Motorcyclist badly injured after running light in Seminole Tampabay.com SEMINOLE â€" A woman was critic » |
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Motorcyclist badly injured after running light in Seminole - Tampabay.com
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
Condo developer facing mountain of debt - Atlanta Business Chronicle:
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million development loan for Nashville developerTony Giarratana’ proposed 50-story Signature Tower in downtow n has been in default since February, and remains in default aftefr coming due at the end of April, according to a lette r sent to investors in Novare Group. One of the biggesft hurdles the company facesw isa $50 million credit loan and credit line with an affiliatw of Novare was informed by the lendedr on May 21, 2008, that it had violated a loan according to the financial statementsx obtained by the Nashville Business Journal.
Novare has not made the requirex monthly interest payments on thecredit loan/line, whichb includes a $20 million term loan and a $30 million revolvinf line of credit, since January. Novare is engaged in talks with the lende to restructurethe debt. Defaulting on the credit line could resulf in thelender “foreclosing on the company’s equity interesgt in a number of its assets,” accordingg to the financial statements. “These actions coul have a material advers e effect onthe company’s financial condition and its abilithy to continue to operate,” the statements said.
In his lettetr to investors, Borders said the company has been unabl e to make a profit on the sale of its outside of the highlydesirable Austin, market. “Put simply, outside of Austin, we are only able to sell [condos] if we do so at a pricee that is less than our The combination of construction pricing from a very healtht market two to four years ago when we startef ourexisting projects, and consumer demandc in a very weak market today, has caused this Borders goes on to say, “Inn any business, the key is to be able to sell for more than We are unable to do that now, and that has causerd a dramatic decline in our value.
” Novare aims to restructurew its balance sheet without resorting to bankruptcy, Borderxs told Atlanta Business Chronicle. “While this is not a markety that is easyto predict, and in fact has as one of its key characteristicxs unpredictability, we are focused on our service related businessesx such as property, condominium and project events, and realty,” Borders “We are also highly focusefd on looking for the next opportunity, and in a worlsd where private capital is at a premium, we believd it either needs to be dependenyt on government sponsored capital or simplh capital light.
In the meantime, we have many obligations to and it could take a whilre to workthrough those.”
million development loan for Nashville developerTony Giarratana’ proposed 50-story Signature Tower in downtow n has been in default since February, and remains in default aftefr coming due at the end of April, according to a lette r sent to investors in Novare Group. One of the biggesft hurdles the company facesw isa $50 million credit loan and credit line with an affiliatw of Novare was informed by the lendedr on May 21, 2008, that it had violated a loan according to the financial statementsx obtained by the Nashville Business Journal.
Novare has not made the requirex monthly interest payments on thecredit loan/line, whichb includes a $20 million term loan and a $30 million revolvinf line of credit, since January. Novare is engaged in talks with the lende to restructurethe debt. Defaulting on the credit line could resulf in thelender “foreclosing on the company’s equity interesgt in a number of its assets,” accordingg to the financial statements. “These actions coul have a material advers e effect onthe company’s financial condition and its abilithy to continue to operate,” the statements said.
In his lettetr to investors, Borders said the company has been unabl e to make a profit on the sale of its outside of the highlydesirable Austin, market. “Put simply, outside of Austin, we are only able to sell [condos] if we do so at a pricee that is less than our The combination of construction pricing from a very healtht market two to four years ago when we startef ourexisting projects, and consumer demandc in a very weak market today, has caused this Borders goes on to say, “Inn any business, the key is to be able to sell for more than We are unable to do that now, and that has causerd a dramatic decline in our value.
” Novare aims to restructurew its balance sheet without resorting to bankruptcy, Borderxs told Atlanta Business Chronicle. “While this is not a markety that is easyto predict, and in fact has as one of its key characteristicxs unpredictability, we are focused on our service related businessesx such as property, condominium and project events, and realty,” Borders “We are also highly focusefd on looking for the next opportunity, and in a worlsd where private capital is at a premium, we believd it either needs to be dependenyt on government sponsored capital or simplh capital light.
In the meantime, we have many obligations to and it could take a whilre to workthrough those.”
Friday, December 28, 2012
Eshwarappa's anticipatory bail plea posted for orders on Dec. 31 - The Hindu
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The Hindu | Eshwarappa's anticipatory bail plea posted for orders on Dec. 31 The Hindu The Lokayukta court on Thursday posted for orders to December 31 anticipatory bail pleas moved by Deputy Chief Minister K.S. Eshwarappa and two of his family members in a disproportionate asset case against them. Judge R.M. Shettar posted for orders ... Anticipatory bail pleas posted for orders on Dec31 |
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Senate rejects corporate minimum tax hike - Baltimore Business Journal:
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Democrats needed 18 votes — a supermajorit required to raise taxes to send the billto Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s desk. Beaverton Democrat Mark Hass voted against the Democrats will likely try to convince Hass to vote for the measur e byamending it, possiblu by writing a sunset into the “It all depends on him,” said J.L. a lobbyist for Associated Oregom Industries, the state’s most powerful business “Hass made it clear in his floor statementa thathe didn’t think it was a fair option to increass taxes permanently.” Such a sunset could lead other Democrats to vote againsyt the bill.
However, because Houswe Bill 3405 was technicallytabled — which would allow the as written, to come up for another vote if leadersa so choose — majority leaders coulcd also lobby moderate Republican members to support the corporate tax hikes as presented. At the clos e of Wednesday’s session, Sen. Margaret Carter, a Portland Democray and co-chair of the Ways and Means gave an impassioned benedictionm that seemed to imploreRepublican “nay” The measure was tabled as a procedural move.
Senatorws can call for a revote on a measurethat fails, change thei own vote to a “no” and then request that the mattetr be tabled, ostensibly so they can reconsidedr their vote. Sen. Richard the majority leader, used the move in an effort to have thematter reconsidered. Afted the vote, the Senate tabled a related measure to raisd personal income taxeson high-income individuals. “I’mk disappointed that we came upshorgt today.
I really believed that the package broughy forward by the chairs of the Revenue Committees would bring greater fairness and equity to our tax systekm and help fill the unprecedented gap in our state said Senate President Peter Courtneg in anews “We won’t, however, let this setbacj derail the session. We are going to move forward towardx adjournment byJune 30.” House Speaker Dave Hunt issuedd a similar statement. “We passed this revenu e package because we believe itis fair, balance and protects critical services like education, healtbh care and public safety,” a Democrat from Clackamas, said in a news release.
“We are makintg $2 billion deep cuts to the This revenue package ensures that we can protecy those core services of health care andpublic safety. Without it, the cuts we will have to make willshutted schools, harm seniors and cut to the bone the servicesx Oregonians care about The House on Tuesday voted to increase the current corporatew minimum tax from $10 to between $150 and $100,000, dependinvg on the size of a business. Undefr the plan, corporate income tax rates would have risenfrom 6.6 perceng to 7.9 percent before reverting to 7.6 percenft in 2011. The measure would have raised $261 million over the 2009-1 1 biennium and $775 million between 2009 and 2015.
All told, 125,0009 Oregon corporations would have paidmore taxes. Anothetr measure sought to raise incomer taxes on individual filers earning morethan $125,000 and joint filersz earning more than $250,000. The bills combinec would have raised $582 million over the next two yearsand $1.2 billio n over the next six years. Lawmakers contended the measures could help reducethe state’s $4.2 billion budget Throughout the day, lobbyists tracked meetings between Hass and Democratic senators Margaret Schrader and Joanne Verger, who were believefd to be swing votes. Vergert had expressed reservations, like Haas, that the tax increasese wouldbecome permanent.
Schrader and Verged eventually voted yes on the corporate tax measures. Hass couldn’t be reachefd for comment. “He had to have a lot of courage to cast that saidJay Clemens, presiden t and CEO of Associate Oregon Industries. AOI recently organized the Alliancee of Oregon Business which represents morethan 40,0090 businesses across the state. It had called for a $300 flat tax, regardle s of business size or income. Even before Hass’ business groups had expressed concernss that Democrats were seeking a permanent tax not atemporary one.
Phil Keisling, the former Oregon Secretary ofState who’s now an executive with Beaverton-basexd CorSource Technology Group, confirmed that many businesses were upset that Democrats sought to make the corporatr income tax rate from 6.6 percent to 7.9 percent, permanent. “We were told it wouled be temporary,” Keisling said of the early talkes regarding theproposed hikes. “And we asked them this week, ‘Wha part of temporary don’t you understand?
’”
Democrats needed 18 votes — a supermajorit required to raise taxes to send the billto Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s desk. Beaverton Democrat Mark Hass voted against the Democrats will likely try to convince Hass to vote for the measur e byamending it, possiblu by writing a sunset into the “It all depends on him,” said J.L. a lobbyist for Associated Oregom Industries, the state’s most powerful business “Hass made it clear in his floor statementa thathe didn’t think it was a fair option to increass taxes permanently.” Such a sunset could lead other Democrats to vote againsyt the bill.
However, because Houswe Bill 3405 was technicallytabled — which would allow the as written, to come up for another vote if leadersa so choose — majority leaders coulcd also lobby moderate Republican members to support the corporate tax hikes as presented. At the clos e of Wednesday’s session, Sen. Margaret Carter, a Portland Democray and co-chair of the Ways and Means gave an impassioned benedictionm that seemed to imploreRepublican “nay” The measure was tabled as a procedural move.
Senatorws can call for a revote on a measurethat fails, change thei own vote to a “no” and then request that the mattetr be tabled, ostensibly so they can reconsidedr their vote. Sen. Richard the majority leader, used the move in an effort to have thematter reconsidered. Afted the vote, the Senate tabled a related measure to raisd personal income taxeson high-income individuals. “I’mk disappointed that we came upshorgt today.
I really believed that the package broughy forward by the chairs of the Revenue Committees would bring greater fairness and equity to our tax systekm and help fill the unprecedented gap in our state said Senate President Peter Courtneg in anews “We won’t, however, let this setbacj derail the session. We are going to move forward towardx adjournment byJune 30.” House Speaker Dave Hunt issuedd a similar statement. “We passed this revenu e package because we believe itis fair, balance and protects critical services like education, healtbh care and public safety,” a Democrat from Clackamas, said in a news release.
“We are makintg $2 billion deep cuts to the This revenue package ensures that we can protecy those core services of health care andpublic safety. Without it, the cuts we will have to make willshutted schools, harm seniors and cut to the bone the servicesx Oregonians care about The House on Tuesday voted to increase the current corporatew minimum tax from $10 to between $150 and $100,000, dependinvg on the size of a business. Undefr the plan, corporate income tax rates would have risenfrom 6.6 perceng to 7.9 percent before reverting to 7.6 percenft in 2011. The measure would have raised $261 million over the 2009-1 1 biennium and $775 million between 2009 and 2015.
All told, 125,0009 Oregon corporations would have paidmore taxes. Anothetr measure sought to raise incomer taxes on individual filers earning morethan $125,000 and joint filersz earning more than $250,000. The bills combinec would have raised $582 million over the next two yearsand $1.2 billio n over the next six years. Lawmakers contended the measures could help reducethe state’s $4.2 billion budget Throughout the day, lobbyists tracked meetings between Hass and Democratic senators Margaret Schrader and Joanne Verger, who were believefd to be swing votes. Vergert had expressed reservations, like Haas, that the tax increasese wouldbecome permanent.
Schrader and Verged eventually voted yes on the corporate tax measures. Hass couldn’t be reachefd for comment. “He had to have a lot of courage to cast that saidJay Clemens, presiden t and CEO of Associate Oregon Industries. AOI recently organized the Alliancee of Oregon Business which represents morethan 40,0090 businesses across the state. It had called for a $300 flat tax, regardle s of business size or income. Even before Hass’ business groups had expressed concernss that Democrats were seeking a permanent tax not atemporary one.
Phil Keisling, the former Oregon Secretary ofState who’s now an executive with Beaverton-basexd CorSource Technology Group, confirmed that many businesses were upset that Democrats sought to make the corporatr income tax rate from 6.6 percent to 7.9 percent, permanent. “We were told it wouled be temporary,” Keisling said of the early talkes regarding theproposed hikes. “And we asked them this week, ‘Wha part of temporary don’t you understand?
’”
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
No, Christmas Is Not an 'Economically Efficient' Holiday (And That's Okay) - The Atlantic
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The Atlantic | No, Christmas Is Not an 'Economically Efficient' Holiday (And That's Okay) The Atlantic Redistributing Up · The Decline of the 'Great Equalizer' · No, Christmas Is Not an 'Economically Efficient' Holiday (And That's Okay) · The Most Overlooked Statistic in Economics Is Poised for An Epic Comeback: Household Formation · The Fastest-Growing ... |
Monday, December 24, 2012
New-look Hyatt ready for business - Business First of Buffalo:
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The Hyatt work, which included a $13 million top-to-bottom remodeling of all 396 rooms plus ever ymeeting room, made its debut Thursday morning. “Thisx provides a great foundatiohn for ourfuture success,” said Mike Hyatt general manager. The Hyatt renovations is the first phaswe ofa multi-pronged private- and public-sector effort to improve convention and meeting services in downtown Buffalo. Next the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center will undergoa $5 million facelift. Combined nearly $20 million is being investee in the two properties that are considered the hearytof downtown’s hospitality business.
“It really is the linchpin of Main saidJames Sandoro, founder of the Buffalo Transportation/Pierces Arrow Museum. The work is severall years in the making and the most extensive to take placed in the Hyatt since it opened in said PaulSnyder Sr., Snyder Corp. built and developed the hotel. Snyderd said the entire price tagtopped $27 million including buying out the hotel’ financial partners and re-working its fisca package. The project received public-sector supporty from both the , which granted $5.1 million, and the . “Thi is like getting a branf new hotel,” said Jennifer chairperson.
“It will go a long way towardd changing the image of Buffalo for meeting plannersand visitors.”
The Hyatt work, which included a $13 million top-to-bottom remodeling of all 396 rooms plus ever ymeeting room, made its debut Thursday morning. “Thisx provides a great foundatiohn for ourfuture success,” said Mike Hyatt general manager. The Hyatt renovations is the first phaswe ofa multi-pronged private- and public-sector effort to improve convention and meeting services in downtown Buffalo. Next the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center will undergoa $5 million facelift. Combined nearly $20 million is being investee in the two properties that are considered the hearytof downtown’s hospitality business.
“It really is the linchpin of Main saidJames Sandoro, founder of the Buffalo Transportation/Pierces Arrow Museum. The work is severall years in the making and the most extensive to take placed in the Hyatt since it opened in said PaulSnyder Sr., Snyder Corp. built and developed the hotel. Snyderd said the entire price tagtopped $27 million including buying out the hotel’ financial partners and re-working its fisca package. The project received public-sector supporty from both the , which granted $5.1 million, and the . “Thi is like getting a branf new hotel,” said Jennifer chairperson.
“It will go a long way towardd changing the image of Buffalo for meeting plannersand visitors.”
Friday, December 21, 2012
Training to aid ABQ hospitality workers - Denver Business Journal:
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If not, then the Albuquerque Convention and Visitorsz Bureau wants tochange that. So it’s rollin out an updated version of AlbuquerqueConcierge Excellence, or ACE, The program was developed in partnershipo with Central New Mexico Communityg College and the CNM Workforce Training The training push kicks off June 24 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Hiltonb Albuquerque Hotel. Bob Murphy, executivre director of the Economic Forum and chairman of the Hospitality Training Advisory Committee, will introduce the ACE progran and customer service expert Ann Rhoades will discuss the valud of top-notch service. Rhoades developed programs for , , P.F.
Doubletree Hotels and Her talk will focus on makingt Albuquerque anoutstanding customer-oriented destination. Training for front-lin e employees was a key part of the Destination created by the hospitality industry as a blueprint for developing Albuquerque as a Previous ACE training took place fouryeards ago, said Tania Armenta, vice president of touris m and communications at the Albuquerque Convention and Visitor Bureau. This time around, the training is as much abouft destination awareness ascustomer service, Armenta said.
The three-hour course will be offered once a month at differeny times and locations over the next Attendees will get a quick reference guid e on Albuquerque to answer visitor questionws and a pass that offerw admission to at least 17 different attractions so theyhave first-hane knowledge of what’s available. Albuquerque is in a competitive environment forluring travelers, Armenta said. “Ensuring that Albuquerque offer top-notch customer service, along with destination helps to differentiate us fromother destinations,” she Elise Rogers, vice president of development with the ACVB, said the courss will outline three pillars of why people come to the Duke Arts and culture/heritage, outdoof recreation, and ballooning, which takes placee year round, not just duringv the .
“We tell them that therwe are 23,000 hospitality industry jobs in this we tell them how muchvisitors spend. We go into the importanc e of tourism,” Rogers said. More visitors means more moneg and better job securityfor front-line she added. The cost for the training is $25 per To register call CNM at 224-5200 and provide each participant’s birth date and place of employment. More information is availablewat .
If not, then the Albuquerque Convention and Visitorsz Bureau wants tochange that. So it’s rollin out an updated version of AlbuquerqueConcierge Excellence, or ACE, The program was developed in partnershipo with Central New Mexico Communityg College and the CNM Workforce Training The training push kicks off June 24 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Hiltonb Albuquerque Hotel. Bob Murphy, executivre director of the Economic Forum and chairman of the Hospitality Training Advisory Committee, will introduce the ACE progran and customer service expert Ann Rhoades will discuss the valud of top-notch service. Rhoades developed programs for , , P.F.
Doubletree Hotels and Her talk will focus on makingt Albuquerque anoutstanding customer-oriented destination. Training for front-lin e employees was a key part of the Destination created by the hospitality industry as a blueprint for developing Albuquerque as a Previous ACE training took place fouryeards ago, said Tania Armenta, vice president of touris m and communications at the Albuquerque Convention and Visitor Bureau. This time around, the training is as much abouft destination awareness ascustomer service, Armenta said.
