of the island’s energy.

First Wind is currently constructing a second project, Kaheawa Wind Power II (KWP II), a 21-megawatt project adjacent to KWP I. Once KWP II is complete, the combined projects will have a capacity of 51 MW with the potential to produce enough energy for the equivalent of 20,000 Maui homes annually.

ON THE MOVE

Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor has announced the following new hires:

>> Cynthia Emoto as development coordinator. She has more than 20 years of broadcast journalism, public relations and marketing experience.

>> Maria Elena Brown as education coordinator. She has more than 20 years of experience in training coordination.

>> Harris Bonnell as restoration manager. He will oversee all restoration projects and volunteers, aircraft projects and progress on Hangar 79’s restoration team.  

>> Miwa Hammond as administrative assistant. Her experience includes office administration, customer service, interpreting and housing management for various organizations.

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has hired Susan Des Jarlais as Realtor associate at its Windward Oahu office. She was previously a Realtor associate at County-Wide Properties in Indiana.

Kaiser Permanente has announced the following new appointments:

>> Michelle Lewellen as an account manager. She was previously a registered nurse with the Blood Bank of Hawaii.

>> Michelle Alani as sales coordinator. She was previously with Warehouses District Flooring’s accounting department in Kailua-Kona.

>> Garriann Montalbo as sales coordinator. She has nine years of sales and account management experience in the health care industry.

>> Julie So as sales coordinator. She was previously a sales account manager with Cox Radio Hawaii and Kanpai Bar and Grill.