HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATION OF HAWAII

George Greene has been selected to replace Rich Meiers as president and CEO of Healthcare Association of Hawaii. Meiers is retiring after 20 years of service. Greene was formerly the executive for Region 9 of the American Hospital Association. He is an attorney with experience in health care, advocacy and government.

MAUI DIVERS JEWELRY

Maui Divers Jewelry has promoted Ali Ban to senior vice president of retail sales. She will oversee sales at all 60 concept locations and monitor and analyze sales activities against company goals. She replaces Sandie Arntzen, who has retired after 38 years with the company.

PLUMBING AND MECHANICAL CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION

Patrick Miura was recently installed as president of the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association of Hawaii for the 2009-2011 term. He is the vice president of Elite Mechanical Inc.

Other new officers are: vice president, Kenneth Richardson, president of Island Controls Inc.; treasurer, Tyrus Kagawa, vice president of Oahu Plumbing and Sheetmetal Ltd.; secretary, Kent Matsuzaki, president of Economy Plumbing and Sheetmetals.

New directors are: Samuel Fujikawa, CEO of Continental Mechanical of the Pacific; Robert Hann, district manager of Trane Pacific Service; Clark "Skip" Morgan, CEO/president of Alaka'i Mechanical Corp.; Mark Suzuki, vice president of Commercial Plumbing, Inc. and Glenn Tango, president of Honolulu Plumbing Ltd.

TROPIC FISH HAWAII

Lorie Chang has been appointed director of business development of Tropic Fish Hawaii, LLC, Hilo Fish Company, Inc. and Kona Fish Company, Inc. Her responsibilities will include the development of new programs, sales and customer accounts for these seafood wholesale and distribution companies. Chang is a veteran of the food and beverage industry.

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE

Marcia Armstrong has been elected to the office of president-elect of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science. When she assumes the office of president in 2010, she will be the first person from Hawai'i to hold this position. ASCLS is the preeminent organization for more than 10,000 clinical laboratory science practitioners, providing leadership and monitoring all aspects of clinical laboratory science practice, education and management.

FIRST HAWAIIAN BANK

First Hawaiian Bank has announced the following promotions: Neill Char to senior vice president and manager, Private Banking Division; Martha Camacho to vice president and area manager, Wahiawa Branch; Brad Gushiken to vice president and BSA and OFAC officer, Corporate Compliance Division; and Wayne Suehiro to vice president and area manager, Pearlridge Branch.

AQUA HOTELS & RESORTS

Aqua Hotels & Resorts has promoted several employees. Lendy Ma is now general manager of the 78-room Aqua Waikiki Beachside Hotel and oversees the financial performance, operational integrity and staffing of the property.

Susan Weander is now general manager of The Equus, a 67-room Aqua Boutique Hotel, and the 103-room Waikiki Marina Hotel. In addition to her new responsibilities, she continues to oversee revenue management, sales and marketing for both properties.

Deanne Takara is hotel manager for the 247-room Aqua Waikiki Wave hotel where she oversees the daily operations of the hotel and facilitates coordination between departments.

BANK OF HAWAII

Bank of Hawaii has announced the following: Andrew Boyles has been promoted to vice president of operations group administration. He is responsible for establishing and aligning compliance and risk processes with the bank's overall strategic plan.

Rowell Comia has been promoted to vice president and manager of the West Pacific Operations. His duties include overseeing Guam's processing and servicing activities.

Wilma Kanda has been promoted to vice president of the Operations Group Administration. She is responsible for establishing and aligning compliance and risk mitigation process with the overall strategic plan and is the administrator of the Hawaii Regional ACH Processing Center.

HAWAI'I NATIONAL BANK

Cheryl Nishita has been appointed marketing director for Hawai'i National Bank. She comes to the bank from AIG Hawai'i Insurance Company, where she served as director of marketing for three years and marketing manager for three years.

Also promoted was Ritchie Koyanagi, to vice president and senior credit officer. Dennis Wong will assume Koyanagi's duties and merge with his other O'ahu territories to become O'ahu regional manager.

HAWAII FOOD MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION

The Hawaii Food Manufacturers Association has elected new officers and directors. They are: president, Susan Morita of Menehune Mac; vice president, Lynette Jee of Pacific Place; treasurer, Janis Tanga of For J's Hawaii; and secretary, Les HIGA of ITOEN Hawaii. New members of the board are: John Tsukada of Aloha Shoyu, Earl Kurisu of Hawaiian Sun, Maria Langscheid of Oils of Aloha, David Niiro of Hawaiian King Candies and Keith Ohta of Hawaii Candy.

