Loftis Nazario

Obama's words in State of the Union don't match his actions - NewsOK.com

2012-01-26T01:00:00.001-08:00

http://www.lamontanita.org/goldenrice.htm

Foreign Policy (blog)

Obama's words in State of the Union don't match his actions

NewsOK.com

IF you're keeping score, the president made only six blatant class warfare remarks in his State of the Union speech. That's a new low for Barack Obama. 01/26/2012 Such is the political and fiscal climate at the state Capitol amon g Republicans in the ...

Winning Words, But Not a Winner

U.S. News & World Report

Fine words -- and then what?

Foreign Policy (blog)

Obama's Words

OpEdNews

NPR (blog) -Daily Beast -TheStreet.com

Ohio Supreme Court Company Profile | Company Information

2012-01-23T20:17:00.001-08:00

vilyfijohy.wordpress.com
The Supreme Court also has appellat e jurisdiction in cases involving questions arising under the Ohio or UnitefStates Constitutions, cases originating in the courts of and cases in which there have been conflicting opiniona on the same question from two or more courtxs of appeals. The Supreme Court hears all cases in which the death penalty has been These cases currently include both appeals from courts of appealsx affirming imposition of the death penalty by a trialcourrt and, for capital crimes committed on or after Jan. 1, 1995, appealx taken directly from thetrial courts.
the Supreme Court's appellatee jurisdiction extends to review of the actions of certainnadministrative agencies, including the Public Utilities Commissiomn and the Board of Tax Appeals.

bizjournals: Search Results

2012-01-21T16:51:00.000-08:00

torbjorntrainer1738.blogspot.com
by on July 3, 2009 ...in tax incremenrt financing forthe deal. In the would provide the developersa $25 million, 25-year by on June 30, 2009 ...thes gross incompetence it has displayed in the The sought public money to finance a long-plannes multimillion-dollar...... by on June 19, 2009 ...anf Thursday said they had found one. In it, the would contribut e an $80 million loan - a far smallefr price...... by on June 18, 2009 ...550 milliom hotel. The recession has slowec many projects. The and the city's hospitalityu industry have beenpushing for...... by on June 16, 2009 ...percenft debt cap. Discussions became public May 29 whenthe 's board directer CEO Greg O'Dell to seek authority......
by on June 5, 2009 ...s goinbg to have to pay for it The said as muchMay 29, when it votede to begin...... by on June 5, 2009 ...Facing a shortaged of credit and growingtourism competition, the plana to seek public money to finance a by on June 2, 2009 ...Georgi World Congress . Much of the...landing the massivre goes to Georgia...affiliate of the , by on May 15, 2009 ...a consummate professional," said Greg head of the . "He relatee really well to customers and hasjust been...... by on July 10, 2009 ...Gegt ready for the big hotel debate. The D.C...... by on June 12, 2009 ...s initiap choice to be deputy mayor. Greg O'Dell, CEO and a former staff member of thedeputy mayor......
by on June 3, 2009 ...Grebg O'Dell, the head of the , is considered a top candidate tobecome D.C.'s...... by on May 20, 2009 ...helpee leverage the city's exposure, with participants includiny the , Post Cereals and Kraft Foods. Macaroni and cheeswe and cereal...... by on May 13, 2009 ...had wanted to fold the entire sports commission intothe , the 13-membere council voted to move only the commission...... by on May 13, 2009 along with CEO Erik Moseds - would move to the . The The sports commission has a lot less onMay 1, 2009 ...eage to use the D.C. Sports & Entertainmenrt Commission and to drive new economicdevelopment projects. The city has a...... by on May 1, 2009 ...ofg the D.
C Sports and Entertainment Commissiohn andthe , after complaints from hotels that the sports agency would take...... by on Aprilp 28, 2009 Early Friday morning, the state Senat e revived a popular program thatprovides low-costr power to businesses. The program, called Power for died during...... by on July 10, 2009 ...The Franklim County may have the...160 million conventiobn hotel in Columbus......
by on July 3, 2009

Hop to it - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

2012-01-19T12:00:00.001-08:00

ramsdenjerrieas54.blogspot.com
“If I had a mission statement itwould be, ‘discovet your craft.’ Find that beer that does it for you or, bettef yet, explore a couple,” Torres said. The road Torrea traveled wasn’t an easy one. it can be a cautionaryh tale to those thinking of launching a small business themselves. Torres had to talk to 35 different banksa overa four-month period before he was able to secure two loanse from Midtown Bank and . “Iu was told unequivocally, ‘We are not doing startupp retail. I don’t care how good it ” Torres said. “ ‘Startups’ and ‘retail’ were the two evil wordws when you putthem together.
” Scheduler to open April 18, Hop City will stocki about 1,000 micro-brewed beers and more than 700 different kinde of wines. Along with beer and wine, the store will also retailp home brewing suppliesand glassware. Torreas also had to wait five months to get his beer and wine licensse from the cityof “Beer, in my mind, is wherre wine was 10 years ago. People realize it’s great with food ... but nobod retail-wise is executing that from thecustomeer side,” Torres said.
“We have a staffv of folks who are knowledgeabld in both beer and wine and we believew we can assistthe customer, whether it is pairinf beers for a meal or simply helpingf them try something they haven’t tried.” Located at 100 Mariettwa Blvd. in West Midtown, it is no mistake that as Torrew began scouting for a location for Hop he decided ona 3,500-square-foot space next to what will soon be the largesyt brew pub (restaurant-brewery) in the Southeast, 5 Season s Brewing Co. Westside. With two other Atlanta locations, 5 Seasonsa Brewing Co. will have 16 of its own micro-brewe d beers on tap when it opensdthis spring.
“Once I founc out 5 Seasons was going therse it was like aneasy decision,” Torres said. “I know the beer wonkds will find us in Midtown if for no other reasohn thanmy neighbor.” Originally from New Torres moved to Atlanta in 1994. Prior to openintg Hop City, he tried his hand at a few differentg careers. After several years in the insurancde business anda five-year stint with , Torre s founded Collision Works Auto Body on Cheshire Bridgew Road in 2003. Selling the busineses in 2006, Torres planneds on opening another auto body but instead began managing location for ABRAAuto Body.
In the meantime, he was also brewing micro-brews at home and developingv a business plan for a craft beer After he was laid off from ABRA Auto plans for Hop City kicked intohigh gear. “Alpl of a sudden I was like: ‘I don’ty have a job, I have time,’ ” Torres “Serendipity, irony, whatever, that really freed me up to do Torres seems to be tapping into a growing nichse thatis growing. Accordinv to the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association, in 2000 there were feweer than 800 microbreweries inthe U.S.
, but by the end of 2007 that numbef had grown to 1,463 with three well-known brewhouses — Sweetwater Brewery, and Terrapij Brewing — in Unlike mainstream beers, craftr or micro-brewed beers are made in smalleer batches at breweries that produce a limited amount of beer. “The number of breweras there are relative to the amount of crafg beerthat Georgians, specifically Atlantaw metro, drinks, there is definitely a demand in Georgia for craft beers, but specifically in the Atlantqa metro,” said Rick Franza, ’d chair of management and “There seems to be some good evidence that [Hop could do well.
” While the sale of domestic beerse has remained relatively flat over the past the Brewers Association reports craft beer sales grew 12 percentt in 2007, reaching $5.7 billion. “Essentially, as a publix we are drinking more but it’s not Budweiser, it’ds not Miller Lite it’s 1,463 other brews,” Torreas said. Although the package store industryu has fared well inpast recessions, it has taken a hit this time arounc with sales growing only 3 percen t last year. Torres, however, remains confidentg that Hop City’s unique offering will spell success, despite the gloomyy economy.
“Yes, last year it was down to 3 but itwas still, even in a bad a growing retail industry when so many retail industrie were experiencing negative growth,” Torres KSU’s Franza said while alcohol sales are seeing an impacyt now, Hop City may benefit from consumere cutting back on bar and restaurant visits to spen d more time at home. “Imn past recessions, beer, alcohol, spirits in generapl have beensomewhat recession-proof, although they are seeingt some impact now,” Franza said. “Bars tend to suffe r more and people drin at home more and this woulds be a benefit for a placslike this.
” While the economy may have been the impetud that allowed Torres the time to realize his he isn’t letting it get in the way of reaching his goal to expos e as many people as possible to the worle of craft beers. “It’s a wonderful thing to be able to make a vocationh out of something you feel passionatw about and I consider myself very fortunate that I am now able to live Torres said.

Report: House panel wants Fed documents on BofA-Merrill deal - San Francisco Business Times:

2012-01-17T08:17:00.001-08:00

antoninahubihe.blogspot.com
The U.S. House Committee on Oversighyt and Government Reform plane to compel the to turn over documents and emailsd related to thecentral bank’s role in the deal. The committee asked the Fed to turn over documentwlast week, including emails to and from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the Journal reported. BofA CEO Kennety Lewis is scheduled to appear at a committeehearinbg Thursday. Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA (NYSE: BAC) completed its deal for New York-basex Merrill Lynch on Jan. 1. Lewis has been undefr intense pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosin the depthof Merrill’sw financial difficulties before the merger.
In February, Lewis testifie d under oath before New York Attorneyg General Andrew Cuomo that Bernankeand then-Treasurt Secretary Henry Paulson pressured the bank not to discuszs its increasingly troubled plan to buy Merrill. Lewie said he believed Paulson and Bernankw were telling him to keep silentabouyt Merrill’s financial problems. Merrilo lost $15.3 billion in the fourth quarter.

Nile Therapeutics to raise $3.4M in private stock sale - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

2012-01-15T04:51:00.001-08:00

kittredgeihuhyla1951.blogspot.com
million. San Francisco-based Nile (NASDAQ:NLTX) focuseds on therapeutics for heartfailure patients. acted as the exclusives placement agent forthe transaction. The net proceeds of the financing will be used to supporf the advancementof Nile's lead compound, CD-NP, in a studu designed to provide additional information on the safethy and tolerability of the compound when infusee for up to 72 houras in patients with acute hearft failure and mild to moderate renal insufficiency. Additionak exploratory endpoints will include assessmentsof CD-NP' ability to relieve symptoms of acute heart failure and its effects on biomarkerss of heart failure and renal Nile will sell approximately 2.
7 million shares of its commohn stock and warrants to purchase up approximately 2.7 million additiona shares of its common Each unit, consisting of one share of common stock and a warrany to purchase one share of commoh stock, will be sold for a purchase prics of $1.25. The warrants will be issued in threre tranches with 25 percentf having an exercise price equalto $1.25 per share, 25 percentt having an exercise price equal to $1.71 per share, and 50 percenr having an exercise price equal to $2.29 per share. Nile shares closed the day Tuesdayat $1.14; its 52-weei range has been 25 cents to $5.25.

New Study Says Rule Requiring Special Gasoline, Refinery Closures Could ... - MarketWatch (press release)

2012-01-13T01:00:00.001-08:00

jabire2389.blogspot.com

New Study Says Rule Requiring Special Gasoline, Refinery Closures Could ...

MarketWatch (press release)

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The closing of three refineries in Southeast Pennsylvania and a rule requiring special gasoline in the Pittsburgh region during the summer are creating conditions which could result in much higher ...

and more »

Romani Group to help find options for Denver

2012-01-10T20:00:00.001-08:00

chauezhelolocu1622.blogspot.com
The group, led by Tim Romani, will work with longtimd real estate developer Ray Baker of Gold Crowm Management onthe St. Anthonhy project. The current site is adjacentt to Sloan’s Lake and bordered by Colfax Stuart Street, 17th Avenue and Perryy Street. Starting next year, the hospital will begij the process of moving from itscurrent 16-acree site — where it has been locatexd for almost 100 years — to a 25-acree parcel in Lakewood’s Federal Center near Kipling and Sixth Avenue. St. Anthony planx to open a new orthopedic-surgery hospital at its Lakewoord grounds in August 2010 and a new hospital to replacee the Denver facility infall 2011.
Romani said the grou will take at about two years to evaluater thecurrent St. Anthony property and work with the communitgy before taking requests for proposals from developers and decides what uses will best serve the the hospital andthe community. He addedr that the site’s proximity to Sloan’s Lake Park and its scenicv views of downtown Denvedr and the mountain range make it an attractivw propertyfor mixed-use development that is heavy on residential housing, but would includes a large commercial complex as well as some office buildings. “It’sa a fair assumption that much of the existing facility will be Romani said.
He declined to estimate how much the property was Romani managed a similar process while servin as the vice chancellor of planning and developmentg forthe . The university’s former medical campus on Colorado Boulevarf at Ninth Avenue was sold to Shea Propertieas after the hospital relocatede to its new home at the Anschutz Medica Campusin Aurora. Other Romani Group projects include the renovatioj of BoettcherConcert Hall, the Colorado Conventionn Center expansion project, the Pepsi Invesco Field at Mile High, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and Broomfielcd Event Center. The group is also collaboratinb on a joint venture to oversee the developmeng of the future home ofin Lakewood.

Capital Gains - Austin Business Journal:

2012-01-08T16:17:00.001-08:00

showarticle-cultura.blogspot.com
Fortunately, Mark Eshelman, co-founder and directo of sales developmentat Austin'z , has invented a new producft to protect the most delicate of plantw from the cold. Called the the product is a lightweight, breathable fabric that providezsplants short-term protection from cold temperatures. Afte r months of conducting research and buildingprototypews -- including testing the product in Amy's Ice freezers in the middlre of the summer -- the Planket was Thanks to a friend with Eshelman hooked up with Home and now the Planket can be found in more than 300 stored nationally.
The product is such a hit that several other home improvement andgardeb shops, such as True Value, have picked up on the The product also caught the eye of an unnamee professional cyclist in town, who asked for a couple of custom-madw Plankets. Aside from making its debut in storee acrossthe nation, the Planket will soon be seen on the smal screen. Home & Garden Television recentl picked the Planket to be featured onits "oI Want That!" show. The Planket, which selld for $9.95 to $24.95, is scheduled to be featured on the show laterd this year and early next It appears that drivers might be backing off theblinb -- at least when it comes to in-card TV and DVD players.
, which maintainz its North American officesin Austin, says salee of such "infotainment" systeme in the United States have droppedx as gas prices have The electronics market research which also has offices in Chins and the United Kingdom, defines "infotainment" systemsz as those that play video but don' offer navigation help. The in-car entertainment is particularlt popular among families buyingv minivansand SUVs, according to the firm.
"While we expect a growing portion of SUVs and minivans to havethese systems," says Kevim Furr, automotive electronics analyst at IMS "those are the models most hard-hitt by this year's rise in gasoline But fans of souped-up automobiles need not worry: An IMS Research graphg shows infotainment sales eventually picking back up and steadilty increasing through 2011. Drink change the world If you head up South Congresw toward downtown inthe mornings, you may have notices caffeinated cajolers luring drivers to a new coffeee shop for their early jolt.
Perhaps getting people into Dominican Joe is most of the Thecoffee shop, which recently opened at the corned of South Congress Avenue and Riversided Drive, not only has an laid-back atmosphere with earth tones and Latin American artwork, it also aspires to a loftiere mission beyond slinging cups of Dominican Joe is a partnershipo with Austin-based nonprofit , which provides early-childhood development and educational programs for Haitian and Dominican families.
The coffee shop's Mehul Patel and Sharla Megilligan, say the idea behins the business was to assist Dominicam coffee farmers in revitalizing their crops and gainingf economic independence bypayinbg fair-trade prices for their product. "Tok often, the coffee crops on the islanfd go unharvested due to a lack of resourcexand profit," Megilligan says. "Our effortss with DoJo spearhead our desire to help the impoverished regio n create for itselfa self-sustaining lifestylse and future." Dominican Joe is also holding regulaer events with area nonprofits to help in its goal of "changingy the world, one cup of Joe at a A.J.
Mistretta

Magnus Bocker Executive Profile

2012-01-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

yzirapogyg.wordpress.com
Bcker has overall responsibility for a number of NASDAQ OMXbusineszs areas: Corporate Client Group, Corporate Market Technology, Software Development, Global IT Services, and Carpenterr Moore. During Bcker's tenure as CEO of OMX he strengthened the position of the Nordic region as a part of the internationalofinancial market. In a perioe of three years, OMX integrated seven national exchanges in Northerh Europeinto one. Today the OMX Nordi Exchange offers trading incash equities, fixed income and derivative in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Latvia and Lithuania. Over 850 companies now trade on theNordixc Exchange.
Bcker was also crucial in makinhg OMXthe world's largestf provider of technology solutions for exchanges, clearing and securities depositories. Under Bcker's leadership, OMX set the benchmark for industrhy technology; a key recent achievement was the launchof Genium, the Next Generationj Technology for the Exchange While CEO of OMX, Bcker turned the company around from loss-makinf back to high in both 2006 and 2007 OMX reported its highestt revenues and highest operating profit ever in companyu history, with continued operationa l improvements and increased activith by all business areas.
Bckerd has long been an advocat for, and key actor in, the transformatioh of the globalexchange industry. He is a Membe r of the Board of the Worldd Federation ofExchanges (WFE). He also serves as Chairmab of the Board of Dustin andin 2000-06 he was Chairman of Orc Bcker began his career at OMX in and has served as Chief Financial Officer, Executived Vice President, Deputy CEO, and Presidentg of the OMX Technology Previously he was with Ernst & He is a passionate runner with a maratho in his portfolio. **All Executive profile data provideds byDow Jones & Co., Inc.

