Hawai'i growers produced 2.8 million pounds of papayas in July, up 9 percent from June and up 34 percent from July 2008, according to the local office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Through the first seven months of the year, papaya production totaled 17.5 million pounds, down 3 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Papaya growers received 45 cents a pound for fresh fruit in July, 1 cent higher than in June, but 5 cents a pound lower than in July 2008. The average price for all of 2008 was 45.5 cents a pound, according to the statistics service.

NOMINATE FOR SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS

The U.S. Small Business Administration is accepting nominations for its 2010 SBA Small Business Awards.

Awards will be given in several categories, including: Small Business Person of the Year, Family Owned Small Business and Small Business Exporter.

The deadline to submit a nomination is Nov. 16.

For information, contact Jane Sawyer at 541-2990, ext. 205, or jane.sawyer@sba.gov. Nomination forms also are available at www.hawaii-sbdc.org/ (the Hawaii Small Business Development Center Network's Web site).

3 HAWAI'I FIRMS GET NAVAL CONTRACT WORK

Three Hawai'i firms are among six construction companies that will share a $500 million contract awarded by Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

The local companies are Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., Watts-Healy Tibbitts Joint Venture and Manson-Nan Joint Venture. The Mainland companies are General Construction Co., of Poulsbo, Wash.; Nova Group, of Napa, Calif.; and Triton Marine Construction Corp., of Bremerton, Wash.

All work under the contract will be done in Hawai'i, and will include the construction, repair and alteration of waterfront-related structures and facilities, dredging, and other improvements, according to a news release from the naval command. All work is set to be completed by 2014.