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Maui%20County
The Maui 10
Who’s the county’s most powerful player?

by By Anthony Pignataro

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