Fresh, whole Maui-grown pineapple will not be a relic of Hawaii’s past after all.
The World knows that Maui produces the BEST Pineapple! Click for larger imageA consortium of Maui-based investors on Thursday announced the formation of Haliimaile Pineapple Co. Ltd., a new company that would immediately continue farming and harvesting the sweet and juicy fruit on 1,000 acres of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. land.
OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS(OHA): OHA financial assistance program serves primarily the native Hawaiian community. Ag-related-community-based projects targeting the native Hawaiian community may qualify for funding. For eligibility inquiries, contact:
Office of Hawaii Affairs CBED Specialist 711 Kapiolani Boulevard, Suite 500 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Tel: (808) 594-1752, Fax: (808) 594-1865
SELECTED COUNTY AGENCIES:
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, COUNTY OF MAUI, OFFICE OF THE MAYOR: The Economic Development Program grants support to a diversity of economic sectors including agriculture. Grant applications are readily available and will be evaluated by a review team. Contact:
Office of Economic Development County of Maui 200 S. High Street, 6th Floor Wailuku, HI 96793 Tel: (808) 270-7710, Fax: (808) 270-7995 E-mail: rbaker@mauicountyoed.com
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM, CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development (HUD) provides Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to cities including the City and County of Honolulu. CDBG funds are divided in loans, grants, and technical assistance to economic development projects that benefit low- and moderate-income people. Funded projects have included rural economic, and agricultural development projects. Contact:
Chief, CBDG Unit Department of Budget & Fiscal Services City and County of Honolulu 530 South King Street Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Tel: (808) 527-5067 Fax: (808) 527-6968
The County of Hawai`i Department of Research and Development provides grant awards to non-profit organizations for initiatives that improve the quality of life for the people of Hawai`i County through responsible and sustainable economic, societal and environmental practices in agricultural research that is innovative or urgent in nature, marketing and promotion of products and the collections and dissemination of information.
In 1962, Congress established a unique program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that empowered rural communities to improve themselves while protecting and developing their natural resources. Local councils would provide direction, planning, coordination, and implementation of specific projects within their boundaries.
The focus on local direction and control has made Resource Conservation and Development one of the most successful rural development programs of the Federal Government. To date, three hundred eighty five RC&D areas have been authorized throughout the Country. Over 70,000 projects have been adopted nationwide since 1964, and more than 50,000 have been completed.
Hawaii’s four RC&Ds, cover all the major Islands. Through the leadership of Maui County’s five Soil and Water Conservation Districts and with assistance from the Soil Conservation Service, Tri-Isle RC&D Council, Inc., the oldest of the Hawaii RC&D areas, was established in 1970.
The Tri-Isle Council meets on a quarterly basis and is made up of a 15 member Board of Directors who bring a variety of backgrounds and professional expertise to the organization. The office staff includes the Executive Director, NRCS Coordinator, Administrative Assistant and Financial Assistant. The Council membership includes:
5 members from Maui County’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts
2 members from County Departments
8 at-large members from the community
RC&D provides a mechanism for local residents to work together and actively solve economic, environmental, and agricultural problems. We help utilize the abilities, knowledge and energy of local volunteers to get projects done. Interested groups may approach Tri-Isle for project sponsorship by submitting an application.
By ILIMA LOOMIS, Staff Writer Modern Heros rescue Pineapple industry CLICK for larger imageAfter a century in agriculture, Maui Land & Pineapple Co. got out of the pineapple business for good as 2009 drew to a close.
About 285 workers lost their jobs when pineapple cultivation ended, but the shutdown was just the culmination of a long year of changes for a company struggling just to stay in business.
Early in the year, the company sold its Plantation Golf Course for $50 million to pay down some of its mounting debts. In February, ML&P eliminated 100 jobs at the Kapalua Resort and at its Kahului headquarters in yet another round of layoffs, with the remaining employees taking a 10 percent pay cut. Then in May, President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Webber resigned after just six months on the job, being replaced by board Chairman Warren Haruki as interim CEO.
