Biz Wrap: The Rim Restaurant Opens; KAHU Radio Closes

In business news this week, two east Hawaii women will be honored this month at a YWCA luncheon and initial unemployment claims are down this week compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the restored Volcano House opened its restaurant this week under a new name and the only radio station in Ka‘u shut down.

Volcano Restaurant Has a New Name

The recently renovated Volcano House restaurant has a new name.

Aqua Hospitality, which now owns the historic restaurant and lodge as part of its Monogram Hotel Collection, announced that the restaurant will be called “The Rim.”

Last month the hotel received hundreds of submissions as part of a contest to name the new restaurant.

The winning name was submitted by Claire Allen from Massachusetts, who will receive a two-night stay at the Volcano House for her efforts.

Overlooking Halema‘uma‘u Crater within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, the restored restaurant opened June 1 for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

KAHU 91.7 FM Community Radio Ends in Ka‘u

KAHU 91.7 FM in Pahala has ended its three-year struggle to survive and is shuttering operations.

Ka‘u Community Radio Inc. filed paperwork with the Federal  Communications Commission to officially state that it would no longer be broadcasting due to having its electricity turned off as a result of financial difficulties.

KAHU officially signed on the airwaves in June 2010 but was unable to maintain a self-sustaining business operation.

It was the only radio station with broadcasting facilities within the 77-mile Ka‘u district.

YWCA to Honor Higashi and Johnson at Luncheon

Retired Hilo business owner Jan Higashi and professor Jackie Pualani Johnson will be honored at the YWCA of Hawai‘i Island’s Remarkable Person Luncheon on Thursday, June 27, at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel.

Retired business executive Jan Higashi is one of two women to be honored at a YWCA luncheon this month. Photo courtesy YWCA.

The luncheon will be held in the hotel’s Moku ‘Ola Room from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Higashi, who was raised in Pa‘auilo and lives in Hilo, recently retired after managing companies, such as Creative Arts Hawaii and Instant Sign Centers of Hawaii.

She has served in leadership positions for several organizations, including the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, Hospice of Hilo and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hawaii.

UH-Hilo Professor Jackie Pualani Johnson will also be honored at a YWCA luncheon later this month. Photo courtesy YWCA.

Born and raised in Hilo, Johnson is professor and chair of the Performing Arts Department at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, where she has been an actress and stage director for more than 30 years.

She helped organize, and appeared in, the Hilo Community Players’ outdoor Summer Shakespeare, which is now in its 36th continuous year.

Tickets for the luncheon are $50. For more information or to buy luncheon tickets, call Alena Kiyota at 935-6067 x121 or email akiyota@ywcahawaiiisland.org.

Unemployment Claims Decrease

Initial unemployment claims decreased statewide and on island this week compared to the same week a year ago.

Statewide there were 1,856 total filings, a decrease of 3.5% compared to 1,923 filings during the same week in 2012.

In Hawai‘i County, there were 398 claims filed this week, a decrease of 10.8%, compared to the 446 claims filed same week last year.

Of the 398 initial unemployment claims, 227 were filed in Hilo and 171 were filed in Kona.

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