Business Briefs

‘Hawaii Five-0’ again second in ratings

“Hawaii Five-0” drew nearly as many viewers Monday night to CBS as its cross-dial rival, “Castle,” but for the third week in a row, it outdrew the ABC series in the demographic that networks value most — adults 18-49 — according to Nielsen ratings numbers released by CBS.

With 11.07 million viewers, “Five-0” finished just behind “Castle,” which drew 11.18 million viewers. NBC’s “Playboy Club” attracted 3.47 million viewers and was canceled.

Last week, “Five-0” drew 11.6 million viewers while “Castle” drew 11.66 million viewers.

Among adults 18-49 on Monday night, “Five-0” attracted 3.2 percent of the total viewing audience and 8 percent of those who were watching TV at the time. “Castle” attracted 2.5 percent of the total viewing audience and 6 percent of those watching TV at that hour.

Hawaiian Airlines taps Ingram, Topping

Hawaiian Holdings Inc. has appointed Scott E. Topping executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of the parent company and subsidiary Hawaiian Airlines. Topping was at Southwest Airlines for 16 years, where he directed corporate finances among other jobs. Topping will join the company Nov. 1, succeeding Peter Ingram, who will assume a new role as executive vice president and chief commercial officer, also Nov. 1.

Ingram will oversee Hawaiian Air’s marketing and sales divisions, while Topping will lead the companies’ financial strategies and management, according to statements from the companies.

First Hawaiian to open new branch on Maui

First Hawaiian Bank said it will open a new full-service branch in Kahana, Maui, on Tuesday, replacing a smaller branch in Napili, which will close on Friday.

The new branch is double the size of the Napili branch, said Brian Kakihara, the bank’s Maui manager.

The new 1,992-square-foot branch is in the Kahana Gateway Shopping Center at 4405 Honoapiilani Highway. Its hours of operation will be 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays.

Kauai approved for smart meters

The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative welcomed a decision by state regulators to provide its customers with “smart meters” that will allow the utility to monitor electricity usage remotely on a real-time basis.

The Public Utilities Commission approved last week the KIUC’s request to spend $6 million on the project. An additional $5.9 million for the project will come from federal stimulus funds. The project is being done with the support of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

KIUC will replace about 33,000 electric meters with smart meters, along with an enhanced communications infrastructure that will allow two-way communications between those meters and KIUC. The technology will allow KIUC to conduct remote meter readings and detect outages at the household level, as well as demonstrate the effectiveness of load control and demand response systems.

“We are a small island grid, and upgrading our electrical grid with smart meters and related technology can make our system more efficient and help integrate new smart appliances, electric cars and other new and evolving technologies over the coming years,” said Mike Yamane, KIUC chief of operations and lead engineer on the project.

ON THE MOVE

The Farmers Insurance Hawaii Family of Companies has announced that Andrea Ward will serve as human resources business partner. She was previously a regional director of human resources for Wyndham Vacation Ownership as well as human resources manager for Honolulu Cellular/ AT&T Cingular/ Cingular Wireless.

AFF Hawaiian Ocean Transport has announced that Theresa Tilley will work as a transportation consultant who will be based out of their Honolulu office. She has more than 10 years of experience in sales and customer service as well as domestic offshore cargo transportation business and travel industry.

Maui Memorial Medical Center has hired Dr. Leslie B. Chun to serve as chief of clinical and medical affairs. He will lead all non-nursing clinical areas and oversee case management/social work, clinical service line development and quality, and patient safety. Chung was previously a director of health care quality and hospitalist at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and he also worked at Partners Health Care, the largest health care system in New England.