Business news at a glance

Get help launching a kitchen business

Ho‘okahua Kitchen Business Basics, a program of La‘i‘opua 2020, gets underway next month. The three-session course will be offered twice with two cohorts of students. Each cohort will earn a Commercial Food Handler certificate, explore how to start a business in Hawaii, acquire digital marketing and branding skills and learn the basics of working in a commercial kitchen, with the bonus of creating value-added products.

Cohorts will be held March 30 to April 2 and April 6 to April 9 at La‘i‘opua's complex in Kealakehe. Two of the three sessions for each cohort will be held in the evening and the final day session will be on a Saturday in La‘i‘opua's commercial kitchen.

Cost of the program is free; a $50 refundable deposit is required. Students will be reimbursed upon full completion of the course.

For more information and to apply to join a cohort, visit laiopua.org/hookahua.

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Mauna Lani Golf receives accolades

Mauna Lani Golf has received accolades from GolfPass, Golfweek and the Association of Golf Merchandisers.

GolfPass recognized Mauna Lani Golf's North and South courses in the website's "Golfers' Choice 2022: Top Golf Courses in Hawaii" annual ranking – the North Course is ranked No. 5 and the South Course is ranked No. 6 in the Aloha State. In addition, the South course was ranked No. 6 in the "Golfers' Choice 2022: Top 25 Courses for Pace of Play." Rankings are based on GolfPass user reviews and scores are based on a course's overall rating and six subcategory ratings including value, conditions, layout, pace of play, staff friendliness and off-course amenities as voted on by GolfPass readers.

The North and South courses were also featured in Golfweek's newest ranking of the "Top 200 Best Resort Courses in the U.S." found in the recently published "Ultimate Guide of Best Courses" for 2022. Golfweek raters had the North course ranked T122 and the South course T194, in the listing of best resort courses. Every year, Golfweek's team of course 850 raters surveys more than 3,600 courses – grading each nominated course on the basis of Golfweek's 10 strict standards of evaluation.

In late January, Mauna Lani Golf also received a 2022 Platinum Award presented by the Association of Golf Merchandisers (AGM). The AGM Platinum Awards honor the "best of the best" public, private, resort and off-course specialty shops.

"It is an honor to be recognized by each of these organizations," said Dave Ulm, general manager, Mauna Lani Golf & Tennis. "It is a true credit to the hard work and dedication of our retail, agronomic, service and golf ops teams to curate the best experiences for our guests."

Mauna Lani's North Course, a Flint, Cain and Nelson design, overlays the rugged brown pahoehoe lava flow, and features rolling fairways and through kiawe forests. A 230-acre protected archeological district lies on the northern edge of the North Course, while feral goats roam the course, cropping the grass and providing a unique neutral hazard. The par-3 17th is the signature hole on the North Course as a series of elevated tees form a natural amphitheater with the green at the base of a lava bowl.

The South Course, a Homer Flint, Raymond Cain and Robin Nelson design, was built on the 16th century Kaniku lava flow snaking through stark, rugged a‘a lava. A pair of par 3s – the 7th and 15th holes – are Mauna Lani South's signature holes and are two of the most photographed golf holes in the world. The South Course was home to the Senior Skins Game from 1990 to 2000.

For more information , visit www.maunalanigolf.com or call (808) 885-6655.

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BOH celebrates 125 years

Bank of Hawaii will invest approximately $400,000 to address community needs as part of its yearlong 125th anniversary celebration. Incorporated on Dec. 17, 1897, Bank of Hawaii has been committed to strengthening communities through philanthropic support, hands-on volunteerism, sponsorships, board participation and employee giving.

"Taking care of our community is intrinsic to Bank of Hawaii, and we can think of no better way to recognize this milestone anniversary than to invest in the future of the people we are so privileged to serve," said Peter Ho, chairman, president and CEO at Bank of Hawaii. "As we celebrate and embark on the next 125 years and beyond, we look forward to helping to sustain our island home, both in the state of Hawaii and in the West Pacific."

To preserve the environment and help address climate change, Bank of Hawaii is partnering with Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative (HLRI) to plant 125 trees per week for one year on the bank's behalf on Oahu and Hawaii Island. Trees provide many benefits, including purifying the air by absorbing pollutant gases that cause global warming. Replenishing forests is necessary to the ecosystem - just one large tree can provide a day's supply of oxygen for up to four people. In total, 6,500 trees will be planted in Hawaii.

