The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said Monday it launched a community-based economic development accelerator program, the CBED Accelerator.

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement Technical Assistance Services manages the program.

Mark J. Ritchie, branch chief of the Business Support Branch of DBEDT, said, “We are excited to launch the CBED Accelerator in partnership with CNHA-Technical Assistance Services. Community-based nonprofit organizations are increasingly becoming key economic development drivers, so we hope this program will assist them in creating revenue streams to supplement their traditional grant funding.”

DBEDT said the first five nonprofit organizations were selected for the program, which will help the businesses with financing and business planning. The five projects will focus on agriculture, food production, forest industry enterprise, creative artist interaction and retail development.

The five nonprofits selected are the Waimea Nui Community Development Corp., Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers and Hawaii Forest Industry Association, all on Hawaii island; and the Garden Island Arts Council and Homestead Community Development Corp., both on Kauai.

Pet store operator Petco files for new IPO

NEW YORK >> Petco plans to go public again almost nine years after two private equity firms bought the pet store operator.

For the purpose of calculating a filing fee, the San Diego company said Monday it expects to raise $100 million through an initial public offering. That amount can change.

The retailer of pets, pet food, supplies and services has about 1,400 stores around the U.S. and 13 in Mexico that are run through a joint venture. Petco says it earned net income of $75 million in its latest fiscal year. Its profits have fallen over the past two years but have improved over the first half of the current fiscal year. The company’s annual revenue grew to $4 billion.

The filing comes shortly after Petco competitor PetSmart was taken private. A group of investors led by buyout firm BC Partners acquired PetSmart in March for $8.7 billion. PetSmart had almost 1,400 stores at the time.

Petco, now known as Petco Holdings Inc., was acquired by private equity firms TPG Global and Leonard Green & Partners in October 2006. They paid $29 per share, or about $1.68 billion, at a time when high gas prices were hurting shares of Petco and other pet retailer stocks. The company’s stock had lost half its value over the 18 months before the deal was announced.

Washington, D.C. had record tourism in 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. >> Washington, D.C. drew a record 20.2 million visitors last year, with increases in international and domestic visitors, tourism officials announced Monday.

The tourism bureau Destination DC said the city drew an all-time high number of tourists in 2014. The group released data on international visitors showing a 16 percent increase in overseas visitors, totaling 1.9 million international tourists.

China, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, India, South Korea, Brazil, Japan and Italy were the top 10 markets for overseas visitors to Washington.

International visitors are a small portion of total visitation but represent 27 percent of visitor spending with an average of $518 per stay, according to the data.

For the fifth year, Washington also saw an increase in domestic visitors. In 2014 there were 18.3 million domestic tourists who visited the nation’s capital, an increase of 5.7 percent over 2013.

Overall visitor spending increased by $100 million from 2013 for a total of $6.8 billion in 2014.

Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC, said the group will increasingly focus its marketing on millennial travelers eager to spend money on travel and leisure. The group will relaunch its “D.C. Cool” branding campaign that began in 2013 to showcase Washington as “a hip and vibrant destination,” Ferguson said.

U.S. homebuilder sentiment improves

WASHINGTON >> U.S. homebuilders grew slightly more optimistic about the housing market in August, putting their confidence at levels last seen a decade ago during the debt-fueled housing boom.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index released Monday rose this month to 61, the highest level since November 2005. The reading was 60 in both June and July. Any reading above 50 indicates more builders view sales conditions as good, rather than poor.

ON THE MOVE

Hawaiian Airlines has appointed Sayle Hirashima as vice president-controller. Prior to joining Hawaiian Airlines, he was chief financial officer and vice president at Koko‘oha Investments Inc./MidPac Petroleum. Hirashima’s experience also includes working as director of accounting at Hawaii Stevedores, vice president and manager of external reporting at BancWest Corp./First Hawaiian Bank, senior associate for assurance at PricewaterhouseCoopers and administrative supervisor at Xpress Trucking & Distribution.

Central Pacific Bank has promoted the following employees:

>> Fernando Lopez to vice president and senior corporate banking officer from vice president and portfolio manager. He has been with the bank since 2003.

>> Rachel Cunningham to senior vice president and community banking region manager from vice president and community banking region manager. She has been with the bank since 2009.