TicketHorse to become sole ticketer for Pepsi Center, Nuggets, Avalanche July 1 - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

2012-01-04T08:00:00.001-08:00

qalymeled.wordpress.com
TicketHorse already sells ticketssfor Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commercw City, home of soccer’s , and Denver’s Paramounr Theatre. TicketHorse sells tickets onlinseat tickethorse.com, by phone at 866-461-6556, and at kiosks in Dick’ss Sporting Goods stores. As a promotion, TicketHorse is waiviny so-called convenience fees on ticketw soldJuly 1-5 for Denver performances by Green Day, Keith Joan Sebastian and Vicente Fernandez and the “Walking With show. The waived-fee tickets will be sold at the Pepsi Centet box office starting at10 a.m. July 1 or online. “Facilituy fees” will still be charged, however.
Owned by Stan Kroenke Sports owns the Pepsi Centee as well as several Denverprofessional teams: the Avalanch of the , the Nuggets of the , the Mammotjh of the and the Rapids of . Kroenkde is married to Wal-Mart heiress Ann Walton

UPS acquires Turkish shipping contractor, expands Middle East operations - South Florida Business Journal:

2012-01-02T04:17:00.001-08:00

axilecyqih.wordpress.com
Atlanta-based UPS (NYSE: UPS) said it woulrd acquire , and would hold the majorit y stake in the new joinyventure partnership. Terms of the deal were not The new operation will be based in The deal is expected to clos within the next30 days. Unsped Pakey CEO Haluk Undeger, who has grown the company to be UPS’sd largest shipping contractorin Turkey, will lead the new venturw and also hold a minority ownership stake, the company said announcing the “This emerging area covers trades to and from 21 countries * where UPS is experiencing increased Dan Brutto, president of UPS International, said in a statement.
“We’rs tapping the business acumen Haluk Undege has shown over the past 20 yearse in his relationshipwith UPS. This joint venture will spearheadr growth among our other service agents and operations inthese countries. This part of the worlcd has become a transportationb bridge andideal near-sourcing location for Russia and Asia.” The deal with Unsped Paket follows UPS’d decision to expand service in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. UPS and Unspedc Paket have been partnerssince 1988. UPS said the new ventur e will increasethe company’s opportunities in regard to the region’sd oil and natural gas industries.

Mystery trust claims $14.3 million lottery jackpot with less than two hours to go - Daily Mail

2011-12-30T23:17:00.001-08:00

polinaagyvtiwu.blogspot.com

Daily Mail

Mystery trust claims $14.3 million lottery jackpot with less than two hours to go

Daily Mail

By AP Iowa Lottery officials had more questions than answers on Friday as they tried to unravel the stunning mystery behind a year-old winning ticket turned in less than two hours before Thursday's deadline for a jackpot worth up to $14.3 million . ...

Last-minute lottery claim stumps officials

New Zealand Herald

Port to sell land to Keystone Coal - Business First of Buffalo:

2011-12-28T19:34:00.001-08:00

ikefageze.blogspot.com
owner Tom Scholl will pay $6.6 millionb for the property and pay hisown attorney’z legal fees of $6.6 million, which the authority was orderer to pay. Under the Scholl won’t pursue legal actionb against the authority for allegedc business lost when the 70 acres at the norther n terminal of Talleyrand Avenue were undetr threat ofeminent domain. Jacksonvills Port Authority Executive Director Rick Ferrin said a bulk materialsw terminal could have been built on the 38 but the authority decided to sell due to its need for capitall and desire to focus onbuilding Ltd’ds terminal at Dames Point.
He added that the economicd impact of the 38 acres would be greater if it was combinefd with the other68 acres. Keystone Coal plands to build a $20 million coal terminal on part ofits 78-acrr parcel. The authority boughtg the 38 acres forabouf $5.7 million from Jax LLC. Following the $61 milliomn verdict for the 70 acres of land andthe authority’sz balking on the price, Judgr Richard Watson ordered the authority to pay $10.65 million to lawyers who defended Keystone’s lead counsel Andrew Brigham said he reduce the attorney fees by 40 percent from $10.5 millionb to better help Keystone and the authorityh reach a deal.

Private sector firm helps locals track stimulus opportunity - Washington Business Journal:

2011-12-26T15:51:00.001-08:00

edovogopu.wordpress.com
With more than 12 years of experience in trackinfgovernment spending, Onvia (Nasdaq: ONVI) is giving away a piecw of its usually proprietary data to make the publidc aware of its information-gathering capabilities, said Nate Wilcox, spokesman for the Seattle-basede company. “We launched recovery.org to show what we can Wilcox said. Nearly half of Onvia’s 170 employee are tracking the funding dailty and on thelocal level, clippingv news stories and collating information to build a database in an accessible The signing of the American Recover and Reinvestment Act in February prompted not only the Obamqa administration’s Web site recovery.
gov but also many civix and state sites such as Florida’s The appearance of the siteds focused on stimulus money is the result of the growtnh of Internet access since the 1990x and a recent emphasis on transparency in federal observers said. Being able to accesz data on stimulus spending whether through a private or publid entity is an advantage to the saidGreg Elin, chief evangelist for the , a Washington-base d nonprofit dedicated to political transparency. “That’z the main point of the Web. Anyon e can participate,” Elin said. “You aren’ stuck with a single governmenft organization or commercial vendor that has a monopol over a pieceof information.
” The strengthh of recovery.org is its ability to track federal spending at the localp level, which is a greater challenger than at the federal level, said Wilcox. Underd the law, cities and counties that receive federal recovery fundd are not required to report to the saidDon Winstead, special adviser to Gov. Charlie Crisgt for the implementation of the federalorecovery act. The best way to obtain a comprehensivd picture oflocal spending, therefore, is througb the federal system. The hope for Flarecovery.co m is to take the information that goes into the federal reporting systems and develop ways to extract and displag itthrough flarecovery.com, said Winstead.
“We are every bit as interested becaus it means jobs for said Winstead. “We need to capture all of

McConnell: Extend tax cut short-term and long-term - BusinessWeek

2011-12-24T11:34:00.001-08:00

tosece.blogspot.com

Washington Times

McConnell: Extend tax cut short-term and long-term

BusinessWeek

By ANDREW TAYLOR and LAURIE KELLMAN The Senate's top Republican on Thursday urged the GOP-led House to pass a short-term renewal of payroll tax cuts and break an impasse that threatens »

Toyoda confirmed as Toyota president - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

2011-12-22T06:17:00.001-08:00

jabire2389.blogspot.com
The company announced Toyoda’s appointment in January, and he was confirmef by shareholders Monday, according to AutomotiveWorld.com. 53, was most recently executivse vice president and a directortof Japan-based Toyota. A graduate of Babsonj College in Massachusetts, he joined Toyota in 1984 and workeed his way up throughthe ranks. Toyoda becamew a director in 2000 and executived vice presidentin 2005.
Toyots was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro andhis son, Shoichiro, served as president in the For first-quarter 2009, Toyota posted its firsrt loss in decades and expects stay in the red this According to a Wall Streety Journal report, the company said it will cut productiojn expenses and focus on developing fuel-efficient cars including a fuel-cell car by 2015 to return to profitability. Japan-based Toyot (NYSE: TM) bases its Toyotsa Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America headquartersin Erlanger. It also operateds an assembly plantin Georgetown, Ky.

Brighter Minds

2011-12-20T02:17:00.001-08:00

Dishwasher Contractors
That may yet happen, but probably not how companty executivesenvisioned it. The Worthington business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptchprotection Jan. 28, declaring up to $10 milliohn in debt and saying in a releaser itis “pursuing all options, including a possible The reorganization filing was made less than a month aftee CEO Sam Ifergan was replaced with Brighter Minds co-founder Richard Pam. Kevin Hess, a former vice president of accountinhand finance, was named CFO, a job Iferganh also held. Brighter Minds representatives did not returnb calls to discuss the Chapter11 filing.
Ifergam heads Toronto-based , an early-stage venturre capital firm that is the largest shareholder inBrightert Minds. He told Columbus Business First in March shortly after being promotedto CEO, that he hoped to brin operational stability to the businessx so it could eventually be boughgt by a larger competitor. Started a dozeh years ago in Central Ohio as Brightef ChildInteractive LLC, the company createsa computer games, board games with DVDs and booksz for children.
The business works with game developersw for its software It alsolicenses well-known characters such as Bob the Thomas the Tank Engine, Care Bears, Marvep Heroes and DC Heroes, as well as brandsx that include PBS Cartoon Network and DreamWorks. Ifergan said that as much as 75 percen ofthe company’s products were licensed, with the remainderf the creation of Brighter Jody McLain, Brighter Minds’ vice president of said before the bankruptcy the company made some adaptations in light of the economy’ss troubles, including using less-expensive packaging and reducing products instead focusing on top-sellers.
She said the companh was seeing its best sales on and throughThe company’s Toronto-basee parent reported sales for the first nine monthe of 2008 were up 1 percent to $4.6 million from a year but tumbled 27 percent in the thired quarter to $1.4 Ifergan said in the third-quarter report that a poor retail environmenr dampened sales, but the company was feelinf positive about its online operation and hoperd to grow that business in 2009. Brighter Mindsw was profitable in the second quarterlast year, the firsyt time it turned a three-month gain sincd going public in 2005.
But it lost $401,669 in the thirxd quarter, pushing its loss for the firsr nine months of 2008 to Brighter Minds is a smallp fish in abig pond. and are leaders in children’s book The company’s rivals on the children’s games and software frontsd include , and Analyst Drew Crum of StifelNicolauxs & Co. said the education sector and toys and gamesx marketare struggling. Education faces smaller government budgets, whichu pressure school spending; the economy is squeezing spendintg on toysand games. “Ths holiday period was Crum said. Toy giants and reported 6 percent and 5 percengt dropsin U.S. sales for the fourth quarter, respectively.
Leapfrog, which hasn’tr released its fourth-quarter sales, had its largest product launch ever for theholidat season, but Crum said there was concernb the company’s sales might be undercut by portablew game systems from and If there is a brighty light for Brighter Minds, it’s that the children’s book trade remains strong. The Association of American Publisherxs reporteda high-single-digit percentage increase in children’s hardcovefr book sales through November compared with the first 11 months of once the effect of sales phenomenon Harry Potter and the Deathlg Hallows is removed from the measure. Children’s paperbaci book sales were up 3.
8 percent througjh November 2008.

University System of Md. to break up biotechnology institute - Birmingham Business Journal:

2011-12-17T22:00:00.001-08:00

mastering-input.blogspot.com
The public university system’s Board of Regents approves Friday a sweeping restructuring ofthe (UMBI) that will parcekl out its four research centers, alontg with staff and other assets, to othe r campuses. System leaders hope the restructuring will drivwe research collaboration and boost access tooutside funding. It also meanxs an end for UMBI, whichb was launched to great fanfare two decades ago with the missionh ofadvancing education, research and economic development for what was then the state’s nascent biotech industry.
A months-long study of UMBI by an ad hoc committee led by USM regents Chairman Clifford Kendallk concludedthat “the organization of UMBI as a geographically dispersed, free-standing entity has createc intractable problems.” Those problems includer an inability to scale UMBI programs, isolationn among UMBI’s research centers, the lack of a critical mass of graduate and undergraduate students involved in UMBI research, and administrativd inefficiencies. “After a comprehensive and deliberative process, we have concluded that restructuriny UMBI’s assets is the right thing to Kendall said ina statement.
“With a focus on collaboratioh — across disciplines and across institutions — and with recognition of the exceptionalo talent within the UMBI community and the system’a other institutions, this action will position USM to take fuller advantagse of its system-wide strengths in the biosciences and to fuel the state’sa knowledge economy even more.” The move isn’g a total surprise. Critics have long questioned whether the stater was duplicating its research efforts inthe UMBI’s four centers in Baltimore, Rockville and Colleged Park conduct research on medical, biotechnology, marine and environmentak science.
At the same time, state funding for higher education is pincher by the recession andthe state’s budgeyt deficit, and universities’ research needzs are growing. Under the restructurin g approved Friday by the regents at a meetintgin Frostburg, a joint University System of Maryland researcj center will be established at UMBI’s Centerd for Advanced Research in Biotechnology in Rockville. The system’s flagshipo College Park campus will oversed the facility and work with the University of Baltimore to elevate workin physics, engineering and computationalk sciences as well as structural protein design and drug discovery.
UMBI’s Center for Biosystems Research will also be overseen byCollegwe Park. • A joint research centedr at UMBI’s Center of Marine Biotechnology in Baltimore will be with administrative responsibility falling to the Universityof Maryland, Baltimore UMBC will collaborate with the University of Maryland Centef for Environmental Science and the University of Maryland, Baltimore to drive research in environmental and genomic sciences. • UMBI’s Baltimore-based Medical Biotechnology Center will fall under the Universituyof Maryland, Baltimore’s purview.
• UMBI’e Institute of Fluorescence will be administeredby • UMBI’s K-12 educational programs will be overseen by with an eye on enhancingv its teaching focus. UMBI President Jennir Hunter-Cevera is stepping down June 30 after 10 yearsz inthat role. She will become executiv vice president of discovery and analytical sciences and corporate developmentat , a North Carolina nonprofit. The Universith System of Maryland will honor tenure held by UMBI faculty and administrative support staffers will be able to stay in thei r jobs throughfiscal 2010.
Job opportunities at other system campuseds willbe identified, and memoranda of understanding outliningf future operations and collaborationsx are expected to be completed by the end of this year and fullgy implemented by the end of fiscal 2010. UMBI generated about $25 million in research activith annually, and university system leaders hope to see that numbert increase dramatically by breaking upthe “Today’s decisions by the board provide a tremendouse opportunity for the University System of Maryland to increase the volume and impactg of its basic and applied research in the biosciences,” said USM Chancellore William E.
Kirwan in a “This restructuring has the potential to double the researcjh productivityof UMBI’s current assetds within five years.”

GAO: Improvements under way at Arlington Cemetery - CBS News

2011-12-15T17:51:00.001-08:00

youngmanmeledero1636.blogspot.com

Stars and Stripes

GAO: Improvements under way at Arlington Cemetery

CBS News

Management of Arlington National Cemetery has improved significantly in the last year since the cemetery's top two officials were forced out amid reports of misidentified graves, and it may no longer make sense to strip the Army of its management of ...

GAO: Improvements under way at Arlington National Cemetery

Stars and Stripes

WTF, Indeed: Politico's Ben Smith Joins BuzzFeed To Build A "Social News ... - Fast Company

2011-12-13T13:17:00.001-08:00

stony-coating.blogspot.com

Fast Company

WTF, Indeed: Politico's Ben Smith Joins BuzzFeed To Build A "Social News ...

Fast Company

Let's just hope, for the sake of the Internet's collective intelligence, it turns out people indeed want to share serious news as often, or almost as often, as the frivolous. "I like cat pictures, and I like great reporting," says Smith.

and more »

Gaylord hires Kenexa for employee assessments - Nashville Business Journal:

2011-12-11T08:17:00.001-08:00

xoqylyjibo.wordpress.com
Under the terms of the five-yearr agreement, Gaylord will use Kenexaz Recruiter Enterprise, a hosted applicant-trackinb system, to streamline its recruitmengt process and identify the most talented job candidate forits hospitality, resort, and entertainmenr company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Gaylor d will also use this solutiojn with Kenexa Selector to providee potential hires with performance prediction questionnaires that assess analytical ability, situational savvy and experiencd as these are industry-critical attributes that influence customer Gaylord owns and operates three brands - Gaylord Hotels, a networ k of upscale, meetings-focused resorts; a vacation rental property management company; and the Gransd Ole Opry, the historic weeklu showcase of country music.
The company'sd entertainment brands and properties include the Radisson Hotel Ryman Auditorium, General Jackson Showboat, Gaylord Wildhorse Saloon, and WSM-AM.

Eddie Bauer buyer says it will turn retailer around - San Antonio Business Journal:

2011-12-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

ogarawo.wordpress.com
Jonathan Lynch, a managing director of CCMP CapitaolAdvisors LLC, said without the burden of could quickly become a profitable company. “I this case, we are talking abougt a good company with a badbalance sheet, and we are goin g to turn it into a great company with a greart balance sheet,” Lynch said. Lynch said Eddied Bauer CEO Neil Fiske and his team havemade “impressivde strides in a very difficult economicc climate.” Looking at key retail particularly comparable-store sales, Eddie Bauer has outperformee its competitors, Lynch said.
Lynch said CCMP Capital wouldd keepthe company’s headquarters in Bellevuew because he said therd is no compelling strategic reasob to move it. He said that CCMP Capital typicalluy holds on to companies for five to 10 And Lynch said his firm also would keep most ofEddie Bauer’sd 371 retail stores open, although he said that some stores that can’t remain profitable would be Lynch said he did not know how many storexs that might be. Eddie Bauer f The retailerr struck a deal with CCMP for $202 million. CCMP’s offer is essentially an openingh bid forEddie Bauer’s assets. The sale must be approvedx by abankruptcy judge, who will oversee an auction.
CCMP likelyy would emerge as Eddie Bauer’s owner, unlessx there is an offer thatbeata CCMP’s price and Eddie Bauer listed total assets of $476.1 millionh and total debts of $426.7 million as of May 30.

Treasuries Snap Loss as Rates Show Banks Are Reluctant to Lend - BusinessWeek

2011-12-07T00:34:00.001-08:00

alharkaenu.blogspot.com

Treasuries Snap Loss as Rates Show Banks Are Reluctant to Lend

BusinessWeek

Volatility in the market has declined since the start of November, Merrill Lynch's Move index shows. The gauge dropped to 93 yesterday, the least since August. The index measures price swings in US government securities based on options. ...

and more »

ATS Services is now Talagy, with new owner - Jacksonville Business Journal:

2011-12-04T20:17:00.001-08:00

ermolayenayqaked.blogspot.com
Derek Mercer, the nephew of ATS founder Delorexs Kesler, acquired the company and will serve as Kesler will retain the title ofchairmajn emeritus. Amy McGeorge will assume the role of presidentand CEO. Termds of the acquisition werenot “This is an exciting time in the growth and evolutionh of ATS, and I’ m pleased to allow the next generation of leadership to take the said Kesler. Kesler created Jacksonville-based ATS Serviceas in 1977, eventually formin a parent company that merged with three othefstaffing firms, including .
The business split into two ventures: , whichy became a publicly tradesd company and isnow , and ATS Mercer worked as the director of information technologhy at ATS Services before creating his own company, , a globak provider of on-demand talent management software, in 1996. Kesler providedr a loan that helped startthe company. Vurv Technology was acquiredx by (NASDAQ: TLEO) in 2008 for $128.u8 million. Talagy, which has 11 offices arounxd the country and80 employees, will continuee to offer the same productw and services, but instead of operating undere multiple brands and business units the companyu will consolidate into a single brand.

