OHA chief operating officer stepping down

The chief operating officer of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs has announced plans to leave the agency April 30 to open a residential property management business.

Kawika Burgess announced his plan to OHA’s board and staff last week. He plans to open a Honolulu franchise of Real Property Management Alliance. Burgess served as OHA’s COO for about 18 months, and previously was a land assets manager for Kamehameha Schools.

The OHA job involved overseeing 170 employees and a roughly $40 million operating budget for the agency, which said it is the 13th largest landowner in Hawaii.

GoDaddy shares jump in market debut

SAN FRANCISCO » If GoDaddy was hoping to draw attention for something other than provocative ads, it has succeeded. The company’s shares made their trading debut on Wednesday at $26.15, more than 30 percent above the initial public offering price of $20 a share and a dollar more than the top end of the expected range. At the opening price, the company is valued at about $4 billion.

The company’s shares also finished at $26.15, changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GDDY. That debut is an auspicious start for GoDaddy as it embarks on new life as a publicly traded company. It hopes to show investors and customers that it is more than just a way to register website domain names or a purveyor of risque advertising.

New cologne lures Burger King patrons

TOKYO » The whiff of a Whopper made hundreds of customers hungry for a Burger King special Wednesday: Flame Grilled cologne. Bottles of the fragrance were sold at the fast-food chain’s stores in Japan for 5,000 yen (about $40), including one Whopper burger.

Burger King said the cologne sold out at about half of its 90 Japanese outlets by evening. The promotion, available only in Japan, was timed deliberately for April Fools’ Day.

The company said it hoped the scent would make customers identify Burger King with a grilled-beef burger smell.

Refiners relying more on North American oil

U.S. refiners are relying more on North American crude than at any time since 1986 as a glut of supply makes local oil cheaper than imports from overseas.

Domestic production and imports from Canada and Mexico made up 85 percent of crude processed at U.S. plants in January, the most since March 1986, according to U.S. Energy Department data.

Refiners are buying locally as surging output in the U.S. and Canada helped boost U.S. stockpiles to 471.4 million barrels last week, the highest since 1930. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, averaged $6.26 a barrel less than international marker Brent in the first quarter, widening from $3.94 in the fourth quarter of 2014.

"A lot of the refiners that are independent see that North American crude is cheaper and they can keep their costs low," Carl Larry, director of oil and gas for Frost & Sullivan LP in Houston.

Businesses in U.S. slow pace of hiring

WASHINGTON » U.S. businesses slowed their pace of hiring in March, a private survey found. The slowdown raises questions about how much of an impact falling oil prices, a stronger dollar and harsh winter weather have had on dampening economic growth.

Companies added a seasonally adjusted 189,000 jobs last month, payroll processor ADP said Wednesday. That’s the first month of gains under 200,000 jobs in 13 months, and it’s a decline from 214,000 jobs added in February.

Construction spending declines again

WASHINGTON » U.S. construction spending slipped for the second month in February, pulled down by a drop in single-family home building. Construction spending fell 0.1 percent in February after a revised 1.7 percent drop in January, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

The result in part reflects bitter winter weather that constrained construction in many parts of the country during the month. Economists are hopeful for a rebound in the spring and summer as the economy strengthens.

Isle car insurers cannot use age to set their rates

Hawaii is the only state in which car insurance companies are barred from using age, gender, or marital status in calculations of premiums, according to a recent report.

Massachusetts and North Carolina prohibit gender from being factored in to premium rates.

InsuranceQuotes.com reports that the factors have significant impact on rates in other states.

A married 20-year-old, for instance, can pay as much as 21 percent less for vehicle insurance than a 20-year-old who is single, the report found.

Additionally, 20-year-old men pay 22 percent more than 20-year-old women for the same coverage, according to the company. However, between ages 30 and 55, men in other states often pay less than do women, but the cost disparity flips back in favor of women after age 55.

In addition to the Hawaii prohibition on including age, in California — while companies cannot explicitly ask about age— years of driving experiences can be factored in to rates.

"Plenty of families worry about when Grandma or Grandpa should stop driving, but the data shows that drivers in their teens and early 20s are much more risky," said Laura Adams, senior analyst at InsuranceQuotes.com. "Young drivers, in particular, can save money by qualifying for good-student discounts, signing up for pay-as-you-drive programs and competing driver safety courses," she said.

Toyota safety features will be low-cost option

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to bundle several advanced auto safety features that reduce the frequency of crashes into a low-cost option for its Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

The features alert drivers to a pending collision and trigger the brakes, switch on high beams when there is no oncoming traffic, and warn drivers who drift from their lanes. An upgrade package alerts drivers to potential collisions with pedestrians and also brakes automatically.

The move was lauded by safety experts who eventually want to see the technology become standard equipment on all vehicles.

Automatic braking systems are cutting damage claims for front-into-rear crashes by about 14 percent, according to the institute. There’s also evidence that the systems are reducing claims for injuries to vehicle occupants, the safety group said.

"Even if the crash isn’t prevented, these systems are reducing the severity of the impact,"said Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The insurance industry research organization spends millions of dollars annually conducting crash tests and analyzing insurance claims data.

The safety options will be introduced in nearly every Toyota and Lexus vehicle sold in the U.S. by the end of 2016. The packages will sell for $300 to $500 for Toyotas and $500 to $635 for Lexus models.

On The Move

» Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Waikiki has named Dara Young as public relations manager. She was previously communications specialist for the Hawaii State Department of Education. Young’s experience also includes a stint as public relations manager at Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, as well as working at Stryker Weiner & Yokota and Communications Pacific and serving as producer for KHON2 News.

» Mauna Kea Beach Hotel has announced the appointment of Robert Juan to chef de cuisine of Manta & Pavilion Wine Bar. He was previously head sushi chef at Alan Wong’s Amasia at the Grand Wailea Resort on Maui. His experience also includes working at Aria Restaurant and Bar at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago, and Yoi Sushi Bar at La Torretta Lake Resort and Spa in Montgomery, Texas, and serving as executive sous chef at Sushi Samba at Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas.

Ship Ahoy!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures: