The state now is registering venders for a new electronic procurement system aimed at making purchasing practices more open and accessible.

Businesses that use the Hawaii Electronic Procurement System can bid to provide goods and services valued at less than $25,000 with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Accounting and General Services. Eventually the system is expected to be used by most state agencies, replacing the current phone/fax solicitation method.

For more information or to register online go to www.hawaii.gov/spo.

Own a piece of one of Waikiki's finest hotels

A partial interest in a piece of land under the Halekulani Hotel is up for sale. Owned by a trust administered for the late Cenric Wodehouse, grandson of Victoria Ward, the interest equates to about 17 percent of a 27,000-square-foot parcel that is one of four under the luxury hotel.

The other three parcels are owned by hotel owner Halekulani Corp. The Wodehouse interest generated $235,000 last year in lease rent and does not have an asking price. The property lease runs until May 2013. Sofos Realty Corp. is handling the sale.

Moody's boosts rating for Bank of Hawaii

The credit rating company, Moody's Investors Service, upgraded its rating of Bank of Hawaii Corp. by one notch today in response to the bank's "efforts in reducing the size of its largest single exposures, thus reducing a major credit concentration."

Bank of Hawaii long-term deposits, for example, were raised to A2 from A3. The A2 rating is six levels below the company's top rating of Aaa.

Moody's said it believes the "Bank of Hawaii's strategic focus will be centered in its home market where its competitive advantage lies. The rating incorporates the possibility that Bank of Hawaii may periodically take steps to leverage its balance sheet with actions such as share repurchases."