Business Briefs

Hispanic Achievement Awards proclaimed

Winners of the 2011 Hawaii Hispanic Achievement Awards have been announced by Latin Business Hawaii.

Mari and David Smith, president and CEO, respectively, of Pacific Corporate Solutions, were named Businesspersons of the Year. The Educator of the Year is Carol Beresiwsky, retired professor of Spanish and French at Kapiolani Community College. Jerome Ramos, owner of the Jerome Ramos Dance Studio, has been named entertainer of the year; and Ray Cruz, assistant operations director of Hawaii Public Radio and longtime host of “Sabor Tropical” on KIPO-FM 89.3, has been named Media Advocate of the Year.

Honorees will be feted from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Plaza Club, 900 Fort Street Mall. Tickets are $40 and must be purchased in advance as there will be no sales at the door. Reservations and ticket purchases are available via Jose Villa at 744-7225 or josevilla@latinbusinesshawaii.com.

All Nippon Airways gets first Boeing 787

EVERETT, Wash. » Boeing Co. handed over the keys to its first 787 wide-body jet to All Nippon Airways on Monday after years of delays, marking a long-awaited milestone in the history of commercial flight.

Thousands of workers gathered for the ceremony at Paine Field, outside the building where the planes are assembled, with many finding shelter from the rain under the wings of two yet-to-be-delivered 787s. The first ANA 787 was nearby at the Future of Flight Aviation Center, where it was being prepared for a reception Monday night and its flight to Japan today.

The plane will go into service in November.

Berkshire Hathaway will buy back shares

OMAHA, Neb. » Warren Buffett is sending a clear signal that he believes Berkshire Hathaway’s stock is undervalued by announcing a plan to repurchase stock for the first time since taking over the firm in 1965.

Berkshire said Monday that the company Buffett leads will repurchase its Class A and B shares any time they are trading at less than 110 percent of book value.

Book value is a measure of a company’s value that Buffett often cites because it is similar to the intrinsic value figure he calculates to determine whether an investment is overpriced. At the end of June, Berkshire estimated its assets were worth $98,716 per Class A share after liabilities were deducted.

Martha Stewart back on company’s board

NEW YORK » Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia says its namesake and founder has rejoined its board of directors.

Her return coincides with the end of her five-year ban from serving on the board or as an executive of a public company. That was part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over insider-trading charges.

New York-based Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. said in May that Martha Stewart would rejoin the board in the third quarter.

Stewart was convicted of federal criminal charges in 2004 for lying to prosecutors about selling ImClone shares a day before the Food and Drug Administration announced it declined to review an ImClone application for a cancer drug. She served five months in prison.

Netflix buys rights to DreamWorks content

SAN FRANCISCO » Netflix unveiled a coming attraction its disillusioned subscribers might like: the Internet video rights to films and television specials from DreamWorks Animation.

The multiyear deal announced Monday will give Netflix Inc.’s streaming service the exclusive rights to show the latest content from DreamWorks, the studio behind a list of popular franchises including “Shrek,” “Kung Fu Panda” and “Madagascar.” It comes after weeks of disruptive changes that irked Netflix’s 24.6 million U.S. customers and spooked its shareholders. But even this bit of good news had a downside: The DreamWorks rights don’t kick in until 2013.

Coca-Cola plans to invest $3B in Russia

NEW YORK » Coca-Cola Co. and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co. SA plan to invest $3 billion in Russia over the next five years as part of an ongoing push into emerging markets.

Coca-Cola, the world’s largest soft drink maker, has been investing in emerging markets in order to expand its presence there. The Atlanta company gets about three-quarters of its revenue from overseas, with emerging markets among its fastest-growing components. The $3 billion investment in Russia will occur from 2012 to 2016.

540 Lockheed employees will be laid off

FORT WORTH, Texas » Lockheed Martin Corp. is laying off 540 employees in plane-making operations in Texas, Georgia and California.

The company said Monday it expected most of the affected workers to leave by year’s end.

The layoffs are part of a move announced in June to eliminate 1,500 jobs in the aeronautics business as Lockheed cuts costs in response to pressure to limit U.S. defense spending. Spokeswoman Laura Siebert said 370 of the layoffs will be salaried executive and administrative workers in Fort Worth, Texas.

ON THE MOVE

The Hawaii Meth Project has appointed Joseph Perez as executive director. He was previously a public information officer for the Hawaii Department of Human Services as well as an educator in Los Angeles, including as head of the Country School.

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has appointed Alane Podoll as chief financial officer. She will be responsible for overseeing the financial operations of the state’s largest real estate firm. Podoll has 20 years of managerial and executive-level experience, including as director of finance for the Ritz-Carlton Destination Club at the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences Kapalua Bay as well as Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club, a Marriott Vacation Club Resort.

East-West Center Foundation has announced Mangmang Qiu Brown as its new vice president for development. She will be responsible for overall planning and management for the foundation’s development strategies. Brown has more than 20 years of international engagement and was previously an assistant vice president for the University of Hawaii Foundation.

General Atlantic Corp. has awarded Chaminade University a $43,000 grant to support cancer research and a $7,000 grant to acquire advanced instrumentation for the physics department.