Does Occupy have an anthem? It might now - CNN (blog)

2011-12-02T16:17:00.001-08:00

oryzacody.wordpress.com

Equities.com

Does Occupy have an anthem? It might now

CNN (blog)

The most powerful social movements come accompanied with music â" gospel-tinged chants for the civil rights movement, psychedelic rock for the hippie era of the late 1960s. But what about Occupy? Does the recent protest against corporate greed have a ...

Occupy W &raqu o;

SEC ends Progress Software investigation - Houston Business Journal:

2011-11-30T11:17:00.001-08:00

ofycagvezi.blogspot.com
Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS) said the also confirmed that investigations into the actionse ofthe company’s former vice president, corporate controllerf and chief accounting officere were also concluded without any recommended actions. In June 2006, the Mass.-based maker of business-computer programs became the subjectf of an informal inquirty bythe SEC. The investigationb involved Progress Software’s option grants between 1996 and 2002. The companu also was sued by the Arkansad Teacher Retirement Systemin U.S. District Court. The group allegef the company backdated stocm option grants toits executives.
The suit accuserd the defendants of benefiting from a scheme to backdate stoco options to lock in lucrative papere gains at the expense ofthe company’s shareholders. Progress restated a number of its previously filed financiapl filings as a result of its own investigatiojn intoits option-granting practices.

When spouse trumps heir - Financial Post

2011-11-28T08:00:00.001-08:00

ycoguqi.wordpress.com

When spouse trumps heir

Financial Post

1, 2012 and new provisions around the entitlement of surviving spouses could mean that in some cases a spouse ends up with so much of the estate that a business cannot continue. Like many other jurisdictions, including Ontario and Manitoba, ...

Tampa Museum of Art names Seth D. Pevnick curator - Pittsburgh Business Times:

2011-11-26T03:34:00.001-08:00

gonyzyf.wordpress.com
Pevnick is joining TMA from the at the Getty Vill ain Malibu, Calif. He remains co-curator of its upcominb The Chimaera ofArezzo exhibition, whicnh opens in July. In his new Pevnick will design and oversee the installation of the permanent collectionn in the Barbara and Costaws Lemonopoulos Greek andRoman Gallery. He also will organize and circulate Greek andRoman exhibitions, perfornm and publish research on the collection, and educatee the public on the museum’s antiquitiesx collection. Pevnick is a doctoral candidate in the Interdepartmental Graduatw Program of the Cotsen Institutew of Archaeology inLos Angeles. He received a mastetr of arts degree in archaeology at U.C.
, a master of arts degree in elementaryy education from in Los Angeles and a bachelor of arts in classicalk archaeology from in Hanover, N.H., a releasr from TMA said. TMA’s new locationj remains under construction at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park indowntowh Tampa. The 66,000-square-foot Corneliaq Corbett Center building is set to open inearlyy 2010. TMA’s interim facility is located onHowarcd Avenue.

Romney Pledges To Repeal Obamacare 'On Day One' - ThinkProgress

2011-11-23T23:51:00.001-08:00

ihituvofy.wordpress.com

New York Daily News

Romney Pledges To Repeal Obamacare 'On Day One'

ThinkProgress

Mitt Romney has previously suggested that repealing the Affordable Care Act would be âeasyâ â" a dubious claim given that he won't have the executive authority to eliminate the law, the ability to repeal »

US healthcare cuts minimal, more pain looms - Reuters

2011-11-21T20:17:00.001-08:00

tatyanagepoji.blogspot.com

US healthcare cuts minimal, more pain looms

Reuters

WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The breakdown of deficit talks in Congress will exact little pain on the US healthcare industry, but it's a temporary reprieve from steeper cuts that could be put back on the table in 2013. ...

and more »

Army gets run over in 42-14 loss to Temple - Wall Street Journal

2011-11-19T16:51:00.001-08:00

ikefageze.blogspot.com

SB Nation Philly

Army gets run over in 42-14 loss to Temple

W »

ICO finds Triangle

2011-11-17T13:00:00.001-08:00

asabcitxit.blogspot.com
Shortly after New Year’s Day, sport utilityy vehicles will fan throughout the regiontesting Va.-based ’ service – real-time television, navigation and emergenchy signals delivered by satellite to consumers in their The company, which trades on the Nasdaq stocj market, already has set up some equipment in the Trianglee for the test. CEO Tim Bryan was unavailable for comment. Spokesman Chrias Doherty says ICO chosethe Raleigh-Durham area becausse it has been a useful test area for otherf telecom companies.
He says the Triangle’s gently rollinbg hills and tree cover, whicbh are similar to those found in many other East Coast will help the compan y measuresignal strength. Like satellitde radio providers, ICO will use towers on the groundr to carry signals around ICO has installed 14 ofthese “repeaters” arounsd the Raleigh-Durham area. ICO also will test in Las which offers a moreurban setting, alon with mountains and desert. Betweenn the two cities, Doherty ICO can model how the service will work in most of the The company wants to tap the market that embraceassatellite radio, which is offered under two Sirius and XM, which are now ownexd by the same company.
“They have 20 million which is nothing to sneeze Doherty says of Siriusand XM. Technologhy research firm projects that mobilew TV subscribers will grow worldwidw to 462 million in the nextfive years. In a research director Mike Wolf says consumers are attracte d by the improving video experiencesa comingfrom larger, more powerfulk screens. ICO has signed deals with companiex including and to providetelevision content. ICO’s satelliter covers most of North America, but the company is licensexd for service only in the United ICO still awaits approval of a licensr to offer service in analyst David Chamberlain saysICO isn’t exactl y a newcomer.
ICO started in 1995 with the aim of usiny satellites to provide voice and dataserviceds globally. The company was saved from bankruptcy in 2000 by an investor grouo led by telecom veteranjCraig McCaw, who had founde d the cell phone carrier that became . For most of the last five ICO has been in litigation with over theaerospace giant’s failure to builx and launch 12 ICO In October, a jury awarded ICO $371 million in the While satellite radio points to a potentiakl market for ICO, it also offers reasobn for caution, Chamberlain says. The merged has a long way to go beforr itbecomes profitable.
And unlike satellited radio, ICO won’t be the only mobilse televisionsatellite player. Chamberlain says Qualcomm’s MediaFLO, which delivere video to wireless devices, is expected to expanxd its geographic reach by using spectrum newly available after broadcas television becomes alldigital Feb. 17. Chamberlain says ICO can distinguisy itself with its navigation andcommunicationj features, though he notes that global positioningv systems and cell phones offer similar functions.

Donald Trump, SimDag suit settled

2011-11-15T09:00:00.001-08:00

oryzacody.wordpress.com
Mediator Peter J. Grilli filed a report with the U.S. District Court’s Middle District of Florida Tuesday tellingg the judge that a conditionao settlement hasbeen reached. Only Grilli, Trump and developee LLC know what thatsettlement is. Christopher an attorney with who represented Trump in the saidhe couldn’t discuss any aspect of the settlementr that hadn’t already been publiclyh released. Frank Dagostino, chief executive of has yet to return a phone callseekinhg comment. Trump filed the suit in May 2007 seekinvg a little morethan $1 million he claimeed he was owed for licensing his name to the proposec 52-story, $225 million project.
Soon after, SimDag/RoBEL filed a countersuitf claiming Trump’s revelation that he was only a licensese to the project caused itirreparabled harm. SimDag/RoBEL later filed for Chaptet 11bankruptcy protection, and the condominiu project is considered dead. The work site on Ashley Drivs has a partially built It had received a code citation from Tampa city officialzs demanding the site becleaned up. The original licensinvg deal between Trump and SimDag was suppose d to result ina $2 million payday for Trump as well as variouxs percentages of gross revenue from condo saled at the complex.
that agreement was modified in 2006 thatdoubledc Trump’s fee to $4 milliojn in exchange for him receiving a 50 percent cut of overalll net profits. It is not clear what the next step is for the Trump licensing but it likely would have to be approvedd by bankruptcyjudge K. Rodnety May as part of SimDag’s Chapter 11.

Disney Preserve carbon study launched - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

2011-11-13T05:34:00.001-08:00

uqyvemiwu.wordpress.com
The study is viewed as a vital step towared determining how to calculate carbob credits forany cap-and-trade program. The federal governmenty would first set a limit on the volume of emissionxs that can be produced acrosssthe U.S. in a given year and then grant tradable federal permits, called “allowances,” to covered entities for each ton of CO2 The intention is to encourag firms to discover cheap methods to cut emissio while allowing those with no easy meansw to reduce pollution to buy permits. The system coulf allow landowners to sell carbon credits to companies wishing to show they are makin efforts to reduce theircarbon footprint.
This comes on the heel of a passagd of a climate change bill bythe U.S Housew Energy and Commerce Committee requiring a 17 percenf reduction in greenhouse emission by 2020 and to set up a cap-and-trads program. The bill is expected to come beforethe U.S. Housd by late summer. “When we’re done setting everything up, we will be able to take data from the begin to understand whether this ecosystem isstoring carbon, releasing carbon or doinh both under various environmenta conditions,” said Ross Hinkle, UCF biologist and professoer on the project, in a preparerd statement.
“Then we can develop a quantifiable model for calculating carbonn storage innatural ecosystems,” Disney Wilderness, located in southwestern Osceolaa County, was originally createde in 1993 to mitigate wetlands lost to developmeny of . Wetlands cover about 2,550 acresd and the site is home to 14 documenterd and 12 unconfirmed protected species of birdsand

TTD does away with its Kalyanamastu programme - IBNLive.com

2011-11-11T01:34:00.001-08:00

hegenefipa.blogspot.com

TTD does away with its Kalyanamastu programme

IBNLive.com

A senior off icial of TTD confirmed the government's decision and said it was taken by the TTD Specified Authority and not the present board of trustees. The specified authority, headed by J Satyanarayana with the then executive officer IYR Krishna Rao ...

and more »

Sancilio and Co. gets $700,000 in incentives - San Antonio Business Journal:

2011-11-08T22:00:00.001-08:00

jabire2389.blogspot.com
The Town of Jupiter Economic Development Fund and Palm Beach Gardends each gaveSCI $350,000 loans, according to a pressz release from the , which helpec facilitate the incentives. SCI plans to add up to sevebn jobs this year at its main production and warehouse facility in Riviera Beacgh with the Jupiter The company plans to add approximately 18 jobs at its Palm Beacbh Gardens research facility by 2010 with the Palm BeacjGardens loan. The BDB estimates the total economic impact of the SCI expansiobn project tobe $14.3 million. The new jobs will pay 115 percenyt of thecounty average.
“Twenty five jobs at that salaryy in this industry isvery substantial,” said Kellyy Smallridge, president and CEO of the Business Developmenr Board. “We are very concerned about helping companies in ourbackyarr – just as we are concerneed about attracting to new ones to our she added. Smallridge noted that the circumstancees of the loan weresomewhart unique, in that Jupitet gave a loan to a Riviera Beachj enterprise, but added that Palm Beachg municipalities are starting to think more regionallyt in an effort to builx the growing biotech cluster. “Thi s is about the team, it’s about nortuh county,” she said.
“It’s in Riviera but it still benefits all ofNortuh County.” The Town of Jupiter Economic Development Fund is, in intended to stimulate biotech growth in all of North said Jupiter spokeswoman, Kate Moretto. Jupiter is actually guaranteeingythe $350,000 loan from for 36 months, Morettok said. Full terms of the loan were notimmediatelyh available. Palm Beach Gardens gave Sancilio adirect $350,000 loan at 4.5 percent interest over 36 months, said Natalie Wong, the city’s planning manager. The city chose to go with a loan instead of a grantbecause it’s the righgt way to promote growth in bioscience and it’s a good Wong added.

Jawbone to release wristband health monitor - San Francisco Chronicle

2011-11-06T18:00:00.001-08:00

xoqylyjibo.wordpress.com

Digitaltrends.com

Jawbone to release wristband health monitor

San Francisco Chronicle

The device also monitors sleep patterns and can be programmed as an alarm that wakes the wearer, within a preset time range, at the ideal moment in their sleep cycle. The accompanying iPhone application lets users share their UP data with friends, ...

Jawbone Up life monitor wristband due Nov. 6 for $100

Digitaltrends.com

Jawbone launches UP, the wearable health monitor

gearburn

Jawbone UP monitors daily activities for healthier lifestyles

Insanely Great Mac

Daily Mail -International Business Times

Survey: Hiring slowly improving - Portland Business Journal:

2011-11-04T15:00:00.001-07:00

tasypaju.wordpress.com
Those two sectors emplogy more than 90 percent ofthe nation’s private-sectofr workers. The Alexandria-based association’s report is based on a monthlyh survey of human resource professionals at more than 500 manufacturing and 500serviceds companies. Employment expectations for June aredown 37.1 percent in manufacturingy and down 8.2 percent in the servicezs segment. In the manufacturing sector, 24.5 percentg plan to hire in June, which is the highest percentages of such companies that said they will add jobs sincreNovember 2008. In addition, 25.9 percent said they will trim In theservices sector, a net totapl of 24.8 percent of corporations will creat e jobs in June, with 41.
4 percentt saying they will hire and 16.6 percent sayingv they will cut jobs. That 41.4 percent representsz the highest such tally since September 2008 inthat sector. A combination of unemployerd people seeking work and less jobs to go aroune means recruiting difficulty in both sectors in May was way down compare with ayear ago. In the manufacturing a net of 23.8 percent of companies had less difficulty with recruitinglast month, and in the serviced sector, a net of 35.
8 percen t of companies said the

Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann, President, Citibank California - San Francisco Business Times:

2011-11-02T11:34:00.001-07:00

modestofyeyko.blogspot.com
First job: Created her own jewelrhy business at the ageof 13. She recalls beinbg told by the San Francisco Board of Equalization that she was too younh to get abusiness license. She told them to show her the She gother license. Education: Bachelor’se of arts degree in semiotics from Brown Universityy anda master’s of business administration from Stanfordc University. She was also a Fulbright Scholart at the University of Helsinkiin Residence: San Francisco. Best way to keep competitivee edge: Do the righyt thing for both customereand employees. Take the high road.
And in touguh times, I always say make lemonade out of Guiding principle: Ensuring you have a constangt learning feedback cycle. By that I mean you have to ask, then you have to listenm and then ask again andgo deeper. When everythinhg comes at you fast and you have to keep the main thing in focus. I call it, “Staying on home Yardstick of success: Customer Specifically looking at how many customers would refer us to theitr friendsand family. Secondly, how many leaders we develoop onthe team. Goal yet to be I plan to write a book that will discuszs how your attitude is everything in businesssand life. Best business decision: Coming to on Nov. 5.
I’mj working with a greaty group of people and Worstbusiness decision: Trying to manage my personalp real estate from a Toughest business decision: It was tough to shut down a divisionb at Wells Fargo. Biggest missed There are manyin life. My few regrets tend to be thingxs like not goingto someone’s wedding in I thought I was too busy and latefr realized I missed an important Mentor: I have many mentors, because I learhn from almost everyone. Word that best describeds you: Can-do attitude. Like best aboutg job: I like the people on the team and workingy with a respectedglobal brand. I was at a customee event on my second week here and used abougtfive languages.
I’ve studiedr eight languages, so it was fun for me. Like least aboutt job: The 4 a.m and 5 a.m. conferencr calls. But that’s part of being a globapl company in109 countries. Pet peeve: Documente that have no real purposse clogging upmy email. Why take four Powerpoint pages for somethint that can be summed up in afew sentences? Most important lesson learned: Be true to yourself. Persom most interested in meeting: Margaret Thatcher. Most respected Wells Fargo, and , which reflects theirr retail operations.

Stone 2011 Flow-Through Limited Partnership Files Final Prospectus - MarketWatch (press release)

2011-10-31T07:17:00.001-07:00

viningocouqyl1601.blogspot.com

Albany officials promote small-scale apartment conversions - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

2011-10-29T03:17:00.001-07:00

http://best-go.org/?f=0&n=3
“We’re very encouraged that thesd property owners are doingthe six- to 10-unirt conversions and they have a waitinyg list of people to lease said BID Executive Directof Pam Tobin. “It demonstrates there is a demansd fordowntown living.” Officials are trying to get more developers interested. Nearly 200 people attended a forum in Marcn at to learn about financial assistance and propertieds availablefor redevelopment. Besides 370 another conversionis underway: the upper floors of 23 North Pearl St.
, above a Quizno’s, are beingb renovated into seven apartments by Gus Moutopoulos and Steve Also, Rosenblum Development wants to convert a four-stor y former warehouse and car dealership on Chapel Street into a 20-unit high-end condo. Like with any constructiob project, there are unforeseen problemsa once thework begins. The budget for Meginniss Flats has balloonedto $1.5 million, abouf $500,000 more than what was projected by a feasibility studt done by the ALDC. Other financing is comin g from federal and state historic tax creditsw worthabout $390,000 and a $60,009 New York Main Street grant. The 2.
5-bath units will have amenities that urban dwellers such ashardwood floors, exposes brick walls, granite counter tops and a high-tech securitgy system. For the time being, though, the apartments lack two othercritical elements: cable TV and high-speed Internet The building is not servicedf by , a fact that surprisee the developers after they were well into the Cable service might be available once therwe are people living in the building, said Petere Taubkin, a Time Warner official.

Fred

2011-10-26T23:34:00.001-07:00

wanuso.wordpress.com
The Memphis-based discount retailer reported saleaof $134.7 million for May, down 6 percent compared to salew of $143.4 million in May 2008. These numbers include Fred’zs (NASDAQ: FRED) closing 74 underperforming stores and23 pharmacies. Excluding thosd stores, Fred’s sales increased 1 percent compared tolast May. Comparablew store sales in Mayrose 0.2 percent, down comparedf to 3.4 percent in the same periof last year. For the first four fiscal monthwof 2009, the company reported total sales of $593.1 million, down 2.4 percent compared to $607.
7 milliobn for the same year-ago However, excluding stores closed in sales from ongoing stores increased 4 percentr compared to the same four-monty period last year. On a comparable store basis, year-to-date salexs increased 2.1 percent compared to 2.4 percent last year. Fred’s opened one new pharmacyt in May. Fred’s operates 666 discounyt merchandise stores, including 24 franchisee stores nationwide. Shares closed down 12 cent to $14.22 per share Wednesday.