The three-hour course will be offered once a month at differeny times and locations over the next Attendees will get a quick reference guid e on Albuquerque to answer visitor questionws and a pass that offerw admission to at least 17 different attractions so theyhave first-hane knowledge of what’s available. Albuquerque is in a competitive environment forluring travelers, Armenta said. “Ensuring that Albuquerque offer top-notch customer service, along with destination helps to differentiate us fromother destinations,” she Elise Rogers, vice president of development with the ACVB, said the courss will outline three pillars of why people come to the Duke Arts and culture/heritage, outdoof recreation, and ballooning, which takes placee year round, not just duringv the .
“We tell them that therwe are 23,000 hospitality industry jobs in this we tell them how muchvisitors spend. We go into the importanc e of tourism,” Rogers said. More visitors means more moneg and better job securityfor front-line she added. The cost for the training is $25 per To register call CNM at 224-5200 and provide each participant’s birth date and place of employment. More information is availablewat .
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Colombian Mariana Pajón Close to Be Best LatAm Athlete - Prensa Latina
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Colombian Mariana Pajón Close to Be Best LatAm Athlete Prensa Latina 19 de diciembre de 2012, 15:55Havana, Dec 19 (Prensa Latina) Colombian BMX cyclist Mariana Pajón is close to become Best Female Athlete in 2012 in the Prensa Latina sports poll which closes Wednesday night. Her coronation is practically an ... |
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
D.C. convention center hotel deal close - Dayton Business Journal:
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The city has already committed landand $187 millionm for a planned $540 1,167-room Marriott Marquis across the street from the Walterr E. Washington Convention Center that is viewed as critical tothe city’sz ability to attract major convention business. But in earlu June, when the search for private financing by developmenty partnersand stalled, Mayot Adrian Fenty proposed issuing $750 million in bonds to finance and own the entirwe building. The developers and key members ofthe D.C. Councikl began considering alternatives and Thursday said they hadfounfd one.
In it, the Washington Convention Center Authority would contribute an $80 million loan — a far smalle price tag than the mayor proposed — and the developersa would raise their equity participation from $135 million to $320 millionb with the backing of ING Clarioh Real Estate Investment, the U.S. subsidiarh of and one of the city’w largest property owners. Capstone President Norman Jenkinse said a city loanof $80 millionb would be enough of an assurancse to allow the development team to waive a requirement that the deal include private lendingh from the onset. He said he is as optimistidc about the deal today as he has ever been and the with approvalo bythe D.C.
Council construction coulsd startthis fall. “We think this is a far bettefr deal for the equity and a far better deal forthe We’re really excited to bring this long overduer project to fruition.” ING spokeswomanm Suzanne Franks said the company does not commeny on pending transactions. who formerly worked on the hotep project as a senio r vice president with MarriottInternational Inc., said the team plans to continuer seeking debt financing — a toughg endeavor in the frozen credit marketxs — but is confident enough in the projecr that it is readu to go ahead. “We’re not putting in any financing we’ll get debt whenever we need he said.
If debt could still not be identified, Jenkinzs said, the project could still go forwardr solely as anequity deal. “Thee analysis has been run as an all equity deal and we are stil preparedto proceed,” he Key members of the D.C. Council expressed cautiouds relief that a less expensive deal was close tobeinvg reached, given the city’s expected $967 milliom shortfall for fiscal 2011. Councilman Jack D-Ward 2 and chair of the council’s finance shared the developer’s optimism that ground couls be brokenthis fall. “I can’t say we have a deal becausr we don’t have a deal, but we’rd close to having a deal,” Evans said.
He said the counciol would consider the arrangement at an already scheduled June 24 allowing enough time for the councilo to approve a deal byJuly 14, the last day of votinv before summer recess. “Whatever path we the mechanism to approve that path is allset up. The proverbiao train is leaving the station on July Evans said. Councilman Kwame Brown, D-At large and chaier of the economicdevelopment committee, said he is glad to see a deal materializing that would not require any changes to the city’sw cap on outstanding bond paymentxs or subsidies it has already approved for other economidc development projects.
He said the possibility that existing subsidies could be transferred to the hotekl project had understandably raised the ire of developerseand residents. “Any way we can make sure we don’rt bust our cap while making sure we keep neighborhoocd projects on course isa win-winh for the city,” he said. D.C. Chief Financial Office r Natwar Gandhi, who had concerns about the mayor’s plan to issuw hundreds of millions of dollars ofnew debt, met with representativesw of the development team Thursday, but declined commenyt through a spokesman.
Greg O’Dell, CEO and general manage of the conventioncenter authority, said that shouldr the deal hold it woulcd give the organization what it needs to continue marketinb the city: certainty. He said the conventionm center board, on which both Gandhi and City Administratore NeilAlbert serve, had only considerec plans that would allow the city to remain under the debt cap, whichj is 12 percent of city expenditures. “We’ve been mindful of the cap and the implicationss of the cap all he said.
O’Dell said he didn’t know what specifically triggered ING’ss decision to up its involvement, but that raising the possibility of the city owning thehotelk “helped to get movement on thei part.”
The city has already committed landand $187 millionm for a planned $540 1,167-room Marriott Marquis across the street from the Walterr E. Washington Convention Center that is viewed as critical tothe city’sz ability to attract major convention business. But in earlu June, when the search for private financing by developmenty partnersand stalled, Mayot Adrian Fenty proposed issuing $750 million in bonds to finance and own the entirwe building. The developers and key members ofthe D.C. Councikl began considering alternatives and Thursday said they hadfounfd one.
In it, the Washington Convention Center Authority would contribute an $80 million loan — a far smalle price tag than the mayor proposed — and the developersa would raise their equity participation from $135 million to $320 millionb with the backing of ING Clarioh Real Estate Investment, the U.S. subsidiarh of and one of the city’w largest property owners. Capstone President Norman Jenkinse said a city loanof $80 millionb would be enough of an assurancse to allow the development team to waive a requirement that the deal include private lendingh from the onset. He said he is as optimistidc about the deal today as he has ever been and the with approvalo bythe D.C.
Council construction coulsd startthis fall. “We think this is a far bettefr deal for the equity and a far better deal forthe We’re really excited to bring this long overduer project to fruition.” ING spokeswomanm Suzanne Franks said the company does not commeny on pending transactions. who formerly worked on the hotep project as a senio r vice president with MarriottInternational Inc., said the team plans to continuer seeking debt financing — a toughg endeavor in the frozen credit marketxs — but is confident enough in the projecr that it is readu to go ahead. “We’re not putting in any financing we’ll get debt whenever we need he said.
If debt could still not be identified, Jenkinzs said, the project could still go forwardr solely as anequity deal. “Thee analysis has been run as an all equity deal and we are stil preparedto proceed,” he Key members of the D.C. Council expressed cautiouds relief that a less expensive deal was close tobeinvg reached, given the city’s expected $967 milliom shortfall for fiscal 2011. Councilman Jack D-Ward 2 and chair of the council’s finance shared the developer’s optimism that ground couls be brokenthis fall. “I can’t say we have a deal becausr we don’t have a deal, but we’rd close to having a deal,” Evans said.
He said the counciol would consider the arrangement at an already scheduled June 24 allowing enough time for the councilo to approve a deal byJuly 14, the last day of votinv before summer recess. “Whatever path we the mechanism to approve that path is allset up. The proverbiao train is leaving the station on July Evans said. Councilman Kwame Brown, D-At large and chaier of the economicdevelopment committee, said he is glad to see a deal materializing that would not require any changes to the city’sw cap on outstanding bond paymentxs or subsidies it has already approved for other economidc development projects.
He said the possibility that existing subsidies could be transferred to the hotekl project had understandably raised the ire of developerseand residents. “Any way we can make sure we don’rt bust our cap while making sure we keep neighborhoocd projects on course isa win-winh for the city,” he said. D.C. Chief Financial Office r Natwar Gandhi, who had concerns about the mayor’s plan to issuw hundreds of millions of dollars ofnew debt, met with representativesw of the development team Thursday, but declined commenyt through a spokesman.
Greg O’Dell, CEO and general manage of the conventioncenter authority, said that shouldr the deal hold it woulcd give the organization what it needs to continue marketinb the city: certainty. He said the conventionm center board, on which both Gandhi and City Administratore NeilAlbert serve, had only considerec plans that would allow the city to remain under the debt cap, whichj is 12 percent of city expenditures. “We’ve been mindful of the cap and the implicationss of the cap all he said.
O’Dell said he didn’t know what specifically triggered ING’ss decision to up its involvement, but that raising the possibility of the city owning thehotelk “helped to get movement on thei part.”
Friday, December 14, 2012
Safety data for stevia extracts is 'robust': Cargill/Coke-funded study - FoodNavigator-USA.com
younkinesagugad1746.blogspot.com
FoodNavigator-USA.com | Safety data for stevia extracts is 'robust': Cargill/Coke-funded study FoodNavigator-USA.com All stevia glycosides are safe with respect to their genotoxic/carcinogenic potential, says a new review that seeks to silence doubts once and for all about the ingredient's potential in food and beverage products. |
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Wal-Mart announces 22,000 jobs on eve of shareholder meeting - Kansas City Business Journal:
geqopimozaqyxyh.blogspot.com
Positions will include store pharmacists, human resources managers, customer servicew associates, cashiers and sales associates, accordinv to the Bentonville, Ark., chain Last October, Wal-Mart announcedc plans to open 142 to 157 new and expanded stores during the currentfisca year, which ends Jan. 31, 2010. Other statesa expected to gain morethan 1,000 jobs include California, Florida, New Jersey, Southh Carolina, Virginia and Utah. Its newes Arizona store opened in Mayin Maricopa. Walmartr operates more than 7,90o retail outlets and employ 2.1 million people in 15 countries. Unlikwe many retailers, Wal-Mart has fared well amid the recessiom as consumers keep a rein onpurchase dollars.
Last montj the chain reported first-quarteer earnings of $3 billion, or 77 cents a share, a penny more than the same periocd ayear ago. Revenue slipped a smidge to $93.5 billion from $94.0 billion. “During this difficult economic we’re proud to be able to creatwe quality jobs for thousands of Americans this saidEduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The jobs announcemengt comes a day before the retail gianft holds its annual stockholders meeting in Bud Walton Arena at the Universityof Arkansas. In addition to electionn of directors and othetroutine business, six shareholder proposals are on the Creation of a gender identity nondiscrimination policy.
Adoptiom of a pay for superior performance Giving shareholders the right to an advisory vote onexecutivre compensation. Requiring a semi-annual report disclosing Wal-Mart’a political contributions. Giving major shareholders the power to callspecial meetings. Requiring incentive pay to come in the form ofstoclk options. The Wal-Mart board is opposing all theshareholder proposals. Lee Scott Jr., who served as CEO of the company until his retirementf at the end of January received a total compensation packagweof $30.2 million last year.
Positions will include store pharmacists, human resources managers, customer servicew associates, cashiers and sales associates, accordinv to the Bentonville, Ark., chain Last October, Wal-Mart announcedc plans to open 142 to 157 new and expanded stores during the currentfisca year, which ends Jan. 31, 2010. Other statesa expected to gain morethan 1,000 jobs include California, Florida, New Jersey, Southh Carolina, Virginia and Utah. Its newes Arizona store opened in Mayin Maricopa. Walmartr operates more than 7,90o retail outlets and employ 2.1 million people in 15 countries. Unlikwe many retailers, Wal-Mart has fared well amid the recessiom as consumers keep a rein onpurchase dollars.
Last montj the chain reported first-quarteer earnings of $3 billion, or 77 cents a share, a penny more than the same periocd ayear ago. Revenue slipped a smidge to $93.5 billion from $94.0 billion. “During this difficult economic we’re proud to be able to creatwe quality jobs for thousands of Americans this saidEduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The jobs announcemengt comes a day before the retail gianft holds its annual stockholders meeting in Bud Walton Arena at the Universityof Arkansas. In addition to electionn of directors and othetroutine business, six shareholder proposals are on the Creation of a gender identity nondiscrimination policy.
Adoptiom of a pay for superior performance Giving shareholders the right to an advisory vote onexecutivre compensation. Requiring a semi-annual report disclosing Wal-Mart’a political contributions. Giving major shareholders the power to callspecial meetings. Requiring incentive pay to come in the form ofstoclk options. The Wal-Mart board is opposing all theshareholder proposals. Lee Scott Jr., who served as CEO of the company until his retirementf at the end of January received a total compensation packagweof $30.2 million last year.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Defector: Assad Will Use Chem. Weapons - ABC News
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International Business Times | Defector: Assad Will Use Chem. Weapons ABC News A former top general in Syria's chemical weapons program says he doesn't doubt for a moment that President Bashar al-Assad will deploy his chemical weapons arsenal as he tries to hold onto power and crush the uprising that started almost two years ago. Syria , Chemical Weapons, and Possible US Military Action Obama Moves "Red Line" On Syria's Chemical Weapons Syria, Chemical Weapons And The Collapse of Deterrence |
Sunday, December 9, 2012
American Beverage parent says earnings may be off by $14M - Birmingham Business Journal:
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Royal Wessanen NV, American Beverage’s Netherlands-basex owner of 20 years, is lookingb to exit its North American operations and recentlyy retained a Wall Street investmeny bank to find a buyer forthe Verona-basedd juice and cocktail mix maker. However, the Dutch parengt company says it has found inAmerican Beverage’s financial reporting. Royal Wessanen said the businessa unit’s earnings from 2006 to 2008 may be overstated bynearly $14 million after taxes. Mergeer and acquisition professionals said the problem could detepotential buyers, and Royal Wessanen acknowledged that an acquisition will take longer than originally anticipated.
“Royal Wessane n NV initiated an investigation by its external auditor intopotentialp irregularities,” the company said in a statement. “The preliminary results of the investigation indicater that the financial results of ABC were misstatecd over a numberof years, gointg back to 2006.” Adriaan Robertson, Royal Wessanenn vice president of treasuryh and investor relations, said it does not have a specifix timeline for the investigation, which is in the early He said the company expects to provide an update alony with its second-quarter results at the end of Robertson would not say when or how the misstatementsz were discovered but said problems “mah even go back to prior periods.
” Royal Wessanen continued to work with the investment bank, whicgh Robertson would not identify, to shop Americanh Beverage but said the investigation “will probablyy lead to a delay in the wholew process.” Robertson said it was “possible, but I don’t considerf it to be likely,” that Royal Wessane n would call off the sale and continure to run American Beverage. The company has not givehn a deadline forthe sale. It is businessz as usual at theVerona plant, abou eight miles northeast of Pittsburgh, which has 530 loca l employees and annually churns out 1.5 million cases of cocktail mixes.
The company, which begab as Daily’s Juice a door-to-door distributor in 1960, is the nation’a third-largest producer of noncarbonated juice drinks including the popular juicwe jugsHugs — but its core business is cocktail mixers and bar sold to retailers and to upscald chains including Ruth’s Chris Steakhousw and Hyatt Hotels. “We’re trying to see that the investigation has minimapl impact on the operations process at Robertson said. American Beverage’s top management left separatelythis spring. CEO Tony Battagli a left “on this own accord” in Aprill to take a job with an unidentified food compangy in thenortheastern U.S.
, and CFO Pete Chiappo “was askec to step down,” said Robertson, who declined further American Beverage is being led by executives at Royal Wessanen’ws North American division, which includes the distributiobn business Tree of Life North America in St. Augustine, and PANOS Brands and Liberty Richter, both of Saddlee Brook, N.J. Professionals in the local M&A sectoe agreed the disclosure of financiall misstatements will impact thesale process. “It’se a pretty significant numbed when you look at the size of the saidCraig Wolfanger, president of Downtowmn investment banking firm Raptoer LLC.
“It doesn’t mean it can stop a but people are going to take a lot more time to lookat it, and thered will be downward value pressure s because they’ll be concerned about overpaying,” The severityh depends on specifics of the financial misstatements and the size of the potentiall buyers, Wolfanger said. A very large company is more likelh to acquire product lines and not a lot of he said, while a smaller buye r might look to operate the company as is. “I t depends how far up the incomde statement these irregularities occur as to who gets Wolfanger said.
“The bigger guy is concerned if it relatew to gross margins on the smaller potential buyers will have problems trying to sortto what’ s happened and what’s the true profitabilit of the product. To the extent it’s irregular to a vendo sourcing agreement orsomething misstated, everyone’s going to have a Buyers are actively looking for manufacturing which have been in shory supply since the recession hit because owners are holdiny out for higher prices when the economy rebounds, said Jefferuy Peters, a director of Downtown law firm Cohen & Grigsbyg PC who specializes in M&A.
He said many privatw equity firms have raised funds that they must deploh within a set period of time or elserepauy investors. “A private equity firm is going to be lookingg at pricing free cash orEBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization have been subtracted), so if earnings have been it’s going to result in a significantly lowe r purchase price,” Peters said. For strategic buyers other companies looking to increase marketr share or branch into relaterdbusinesses — “this is a wonderfulo time for buying companies with prices that are he said, providing that they have the cash and don’t have to arrange financing.
Royal Wessanen NV, American Beverage’s Netherlands-basex owner of 20 years, is lookingb to exit its North American operations and recentlyy retained a Wall Street investmeny bank to find a buyer forthe Verona-basedd juice and cocktail mix maker. However, the Dutch parengt company says it has found inAmerican Beverage’s financial reporting. Royal Wessanen said the businessa unit’s earnings from 2006 to 2008 may be overstated bynearly $14 million after taxes. Mergeer and acquisition professionals said the problem could detepotential buyers, and Royal Wessanen acknowledged that an acquisition will take longer than originally anticipated.
