Business Briefs

Parent company of Enterprise to hire 250 in Hawaii

Up to 250 Hawaii residents will be hired by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car in Hawaii.

Missouri-based Enterprise Holdings Inc. announced plans Wednesday to hire 11,000 people nationwide, and as many as 250 of those jobs will be full-time positions in Hawaii, a company spokes­woman said Thursday.

The positions include some in the company’s management training program.

Enterprise Holdings said it would hire thousands of college-educated, career-oriented people over the coming year, including 8,500 college graduates and 1,500 interns for both the management training program and its management internship program. The company’s online employment recruitment site is at www.go.enterprise.com.

Users of old meters could face fee on Kauai

The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative plans to seek regulatory approval to levy a charge on customers who choose to not use the company’s wireless smart meters.

Utility officials said Wednesday they will ask the state Public Utilities Commission to authorize a $10.27-per-month fee for customers who opt out of the smart-meter program.

Smart meters allow utilities to remotely read customers’ meters as well as connect and disconnect service.

KIUC says about 10 percent of its 30,000 customers are opting not to use smart meters. The cooperative says it costs about $340,000 a month to send technicians to read old-style meters still in use at 3,000 homes and businesses.

Utility officials say they think it’s fair to assign the cost of reading the old meters to members who have chosen to keep them, rather than have the entire membership pay.

Office vacancies on Oahu flat in third quarter

Oahu office vacancies continue to hover around 13 percent, little changed from last year, according to a report from commercial real estate firm Colliers International.

The report said 12.9 percent of leasable office space on Oahu was vacant at the end of September. That compared with 13.0 percent at the end of last year.

During the third quarter, about 2,000 square feet more space was emptied than filled. However, over the first nine months of the year, about 11,000 square feet more space was filled than emptied.

Colliers said in the report that tourism and construction industry growth should lead to increased office space leasing, though some big office space users are buying their own buildings and leaving more empty space on the rental market.

UPS honors isle driver for 25 safe years

United Parcel Service employee Bryan Ho has been inducted into the company’s Circle of Honor for 25 years of employment without an accident on the job.

Since joining UPS in Hawaii in 1980, Ho has worked 4,823,885 hours, driven 442,365 miles and aided in the delivery of more than 1 million packages.

He has never had an accident in all that time driving and making stops, and becomes one of only seven Hawaii-based package and feeder drivers to be so honored since UPS began service in Hawaii in 1975.

More than 102,000 UPS drivers are on the road each day, and of those, 5,711 are Circle of Honor members, the company said.

Property management firm boosts portfolio

Honolulu Property Management, a residential property management company recently formed by a Hawaii mortgage lender, has expanded with the acquisition of CD Management Ltd.

Honolulu Property Management was formed in August by the parent of Hono­lulu HomeLoans Inc. by acquiring The Property Managers Ltd., a 12-person firm that managed about 560 residential units.

With the acquisition of CD Management, Hono­lulu Property Management said it will manage about 700 Hawaii properties.

State offers renewable-energy permit help

The state has scheduled a free workshop for Oct. 15 in Hono­lulu to provide information and help developers of renewable-energy projects navigate the permitting process.

The workshop, set for 8 a.m. to noon at the Japa­­nese Cultural Center of Hawaii, will cover the ins and outs of the county and state land use and environmental permit processes. Representatives from various state and county offices will be on hand to answer questions.

There also will be one-on-one sessions with participating permitting agencies from 1 to 4 p.m.

Online registration is available at the state Office of Planning website, planning.hawaii.gov/spb/green-industry-permitting-workshop.

HPR maintains its 4-star fiscal rating

Hawaii Public Radio has received the highest possible rating for sound fiscal management in 2012 from Charity Navigator for its second consecutive year.

Charity Navigator also cited HPR for its commitment to accountability and transparency, placing it among only 18 percent of nonprofits across the U.S. to receive a second consecutive four-star rating, according to an HPR statement.

"This ‘exceptional’ designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Hawaii Public Radio from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust," Charity Navigator President and CEO Ken Berger wrote to HPR in its notification letter.

The letter arrived at HPR just as the broadcaster prepares for its regular fall pledge drive, slated to begin Oct. 16. Funds are raised to operate HPR stations statewide.

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ON THE MOVE

» Aston Hotels & Resorts has announced a new hire and a promotion in its Information Technology Services Department:

—Sonny Domingo as a senior analyst. He has more than 15 years of experience in system analysis and administration, including working for New City Nissan in Hono­lulu and serving as an infrastructure management analyst at the Rehab Hospital of the Pacific in Hono­lulu.

—Joel Tomyl to junior systems administrator from application support analyst. He has more than 25 years of management and customer service experience, including serving as a training and operations manager at New Horizons Computer Learning Center of Hawaii.

» The East Hawaii Region of Hawaii Health Systems Corp. has announced the appointment of Teana M.N. Kaho‘ohanohano as interim administrator of Hale Hoola Hamakua in Honokaa, Hawaii. She was previously a long term care and rehabilitation services director at Hilo Medical Center as well as held leadership experience at facilities managed by Avalon Health Care in California and Hawaii.