Maui Pine’s revenue and loss up in quarter
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. had higher revenue along with a higher net loss during the first three months of the year.
The Kapalua-based company reported Monday that its net loss rose to $1.1 million for the quarter from $909,000 in the same quarter last year.
Revenue also was up in the comparable period, to $2.8 million from $2.5 million, though higher expenses — particularly share-based compensation and general and administrative expenses — dragged down the company’s bottom line.
Maui Land, which in recent years has been selling real estate to generate income, sold no real estate in the first quarters of this year or last year.
Shares of Maui Land stock closed at $5.89 on Monday before the earnings announcement. Company shares over the last 52 weeks have traded between a low of $5.31 on Nov. 24 and a high of $8.40 on May 20.
Hawaiian Air will introduce a new website
Hawaiian Airlines, which said more than half of its customers book online, announced Monday it will launch a new website this summer that will give all travelers the option to lock in a fare for three to seven days for a fee ranging from $4.99 to $8.99. Fee holds, which will vary by destination and the advance purchase window, previously were available only to Platinum and Gold HawaiianMiles members.
The website of the state’s largest carrier will include a new guide featuring articles and recommendations from local experts on things to do, spots at which to eat and places to visit. The website also will put all the account information in one place to check frequent-flier balance, view mileage and to look at upcoming trips. The website also will allow users to preview available seats while searching for flights, select from recent searches and choose different views from Hawaiian’s low-fare calendar.
PCC unveils statue of steel guitar inventor
The Polynesian Cultural Center, paying tribute to Laie’s heritage, unveiled Monday a statue in honor of Joseph Kekuku inventor of the Hawaiian steel guitar.
The life-size bronze statue showing Kekuku seated and playing the steel guitar, pictured, was revealed at a ceremony attended by members of his family, PCC executives and members of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association. The ceremony featured a special steel guitar performance in Kekuku’s memory.
Born and raised in Laie, Kekuku (1874-1932) invented the sound of the Hawaiian steel guitar as a youth while studying at Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu. He left Hawaii as a young man and took the unique music of the steel guitar to vaudeville theaters and venues across the mainland. Kekuku was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1993.
The Kekuku statue was created by Leroy Transfelt, a native Maori from New Zealand who once attended Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
Tennis standout Jobe joins isle law firm
Former professional tennis player Ikaika Jobe, a two-time high school singles state champion from Punahou School, has joined Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert as an associate in the law firm’s estate planning and probate practice group.
Jobe most recently served as law clerk to Chief Judge Derrick H.M. Chan of the First Circuit Court of Hawaii, where he researched, analyzed and summarized probate and trust petitions for the court’s review, among other key responsibilities.
He also is head coach of the Punahou School girls varsity tennis team and a four-time doubles champion of the Kailua Racquet Club’s Creative Energy/Blue Moon Men’s Night Doubles tournament.
Jobe is a graduate of the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law, where he was a recipient of the Kua‘ana Merit Scholarship for Native Hawaiian students. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration, magna cum laude, at Boise State University in Idaho. Prior to that, he studied in the aviation science/professional pilot program at Saint Louis University, earning his pilot’s license and instrument ratings.
ON THE MOVE
Business Solution Technologies has hired Gabriela Noriega as a project manager. She has eight years’ experience in technology product development, recently as a senior program manager for InvenSense and Analog Devices in Boston.
Wilcox Memorial Hospital has announced the following new hires to its physician staff: Dr. Erin Waters as an obstetrics and gynecology specialist and Dr. Grace Galiza as a pediatrician specializing in pediatric dermatology.
The Plaza Assisted Living has hired Dawn Calpito as sales manager for The Plaza at Waikiki scheduled to open in the fall. She has 24 years of sales, marketing and customer service experience in the banking, mortgage and retail industries.