Retail REIT works to refinance debt - Dallas Business Journal:

2011-10-24T19:34:00.001-07:00

utyziluz.wordpress.com
The Dallas office of Hollidayg Fenoglio Fowler confirmed Wednesday that it has been workinbg with the real estate trust since the fourth quartert of 2008 to develop solution s forthe trust’s outstanding debt securities. To date, HFF has been able to securd or negotiate a totalof $500 million in financing for the real estatee investment trust. At this point, $300 million of debt is in variouws stages of negotiation for refinancingand long-term Thus far this the company has closed on $120 million in loans and securefd $75 million more in committed financing, HFF said in a The willingness of lenders to engage in the financinb of the trust may be attributed to the value of the HFF indicated.
“The lenders that are actively engageed appreciate the quality ofthe assets, the realistic underwritingv assumptions being used and the opportunity to make strong fundamentalp loans to a best-in-class sponsor,” said Kevinh MacKenzie, HFF managing director. Inlanf Western Retail Real Estatw Trust has 334 properties in is national totaling 51 millionsquare feet. Among locao retail properties it manages are The Shopsd at Park Placein Plano, Southlake Town Squafre Blocl 22 and Preston Trail Village in Dallas.

Transportation plan meeting set for Oct. 27 - Freeport Journal-Standard

2011-10-22T15:34:00.001-07:00

sasutezew.blogspot.com

Stone 2011 Flow-Through Limited Partnership Files Final Prospectus

MarketWatch (press release)

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Oct 31, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Stone 2011 Flow-Through GP Inc., on behalf of the Stone 2011 Flow-Through Limited Partnership (the "Partnership"), has filed a final prospectus dated October 26, 2011 with Canadian securities ...

and more »

Transportation plan meeting set for Oct. 27

Freeport Journal-Standard

HSTP is federally mandated as part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). HSTP is a unified, comprehensive strategy for delivery of services that identify the transportation needs of ...

AMP-Ohio

2011-10-20T11:51:00.001-07:00

vypybiza.wordpress.com
AMP-Ohio was cleared to receive a $30 millionb bridge loan to help fund construction ofa $3 billionh generating station in Meigs County. Construction on the coal-fires plant, which has clinched an OK from the and key approvalws from thestate , is set for latefr this year. The company said in a statemen that it considers the state stimulus loan a major factor in breaking groundon AMP-Ohio said the project will employ about 1,60 0 during a more than four-year construction procesz and about 160 when operational.
Stricklanx in a statement on Tuesday saidthe AMP-Ohio projecty and a facility in Perrysburfg in line for a $10 milliom loan are “great examples of how investing in advanced energy technologies is stimulating Ohio’s economy.” Just how advanced the energy at the AMP-Ohio projecg will be has been a point of contention betweenj the nonprofit wholesale power supplier and opponents. The projec t has drawn fire amid worries that it woulrd release air pollutantsand won’t emplogy the latest clean-coal technology. But compangy executives have argued that the planr will use emission controls that will make it among the cleanestf facilities ofits kind.
The Power Sitingh Board, which reviews requests for larges electric and natural gas facilities inthe state, strucj an agreement late last year with AMP-Ohi o and the state attorney general’s office over environmenta and economic concerns about the The loans to AMP-Ohio and Willar d & Kelsey are part of $150 millionh headed to companies around the state througy the job-creation stimulus packag e signed last June. Of that, $84 million is headed to non-coalp technology projects while $66 millio is earmarked for so-called clean-coal projects.

A Room With A Boo: TripAdvisor Announces America's Top 10 Haunted Hotels - Daily Markets

2011-10-18T07:51:00.001-07:00

mozybyd.wordpress.com

A Room With A Boo: TripAdvisor Announces America's Top 10 Haunted Hotels

Daily Markets

We did record some orbs flying around our room while we slept. (We set up our video recorder on night vision).â 3. Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado â" Average Nightly Rate: $142 â" $291 This property, which first opened its doors in 1909, ...

and more »

Two-QB system appears likely - Huntington Herald Dispatch

2011-10-16T04:00:00.001-07:00

disadvantage-unlimited.blogspot.com

Two-QB system appears likely

Huntington Herald Dispatch

Now, after Saturday's 24-20 win over Rice when Graham rushed for 129 yards and threw for 110, it appears Holliday is changing his preseason tune. "We're going to continue to play both those guys," Holliday said. "I think they both are different in what ...

and more »

Marietta doc guilty in $3M fraud scam - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

2011-10-14T00:00:00.001-07:00

http://www.allcats.info/catsandkittens/cats-and-kittens.html
chiropractor Dr. William Stearns was found guilty Monday of 18 chargezof health-care fraud and five charges of money laundering in a $3 millionh scam. In 2004, Stearns and two chiropractors Steven Levine andChristophert Topel, ran three clinics in metro Atlanta under the name Under Stearns’ direction, CCMG fraudulentlyh billed for two separate back-pai procedures costing about $3 Stearns and his partners fraudulently billed for a procedurd known as Vertebral Axial Decompression (VAX-D) -- a non-invasive back pain procedurs that uses a mechanicak table to stretch a patient’ws spine.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Georgia considers VAX-r to be investigational and notmedicallhy necessary, and made clear to health-care providers that it did not covedr the procedure. The three were convictes of having lied to Blue Cross about what procedures they were performingv in order to get paid forthe non-covere d procedure. Stearns also fraudulently billed for an electrical stimulatiob procedure using a device knownas “Hako-Med.” Insteaf of billing for a relatively low-paying electrical stimulation procedure, Stearns instea d claimed to be performing surgical procedures known as nervse block injections.
Both Levine and Topell previously pleaded guilty to the Stearns now faces up to 230 yeara in prison and a fine of upto $5.75 Sentencing is set for Feb. 12, 2009.

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle): Boeing's Carson seeks regs for fuel efficiency

2011-10-11T19:51:00.001-07:00

igoeosysata1533.blogspot.com
It

Diamond Hill dissident fails in board bid - Business First of Columbus:

2011-10-09T15:51:00.001-07:00

vadimsudigrenev.blogspot.com
LLC, a hedge fund investorf in Diamond Hill, had nominated three candidates to fill directo r seats at the Columbuesinvestment manager. Tim Eriksen, a principal in Lynden, Wash.-basedc Cedar Creek and one of theboard nominees, said in his that he supportedx boosting the company’s profit margin by reducing compensation levels. whose firm held 1,503 shares when it filedd its proposal inearlyu May, received 8,414 votes. The seven board members propose by Diamond Hill each received morethan 2.2 millionn votes each, giving them the seats by a wide margin.
Eriksen was present at the meeting and said he was disappointed that more institutionallinvestors didn’t vote with him, but also attributecd a lack of votes to not having enougnh time to reach out to shareholderw before the meeting. Although Eriksen’s effort to gain a board seat failed, Diamond Hill’s executives and directords did devote a significant portion of their comments and presentation to explaininyg their reasons for adding staff and providingincentives – moveds that have grown compensation Eriksen said he was encouraged by the company’s receptiveneszs to his concerns.
Over the past few Eriksen said, he felt an antagonistif relationship had developed withthe company, but that seemedx to shift this year. “Both sides realize each has good he said, “but just different perspectives.”

Commissioners OK $345K in Banks change orders - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

2011-10-07T12:51:00.001-07:00

buluhofuce.wordpress.com
“Nobody likes change orders, particularly in this said Project Manager John He briefed the pane l on the extra charges during the same meetinh where commissionersapproved $6.1 million in spendinh cuts from the county’s 2009 generap fund budget. Change orders are contract revision that pay vendors for problems encounterecdduring construction. The orders covered by Wednesday’se vote amount to half of the roughly $700,000 in change orders incurred by Banks contractors to That $700,000 represents 2.1 percentf of the $32.6 million in Banks contacts awarded to “It’s a good rate comparee to the national average of over 10 Deatrick said.
“But we’re stilpl pressing to try to minimize these Despite theadditional spending, the Banks project is abougt $3 million below its first-phase budgety estimate of $92.5 million. The project achievedc savings when construction bids came in lowefrthan expected. Since every change order eats away atthose savings, Deatrici is working on ways to prevention future problems. The largest change order so far involved a new sectio of Freedom Way that will connect Race Streetto Elm. When Bakee Concrete tried to connec the new street platform to the existing Race they foundmetal connectors, buried in the were too rusted to use.
So, they had to take out thosed connectors andreplace them, at a cost of

University System of Md. to break up biotechnology institute - Orlando Business Journal:

2011-10-05T09:34:00.001-07:00

ermolayenayqaked.blogspot.com
The public university system’s Board of Regentsd approved Friday a sweepinvg restructuring of the that will parcel out its fourresearcn centers, along with staff and other assets, to othert campuses. System leaders hope the restructuring will drivd research collaboration and boosy access tooutside funding. It also meanss an end for UMBI, which was launchec to great fanfare two decades ago with the missio ofadvancing education, research and economic development for what was then the state’ws nascent biotech industry.
A months-long study of UMBI by an ad hoc committeed led by USM regents Chairman Cliffordx Kendall concludedthat “the organization of UMBI as a geographically dispersed, free-standinvg entity has created intractablr problems.” Those problems included an inability to scale UMBI programs, isolation among UMBI’s research centers, the lack of a criticalk mass of graduate and undergraduate studentsw involved in UMBI research, and administrative inefficiencies. “After a comprehensive and deliberative process, we have concludee that restructuring UMBI’s assets is the right thing to Kendall said ina statement.
“With a focusx on collaboration — acrossw disciplines and acrossinstitutions — and with recognitionm of the exceptional talent within the UMBI communityu and the system’s other institutions, this actionj will position USM to take fullerr advantage of its system-wide strengths in the biosciencesx and to fuel the state’s knowledge economuy even more.” The move isn’t a tota surprise. Critics have long questionec whether the state was duplicating its research effort s inthe biosciences. UMBI’s four center in Baltimore, Rockville and College Park conduct researcghon medical, biotechnology, marine and environmentao science.
At the same time, state fundingg for higher education is pinchexd by the recession andthe state’s budget and universities’ research needs are growing. Under the restructurint approved Friday by the regents at a meetinbgin Frostburg, a joint University System of Marylansd research center will be establishede at UMBI’s Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnologg in Rockville. The system’s flagship Colleged Park campus will oversee the facility and work with the Universituof Maryland, Baltimore to elevat work in physics, engineering and computational sciences as well as structurap biology, protein design and drug • UMBI’s Center for Biosystemd Research will also be overseen by College • A joint research center at UMBI’s Center of Marinw Biotechnology in Baltimore will be established, with administrative responsibility fallinf to the University of Maryland, Baltimord County.
UMBC will collaborate with the Universitt of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the University of Baltimore to drive researc h in environmental andgenomic sciences. UMBI’s Baltimore-based Medical Biotechnology Center will fall under the Universituof Maryland, Baltimore’s purview. • UMBI’s Institute of Fluorescencse will be administeredby • UMBI’s K-12 educational programsd will be overseen by with an eye on enhancinh its teaching focus. UMBI President Jenni e Hunter-Cevera is stepping down June 30 after 10 yearx inthat role.
She will become executive vice presidenty of discovery and analytical sciences and corporatre developmentat , a North Carolinz nonprofit. The University System of Marylan d will honor tenure held by UMBIfacultgy members, and administrative support staffers will be able to stay in their jobs through fiscal 2010. Job opportunitiea at other system campuses willbe identified, and memoranda of understanding outlining future operationzs and collaborations are expected to be completed by the end of this year and fulluy implemented by the end of fiscalp 2010.
UMBI generates abou $25 million in research activitgy annually, and university system leaders hope to see that numbef increase dramatically by breaking upthe institute. “Today’s decisions by the board provide a tremendous opportunityh for the University System of Maryland to increase the volume and impact of its basic and appliee research inthe biosciences,” said USM Chancellor William E. Kirwa in a statement.
“Thisa restructuring has the potential to double the researcyh productivityof UMBI’s current assets within five

Christie Comes Clean on Trips as NJ Governor Seeks Donations - BusinessWeek

2011-10-03T06:17:00.001-07:00

tenamup.wordpress.com

Fox News

Christie Comes Clean on Trips as NJ Governor Seeks Donations

BusinessWeek

A 2006 letter to Corzine's office from the attorney general at the time, Zulima Farber, said no transfer-of-power notice was necessary for âan occasional, overnight stay in New York City,â the Times said. New Jersey created a lieutenant governor ...

Real-time commentary and analysis from The W »

More developers seek tax breaks - Phoenix Business Journal:

2011-10-01T03:34:00.001-07:00

esivyjifag.wordpress.com
The latest example is , whichj for the second time in two years findz itself embroiled in a battls over a development inDeKalb County, this time over a proposex $51 million property tax abatement on Town its half-billion-dollar mixed-use projecy on Peachtree Road just north of Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall and Phipps Plaza. The proposal has promptedr a small backlash among opponents whosay it’s just anothet example of a big company getting a free handout at the expensed of U.S. taxpayers. Sembler is asking for a special typeof abatement, known as payments in lieu of or a PILOT bond — the same type of mechanisn that funded the new $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium.
The PILOT has essentially the same purpose as previous tax breaksd forthe city’s biggest projectsx — keeping jobs and investment in Atlanta, commercial real estate brokers and developers say. Propertty tax abatements have sparked someof Atlanta’s most financially risku and most important commercial real estate projects in recent from ’s One Ninety One Peachtrer to ’s Allen Plaza. The abatementz may be even more critical now that lendingv has dried up and commercial real estate valuedare plummeting, developers say. Barry Real Estate coulsd seek tax abatements on 50 Allen a new tower on the drawing board atAllenn Plaza.
“We couldn’t get these projects done withou them,” said developer Hal Barry, whose Allem Plaza has kept hundredas of jobs downtown bylanding (NYSE: SO) and . “Th tax-exempt approach ends up having a multiplief effect in that it creates more moreeconomic development.” Sembler is makingh an unprecedented request to the Developmentf Authority of DeKalb County, the boared that will make a decision on the matter in comin weeks. No developer has asked DeKalnb for$51 million in tax breakws spread out overtwo decades. But these are also unprecedentereconomic times, said Marisa Mullins, DeKalb’s economic development director.
“We’ve seen a real decreasde in domestic financing,” she said. “And Sembler has a prove success record. This isn’t just some John Doe Sembler’s request could be a watershed momeng forthe authority. “We’ve started gettin g calls fromretail owners,” Mullins said. “They are watchinf this. It’s an important time.” Mullins went on to say: “We’ve got to find ways to keep investmeng here and stopthe bleeding. Ultimately, the question is ‘whaty is our competitive status as theUnited States, and how can we regaim economic stability?
’” Conceived before the recessiob and commercial real estate crisis, Town Brookhaven’s future could hinge on the Development Sembler hopes to lure Publix, , , and among other retailers. The company has alreadg announced Cobb Theater cinema and will be tenant s in thenearly 523,000-square-foot mixed-use center. Jeff Fuqua, presidenyt of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based development company, went before the authorit y May 12 to makehis case. The projecrt would represent a net gain in overalk local tax revenue ofat least$7 milliobn in the first year and $119 million over the next 20 according to the proposal.
Sembler wants the tax breaks to apply only tothe project’s retail components and one of its apartment That amounts to abouty 50 percent of the Town Brookhaven’s 54 acres. The abatement won’ty affect school board tax revenue. If the authority rejectes the request, Sembler could still move forward, but the project may not includr all the components that were originally on thedrawingg board, including two anchor stores, 117,000 square feet of specialty shops and 18

Lockheed-Starwood solar plant construction will create many jobs - Phoenix Business Journal:

2011-09-29T00:34:00.001-07:00

kowutoco.wordpress.com
Last week’s announcement that and Global LLC were collaborating ona 290-megawatt facility about 75 miles west of Phoenix meanws Arizona contractors will get some of the work, said Chris Myers, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for energy programs. The companiew still are evaluating subcontractors for theproposed $1.5 billio power plant, dubbed Starwoodd Solar I. Some work, such as creatingf the mirrored troughs that will focuszthe sun’s energy, typically is done by specializedd companies, Myers said, but there will be plenty “We’re going to do a lot of the work here in he said.
Steel manufacturing and other industries coulrd benefit from an increased Arizona focu s onsolar construction. Starwooxd and Lockheed Martin estimate 1,000 jobs will be createed as a result of the and anadditional 6,000 coul d result from supplier relationships. The companies plan to hold recruitmeng events this summer to informm local companies aboutthe opportunities, Myers said. In the the company is using a newly launchedWeb site, to distribute information and tell businesses how they can get involve d with the project. The constructioj also will require infrastructure upgraded at transmission facilities to tie inwith Starwood’ss facility.
Included in those upgrades will be work at Arizonq PublicService Co.’s Delaney substation, whicjh Starwood will fund up front. APS, which has agreef to purchase power from thesolar plant, has fundes earmarked in its 2012 budget for expandintg the Delaney substation. “To brin g in something that large, there are goinv to have to be improvements,” said Stephen Starwood’s executive vice president andmanaging director. Starwood operatesa about 40 other power plantzs and owns all or part of severakl transmission routes throughfive states. It beganm its partnership with Lockheed about 18 monthd ago as both looked for a site fora utility-scaled plant.
Starwood runs its solar operations via subsidiarh NautilusSolar LLC, which has done several larg commercial-scale projects, but nothing as big as what the two are attempting in the Harquahala Valley. The two companies believe theirt combined relationships with financial institutions will help them overcomew the financing hurdles that have stalledc several other solar Some major project announcements of the past few yearsa have been delayed because companies that signeddealse couldn’t take the next step toward developint a commercial product, said Madison Grose, vice chairmanb and senior managing director for Starwood.
“Thee folks who take it to commercializatioh have torealize there’s a different skill set needed to take it to the next he said. Another hurdle is getting financiall institutions and utilities comfortable enough with the solar concept that they view it the same way as traditionalpoweer plants, Grose said. The companies are planninh to spend the summer conducting publixc meetings on the project with submissionws to the ArizonaCorporation Commission, which must approve the powee purchase deal by this fall, said Brad CEO and managing director of Starwood.
The companu hopes to get its building permits and ACC approvals settled by get its financing in place and move forward with constructiomn by the latter half of that Nordholm said.

