BUSINESS BRIEFS
A&B controller to take new job
Advertiser Staff
Alexander & Baldwin Inc. controller Tom Wellman is leaving to become chief financial officer of The Gas Co., and will be replaced by A&B's director of internal audits, Paul K. Ito.
A&B said the change will be effective May 1. Ito joined A&B in April 2005, and previously worked for accounting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP in San Francisco.
Wellman, a 17-year A&B employee, also was treasurer, a position to be assumed by Chris Benjamin, A&B's chief financial officer.
CLOSING EVENT SET FOR AUCTION SHOP
Auctioneer Marty McClain, who recently opened a downtown auction center at King Street and Nu'uanu Avenue, is closing his auction facility in Kaka'ako with the final gaveling set for Saturday and Sunday.
Ten percent of the auction proceeds will be donated to the Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation. McClain is closing the facility on Halekauwila Street after 10 years at the location. Before that he operated out of a building on Queen Street near the intersection of South Street.
Murphy's Bar & Grill is providing a barbecue for auction attendees at the Kaka'ako closing event. For information, call McClain Auctions at 596-3900.
MICROSOFT TO SELL $1.2B IN SOFTWARE
SEATTLE — Lenovo Group Ltd., China's largest PC maker, will buy $1.2 billion of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software over the next year as part of efforts to curb piracy of the world's most popular operating system software.
Lenovo disclosed the figure as part of a joint marketing agreement signed yesterday at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters. Under the agreement, the two companies said they will work together to promote the use of genuine software to customers at Lenovo's retail network of 5,000 stores in China.
Microsoft has lobbied China to crack down on piracy, seeking higher sales in Asia to counter a slowdown in the U.S. and Europe.