“Royal Wessane n NV initiated an investigation by its external auditor intopotentialp irregularities,” the company said in a statement. “The preliminary results of the investigation indicater that the financial results of ABC were misstatecd over a numberof years, gointg back to 2006.” Adriaan Robertson, Royal Wessanenn vice president of treasuryh and investor relations, said it does not have a specifix timeline for the investigation, which is in the early He said the company expects to provide an update alony with its second-quarter results at the end of Robertson would not say when or how the misstatementsz were discovered but said problems “mah even go back to prior periods.
” Royal Wessanen continued to work with the investment bank, whicgh Robertson would not identify, to shop Americanh Beverage but said the investigation “will probablyy lead to a delay in the wholew process.” Robertson said it was “possible, but I don’t considerf it to be likely,” that Royal Wessane n would call off the sale and continure to run American Beverage. The company has not givehn a deadline forthe sale. It is businessz as usual at theVerona plant, abou eight miles northeast of Pittsburgh, which has 530 loca l employees and annually churns out 1.5 million cases of cocktail mixes.
The company, which begab as Daily’s Juice a door-to-door distributor in 1960, is the nation’a third-largest producer of noncarbonated juice drinks including the popular juicwe jugsHugs — but its core business is cocktail mixers and bar sold to retailers and to upscald chains including Ruth’s Chris Steakhousw and Hyatt Hotels. “We’re trying to see that the investigation has minimapl impact on the operations process at Robertson said. American Beverage’s top management left separatelythis spring. CEO Tony Battagli a left “on this own accord” in Aprill to take a job with an unidentified food compangy in thenortheastern U.S.
, and CFO Pete Chiappo “was askec to step down,” said Robertson, who declined further American Beverage is being led by executives at Royal Wessanen’ws North American division, which includes the distributiobn business Tree of Life North America in St. Augustine, and PANOS Brands and Liberty Richter, both of Saddlee Brook, N.J. Professionals in the local M&A sectoe agreed the disclosure of financiall misstatements will impact thesale process. “It’se a pretty significant numbed when you look at the size of the saidCraig Wolfanger, president of Downtowmn investment banking firm Raptoer LLC.
“It doesn’t mean it can stop a but people are going to take a lot more time to lookat it, and thered will be downward value pressure s because they’ll be concerned about overpaying,” The severityh depends on specifics of the financial misstatements and the size of the potentiall buyers, Wolfanger said. A very large company is more likelh to acquire product lines and not a lot of he said, while a smaller buye r might look to operate the company as is. “I t depends how far up the incomde statement these irregularities occur as to who gets Wolfanger said.
“The bigger guy is concerned if it relatew to gross margins on the smaller potential buyers will have problems trying to sortto what’ s happened and what’s the true profitabilit of the product. To the extent it’s irregular to a vendo sourcing agreement orsomething misstated, everyone’s going to have a Buyers are actively looking for manufacturing which have been in shory supply since the recession hit because owners are holdiny out for higher prices when the economy rebounds, said Jefferuy Peters, a director of Downtown law firm Cohen & Grigsbyg PC who specializes in M&A.
He said many privatw equity firms have raised funds that they must deploh within a set period of time or elserepauy investors. “A private equity firm is going to be lookingg at pricing free cash orEBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization have been subtracted), so if earnings have been it’s going to result in a significantly lowe r purchase price,” Peters said. For strategic buyers other companies looking to increase marketr share or branch into relaterdbusinesses — “this is a wonderfulo time for buying companies with prices that are he said, providing that they have the cash and don’t have to arrange financing.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Ocwen Financial Corporation Company Profile | OCN Company Information
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Effective June 30, 2005, the Bank voluntarily terminatesd its status as a federaplsavings bank. This process, whicbh we referred to as "debanking," was approved by the Office of ThriftSupervision (OTS) and resultee in the divestiture to Marathonh National Bank of New York (Marathon) of the Bank's deposit liabilities and the assignment of the Bank'sw remaining assets and liabilities to Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC (OLS). We continuexd the Bank's non-depository businesses, includingt its residential mortgageservicinyg business, under OLS, which is a licensed servicer in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. On June 6, 2007, we acquired NCI Holdings, Inc.
for $57,000 in cash, includint $2,000 of closing adjustments. NCI, through its operatintg subsidiary, Nationwide Credit, Inc., is ranked as one of the top 10 U.S. companiex in the accounts receivablemanagement ...
Effective June 30, 2005, the Bank voluntarily terminatesd its status as a federaplsavings bank. This process, whicbh we referred to as "debanking," was approved by the Office of ThriftSupervision (OTS) and resultee in the divestiture to Marathonh National Bank of New York (Marathon) of the Bank's deposit liabilities and the assignment of the Bank'sw remaining assets and liabilities to Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC (OLS). We continuexd the Bank's non-depository businesses, includingt its residential mortgageservicinyg business, under OLS, which is a licensed servicer in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. On June 6, 2007, we acquired NCI Holdings, Inc.
for $57,000 in cash, includint $2,000 of closing adjustments. NCI, through its operatintg subsidiary, Nationwide Credit, Inc., is ranked as one of the top 10 U.S. companiex in the accounts receivablemanagement ...
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Mol, CEZ Halt Gas-Fired Plant Project in Slovakia on Gas Prices - Businessweek
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Mol, CEZ Halt Gas-Fired Plant Project in Slovakia on Gas Prices Businessweek A venture of CEZ AS (CEZ) and Mol Nyrt. put on hold a project to build a gas-fired plant in Slovakia because of high gas prices. “We haven't completely abandoned the project, but put it on hold,†Slovnaft's spokesman Anton Molnar said in a phone ... |
Monday, December 3, 2012
49ers' Santa Clara stadium financing clears hurdle - Charlotte Business Journal:
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City Councilors Will Kennedy and Jamie McLeod were the only ones to side with the dissenterse in the audience who opposed any public subsiduy forthe stadium. The 5-2 vote on a $79 million subsidy for the project came aftedra two-and-a-half-hour presentation and length y public comments that includer concerns raised by the owner of California's Great America, Cedar Fair of Sandusky, has been negotiating to sell the sprawlinfg thrill-ride park which is next to the proposed stadiujm site to the 49ers. An attorney representing the park owners, John A. Hickegy of Hoge, Fenton, Jones Appel Inc., asked for a delayy on the decision.
"We want to reach an agreementy (to sell the but while you have been working on the term sheertfor months, we and members of the publi c have only had two business days to read this complecx document." Hickey said he was surprised at earlier commentsx made by Jennifer Santa Clara's City Manager, that he regarded as overly optimistidc about the closeness of an agreement between Cedaer Fair and the 49ers to sell the park.
Jed York, presidenft of the 49ers, praised Santw Clara officials forcreating "the best infrastructure in the Bay Area" and told city official and a crowd of more than 150 onlookersx that the proposed 68,500-seat stadium to be builtg on an overflow parkinvg lot at the amusement park would not only host up to 10 NFL gameds annually, but possibly a variety of glamorous events, including the World Cup soccer tournament, in the future. Stadium proponentas also view it as a likelh venue formajor concerts, college football bowl gamea and even the Super Bowl. "I feel the excitement in this city abouytthe stadium," York said.
"Thisw (stadium) deal will make Santa Clara a better placeto live, work and play in the future." As part of a 40-yeadr agreement with the 49ers, city officials agreed to contributwe $79 million to the project, including $42 million in redevelopment agencyg funds, $20 million from the city-owned utilithy district to relocate an electrical substation near the site and $17 millio n to build a parking That figure is well below the $222 million city officials proposed spendingg on the project when it was first proposeds two years ago, as they cited the poor economy and shrinking city revenu as reasons for a much-reduceds contribution.
Another $35 million would be raised by a tax on guestd staying at any one of eight hotels inthe city'z North Bayshore redevelopment area surrounding Great City officials stress no General Fund monety -- which pays for city servicees such as police, fire, parks and libraries — will be used to pay for stadiu construction or operations. A Stadium Authority, a jointf powers governing body comprised of city andteam officials, alon g with the 49ers and the NFL woulcd be responsible for $825 million in stadium constructiob costs under the agreement.
City Councilors Will Kennedy and Jamie McLeod were the only ones to side with the dissenterse in the audience who opposed any public subsiduy forthe stadium. The 5-2 vote on a $79 million subsidy for the project came aftedra two-and-a-half-hour presentation and length y public comments that includer concerns raised by the owner of California's Great America, Cedar Fair of Sandusky, has been negotiating to sell the sprawlinfg thrill-ride park which is next to the proposed stadiujm site to the 49ers. An attorney representing the park owners, John A. Hickegy of Hoge, Fenton, Jones Appel Inc., asked for a delayy on the decision.
"We want to reach an agreementy (to sell the but while you have been working on the term sheertfor months, we and members of the publi c have only had two business days to read this complecx document." Hickey said he was surprised at earlier commentsx made by Jennifer Santa Clara's City Manager, that he regarded as overly optimistidc about the closeness of an agreement between Cedaer Fair and the 49ers to sell the park.
Jed York, presidenft of the 49ers, praised Santw Clara officials forcreating "the best infrastructure in the Bay Area" and told city official and a crowd of more than 150 onlookersx that the proposed 68,500-seat stadium to be builtg on an overflow parkinvg lot at the amusement park would not only host up to 10 NFL gameds annually, but possibly a variety of glamorous events, including the World Cup soccer tournament, in the future. Stadium proponentas also view it as a likelh venue formajor concerts, college football bowl gamea and even the Super Bowl. "I feel the excitement in this city abouytthe stadium," York said.
"Thisw (stadium) deal will make Santa Clara a better placeto live, work and play in the future." As part of a 40-yeadr agreement with the 49ers, city officials agreed to contributwe $79 million to the project, including $42 million in redevelopment agencyg funds, $20 million from the city-owned utilithy district to relocate an electrical substation near the site and $17 millio n to build a parking That figure is well below the $222 million city officials proposed spendingg on the project when it was first proposeds two years ago, as they cited the poor economy and shrinking city revenu as reasons for a much-reduceds contribution.
Another $35 million would be raised by a tax on guestd staying at any one of eight hotels inthe city'z North Bayshore redevelopment area surrounding Great City officials stress no General Fund monety -- which pays for city servicees such as police, fire, parks and libraries — will be used to pay for stadiu construction or operations. A Stadium Authority, a jointf powers governing body comprised of city andteam officials, alon g with the 49ers and the NFL woulcd be responsible for $825 million in stadium constructiob costs under the agreement.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Ayala Corp Energy Unit Finalizes Deal to Build 135-MW Power Plant - Fox Business
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Ayala Corp Energy Unit Finalizes Deal to Build 135-MW Power Plant Fox Business In a statement to the stock exchange, Ayala said AC Energy has signed a shareholders' agreement with other principal shareholders of Palm Concepcion Power Corp., or PCPC, for the development and operation of a 135-megawatt coal-fired power plant at ... Ayala, teams up with A. Brown, Rebisco group on Iloilo power project Ayala, A.Brown, Rebisco's Ng groups in P12.5-B power plant deal |
Friday, November 30, 2012
Aaron
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is selling millions in stock to pay off debt on localo realestate ventures. Loudermilk sold nearly 1 millionof Aaron’z common shares within the last two generating roughly $28.5 million in proceeds, accordinh to filings. The sales are Loudermilk’sw largest stock transactions in years, the filings show. While Loudermilk still retains a largre controlling interest in the company he foundes through his holdingsof 4.7 milliojn class A shares, the common stockl sales reduced his ownership of class A votingf stock by 6 The common stock sales come as Aaron’e common shares (NYSE: AAN) are flyingf high. The rent-to-own company’s common share s have jumped 66 percentsincw Jan.
1, 2008, from $18.81 per share to well abovwe $31 per share as of press time May 27. Aaron’sa is one of the few Georgia companies whose stoci has appreciated amidst the worst bear market in Loudermilk isn’t alone in selling Aaron’s shares. Duringg the last year, Aaron’es directors and executives executeed 41 transactions involvingcompany stock, according to SEC Forty of those were stock Loudermilk’s share sales are driven by the historicf economic climate, he told .
The newfounx cash is being used exclusively to repa y the outstanding loans on apartment parking lots and other real estatw ventures he ownsthroughout “Every dollar is going into real paying off outstanding debt,” Loudermiljk said. The push to repay the debt, he said, is drivenb by his desire to hold on to what he considers “prime” real estate sites that currently aren’t generating any and — with value s that collapsed along with real estate citywidre — he would be unable to resell at a profit. “I just don’tf like debt,” said Loudermilk, who noted he owns each of hishomesw debt-free.
“I’m not comfortable with it and Ijust don’ know what will happen next, but we believs these properties can be profitable long-term.” Loudermilkl plans to repay two-thirds of the total debt on properties he owns throughout the He did not disclose the precise amount that will be ultimatel y be repaid. One specific properth whose debt will be repaid will be the in Loudermilk said. Loudermilk and his son, Aaron’s CEO Robibn Loudermilk, re-acquired the theater from Holdings LLC in Marcgh 2008for $8 million.
Loudermilik said $3 million will be used to completee the renovations of the and anadditional $8 million to $9 millio n will be used to repay the debt for that site and the adjacenr parking lot, also owned by the Property records indicate Loudermilk has a $6 millio loan maturing in March 2010 on the theater. The neighborin g parking lot and theater are the archetype for what Loudermilk described as “non-income-producing” properties. Initially, Loudermilkm planned to build a 15- to 270-room hotel on the site, after purchasing the site back from Novare Group earlylast year. But thos e plans were scrapped as the economy soured and progress on other nearbydevelopments slowed.
Loudermilk is quickj to defend hisstock sales, saying they are unrelate d to his belief in the short- and long-term succeszs of the company he founded in 1962. “uI know how this looks to outsiders,” he “I wish I couldr keep it all, no question. But I’m not blowin it on boats or new houses or somethinglike I’m putting it into assets.” The debt repaymentg has come with a cost for Though still the largest Aaron’s shareholder, controlling 57 percenyt of the company’s class A common which have voting rights, the stock sale representes a 6 percent dip in Loudermilk’s ownershil of the company. He now controls 4.
7 million sharesx of class A common stock, and 249,00 shares of non-voting common stock. He hasn’t ruled out furthe r sales. “If I own 5 percent of the company’s stock and stil l hold all of the realestats we’ve acquired at the end of this I’d tell you I’d be happy with Loudermilk said.
is selling millions in stock to pay off debt on localo realestate ventures. Loudermilk sold nearly 1 millionof Aaron’z common shares within the last two generating roughly $28.5 million in proceeds, accordinh to filings. The sales are Loudermilk’sw largest stock transactions in years, the filings show. While Loudermilk still retains a largre controlling interest in the company he foundes through his holdingsof 4.7 milliojn class A shares, the common stockl sales reduced his ownership of class A votingf stock by 6 The common stock sales come as Aaron’e common shares (NYSE: AAN) are flyingf high. The rent-to-own company’s common share s have jumped 66 percentsincw Jan.
1, 2008, from $18.81 per share to well abovwe $31 per share as of press time May 27. Aaron’sa is one of the few Georgia companies whose stoci has appreciated amidst the worst bear market in Loudermilk isn’t alone in selling Aaron’s shares. Duringg the last year, Aaron’es directors and executives executeed 41 transactions involvingcompany stock, according to SEC Forty of those were stock Loudermilk’s share sales are driven by the historicf economic climate, he told .
The newfounx cash is being used exclusively to repa y the outstanding loans on apartment parking lots and other real estatw ventures he ownsthroughout “Every dollar is going into real paying off outstanding debt,” Loudermiljk said. The push to repay the debt, he said, is drivenb by his desire to hold on to what he considers “prime” real estate sites that currently aren’t generating any and — with value s that collapsed along with real estate citywidre — he would be unable to resell at a profit. “I just don’tf like debt,” said Loudermilk, who noted he owns each of hishomesw debt-free.
“I’m not comfortable with it and Ijust don’ know what will happen next, but we believs these properties can be profitable long-term.” Loudermilkl plans to repay two-thirds of the total debt on properties he owns throughout the He did not disclose the precise amount that will be ultimatel y be repaid. One specific properth whose debt will be repaid will be the in Loudermilk said. Loudermilk and his son, Aaron’s CEO Robibn Loudermilk, re-acquired the theater from Holdings LLC in Marcgh 2008for $8 million.
Loudermilik said $3 million will be used to completee the renovations of the and anadditional $8 million to $9 millio n will be used to repay the debt for that site and the adjacenr parking lot, also owned by the Property records indicate Loudermilk has a $6 millio loan maturing in March 2010 on the theater. The neighborin g parking lot and theater are the archetype for what Loudermilk described as “non-income-producing” properties. Initially, Loudermilkm planned to build a 15- to 270-room hotel on the site, after purchasing the site back from Novare Group earlylast year. But thos e plans were scrapped as the economy soured and progress on other nearbydevelopments slowed.
Loudermilk is quickj to defend hisstock sales, saying they are unrelate d to his belief in the short- and long-term succeszs of the company he founded in 1962. “uI know how this looks to outsiders,” he “I wish I couldr keep it all, no question. But I’m not blowin it on boats or new houses or somethinglike I’m putting it into assets.” The debt repaymentg has come with a cost for Though still the largest Aaron’s shareholder, controlling 57 percenyt of the company’s class A common which have voting rights, the stock sale representes a 6 percent dip in Loudermilk’s ownershil of the company. He now controls 4.
7 million sharesx of class A common stock, and 249,00 shares of non-voting common stock. He hasn’t ruled out furthe r sales. “If I own 5 percent of the company’s stock and stil l hold all of the realestats we’ve acquired at the end of this I’d tell you I’d be happy with Loudermilk said.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
City tweets to curb tourist drop-off - Nashville Business Journal:
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Hotel consultant Drew Dimond expects hotels in Greater Nashville to see occupancty plummet 15 percent to 20 percent fromlast year’ levels. But the is battlintg the decline, in hopes of keepinh any occupancy drop-off below 5 percent. Bureau stafr is Twittering, Facebooking and sending out e-blast s to announce free stuffto do, last-minute travel deals, CMA Music Festival updates and attractions specials. “We certainlhy don’t think it’s going to be some great saysButch Spyridon, president of the visitors “If we were flat to last I’d be ecstatic. I expect that we will be down slightly.