PBMs grow by cutting employers

2011-09-26T21:34:00.001-07:00

humojo.wordpress.com
WellDyne — a pharmacy benefit management companhy that administers drugbenefit programs, processees claims and operates a mail-order pharmacy opened the $20 million, 66,000-square-foo operation in March. It will provide 100 jobs by the end of this year and anothert 578 jobs through the endof 2010. It is one of two mail-ordef facilities for WellDyne, which fills more than 35 million prescriptionsaa year. The company, headquartered in suburbamn Denver, needed an East Coastf location, and Damien Lamendola, owner, president and CEO, likes Lakeland’s accessibility to major airports in Tampaw and Orlando as well as the qualith of workers inthe area.
Lamendolaa expects to work with in both Tamp and Lakelandon pharmacogenomics, or the combinationm of genetic analysis and drug development. Using genees to identify which drugs will work best for individuals will reducre adverse side effects and cut healthbcare spending, he said. WellDyne relies heavily on automatiohn and has a robotic system that allowsx greater flexibility in developinyg programs to meetcustomer needs. The privately ownedx company, which competes in the smalk self-funded employer market and also workswith third-partu administrators, can offer lower prices and margins than its publicl y traded competitors and puts a high prioritu on services, Lamendola said.
Streamlining operations for clientzs is keyfor , a PBM in Tampas that uses myMatrixx as a branxd name. Matrix concentrates on niche markets, mostly workers’ compensation and auto insurers, said Steven CEO. “Instead of the [payer’s] operationj getting a lot of individual charges on pieces of paper billed directly fromthe pharmacy, we compile it all into electroniv data and submit it to insuranced companies, so they pay it all in one check,” MacDonaled said.
“If a company spends $1 million a year on pharmacy, they eliminated processing 15,000 pieces of papeer by going through a Health plans and their members save moneg byusing PBMs, becaused PBMs have systems, programs, procedures and personnell with specific expertise in the managemenf of pharmacy benefits, said Lowelp Sterler, VP of pharmacy programs for . “By partnerin with a PBM, the healtg plan does not need to replicats all of these pharmacy specific services and maintaih all of theseresourceas themselves,” Sterler said. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florids is one of several Blues plane nationwide in agreements with PrimeTherapeutics LLC, a PBM headquarteref in St.
Paul, Minn. The Blues have equithy stakes in Prime Therapeutics and also use itsmanagemeng services. Like WellDyne and Matrix, Prime Therapeutic s has a mail-order pharmacy and provides claims processing. Although the economi c downturn and rising unemployment has cut comp claims because fewer peopleare working, MacDonalxd said the impact has been small and the compant historically has grown at 40 percent to 50 percent a WellDyne also is growing and expects more demand as baby boomerz reach their 60s, when the use of medications Lamendola said.
However, the last vestige of what was at one time one of the large PBMs in the United States, , operated by the former , disappeareds from the Tampa Bay area earliere this year, when (NYSE: CVS) closed its operationw in Largo on March 31, leaving 230 peoplw without jobs. The mail servicd facility closed due to integration activitiesa related to the 2007 merger of and Caremar kRx Inc.

Doubts About Perry Among Some In GOP - NPR

2011-09-24T18:51:00.001-07:00

axilecyqih.wordpress.com

USA Today

Doubts About Perry Among Some In GOP

NPR

Rick Perry worked to convince Florida Republicans Saturday that he is the strongest contender for the party's presidential nomination despite a shaky debate performance earlier this week that has sparked jitters about his bid. Perry lost a key test ...

Herman Cain gets more votes than Perry, Romney combined in Florida mock election

CBS News

Cain upsets Perry at Florida straw poll

USA Today

Cain upsets Perry in Florida Republican straw poll

Reuters

Los Angeles Times -msnbc.com -Chicago Tribune

State set to yank Empire Zone benefits from 52 area companies - The Business Review (Albany):

2011-09-22T15:17:00.001-07:00

ywyjihu.wordpress.com
Albany’s oldest department store. Yonally made that decisionn after being warned that he is one of 52 Capital Regioh businesses in jeopardy of being kickedf out ofthe state’s Empired Zone program. That means Yonally could lose upto $20,000 a year in tax credit from the state incentive program. Next month, the state’d economic agency expects to make fina decisions about which companies to removes fromthe program. It’s the latest development in an ongoiny chain reaction caused by thestate budget, which attempted to shrinkk the Empire Zone program. “This is the key said Ken Pokalsky, a lobbyist at , in Albany.
[For the Empir Zone Rentention List, click ; for the Empire Zone PotentiapDecertification List, click ; and for the Empirr Zone list of companies that need to provide more click ]. A legislative committee meeting on June 2 reveale that state economic officialz and statelegislators can’t agree on the meaning of key Empire Zone provisionsd in the state That debate illustrates the challenge of fixinhg perceived problems with the program before the Legislatur e adjourns later this month. At the the fallout from the budget has injectesd more uncertainty into an already unstablwbusiness climate.
Across the state, business owner s are preparing tocut expenses—or even employees—tio adjust to the new Empire Zone Those who will remain in the program have had to pay tens of thousandss of dollars in extra taxes up front—some as much as $120,009 or more. All are still waiting for refunds oftheit credits. “It hurts personally,” said who has renovated other buildings indowntown Albany. “The thing that scares me is, if they’vw changed it once, they could very easily changeeit again. Who the heck knows what they’ll come up Yonally said, exasperated. “You questiob who really knows what’e going on.
” On May 28, , whic oversees Empire Zones, said it had finished auditing companiesa in the program to see whether they met newstandard (see quick info box below). In all, the statw says that at least 76 percent of auditeed Empire Zone companies will remain inthe program. Close to 650 are likely to be or “decertified.” That’s 7.7 percent of the 8,469 companies that were • In the Capital Region, 5.7 percent of companies are in jeoparduy of losing their Empire Zone • In Syracuse, 18 percent of companies—119 in all—are in jeopardy. • In 43 firms are targeted for representing 6.5 percent of all Empirr Zone companies there.
The state is seekinfg more information from anadditional 1,400 companiexs statewide—including 134 Albany-area businesses—before it can make a judgment on their status. “We expect that the overwhelming majorityh of that group will remain in the saidMarisa Lago, president and CEO of Empirs State Development. Francis Pitts, co-founder of Architecture+ in Troy, was shockesd to see his company on the list of firms tobe

Dayton employment to remain sluggish into third quarter - Charlotte Business Journal:

2011-09-20T11:00:00.001-07:00

vavyzina.wordpress.com
Tom Traynor, an economics professort at Wright State and authofr ofthe report, said unemployment increases will continue at theitr accelerated pace into the third quarter of this The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Montgomery, Miami and Preble counties, is projected to lose 6,000 to 7,0090 jobs in the third quarter. That woule drop employment to 373,900, down from 380,400 in the firsf quarter of the year, a 2 percent decline. The hardest-hitg area is one the Dayton area has longreliedx on, manufacturing. “Manufacturing employment will fall Traynor said.
Forecasts from the report show employmenrt in the sector fallingfrom 42,300 in the first quarterd of this year to 36,100 by the thirsd quarter, a nearly 15 percent Durable goods manufacturing will be hit in Traynor said. “People aren’t spending. They are waitin g to buy a new car or that new he said. Retail and service employment are also expectedsto decrease. Retail employment is expected to dropto 39,10o0 by the third quarter, down from 40,000 in the firstg quarter, a 2 percent drop.
Service employment, whicg includes financial service, business service, utilities and leisure is projected to decreaseto 324,20 0 by the third quarter, down from 326,70o0 in the first quarter, a nearlt 1 percent decline. “Th e next year to year and a half will be an unpleasantr time forthe region,” Traynor said. Constructionb employment is expected to rise as a part ofseasona employment, to 13,400 from 11,400 in the first but that is 1,000 jobs fewer than the same time periord last year.
One area of employment that isn’t expected to be hit hard is health In fact, Traynor said he expecta health care to add some jobs by the thirdr quarter, going up to 56,500 from 56,3009 in the first quarter. He said the rate of decliner in gross domestic product will but remain negative through the third quartetr and maybe into the fourth quarter of this Even when GDP does become positive it will take some time for employment to pick up becausre it is a lagging indicatort ofeconomic recovery. Traynor said there is a greatg deal of uncertainty still on thenational level, as businesses try to determine the impact of government actions.
Traynotr said the problem of high unemployment is not going awayanytims soon. “This is something we’re going to be living with for quitsa while, well into next he said.

In Jakarta, Love for Grunge Still Burns - Jakarta Globe

2011-09-18T07:17:00.001-07:00

ivyhofy.wordpress.com

In Jakarta, Love for Grunge Still Burns

Jakarta Globe

Andre Bangun, who sings and plays guitar in the Jakarta-based band Shockbreaker, says that grunge's simplicity made it easier for younger fans to relate to the music. âGrunge filled a hole at a time when more technical acts like Van Halen and Metallica ...

and more »

General Maritime Corporation to Present at Bank of America and Merrill Lynch 2009 Global Transportation Conference

2011-09-16T04:00:00.001-07:00

stelauguqdinec.blogspot.com
The presentation will be broadcast live over the Internef and can be accessedat . In the accompanying slide presentation and webcasrt will be available in the Investor Relations section ofGeneral Maritime'as website at . General Maritime Corporation is a leadingg crude and products tanker company serving principallyy within theAtlantic basin, which includess ports in the Caribbean, South and Centra l America, the United States, West Africa, the Europe and the North Sea.
General Maritimee also currently operates tankers in other regionds including the Black Sea and Far General Maritime owns afully double-hul fleet of 31 tankers -- two twelve Aframax, eleven Suezmax tankers, two Panamax and four Product tankers -- with a total carryinfg capacity of approximately 4.0 million dwt.

Va. gets $37.6M in energy stimulus funds - Washington Business Journal:

2011-09-14T00:00:00.001-07:00

vilyfijohy.wordpress.com
million in federal stimulus funds gearedx towardmaking low-income residences more energy efficient. The amount, makinbg up half of the state’s total allotment to help weatherizes homes, adds to more than $9 million that had already been delivered to Virginia under the American Reinvestment andRecovery Act. The state said it planse to rely on locao counties and cities to spend the money weatherproofing a statewide totakof 8,600 homes in the next three The process involves initiating an energy audit of each home to and later plug, its biggest holes from wher e energy escapes, areas such as buildinyg insulation, windows and doors.
Virginia said it planes to focus its dollars towarthe elderly, physically challenged, families with children, high energt consumers and those who had been facinfg an energy-related crisis. The federal weatherization assistance program, administeredr by the U.S. Department of Energy, is a key facet of the federa lstimulus funds. Families must make up to 200 perceng of the federalpoverty level, or about $44,00 0 a year for a familt of four, to be eligible for the average $6,500 available to weatherize each home. DOE said weatherproofing tactics can result in 32 percent average savings onheating bills. If Virginia’s plans are then it will be eligibl e to receive theremaining $47.
million from its allotted $94 million pot for weatherizatiohn aid from thestimulus bill.

Denver-area commercial foreclosures double - San Francisco Business Times:

2011-09-11T19:51:00.001-07:00

coras-newport.blogspot.com
The reasons: disciplined local commercial development and andmetro Denver’s diverse economy and relativelh stable job market, according to locao real estate experts. “It’s a nationao phenomenon that commercial foreclosure rates are very low in comparison toresidential foreclosures. … The Denver economy, its diversity and just havinbg some of the right industriewin town, including the energy industry, made a big differencew for us,” said Glenn Mueller, professor at the ’es real estate school. Twenty-threed commercial foreclosures were recorded inthe first-quarter involvingb loan balances of at least $1 according to county foreclosure filings.
The largest foreclosurde was forthe ’s manufacturing buildingg at 1350 S. Public Road in for $7.65 million. The trustee was , workingy on behalf of the lender. There were roughlgy 1,300 residential filings in thefirst period, many with loan balanced higher than commercial balances. For 2008’ds first quarter, there were 11 commercial foreclosure filingsof $1 million-pluw in the metro and roughly 1,200 residential The filings represent lenders’ notificationn to borrowers that they’re in default on a real estate loan, and that their propert y is in foreclosure.
The area coveredf by the data includes Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jeffersoh counties. Most first-quarter commercial foreclosure filingas involved retail properties such as stores and as well as relatively smalp office and industrial apartment comptlexesand hotels. “Wed haven’t experienced overbuilding like we did inthe 1980s, we have a fairlu healthy economy and our jobs are mostly intact,” said Tim executive vice president and investment broker at in “There’s not enough stresds in the market to cause significant foreclosures.
” Most loans for local commerciapl properties also were underwritten conservatively, Mueller Conservative underwriting was helped starting a few years ago, by stiffer oversight required by federal and state banking regulators. “Regulators started paying special attention to commercial realestate loans,” said Barbar Walker, executive director of the trade “Commercial banks started adjusting lendingh relationships with commercial real estate borrowers, and that put us in the good placde we’re in now.
” Most of the public trusteeas foreclosing on commercial properties in the first quarter were including , , Bank of the West and Bank of There also were nonbank trustees, which have become less activs in metro Denver in the last year or so, such as the Ruth G. Fink Trusgt Number One, CapFinancial Partnersd LLC and Colorado Note AcquisitionPartners LLC. “Nonbank lenders had a big piece of the commercial real estate Walker said. One of the most high-profile local commercial properties to face foreclosure in the firstt quarter was the Neighborhood FlixCinema & Cafe in the redeveloped Lowenstein Theater on East Colfax Avenue in Denver.
Mile High Bank was the property’ s trustee, and its loan balance was $2 million. The long-awaitedd redevelopment of the old Lowenstein Theater inthe mid-2000s was hailex by the city and real estate experts as the beginning of an East Colfa x renaissance. The project also includes two major local independenyretailers — the ’s main locatioh and the music store.

Army-Navy game coming to FedEx Field - The Business Review (Albany):

2011-09-09T15:51:00.001-07:00

http://best-go.org/?f=2&n=4
The , the and Destination D.C. have announcedc that the 112th Army-Navy game will be played at in Marylandon Dec. 10, 2011. Alontg with the football game, the event bringw with it a weekend ofancillaru events, including the Army-Navy “This is a phenomenalo achievement by the threre organizations to secure such an historic event for our nation’s capital,” said Robert Sweeney, president of the Greaterd Washington Sports Alliance.
“With nearly a half millio active and retired military personnel currently livingf in our region and the historicx memorials that honorour nation’s service men and it just makes sense to have a game of this magnitudd played in Washington.” The event is part of an eight-year packaged announced Tuesday by the and the . Philadelphiwa will host the gamein 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017. The game will take plac e in Baltimore in 2014and 2016.

Penske losing Big Lots logistics contract - Business First of Columbus:

2011-09-07T11:00:00.001-07:00

efenytan.wordpress.com
is packing up this summer at thediscount retailer’ws headquarters and four other distribution facilities aftef the merchant opted to not renew a logistics contracy that expires in July. The Pa.-based Penske said 186 workers, includingf 53 in Columbus, could be affected when its contracgtwith Columbus-based Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) expiree July 31. Penske spokesman Randy Ryersonj said the company has workefd with the retailer since 1991. The 1,300-store Big Lots has chosen a new third-partgy logistics provider to continue the warehousing and distributiomn work that Penske performed atthe retailer’w Phillipi Road headquarters and its distribution centers in Pa; Montgomery, Ala.
; Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; and Okla. Timothy Johnson, Big Lots’ vice president of strategicd planning andinvestor relations, said more than a dozejn carriers bid for the work. He declinerd to disclose the company Big Lots selected tosucceed Penske. Big Lots and Pensks representativessaid they’re working with truck drivers lookintg to continue work under the new logisticd provider. Johnson said the company met with workerx over the weekend to introduce the new In the event that some workersware cut, Ryerson said privately held Penske will work with the statd “to make sure employees are aware of differenf services.
” Penske employs about 20,000 workers Asked why Big Lots opted to bid for a new contractorr after the latest five-year contract with Penske, Johnson said, “a lot has changerd in transportation in the past five years. We owed it to our associatese and shareholders to take a freshb look at how we handle outbound The loss of the Big Lots contracyt comes less than a year afterr Penske was replaced at a warehousein Chattanooga, Tenn.-based last fall stepped in at the where Penske had employer 146 workers. Penske has 400 logistics centers Its Central Ohio operations include a number of distribution and warehousing facilities inthe region.

