Hawaii beer distributors employ 850

Beer distribution companies in Hawaii employ about 850 people and generate an estimated $200 million a year in economic activity, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Hawaii beer distributor activities also contribute $42 million to the federal, state and local tax bases, the NBWA reported. That total doesn’t include an additional $62 million in federal, state and local alcohol excise and consumption taxes on beer sold in Hawaii, according to the NBWA.

Trade association officials said the report, titled "America’s Beer Distributors: Fueling Jobs, Generating Economic Growth & Delivering Value to Local Communities," is the first comprehensive analysis of the impact beer distribution companies have on national and state economies.

Rival shippers match dip in fuel surcharge

The two competitors of dominant Hawaii ocean cargo transportation firm Matson Inc. are following Matson by implementing a 3.5 percentage point decrease in fuel surcharges effective Sunday.

Horizon Lines and Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines announced the moves Wednesday, a day after Matson said it would reduce its fuel surcharge for Hawaii service to 40 percent from 43.5 percent because of recent moderation in bunker fuel prices.

Horizon’s fuel surcharge matches Matson’s. Pasha’s surcharge will drop to 36 percent from 39.5 percent.

Direct deposit due soon for jobless benefits

Hawaii residents getting unemployment insurance benefits will soon be able to have their checks deposited directly into their bank accounts, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said Wednesday.

"Waiting for the mail to arrive, standing in line at the bank or relying on paper checks that may get lost or stolen can now be avoided by registering on our website," said DLIR Director Dwight Takamine.

The implementation of the direct deposit system will be in phases, starting with Kauai and progressing to the remaining islands by April. To qualify, individuals must have a personal registration account on the UI website labor.hawaii.gov/ui.

Retail sales went up during February

WASHINGTON » Thanks to solid job creation, Americans spent more at retailers in February despite smaller paychecks. The surprisingly strong increase helped allay fears that higher Social Security taxes and gasoline prices might chill spending early this year.

Much of the increase in February retail sales compared with January reflected higher gas prices. But even excluding the volatile categories of gas, autos and building supply stores, so-called core retail sales rose strongly.

Economists were encouraged by the healthier-than-expected numbers from the Commerce Department on Wednesday, and some revised their estimates of U.S. economic growth for the January-March quarter.

Sales, but not hiring, forecast to rise

WASHINGTON » Chief executives at the largest U.S. companies are much more optimistic about their sales prospects than they were three months ago, though many remain cautious about hiring.

The Business Roundtable said Wednesday that 72 percent of its members expect sales to increase in the next six months. That’s up from 58 percent at the end of last year. And 38 percent plan to invest more in plants and equipment, up from 30 percent in the October-December quarter, when the Roundtable released its last report.

The better outlook hasn’t made the group more optimistic about hiring. Twenty-nine percent of CEOs plan to increase hiring over the next six months, the same percentage as the past two surveys.

Smartphones tear hole in Net supervision

CHICAGO » Keep computers in a common area so you can monitor what your kids are doing: It’s a long-standing directive for online safety — but one that’s quickly becoming moot as more young people have mobile devices, often with Internet access.

A new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that 78 percent of young people ages 12 to 17 have cellphones. Nearly half of those are smartphones, a share that’s increasing steadily — and that’s having a big effect on how and where many young people access the Web.

The survey released Wednesday finds that 1 in 4 young people say they are "cell-mostly" Internet users, a percentage that increases to about half when the phone is a smartphone.

BlackBerry touts single 1-million-unit order

BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., says it has received an order for 1 million of its new smartphones, marking the largest ever single purchase in the company’s history.

The Canadian company, which did not reveal who made the purchase, is relying on the redesigned BlackBerry to fuel a comeback. The pioneering brand lost its cachet not long after Apple’s 2007 release of the iPhone, which reset consumers’ expectations for what a smartphone should do.

Blackberry unveiled the new BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 in January. The Z10 is available for purchase in a number of markets around the world and will be available in the U.S. this month.

ON THE MOVE

Aqua Engineers has named Scott Bly as energy services manager. He was previously a senior program manager for Honeywell. Bly’s experience includes serving as the Hawaii Army energy manager, senior business consultant for Guernsey and resource efficiency manager for Sain Engineering Associates at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Central Pacific Bank has promoted Aidan Millar to senior vice president and director of strategy and project delivery. He has been an employee for CPB since 2012 and previously served as vice president and manager of product management and corporate projects.

Prudential Locations has announced Jon Yamasato as its new partner. He was previously a Realtor. Since joining the real estate industry in 2003, Yamasato has won many awards, including Prudential Locations’ Chairman’s Circle Award-Gold, and in 2012 was named one of Hawaii Business Magazine’s Top 100 Realtors from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.