HEIDE & COOK

Heide & Cook, Ltd., a full-service mechanical contractor and air-conditioning service company, has hired Wade Ishii as project manager.

Also hired was Sheldon Fukamizu, as project engineer. Both are responsible for overseeing and managing mechanical construction projects.

OCCIDENTAL UNDERWRITERS

Jan Oyama has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing at Occidental Underwriters of Hawaii. He is responsible for the property and casualty and worksite departments. Also appointed was Vivian Mizumoto, as property and casualty and worksite department supervisor.

Other hires for the property and casualty department were Josie Acosta as commercial lines customer service representative, Debie Fujiwara and Tony Ponce as personal lines customer service representatives and Elaine Patchrapong and Lahela Poki as commercial lines processors.

HILTON WAIKIKI PRINCE KUHIO

The Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio has hired Janelle Cram as director of sales and marketing. She will lead the sales and marketing team, as well as develop and implement targeted sales and marketing strategies.

STARN O'TOOLE MARCUS & FISHER

Norman Cheng, an associate attorney at Starn O'Toole Marcus & Fisher, has been accepted as a member of the Board of Directors of St. Francis Healthcare Enterprises, Inc. The Board is responsible for identifying revenue generating investment opportunities for its sole shareholder, St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii.

WHOLE FOODS MARKET

Ray Stockton will serve as store team leader for Whole Foods Market's first Maui location, at Maui Mall. Stockton, who has overseen operations at Whole Foods Market's Kahala Mall store since its opening in September 2008, will move to Maui and be responsible for managing daily operations, purchasing and customer service.

GRANT THORNTON

Jennifer Gee has been promoted to marketing manager of Grant Thornton. She has over 12 years experience providing marketing services in the accounting; banking and financial services industries.

Julie Hedani has been promoted to manager of audit services. She has more than five years experience providing audit and advisory services to insurance, construction, hospitality, technology, governmental agencies, transportation and non-for-profit organizations.

Trisha Kaneshirohas been promoted to manager of audit services. She has more than five years experience providing audit services to governmental agencies, real estate, construction, hospitality and non-profit organizations.

Tyler Kimura has been promoted to manager of advisory services. He has more than five years experience providing advisory and forensic accounting services to the public sector, real estate, entertainment, defense, telecommunications and insurance industries.

DISTRIBUTED ENERGY PARTNERS

Distributed Energy Partners, a local solar integrator, has hired Shane Nesbitt and CHARLES WANG as project developers.

ABBOTT COMMUNICATIONS

Maya King has joined Abbott Communications as account coordinator. Abbott handles media representation for several travel publications, including Hana Hou!, Islands Magazine and Destination Weddings & Honeymoons.

ALOHA NATURAL BROKERS

Leanne Chun has been hired as sales representative for Aloha Natural Brokers, Inc. She will be responsible for the sales growth of major ANB accounts, including Whole Foods, Down to Earth and all natural food stores on the island of O'ahu.

HO'ALA LANDSCAPE

Ho'ala Landscape and Maintenance, a full-service grounds and building maintenance firm, has promoted Nikki Saunders from administrative assistant to office manager. Her role is to provide administrative and program support, including preparing and maintaining client accounts.

BECKER COMMUNICATIONS

Becker Communications, Inc. a full-service public relations and marketing firm, has hired Jason Meyer and Allison Andrade as account executives and Marichris Diga as account coordinator.

Meyer worked on issues advocacy, public affairs outreach and online communications in Washington, D.C.

Andrade has a diverse background in public relations and marketing.

Diga specializes in promotional public relations, event planning, and online marketing and communications.

HAWAI'I PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

Hawai'i Pacific University's Rick Murray has been promoted from security coordinator to associate director of safety and security. Murray will be responsible for the day-to-day security of the HPU downtown campus and the Windward Hawai'i Loa Campus.

XEROX HAWAII

Xerox Hawaii has appointed Eric Ishikawa as marketing representative. He will advise new and existing clients on how to effectively manage their documents, allowing customers to focus on their core business.

UHA

UHA has hired Marinel Brual as provider services field representative. Brual will provide ongoing service to UHA's extensive provider network, including field training and education on UHA's products and procedures.

Announcements of promotions and job changes run in Monday's business section, space permitting. Items may be sent to: Alan Yonan, Business Section, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; faxed to 525-6763, or e-mailed to tradewinds@honoluluadvertiser.com. Releases are subject to trimming and editing, and may be published or distributed in print, electronic and other forms. For e-mailed releases, please make sure the information is included in the body of the message, not as an attachment. High resolution (at least 200 dpi in a .jpg format) color photographs are preferred.