Owned
Castle and Cooke, the Rupert Murdoch-owned development and luxury resort mega-corporation busted into the top 10 this week following a story in Pacific Business News stating the company owns 98% of Lanai. Can that be right? I knew they had a pretty big stake in the island owning both Four Seasons resorts, but 98%?! The article goes on to say that C&C is planning to take the whole island off the grid in the next few years with a massive photovoltaic project. The first, a 1.5 megawatt beauty set to begin operation this year, will provide almost a third of the island’s peak time power needs and a tenth of annual electricity overall.
RANK PREVIOUS COMPANY
1 1 Monsanto Hawai`i
2 2 Alexander & Baldwin
3 3 Maui Land & Pineapple Co.
4 4 Weinberg Foundation
5 5 Dowling Co.
6 6 Wailuku Water Co.
7 7 Goodfellow Brothers
8 10 Matson Navigation Co.
9 8 Maui Electric Co.
10 N/A Castle &Cooke
Ships Ahoy
Matson Navigation Co. jumps another couple of spots with the announcement that the state will sink almost $120 million into Kahului Harbor over the next 6 year as part of Gov. Linda Lingle’s harbor improvement initiative. The improvements will mean more room and smoother operations for the state’s largest shipping company. As part of the Hawaii Harbors Users Group, which was instrumental in getting the bill passed, Matson will no doubt also have a seat in the newly formed Harbors Modernization Group. Unfortunately for customers, more rate increases may be on the horizon. Following a fuel surcharge hike last week, Matson may be looking at higher rents to help the State pay off the bond it issued for the project for the 2009 budget. No doubt that will trickle down to consumers. MTW
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