BUSINESS BRIEFS
$4 million feed-mill grant sought
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The Oceanic Institute is seeking a $4 million grant from the state as part of its effort to build a research feed mill on the Big Island.
Research done at the facility would help farmers produce feed more cost effectively for the livestock, poultry and aquaculture industries. Feed costs often constitute the largest single expense for those industries in Hawai'i.
The funding being sought by the institute is in addition to $3.7 million already raised for the proposed research feed mill in Hilo. Some of the research done at the facility would look at ways to make use of existing agricultural byproducts for use in animal feed formulations.
SHRED-IT TRUCKS AT WAL-MART
Shred-it will roll out its document shredding trucks to the Pearl City Wal-Mart parking lot on Saturday so consumers can destroy personal papers for free in a public-service effort to fight identity theft.
The event, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1131 Kuala St., is one of 200 this month in a nationwide initiative by Shred-it, Wal-Mart and Crime Stoppers USA.
Consumers can bring two bags or boxes of documents such as bank statements and expired credit cards. On O'ahu this year, Shred-it destroyed an estimated 22,000 pounds of documents at three free events co-sponsored with other organizations.
U.S. ECONOMY SHOWS RESILIENCY
NEW YORK — The U.S. economy showed signs of resilience yesterday, despite rising prices at the gas pump, adding fuel to speculation that the Federal Reserve would continue on its course of raising interest rates.
A widely watched barometer of consumer confidence rose in April to its highest level in almost four years, according to a private research group. And sales of previously owned homes edged up slightly in March after rising in February, too.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes edged up a meager 0.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.92 million units.
