3 isle chefs up for people’s choice title
Chris Kajioka, Kevin Lee and Sheldon Simeon have been nominated by Food & Wine magazine as among the nation’s best new chefs, and online voting is open to the public.
The magazine has selected 100 chefs from 10 different regions and is inviting online voters to select the People’s Best New Chef. After a recent snub by the annual James Beard Foundation Awards, Hawaii has been acknowledged by the popular magazine for chefs Kajioka, of Vintage Cave Honolulu; Lee, of Prima in Kailua; and Simeon, of Migrant restaurant in Kihei, Maui.
Online voting at is.gd/voteFW_BestChef2014 continues through Monday, and the chef with the most votes will be named the People’s Best New Chef for 2014.
Ag group seeks farms for student tours
Commercial farms in Hawaii are being asked to open their businesses to local high school students for tours and internships in an effort that could help produce a future crop of farmers.
The Hawaii Agricultural Foundation and the state Department of Education are seeking agriculture-related companies to participate in their "In the Fields" program by hosting students in the 2014-2015 school year.
The program’s goal is to go beyond school garden programs that introduce farming to students, and present a broader view of how farms work and the jobs that are available in the industry such as crop management, food processing and packaging, marketing and distribution.
For more information or to participate, businesses may contact Malia Crowell, education manager for the Agricultural Foundation, at malia.wharton@gmail.com or 990-7798.
Ranch, investment firm form Paniolo Cattle
Parker Ranch and Ulupono Initiative said they will form the Paniolo Cattle Co. to raise grass-fed beef. Paniolo Cattle will begin with 1,400 head of cattle to be raised at Parker Ranch on Hawaii island, which the companies said will increase the supply of grass-fed steers to the Hawaii market by nearly 35 percent.
The step came after a pre-commercial trial of raising grass-fed beef the companies conducted from September 2012 to May 2013, in which they said 80 percent of the beef was graded "choice."
Parker Ranch, headquartered in Waimea on the Big Island, is Hawaii’s largest cattle operation and the state’s second-largest private landowner. Ulupono Initiative is a for-profit investment firm established by billionaire Pierre Omidyar to create more locally grown food, increase clean renewable energy production and reduce waste.
CPB’s parent to buy back $125M in shares
The parent of Central Pacific Bank will repurchase more than 6.1 million shares worth $125 million, following an auction that concluded Friday.
The state’s fourth-largest bank said Monday it expects to buy back $68.8 million worth of its Central Pacific Financial Corp. common stock at the price of $20.20 from shareholders who tendered shares via the auction. Central Pacific also will repurchase $56.2 million worth of shares through agreements with its two largest shareholders, Carlyle Financial Services Harbor LP and ACMO-CPF LLC, at the price of $20.20 per share. The bank will repurchase $28.1 million worth of shares from each of the two shareholders.
Carlyle and ACMO-CPF were the lead investors which each purchased $98.6 million worth of Central Pacific Financial Corp. stock in February 2011 at the price of $10 a share as part of the bank’s $325 million recapitalization. Carlyle and ACMO-CPF each currently owns 22.5 percent of the company’s 42.1 million outstanding shares.
The private repurchases are expected to occur April 7. The company’s stock closed up 17 cents Monday at $20.15 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Wendy’s sells 7 restaurants in Hawaii
Seven Hawaii Wendy’s restaurants and 32 locations in the Los Angeles and Palm Springs areas were purchased by California-based Cotti Foods California Inc., a Wendy’s franchisee.
The Wendy’s Co. announced the sale Monday along with the sale of other restaurants in the Phoenix and Albuquerque, N.M., areas.
Since July 2013 Wendy’s has sold 418 company-operated restaurants in 13 U.S. markets, primarily in the West. Wendy’s received about $235 million for the sales, including $138 million in 2013.
There are six restaurants on Oahu and one restaurant on Maui.
ON THE MOVE
Communications Pacific has promoted:
» Russell Pang to executive vice president. He was previously chief of media relations for Gov. Linda Lingle. After two terms working for the governor, Pang returned to CommPac as vice president in 2011 and was promoted in less than a year to senior vice president.
» Nalani Choy to senior vice president. She joined CommPac as vice president in 2013. Choy is a member of Na Leo Pilimehana, a Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning musical trio.
Waikiki Health has announced Mary BethLohman has joined the staff as a director of marketing and development. She has 20 years of marketing and sales experience.
The Queen’s Medical Center has announced that Kara Izumi has been named 2013 Employee of the Year. Izumi is the clinical pharmacist for Queen Emma Tower 4’s Surgical Intensive Care Unit and the nutrition support specialist for the Pharmacy Department.