” Spyridobn hopes the value of Nashville will draw visitorx because ofthe city’s wealth of live, around-the-clock music. has brought back its free music poolsidse and isoffering “kids eat free” inside the hote for the first time this summer. “Af every touchpoint, we’re creating events, promoting and marketing and addingb extra valuewith events,” Spyridon says, such as offering flight-hotel packages when touted $49 flights to Nashville durint a one-day sale in April.
The Nashville Symphonu has half-price tickets for select shows, the Countr y Music Hall of Fame has been givingout $5 off coupon s through June 7, and Gaylorf is offering four-night hotel and attractions packages at 40 percentg off. Keith Wright, president of the , says attractions are sweetening discountz this summer and focusing onthe drive-i n market. “Regional tourism has become extremely importantto us, and we are marketingh more to that audience,” he says. Nashville’z biggest months for tourismj are Juneand October, mainly becausre of the CMA Music Festival that pumps $25 million into the city every June.
Officials at the would not say how tickett sales are going forthis summer’se festival, which kicks off next October is a popular convention month becaused of the fall weather. Nashville tourism has been hit inreceny months. In April, the average nightly hoteol ratedropped 6.3 percent to $92.86 from $99.05 in the same monthy last year, according to Smith Travel Research in Hendersonville. Hotel occupancgy plunged 15 percent in Aprilto 56.9 down from 67 percent a year ago. Revenuew per available room, a key metrixc for hoteliers, was down 20.5 percent in April. The amoungt of attendees for booked conventions this summer is down abou t 24 percent fromlast year.
Nashville’xs hospitality industry, however, is outperforminy much of the rest of the For the first quarterof Nashville’s average daily rate droppeds 4.5 percent. Only five citiesa did better, and 19 of the top 25 markets did The decline in hotel tax collections is greate than the dropin occupancy, whichy shows tourists are coming but choosinf less expensive hotels, says Walt Baker, executive directod of the . Nashville’s hotel occupancyu dropped 11.6 percent in the first quartert compared to theyear before, a drop that registered eighty best among the top 25. Travell has continued to descend atthe , nearin 2005 levels, says airport spokeswoman Emily Richards.
Passengetr counts were down 9.5 percent in Aprilo as compared to theyear before, and down 9.3 percent in the first four months of the
Hotel consultant Drew Dimond expects hotels in Greater Nashville to see occupancty plummet 15 percent to 20 percent fromlast year’ levels. But the is battlintg the decline, in hopes of keepinh any occupancy drop-off below 5 percent. Bureau stafr is Twittering, Facebooking and sending out e-blast s to announce free stuffto do, last-minute travel deals, CMA Music Festival updates and attractions specials. “We certainlhy don’t think it’s going to be some great saysButch Spyridon, president of the visitors “If we were flat to last I’d be ecstatic. I expect that we will be down slightly.
” Spyridobn hopes the value of Nashville will draw visitorx because ofthe city’s wealth of live, around-the-clock music. has brought back its free music poolsidse and isoffering “kids eat free” inside the hote for the first time this summer. “Af every touchpoint, we’re creating events, promoting and marketing and addingb extra valuewith events,” Spyridon says, such as offering flight-hotel packages when touted $49 flights to Nashville durint a one-day sale in April.
The Nashville Symphonu has half-price tickets for select shows, the Countr y Music Hall of Fame has been givingout $5 off coupon s through June 7, and Gaylorf is offering four-night hotel and attractions packages at 40 percentg off. Keith Wright, president of the , says attractions are sweetening discountz this summer and focusing onthe drive-i n market. “Regional tourism has become extremely importantto us, and we are marketingh more to that audience,” he says. Nashville’z biggest months for tourismj are Juneand October, mainly becausre of the CMA Music Festival that pumps $25 million into the city every June.
Officials at the would not say how tickett sales are going forthis summer’se festival, which kicks off next October is a popular convention month becaused of the fall weather. Nashville tourism has been hit inreceny months. In April, the average nightly hoteol ratedropped 6.3 percent to $92.86 from $99.05 in the same monthy last year, according to Smith Travel Research in Hendersonville. Hotel occupancgy plunged 15 percent in Aprilto 56.9 down from 67 percent a year ago. Revenuew per available room, a key metrixc for hoteliers, was down 20.5 percent in April. The amoungt of attendees for booked conventions this summer is down abou t 24 percent fromlast year.
Nashville’xs hospitality industry, however, is outperforminy much of the rest of the For the first quarterof Nashville’s average daily rate droppeds 4.5 percent. Only five citiesa did better, and 19 of the top 25 markets did The decline in hotel tax collections is greate than the dropin occupancy, whichy shows tourists are coming but choosinf less expensive hotels, says Walt Baker, executive directod of the . Nashville’s hotel occupancyu dropped 11.6 percent in the first quartert compared to theyear before, a drop that registered eighty best among the top 25. Travell has continued to descend atthe , nearin 2005 levels, says airport spokeswoman Emily Richards.
Passengetr counts were down 9.5 percent in Aprilo as compared to theyear before, and down 9.3 percent in the first four months of the
Monday, November 26, 2012
Southwestern Carpets grows business from the ground up - Dallas Business Journal:
sucujovide.wordpress.com
Bill McCaddon has stripped Southwestern Carpetx down and recreated it a couple of times since purchasing it from Don Lynchin 2001. When he bought the floorinhg company, it specialized in removing and replacing carpete in apartments between rental The Lewisville company was producing annual revenueof $5 million, but McCaddoh found the business too impersonal because it was driven by product salee and not on building relationships with customers.
So he decided to switcnh focus to themore relationship-centric business of providing flooring solutions to new home-construction projects, whicgh includes hardwood floors, carpeting, and backsplash and tile The wholesale company saw dramatic growth as a result, with annual revenue of $22 million in 2007. But the growtjh was so rapid and so intensw that managers were losing control of the direction the companhywas heading. So in 2008, he enlistec Don Brush, a consultant with The Renovaa Corp.
, to help bring new energy to his McCaddon’s sense of direction and leadership abilities come from his experience asa manufacturer’xs representative for 18 years at companies like Shaw Carpet Manufacturerf and Aleta Co. He had learneed the importance of building relationshipswith clients. “Myg background was in working withnew homebuilders. The apartment business was non-relationship driven,” said “I didn’t know how to build a busines that wasn’t relational.” McCaddon downsized the company to redirect the focus tothe home-construction industry.
He was met with resistance fromhis “I realized that using the same employeess wasn’t going to work. I was trying to halfwayy do the change,” he said. “Once we made the commitment, we reallgy turned the corner.” He began switching out personnel. The company, whicg had grown annual revenuseto $5 million, saw revenue drop to underd $3 million during the transition. But, once the commitmenty was made, McCaddon noted marked By 2003, revenue had grown by 35%. Betweenh 2004 and 2008, the company went througbh its biggest growth reaching upto $22 million in sales and employint more than 60 workers. But at that time, the storybook growth came to an end.
“Ity was getting to be chaotic becausr of so manynew staff. We were an 8-cylinder enginde working on six orseven We’d lost a sense of teamwork, and everyone was territorial.” That’zs when McCaddon brought in Brush. “For the most I engage them and talk with them in order to buileda relationship. I wanted to find out the strength of the company and what was workinyg and what needed said Brush. “They’ve got the dreams; they’ver got the vision.
It’s just giving them the Brush met with employees to figure out areas that needeed improvement and then created an action He showed the company how to creatd committees to address problems as they come up and then dissolve the committeesd after the problem hasbeen handled. The shif has translated into happier Bill Darling, president and co-owner of Darlinh Homes Inc., has worked with McCaddon since McCaddobn purchased Southwestern Carpets in 2001. “(Wde started working with Southwestern Carpets) becauswe of Bill and his relational approach to workingb with homebuilders as opposed to thetraditionak price-only approach,” said Darling.
“Brush has helped Bill figurew out how to communicatde better so that everyone is going in the same direction as the management and will yield themaximum impact.” For Chris operations manager for Southwestern the change in the corporate culture has been noticeable. “Sometimes you don’tf realize that when one department changes theirf policiesand procedures, it affects others. Now everyone talkws to each other,” McCoppin said. “We’ve empowered them to make We gave them the power to runthe business.
They feel With this new senseof empowerment, as well as an improved use of digitizing software called Measure, Southwesterm Carpets has seen a markedx improvement on the accuracy of the 3,00p work orders entered each month 95% accuracy, up from 77% accuracyh — and has saved about $160,000 in unnecessary costsd for having to fix incorrect work Instead of pursuing potential clients merely for the sake of new McCaddon and his staff focus on gettingt to know potential clients, researchinyg them as much as possible and understanding their needs beforwe they even meet. “We’lo only do business with people who will sit down and have a relationshi pwith us.
Someone is alwaye going to come inlower (priced) than said McCaddon. “We were alwayws chasing people who were focuseeon price. If they say, fax us (a price sheet), we say we can’t work with you. We stay together as a result. If you have the value relationship, they don’r leave.”
Bill McCaddon has stripped Southwestern Carpetx down and recreated it a couple of times since purchasing it from Don Lynchin 2001. When he bought the floorinhg company, it specialized in removing and replacing carpete in apartments between rental The Lewisville company was producing annual revenueof $5 million, but McCaddoh found the business too impersonal because it was driven by product salee and not on building relationships with customers.
So he decided to switcnh focus to themore relationship-centric business of providing flooring solutions to new home-construction projects, whicgh includes hardwood floors, carpeting, and backsplash and tile The wholesale company saw dramatic growth as a result, with annual revenue of $22 million in 2007. But the growtjh was so rapid and so intensw that managers were losing control of the direction the companhywas heading. So in 2008, he enlistec Don Brush, a consultant with The Renovaa Corp.
, to help bring new energy to his McCaddon’s sense of direction and leadership abilities come from his experience asa manufacturer’xs representative for 18 years at companies like Shaw Carpet Manufacturerf and Aleta Co. He had learneed the importance of building relationshipswith clients. “Myg background was in working withnew homebuilders. The apartment business was non-relationship driven,” said “I didn’t know how to build a busines that wasn’t relational.” McCaddon downsized the company to redirect the focus tothe home-construction industry.
He was met with resistance fromhis “I realized that using the same employeess wasn’t going to work. I was trying to halfwayy do the change,” he said. “Once we made the commitment, we reallgy turned the corner.” He began switching out personnel. The company, whicg had grown annual revenuseto $5 million, saw revenue drop to underd $3 million during the transition. But, once the commitmenty was made, McCaddon noted marked By 2003, revenue had grown by 35%. Betweenh 2004 and 2008, the company went througbh its biggest growth reaching upto $22 million in sales and employint more than 60 workers. But at that time, the storybook growth came to an end.
“Ity was getting to be chaotic becausr of so manynew staff. We were an 8-cylinder enginde working on six orseven We’d lost a sense of teamwork, and everyone was territorial.” That’zs when McCaddon brought in Brush. “For the most I engage them and talk with them in order to buileda relationship. I wanted to find out the strength of the company and what was workinyg and what needed said Brush. “They’ve got the dreams; they’ver got the vision.
It’s just giving them the Brush met with employees to figure out areas that needeed improvement and then created an action He showed the company how to creatd committees to address problems as they come up and then dissolve the committeesd after the problem hasbeen handled. The shif has translated into happier Bill Darling, president and co-owner of Darlinh Homes Inc., has worked with McCaddon since McCaddobn purchased Southwestern Carpets in 2001. “(Wde started working with Southwestern Carpets) becauswe of Bill and his relational approach to workingb with homebuilders as opposed to thetraditionak price-only approach,” said Darling.
“Brush has helped Bill figurew out how to communicatde better so that everyone is going in the same direction as the management and will yield themaximum impact.” For Chris operations manager for Southwestern the change in the corporate culture has been noticeable. “Sometimes you don’tf realize that when one department changes theirf policiesand procedures, it affects others. Now everyone talkws to each other,” McCoppin said. “We’ve empowered them to make We gave them the power to runthe business.
They feel With this new senseof empowerment, as well as an improved use of digitizing software called Measure, Southwesterm Carpets has seen a markedx improvement on the accuracy of the 3,00p work orders entered each month 95% accuracy, up from 77% accuracyh — and has saved about $160,000 in unnecessary costsd for having to fix incorrect work Instead of pursuing potential clients merely for the sake of new McCaddon and his staff focus on gettingt to know potential clients, researchinyg them as much as possible and understanding their needs beforwe they even meet. “We’lo only do business with people who will sit down and have a relationshi pwith us.
Someone is alwaye going to come inlower (priced) than said McCaddon. “We were alwayws chasing people who were focuseeon price. If they say, fax us (a price sheet), we say we can’t work with you. We stay together as a result. If you have the value relationship, they don’r leave.”
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Hot Leads: Startups, expansions, moves, and new products and services - Tampa Bay Business Journal:
efimtsovavadan.blogspot.com
• will open a 25,000-square-foot storee at 3929 Tampa Road, Oldsmar. It will carryh furniture, household items and more than 80,000o pieces of clothing. The stores also will feature a drive-through donation lane. For more information call 792-6092. • Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizzza opened at 2532 McMullenBooth Road, It is the company’s second locatio in the Tampa Bay area. The restaurant bakess its pizzaswith coal-burning ovens. For more information call (727) 797-0929. • relocated its office to the ComCentere facility at 9040 TownCenter Parkway, Suit 101, Lakewood Ranch.
The new facility has multiplreconference rooms, training rooms, and front desk and telephone An open house is scheduled for June 24. For more informatiobn call (941) 358-7065.
• will open a 25,000-square-foot storee at 3929 Tampa Road, Oldsmar. It will carryh furniture, household items and more than 80,000o pieces of clothing. The stores also will feature a drive-through donation lane. For more information call 792-6092. • Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizzza opened at 2532 McMullenBooth Road, It is the company’s second locatio in the Tampa Bay area. The restaurant bakess its pizzaswith coal-burning ovens. For more information call (727) 797-0929. • relocated its office to the ComCentere facility at 9040 TownCenter Parkway, Suit 101, Lakewood Ranch.
The new facility has multiplreconference rooms, training rooms, and front desk and telephone An open house is scheduled for June 24. For more informatiobn call (941) 358-7065.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Jacksonville
moffaiqohegesa1490.blogspot.com
The recession helped push morethan 3,0000 trucking companies out of business nationwid in 2008, and the most expensive diesel priceds in history — as high as $4.75 per gallon didn’t help, either. Increased profits from hauling Florida’s summerr produce could give companiessome relief, but companies that drop their existing customers for the more profitabl e produce hauls risk being said Ike Sherlock, The Grimeas Cos. vice president. The prospect of earning $3.5p0 per mile hauling produce instead of thesteady $1 per mile loadss can be tempting. “It’s like jumping for the pretthy girl and leavingyour standby,” Sherlocj said.
“But many times your old lady won’t take you back.” Larger truckinvg companies suchas Grimes, and said they will be OK becausee they can pass on the majority of their increasee fuel costs to customers through fuel surcharges. Most of the cost the companiews have to eat are for travellintg done whendrivers aren’t hauling goods but are heading to and from home or to theirf next assignment.
Some small truckingh companies’ lack of a fuel surchargwe system in their contracts hurts even more since crediyt is so tight for some that they have to pay cash at the Sherlock fears that many companiezs will cut costs by putting off repairs and thus making the roadwaysmore dangerous. By buying fuel in Raven Transport generally can save up to five to six centsaper gallon, said Executive Vice President David Still, it’s a gamble sincs sometimes gas stations sell diesel for a cent or two less than what Raven’x South Carolina facility bought it for. 65 mph.
Billy the company’s CEO and said fuel is burnt exponentially faster when drivingb faster thanthat speed, and with stopds and starts, the best a truck can averag is 60 mph. The compan y also offers drivers bonuses if they shut the enginr off while waiting and find shelter inan air-conditionesd warehouse instead of in the truck. “I’d ratherd pay the driver than the guy selling Hart said. Raven Transpor t uses auxiliary power units that run the truckmwhen it’s idling and consume less fuel. The unit runs the idledf engine ata quarter-gallon to half a gallo per hour, compared with about a gallobn per hour used when the engin idles.
Plus, the unit saves the engine wear and Teichert said the company has also changed its routexs over the past year and a half to reduce the mileager drivers have to travel to theier homes inbetween assignments. Over the past couple of yearsthe company’a fuel efficiency has risen from 5.8 milese per gallon to 6.2 miles per Grimes is having its five Penske truckds tweaked by their manufacturerf so they’re 5 percent more Sean Kelly, a Penskr branch manager, said he is working to reducre how fast the trucksa can go and their idle times, and bettee control shifting patterns.
The recession helped push morethan 3,0000 trucking companies out of business nationwid in 2008, and the most expensive diesel priceds in history — as high as $4.75 per gallon didn’t help, either. Increased profits from hauling Florida’s summerr produce could give companiessome relief, but companies that drop their existing customers for the more profitabl e produce hauls risk being said Ike Sherlock, The Grimeas Cos. vice president. The prospect of earning $3.5p0 per mile hauling produce instead of thesteady $1 per mile loadss can be tempting. “It’s like jumping for the pretthy girl and leavingyour standby,” Sherlocj said.
“But many times your old lady won’t take you back.” Larger truckinvg companies suchas Grimes, and said they will be OK becausee they can pass on the majority of their increasee fuel costs to customers through fuel surcharges. Most of the cost the companiews have to eat are for travellintg done whendrivers aren’t hauling goods but are heading to and from home or to theirf next assignment.
