BUSINESS BRIEFS
Honolulu man honored in D.C.
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Honolulu businessman Johnson Choi was honored by the Small Business Administration as 2008 Minority Champion during a ceremony today in the nation's capital.
Choi was one of 10 small-business owners and leaders of small-business support organizations nationwide recognized for their support of entrepreneurs. The SBA Champion Awards were presented as part of the annual observance of National Small Business Week.
Choi, president of the Hong Kong-China-Hawai'i Chamber of Commerce, works with many Asian immigrants to start businesses, particularly in the area of exporting. He won at the state and regional level before claiming the national title.
"The SBA is proud to honor these men and women as true champions of small business, whose tireless efforts have provided tangible and significant support to small businesses and to their communities," said SBA Administrator Steve Preston.
LOCKLEAR FILM BEING SHOT ON O'AHU
Filming began yesterday on O'ahu for "Flirting with 40," a cable movie starring Heather Locklear, the state film office confirmed.
Crews will be shooting for the next seven days on the North Shore, near Kualoa Ranch and in Waikiki, said Donne Dawson, state film commissioner.
The film is based on a romance novel by Jane Porter, a Seattle writer who spends time in the Islands.
Described as "lighthearted and poignant" in publicity materials, the movie is being made for Lifetime Television and is expected to premiere in December.
Locklear stars as a divorced mother of two who finds herself alone in Hawai'i for her 40th birthday. But instead of boredom on the beach, she has a romantic encounter with a surf instructor.
LONGS TAKES WALGREENS TO COURT
Longs Drugs is going to court to try to stop Walgreens from opening its first pharmacy on Maui on a lot across the highway from the Lahaina Longs store in the Lahaina Cannery Mall, the Maui News reported.
Construction on a lot at the corner of Honoapi'ilani Highway and Keawe Street began in November. Based on previous announcements, Walgreens said it planned to open for business late this year.
In a complaint filed in 2nd Circuit Court, Longs Drug Stores California Inc. said an exclusivity clause in its lease at Lahaina Cannery Mall forbids the landowner from allowing any other business that hires a registered pharmacist to open unless Longs is first offered a chance to buy the property.
The suit says that if it is offered "reasonable commercial terms," Longs "was or is prepared to accept the offer." But, Longs says, the successors to Hawaii Omori Corp. have not made that offer.
AMERICAN ELECTRIC BUYS SUMMIT
American Electric Co. LLC said it has purchased Honolulu-based Summit Electrical Services to strengthen its ability to serve the petroleum processing industry.
The company said it is retaining all of Summit's 38 employees and that Gary Nichols, former Summit owner, has become American's vice president for industrial services.
American, whose growth has quadrupled over the past five years, last year bought a Big Island company and Volt Telecom.
American Electric and affiliated companies employ 225 workers, with revenues expected to reach almost $70 million this year.
