BUSINESS BRIEFS
Wholesale gas price to dip 2¢
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i's wholesale gasoline price cap will drop 2 cents a gallon on Monday, according to figures released yesterday by the state Public Utility Commission.
From Jan. 2 through Jan. 8 the maximum wholesale price for regular will be $1.84 a gallon. That's down from about $1.86 a gallon this week. That excludes 62 cents in tax and any dealer mark-up. Under the price cap law that took effect in September dealers can charge whatever prices they want.
BIOTECH SUMMIT HERE JAN. 11-13
The Biotechnology Industry Organization, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, and the state of Hawai'i will host a Japanese Bio Mission at the Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy in Ho-nolulu Jan. 11 to 13.
BIO is sponsoring the conference in conjunction with the state of Hawai'i, the University of Hawai'i, the Hawai'i Life Sciences Council, Enterprise Honolulu and the Oceanic Institute.
"The purpose of the conference is to highlight the emerging field of industrial biotechnology," said Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO's Industrial & Environmental Section.
DELTA PILOTS VOTE FOR 14% PAY CUT
ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines Inc. pilots voted yesterday to approve a 14 percent pay cut in a deal their union worked out with management to help the bankrupt carrier cope with a cash crunch.
About 58 percent of the members who voted approved the deal, the second double-digit pay cut the airline pilots have accepted in 13 months.
RETAILERS LIKELY TO MEET GOALS
NEW YORK — Procrastinators may have saved retailers this holiday season with a last-minute shopping surge that put merchants on track to meet their modest sales goals, two reports confirmed yesterday.
But retailers also are counting on a post-holiday sales boost from customers returning to stores to redeem gift cards. One analyst estimated that about 60 percent of gift-card redemptions occur between Dec. 26 and the end of January.