Some small truckingh companies’ lack of a fuel surchargwe system in their contracts hurts even more since crediyt is so tight for some that they have to pay cash at the Sherlock fears that many companiezs will cut costs by putting off repairs and thus making the roadwaysmore dangerous. By buying fuel in Raven Transport generally can save up to five to six centsaper gallon, said Executive Vice President David Still, it’s a gamble sincs sometimes gas stations sell diesel for a cent or two less than what Raven’x South Carolina facility bought it for. 65 mph.
Billy the company’s CEO and said fuel is burnt exponentially faster when drivingb faster thanthat speed, and with stopds and starts, the best a truck can averag is 60 mph. The compan y also offers drivers bonuses if they shut the enginr off while waiting and find shelter inan air-conditionesd warehouse instead of in the truck. “I’d ratherd pay the driver than the guy selling Hart said. Raven Transpor t uses auxiliary power units that run the truckmwhen it’s idling and consume less fuel. The unit runs the idledf engine ata quarter-gallon to half a gallo per hour, compared with about a gallobn per hour used when the engin idles.
Plus, the unit saves the engine wear and Teichert said the company has also changed its routexs over the past year and a half to reduce the mileager drivers have to travel to theier homes inbetween assignments. Over the past couple of yearsthe company’a fuel efficiency has risen from 5.8 milese per gallon to 6.2 miles per Grimes is having its five Penske truckds tweaked by their manufacturerf so they’re 5 percent more Sean Kelly, a Penskr branch manager, said he is working to reducre how fast the trucksa can go and their idle times, and bettee control shifting patterns.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
In Cambodia, Obama Hails 'Constructive' US-China Relationship - ABC News (blog)
sucujovide.wordpress.com
ABC News (blog) | In Cambodia, Obama Hails 'Constructive' US-China Relationship ABC News (blog) Obama is paying the first visit by an American president to Cambodia, a country trying to emerge from its violent and repressive past. The president arrived Monday night and went straight to what has been described as a “tense†meeting with Prime ... China St » |
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Ten banks allowed to repay TARP funds - Portland Business Journal:
lebexab.wordpress.com
The Treasury Department did not name the 10 but said they were being approved for earlt repayment of the federal bailout funds unde the Troubled Asset ReliefProgram (TARP) because the so-called stress testd performed by the government revealed they were healthy enough to pay back the The department said the institutions have met the requirement for repayment established by federal banking supervisors. It noted that many banksw recently have raised equity capitap from private investors and haveissued long-terk debt that is not guaranteed by the “These repayments are an encouragingg sign of financial repair, but we still have work to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said.
More than 600 banks received a totak ofnearly $200 billion througjh the department’s Capital Purchasw Program. About $2 billion of this money was paid back Underthe program, banks that repay theird preferred stock can repurchase the warrantsx that the Treasury Department holds. Besides the proceedsd from the sales of the the department also hasreceived $4.5 billion in dividend payments from program participants. Proceedsz from the repayments to go theTreasuruy Department’s general fund. They can be used to reduce the national debt and can serve as a cushion in case the departmenrt needs to respond to financial emergenciew inthe future, the department said.
The list of 10 banks was not publiclgy disclosed, but many of the banks confirmed separatelh in press releases that they received approvak to buy back preferred sharex sold to thefederal government, including two banks with sizablde Milwaukee-area presences: (NYSE: USB) and J.P. Morgan Chase JPM). U.S. Bank was cleared to repayy $6.6 billion in TARP funds and Chased was approved to repaygall $25 billion in TARP funds it Locally based banks that received TARP funds include and of of Menomonee Falls and in M&I, the Milwaukee-area's largest bank, was not amongb the list of 10 banks approves to repay its TARP funds, accordingh to media reports.
M&I said in May that it began to sell stock in a sale that could raisee as muchas $350 milliom in proceeds, part of which the bank said it may use to repa a portion of the $1.7 billion capital infusion it received in November 2008 underf TARP if approved by
The Treasury Department did not name the 10 but said they were being approved for earlt repayment of the federal bailout funds unde the Troubled Asset ReliefProgram (TARP) because the so-called stress testd performed by the government revealed they were healthy enough to pay back the The department said the institutions have met the requirement for repayment established by federal banking supervisors. It noted that many banksw recently have raised equity capitap from private investors and haveissued long-terk debt that is not guaranteed by the “These repayments are an encouragingg sign of financial repair, but we still have work to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said.
More than 600 banks received a totak ofnearly $200 billion througjh the department’s Capital Purchasw Program. About $2 billion of this money was paid back Underthe program, banks that repay theird preferred stock can repurchase the warrantsx that the Treasury Department holds. Besides the proceedsd from the sales of the the department also hasreceived $4.5 billion in dividend payments from program participants. Proceedsz from the repayments to go theTreasuruy Department’s general fund. They can be used to reduce the national debt and can serve as a cushion in case the departmenrt needs to respond to financial emergenciew inthe future, the department said.
The list of 10 banks was not publiclgy disclosed, but many of the banks confirmed separatelh in press releases that they received approvak to buy back preferred sharex sold to thefederal government, including two banks with sizablde Milwaukee-area presences: (NYSE: USB) and J.P. Morgan Chase JPM). U.S. Bank was cleared to repayy $6.6 billion in TARP funds and Chased was approved to repaygall $25 billion in TARP funds it Locally based banks that received TARP funds include and of of Menomonee Falls and in M&I, the Milwaukee-area's largest bank, was not amongb the list of 10 banks approves to repay its TARP funds, accordingh to media reports.
M&I said in May that it began to sell stock in a sale that could raisee as muchas $350 milliom in proceeds, part of which the bank said it may use to repa a portion of the $1.7 billion capital infusion it received in November 2008 underf TARP if approved by
Friday, November 16, 2012
Abattoirs ready for sacrificial slaughter - gulfnews.com
ovaluleq.wordpress.com
AME Info | Abattoirs ready for sacrificial slaughter gulfnews.com “Studying the density of residents' population, Dubai Municipality would be setting up mobile and permanent abattoirs in certain areas in Dubai in coming years,†said Ahmed Hassan Shammary, Head of Abattoirs Section at Dubai Municipality. In ... UAE abattoirs gearing up for 17000 cattle during Eid Dubai abattoirs ready for sacrificial slaughter on Eid days SM warns of health risks posed by animal slaughter outside designated abattoirs |
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Groups fight AEP
caloloary.blogspot.com
The Office of the Ohio Counsel said Fridaythe agency, Kroger, the and Ohio Association will ask the Ohio Supreme Court to block the retroactiver portion of AEP’s rate increase. In the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio granted AEPsubsidiariesz , which serves Central Ohio, and rate increasea averaging about 7 percent this year and also in 2010 and 2011. The increasesd are retroactiveto Jan. 1. The retroactive chargr will cost Columbus Southern Power customersabout $30 said a release from the counsel office. Ohio Power customers would pay $33 million.
On Marcbh 30, the denied a consumers’ counsel request to prohibit the retroactive leading to the effort to get the Supreme Court toblock them. Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander has contended that Ohio law prohibitszretroactive rate-making by the commission. “The PUCO made an unlawfulk decision when it imposed a full year of rate increases to be paid by AEP customerse innine months,” said Migden-Ostrander in the release.
“The retroactive increase is like charging a studenr an increase in tuition payments three months aftere the student has No one should standfor
The Office of the Ohio Counsel said Fridaythe agency, Kroger, the and Ohio Association will ask the Ohio Supreme Court to block the retroactiver portion of AEP’s rate increase. In the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio granted AEPsubsidiariesz , which serves Central Ohio, and rate increasea averaging about 7 percent this year and also in 2010 and 2011. The increasesd are retroactiveto Jan. 1. The retroactive chargr will cost Columbus Southern Power customersabout $30 said a release from the counsel office. Ohio Power customers would pay $33 million.
On Marcbh 30, the denied a consumers’ counsel request to prohibit the retroactive leading to the effort to get the Supreme Court toblock them. Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander has contended that Ohio law prohibitszretroactive rate-making by the commission. “The PUCO made an unlawfulk decision when it imposed a full year of rate increases to be paid by AEP customerse innine months,” said Migden-Ostrander in the release.
“The retroactive increase is like charging a studenr an increase in tuition payments three months aftere the student has No one should standfor
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Local corn farmer gets a sweet sendoff into retirement - Sunbury Daily Item
aleksanovlsys.blogspot.com
Local corn farmer gets a sweet sendoff into retirement Sunbury Daily Item Geise also has been active in local farming groups, such as the Northumberland County Farm Bureau, 4-H and the Farmland Preservation Committee, and in municipal government, serving on the Point Township Planning Committee for 12 years and as a ... |
Monday, November 12, 2012
Times are tough, but bank credit still flowing - Business First of Louisville:
8511ysu.blogspot.com
Global capital markets have come close to meltdown, with Wall Street firmds in crisis. The Federal Reserve is focused on gettingh banks to lend toeach other, but banks are afraidf they'll get sucked into othefr banks' subprime mortgage-backed bonds. The commerciao mortgage-backed security market is tanking alonbg with the residentialmortgage That's on the macro level. On the micro, real-worle level, tertiary markets such as Louisville appear to be Thequestion is, will the money be there to keep locak businesses growing, even in hard times ? So far, the answert is yes -- strong companies with impeccable credir histories can borrow, an immutabl fact of bank lending.
For everyone well, there's private equity, investors "anxd rich uncles," as Phillip Poindexter, senior executive vice president and director of commercial lendingat , For the conventional business owner looking for a 2008 isn't profoundly different from the boom years in the said Poindexter and other bankers. The cost of moneyy for banks has rarely been The discountrate -- the rate the Federao Reserve Bank charges banks to borrow money -- was 3.25 percenrt on Tuesday.
The dichotomy of this particula r crisis is that even though capitak is getting cheaper as the Fedcuts rates, globall capital problems have increased commercial bankers' histori c adversity to risk at a time when federal officials are tryin g to spur economic activity. "It's a very unsettled time," said Jim senior vice presidentat Louisville-based Banks are increasing scrutinhy of borrowers, their creditworthiness and their proposed and lenders are increasingly cautious about anything "And the key word here is " including deals collateralized by real estate, Wheatley But, he added, "the fundamentals never If companies have cash cash flow, good performance and debt repaymen t records, there is plenty of money For those borrowers, "every bank wants your Wheatley said.
"It's a buyer's market. There are too many dogs and notenoughh rabbits." Fundamentals might never change, but terms do. Bank underwritingg standards require certain amountz of cash in certain typesof transactions. Bank s in general aren't making exceptions to those said Wheatleyand Poindexter. "In the old days, bank s might have done deals with a little lesscash (put in by where now they're sticking to the rule Wheatley said. There are 40 or 50 bankas in Louisville in the commercial andindustrial loan, or C&I, Poindexter said.
Local banks such as Stock Yards arefairlty predictable, good times or bad, he "We've always been a consistently restrained lender ... even when everyon e else was go-go-go," Poindexter said. If there'es a difference now, it's that Stock Yards is hewinh even more closely to prudent lending Forthe dicey, but potentially lucrative, deals -- for for large speculative projects, mergers and acquisitions and real estatee and retail development -- cash is harder to come by. An estimatedd $100 billion in capital worldwide has disappeared during nearly eight months of financial calamithy related to the subprimemortgage crisis.
Beginninfg with the collapse of two hedge funds last Bear Stearns and other investment banks and consumer suchas , have racked up huge losses in sub-primes mortgage-backed securities related to rising defaults. On Marcnh 6, Thelma Ferguson, Kentucky market president forNew York-based , told Rotaryh Club of Louisville Inc. members that probleme related to subprimemortgages "won't go away anytimes soon." Nationwide, she said, a total of abourt $3 billion in subprime mortgages had gone bad, with another $2.6 billiob in adjustable- rate mortgages set to go to higher interes rates this year.
Ferguson predicter that strong banks, such as Chase, will have record growtj this year, even after limited chargeoffs, because of the diversitu of their business and what sheterms "fortress balances sheets" -- tight financial large loan-loss reserves and prudent lending that avoided, for the most the subprime mess. Last J.P. Morgan Chase's reported record third-quarter income of $3.37 billionb at the same time competitors Citigroupo and UBS were receiving cash infusionsafte multibillion-dollar write-downs. But, Ferguson told Rotary members, credif standards for consumer lending, especially for will tighten.
In previous capital regional bankswould "cut off the valve," said Larr y Myers, president and CEO of Firsy Savings Bank FSB, basedd in Clarksville. That is, big banks would issue a new lending policy ruling out certaimn typesof loans, or loans to particular industry sectors, said Myers, who formerlyt worked for National City. "They'd throw out the good with the Small communitybanks can't do Myers said. They have to assess deals bases on whether borrowers are reasonable credit with good work ethic andproductive "I think (local banks) could be the knightt in shining armor in all he said.
No capital, no growth Theree are severe problems in capital markets where large national and international banks do saidDonald J. Mullineux, professor of bankintg and finance at the Universityof Kentucky's Gattoj College of Business and Economics. The effect of the globap capital crunch on community banks with lessthan $1 billion in assets is far harder to gauge, said Mullineux. Small banks mainl y raise capitalthrough deposits, "so they're just not presenrt in those (global capital) "I wouldn't say (community are not affected at all, but rather they'rse affected through macro economic channels," he The United States most likely is in Mullineux said.
In times of and with bank examiners increasingly looking over shoulders because of questionabl e lending practices atsome banks, most banks lend less At the same business slows, and corporationss tend to ask for less so demand for capital drops, he Some already see hints of a slowdown. Most banks are seeing increases inloan delinquencies, Wheatley A national survey last month of U.S. Small Businese Administration lenders reported that SBA lenders have tightened standards on loanz and that loan volume is down by 15 percenf from the first quarterof 2007. LLC in Shepherdsville has had no troubler borrowing fromits bank, Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank NA, said Nicholaws X.
"Nick" Simon, Publishers president. His 142-year-olxd business is the area's largest privately ownedf employer, ranked No. 14 on Business First's list of majodr employees, with about 1,700 employees. It has a strong net-worth-to-debr ratio, healthy cash flow and a soun dbalance sheet, Simon said. Publishers has a line of credif tied to the prime the rates at which big banks lend to theifrbest customers. But Simon does see some weaknesws amonghis customers, such as an increasing numbet of slow payers. "A couple of businessee -- customers I've had for years -- have bounceds checks that have never bounceschecks before," he said.
The question ultimatelhy is: What happens to economic growth ina worst-case scenario? Most the deeper the recession, the longer the return to "What you see (during economic is that on bank balance sheets, bankss want to carry fewer loans, preferringy to hold securities," Mullineux said. "Ad the economy gets back on its feet, the banks will sell those securities and use that cash to startlendinfg again." The current capital crisis starterd with banks and mortgage brokerss making mortgage loans to including real estate speculators, with poor credi ratings, questionable income and no money down.
Many of those mortgages included adjustable interest rates that reset to double or triplr theintroductory rates, with penalties if borrowersz refinanced. If that weren't bad enough, those subprime through the magicof securitization, got turneds into highly rated collateral for bond issuews and other debt instruments such as collateralized debt So, when those dicey mortgages startedd going bad, and borrowers startedr defaulting, the banks and mortgage lenders starteed losing their principal.
But the pain didn't stop Those defaults set in motion falling dominos as the housingy bubble created by the artificially inflated mortgage demand quickly The mortgage defaults also meanft that some investors stopped getting returns from thosewsubprime mortgage-backed bonds as the underlyinbg collateral went bad. Thosew investors included some of the bigges names onWall Street, including Merrill Lynch and the now infamous Bear Stearnse Co. hedge funds. Moreover, problems with residentiapl mortgage-backed securities have cut confidence incommercial mortgage-backed securitiex and in the increasingly interconnected world capital markert matrix as a whole.
New job creation may suffer as capita grows tighter Although established businesses so far seem unaffected by the ongoingcapital crisis, growth companies that creatre new jobs might be hardest hit. Since March 2007, Randall Waldman has built , basede in Shepherdsville, from an idea into a thriving operation with a totalof 240,00p square feet in manufacturing capacit y in three locations. With collateralized contractz fromand , Waldman projects that Integritg will have between $30 million and $50 million in revenu e for 2008. Integrity started a year ago with sevejn employees and now has morethan 200. Waldmahn has invested $4 million of his own monet into Integrity.
Yet last December, as Waldma n received the emerging company of the year awarcd inBusiness First's Business of the Year he asked the crowd of 800 why no bankws would lend Integrity money. Waldmanj said banks have turned down his requests for credit becausr hiscompany doesn't have threee years of financial information. He said he has difficulty gettin capital at reasonable ratesfor expansion, with Integrity borrowinv at 7 percent or 8 percent on amortized term debt -- two or more pointd above the current primw rate of 5.5 percent. Waldman believes part of the problen is that the globap capital crunch is making locallenderse gun-shy.
But he said the main reason Integrityg has problems getting bankrates -- far cheaper than private-equitt funding -- is because the compangy doesn't have an established credit history. And that makes it difficult for banks to assessthe risk. Banka have to consider the cost of fundas versus therisk they'rse taking, said Jim Wheatley, senior vice president at 1st Independencd Financial Group Inc. and a commercia l lender for more than20 years. Banks typically borrosw directly fromthe Fed, or from otheer banks, for five years at very favorable interest and they make a profit by lending that moneyg at a higher rate. Business customers can go onto the Federap DepositInsurance Corp.
Web site and see what bank are paying for Wheatley said. During the past week, the Fed lowere d two key rates. Both the discount rate, the rate the Fed chargews banks to borrowmoney directly, and the Federao Funds rate, the rate banks charge each dropped. The federal fundx rate droppedto 2.25 percent from 3 and the discount rate dropped to 3.25 percentf from 3.5. But banks have to figuree in their costs just like any otherbusiness -- the cost of employees and utilities. "Oh, and shareholder profits," Wheatley said. Typically, banks take a less than 10 percentt returnon investment, which turns to an even smallerr amount after expenses and dividendse to stockholders, he said.
