Isle company gets $2.6M from land sale
Kaupulehu Investors LLC, a subsidiary of Barnwell Industries Inc., has netted $2.64 million for the sale of its interest in Hualalai Resort.
Morton Kinzler, chairman and CEO of the Honolulu-based and publicly traded Barnwell, said in a statement, "The company will recognize a gain on this transaction in the company’s quarter ending Sept. 30." Barnwell "still has continuing long-term interests in lands adjacent to Hualalai Resort," he said.
Local small business in national spotlight
Honolulu’s Mojo Barbershop has been singled out by SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, as an Outstanding Minority-Owned Small Business for 2014.
The 2014 SCORE Awards recognize excellence by American small-business owners and nonprofits whose successes have been assisted by SCORE services.
Located at 1157 Bethel St. and owned by Marian Lee, Mojo opened in late 2011 offering grooming services for men beyond a haircut.
The "M" in Mojo’s logo comprises two straight razors, which are used in the shop for its traditional barbershop shaves.
Mojo and other winners this year will be honored at an Aug. 14 gala in Washington, D.C., that also will celebrate SCORE’s 50th anniversary and the more than 10 million small businesses its volunteers have served.
Book advises facilities on saving energy
Hawaii Energy, a ratepayer-funded energy conservation program, has developed the Water & Wastewater Energy Management Best Practices Handbook to help water and wastewater facilities operate with increased energy efficiency.
"The majority of Hawaii’s drinking water comes from groundwater wells that require substantial amounts of electricity to pump out of the ground, into elevated storage reservoirs and then transported to customers," explained William Tam, deputy director for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Commission on Water Resource Management. "If a lot of water is lost during this process, more energy is needed to pump additional water to compensate for the shortfall. Reducing water loss reduces energy consumption."
Based on a Hawaii Energy survey conducted in 2013, the state’s public water and wastewater systems consume an estimated 290.3 million kilowatt-hours per year, which is approximately 3.2 percent of the electric utilities’ total sales.
The generally accepted industry standard for water and wastewater facilities is that energy efficiency measures can generate 20 percent or more in energy savings. For Hawaii the 20 percent potential savings translate to more than 58 million kwh per year (or $16.1 million) based on an average electricity rate of 28 cents per kwh. That’s enough to power 9,400 homes in Hawaii.
Vietnam honors eye doctor from Hawaii
Dr. John Corboy, president and founder of Hawaiian Eye Foundation, has been awarded the Medal for People’s Health by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.
Corboy will go to Vietnam in December to receive the medal from professor Bui Duc Phu, director of Hue Central Hospital.
Since 2006, in partnership with Hue Central Hospital, HEF has conducted a training conference in Vietnam every other year to demonstrate eye surgical techniques to hundreds of Vietnamese ophthalmologists.
In addition to ophthalmic training programs in Southeast Asia, HEF has for 30 years conducted humanitarian eye surgery expeditions to Pacific island nations, including Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and Kiribati.
Contracts to buy homes slipped in June
WASHINGTON » Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in June, as the real estate market appears to have cooled off this summer.
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index slipped 1.1 percent to 102.7 last month. The index remains 7.3 percent below its level a year ago.
Sales have been slowed by a mix of meager wage growth, rising home prices and mortgage rates that rose steadily through the end of last year.
Pending sales are a barometer of future purchases. A one- to two-month lag usually exists between a contract and a completed sale.
Signed contracts in June fell in the Northeast and South. They rose slightly in the Midwest and West.
Pending sales in all four U.S. regions are below last year’s pace.
ON THE MOVE
Central Pacific Bank has promoted Ashutosh Son­dhi to vice president and debit card manager. He has been with CPB since 2010 and has 20 years of banking, management and sales experience. Sondhi had been a product development manager at American Savings Bank.
Hawaiian Electric has donated $15,000 to the Hawaiian Isle Tennis project. The funds will be used to continue the flagship Play Tennis after-school leadership and character development program, which focuses on underserved middle-school children in the Palolo-Kaimuki community.
The American Society of Landscape Architects has elevated 32 members to the ASLA Council of Fellows for 2014, including Thomas Witten, who received his nomination in leadership-management from the Hawaii Chapter. Witten works at PBR Hawaii & Associates and has successfully raised the position and role of landscape architecture for projects of all sizes with his extensive knowledge and professionalism. Fellowship is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members, and it recognizes these individuals to their profession and society at large based on their leadership, works, knowledge, service and management. Witten and the new fellows will be recognized in Denver at the 2014 ASLA Annual Meeting and Expo in late November.