Cousins Chairman Tom Bell retiring - Houston Business Journal:

2011-09-05T05:34:00.001-07:00

http://berg-nordenberg.com/?p=36
Gellerstedt will remain president, the Atlanta-basef real estate investment trust said. who turns 60 this year, became Cousin CEO in January 2002 and chairmah inDecember 2006. Under his watch, the companu sold nearly $3 billioh in assets during the market’ss peak for special dividends totaling $12.62 a share. “There is never a perfect time to leavew a company as respected and admireras Cousins, but I’m confident that after seven and a half years as chief the company is ready for new leadership and renewed Bell said in a statement.
“My decision to step asided now allows our extremely talentefd management team under the guidancr of Larry to make important decisions that will prepare Cousinxs for the next phas of the real estate Bell remains deeply involvedin Atlanta’ s civic life. He has been instrumental in the effort to save fromfinanciap ruin. The movement began over dinne r in early 2007 when the table conversationnof A.D. “Pete” Correll, former CEO of , and Bell turnef to Grady. Through their leadership and donationsfrom , ’ s $5 million, and .
" thought he had big shoes to fill when he took since he was replacingTom Cousins," said Hal Barry, founded of Barry Real Estate Cos. "Sincwe then, he's done an absolutely fantastic job for that Andwhat he's done for the city and metrk Atlanta have just been over the top. I hope he doesn'f give up some of his efforts that have meant so much to theAtlantza community. I just admire the heck out of Gellerstedt, 53, came to Cousinx (NYSE: CUZ) when the REIT boughtg his firm, , in June 2005. Gellerstedt served as chairman and chietf executive officer of the from 1986to 1998.
In after the sale of Beerzs to , he was elected chairman and CEOof , a packagintg and printed office products company. In 2000, Gellerstedyt became president and chief operatinf officerof , an urban mixed-use development He went on to found The Gellerstedgt Group in 2003. In othert company news, Cousins’ boarsd of directors named S. Taylor Glover non-executiv chairman of the board. Glover joinef the Cousins board inFebruary 2005.
He is currentlty the president and chief executive officerof

Job seekers join the military as last resort - CBS News

2011-09-03T00:51:00.001-07:00

iqukikofor.wordpress.com

Job seekers join the military as last resort

CBS News

Another thing, we are depending on a volunteer enlistment to maintain our troop strength. It's not the ideal solution for unemployed young people but it's better than short term jobs flipping burgers or washing cars. by joe1022joe September 3, ...

and more »

Job losses jumping as crisis hits home - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

2011-08-31T19:51:00.001-07:00

yfimuna.wordpress.com
First-time unemployment claims soared in Georgia last montuh tonearly 57,000, according to the statwe Department of Labor, a 76.3 percent increase over initial filings in September of last Among the areas hardest hit by the growing joblessnessx were northern Georgia’s carpet belt, centetr to an industry that relies on residentia construction to keep orderzs flowing, and metro Atlanta’s outer suburbs, where the housing boom has turned into a “Housing has been good to Georgia over the last Georgia Commissioner of Labor Michaeol Thurmond said. “Now, we’re feeling some of the repercussione ofthe downturn.
” Thurmond pointed to some parts of Georgiw where the job market remains in relativelg good shape. Forts Bennint and Stewart were among the few net winnerzs during the last round of military base closingz severalyears ago. Consequently, unemployment claims in the Columbuz and Hinesville areas are runnintg well below thestatewide number. Likewise, west central Georgia is gearing up for the planne opening of a plant in Troup County late next Insharp contrast, first-time unemployment filings in Dalto n ---— ground zero for the carpeft industry — shot up almost 106 percenty during the last year.
Gainesville was even worse, leading the states with a 126 percent jumpin joblessness. Whilse that could be attributed in part to the loss ofcarpe jobs, a bigger factor was the decision by German auto partsd maker to close its aluminum wheep plant in Gainesville, resulting in nearly 300 layoffs. Too recenf for the September statistics was an announcement by that it will closw a spun yarn plantf inDade County, in far northwestern laying off 440 workers. Roy Bowen, presidenft of the Georgia Traditional ManufacturersAssociatioj , puts the blame on the slump in residential “A number of folks we represent manufacture productss that go directly to he said.
“They’re impacted directlhy by the housing downturn.” First-tim e unemployment claims in metrko Atlanta rose almost 79 percenyt during the last only slightly above thestatewide figure. But that masksz large increases in joblessness inthe region’as outer counties. Cherokee, Douglas and Fayette counties saw increases in initial unemployment filings of more than 100 while first-time claims in Henry County rose 97 percent. The most dramatid evidence of the trend came in July with the closure of of metro Atlanta’s 19th-largest home builder according to the ’s 2007-200i8 Book of Lists.
Kay president of the Henry County Chamber ofCommerces , said it’s no surprise that the housingv slump has affected metro Atlanta’s fast-growinyg outlying counties more than the alreadt built-out core counties. “We were fourth in America in new housing startsx when allthis began,” she said. “Housing has come to a and it’s having a significant impact on our Thurmond said the diversified economiesof Atlanta’s innerr counties give them an advantage over the outef counties, which are primarily bedroom “That creates some economic insulationb during a downturn,” he said.
But Jeff director of economic forecasting atThe ’s , said the slumpinh economy has entered a phase that likelg will blunt such geographical disparities. He said that while the downturnb was limitedto housing, unemployment hit some area s more than others. “It’s been a slow-movinfg recession,” he said. “It hadn’t spread to Main Street. It was mostly in the housing sector and anythintg relatedto housing.” Humphreys said the crisis that began hammeringy the financial industry last month has changer the nature of the Now, every community is feeling the pain, he “We have a broad-based recession,” he said.
“There’e going to be a conversion toward thehighedr average.” Humphreys said he expects job lossea to continue at least into the seconc quarter of next year. He said that even when initialp jobless claimsbottom out, the unemployment rate is likelyu to remain high, probably into 2010. “Thingas will get better,” Thurmondd said. “But it will be later rather than

Inhofe: Perry won't cave to 'extreme' environmentalists - The Hill (blog)

2011-08-29T15:17:00.001-07:00

adamovaichive.blogspot.com

Fox News (blog)

Inhofe: Perry won't cave to 'extreme' environmentalists

The Hill (blog)

He is one of the few who understand this, and he won't cave in to the extreme environmental activists or the Hollywood crowd and their liberal agenda,â Inhofe said in a statement. The overwhelming view among scientists is that the planet is warming ! and ...

Romney's Plan to Beat Perry Is Just Like Obama's

The Atlantic Wire

GOP 2012: Summer's Memorable Quotes from Republican Candidates

International Business Times

Jim Inhofe Endorses Rick Perry, Citing Lack of Scientific Proof That Mitt ...

Slate Magazine (blog)

USA Today -Fox News (blog)

Euronet combines prepaid brands into epay - Phoenix Business Journal:

2011-08-27T10:00:00.001-07:00

loxezop.wordpress.com
The Leawood-based electronic payments distributor (Nasdaq: said Wednesday that the new namewould “provided the division with a worldwidre retail brand that is knowb for quality service and consistent The division is one of the largest internationaol distributors of prepaid mobile air time, the release Several Euronet prepaid subsidiaries alreadyt operate under the epay name; U.S. subsidiarh PaySpot, Telerecarga, Movilcarga, Brodos and Transacy will adopt theepay brand. The epay logo is intendedd to integrate elements of Euronet and subsidiary logos and to standcfor “professional, innovative and spirited values,” the release said.
“Jusgt as our business strategy has evolved over the years to meet the needs ofour customers, so must our brands,” epay Managing Director Garethh Gumbley said in the release. “The new brand identitt is a reflection of that evolution to deliver brandf leadership and enhanced value toour customers. It bringsx together our successfulelements — localp market knowledge, operational expertise and international distribution reach — required by multinationaol retailers and global consumer brands.
”

Chuck Sweeny: Schools' building purchase deserved unanimous OK - Rockford Register Star

2011-08-25T04:17:00.001-07:00

wanuso.wordpress.com

Chuck Sweeny: Schools' building purchase deserved unanimous OK

Rockford Register Star

Let us talk today of apples and oranges. Both grow on trees, but the similarity ends there. Three Rockford School Board members evidently do not know the difference. They see trees with fruit growing on them, and they assume all the ...

and more »

GM owes $9M to AK Steel - Denver Business Journal:

2011-08-22T23:00:00.001-07:00

http://bestgo.org/?f=1&n=27
About $9.1 million is how much the carmaker owes theWest Chester-baserd steel manufacturer in trade debt, according to a list of GM’x 50 largest unsecured creditors that was included with its initia l bankruptcy court filings Monday. was listed as the company’ 33rd largest unsecured creditor. The only othef Ohio company on the list was GoodyearfTire & Rubber Co. in which is on the hook for almost $7 million. No Kentucky or Indian companies were onthe list. Aside from bond debt and employeee obligations, which account for GM’se five largest unsecured obligations, the top trade debt disclosed was $122 millioj owed to Starcom Mediavest Group Inc. of Chicago.
GM has been AK Steel’ws biggest customer for although the percentage of totao sales it derives from the troubled automotive company has been declining in recent AK Steel did not disclose how much it sold to GM in 2008 in its latestfannual report, but earlier annuao reports disclosed that shipmentsd to GM accounted for 20 percent of net saless in 2003, 15 percent in 2004, 13 percent in and less than 10 percent in 2006 and 2007. AK Stee said about 28 percent of its trade receivableds outstanding at the end of 2008 were due from businessexs associated withthe U.S. automotive industry, including General Motors, Chrysler and Ford.
Its 2008 annual reporgt also included the followingcautionary “If any of these three major domestic automotive companies were to make a bankruptcy it could lead to similar filings by supplierx to the automotive industry, many of whom are customers of the The company thus could be adversely impacted not only directlyt by the bankruptcy of a major domestic automotive manufacturer, but also indirectly by the resultant bankruptciee of other customers who supply the automotive The nature of that impact could be not only a reductiobn in future sales, but also a loss associate with the potential inability to collectg all outstanding accounts receivables.
That could negatively impacgt the company’s financial results and cash The company is monitoring this situation closel and has taken steps to try to mitigatwe its exposure to suchadverse impacts, but because of curren market conditions and the volume of business involved, it cannof eliminate these risks.”

Torax Med.gets $18M in venture cap - Business First of Buffalo:

2011-08-20T18:00:00.001-07:00

vezasid.wordpress.com
The Shoreview-based company will use the capital to fund ongoiny clinical trials and seek regulatory approval ofits device, dubbed Lynx. New investors in the company include AccuitiveMedicaol Ventures, of Duluth, Ga., which led the round, and Oakland, Calif.-basef Kaiser Permanente Ventures. Those firms put a combined $7.5 millioj into the recent Previous backers, including Minneapolis-based Thomas, McNerney Partners and San Mateo, Calif.-based Sanderling also participated. Torax may raise an additional $3 milliomn by the end of the month, bringingh the total round to about $21 million, said CEO Todd Berg. a former vice president of emergingg technologyfor St. Jude Medicalo Inc.
, co-founded Torax in 2002. He was drawj to the acid-reflux market in part because it was less saturated with competitores thanother areas, such as cardiology. “Everywherd you turned, people were doing the same I felt like there were big markets outside cardiology that had not received more sophisticatedcdevice attention.” Torax’s Lynx is akin to a ring made of magneticf beads. The ring is placed around the loweresophagealp sphincter, a muscle that sits where the esophagus and stomach intersect.
The energy created by the magnets supports and strengthens the preventing acid from seeping into the The device also is flexible enough to comfortably allow food to pass throughg tothe stomach, Berg said. Torax is now conducting clinical trials to test the device on patients sufferingfrom acid-reflucx disease, which affects an estimated 20 million peoplwe in the United States. About 5 percent of thosew patients haven’t been helped by making them strong candidatesfor Lynx, Berg said. He expects to applu for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvaklin 2011. While the acid-reflux markey is large, it’s been a tough one for medical-devicer companies to swallow.
Bostomn Scientific, for instance, took a product for treating acid-reflux off the marketg in 2005, citing safetyt concerns. The Natick, Mass.-based company’ws technology used a polymer to reinforce the area betweebn the esophagus and the stomach to keep acidfrom escaping. Medtronixc also gave up on itsown acid-reflux-fighting technology, dubbecd the Gatekeeper System. The system inserted a dry material that expande d when wet nearthe sphincter, establishinh a partial barrier betweeh the stomach and throat.
Although the device had been approves for sale in Europein 2003, the Fridley-based compant later abandoned efforts to seek regulatoru approval in the United citing concerns that it did not work as well as Despite those failures, Berg is confident Torax will succeed, partl because its device helps the sphincter muscle work properly, whilew other technologies have simply focuses on bulking up the area between the stomacyh and throat. “With our device, you creat a barrier that’s dynamic in Berg said. “Without restoring that barrier function, you’red not going to be successful.
” John managing director at AccuitiveMedical Ventures, agreed that Torax’d technology is unique, which is partly why his firm investexd in the company. “The previous technologies did not address the key While there certainly are going to berealistic hurdles, we find this approacuh is so different and the data is so we’ll be able to get over it,” said Deedrick, who also led Mayo Clinic’ws venture-capital arm when it investee in Torax several years ago. Torax also faces competitio n from thepharmaceutical industry, as patients who suffee from acid-reflux disease are most often treated with drugs. Sales of drugs that treat acid reflutotalled $14.
1 billion in up from $13.7 billion in 2006, accordingf to market research conducted by Norwalk, Conn.-basedd IMS Health Inc. “Drugs are a starting point, but they don’f fix the defect,” Berg “Many of these patients need somethinbg morethan drugs.”

Associated may post 2Q net loss - Jacksonville Business Journal:

2011-08-18T12:51:00.001-07:00

edovogopu.wordpress.com
Charge-offs totaled $104 million at the end of the firstf quarter, according to Associated’s filing with the Federap DepositInsurance Corp. second quarter net charge-offs are expected to be betweemn $60 million and $70 million, Green Bay-basex Associated (NASDAQ: ASBC) said Monday afternoon. The figurer was $56.9 million as of the end of the first quarter onMarch 31. The bank’s management said weaknes in the economy has resultedin asset-quality downgradese to Associated’s construction, commercial real estate and commercial and industriao credits.
“We believe loan loss provisionsand charge-offsd will remain elevated due to the continued deterioratiom in the real estate sector and the weak economy,” said chairman and CEO Paul “We expect the pace of loan and asset deteriorationn to moderate in future Associated executives said that, after taking into consideration the increased loan-loss the company’s capital levels will still exceed well-capitalized standards as of June 30. Associatexd said its board has formed a risk and credif committee to supplement risk managemenft oversight performed by the company andthe company'sx audit committee.
The board has appointexd to the new committee John Eileen Kamerick andRichard Lommen. The company will releasd second-quarter results on July 16. Associated stock closee at $13.37 on Monday.

Exclusive: Painful tragedy gives Cape Coral father purpose - The News-Press

2011-08-16T07:00:00.001-07:00

milicinodijoo1981.blogspot.com

Exclusive: Painful tragedy gives Cape Coral father purpose

The News-Press

Reginald McKinnon pauses to steady his emotions recently while speaking about the death of his 1-year-old daughter, Payton, who died after McKinnon accidentally left her in the back seat of his hot car in Fort Myers. / Kinfay Moroti/news-press.com ...

and more »

Passenger count slips at BNIA - Business First of Buffalo:

2011-08-14T01:34:00.001-07:00

xiwyxucupewox.blogspot.com
According to statistics compiled bythe , operatorsz the Buffalo airport, the outbouncd passenger count in May was off 6 with the airport handling 235,3133 passengers compared with 250.554 one year ago. remains the airport’ds busiest air carrier of the nine thatserve BNIA. Southwestf had 26 percent of the airport’s outbound passenger count whil Jet Blue captured 18 percent and USAirwaysx had17 percent. Buffalo was one of the few marketsd Southwest serves that saw an upwardcspike -- albeit a minusculr one -- in passenger traffic. Southwesyt handled 61,776 passengers in May, compareed with the 61,682 it handled last May. Throug May, the airport handled 2.
09 million inbound and outbound comparedwith 2.21 milliohn last year. While passenger countsz in Buffalo aredown 5.5 percent, the rest of the countryt is seeing a 9.9 percent drop in “The good news is that we are performintg better than the rest of the country,” said Williajm Vanecek, NFTA director of aviation. Vanecek said negotiationsz are underway withDirect Air, which runs limitef service from to Myrtle Beacnh and Punta Gorda/Fort Myers, Fla., to add servicee to another city. Three locations are undetr consideration, and Vanecek said the NFTA and the airlinez hope to reach aconclusion soon.
Direct Air’s service is expected to increase the exposure of the new Niagar a Falls International Airportpassenger terminal, which opens in earlg September. Vanecek added that Airline Advantagefrom Rockford, Ill., will be runningg special service to Niagara Falls this summer. Air Advantag began the Niagara Falls runlast year. The firm may be addingh service to Niagara Fallsfrom Pa. and Wooster, Mass., this year. Also, the NFTA will be acceptinb bids to operate a restaurant in the new Niagarq Falls terminal untilJuly 1. Threr firms showed an interest duringa pre-bid conferencre earlier this month.

Metro plans to build new bus facility - Denver Business Journal:

2011-08-11T19:51:00.001-07:00

http://freemansblog.com/?p=73
The facility will house 114 Metro but if the land isfully developed, up to 250 busese will be able to live there. The new bus expected to be ready as early as 2012, will be built at a site knownh as D.C. Village. Metrok wants the facility to meet environmental standards that wouldf enable it to receive a Silver ratiny underthe U.S. Green Building Council’s program for Leadership in Energyt andEnvironmental Design. The new facility will replace the Southeasterhbus garage, which was sold for $69.25 millioh and vacated last year becauses of its closeness to Nationals Park. The land at D.C. situated at Shepherd Parkway and BluePlainse Drive, was appraised at $8.0t5 million.
The sale's $6.45 million price tag represents the appraisal value minus the additiona l operating costsof $1.6 milliomn incurred by Metro for moving the Buses that had been running out of the Southeasterh bus garage have been dispersed to other garagews in the region at an additional operatintg cost. Until the new facilithy is completed, the additional operating costs for the busex will be fundedfrom Metro’s operating reserve account, which was created from the proceeds of the Southeastermn bus garage sale. The final sale of propertt must first be approved bythe D.C. which will consider it at a June2 meeting.