Though the bank'sa return is predictably modest, the entrepreneurs might make a million dollarsaoff loans. "Their potential return is almostr infinite." But the bank is going to make itsmarginalk return, Wheatley said. "My question is: Wherwe in the world is that entrepreneur who's willing to take as much risk as the bankfor (a few percent)? They may become a billionaire, but the bank still gets prime." But if fast-growingg companies have trouble gettint access to capital, the local economy withers, Waldman said.
Integrity is in the running for severakhuge contracts, including one worth as much as $350 million over five yearsa from a government entity Waldman declined to With large Louisville employers such as Waldman said, he believes emerging mid-sized manufacturiny operations such as Integrit y "have the potential to be the next big We create real jobs, paying real that stimulate the real economy," Waldma said. "The economy will thrive or die based on the abilityt of these businesses to get capitalk to createnew jobs.
"
Global capital markets have come close to meltdown, with Wall Street firmds in crisis. The Federal Reserve is focused on gettingh banks to lend toeach other, but banks are afraidf they'll get sucked into othefr banks' subprime mortgage-backed bonds. The commerciao mortgage-backed security market is tanking alonbg with the residentialmortgage That's on the macro level. On the micro, real-worle level, tertiary markets such as Louisville appear to be Thequestion is, will the money be there to keep locak businesses growing, even in hard times ? So far, the answert is yes -- strong companies with impeccable credir histories can borrow, an immutabl fact of bank lending.
For everyone well, there's private equity, investors "anxd rich uncles," as Phillip Poindexter, senior executive vice president and director of commercial lendingat , For the conventional business owner looking for a 2008 isn't profoundly different from the boom years in the said Poindexter and other bankers. The cost of moneyy for banks has rarely been The discountrate -- the rate the Federao Reserve Bank charges banks to borrow money -- was 3.25 percenrt on Tuesday.
The dichotomy of this particula r crisis is that even though capitak is getting cheaper as the Fedcuts rates, globall capital problems have increased commercial bankers' histori c adversity to risk at a time when federal officials are tryin g to spur economic activity. "It's a very unsettled time," said Jim senior vice presidentat Louisville-based Banks are increasing scrutinhy of borrowers, their creditworthiness and their proposed and lenders are increasingly cautious about anything "And the key word here is " including deals collateralized by real estate, Wheatley But, he added, "the fundamentals never If companies have cash cash flow, good performance and debt repaymen t records, there is plenty of money For those borrowers, "every bank wants your Wheatley said.
"It's a buyer's market. There are too many dogs and notenoughh rabbits." Fundamentals might never change, but terms do. Bank underwritingg standards require certain amountz of cash in certain typesof transactions. Bank s in general aren't making exceptions to those said Wheatleyand Poindexter. "In the old days, bank s might have done deals with a little lesscash (put in by where now they're sticking to the rule Wheatley said. There are 40 or 50 bankas in Louisville in the commercial andindustrial loan, or C&I, Poindexter said.
Local banks such as Stock Yards arefairlty predictable, good times or bad, he "We've always been a consistently restrained lender ... even when everyon e else was go-go-go," Poindexter said. If there'es a difference now, it's that Stock Yards is hewinh even more closely to prudent lending Forthe dicey, but potentially lucrative, deals -- for for large speculative projects, mergers and acquisitions and real estatee and retail development -- cash is harder to come by. An estimatedd $100 billion in capital worldwide has disappeared during nearly eight months of financial calamithy related to the subprimemortgage crisis.
Beginninfg with the collapse of two hedge funds last Bear Stearns and other investment banks and consumer suchas , have racked up huge losses in sub-primes mortgage-backed securities related to rising defaults. On Marcnh 6, Thelma Ferguson, Kentucky market president forNew York-based , told Rotaryh Club of Louisville Inc. members that probleme related to subprimemortgages "won't go away anytimes soon." Nationwide, she said, a total of abourt $3 billion in subprime mortgages had gone bad, with another $2.6 billiob in adjustable- rate mortgages set to go to higher interes rates this year.
Ferguson predicter that strong banks, such as Chase, will have record growtj this year, even after limited chargeoffs, because of the diversitu of their business and what sheterms "fortress balances sheets" -- tight financial large loan-loss reserves and prudent lending that avoided, for the most the subprime mess. Last J.P. Morgan Chase's reported record third-quarter income of $3.37 billionb at the same time competitors Citigroupo and UBS were receiving cash infusionsafte multibillion-dollar write-downs. But, Ferguson told Rotary members, credif standards for consumer lending, especially for will tighten.
In previous capital regional bankswould "cut off the valve," said Larr y Myers, president and CEO of Firsy Savings Bank FSB, basedd in Clarksville. That is, big banks would issue a new lending policy ruling out certaimn typesof loans, or loans to particular industry sectors, said Myers, who formerlyt worked for National City. "They'd throw out the good with the Small communitybanks can't do Myers said. They have to assess deals bases on whether borrowers are reasonable credit with good work ethic andproductive "I think (local banks) could be the knightt in shining armor in all he said.
No capital, no growth Theree are severe problems in capital markets where large national and international banks do saidDonald J. Mullineux, professor of bankintg and finance at the Universityof Kentucky's Gattoj College of Business and Economics. The effect of the globap capital crunch on community banks with lessthan $1 billion in assets is far harder to gauge, said Mullineux. Small banks mainl y raise capitalthrough deposits, "so they're just not presenrt in those (global capital) "I wouldn't say (community are not affected at all, but rather they'rse affected through macro economic channels," he The United States most likely is in Mullineux said.
In times of and with bank examiners increasingly looking over shoulders because of questionabl e lending practices atsome banks, most banks lend less At the same business slows, and corporationss tend to ask for less so demand for capital drops, he Some already see hints of a slowdown. Most banks are seeing increases inloan delinquencies, Wheatley A national survey last month of U.S. Small Businese Administration lenders reported that SBA lenders have tightened standards on loanz and that loan volume is down by 15 percenf from the first quarterof 2007. LLC in Shepherdsville has had no troubler borrowing fromits bank, Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank NA, said Nicholaws X.
"Nick" Simon, Publishers president. His 142-year-olxd business is the area's largest privately ownedf employer, ranked No. 14 on Business First's list of majodr employees, with about 1,700 employees. It has a strong net-worth-to-debr ratio, healthy cash flow and a soun dbalance sheet, Simon said. Publishers has a line of credif tied to the prime the rates at which big banks lend to theifrbest customers. But Simon does see some weaknesws amonghis customers, such as an increasing numbet of slow payers. "A couple of businessee -- customers I've had for years -- have bounceds checks that have never bounceschecks before," he said.
The question ultimatelhy is: What happens to economic growth ina worst-case scenario? Most the deeper the recession, the longer the return to "What you see (during economic is that on bank balance sheets, bankss want to carry fewer loans, preferringy to hold securities," Mullineux said. "Ad the economy gets back on its feet, the banks will sell those securities and use that cash to startlendinfg again." The current capital crisis starterd with banks and mortgage brokerss making mortgage loans to including real estate speculators, with poor credi ratings, questionable income and no money down.
Many of those mortgages included adjustable interest rates that reset to double or triplr theintroductory rates, with penalties if borrowersz refinanced. If that weren't bad enough, those subprime through the magicof securitization, got turneds into highly rated collateral for bond issuews and other debt instruments such as collateralized debt So, when those dicey mortgages startedd going bad, and borrowers startedr defaulting, the banks and mortgage lenders starteed losing their principal.
But the pain didn't stop Those defaults set in motion falling dominos as the housingy bubble created by the artificially inflated mortgage demand quickly The mortgage defaults also meanft that some investors stopped getting returns from thosewsubprime mortgage-backed bonds as the underlyinbg collateral went bad. Thosew investors included some of the bigges names onWall Street, including Merrill Lynch and the now infamous Bear Stearnse Co. hedge funds. Moreover, problems with residentiapl mortgage-backed securities have cut confidence incommercial mortgage-backed securitiex and in the increasingly interconnected world capital markert matrix as a whole.
New job creation may suffer as capita grows tighter Although established businesses so far seem unaffected by the ongoingcapital crisis, growth companies that creatre new jobs might be hardest hit. Since March 2007, Randall Waldman has built , basede in Shepherdsville, from an idea into a thriving operation with a totalof 240,00p square feet in manufacturing capacit y in three locations. With collateralized contractz fromand , Waldman projects that Integritg will have between $30 million and $50 million in revenu e for 2008. Integrity started a year ago with sevejn employees and now has morethan 200. Waldmahn has invested $4 million of his own monet into Integrity.
Yet last December, as Waldma n received the emerging company of the year awarcd inBusiness First's Business of the Year he asked the crowd of 800 why no bankws would lend Integrity money. Waldmanj said banks have turned down his requests for credit becausr hiscompany doesn't have threee years of financial information. He said he has difficulty gettin capital at reasonable ratesfor expansion, with Integrity borrowinv at 7 percent or 8 percent on amortized term debt -- two or more pointd above the current primw rate of 5.5 percent. Waldman believes part of the problen is that the globap capital crunch is making locallenderse gun-shy.
But he said the main reason Integrityg has problems getting bankrates -- far cheaper than private-equitt funding -- is because the compangy doesn't have an established credit history. And that makes it difficult for banks to assessthe risk. Banka have to consider the cost of fundas versus therisk they'rse taking, said Jim Wheatley, senior vice president at 1st Independencd Financial Group Inc. and a commercia l lender for more than20 years. Banks typically borrosw directly fromthe Fed, or from otheer banks, for five years at very favorable interest and they make a profit by lending that moneyg at a higher rate. Business customers can go onto the Federap DepositInsurance Corp.
Web site and see what bank are paying for Wheatley said. During the past week, the Fed lowere d two key rates. Both the discount rate, the rate the Fed chargews banks to borrowmoney directly, and the Federao Funds rate, the rate banks charge each dropped. The federal fundx rate droppedto 2.25 percent from 3 and the discount rate dropped to 3.25 percentf from 3.5. But banks have to figuree in their costs just like any otherbusiness -- the cost of employees and utilities. "Oh, and shareholder profits," Wheatley said. Typically, banks take a less than 10 percentt returnon investment, which turns to an even smallerr amount after expenses and dividendse to stockholders, he said.
Though the bank'sa return is predictably modest, the entrepreneurs might make a million dollarsaoff loans. "Their potential return is almostr infinite." But the bank is going to make itsmarginalk return, Wheatley said. "My question is: Wherwe in the world is that entrepreneur who's willing to take as much risk as the bankfor (a few percent)? They may become a billionaire, but the bank still gets prime." But if fast-growingg companies have trouble gettint access to capital, the local economy withers, Waldman said.
Integrity is in the running for severakhuge contracts, including one worth as much as $350 million over five yearsa from a government entity Waldman declined to With large Louisville employers such as Waldman said, he believes emerging mid-sized manufacturiny operations such as Integrit y "have the potential to be the next big We create real jobs, paying real that stimulate the real economy," Waldma said. "The economy will thrive or die based on the abilityt of these businesses to get capitalk to createnew jobs.
"
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Heading off to Paris to promote aviation - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:
esivyjifag.wordpress.com
Mindful of the state’s current budget woes, Crisco is quickk to point out that his office is takinb justfive people, half the number that went to the air show a year ago, and that they are flyinhg coach and staying in a Frencbh equivalent of a budget motel. “We’vwe allotted about $127,000 for this trip (for Commerce but we saved a lot on airfare and will not spendthat much,” Crisco says from his cell phone whilee driving between Jacksonville and Wilmington for The trip’s single biggest cost is $107,700p for the North Carolina pavilion at the air show, whicb will serve as a hub for promotinfg the state’s, and aviation assets, while also hostinh prospect meetings.
“The thing is, not attending a show of this magnitudee sendsa message,” Crisco says, “and we have too much momentumm in aviation to risk that.”
Mindful of the state’s current budget woes, Crisco is quickk to point out that his office is takinb justfive people, half the number that went to the air show a year ago, and that they are flyinhg coach and staying in a Frencbh equivalent of a budget motel. “We’vwe allotted about $127,000 for this trip (for Commerce but we saved a lot on airfare and will not spendthat much,” Crisco says from his cell phone whilee driving between Jacksonville and Wilmington for The trip’s single biggest cost is $107,700p for the North Carolina pavilion at the air show, whicb will serve as a hub for promotinfg the state’s, and aviation assets, while also hostinh prospect meetings.
“The thing is, not attending a show of this magnitudee sendsa message,” Crisco says, “and we have too much momentumm in aviation to risk that.”
Friday, November 9, 2012
Newfane hospital workers approve deal - Business First of Buffalo:
grigoriynirim.blogspot.com
The agreement between hospital negotiators and 110 memberws of 1199 SEIU includes wage increases of atleast 7.2 percen over three years. Worker s will also receive an average increase of 18 percent in employefr contributions towardtheir pensions, as well as improvements in shifgt differentials. The new labor agreement will cover licensedpracticall nurses, nurse attendants, environmental and service workers, maintenancr and clerical staff. According to the union, contract negotiations broke off June 24 over issue s of wage equity and retirement Employees had been working without a contract for a monthn whiletalks continued. Negotiations begaj in February.
A federal mediatod joined the talksin May. The hospital, formerly knowh as Inter-Community Memorial Hospital, is located on Williaj Street in Newfane. Inter-Community merger with Lockport Memorial Hospitakl earlier this year to form Easter nNiagara Hospital. The union blamed the merge on inequities between the Lockport andNewfane sites. In a prepared statement, uniob officials said they were satisfied withthe outcome. “We feel that this a fair contractr that provides wage increases and improvexdretirement benefits,” said Don administrative organizer.
The agreement between hospital negotiators and 110 memberws of 1199 SEIU includes wage increases of atleast 7.2 percen over three years. Worker s will also receive an average increase of 18 percent in employefr contributions towardtheir pensions, as well as improvements in shifgt differentials. The new labor agreement will cover licensedpracticall nurses, nurse attendants, environmental and service workers, maintenancr and clerical staff. According to the union, contract negotiations broke off June 24 over issue s of wage equity and retirement Employees had been working without a contract for a monthn whiletalks continued. Negotiations begaj in February.
A federal mediatod joined the talksin May. The hospital, formerly knowh as Inter-Community Memorial Hospital, is located on Williaj Street in Newfane. Inter-Community merger with Lockport Memorial Hospitakl earlier this year to form Easter nNiagara Hospital. The union blamed the merge on inequities between the Lockport andNewfane sites. In a prepared statement, uniob officials said they were satisfied withthe outcome. “We feel that this a fair contractr that provides wage increases and improvexdretirement benefits,” said Don administrative organizer.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
N.J. tax amnesty brings revenue windfall - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:
ysynut.wordpress.com
New Jersey expected to generats $100 million when the 45-day program was launched, but at its closde last week had collected morethan $600 million in back taxes owed. Final revenue could increase byanother $50 million to $100 million once the remaining 17,500 envelopes are opene and processed, the Governor’s Office New Jersey’s program, which ran from May 4 to June 15, permittef those owing back taxes from Jan. 1, 2002 and to Feb. 1, to settle up without penalty and for half theinteres owed. Of the collections processed to date, 56 percent were for the corporatio nbusiness tax, 23 percent for salezs and use taxes and 14 percent for gross income tax.
A vote on a finaol budget for New Jersey isexpected Gov. Jon S. Corzine would like to see the additionalo revenue be put towarx propertytax relief, which was slated to be eliminater for all but seniors and the disableds to address an up to $9 billiomn deficit in fiscal year 2010. In state Rep. John C. Bear, R-Lancaster, is pitchinfg legislation for a one-timre tax amnesty program as a budget fix for his The bill would permita 90-day tax amnesty period durinv 2009-10 fiscal year. The bill is in the House Finance Committee. “New Jersey has confirme that this is a perfect time for a tax amnestyy program to succeedin Pennsylvania,” said Bear. “We are facinbg a $3.
2 billion budget deficif and New Jersey’s successfulp program should vividly illustrate that such a prograk can collect hundreds of millions in or more, already owed to the Pennsylvania’s last tax amnesty which occured more than a decade ago, brought in $93 Bear said. Revenue from a tax amnesty program couls be used to addressathe state’s budget instead of Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposak to raise the state income taxfrom 3.07 percen to 3.57 percent, Bear said. The governor’z proposed 16 percent increase in the personakl income tax rate would generatdeabout $1.5 billion a year in new revenure and amount to aboutr $250 more per year for a famil earning $50,000.
“Now — during this dire budget crisisx — is the time for a new tax amnest program to be put in Bear said.
New Jersey expected to generats $100 million when the 45-day program was launched, but at its closde last week had collected morethan $600 million in back taxes owed. Final revenue could increase byanother $50 million to $100 million once the remaining 17,500 envelopes are opene and processed, the Governor’s Office New Jersey’s program, which ran from May 4 to June 15, permittef those owing back taxes from Jan. 1, 2002 and to Feb. 1, to settle up without penalty and for half theinteres owed. Of the collections processed to date, 56 percent were for the corporatio nbusiness tax, 23 percent for salezs and use taxes and 14 percent for gross income tax.
A vote on a finaol budget for New Jersey isexpected Gov. Jon S. Corzine would like to see the additionalo revenue be put towarx propertytax relief, which was slated to be eliminater for all but seniors and the disableds to address an up to $9 billiomn deficit in fiscal year 2010. In state Rep. John C. Bear, R-Lancaster, is pitchinfg legislation for a one-timre tax amnesty program as a budget fix for his The bill would permita 90-day tax amnesty period durinv 2009-10 fiscal year. The bill is in the House Finance Committee. “New Jersey has confirme that this is a perfect time for a tax amnestyy program to succeedin Pennsylvania,” said Bear. “We are facinbg a $3.
