Dillingham Named Chairman for DWI

DWI Corp. said it named Benjamin F. Dillingham, 66, as chairman, replacing Robert K. Fujioka, 60, who was named president and will remain chief operating officer. As president, Fujioka replaces David Sharbaugh, 38, who was named president of DWI’s product design division, a new position.

All of the appointments are effective upon completion of DWI’s acquisition of San Francisco-based OTEC Corp. for 15 million newly issued shares of DWI common stock. DWI said it expects to complete the acquisition within three months, pending regulatory approval, and will then sell or develop the real estate parcels owned by OTEC.

OTEC said Dillingham holds “less then 5%” of OTEC’s outstanding common shares. He could not be reached for comment.

As reported, DWI, an industrial design concern, posted a net loss of $113,078 for its first fiscal quarter ended Sept. 27, compared to a net loss of $56,518 for the comparable quarter a year earlier. Fujioka had attributed the losses to “delays in commencement of certain major design projects” and said losses will continue for the fiscal second quarter ending Dec. 27 but then there would be a return to profitability.

DWI said the fiscal second quarter loss “probably” will not be an improvement over the $56,414 net loss reported for the same period a year earlier. DWI declined to elaborate but said it anticipates reporting results in late January.

Dillingham retired in December as chairman and a director of OTEC. He is the brother of Lowell Dillingham, chairman of Honolulu-based Dillingham Corp.