Pearl Harbor Shipyard to hold job fair
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, the state’s largest industrial employer, will hold an apprentice and engineering job fair from 8 a.m. to noon April 14 at Honolulu Community College, 874 Dillingham Blvd.
The shipyard will be hiring a minimum of 100 apprentices for the program that starts in January. The shipyard also wants to fill as many as 50 engineer and engineering support positions.
Representatives from 18 trades and the engineering department will set up displays at the job fair and be on hand to answer questions about their occupations, the shipyard said.
Apprenticeships are four-year work-study programs that pay trainees while they earn an associate’s degree in applied science from HCC and learn a trade on the job. Starting pay is $19 an hour and, at the end of four years, can be $29 or more an hour. Applicants must be 18 by Jan. 15, U.S. citizens and have a high school diploma or equivalent.
Applications for apprenticeships will be accepted online at www.usajobs.gov.
Rengo to build package plant in Kapolei
A company that filled much of the void left when Weyerhaeuser closed its Honolulu corrugated packaging plant in 2008 plans to further expand with its own box manufacturing plant later this year.
Rengo Packaging Inc. announced Tuesday that it will build a box plant in Kapolei.
Construction is slated to begin in the third quarter and finish in late 2013.
The facility is expected to employ about 60 people. The project’s development cost was not disclosed.
The move will alleviate the need for Rengo to import finished boxes and corrugated packaging materials, and represents a significant commitment to the market.
Rengo was formed in June when Japan-based Rengo Co. Ltd. bought the assets and hired the employees of Hawaii Box & Packaging Inc.
Hawaii Box was created in 2008 by former Weyerhaeuser employees when Weyerhaeuser, a Washington-based forestry products firm, shut down its Iwilei box plant, which employed 85 people.
U.S. tops in geothermal generating capacity
The U.S. geothermal industry added 91 megawatts of generating capacity nationwide last year, including eight megawatts at the Puna Geothermal Venture facility on Hawaii island, according to a report from the Geothermal Energy Association.
The addition brings the total U.S. geothermal generating capacity to 3,187 megawatts, the most of any country, the trade group said in a news release.
Hawaii is one of eight states producing power from geothermal resources.
The other states are Alaska, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. Seven other states — Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas and Washington — have geothermal capacity in development.
California leads the nation with 2,615 megawatts of generating capacity.
Hawaii has 38 megawatts of geothermal capacity, all at the Puna project.
Makai Parking gets Akaka Falls contract
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has selected Makai Parking Management to run parking services at Akaka Falls State Park for the next five years.
Makai, which holds concession contracts with Honolulu and several private clients, has a history with the land department going back to 2010, when it was selected to manage parking at the Nuuanu Pali State Wayside.
The company’s Aparc pay stations, which have been used at the Honolulu Zoo, are solar-powered and have proved their suitability for Hawaii, said Ben Fletcher, Makai’s regional manager.
As a result of its newest contract, Makai will add four new jobs on Hawaii island, Fletcher said.
Burger King to re-list shares
NEW YORK » Burger King is prettying up for a public outing.
The world’s No. 2 hamburger chain, which is in the midst of overhauling its menu and stores, says it expects to re-list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange within the next three months.
Burger King previously traded under "BKC" between 2006 and 2010, but its new ticker has not yet been determined.
ON THE MOVE
Event-planning and production company Current Affairs has named Richard "Rick" Romer as creative design director. He has more than 30 years of set design experience, including for "The River," "Hawaii Five-0," "Lost," "Princess Ka‘iulani" and "Baywatch Hawaii."
Central Pacific Bank has appointed Dawn Mishima to home loan consultant of the Central Pacific HomeLoan Division. She has more than 20 years of mortgage banking experience.
Roy Catalani has joined Enterprise Honolulu’s board of directors. He is vice president of strategic planning and government affairs at Young Bros. Ltd. Earlier in his career, Catalani was a partner in law firms Rush Moore, Catalani Nakanishi & Caliboso, and Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel.
The Hawaii Solar Energy Association has elected its board of directors for 2012: Gabriel Chong, president; Andrew Yani, vice president; Rick Reed, senior policy adviser; Gary Ralston, secretary; Rolf Christ, treasurer; and Cully Judd, board member emeritus.