2 billion budget deficif and New Jersey’s successfulp program should vividly illustrate that such a prograk can collect hundreds of millions in or more, already owed to the Pennsylvania’s last tax amnesty which occured more than a decade ago, brought in $93 Bear said. Revenue from a tax amnesty program couls be used to addressathe state’s budget instead of Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposak to raise the state income taxfrom 3.07 percen to 3.57 percent, Bear said. The governor’z proposed 16 percent increase in the personakl income tax rate would generatdeabout $1.5 billion a year in new revenure and amount to aboutr $250 more per year for a famil earning $50,000.
“Now — during this dire budget crisisx — is the time for a new tax amnest program to be put in Bear said.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
TECO Energy outlook remains strong - Washington Business Journal:
ignatiywulyxura.blogspot.com
billion in debt held by and subsidiarieesand Co. The rating is supported by the underlying strengthhof TECO’s regulated electric and gas utility from which it derives stablew cash distributions to meet its funding requirements, Fitcyh said a release. Tampza Electric continues to post strongcreditf metrics, it maintains solid operatingg performance and it benefits from Florida’s constructive regulatorhy environment, Fitch said. Fitch is concerned, however, abourt slowing customer growth atTampa Electric. But the companh has responded to slower growth by postponint projects to increaseelectric capacity.
Anotherr concern for Fitch is cash flow deterioratiobn atTECO (NYSE: TE) Guatemals because of the adverse rate order in 2008, unplannefd outages at the San Jose plant, uncertainty over the extension of a purchasedr power agreement, and the potential for deferred or renegotiated contracts because of declining market prices, higher productionj costs and slumping demand for TECO Coal and TECO Guatemala provide roughly 20 percent of the parent company’s consolidated earnings beforer interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, Fitch Credit ratios at Tampa Electric should benefit from higherf base rates in 2009 and 2010 as a resulg of a $138 million rate order approved in Fitch said.
In addition, an affiliate waterborne transportation agreement that reduced Tampa Electric’s annual net income by $10 million in priorr years is expiring. Fitch expects coverage ratios to remainh relatively strong with funds from operations coverage at nearly five timesin 2009. TECO Coal is expectex to benefit from higher priced contracts signedin 2008. soft coal demand and higher miningg production costs at TECO Coal raiss the risks ofcontractual non-performances by counter-parties and pressured margins. Diverse regulatory orders and operatinb issues at the Guatemalan operations will result in dividend distributions that are lower thanhistoricf levels.
TECO's liquidity positionm is considered strong, Fitch said. Cash and cash equivalente were $34.9 million and available credit facilities were $530 million as of March 31. Liquidity was enhancerd by a netoperating loss-tasx carry forward of $547.5 million as of Dec. 31, whichy is expected to result in minimal cash tax payment sthrough 2012. In TECO's $100 million note maturing in 2010 is expecter to be retired withinternal cash. Positive rating actiobn could result in the futurwe from consolidated leverage ratio reduction in 2010 and higher cash flowds from a full year of higher base ratesd in 2010 and effectivecost control.
billion in debt held by and subsidiarieesand Co. The rating is supported by the underlying strengthhof TECO’s regulated electric and gas utility from which it derives stablew cash distributions to meet its funding requirements, Fitcyh said a release. Tampza Electric continues to post strongcreditf metrics, it maintains solid operatingg performance and it benefits from Florida’s constructive regulatorhy environment, Fitch said. Fitch is concerned, however, abourt slowing customer growth atTampa Electric. But the companh has responded to slower growth by postponint projects to increaseelectric capacity.
Anotherr concern for Fitch is cash flow deterioratiobn atTECO (NYSE: TE) Guatemals because of the adverse rate order in 2008, unplannefd outages at the San Jose plant, uncertainty over the extension of a purchasedr power agreement, and the potential for deferred or renegotiated contracts because of declining market prices, higher productionj costs and slumping demand for TECO Coal and TECO Guatemala provide roughly 20 percent of the parent company’s consolidated earnings beforer interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, Fitch Credit ratios at Tampa Electric should benefit from higherf base rates in 2009 and 2010 as a resulg of a $138 million rate order approved in Fitch said.
In addition, an affiliate waterborne transportation agreement that reduced Tampa Electric’s annual net income by $10 million in priorr years is expiring. Fitch expects coverage ratios to remainh relatively strong with funds from operations coverage at nearly five timesin 2009. TECO Coal is expectex to benefit from higher priced contracts signedin 2008. soft coal demand and higher miningg production costs at TECO Coal raiss the risks ofcontractual non-performances by counter-parties and pressured margins. Diverse regulatory orders and operatinb issues at the Guatemalan operations will result in dividend distributions that are lower thanhistoricf levels.
TECO's liquidity positionm is considered strong, Fitch said. Cash and cash equivalente were $34.9 million and available credit facilities were $530 million as of March 31. Liquidity was enhancerd by a netoperating loss-tasx carry forward of $547.5 million as of Dec. 31, whichy is expected to result in minimal cash tax payment sthrough 2012. In TECO's $100 million note maturing in 2010 is expecter to be retired withinternal cash. Positive rating actiobn could result in the futurwe from consolidated leverage ratio reduction in 2010 and higher cash flowds from a full year of higher base ratesd in 2010 and effectivecost control.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Donnelly has sincere interest in serving people - The Coloradoan
ysynut.wordpress.com
Donnelly has sincere interest in serving people The Coloradoan During tough economic times like these, we need the leadership of good folks like Tom Donnelly looking out for our county. Tom's common-sense approach to county issues has proved effective over his past term. Tom's work to reduce expenses in the county ... |
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Resolute Games launching new iPhone app - St. Louis Business Journal:
lehoquvuhu.wordpress.com
Seven Deaths is a fighting game that follows the livez of eight characters through one night in Nagamachoi through a battle for controkl inthe city. The game includes full storiews of the characters anddetailed backgrounds. The game will also eventuallyu include updatesfor Wi-Fi multiplayer and socialk media. Resolute Games has also createdd otheriPhone applications, including “Segment” and “Elvis Mobile.” And Resolute gamers will now have new, faster devices to play on.
At its Worldwidee Developers Conference inSan Francisco, announced the next generation of which will download content threwe times faster than the currentg brand and will include a 3-megapixel autofocus camera. It also has voice-controk features and a built-in compass. The 3GS also has improved battery life with up to nine hourson WiFi, 10 hourse while watching video, 30 hours using 12 hours using 2G talk and five hours usinvg 3G talk. The new iPhone will be available in black and whits onJune 19. It will sell for $199 for a 16GB modelo and $299 for 32GB.
Seven Deaths is a fighting game that follows the livez of eight characters through one night in Nagamachoi through a battle for controkl inthe city. The game includes full storiews of the characters anddetailed backgrounds. The game will also eventuallyu include updatesfor Wi-Fi multiplayer and socialk media. Resolute Games has also createdd otheriPhone applications, including “Segment” and “Elvis Mobile.” And Resolute gamers will now have new, faster devices to play on.
At its Worldwidee Developers Conference inSan Francisco, announced the next generation of which will download content threwe times faster than the currentg brand and will include a 3-megapixel autofocus camera. It also has voice-controk features and a built-in compass. The 3GS also has improved battery life with up to nine hourson WiFi, 10 hourse while watching video, 30 hours using 12 hours using 2G talk and five hours usinvg 3G talk. The new iPhone will be available in black and whits onJune 19. It will sell for $199 for a 16GB modelo and $299 for 32GB.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Threatened Fish Returned to Southwest... - ABC News
qalymeled.wordpress.com
ABC News | Threatened Fish Returned to Southwest... ABC News After a few miles of sloshing around in metal containers on the backs of mules, the first batch of Gila trout has been safely returned to wilderness streams in southwestern New Mexico. The pack train will deliver another 3,000 of the federal protected ... Threatened fish returned to So uthwest wilderness |
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Insurers putting medical tourism plans to the test - Business Courier of Cincinnati:
ogarawo.wordpress.com
Now it includes doctor. When reports came out a few yearsz ago of Americans traveling to other countries for cheaper medical care, they were regardedx as an oddity. Now the idea of lookinh overseas for care is being or implemented, by companie s across the country and by major insurance companies including the largest carriers in Greater Cincinnati. Anthem parenft , based in Indianapolis, started a pilog this year giving certain patients the option of going to Indiasfor care. The program started with , a Wisconsin-bases provider of printed decorating solutions, and applies to certain commonjelective procedures, such as major joinft replacement and upper and lower back fusion.
Those procedures have to be performeed at designated facilities belongingto “an extended network of respected hospitales and health care providers in India,” according to WellPoint. All travep arrangements are covered underthe plan, for both the membef and a travel companion. “Depending on the findings from our piloyin Wisconsin, such as qualituy outcomes, member satisfaction and cost-savings, we will then decide the futured of the program,” said Deb spokeswoman for . McKinsey & Co., a New York-baserd national management consulting firm, estimated the medical touris m marketat 60,000 to 85,000 inpatient travelers a year.
The numbers are smalletr than othershave reported, owingh partly to McKinsey’s strict definition of what constitutez a medical tourist. Travelers had to be “people whosde primary and explicit purpose in traveling is medical treatment in aforeighn country” and not, for ordinary tourists who become sick. And the market is more complexz than the hypewouldf suggest. About 40 percent of medical travelers are not seeking cheapercare but, rather, advancede technology.
Most originate from Latin Europe, the Middle East and Canada and enter the United States for Only 9 percent of travelers are seeking lowed costs for medically necessary The medical tourism market is valueat $20 billion annuallg and should grow rapidly in coming author Josef Woodman has claimed. He wrote the book “Patientds Beyond Borders: Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-Clasa Medical Tourism.” Popular destinations for U.S. patients include India, Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica and Patients are commonly uninsuredor underinsured, Woodma has said, and patients can expect ratezs 25 percent to 75 percent less than those in the U.S.
That can amount to tens of thousands of dollars for major procedurea such as a hip replacement or a heartvalvre replacement. Patients often get treatment in state-of-the-art, even luxuriouz facilities, and often by U.S.-traineds doctors. Some have adde d credibility through accreditation bythe . Wiethop said WellPoinyt has no immediate plans to introduce a medica tourism option in Ohio orother markets. The insurer doesn’ t yet have results to reporfton Serigraph, a 600-employee But clearly the potential savings haven’tg escaped other major insurers.
another major playerr in Greater Cincinnati, “feels that it has an obligatiomn to look into this growing said United spokeswomanDebora Spano. But the carrier has no medica l tourismproduct yet. Among factorx to be considered beforeoffering one, Spanp said, are quality of care, pre- and post-medical management requirements, legal implicationes and patient privacy. “We must take a very prudent, thoughtfup approach,” she said.
Now it includes doctor. When reports came out a few yearsz ago of Americans traveling to other countries for cheaper medical care, they were regardedx as an oddity. Now the idea of lookinh overseas for care is being or implemented, by companie s across the country and by major insurance companies including the largest carriers in Greater Cincinnati. Anthem parenft , based in Indianapolis, started a pilog this year giving certain patients the option of going to Indiasfor care. The program started with , a Wisconsin-bases provider of printed decorating solutions, and applies to certain commonjelective procedures, such as major joinft replacement and upper and lower back fusion.
Those procedures have to be performeed at designated facilities belongingto “an extended network of respected hospitales and health care providers in India,” according to WellPoint. All travep arrangements are covered underthe plan, for both the membef and a travel companion. “Depending on the findings from our piloyin Wisconsin, such as qualituy outcomes, member satisfaction and cost-savings, we will then decide the futured of the program,” said Deb spokeswoman for . McKinsey & Co., a New York-baserd national management consulting firm, estimated the medical touris m marketat 60,000 to 85,000 inpatient travelers a year.
The numbers are smalletr than othershave reported, owingh partly to McKinsey’s strict definition of what constitutez a medical tourist. Travelers had to be “people whosde primary and explicit purpose in traveling is medical treatment in aforeighn country” and not, for ordinary tourists who become sick. And the market is more complexz than the hypewouldf suggest. About 40 percent of medical travelers are not seeking cheapercare but, rather, advancede technology.
Most originate from Latin Europe, the Middle East and Canada and enter the United States for Only 9 percent of travelers are seeking lowed costs for medically necessary The medical tourism market is valueat $20 billion annuallg and should grow rapidly in coming author Josef Woodman has claimed. He wrote the book “Patientds Beyond Borders: Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-Clasa Medical Tourism.” Popular destinations for U.S. patients include India, Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica and Patients are commonly uninsuredor underinsured, Woodma has said, and patients can expect ratezs 25 percent to 75 percent less than those in the U.S.
That can amount to tens of thousands of dollars for major procedurea such as a hip replacement or a heartvalvre replacement. Patients often get treatment in state-of-the-art, even luxuriouz facilities, and often by U.S.-traineds doctors. Some have adde d credibility through accreditation bythe . Wiethop said WellPoinyt has no immediate plans to introduce a medica tourism option in Ohio orother markets. The insurer doesn’ t yet have results to reporfton Serigraph, a 600-employee But clearly the potential savings haven’tg escaped other major insurers.
another major playerr in Greater Cincinnati, “feels that it has an obligatiomn to look into this growing said United spokeswomanDebora Spano. But the carrier has no medica l tourismproduct yet. Among factorx to be considered beforeoffering one, Spanp said, are quality of care, pre- and post-medical management requirements, legal implicationes and patient privacy. “We must take a very prudent, thoughtfup approach,” she said.
Monday, October 29, 2012
No US stock, bond trading Monday, Tuesday - USA TODAY
lebexab.wordpress.com
New Zealand Herald | No US stock, bond trading Monday, Tuesday USA TODAY Kabir Bindra and his pet dog walk by the George Washington statue across from the New York Stock Exchange along nearly deserted W » |
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Albany officials promote small-scale apartment conversions - The Business Review (Albany):
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One example is at 370 Broadway, across from the Administration The upper three floors of thelate 19th-century buildingb are being converted into six, 1,400-square-foot to 1,600-square-foot apartments that will rent for $1,800 this fall. A commercial tenant will be sought for thefirstf floor. The owners dubbed the apartments The Meginniss in honor of the old electricao company whose name graces the rear of the buildinv in big white letters that have fadedover time. The sign is painte d over the red brick facades and must be preserved becausew the property was built in 1898 and is in ahistoric district. Financint small projects can be just as trickyg as thelarge ones.
Even though the owners were armecd with a feasibility study showing the potentiallfor apartments, they weren’t able to get a bank loan becausee the real estate market had soured. “Nobody wanter to finance this project,” said Mike Hannah, a tax attorney and certifiedepublic accountant. “One lendedr wanted us to put inanothere $500,000 first.” Hannah and his partners ultimately got $1 million in privatwe financing from sources in the Bostoj area.
The interest-only construction loan enabled them to buy materialz and hire contractors to start the The apartments are located in a part of the city that coulds see big changes in yearws to come if a proposed convention center evergets built. Plansa call for the center to be located on the parking lots behins the row of buildings that includes370 Broadway. The decrepiyt Trailways bus station next to 370 Broadway would be demolishexd to make way for a pedestriah plaza leading to the convention Hannah and hispartneres aren’t counting on the convention center to make the apartmentz a success.
There have been many delays in the conventiohn centerplanning and, as of now, no commitment from Gov. Davifd Paterson to fund the entire $230 million “I stopped even thinking about it,” said who owns the building with his Michele Hannah, and another couple, Brenda Gould and Perry Gould. The Hannahds used to run a commercialk print shop on the first floor but sold it four yearzs ago whenbusiness declined. The Gould s became part owners of the property infall 2006. The partnersz are convinced there will be strong demancd for the apartments from young professionals and emptyy nesters who want tolive downtown.
Thoswe are the same demographic groupss that other developers have been though the tough financing climatr has stalled or killedtwo large, high-profile downtown developments over the past Plans for the 125-unit , a luxurgy condominium tower on north Broadway have been shelved, although says it hasn’tt given up. Nearby, plans for an upscale 175-unit apartmenft building and 125-room hotel are on hold whilw the land owner tries to sell thedevelopment Small-scale residential projects are less profitable, but they are also more Over the past five or six there have been several conversions of upper-floof buildings into apartments within the boundariews of the Downtown Business Improvement Many projects have been partially subsidizecd by grants and low-cost loans administered by the , the and the stat Division of Housing and Communityt Renewal.
“We’re very encouraged that these propert y owners are doingthe six- to 10-uni t conversions and they have a waiting list of people to leass them,” said BID Executive Director Pam “It demonstrates there is a demandf for downtown living.” Officials are trying to get more developersz interested. Nearly 200 people attendef a forum in March at to learn abouty financial assistance and properties available for Besides370 Broadway, another conversioj is underway: the upper floors of 23 Norty Pearl St., above a Quizno’s, are beinb renovated into seven apartments by Gus Moutopoulosd and Steve Moutopoulos.
Also, Rosenblum Development want to converta four-story former warehousr and car dealership on Chapel Street into a seven-story, 20-unitt high-end condo. Like with any construction there are unforeseen problems once the work The budget for Meginniss Flats has balloonedxto $1.5 million, about $500,000 more than what was projected by a feasibilituy study done by the Other financing is coming from federal and states historic tax credits worth about $390,000 and a $60,000 New York Main Streett grant. The 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath units will have amenities that urban dwellers expect, such as hardwood floors, exposed bricko walls, granite counter tops and a high-tecuh security system.
For the time being, the apartments lack two othercritical elements: cablr TV and high-speed Internet access. The building is not servicedr by , a fact that surprisefd the developers after they were well into the Cable service might be available once ther e are people living inthe building, said Peter a Time Warner official.
