First woman to lead Punahou board

Claire Olsen Johnson has been elected to a two-year term as chairwoman of the Punahou School Board of Trustees, the first woman in the post in the school’s 170-year history.

Johnson has served on the board in various capacities since 1974 and is an alumna.

Johnson also has been active with the American Heart Association, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Garden Club of Honolulu and Junior League of Honolulu.

Horizon, Pasha lower fuel surcharge

Horizon Lines and Pasha Hawaii will cut their fuel surcharge by 2 percentage points for their mainland-Hawaii service, effective Sunday, the companies said Monday.

Horizon is reducing its surcharge to 45.5 percent from 47.5 percent while Pasha is lowering its fee to 41.5 percent from 43.5 percent. The reductions match a 2-percentage- point decrease last week by Matson Navigation Co., which cut its surcharge to 45.5 percent, also effective Sunday.

Waialae Elementary to install solar system

Waialae Elementary Public Charter School estimates it will cut its electric bill by $11,000 a year by installing a rooftop solar power system.

The 113.4-kilowatt system being installed by Kailua-based Sunetric will produce an estimated 18,719 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, or enough to offset 94 percent of the school’s nonrenewable energy usage, Sunetric said Monday.

Sunetric will own the system and sell the electricity to the school under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Waialae Elementary will buy the electricity at a discount to what it is paying Hawaiian Electric Co. Construction is set to be completed by the end of 2011.

"Every dollar we save on operating costs is another dollar we can put back into the education of our students," said Wendy Lagaretta, Waialae Elementary School principal. "Not only are we saving money through Sunetric’s solar power purchase agreement, we are showing our students what it means to be good stewards of the environment."

Small raises seen for salaried workers in ’12

NEW YORK » A new survey says salaried U.S. workers can expect another year of modest raises in 2012.

After increasing salaries by 2.6 percent this year and last year, companies are planning a 2.8 percent bump in 2012, benefits and human resources consultancy Towers Watson reported Monday. From 2000 to 2006, the year before the Great Recession began, salaries rose an average 3.9 percent for workers who were not executives.

Wells Fargo puts an end to debit rewards

NEW YORK » Wells Fargo says it will end its debit rewards program for existing customers in October. The bank ended enrollment in the program to new customers earlier this year.

Chase also ended its debit rewards program this year, and PNC Bank said it will no longer give customers with free checking accounts rewards for debit card purchases.

Banks say the pullback is a result of a new regulation that will limit how much they can collect from merchants whenever customers swipe their debit cards. This revenue stream generated an estimated $19.7 billion for banks in 2009, according to the Nilson Report, which tracks the payments industry. The rule goes into effect in October and will cap the amount banks can collect from retailers at 21 cents for each debit card transaction, plus an additional 0.05 percent of the purchase price to cover the cost of fraud protection. Banks currently charge an average of 44 cents per transaction.

Ford, Toyota to team up on hybrid trucks

DEARBORN, Mich. » Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor said Monday that they would jointly develop a gas-electric hybrid fuel system for pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles aimed at keeping larger models affordable as the automakers work to meet stricter fuel-economy standards.

The companies said they did not plan to collaborate on developing the vehicles themselves, instead using the hybrid system they develop to power separate models under the Ford and Toyota brands. The resulting hybrid trucks would go on sale later this decade, they said.

ON THE MOVE

Mobi PCS has named Brian T. Stewart as chief financial officer. He was previously a vice president and controller for Hawaiian Airlines as well as a longtime executive at Bank of Hawaii where he held an executive vice president and controller position in 2008.

Hastings & Pleadwell has hired Ashley L. Kierkiewicz for communication and public outreach coordination at the office at 614 Kilauea Ave., Suite 103, in Hilo. Kierkiewicz has interned for Sen. Daniel K. Akaka in Washington as well as with the Hawaii County Mayor’s Office and the Department of Environmental Management.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has awarded the Taro Security and Purity Task Force a two-year grant totaling $270,000. The funds will allow the Task Force to advocate the needs of taro farmers and the perpetuation of taro growing.