Maui Pineapple Co., which shut down in November, said it will auction off its excess inventory on March 23 at the Maui Beach Hotel.

Items to be auctioned include compressors, backhoes, crawler loaders, Kenworth trucks, passenger buses, golf carts, forklifts, flatbed trailers and welding equipment.

The auction is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. A list of equipment is available at www.greatamerican.com or by calling auctioneer Joe Tiepel at 538-1961.

NASDAQ WARNS CYANOTECH OF TRADING RULE

Cyanotech Corp.'s recent appointment of a director as its interim president and chief executive officer will require it to appoint a new independent director if it wants to keep trading its stock on the Nasdaq market.

Nasdaq has warned the Kailua, Kona-based company that it is in violation of listing requirements because its board does not have a majority of independent directors, and fewer than the three independent directors needed on the board's audit committee.

Cyanotech said it will provide Nasdaq a plan for appointing new independent board members. The problem resulted from former board member David Rosenthal being appointed as head of the company earlier this month.

ALASKA AIRLINES BEGINS NEW KONA ROUTE

Alaska Airlines yesterday began four-times-weekly service between San Jose and Kona one day after launching thrice-weekly service between San Jose and Maui.

The airline is offering introductory one-way fares of $179 between San Jose-Kona and San Jose-Maui for tickets purchased by March 18.

Alaska Airlines also is inviting the public to enter for a chance to win a Hawaiian vacation for two with celebrated short-track speed skater and the most decorated U.S. winter Olympian in history, Apolo Anton Ohno.

Participants can register for the "Follow Apolo to Hawai'i" sweepstakes, beginning today and continuing through April 15, at www.followapolo.com.

UH BUSINESS COLLEGE MAKES TOP-100 LIST

The University of Hawai'i's Shidler College of Business made Bloomberg BusinessWeek's annual list of top undergraduate business programs.

In the 2010 rankings, the college placed in the top 100 among nearly 500 accredited undergraduate business programs nationwide. Shidler was listed 10th in the Western region, 52nd among public schools, and 99th in overall rank closely behind the University of Oregon, University of Colorado-Boulder and University of Iowa.