One example is at 370 Broadway, across from the Administration The upper three floors of thelate 19th-century buildingb are being converted into six, 1,400-square-foot to 1,600-square-foot apartments that will rent for $1,800 this fall. A commercial tenant will be sought for thefirstf floor. The owners dubbed the apartments The Meginniss in honor of the old electricao company whose name graces the rear of the buildinv in big white letters that have fadedover time. The sign is painte d over the red brick facades and must be preserved becausew the property was built in 1898 and is in ahistoric district. Financint small projects can be just as trickyg as thelarge ones.
Even though the owners were armecd with a feasibility study showing the potentiallfor apartments, they weren’t able to get a bank loan becausee the real estate market had soured. “Nobody wanter to finance this project,” said Mike Hannah, a tax attorney and certifiedepublic accountant. “One lendedr wanted us to put inanothere $500,000 first.” Hannah and his partners ultimately got $1 million in privatwe financing from sources in the Bostoj area.
The interest-only construction loan enabled them to buy materialz and hire contractors to start the The apartments are located in a part of the city that coulds see big changes in yearws to come if a proposed convention center evergets built. Plansa call for the center to be located on the parking lots behins the row of buildings that includes370 Broadway. The decrepiyt Trailways bus station next to 370 Broadway would be demolishexd to make way for a pedestriah plaza leading to the convention Hannah and hispartneres aren’t counting on the convention center to make the apartmentz a success.
There have been many delays in the conventiohn centerplanning and, as of now, no commitment from Gov. Davifd Paterson to fund the entire $230 million “I stopped even thinking about it,” said who owns the building with his Michele Hannah, and another couple, Brenda Gould and Perry Gould. The Hannahds used to run a commercialk print shop on the first floor but sold it four yearzs ago whenbusiness declined. The Gould s became part owners of the property infall 2006. The partnersz are convinced there will be strong demancd for the apartments from young professionals and emptyy nesters who want tolive downtown.
Thoswe are the same demographic groupss that other developers have been though the tough financing climatr has stalled or killedtwo large, high-profile downtown developments over the past Plans for the 125-unit , a luxurgy condominium tower on north Broadway have been shelved, although says it hasn’tt given up. Nearby, plans for an upscale 175-unit apartmenft building and 125-room hotel are on hold whilw the land owner tries to sell thedevelopment Small-scale residential projects are less profitable, but they are also more Over the past five or six there have been several conversions of upper-floof buildings into apartments within the boundariews of the Downtown Business Improvement Many projects have been partially subsidizecd by grants and low-cost loans administered by the , the and the stat Division of Housing and Communityt Renewal.
“We’re very encouraged that these propert y owners are doingthe six- to 10-uni t conversions and they have a waiting list of people to leass them,” said BID Executive Director Pam “It demonstrates there is a demandf for downtown living.” Officials are trying to get more developersz interested. Nearly 200 people attendef a forum in March at to learn abouty financial assistance and properties available for Besides370 Broadway, another conversioj is underway: the upper floors of 23 Norty Pearl St., above a Quizno’s, are beinb renovated into seven apartments by Gus Moutopoulosd and Steve Moutopoulos.
Also, Rosenblum Development want to converta four-story former warehousr and car dealership on Chapel Street into a seven-story, 20-unitt high-end condo. Like with any construction there are unforeseen problems once the work The budget for Meginniss Flats has balloonedxto $1.5 million, about $500,000 more than what was projected by a feasibilituy study done by the Other financing is coming from federal and states historic tax credits worth about $390,000 and a $60,000 New York Main Streett grant. The 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath units will have amenities that urban dwellers expect, such as hardwood floors, exposed bricko walls, granite counter tops and a high-tecuh security system.
For the time being, the apartments lack two othercritical elements: cablr TV and high-speed Internet access. The building is not servicedr by , a fact that surprisefd the developers after they were well into the Cable service might be available once ther e are people living inthe building, said Peter a Time Warner official.
Friday, October 26, 2012
TU identifies laid off workers - Business Courier of Cincinnati:
ovaluleq.wordpress.com
, the paper’s New York City-basex owner, according to a post on the AlbanuNewspaper Guild’s blog The guild represents about half of the paper’sz 400 workers, and has been engaged in contract negotiationz with management for nearly a No definite numbers are available, but abour 35 people are expected to lose their jobs. Publishert George Hearst originally put the count at 65to 70, but 33 peopl e have taken buyouts since May. The papee is trying to cut expenses by20 percent. According to the guildr site, employees—both union and nonunion—whp were shown the door were told they were gettinga 45-dahy paid leave that would most likely resulft in their being laid off.
Union rulezs require that workers get 45 days notice of their jobsbeing eliminated. Management and Guild leaderx are scheduled to meet July 8 to continue theifr negotiation oflayoff criterion. The paper presentecd its proposed terms to the union inlate June. The union’s original contract, whicjh expired in August, mandated that layoffd be based solely on seniorityby department. Managementr said that would not meetits needs, leadinfg to the primary sticking pointf in the negotiation of a new pact. It urged the unionh to vote onits “besr and final” offer, which was rejected by a vote of 125 to 35.
This promptede management to declarean which, in turn, promptedc the union to file a grievancd with the National Labor Relations On June 24, management told the unionh that in some job categories the layoffs would be made strictl y on a last-hired-first-fired basis. But in 11 job categories—nine in editorial and two in salezand marketing—cuts will be based on other including job performance. Calls to Tim a Times Union reporter and Guild and publisher George Hearst were notimmediately returned.
, the paper’s New York City-basex owner, according to a post on the AlbanuNewspaper Guild’s blog The guild represents about half of the paper’sz 400 workers, and has been engaged in contract negotiationz with management for nearly a No definite numbers are available, but abour 35 people are expected to lose their jobs. Publishert George Hearst originally put the count at 65to 70, but 33 peopl e have taken buyouts since May. The papee is trying to cut expenses by20 percent. According to the guildr site, employees—both union and nonunion—whp were shown the door were told they were gettinga 45-dahy paid leave that would most likely resulft in their being laid off.
Union rulezs require that workers get 45 days notice of their jobsbeing eliminated. Management and Guild leaderx are scheduled to meet July 8 to continue theifr negotiation oflayoff criterion. The paper presentecd its proposed terms to the union inlate June. The union’s original contract, whicjh expired in August, mandated that layoffd be based solely on seniorityby department. Managementr said that would not meetits needs, leadinfg to the primary sticking pointf in the negotiation of a new pact. It urged the unionh to vote onits “besr and final” offer, which was rejected by a vote of 125 to 35.
This promptede management to declarean which, in turn, promptedc the union to file a grievancd with the National Labor Relations On June 24, management told the unionh that in some job categories the layoffs would be made strictl y on a last-hired-first-fired basis. But in 11 job categories—nine in editorial and two in salezand marketing—cuts will be based on other including job performance. Calls to Tim a Times Union reporter and Guild and publisher George Hearst were notimmediately returned.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Seattle Bank placed under stricter fed, state scrutiny - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):
humojo.wordpress.com
At the same time, Seattle Bank is in formal talks for a privates equityinfusion — a boon that would help boost its capitap levels, said Ellen Sas, the bank’s presidenty and chief executive. Many community banks acrosss Washington are searching for private equity deals as they struggl amid thefinancial downturn. But none has been able to securrefunding yet. Sas couldn’t release details of the pendin private equity deal atSeattle Bank, but said it would requir e the bank to give up at least two board The bank is hoping to close the deal by the end of September. Sas said she’s cautious about the outcome because of theweakenedr economy.
“We’re running our business as if we’re not getting it,” she As part of its cease-and-desist Seattle Bank — formerly Seattle Savings Bank has to boost its capital levelz within120 days. The bank is already consideresd “well-capitalized” by regulatory standards, but “in this environment, the regulatorw are not comfortable withmost banks’ capital levels,” Sas said.
The privately-held bank also has to whittles down its level of brokereddeposits — a type of deposir that is considered unstable by regulators because it was brokeredd by an outside meaning there’s a highee risk a customer could move those depositsd out of the bank. Last year, about 85 percent of Seattle Bank’s depositz were brokered. That number has sincse been reduced to50 percent, or about $310 said Sas. Meanwhile, the bank has addedd $234 million in retail deposits since last Seattle Bank is now theninth Washington-based financial institutioj to come under stricter regulatorg enforcement, signaling the continued downturn of the financiaol industry across the state.
The bank, with five branches, is the thire privately held institution in Washington to receivea cease-and-desisrt order in the last year. Like other banke operating undersimilar orders, Seattle Bank must work to cleaer its balance sheet of problem loans and boostr its capital levels to protect against furthefr defaults. Because it is a private bank, the detailx of its agreement with regulators will not be formerly released until laterthis summer, accordinf to a company spokesman. Seattle with $775 million in assets, posted a $1.9 million loss in the firsyt quarter, according to its most receng earnings report posted byfederal regulators. It charged-off $2.
3 million on bad residentialp construction loans and posteds a provision against further lossesof $2.8 million. Seattled Bank’s announcement follows Lynnwood-based ’s disclosure last week that it is also operatingf undera cease-and-desist order.
At the same time, Seattle Bank is in formal talks for a privates equityinfusion — a boon that would help boost its capitap levels, said Ellen Sas, the bank’s presidenty and chief executive. Many community banks acrosss Washington are searching for private equity deals as they struggl amid thefinancial downturn. But none has been able to securrefunding yet. Sas couldn’t release details of the pendin private equity deal atSeattle Bank, but said it would requir e the bank to give up at least two board The bank is hoping to close the deal by the end of September. Sas said she’s cautious about the outcome because of theweakenedr economy.
“We’re running our business as if we’re not getting it,” she As part of its cease-and-desist Seattle Bank — formerly Seattle Savings Bank has to boost its capital levelz within120 days. The bank is already consideresd “well-capitalized” by regulatory standards, but “in this environment, the regulatorw are not comfortable withmost banks’ capital levels,” Sas said.
The privately-held bank also has to whittles down its level of brokereddeposits — a type of deposir that is considered unstable by regulators because it was brokeredd by an outside meaning there’s a highee risk a customer could move those depositsd out of the bank. Last year, about 85 percent of Seattle Bank’s depositz were brokered. That number has sincse been reduced to50 percent, or about $310 said Sas. Meanwhile, the bank has addedd $234 million in retail deposits since last Seattle Bank is now theninth Washington-based financial institutioj to come under stricter regulatorg enforcement, signaling the continued downturn of the financiaol industry across the state.
The bank, with five branches, is the thire privately held institution in Washington to receivea cease-and-desisrt order in the last year. Like other banke operating undersimilar orders, Seattle Bank must work to cleaer its balance sheet of problem loans and boostr its capital levels to protect against furthefr defaults. Because it is a private bank, the detailx of its agreement with regulators will not be formerly released until laterthis summer, accordinf to a company spokesman. Seattle with $775 million in assets, posted a $1.9 million loss in the firsyt quarter, according to its most receng earnings report posted byfederal regulators. It charged-off $2.
3 million on bad residentialp construction loans and posteds a provision against further lossesof $2.8 million. Seattled Bank’s announcement follows Lynnwood-based ’s disclosure last week that it is also operatingf undera cease-and-desist order.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Report: Anheuser-Busch InBev to sell 11 European breweries - Jacksonville Business Journal:
cahijisebi.wordpress.com
Le Soir said the world’s largest brewer was sellingb its central European operations because it is fragmentedand non-strategixc and plans to focus on its north and south Americam operations instead, according to Reuters. The breweriea are in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Serbia and , Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and are amongf private equity groups that have expressed interest in the the Financial Times of Londonreported Monday. A-B InBefv wants to sell off assets as it triese to raise money to reducer the debt it took on when itboughyt St.
Louis-based Anheuser-Busch last year for $52 “We are contemplating disposals of certain asset tohelp re-finance the acquisition of as previously announced,” Marianne an A-B InBev spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail to the Busineses Journal. “However, we cannot comment at this stage on whicbh businesses specifically wouldbe considered. Anheuser-Busch InBev'a decision will be based on a diligent review of the strategix and financial consequences ofany divestment, with the goal of creatint the best opportunities and valud for all constituents. We will not comment on who has approachecd us forwhich assets.
” In April, A-B InBef reached an agreement to to Kohlber g Kravis Roberts. There has also been wide speculation thatthe company's Buscbh Entertainment unit will also eventually be sold off. Busch Entertainment is the familty entertainment divisionof Anheuser-Busch InBev, is basedc in Orlando and operates nine theme parkes across the country, hosting more than 25 million guestsd per year. Three of Busch Entertainment Corp.’s park s — Busch Gardens Tampa, SeaWorld and SeaWorld San Diego — operatw year round. The company’s remaining parks are seasonal with varyinbopening dates.
Le Soir said the world’s largest brewer was sellingb its central European operations because it is fragmentedand non-strategixc and plans to focus on its north and south Americam operations instead, according to Reuters. The breweriea are in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Serbia and , Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and are amongf private equity groups that have expressed interest in the the Financial Times of Londonreported Monday. A-B InBefv wants to sell off assets as it triese to raise money to reducer the debt it took on when itboughyt St.
Louis-based Anheuser-Busch last year for $52 “We are contemplating disposals of certain asset tohelp re-finance the acquisition of as previously announced,” Marianne an A-B InBev spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail to the Busineses Journal. “However, we cannot comment at this stage on whicbh businesses specifically wouldbe considered. Anheuser-Busch InBev'a decision will be based on a diligent review of the strategix and financial consequences ofany divestment, with the goal of creatint the best opportunities and valud for all constituents. We will not comment on who has approachecd us forwhich assets.
” In April, A-B InBef reached an agreement to to Kohlber g Kravis Roberts. There has also been wide speculation thatthe company's Buscbh Entertainment unit will also eventually be sold off. Busch Entertainment is the familty entertainment divisionof Anheuser-Busch InBev, is basedc in Orlando and operates nine theme parkes across the country, hosting more than 25 million guestsd per year. Three of Busch Entertainment Corp.’s park s — Busch Gardens Tampa, SeaWorld and SeaWorld San Diego — operatw year round. The company’s remaining parks are seasonal with varyinbopening dates.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Iridium earnings fall 42%; revenue up - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:
ramoledef.blogspot.com
The Bethesda-based provider of satellite telephone which expects to become publicly traded this summer througan acquisition, posted a 42 percent decline in net incomse in the first quarter ended March 31, to $9.7 millionh from $16.7 million a year ago. Th company attribute d the decline to costs related toits next-generation satellitre program. “Iridium continued to grow, althoughg the pace slowed given the current economic climate,” said CEO Matt Desch.
“In addition to the impactg of phasing out equipment we believe the economi climate is affecting equipment as is the transition of newly introducexd products into the distribution channel as our partnere move existing inventory to make way for new Company officials sayeither Bethesda-based Lockheec Martin or Thales Alenia Space will be selectedf as the program’s lead contractor this The program’s new network of satellites calledf Iridium NEXT is expected to be deployed in 2014.
Iridiujm NEXT will provide higherdata speeds, greatefr bandwidth and the potential to delived new data services and applications to The company says its EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, increased 4.9 percent to $27.6t million in the first quarter, up from $26.3 million a year ago, thouguh most analysts do not use that as a reliable financiap measure. Iridium’s revenue rose 2 percent to $75.8i million for the quarter, compared to $74.3 million for the firsgt quarter 2008. The slightly higher revenue came from increase commercial services revenueof $36.u million but was offset by a decline in subscriber equipment revenue to $20.
million for the quarter. Iridium’as commercial markets include aviation and landmobile customers, which grew by 11.5 percent for the The company’s sales to government customers, including the Departmeng of Defense, grew 31 percent. Despite a 31 percent increase in subscribersto 328,000, compared to 250,000 in the firsyt quarter of 2008, a $2 million amortization of equipmentt related to prior year equipment sales, added to the decline in subscribee equipment revenue. The company is planningf to go publicthis summer, but it is not takinv the initial public offering route. It is acquirinyg a publicly tradedinvestment (NYX: GHQ), an affiliate of Greenhill & Co.
Iridiunm has retained Deutsche Bank as its financial adviserf forthe transaction.
The Bethesda-based provider of satellite telephone which expects to become publicly traded this summer througan acquisition, posted a 42 percent decline in net incomse in the first quarter ended March 31, to $9.7 millionh from $16.7 million a year ago. Th company attribute d the decline to costs related toits next-generation satellitre program. “Iridium continued to grow, althoughg the pace slowed given the current economic climate,” said CEO Matt Desch.
“In addition to the impactg of phasing out equipment we believe the economi climate is affecting equipment as is the transition of newly introducexd products into the distribution channel as our partnere move existing inventory to make way for new Company officials sayeither Bethesda-based Lockheec Martin or Thales Alenia Space will be selectedf as the program’s lead contractor this The program’s new network of satellites calledf Iridium NEXT is expected to be deployed in 2014.
Iridiujm NEXT will provide higherdata speeds, greatefr bandwidth and the potential to delived new data services and applications to The company says its EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, increased 4.9 percent to $27.6t million in the first quarter, up from $26.3 million a year ago, thouguh most analysts do not use that as a reliable financiap measure. Iridium’s revenue rose 2 percent to $75.8i million for the quarter, compared to $74.3 million for the firsgt quarter 2008. The slightly higher revenue came from increase commercial services revenueof $36.u million but was offset by a decline in subscriber equipment revenue to $20.
million for the quarter. Iridium’as commercial markets include aviation and landmobile customers, which grew by 11.5 percent for the The company’s sales to government customers, including the Departmeng of Defense, grew 31 percent. Despite a 31 percent increase in subscribersto 328,000, compared to 250,000 in the firsyt quarter of 2008, a $2 million amortization of equipmentt related to prior year equipment sales, added to the decline in subscribee equipment revenue. The company is planningf to go publicthis summer, but it is not takinv the initial public offering route. It is acquirinyg a publicly tradedinvestment (NYX: GHQ), an affiliate of Greenhill & Co.
Iridiunm has retained Deutsche Bank as its financial adviserf forthe transaction.
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