BUSINESS BRIEFS
Professorship fund gets $500,000
Advertiser Staff
The University of Hawai'i Foundation received a $250,000 gift to establish the $500,000 Lloyd Fujie/Deloitte Foundation Distinguished Accounting Professorship Endowment Fund at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa Shidler College of Business.
The $250,000 gift was matched through Shidler matching funds for a total of $500,000. The endowed professorship was established in memory of Fujie, a graduate of the Shidler College of Business and former managing partner of the Honolulu office of Deloitte & Touche LLP. The endowment will be used to "assist the College in its efforts to recruit and retain faculty of the highest caliber in the area of accountancy," according to a news release.
"We're honored we had the opportunity to work with Lloyd Fujie. He did so much for Deloitte and for the business community — he will be remembered for a very long time," said Paul Higo, managing partner of Deloitte & Touche LLP.
To date, more than 140 donors have contributed to the endowment, including Deloitte & Touche LLP employees in Honolulu and throughout the U.S., and friends and past associates of Fujie. Deloitte & Touche LLP Managing Partner Paul Higo and Tertia Freas, partner, organized the fundraising effort in honor of Fujie.
HAWAI'I PAPAYA PRODUCTION UP 17%
Hawai'i's fresh papaya production totaled 2.9 million pounds in January, up 17 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to the local office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
January production also was up 3 percent from December, the NASS said.
Papaya growers were expected to receive 41 cents a pound for fresh fruit in January, 3 cents a pound more than the same month a year ago, and 4 cents a pound more than in December.
Warm daytime temperatures in January were beneficial for crop progress and fruit development, the NASS said. However, heavy rains at the end of the month caused some minor flooding and damage to young plants.
HELP ON WAY FOR AUTO BODY FIELD
GEICO and the Auto Body and Painting Association of Hawaii have joined to create a new apprenticeship program aimed at improving training and providing job opportunities in the auto body field.
Kuroda's Auto Body Inc. in Waipahu was selected to run the pilot program for the partnership through Sept. 30.
"The GEICO Apprenticeship Program is a great example as to one way the insurance industry can help head off the shortage of trained technicians in our industry, especially here in Hawai'i," said Madison Marie Spotts, president of ABPAH.
MACADAMIA PROCESSING PLAN OK'D
ML Macadamia Orchards LP said shareholders last week approved a company proposal to allow the partnership to process and market macadamia nuts.
The company previously was restricted to only macadamia farming under its partnership agreement.
The company indicated in its proxy statement that there is no specific acquisition target at this time, but that it intended to pursue a "vertical integration strategy" to insulate the company from low nut prices.
ML Macadamia Orchards sells about 30 percent of its production to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp., a subsidiary of Hershey Co. Another 25 percent is sold to Mac Farms of Hawaii LLC and 10 percent is sold to Purdyco International, which does business as Island Princess. The remaining production is contracted for sale to Hamakua Macadamia Nut Co.
