No Ka 'Oi
Advertiser Staff
• DANIEL B.T. LAU, chairman and secretary of Finance Factors Ltd., has been named Hawai'i's Outstanding Older Worker by Experience Works, the nation's largest provider of training and employment services for older workers. The award recognizes those age 65 and older who continue to make contributions to the workplace. At 85, Lau continues to put in a 40-hour week at the company that he and partners founded as Finance Factors Ltd. a half-century ago, and watched grow to become The Finance Factors Family of Companies. Over the years, Lau has served as company chairman, vice president, secretary, treasurer or director of the various Finance Factors companies. He has also served as an East-West Center Foundation director; director of the United Chinese Chamber of Commerce; chairman of the board, chief executive officer and director of Grand Pacific Life Insurance Co. Ltd; trustee of the University of Hawai'i Foundation, and president of the Hawaii Humane Society. His community honors have included selection as UH Distinguished Alumni; induction into the UH Business School Hall of Honor; selection as United Chinese Society's Citizen of the Year — and earlier, the society's Father of the Year — and induction into the McKinley High School Hall of Honor. Lau and 51 other workers from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were honored in ceremonies recently in Washington.
Daniel B.T Lau
• Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii has been chosen from among 181 chapters in 41 countries worldwide by its parent organization's global headquarters as October Chapter of the Month. The award is given for those chapters that have most recently implemented a new, or expanded an existing, program or service. The Hawai'i chapter was singled out for establishment of an all-volunteer staffed family room respite and support center at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children. The facility, located near intensive-care wards, offers support, privacy, food, a game room, and Internet access. The local chapter operates two Ronald McDonald Houses in Manoa, offering a private place for families of sick children, transportation to hospitals and stores, phones, Internet access, kitchen and laundry room.
• WILSON OKAMOTO CORP., civil, structural and traffic engineers and planners, has been given a national award for its Hanalei River Bridge restoration, which preserved the historic nature of the one-lane rustic Kaua'i landmark, while bringing it up to current highway standards. Wilson Okamoto was given an honorable mention in the 2004 Transportation Planning Excellence Awards, sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration. The company's planning and engineering on the bridge, which is included on the National Register of Historic Places, was recognized for sensitivity to the needs of community residents and retaining the appearance of the original historic structure.
Announcements of business-related awards and honors can be sent to: No Ka 'Oi Awards, Business Section, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Hono-lulu, HI 96802; faxed to 525-6763, or e-mailed to business@honoluluadvertiser.com. For e-mailed releases, include information in the body of the message, not as an attachment. Photographs need to be in color.
