Business Briefs

Hawaii to receive $5.5 million for airport repairs

The state Department of Transportation will receive $5.5 million from Federal Aviation Administration grants to repair runway pavement and lighting, and improve terminal buildings, at Honolulu Airport, Kona Airport and Lihue Airport, according to a news release from Sen. Daniel Inouye’s office on Wednesday.

The largest grant, $2.3 million, will be used to repair a runway at Kona Airport by removing debris and strengthening the pavement. At Honolulu Airport, grant money will be used to repair a runway lighting system; acquire a friction measuring device to measure and maintain skid-resistant pavement surfaces and runways; repair a runway; and to continue roof repair to the central concourse. A grant also will be used to remove a drainage swale from the runway and taxiway safety area to eliminate ponding on airfield surfaces at Lihue Airport.

Oahu electric rates dipped in September

Residential electric rates on Oahu eased slightly in September from last month’s record high.

The bill for an Oahu household using 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month fell to $204.84 in September from $205.44 in August, Hawaiian Electric Co. said. The September rate of 32.7 cents a kilowatt-hour is down from a record 32.8 cents a kilowatt hour reached last month.

The increase in August was in large part due to an interim rate hike that added $3.31 a month to the typical bill on Oahu. High oil prices also have contributed to higher electric rates in recent months, HECO said. Fuel costs account for 61 percent of an electric bill on Oahu.

Residential rates also fell in September on the neighbor islands.

Maui Electric Co. customers saw rates fall to 36 cents per kilowatt-hour from August’s 36.6 cents per kilowatt hour. The typical Maui bill fell to $223.40 from $227.36.

Hawaii island residential rates fell to 41.6 cents per kilowatt-hour from last month’s 41.7 cents per kilowatt-hour. The typical bill fell by 36 cents to $261.37.

On Kauai the rate fell to 41.65 cents per kilowatt-hour. Last month the rate charged by the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative was 41.70 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Hirata named Tetris chief financial officer

Dean Hirata has left his position as state deputy director of budget and finance to become the chief financial officer for Honolulu-based Tetris Online Inc.

"Dean brings a wealth of experience and financial leadership to this new role of chief financial officer at Tetris Online," said Minoru Arakawa, president and chief executive officer of Tetris Online.

"We are confident that Dean will be a valuable addition to our executive team and guide the company financially as we continue to expand our games portfolio."

Hirata, a certified public accountant with more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, served as vice chairman and chief financial officer of Central Pacific Financial Corp. before joining state government. Before Central Pacific Financial Corp., he served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of CB Bancshares Inc., a bank holding company, whose principal subsidiary was City Bank. Hirata also worked at First Hawaiian Bank and the international accounting firm of KPMG.

Hawaiian Air passenger traffic drops

Hawaiian Airlines’ passenger traffic slipped 1.1 percent in August to 779,097 from 787,854 in the year-earlier period.

The carrier said Wednesday its percentage of seats filled, slipped 2 percentage points to 86 percent from 88 percent. Revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger transported one mile, rose 11.1 percent to 933 million from 840.1 million while available seat miles, or one seat transported one mile, rose 13.6 percent to 1.1 billion from 954.5 million.

Watts shares in $34.8M military pact

Honolulu-based Watts Constructors and California-based Webcor Builders have won a $34.8 million contract to develop a satellite communications operations center, an administration support center and a repair and utilities building at Camp Roberts, Calif., the Department of Defense said Wednesday. Work, contracted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Sacramento, Calif., is due to be completed by Sept. 10, 2013.

Meanwhile, Honolulu-based SUMO-NAN LLC won a $28 million contract to build an enlisted personnel barracks at Helemano Military Reservation on Oahu. Work is estimated to be completed by October 2013. The work also was contracted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Yahoo shares surge after CEO is fired

Yahoo Inc.’s stock surged after the company fired CEO Carol Bartz, whose reign was marked by falling sales, lost share to rivals and a dispute with Asian partners that stunted growth in the world’s largest Web market.

Bartz said in a memo to staff Tuesday that she was terminated by Chairman Roy Bostock by telephone. The company announced a strategic review aimed at helping revive growth at the most-visited U.S. Web portal, and said Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse will be interim CEO. The shares rose 5.4 percent, or 70 cents, to $13.61 on Wednesday. The management change and strategy overhaul may result in a sale of the company, said Jordan Rohan, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in New York.

On the Move

» Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced these new hires: 

— Kurt K. Akama has joined the Waikiki office. He was a Realtor associate at Inet Realty and also worked for Abe Lee Realty.

— Liane Onaga has joined the King Street office. She was a marketing and transaction coordinator for CBP agent Maria Hsu for the last six years.

— Lynnette Souders is a client services specialist. She was a secretary and trustee of Coarsegold Rodeo Association Inc. as well as an outside sales associate at Sierra Star newspaper in Bass Lake, Calif.

» Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union has announced Thomas W. Santos as vice president of Branch Administration. He was previously vice president and main branch manager at American Savings Bank.