Remove ImagesMaui County
The Maui 10
Who’s the county’s most powerful player?
November 02, 2006
RANK PREVIOUS COMPANY
1
2
Tesoro Hawai`i
2
3
Maui Land & Pineapple Co.
3
4
Weinberg Foundation
4
5
Makena Resort
5
1
Maui Electric Co.
6
6
Monsanto Hawai`i
7
7
Dowling Co.
8
9
Wailuku Water Co.
9
8
Alexander & Baldwin
10
10
Hawaiian Telcom
POWER LOSS
Good ol' MECO experiences a significant drop in power this week on
news that 20 of Maui County's 65 tsunami warning sirens—nearly one out
of three—wouldn't have worked following the Oct. 15 Big Island
earthquake. The reason: they're connected to the very same power grid
that went down before the shaking stopped. The other sirens, being
solar-powered, would have gone full blast had state civil defense
officials thrown the Doomsday Switch after the quake, which they
thankfully didn't have to do. According to a story in the Oct. 27 Maui
News, state officials want to make all the sirens solar, but are
intimidated by the $75,000 unit cost.
MEAGER
Ouch! A&B's third quarter profits are down 21 percent from the
same quarter in 2005. That's right, folks—the company that brings you
Matson Navigation, A&B Properties and Hawaiian Commercial &
Sugar made a meager $27.9 million this quarter. Of course, the company
says it fully expected the losses. "While the contributions from
Matson's China service increased from the prior quarter, and the
service is profitable, performance did not reach planned levels as
favorable container volumes were more than offset by lower rates and
higher fuel and intermodal rail costs," A&B CEO Allen Doane said in
an Oct. 27 press release. "However, it is noteworthy that Matson has
firmly established its reputation in China for superior service, which
should translate into improved rates over time." See? The Chinese love
Matson. Why should anyone worry about that? MTW