BUSINESS BRIEFS
Biodiesel could cut imports 20%
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The state Department of Agriculture said yesterday Hawai'i could produce enough biodiesel from local crops to reduce diesel imports by 20 percent.
That finding was part of a study that looked into the potential of growing and processing crops, such as soybeans and flax, to produce biodiesel. The study, conducted by the Hawaii Agricultural Research Center, outlines production schemes for each of the seven main Hawaiian Islands, using information on specific crops, available sites, accessibility to resources, and energy requirements to determine potential for replacing petroleum-based diesel with biodiesel.
Primary constraints for biodiesel production on each island include land and water availability, and the lack of a community of growers with knowledge of the production, according to the study.
HMSA PLAN 73RD BEST IN U.S.
Health Plan Hawaii, the health-maintenance organization operated by the Hawaii Medical Service Association, is the 73rd best commercial health plan nationally, according to a ranking by U.S. News & World Report and the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
The same ranking put Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Hawaii as the 95th best.
Criteria for inclusion in the ranking included access to care, treatment and member satisfaction.
As reported earlier, the Medicaid plan operated by Kaiser was cited as being the third best in the nation.
JOBLESS RATE DOWN TO 4.4%
WASHINGTON — The unemployment rate sank to a five-year low of 4.4 percent and workers' wages grew solidly last month, flashing a picture of a jobs market on firm footing as voters go to the polls.
Figures released yesterday by the Labor Department suggested that employers are coping fairly well with a national economy that has lost a lot of momentum because of the housing slump.
Still, pockets of pain were evident. The struggling auto industry slashed jobs. So did companies involved in home building, as well as furniture makers and real-estate firms — casualties of the sour housing market. Retailers continued to pink-slip employees. All told, the economy added 92,000 new jobs in October, short of economists' expectations for an increase of around 125,000.
ELECTRONICS COST LESS AT WAL-MART
NEW YORK — Wal-Mart stepped up its discounting yesterday in advance of the holiday season, announcing deep price cuts on almost 100 electronics that focused on high-definition TVs, cell phones and digital cameras.
The discounts, or what Wal-Mart Stores Inc. counts as rollbacks, are effective through Dec. 31. They include such items as Panasonic 42-inch HD plasma TVs, slashed to $1,294 from $1,794; Polaroid LCD HDTVs, reduced to $997, from $1,297; and Cingular C139 prepaid phones, marked down to $19.97 from $29.98.