The company continued to lose money through the year, reporting in October that it had lost $92.9 million in the first three quarters of 2009 – greater than the $71.6 million it lost for all of 2008. Much of the losses was attributed to the plummeting value of ML&P’s real estate investments, and the October report also revealed that the company had lost all of the money it had originally invested in its Kapalua Bay Holdings venture.
Still, nobody was quite ready to hear the news in November that the company was shutting down its pineapple operations.
A group of former Maui Pineapple Co. executives have teamed up with the owner of Ulupalakua Ranch to take over some of the pineapple operations of Maui Land & Pineapple Co.
Pineapple is BACK! YES, YES, YES! CLICK for larger imageML&P had announced in November that it would close its pineapple division after nearly 100 years of plantation-scale farming on the Valley Isle. The company last week harvested its final pineapple crop.
The new company, Haliimaile Pineapple Co., will continue to grow and market fresh pineapple under the established Maui Gold Brand, although on a smaller scale. The company said yesterday it will hire back 65 former Maui Pineapple Co. workers and farm about 1,000 of the 3,000 acres that were previously cultivated.
"We’re thrilled to be doing this," said Doug Schenk, former Maui Pineapple Co. president and member of the new management team.
"Maui Gold pineapple is a variety that no one else has. We knew that there was huge demand for it," said Schenk, who left Maui Pineapple in 2001.
Haliimaile has purchased and licensed key assets, and leased farm land, equipment and buildings from ML&P.
The other principals in the new company are Pardee Erdman, owner of Ulupalakua Ranch; former vice presidents of Maui Pineapple Doug MacCluer and Ed Chenchin; and the current operating directors for Maui Pineapple, Darren Strand and Rudy Balala.
Erdman will be the majority owner. The group brings more than 150 years of combined expertise in growing and packing premium pineapple on Maui, the company said.
"We are proud to continue the 100-year legacy of pineapple on Maui," said Strand, president and CEO of the new company.
"Haliimaile Pineapple Co. brings new hope for a new year by immediately saving 65 agricultural jobs with an expectation of adding more in the future."
U.S. Stocks Drop as Crisis Causes S&P 500’s First Decade Loss
By Nikolaj Gammeltoft
Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell this week, limiting an advance that sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its biggest annual increase in six years. The 2009 rally failed to rescue investors from the worst return for any decade.
Ford Motor Co. dropped 1.3 percent for the week, bringing its decade loss to 80 percent after the credit crisis threatened to push the carmaker into bankruptcy last year. Apple Computer Inc., the iPhone maker that beat analysts’ profit estimates for 19 straight quarters, climbed 0.8 percent, extending a 720 percent advance over the last 10 years.
This past year’s rally wasn’t enough to restore money lost in two bear markets after the Internet bubble collapsed in 2000 and more than $1.7 trillion in global bank losses sent the index to a 38 percent decline in 2008. The S&P 500 posted an average decrease of 0.9 percent a year since 1999 including dividends, the first negative return for a decade since data began in 1927, according to S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt.
“This dispelled two myths,” said Robert Arnott, founder of Research Affiliates LLC, which oversees $47 billion in Newport Beach, California. “The notion that investment gains are easy, and the notion that stocks will win for the patient investor, no matter what we pay.”
Accountants in Wailuku, HI Offices of Certified Public Accountants
Lloyd Y Kimura Inc Business Information
Lloyd Y Kimura Inc is a private company categorized under Accountants and located in Wailuku, HI. Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $1 to 2.5 million and employs a staff of approximately 10 to 19.
HQ, Branch or Single Location Single Location
Annual Sales (Estimated) $1 to 2.5 million
Employees (Estimated) 10 to 19
SIC Code and Description 872101, Accountants
NAICS Code and Description 541211, Offices of Certified Public Accountants