Bank of Hawaii is also inviting its employees to help the community. Each BOH employee will have an opportunity to select a nonprofit of their choice, for Bank of Hawaii Foundation to make a $125 donation. With approximately 2,100 employees, the final donation would amount to more than $260,000 of additional funds for communities across Hawaii and the West Pacific region.

For more information, visit www.boh.com/125.

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La‘i‘opua 2020 appints Inaba as executive director

La‘i‘opua 2020 announces the appointment of Kawehi Inaba as its executive director.

Inaba, who has worked with La‘i‘opua 2020 for more than 18 months, is a resident of the ahupua‘a of Kohanaiki in Kona. An experienced entrepreneur and business owner, Inaba founded and operated Mokulele Airlines, which was recognized by OHA in 2003 as the Native Hawaiian Business of the Year, in addition to other accolades nationwide. After selling Mokulele, she created KupaÊ»a Business Planners, a firm offering strategic business planning and marketing, and served as the director of the Hawaii County Department of Research and Development under Mayor Billy Kenoi.

As executive director, Inaba will work with La‘i‘opua 2020's Board of Directors to ensure the organization's mission and goals are met. She will oversee the operations, programs, and projects of the organization, including Ululoa Hale, its membership-based coworking center, the building of a community wa‘a, the establishment of a community programs centered on the canoe, youth and cultural programs to benefit Native Hawaiians as well as the broader community.

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Justice Department sues to block UnitedHealth deal

The Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit Thursday to block UnitedHealth Group's proposed acquisition of Change Healthcare, a $13 billion deal the federal government says could potentially harm millions of Americans by lowering the quality of health insurance while making coverage more costly.

The lawsuit highlights UnitedHealth Group's ownership of UnitedHealthcare, which is the nation's largest health insurer. Calling the Minnesota-based company a "behemoth," the complaint argues that UnitedHealth would amass too much power in the arcane and competitively-sensitive world of electronic data transactions between carriers and health care providers.

A spokesperson for Optum, the UnitedHealth subsidiary, said in a statement that the Justice Department's "deeply flawed position is based on highly speculative theories that do not reflect the realities of the health care system."

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Citigroup to get rid of overdraft fees

Citigroup will eliminate overdraft fees this year, becoming the biggest lender in the nation to get rid of the charges.

The bank will do away with fees for overdrafts and returned items by the summer, it said in a statement Thursday. It follows smaller lenders, including Capital One and Ally Financial, that said last year that they would halt the fees.

Among the nation's banking giants, Bank of America said it would cut - but not eliminate - overdraft charges to $10 from $35 this year, while JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have tweaked their services for strapped customers.

Citigroup's move aims "to make the financial system easier and more equitable for communities who have little or no financial buffer," said Gonzalo Luchetti, CEO of U.S. personal banking at Citi.

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Volkswagen considers a plan to spin off Porsche in a public offering

Volkswagen said it was considering hiving off its profitable Porsche division into a separate company with its own stock listing. The transaction would help the automaker raise money to invest in electric vehicles while also potentially returning more control of the high-performance carmaker to descendants of its founder. Volkswagen preferred shares, the most widely traded, soared 9% Tuesday after the company said it had negotiated a "framework agreement" with Porsche Automobil Holding, the investment vehicle for descendants of Ferdinand Porsche. The holding company said in a statement that it might acquire shares in an independent Porsche carmaker as part of the transaction.

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Starbucks workers vote for union at an Arizona store

On Friday, the National Labor Relations Board announced that workers at a Starbucks in Mesa, Arizona, had voted 25-3 to unionize, with three challenged votes.

The result brought the number of company-owned stores with a union to three, out of roughly 9,000 nationwide. The victory was the first for the union since two stores voted to unionize in Buffalo in December, but it could mark the beginning of a larger trend.

More than 100 Starbucks stores across more than 25 states have filed petitions for union elections, most of them since that first victory.

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Chrysler Pacifica, Ram Crew Cab get top safety ratings

The 2022 Chrysler Pacifica minivan and Ram 1500 Crew Cab truck secured top safety ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The Pacifica earned the Top Safety Pick+ rating for the second consecutive year, and the Ram truck earned Top Safety Pick for a third consecutive year. Both vehicles achieved the highest possible ratings in each of six crashworthiness tests, and their automatic emergency braking was labeled "superior."

By local and wire sources