Ohio firm gets $24M to grow algae

Ohio-based Phycal LLC has landed a $24 million federal grant for a project that aims to produce biofuel from algae near Wahiawa.

The project will use industrial carbon dioxide emissions to cultivate microalgae for biofuel that can be blended with other fuels. The $65 million pilot project will use shallow ponds and processing facilities on 40 acres of former pineapple land.

The second-phase grant was one of six totaling $106 million announced by the U.S. Department of Energy. Phycal also has received private capital and a $1 million grant from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Horizon net up, but isle volume off

Container shipping company Horizon Lines Inc. made a profit in the second quarter from a loss a year earlier as better results from its Alaska route, terminal services and logistics business more than offset a slight decline in volumes on its Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico routes. Horizon reported net income of $3.7 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with net loss of $31.1 million, or $1.02 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 10 percent to $305.6 million.

Ex-Cyanotech CEO gets $335,000

Big Island-based technology company Cyanotech Corp. paid former CEO Andrew Jacobson a severance package that includes $335,000, the equivalent of a year’s salary, the company said in a regulatory filing yesterday. Jacobson left the company Feb. 27, but neither he nor the company gave a reason for his departure.

Jacobson also received stock options equal to 7.5 percent of the company’s outstanding shares when he was hired in May 2008. The bulk of those options were not vested at the time of Jacobson’s departure and were canceled, the company said.

ON THE MOVE

Jeff Fabry

Island Insurance Co. has appointed Jeff Fabry as senior vice president, chief information officer and chief security officer. He has more than 25 years of information technology experience within the insurance industry.

Aqua Hotels and Resorts has appointed Divina Sanders as executive housekeeper. Prior to Aqua, she was housekeeping manager at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and front office manager at Kona Billfisher condominium, both on the Big Island.

NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary has appointed new advisory council members. Primary members: Trisha K. Watson, Philip Fernandez, Elizabeth M. Kumabe, Adam Pack, Terry O’Halloran, Luana Howell, Robin Newbold, Sharon Pomroy and Gina McGuire. Alternate members: Malama Minn, Robert Bruck, Judith Lemus, Jennifer Schultz, Jennifer Barrett, Alex Scheftic, Cheryl Sterling, James Yamamoto and La’akea Kaufman.