Hawaiian Electric Co. said it will host a blessing for an electric vehicle charging station at the Dole Plantation on Thursday.

The charge station in Wahiawa officially opened June 1.

The station is the first utility-owned-and-operated charger on Oahu.

The fast charger will help eliminate range anxiety for EV drivers traveling from Honolulu or West Oahu to the North Shore, HECO said in the announcement.

Castle & Cooke Properties will join HECO to officially dedicate and open the charging station.

Strong economy, cheap gas forecast to spur holiday travel

NEW YORK >> A stronger economy, rising consumer confidence and cheap gasoline will likely have Americans traveling in big numbers this Independence Day.

An estimated 41.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home during the holiday weekend, up 0.7 percent from last year and the most since 2007, right before the recession, according to travel agency and car lobbying group AAA.

As usual, the vast majority of travelers will be using their cars: about 85 percent. Gas currently costs an average of $2.78 a gallon, down 88 cents from the same time last year. That means a family driving 200 miles on highways will save about $7.30 for their holiday gas this year.

Greece bailout talks stall over reforms

BRUSSELS » Crucial talks between Greece and its creditors to keep the country solvent and within the eurozone got bogged down again Wednesday amid differences over what kind of reforms the country should make in exchange for loans.

The impasse forced eurozone finance ministers to cut short a meeting, which they plan to resume Thursday. Concern over the lack of progress weighed on financial markets.

European deal creates U.S. grocery giant

NEW YORK » The Dutch owner of Stop & Shop and Giant will tie up with the Belgian parent company of Food Lion, creating a $29 billion grocer that will be in a stronger position to compete with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other discount retailers.

The deal, which would create the fourth-largest grocer in the U.S., is the latest in a series of buyouts and mergers that has major players bulking up to carve out market share in an industry that has grown intensely competitive.

Shoppers may be the biggest winners as the bargaining power of grocers grows along with their size, said Euromonitor retail analyst Tim Barrett.

Congress set to let trade guarantor lapse

WASHINGTON » Congressional Republicans are poised to deal a sharp blow to their traditional allies in the business community by allowing the federal Export-Import Bank to go out of business at the end of the month. But it may only be temporary.

The 81-year-old bank is a little-known federal agency created during the Depression that makes and guarantees loans to help overseas buyers purchase U.S. products, from airplanes to bridges to baby clothes. Over the past year it’s also become a surprising test of GOP purity, as tea party-backed lawmakers and outside conservative groups have denounced the bank as crony capitalism and vowed to get rid of it, pressuring fellow Republicans to go along.

Ikea in U.S. again raising minimum wage

NEW YORK » Ikea’s U.S division is raising the minimum wage for the second year in a row as the Swedish ready-to-assemble furniture chain looks to improve its relations with workers and reduce staff turnover.

Starting Jan. 1, Ikea’s average minimum hourly wage will increase to $11.87, which is $4.62 above the current federal wage and marks a $1.11 increase, or 10 percent, from this year’s average minimum pay.

The increase will affect 32 percent of Ikea’s 10,500 U.S. store workers and will raise the average hourly wage to $15.45. That’s up from the current $14.19 per hour. The increase also covers workers in some distribution centers.

Report says IRS employing tax scofflaws

WASHINGTON » The IRS is doing business with tax-delinquent contractors despite a federal law that bars the tax agency from awarding contracts to these companies, a government watchdog said Wednesday.

The IRS awarded contracts to 17 businesses in 2012 and 2013 that had delinquent tax debts, according to a report by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

The tax debts totaled more than $10 million as of Sept. 30, 2013. The businesses were awarded 57 contracts worth nearly $19 million.

Dutch court orders greenhouse gases cut

THE HAGUE, Netherlands » A Dutch court ordered the government Wednesday to slash greenhouse gas emissions to help fight global warming, a landmark ruling in a case brought by hundreds of concerned citizens that could pave the way for similar legal battles around the world.

Climate activists in a packed courtroom in The Hague erupted into cheers as Presiding Judge Hans Hofhuis told Dutch authorities to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by 2020 from benchmark 1990 levels.

The country currently is on track for a 17 percent reduction and it is not clear how it can achieve the further cut.

On The Move

» KKDLY has announced the following new audit principals, who are certified public accountants providing clients with advisory and audit services:

— Jennifer A. Isobe specializes in banking, employee benefit plans, real estate, hospitality and nonprofit industries. She was previously an audit senior manager for KPMG.

— Robert K. Hatanaka specializes in employee benefit plans, business and governmental and nonprofit industries. He was previously an audit partner with CW Associates, CPA.

» Hawaii Pacific University has hired Jeffrey Harris as director of marketing. His responsibilities include brand management and strategic marketing for the university. Harris was previously a director of marketing for the Navy and Air Force at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

Ship Ahoy!

Thursday’s ship arrivals and departures: