On the Move
Bank of Hawaii has announced that James C. Polk has been promoted to vice chairman from senior executive vice president. He is part of the bank’s 17-member managing committee. Polk joined BOH in 1999 and has served in leadership roles in various departments, including Hawaii Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate Loan Division, Commercial Deposit Services and International Banking.
Hawai‘i People’s Fund has selected Lesley “Micky” Huihui as its new executive director, to start July 5. Huihui has served in various professional positions at Kamaaha Education Initiative, Hawaiinuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Pacific Islanders in Communication and Halau Ku Mana, in addition to her community work.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Matson Inc. changes its Pacific services
Hawaii-based ocean cargo transportation company Matson Inc. is modifying its service in the South Pacific to add a link from Hawaii.
The company said it plans to add a route carrying cargo from Honolulu to five ports — Apia, Samoa; Pago Pago, American Samoa; Nukualofa, Tonga; Suva, Fiji; and Lautoka, Fiji — starting Aug. 10.
Matson said the new service, which it calls South Pacific Express, will be the only direct service from Hawaii to the South Pacific. The company currently serves the five South Pacific ports from New Zealand.
Cargo for the new service will originate on the West Coast and be delivered to Honolulu before being put on a ship that will arrive in the South Pacific every 28 days. To provide the new service, Matson will redeploy one of its South Pacific service ships, the Liloa.
Plans for Kona inspection station advance
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii >> Gov. David Ige and state transportation officials are moving forward with plans to have Kona International Airport ready to receive international flights by the end of the year.
Department of Transportation Director Ford Fuchigami said Friday at a town hall meeting that a $4 million contract had been awarded to help build a permanent inspection station at the airport. Federal officials are requiring the airport’s current inspection station to be replaced with a permanent facility in order for it to receive flights from outside the U.S.
The DOT is looking to have the inspection station reopen in time to accommodate a new Hawaiian Airlines route between Kona and Tokyo. The three flights a week from Haneda International Airport, announced in May, are set to begin near the start of 2017.
Shorter waits expected at Honolulu Airport
International visitors to Hawaii are expected to experience shorter wait times at Honolulu Airport.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has included the state’s largest airport in a program that will provide up to 1,320 additional staff hours through a reimbursable services agreement with the state Department of Transportation. The reimbursable agreement stipulates that the Hawaii DOT pay for the additional CBP services out of airport revenue.
The program, which doubled the number of participating airports nationwide to 10 from five, will add additional screening capability to the facility, help decrease airport wait times and improve the travel experience for visitors and residents.
At Honolulu Airport, average wait times for international passengers going through customs in 2015 exceeded 20 minutes, and maximum wait times exceeded 80 minutes. But at airports across the country participating in the Customs and Border Protection program, the additional staffing and supplementary lane openings have helped decrease wait times by an average of almost 30 percent.
No financial crisis developing, Lew says
WASHINGTON >> U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says that the decision of British voters to leave the European Union is “an additional head wind” for the U.S. and global economies, but “there is no sense of a financial crisis developing.”
In a CNBC interview Monday, Lew said, “I am not saying there will not be an impact on markets, but it has been an orderly impact so far.”
Lew said it would be important for economic policymakers to signal that they are prepared to use the tools they have to promote economic growth and “not overreact to a volatile day here and there.”
Fishing industry in decline as oceans warm
SEABROOK, N.H. >> One of America’s oldest commercial industries, fishing along the coast of the Northeast still employs hundreds. But those numbers are falling quickly. After centuries of weathering overfishing, pollution, foreign competition and increasing government regulation, climate change appears to be doing them in.
As waters have warmed, fish populations have struggled, and the U.S. fishing fleet has decreased to about 75,000 vessels today from more than 120,000 vessels in 1996.
