Turtle Bay hotel workers ratify contract

Union hotel workers at Turtle Bay Resort ratified a new five-year contract Friday that provides for significant wage increases fully retroactive to July 1, 2010, and ensures that current comprehensive family and retiree health and welfare coverage will continue.

Nontipped workers will receive an increase of $4.30 over the life of contract. In addition, the package includes contribution increases that protect pension benefits for future and current retirees, two added holidays, subsidized bus passes, and language to address unreasonable workload.

Union employees, represented by Unite Here Local 5, had been working without a new contract for more than two years until a tentative agreement was announced last week. It will expire Dec. 31, 2015. Local 5 represents more than 10,500 workers throughout Hawaii who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries.

UH School of Nursing gets $648,000 grant

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to give the University of Hawaii-Manoa School of Nursing a $648,000 grant to provide scholarships to 15 primary-care family or adult/gerontological nurse practitioner graduate students. The grant is intended to increase the number of primary-care nurse practitioners providing clinical care in rural communities by graduating 15 primary-care NPs committed to working in underserved communities in Hawaii by summer 2014.

"The most serious health problems in Hawaii are obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and asthma," said Nursing Dean Mary Boland. "Yet many people have to wait to get care or can’t access patient-centered care. The NP graduates from UH-Manoa will increase access to needed health care services throughout the state."

For more information, see www.nursing.hawaii.edu/ nursing-practitioner.html.

Kokua Kalihi Valley gets solar system

Greenpath Technologies Inc., a Small Business Administration Certified 8(a) Native Hawaiian-owned and established renewable energy firm, has completed a solar photovoltaic system for Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services’ new Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Wellness Center. The PV system was funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Program through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Greenpath President Briand Achong estimates that the system will save more than $17,000 annually.

Starbucks to open first store in India

MUMBAI, India » Starbucks will open its first outlet in India by the end of October in an upscale neighborhood of Mumbai and has appointed a chief executive to head its Indian joint venture, the company said Friday.

The store will be in Mumbai’s Hor­ni­man Circle neighborhood, which boasts an Hermes store and a stately neighborhood park. It will feature coffee sourced locally, through an arrangement with Tata Coffee Ltd.

Starbucks is operating in India through a 50-50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, called Tata Starbucks Ltd.

U.K. regulator outlines LIBOR overhaul

LONDON » Britain’s financial regulator on Friday laid out a 10-point plan to overhaul the handling of a key global interest rate that has been the subject of a scandal involving major banks across multiple countries.

Barclays bank agreed in June to pay a $453 million fine to U.S. and British agencies after admitting it had submitted false information for the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, which is used to price trillions of dollars in financial contracts, including mortgages. Other firms are being probed in the scandal, which has undermined public trust in banks and damaged the reputations of British financial regulators.

The new plan proposes that bankers convicted of manipulating the rate face criminal penalties and that a new agency take over management of LIBOR. It also calls for tougher controls on banks involved in the rate’s calculation.

Illinois bank failure brings 2012 total to 43

WASHINGTON » Regulators shuttered a small bank in Illinois on Friday, bringing to 43 the number of U.S. bank failures this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it seized First United Bank, based in Crete, Ill. The bank had about $328.4 million in assets and $316.9 million in deposits as of June 30. U.S. bank closures are running at a slower pace than in 2011: By this time last year, 73 banks had failed.

Walgreen profit falls 55%, tops forecasts

Walgreen says its fiscal fourth-quarter net income tumbled 55 percent compared with a year ago when the drugstore operator recorded a big gain from a business sale. Its adjusted earnings still trumped Wall Street expectations.

The nation’s largest drugstore chain says it earned $353 million, or 39 a share, compared with $792 million, or 87 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding one-time items, Walgreen says it earned 63 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Fact­Set forecast adjusted earnings of 55 cents per share.

Walgreen recorded a $434 million gain last year from the sale of its pharmacy benefits management business.

ON THE MOVE

Central Pacific Bank has named Aidan Millar vice president, manager of product management and corporate projects. He has more than 20 years of international experience in management consulting and financial services, including global strategy and planning for ABN Amro Bank NV in Hong Kong and London.

MW Group has promoted Brian Wong to chief operating officer from senior vice president. He has served the company for nine years and also serves on the Plaza Club Board of Governors, and as a Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation trustee and past president of the CCIM Hawaii chapter.

Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa has named Samuel Spurrier senior sales manager. He will also oversee the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa on Maui and securing group business on the East Coast. He has previous experience as group sales executive for Hawaii resorts and hotels on Oahu and Maui.