BUSINESS BRIEFS
BBB salutes fair-play businesses
Advertiser Staff
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Hawaii Self Storage and ING Direct tied for first place as the top small businesses in this year's Torch Awards presented by Hawai'i's Better Business Bureau.
The annual award recognizes businesses and public charities for "their commitment to fair, honest and ethical marketplace practices," the BBB said in a news release.
Winners in other categories: medium-sized business, Coastal Windows; large business, Atlas Insurance; and public charity, Aloha United Way.
The BBB also recognized Mark Recktenwald, former director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. He was presented with the first BBB Ka Mea o Kako'o Award in recognition of his work in consumer advocacy, protection and education. Recktenwald was recently named an associate justice on the Hawai'i Supreme Court.
The awards were presented yesterday at a luncheon in the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Coral Ballroom.
O'AHU INDUSTRIAL SITE VACANCY LOW
The vacancy rate of industrial space in Honolulu remains one of the lowest in the nation despite increasing over the past year.A survey by Colliers International of 54 markets nationwide found Honolulu had the third-lowest industrial space vacancy rate, with the amount of unoccupied space below the national rate.
Between March 2008 and March 2009, Honolulu's vacancy rate rose to 5.1 percent from 3.4 percent.
The national average jumped to 9.57 percent from 8.15 percent a year earlier.
The highest rate was in Bakersfield, Calif., at 21.6 percent. The lowest was in Los Angeles at 4.2 percent.
ENTERTAINER MAKES TAX PLEA DEAL
Local entertainer Rodney D. Villanueva has agreed to plead guilty to charges that he filed a false state income tax return and skipped filing general excise and income tax returns for several years, the state Department of Taxation said.The state alleges that Villanueva filed a false income tax return for 2006. He also allegedly failed to file returns for the tax years 2002 through 2005. It also claims in a 10-count criminal complaint that Villanueva didn't file annual general excise tax returns from 2002 to 2006.
Filing a false return is a felony and carries a fine of up to $100,000. Not filing a return carries a fine of up to $25,000 per violation and jail time not to exceed a year.
The tax department reported that a plea via complaint was agreed on by the defendant and the state attorney general.
