State unveils mobile app to find EV stations

The state has introduced a free mobile application designed to help drivers locate publicly available electric vehicle charging stations across Hawaii.

The "app" is available for Apple and Android smartphones and mobile devices, according to a news release issued Friday by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

The app provides drivers with EV charging station locations and mapping directions for all four counties. Users can use the app to search for EV stations across Hawaii or for EV stations closest to their current location.

The EV Stations Hawaii app is a partnership among DBEDT, Hawaii Information Consortium and Hono­lulu Clean Cities. It is part of the state Office of Information Management and Technology’s open data movement.

Hulu owners scrap sale and plan investment

The owners of Hulu said Friday that they had decided not to sell the pioneering streaming-video website after all.

Instead, the three companies that mutually own Hulu — 21st Century Fox, the Walt Disney Co. and NBCUniversal — said they would make a new investment of $750 million and use Hulu’s technology to compete against other online distributors like Netflix. DirecTV and AT&T were among the distributors who submitted bids of about $1 billion in recent weeks for Hulu. But the website’s owners concluded, according to a person with close ties to the process, that the “equity value in the long run outstrips the sale value.”

Kauai Utility Co-op annual meeting set

Kauai Island Utility Cooperative will hold its annual membership meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center.

The meeting is open to members of the cooperative and the general public. David Bissell, KIUC president and chief executive officer, is scheduled to provide an update on progress toward the goal of producing 50 percent of its energy with renewable resources by 2023, according to a news release from KIUC. He also will talk about the impact that reducing oil consumption will have on rates over the next 10 years.

KIUC board members also will be present. The public is invited to ask questions.

HVCB, ad agency win 3 global awards

The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and its ad agency, MVNP, recently won three international awards for their Living in the Moment campaign.

Their integrated marketing campaign took a platinum Hermes Creative Award, and their advertising campaign and microsite took gold-level awards. They competed against approximately 5,600 entries from the United States and around the world.

The campaign, which was a central part of HVCB’s earlier $500,000 East Coast marketing blitz, showcased the reasons why Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island are great places to live and visit. It positioned Hawaii as a top destination for romance, family fun, outdoor adventure, culture and arts, health and wellness, cuisine and golf.

33 Outrigger properties gain recognition

@Body text1:Thirty-three properties in Outrigger Enterprises Group’s Hawaii and Asia-Pacific portfolio have been awarded a TripAdvisor "Certificate of Excellence" for 2013.

TripAdvisor awards this certification to the top 10 percent of businesses receiving traveler reviews on its website. To qualify for a Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher out of a possible five, as reviewed by travelers on TripAdvisor, and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months.

"We are extremely proud of this recognition, especially as the rating is based on actual customer feedback," said Sean Dee, Outrigger’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer. "It reflects the high standard of service each member of our global team works hard to provide every day to every guest at every Outrigger property around the world."

First Wind unveils Maui bird enclosure

Boston-based First Wind, which operates Maui’s largest wind energy project, has unveiled the first of two bird enclosures on the island designed to mitigate bird deaths and loss of habitat resulting from the company’s wind turbines.

The Makamakaole seabird mitigation project 10 miles west of Wai­luku was designed in collaboration with experts in Pacific seabird conservation, according to First Wind.

The nearly completed bird enclosure is designed to protect the federally endangered Newell’s shearwater. Construction is underway on a second enclosure designed for the Hawaiian petrel. The shearwater enclosure includes barriers intended to keep out non-native predators such as rats, mongooses and cats. Artificial burrows, custom decoys and sound systems broadcasting bird calls are being installed to attract shearwaters and petrels to nest.

First Wind operates the 51-megawatt Kahe­awa Wind project about 15 miles away on a ridge above Maalaea.

Alaska Air to start paying a dividend

Alaska Air Group Inc., which flies 21 percent of its routes to Hawaii, will begin paying a quarterly dividend of 20 cents a share, joining larger competitor and partner Delta Air Lines Inc. as U.S. carriers return cash to stockholders.

The initial payout will be Aug. 22 to shareholders of record as of Aug. 6, the Seattle-based carrier said Friday.

Alaska Air, the seventh-largest U.S. carrier, is adding the dividend to supplement its multiyear stock buyback program, Chief Executive Officer Brad Tilden said. Alaska Air is the second U.S. carrier to add a dividend this year, after Delta said in May it would pay 6 cents a share starting Sept. 10 as part of a decade-long turnaround.

ON THE MOVE

Hospice Hawaii has hired Fay Van Fleet as director of clinical operations. She has more than 15 years of health care leadership experience, including as director of patient care South Region at the Hospice of Palm Beach County, nurse manager of JFK Medical Center in Florida, clinical director of the South Florida Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Center and clinical manager of Gambro Healthcare Services in Florida.

Wakelight Technologies has hired: 

» Craig Horiuchi as a senior telecommunications engineer. He was previously with Expedia’s Global Infrastructure Services Voice Network Team in Seattle.

» Elaine Gaspar as a telecommunications technician associate. She was previously serving as a work order administrator for Joint Base Pearl Harbor telephone system.