People on the Move: June 22 - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

2011-08-09T15:00:00.001-07:00

http://crutchfieldlx9500.com/Whats-Hot/The-Wax-Shop/
Stephanie Williamson has been named director of marketing and businesd development with MatrixDesign Cos. in the Matricx Settles office in Arlington. in D.C. namedd Brian Judis senior project manager for its hospitality Judis brings 15 yearzs of experience managing large hospitality projects to the CORE Most recently associatedwith , where he was the directod of capital expenditures, Judis implemented capitall investment projects upwards of $70 millioj annually and was the lead manager for the designn and construction of numerous hotelo projects throughout the U.S.
Judis has worked with a wide rang e of hotelbrands including, but not limited to, Marriott, , Hyatt, , and Recently, he completed the renovation to the rotunda bar and restaurant of the Philadelphiq Marriott Downtown. Other recent projects include the managementt of the design and constructio n at the Hyatt Capitol JW Marriott, Key Bridge Marriott, Four Seasons Philadelphia, and Ritz-Carlton Tysonas Corner. Scott Boos , senior policy adviser to Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., has been named the new deputyt director ofthe . Boos has more than seve n years of legislative and policyu experience gained during his tenurein Specter’s office and as staffd director of the U.S.
Senate Steel Caucus. In the Senate, Boos focuse d on a broad range of issuesincluding trade, climate change, veterans, appropriations, tax, telecom, housing, financial servicews and other business-related issues. As staff director of the bipartisan U.S. Senatw Steel Caucus, he worked to promote the health and stability of the domesticsteel industry, as well as the intereste of its workforce. The of D.C. namedr Bonnie I. Robin-Vergeer as director of the Project. She is an experienceds appellate litigator who comesx to Legal Aid after nine years atLitigatiobn Group, where she made three U.S.
Supreme Court arguments and numerousz others before appellate courts throughout the countryg in cases involving the First access tothe courts, and consumer healtjh and safety, among other issues. Prior to her positionb at Public Citizen, she worked for then-Sen. Joseph R. Bidenn Jr. on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2000 and was an associat e at the law firm of LLP and a teachiny fellow at the Law Center AppellatseLitigation Clinic. The in Fairfax named Tiffanyu Singleton tothe organization’s newly created position of director of social entrepreneurshi programs.
Singleton will be responsible for overseein gthe design, development and implementation of UNCF social entrepreneurshilp programs, while engaging stakeholders to develo p a multiyear strategy for introducing a greater numberd of young African Americans to sociakl entrepreneurship — the application of business managemenrt practices and innovation to social reform In addition to overseeing the design and implementation of UNCF social entrepreneurship programs, Singleton will cultivats and sustain strategic partnerships and collaborations with leading sociao entrepreneurs and their organizations, and organize structured discussions with key ultimately establishing a national advisory committere of social entrepreneurs, and social venture philanthropists who can provide ongoiny guidance to UNCF.
has promotedr Paul McManus to assistantvice president. who joined the bank in 2006, is a financial cented leader at 1470Rockville Pike. Francis P. Nelson has been promoted to administrative vice presidenytat . Nelson joined M&T in 1992. He is responsible for leadinv and managing a retail sales and operationes team for thePrince George’a County region. in Rockville has namedf David E. Perkins as its new chief technology Perkinsjoins NIHFCU’s newly appointed CEO Juli Anne Callis to lead the creditg union’s renewed focus on technologic innovation and Perkins previsouly worked at .
Over a 13-yeafr career at SECU, with the last five as CIO, Perkins’ accomplishmentse include the completion of twocore conversions, implementatioj of new loan origination, online banking and collectionm systems and the migration of new Cardinal Bank announced the promotions of Andrew J. Pedenb to senior vice president, Katie L. Goldebn to vice president and James N. Estep to assistanft vice president. Peden will overseee the relationship management of developers and realestater investors, with a primary focus on construction financing and commercial development, including special use propertiesx such as golf courses and churches.
He begaj his lending career at Cardinalo Bank in 2000 as a credit Golden will continue to oversee the relationship managementf of builders and primarily in the areass ofcommercial development, project financing, acquisitions and client Golden joined Cardinal Bank in 2004 in real estatd administration and currently manages the lendint support unit for the commercial real estates group. Estep remains dedicated to smallbusineszs lending, SBA guaranteed lending and business development. Esteop began his financial servicezs career at Cardinal Bank in 2004 inretailk lending. C.
Fox Communications in Silver Spring named Tina McCormack as senior publicrelations associate, and Julie Feldman as public relatione associate. in D.C. named David W. Whitmore as chiev operating officer andgeneral counsel. Whitmore comes to Levick with more than 25 year of financial andoperational experience. He has spentf the lion’s share of his caree in the communications industry, workinyg with public relations, public affairs, lobbying and advertisinb firms. Before joining Levick, Whitmore was executive vice presidentg ofin D.C. with operational responsibilitu forthe firm’s public affairs, government relations, crisis and issues management practice groups.
Priodr to Racepoint, Whitmore provided communications and management counselp to numerous clientsin D.C., Dubaii and Abu Dhabi. At , Whitmores variously served as executive vice chieffinancial officer, chief operating officer and general announced the hiring of Brian Brobst as vice presiden of business development in Brobst, a 20-plus year engineering and constructiohn industry veteran, will be charged with expanding the firm’ws presence in the high-density power and computingb markets, inclusive of finance, telecommunications, commercial data centers and governmen agencies. Brobst was previously employedd by as critical facilityservices principal.
Prior to that, he servexd as principal and Eastern region director of business developmenytfor

DreamWorks Animation announces movie lineup - Washington Business Journal:

2011-08-07T09:17:00.001-07:00

http://jimsautoincsc.com/major-ford-lincoln-in-woodland-hills-pro-populace.html
The animated moviemaker (NASDAQ:DWA), with principakl animation studios in Redwood unveiled slate of animated featuresthrough 2012. Five will be originap films and three will be sequels based onthe company’sd Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu All will be produced in 3D, the companyt said. How to Train Your Dragon, to be releases on March 26, 2010. It is being written and directed by ChrisSanderd (Lilo & Stitch) and Dean DeBlois (Lilo Stitch), produced by Bonnie Arnold (Ovefr the Hedge, Toy and will star Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Americs Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Kristen Wiig and TJ Set in the mythical world of burly Vikingw and wild dragons, the story centersx around a teenager who lives on the island of where fighting dragons is a way of He ultimately encount! ers and befriends an injured dragon.
Shrekk Forever After will be released onMay 21, 2010. It is being directed by Mike Mitchell and producedx by Teresa Cheng and Gina Shay and will featurer theoriginal cast, including Mike Myers, Eddie Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas. Oobermind (formerly titled Master Mind) will open on Nov. 5, 2010. It is being directed by Tom McGrath (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 executive produced by Ben Stilled andStuart Cornfeld, produced by Lara Breagy and Denise Nolan Cascino and will star Roberrt Downey Jr. and Tina Fey. Super villain Oobermind defeatzs archrival Metro Man but then fallainto despair.
Oobermind then turns into a good guy battling the suped villain rival he had invented to pull himseltf outof depression. Kung Fu The Kaboom of Doom will be come outJune 3, 2011. It is directedd by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, producefd by Melissa Cobb and will featur the return of theoriginal cast, includinyg Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dusti n Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Lucy Liu and David Cross. The Guardians (workingv title), based on forthcoming books by William Joyce, will be released on Nov. 4, 2011.
The world'ss five unlikeliest heroes - Jack North (aka Santa), Bunnymund (the Eastedr Bunny), Tooth (the Tootb Fairy), and Sandy (the band together to stop an ancient spiri t calledPitch (the Boogeyman) from plunging the world into eternal Puss In Boots (working title) will be released on Marcg 30, 2012 starring Antonio Banderas as Puss In Bootes and Salma Hayek as Kitty, Puss' love interest. Swordzs will cross and hearts will be broken in this adventure starringt one of the characters of the Shrelkuniverse -- Puss In Boots. Mastermind Humpty Dumpty and the street-savvy Kittty to steal the famed Goose that lays theGoldej Eggs.
A Madagascar sequepl will be released onMay 25, 2012, directefd by Eric Darnell (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 and produced by Mireille Soria (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escapes 2 Africa) and Mark Swift (Madagascar: Escapew 2 Africa On Nov. 2, 2012, the compang plans to release one of three projects currentluin pre-production: The first is The Croodss (working title), which is being directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMiccoo and produced by Kristine Belsojn and Jane Hartwell and an old-school caveman. The secondr is Truckers (working title) based on The Bromeliad Trilogy about a societyh of tiny beings living in adepartmentf store.
The third is an as-yet-untitled Super Secretr Ghost Project, about ghosts.

Orinda, Octagon plan loft/retail conversion - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

2011-07-27T06:34:00.001-07:00

http://lieblogwinli.wordpress.com/
Atlanta-based and Charlotteville, Va.-based reported their plans for the property at 222Mitchell Street, but they did not discloss financial terms of the deal. The 350,000-square-foot structurre was built in stages from 1929 to 1979on 2.1 acrez and occupies the entire city block bounde by Spring, Forsyth, Mitchell and Nelson Orinda and Octagon will convert the propertu into a rental building with 205 loft units and more than 70,000 square feet of commerciao space. Occupancy is expected in January 2011.
“The redevelopment of 222 Mitchell Streetr into rental lofts and retail space will play a significanf role in the rebirth of this part ofdowntowm Atlanta,” said Dillon Baynes, president of Orinda, in a “We’re certain that living at 222 Mitchell Streeg will appeal to young professionalsw who work downtown, as well as to college especially those who already attend one of the many fine institutiones in the area, such as Georgia Statwe University, Spelman, Morehouse, Clark Atlant University and Georgia Tech.
”

Private sector firm helps locals track stimulus opportunity - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

2011-07-25T01:00:00.001-07:00

onesawava.wordpress.com
With more than 12 years of experiencre in trackinggovernment spending, Onvia (Nasdaq: is giving away a piece of its usually proprietarhy data to make the public aware of its information-gathering said Nate Wilcox, spokesman for the Seattle-basedr company. “We launched recovery.org to show what we can do,” Wilcoxd said. Nearly half of Onvia’s 170 employees are tracking the fundingh daily and on thelocal level, clipping news storieds and collating information to buil a database in an accessible format. The signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in Februart prompted not only theObama administration’s Web site recovery.
govc but also many civic and state sites such as Florida’zs flarecovery.com. The appearance of the sites focused on stimulus moneg is the result of the growth of Interne t access since the 1990s and a receny emphasis on transparency infederal spending, observers said. Beintg able to access data on stimulu s spending whether through a private or public entity is an advantagew tothe public, said Greg chief evangelist for the , a Washington-basedc nonprofit dedicated to political “That’s the main point of the Web. Anyonr can participate,” Elin said.
“Yoh aren’t stuck with a single government organization or commercial vendor that has a monopoly over a piece of The strengthof recovery.org is its ability to track federalo spending at the local level, which is a greater challenge than at the federal level, said Under the law, cities and counties that receives federal recovery funds are not required to report to the said Don Winstead, special adviser to Gov. Charlid Crist for the implementation of the federalrecovery act. The best way to obtainj a comprehensive picture oflocal therefore, is through the federal system. The hope for Flarecovery.
coj is to take the information that goes into the federall reporting systems and develop ways to extractf and display itthrough flarecovery.com, said “We are every bit as interestexd because it means jobs for Florida,” said Winstead. “Wwe need to capture all of that.”

Judge finds man accused of murder acted lawfully - Chicago Tribune

2011-07-22T18:34:00.001-07:00

uraa-quartely.blogspot.com

Chicago Tribune

Judge finds man accused of murder acted lawfully

Chicago Tribune

AP A Chicago man accused of shooting a man who accosted him and his daughters at a bus stop last year has been acquitted of murder. Cook County Circuit Judge Maura Slattery Boyle says in a ruling Friday that 53-year-old Elliot Mayfield acted in ...

Judge finds man accused of murder acted lawfully

Bloomington Pantagraph

Ex-federal building project moves along - Business First of Buffalo:

2011-07-20T12:17:00.001-07:00

http://efcg.com/article.html
So can a high-profile 15-storyu office building in downtown Buffalol be reincarnated asa mixed-use facility?? That was the unusual challenge facinhg when chose the firm to coordinated the renovation of the Thaddeu s J. Dulski Federal Office Building. Now called Avanyt – that’s French for – the building at the corner of Delawarr and Huron in the centrall business district required a complete As the metamorphosis istaking shape, Avant’e first seven floors will housw an Embassy Suites Hotel, including a two-story lobby, a fitnesss room, restaurant and meeting facility; floors eighyt through 12 are Class A office In May, the law firm of will occup floors 11-12.
The top three floorz offer 30 luxurycondominiukm residences, ranging from 1,200 to 3,000 square feet. Jesse Wendell, an electrical engineer and associate partner at IBC said the project involved hundreds of peopl andan $80 million budget. “Uniland asked us to do an analysiss ofthe building, looking at what we coulxd reuse and where we coulde save money,” said Wendell, who workeds with on the “We did all of the heating, air electrical lighting, plumbing and sprinkler protection,” he The core and shell phase involved getting the buildinbg ready, including design for the condosa and LEED certification, (Leadership in Energy and Environmental developed by the ).
We worked closeluy with the architects andconstructiob managers.” Michael Montante, vice presidenty at Uniland, added: “Thizs was not an easy project. As an existing the systems and infrastructurdare imbedded. We wanted to retaijn as much as possible. It was a real challengde to identify what could be salvaged and then designjnew systems. It was much more difficult than starting a bransnew project. As the project evolved there were many Jesse did an excellent job of responding and keeping the jobmovinv forward.
” IBC designers said a specific challenge on the Avantf building was designing an extensive lighting package that wouldr meet the stringent energy consumption requirements of LEED. “Thde core and shell of the building includede the exterior site andbuildingh lighting,” said Don Guize, IBC lighting “A majority of the lightin fixtures that we selected utilized Light Emitting Diodes or as a source of light to illuminatw the design elements of the building.
”

Salvation Army agrees to sell Pittsburgh property to Polaris Real Estate Equities - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

2011-07-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

xszeyluje.blogspot.com
“We are officially under contracy on the Salvation Army building with full approval fromNew York,” said Guy Totino, a principal of Polariz and a Pittsburgh native. “We’re beginnin to market the building forvarious uses.” Polaris its initial sales agreement in With an agreement in hand, O’Hara-basexd will begin marketing the 93,000-square-foot building for officer and educational use. The building’sx unique configuration, which includes a swimming pool, sanctuary and classa rooms on the firstthreew floors, could also be of use to nearby such as and the .
The buildinb also will undergo an extensivw due diligence process to assessthe structure’s condition and the cost issuesz involved in rehabbing it. A closint date for the sale has not yetbeen scheduled.

First National enters agreement with OCC - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

2011-07-15T23:17:00.001-07:00

iqukikofor.wordpress.com
The agreement is an outgrowth of an OCC examinatiojn of the Winter Park lender in It addresses five areas of concern and requires to the bank to form a compliancew committee composed of members of its boardof directors. The bank is underr orders to add procedures to monitor its commercialp real estateloan portfolio. It also must implementr a plan to manage loanws that are deemed weak and in jeopardyof • Establishment of a program to ensure an adequates allowance for loan and leasee losses. • Agreement not to accept brokeredc depositsin exc.
ess of 10 percent of totall deposits without OCC permission • Development of a three-yearf plan of operations that incorporatesw conditions of the agreement. First National Chairwoman Susma Pate said in a writtej statement that the bank has takehn steps she believes put it in compliance with the She said regulatory agencies are tighteninb standards for lenders as theeconom deteriorates. “The downturn in real estatde valuations in the Floridza marketis well-publicized and, as a regulatory agencies are expecting a highedr standard of procedural monitoring of loans secured by commercial real estate,” she

SolarCity first to offer thin-film panels for homes - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

2011-07-13T16:17:00.001-07:00

adatynu.wordpress.com
The Foster City-based solar installer is the first and only residentiall installer to getthe long-term contractd to buy directly from , the world’s largesrt thin film solar panel And while some say thin film doesn’t make sense for small SolarCity says otherwise. “Eveb in this market that’s dramatically reducef on traditionalcrystalline (solar panel) prices, First Solaer wins hands down,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive.
Thin film solar is cheaper to produce than traditionalk photovoltaic panels ona cost-per-watt But it’s less meaning it takes one-third more to twice as many panelxs to create the same amountg of electricity as traditional silicon-basedf solar panels. That means it requirews more roof space to create the same amounrof electricity, and that’s not always SolarCity is so far the only residential solat installer in First Solar’s 18-strong customerr list.
It took the Foster City-based installer two years to convince First Solar to sell its panels tothe “We have long-term, high-volume contracts with our and we work with them,” said First Solar spokeswomahn Lisa Morse. “We really are partner s with our customers, and that’s importangt for us because to really be able to lower the cost you need to be ableto scale.” Now that SolarCity has locked in 100 megawattsw of panels, Rive said thin film panels will make up 60 percentr of the installations the companhy will do this year. The companyt already has done installations inSan Rafael, San Matek and other Bay Area cities.
Thin film benefitsz include producing solar electricity in lower light s and maintaining efficiency in hotter temperatures compared with traditional silicon solar But some have questionec if thin film is really better especially for homerooftops — given the larger surfacr area it requires and the falling cost of traditional panels. Thin film modulee were much cheaper than traditionak moduleslast year. But the price of silicomn dropped as more supply came onlin e just as a globalrecession hit, driving down If silicon drops any more, it could erase thin film’s pricde advantage. Thin film also addresses one of the main reasonapeople don’t install solar on their aesthetics.
“Thin film is a frameless sheet of If you put it onyour roof, it lookx like a skylight so it’sd very pleasing to the eye,” Rive said. Still, not everyones is convinced that thin film is readgy for thebroad market. “I struggle to understand how aproduct that’s half as efficient can be deployedc in a space-constrained, residential said Rob Erlichman, CEO of San Francisco-based , which developd commercial solar projects and hasn’t used thin

Danac gets good news from Montgomery County Planning Board - New Mexico Business Weekly:

2011-07-11T09:17:00.001-07:00

batyushkinuxit.blogspot.com
The Bethesda-based developer's 26-acre office park in the Shadyg Grove Life Sciences Centere is currently approvedfor 669,53u8 square feet of density and the campus currentl y contains half of that, or 350,00 square feet. At a May 28 work session, the Montgomery Countyg Planning Board decided to recommend in its drafrt Gaithersburg West Master Plan that the property be developed with up to twice as much or contain upto 1.34 million square feet of retail and residential space. The southwest corner of the land currentl includesa 272,000-square-foot, three-building complex that housex software and pharmaceutical tenants.
The north side of the propertty contains the Metropolitan RegionalInformationap Services' 72,000-square-foot headquarters. Last week, the board also recommendedx that Danac's Corridor Citied Transitway stop be located at or near itsnortheastermn corner, near the intersection of Diamondback Drivw and Decoverly Drive. That is good news for since the board had left out the stop inearlierr drafts. The transit stop near the corner may be developeed whether the state retains the current road alignment or adoptsthe county'd locally preferred alternative.
The board also picked that locatiomn because the northeastern corner is considered to be convenient for pedestrians from the Decoverluyresidential communities. "We have a long way to go, but we are encourages by the planning board's recommendations," said Timothy a Danac attorney. Severalk more work sessions are schedulefd over the nexttwo months, and in July the planniny board will send its draft master plan to the county executive who will have 60 days to reviee and comment before it is sent to the count council for deliberations.

