BUSINESS BRIEFS
Local shop to be at Beach Walk
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Mana Hawaii, a joint venture of five locally owned businesses, is the latest tenant of Outrigger Enterprises Group's Waikiki Beach Walk retail complex.
The 1,600-square-foot store will sell locally made items, including books, artwork, woodwork, clothing and 'ukulele. It will also offer cultural activities such as hula lessons, sessions on lomilomi massage, weaving and Hawaiian language lessons.
Mana Hawaii is a joint venture by Native Books, Na Mea Hawaii, Original Hawaiian Traders/The Hula Supply Center, Raku International/Ukulele House and The Lomi Shop. They are all equal partners in the store's parent company, Kauhale LLC. The Waikiki Beach Walk retail complex is scheduled to open by the end of the year.
AGL ENTERS INSURANCE FIELD
AGL Resources Inc., an Atlanta-based natural gas seller and distributor, has set up what is the first company of its type in Hawai'i, a so-called captive insurer that focuses on employee benefits.
AGL will reinsure life and long-term-disability benefits, according to the Hawaii Captive Insurance Council, an industry group that promotes formation of the businesses here. The state is home to more than 150 captives that provide other types of insurance.
Captive insurers are typically subsidiaries of larger companies that provide self-insurance.
U.S. JOBLESS RATE AT 5-MONTH HIGH
WASHINGTON — Gripped by caution, employers slowed hiring in July, pushing the nation's unemployment rate to a five-month high and putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to take its foot off the economic brakes.
The Labor Department reported yesterday that employers added just 113,000 new jobs in July, down from 124,000 in June — the latest in a string of mediocre job gains in recent months.
With companies wary of increasing work forces in a slowing economy, the civilian unemployment rate jumped from 4.6 percent in June to 4.8 percent, matching the rate of last February.
PILOTS' PENSION AT STAKE AT DELTA
ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines Inc. filed a formal request with bankruptcy court yesterday to terminate its pilots' pension plan, as President Bush prepared to sign a bill aimed in part at helping the struggling carrier save its other employees' pensions.
If the court in New York approves Delta's request to cancel its pilots' pensions effective Sept. 2, the government's pension insurer would take over the plan and pay pilots a reduced benefit based on when they retire and other factors. A hearing on the request is set for Sept. 1.
The 6,000 pilots, as part of a $280 million concessions agreement with the company first reached in April, have agreed not to oppose the pension termination request.
