Business briefs

Advertiser Staff

Student teams in semifinals

The University of Hawai'i has whittled the business ideas of 46 teams down to 28 semifinalists in the school's second annual business plan competition.

Making yesterday's cut are teams with proposals that include starting a virtual taxi dispatch company, improving an existing headwear manufacturing firm, designing custom golf clubs for children, and engineering a biodegradable fishing net.

All are competing for a share of $50,000 in prizes and the chance to turn their plan into reality.

The College of Business Administration's Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship and E-Business modeled the competition on others around the country that have led to the creation of hundreds of companies into which investors have poured billions of dollars.

Vote delayed on papaya order

Federal agriculture officials have delayed a vote on a marketing order for the state's papaya industry until May because of difficulty in getting ballots delivered to the Big Island.

Papaya is the only industry in Hawai'i to operate under a federal marketing order that governs size, quality and grade of fruit shipped to the Mainland. A vote is required every six years to continue the order, and the latest balloting was to have ended yesterday.

Eligible voters are those who grew papayas from July 2000 to June 30, 2001. A two-thirds majority is needed to continue the order.

Earlier votes have been contentious.

Papaya is one of Hawai'i's main export crops, with 90 percent of growers on the Big Island. More than 50 million pounds of papaya were produced in 2000, down from a peak of 72 million pounds in 1989.