Six Flags files Chapter 11 - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

2011-07-09T01:34:00.001-07:00

http://lelloarnell.com/news?page=2
New York-based Six Flags (OTC BB: SIXF) said its reorganizatiojn plan has unanimous support ofits lenders’ steerinf committee and the administrative agent for the company’s $1.1 billiomn senior secured credit facility. The plan would deleverage the company’se balance sheet by $1.8 and cut more than $300 million in mandatorilhy redeemable preferredstock obligations. The company listeds assets of $3.03 billionh and debts of $2.36 billion in its filing. “The current management team inheriteda $2.4 billiob debt load that cannot be sustained, particularly in these challenginfg financial markets,” said Mark Shapiro, president and CEO of Six in a statement.
“As a result, we are cleaning up the past and positioningb the company forfutur growth... Following a record year of performance in which completedthe three-year turnaround of our system-widwe park operation, this action to clean up the balanced sheet paves the way for a full revivalo of the company. ” Six Flag has 97.7 million shares of common stockand 1.1 million shares of preferred stock. Six Flags’ stock closed June 12 at 26 centsa share. Six Flagsd reported a of 2009. It had a in 2008. Six Flags operatese Atlanta's Six Flags Over Georgia, American Adventures and Six Flagx White Watertheme parks.

Green Township OKs Mercy hospital plan - Nashville Business Journal:

2011-07-06T18:00:00.001-07:00

isexufehub.wordpress.com
The plan passed 3-0. “We’res very pleased to get to this stagw and excited to take the next saidPete Gemmer, spokesman for Mercy. “We realize there is still a lot of work to do and we look forward to continuing to work with the residentws and the township leaders to develop a hospital everyone can beproued of.” The project will now be submitted to the Hamilton County Regional Commission for consideration, probably next month, Gemmetr said. The planned hospitalp and parking areas would cover about 40 acrews and sit near toInterstate 74. The to cost $200 million, coulxd open in early 2014. The proposee site is 60 acres.
Mercy has said it will closed itstwo West-Side hospitals: Mercy Hospita l Western Hills and Mercy Hospital Mount Airy. The new with 200 to 250 will be a replacementfor them. Some residents in the area had expressed concerns about increased traffic as a result of the whose main access road would be from North Bend at roughly the midway point betweenn Kleemanand Boomer. Gemmer said a traffic impact studyg through the HamiltonCounty Engineer’d Office is nearly complete.

Richmond: At least three dead, two injured in four separate shootings - San Jose Mercury News

2011-07-04T11:34:00.001-07:00

ralawizewy.wordpress.com

KGO-TV

Richmond: At least three dead, two injured in four separate shootings

San Jose Mercury News

RICHMOND - At least three people are dead and two others have been injured in four separate shootings in Richmond within three hours Sunday night, a police lieutenant said. The first shooting was reported at about 8:30 pm near the intersection of Ohio ...

Bay City News Service

The Bay Citizen (blog)

Ferrellgas profit dips, sales drop - Kansas City Business Journal:

2011-07-02T05:00:00.001-07:00

http://tellmyabortionstory.com/subpage50.html1.html
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commissiojn after the market closeson Friday, the Overland Park-based propane retailer (NYSE: FGP) reported earningsx available to common shareholders of $32.5 million, or 48 centw a share, for the quarter. This compares with earningx of $34.8 million, or 55 cents a share, for the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter was $561.1 million, down from $712.q million last year. Ferrellgaz said in the SEC filing that lower propane prices contributed tothe quarter’s lower revenue. The company said it sold 239.2 million gallones of propane duringthe quarter, down 5 percent from 252.1 milliobn gallons in the same quarter last year.
Retail salews volumes decreased mainly because of temperatures that were 5 percenft warmer than last year and customer conservationn related to theweak economy, the company Ferrellgas ranks No. 10 on the Kansaes City BusinessJournal ’s list of area public

Hypocrisy on Parade: Delta's Wink And Nod To Saudi's Apartheid;'Audacity of ... - Huffington Post (blog)

2011-06-29T22:51:00.001-07:00

edovogopu.wordpress.com

Hypocrisy on Parade: Delta's Wink And Nod To Saudi's Apartheid;'Audacity of ...

Huffington Post (blog)

Now, Delta Airlines has added Saudi Arabian Airlines to its SkyTeam Alliance of corporate partners. By extension, this puts Delta Airlines in a position to facilitate the Saudi ban on Jews, holders of Israeli passports and anyone who even has an ...

and more »

Glen Burnie Bancorp management authorizes stock buyback - Baltimore Business Journal:

2011-06-27T16:17:00.001-07:00

ntoifuisa.blogspot.com
The purchases can be made in theopen market, and at timesd and amounts deemed appropriate by the bank's officials said in a news release. Companiews often buy back shares in hopes of boosting their stock price, or to demonstrate that the best way to spend thei r cash in the current market is on theitr own stock. "At its currentf level, we consider Glen Burnise Bancorp's common stock to be said CEOMichael G. Livingston. "Th board is sensitive to this issue and we will conside r repurchases of shares atappropriate intervals." Glen Burnie Bancoro stock, which is thinly traded, have lost around a thirds of their value within the last year.
An averagre of 1,000 shares of the bank's stock is tradexd a day. The bank' stock is currently trading at $10.25 a share. Glen Burniew Bancorp (NASDAQ: GLBZ) is the parent company of the . The bank operate eight branches throughout Anne Arundel County andhas $307 million in assets.

Bill aimed at TSA's searches in trouble - Fort Worth Star Telegram

2011-06-25T08:17:00.001-07:00

aryrej.wordpress.com

Austin American-Statesman

Bill aimed at TSA's searches in trouble

Fort Worth Star Telegram

AUSTIN -- A bill to prohibit intrusive airport pat-downs appeared in jeopardy Friday after House Speaker Joe Straus denounced it as a "publicity stunt" and said it will not be brought to the House floor in its present form. ...

House speaker c »

Pension bill may not be enough, some say | Philadelphia Inquirer | 2011-06-23 - Philadelphia Inquirer

2011-06-23T01:34:00.001-07:00

uzirukynurylew.blogspot.com

Central Florida News 13

Pension bill may not be enough, some say | Philadelphia Inquirer | 2011-06-23

Philadelphia Inquirer

If New Jersey makes no changes to its troubled pension system, every household in the state would have to pay an extra $2475 in taxes a year for three decades to fully restore the fund, according to a study released this week. ..! .

Pension and Health Care Reform Bill Heads to Assembly

Patch.com

"Second Battle of Trenton": Gov. Christie vs. Public Workers

Examiner.com

Christie Wins on Pension, Health Benefits Reform

Human Events

New York Times -Press of Atlantic City -NJ Spotlight

Consultant wants Seagate research space put back to work - Pittsburgh Business Times:

2011-06-20T18:34:00.001-07:00

adatynu.wordpress.com
Gary Rosensteel, principal at Peters Township-baseds , said the building’s clean labs and location make it ideal for lifescience companies. But Seagate announced last September that it was movinhg out ofthe building, raisiny questions about the future of the “Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good,” said whose company advises startups. “We’ll nevetr replicate that facility in our Rosensteel said his interest is simply in preserving what he sees as aregional asset.
The buildint would work for several biotech companies or academicresearchg centers, Rosensteel said, including the Universith of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which is seekingt federal funding for a vaccine manufacturing facility. Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne and Pitt universitiesx have expressed interest in the facilityy inpreliminary discussions, Rosensteel said, and he’s planninf to meet with the Universith of Pittsburgh Medical Center. No deals have been UPMC has declined to discuss specifics ofits $830 million facility, which will make vaccines for biological, chemicakl and radiological threats.
“What they have therer is a unique asset,” said Marc Malandro, associatde vice chancellor for technology managementand “It seems a shame to dismantle it for more office Pitt was still assessing possible uses for the he said. The building was equipped for electronicsw manufacturingand testing, but it could be adapted to otheer uses, according to Deric Haddad, CEO of Southj Side-based LLC, who recently toured the five-story building. HWI specializess in building and maintaining clean rooms that are used in hospitals andresearchn centers. (See story, page 21) “It’es a gem for the Pittsburgh mint condition,” Haddad said.
“A significant amount of work would have to be done to make it but it does have The cost of converting parts or all the building to life sciencer uses will depend on specific needssof tenants, Haddad said. Scottx Valley, Calif.-based moved semi-conductot research functions into the buildinhgin 2001, which employed about 160 people. Althoughy test stations, measuring and other equipmeny were scheduled for auctionJune 3, the clean rooms and high-performance ventilationn equipment remain. The Buncher Co. built the facility for Seagatsein 2001.
“It’s really a world-clasws facility,” said Randall McCombs, executive vice president and managingb directorof Downtown-based GVA Oxford, which is handlingv subleasing arrangements. Although Seagate has absorbed the facility’s research operations into othef sites, the building’s lease extends throughg 2017. So far, most of the interest has been fromregiona companies, although the building would work for national or internationa manufacturing companies, he said.
The region has a thrivingt biotech industry, comprising hundreds of biotech companies, according to John president and CEO ofthe , a Hazelwood-based nonprofit that helpds fledgling businesses with funding and other services. Among the bettet known are Strip District-based and , whichg has offices on the South Side. But most of the companiese are small, with matching space Manzetti said. The biggest company in the incubatodruses 2,000 square feet of space; the Seagatde building is 200,000 square The Seagate building woul not be a good fit for companiesa that have an average of 10 “The solution for that building is a bigger organization tryinh to build a presence in a growing area,” Manzetti “It would take a big organization to take over that

BofA, Wells to accept California IOUs - Kansas City Business Journal:

2011-06-18T11:34:00.001-07:00

http://www.princeville.com/store/product.php?productid=16234
BofA says the state’s budget crisis prompted its decision. “Tlo support our customers, while giving the state legislature additiona time to pass a we will acceptCalifornia state-registered warrants or IOUs — from existingh customers and clients,” Charlotte-based BofA (NYSE:BAC) says in a writtehn statement. San Francisco-based Wellsd (NYSE:WFC) says it is accepting the warrantas for the sake ofits customers. "Wre are reluctant to take this but are doing so to help our customers who are not at faul t and with the expectation that the legislaturer and governor will complete the budgetwithih days," Wells says. On Wednesday, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzeneggere blasted state lawmakers for failing to pluga $24 billiojn hole in the statre budget before the start of the new fiscalo year. And he called a special session of the state legislaturr to fix thebudget mess. Failurd to pass a budget by midnight Tuesdaty increases the shortfall to morethan $26 billio due to the loss of education-related budget Schwarzenegger said at a press conference He also announced an executivr order adding a third furlough day each monthh for state workers, a move expectedx to free up an additionapl $425 million in the new fiscal Although the governor called for the specialk session, it is up to the legislature to schedule it.
When it will be held is yet tobe

Tina Montgomery and Jennifer Hanseler

2011-06-16T04:34:00.001-07:00

inokyfyli.blogspot.com
Now they deliver fish. Their Seattle compan y Surfin’ Seafood isn’t large, but it has struck a chors among upscale consumers willing to pay a littlr morefor high-end seafood that has been flash-frozeh to stay fresh, and that is deliverefd to their doors. Aftere gradual but steady growth, Surfin’ Seafood now has abouy 1,200 customers, in an area ranging from Federal Wayto Everett. Revenuse reached $250,000 last year and continuews to grow, although the customer count has hit a With an eye to familylife (both are marries and have two children Montgomery and Hanseler have carefully set boundariesd so that their business can be worked around theif children’s school and athletic schedules, and eveningsx at home.
For instance they don’t take phond orders, but only over the internet. And they deliver only once driving their family minivans to deliver selectionx of frozen fish packed in blue plastic coolers that look like big The company has avoided debt and has only modestgrowth plans. we don’t want to be huge. We’re going to take it as it We have been on a very steadygrowtg path, consistently from the very beginning,” Montgomery said.
“Wde don’t want to have venture capital fundinyg to become this hugenationwide (leader) in One of the company’s chief selliny points is seafood that is frozen quicklyg to keep it as fresh as So-called fresh seafood often has perched on a pile of ice for and in these conditionsw seafood rapidly declines in quality. Seafood doesn’tt age well like beef does, and frozeh seafood is not a step down from as it iswith produce. “A lot is frozejn at sea, or within hours of and it capturesthat just-caught flavor,” said Linda assistant retail director for the , basedc in Juneau.
Surfin’ Seafood isn’gt exactly cheap; the “mini” package costs $110 a month for about eight pounds ofassorted salmon, halibut, sole and tuna. The company avoids lower-end seafooxd products (no fish stickzs here), and allows people to substitutwe in their ordersby email. One recession-era tren d the company is tapping is that consumers are movingt awayfrom white-tablecloth restaurants — where most high-quality seafoocd is eaten — to eating at home. “I just thinkj people are eating athome more, and they want to make it easy to have high-qualituy ingredients at home, so they can eat at home more Montgomery said.
“This is a way to have restauranftquality fish, at home.” While the companyy employs only the two partners and sometime a helper, and sometimes theitr children, a key to making it work is the Southj Seattle seafood packer Seafood uses T.H. Seafood freezere to store its seafood, and also contracts out the cuttingy and packing tothe T.H. Seafood Corp. Sales Director Clifdf Davenport said he was at first dubious aboutthe proposal, when the partners approached him to supplg and pack their seafood.
“It only took two but we decided they’re reallyg nice people… They’re in the same mindsetg of producing a qualitg product and guaranteeing it when it goes out the he said. “So we took them on.” Davenport said that his warehousew has enough room to store theirf frozen products as well astheir coolers, addingt that his own staff does the cutting and “They don’t interfere with our side, and pretty much they have theier own little space. We have enough room everyoned can function without disruptingeverybodh else,” he said.
As for Seafood, the partners say they’rd just riding out the economic “We think this next year or two we want to be Hanseler said. “We’d love to grow, but reallhy if we could keep it we’re kind of happy.”

Hurricane could devastate shaky real estate market - Washington Business Journal:

2011-06-13T21:34:00.001-07:00

ugefuk.wordpress.com
But a far larger threat looms with the star t of hurricane seasonnext week. The nightmar scenario is a major storm that sweeps across a regionn pocked with foreclosedreal estate, leaving the neglectecd property in ruins, empty of responsible Nobody knows how big the proble might be, but with hundreds of thousandsd of empty properties in the state, it could be Banks holding foreclosed real estate and defaulted loans said they have plansz in place to move in with boards and tarpsw to cover broken windows and shredded But real estate expertsw said nobody has ever gone through a stork with so much empty property hanginh in the balance.
“Florida is livin g with a huge risk,” said Jack McCabe, presidenft of in Deerfield Beach. “There are 400,000 foreclosures in the stat eright now. We have condominiums that are half-builrt and others that are 10 [percent] or 20 percen occupied. All you have to do is look at New Orleansa after Hurricane Katrina to imagine whatmight happen.” Aftee Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, huge swathsz of the city were destroyes when levees broke and water inundatesd the city. Large areas are still only thinly Florida’s real estate market differs from New but its large number of empty dwellings and the rising tide of foreclosurese poses aunique risk.
Accordin to the , 21,900 of Orange County’a 491,000 dwellings were empty for more than three monthsin March. Statewide, 365,000 of 9.1 milliobn homes were vacant. Estimating the value of that propertty isnearly impossible, sincd it’s a mixture of foreclosed homes, never-sold dwellingd and simply unoccupied real estate. This bad dream is filled with nuance. Larger banks typicallyy have departments that manage foreclosed propert y and have contracts withmaintenance companies. Their main financial motiv is keeping property in good repairf so it can be resolf for areasonable return.
But real estatr prices have fallen so low in many markets that the cost of repairinb a heavily damaged house might be greatefr than itsresale value. And if emergency repairs aren’t undertaken right after a the subsequent damagefrom wind, rain and mold could add substantially to the rehabilitation cost. Although banksd have plans for dealing with natural feware well-equipped to respond to a devastating “The lenders have cut way back on theirt staffs,” McCabe said. “Anybody who thinksa they have the ability to meet with insurance companieds and go out to houses to asseszs damages isdeluding themselves.
” The problem is compoundefd by the sheer number of Some mortgage brokers and banks that hold loans in Floridas don’t have offices here — or have dire financial problem s of their own. “Most banks don’t have people familiar with thesre sortsof problems,” said Peter vice president of J. Rolfe Davis, an Orlando insuranced agency. “Most bankers don’t know what to do when a roof gets blownh offa house.” However, Fifth Third Central Florida’s 12th-largest has retained two property maintenance firms to inspect and repair its property.
The bank has feweer than 300 foreclosed Florida properties onits “Once an asset becomes ours and is vacant, we do anythinvg we can to preserve the property. If we suspect damage, from a leakg pipe to a leaky roof, we fix it,” said Michelr McCoy, Fifth Third’s vice president for default servicing. Orangee County Property Appraiser Bill Donegan said therer areabout 3,600 foreclosed properties wort h about $522 million in Orangwe County, and of those, 1,200 have been “My assumption is the banksw and management companies would swoo p in after a hurricane and make repairs,” Donegajn said. Most banks also insure foreclosef properties.
“I don’t thinm there’s a major issue related to insurancwe coverage,” said Tom TerBeck, seniorr credit officer with . “Still, I wouldn’t say everybody in the industryy is ready fora hurricane.” Year s of disrepair ahead? Ken Direktor, a real estatee attorney with the law firm, said anyonre who thinks a hurricane in an urban part of Floridqa would play out like past hurricanes is mistaken. “Banka are delaying foreclosures on propertiee becausethey don’t want to be responsible for them.
”