Nominees sought for Business Hall of Fame

Junior Achievement of Hawaii is seeking nominations of business leaders to be considered for induction into the Hawaii Business Hall of Fame on March 9. The hall, established in 1990, honors individuals whose business innovations, effective management and civic involvement made a difference in companies and communities throughout Hawaii. Laureates also are recognized for the high standards they have set for the state’s young people.

The deadline for nominations is Jan. 6. Contact President Dianne Ward at 545-1777 or dianne.ward@ja.org.

JA of Hawaii, established in 1957, encourages students to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives.

Tax workshops scheduled statewide

The Department of Taxation’s year-end workshops on Oahu, Kauai, Hawaii island and Maui will begin Nov. 30.

Presentations of particular importance for the upcoming 2012 tax filing season will cover changes to Hawaii tax forms and the expansion of the department’s e-filing program. In addition, Director of Taxation Fred Pablo will address some of the collection-related issues that practitioners have raised with him over the last few months, and the Department of the Attorney General will provide an update on Hawaii tax cases being litigated.

All workshops will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m., with check-in beginning at 8 a.m.

The cost of the workshops is $80 for those who register at least one week in advance and $100 for those who register after that. The registration fee includes a continental breakfast, materials and four hours of continuing professional education credit. Additional workshop materials also may be purchased separately for $25 per set.

The year-end workshop schedule:

» Kauai: Nov. 30, Kauai Community College, 3-1901 Kaumualii Highway, Lihue, 245-8318

» Hilo: Dec. 2, Hawaii Community College, Building 388, Rooms 101-102, 1175 Manono St., 934-2700

» Kona: Dec. 7, Royal Kona Resort, Discovery Room, 75-5852 Alii Drive, 934-2700

» Maui: Dec. 9, UH Maui College, Pilina Multi-Purpose Room, 310 Kaahumanu Ave., Kahului, 984-3231

» Oahu: Dec. 13, Ala Moana Hotel, Hibiscus Ballroom, 410 Atkinson Drive, 734-9211

Registration forms are available at www.hawaii.gov/tax.

Alaska begins Honolulu-San Diego service

Alaska Airlines launched its second Hawaii flight to San Diego on Thursday with nonstop service from Honolulu to San Diego. The flight from Honolulu leaves at 3:40 p.m. and arrives in San Diego at 11:15 p.m., while the return flight leaves San Diego at 9:15 a.m. and arrives in Honolulu at 1:15 p.m.

The Seattle-based carrier also flies nonstop between San Diego and Kahului. That service started in October 2010.

Alaska operates the flights with a 157-seat Boeing 737-800.

Central Pacific stock rated ‘hold’

The stock of Central Pacific Financial Corp., parent of Central Pacific Bank, was rated "hold" Thursday in new coverage by analyst Aaron Deer of Sandler O’Neill. His 12-month target price is $13.50.

Central Pacific’s stock rose 22 cents to $13.09 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

San Diego developer to buy city’s newspaper

SAN DIEGO » A prominent San Diego real estate developer said Thursday that he agreed to buy the city’s dominant newspaper, marking the publication’s second ownership change in less than three years. Doug Manchester is expected to complete his purchase of The San Diego Union-Tribune by Dec. 15. Terms were not disclosed.

Manchester often has been the subject of the newspaper’s stories, including a front-page piece this month on the California Coastal Commission giving a cold shoulder to his plans for a $1.3 billion hotel and office complex on the city’s downtown waterfront.

He has been a key player in the city’s downtown renaissance. Politically conservative, he donated $125,000 to a successful 2008 campaign to ban gay marriage in California. Manchester, 69, hired longtime San Diego radio executive John Lynch to help run the 143-year-old newspaper. Lynch said the newspaper is "quite profitable."

Platinum Equity LLC, a Beverly Hills-based investment firm, bought the Union-Tribune in May 2009 for an undisclosed sum. In its first foray in the newspaper business, the company slashed newsroom staff while focusing on local investigative reporting and technology upgrades. Platinum bought the newspaper from the Copley family, which had owned it for three generations. The Union-Tribune is the nation’s 25th-largest newspaper, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation figures for the six-month period that ended Sept. 30. Its average daily circulation was 219,347.

ON THE MOVE

RevoluSun has named Matthew Nagatori as a Hawaii-based commercial project developer. He has five years of experience in business-to-business sales and marketing, including serving as regional sales representative at Phiten USA for the Pacific Islands and international sales manager at Mabu Co. in Tokyo.

Bio-Logical Capital has named Keiki-Pua Dancil vice president of Hawaii operations. She was previously president and chief executive officer of Hawaii Science and Technology Institute and the Hawaii Science and Technology Council, as well as executive vice president of a diversified medical technology company.

The Board of Trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has awarded $1.8 million in grants to five programs: I Ola Lahui, $500,000; the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, $500,000; the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, $500,000; Kauai Community College, $179,700; and Native Hawaiian Student Services, $180,000.