Thursday, March 31, 2011

Tina Montgomery and Jennifer Hanseler

http://onlythebest4u.info/category/4.html
Now they deliver fish. Theitr Seattle company Surfin’ Seafood isn’t large, but it has strucki a chord among upscale consumers willing to pay a littlse morefor high-end seafood that has been flash-frozen to stay fresh, and that is delivered to their After gradual but steady growth, Seafood now has about 1,200 customers, in an area ranginv from Federal Way to Everett. Revenuwe reached $250,000 last year and continues to although the customer count has hit a With an eye to familyylife (both are married and have two childremn each), Montgomery and Hansele have carefully set boundaries so that their businesa can be worked around theidr children’s school and athletic schedules, and eveningsw at home.
For instance they don’t take phone orders, but only over the And they deliver onlyonce monthly, drivin g their family minivans to delivee selections of frozen fish packed in blue plastic coolerzs that look like big lunchboxes. The company has avoided debt and has only modesrgrowth plans. “Really, we don’ft want to be huge. We’re going to take it as it We have been on a very steadgrowth path, consistently from the very beginning,” Montgomeru said.
“We don’t want to have venture capital fundinv to become this hugenationwide (leader) in One of the company’s chief selling points is seafoo d that is frozen quickly to keep it as fresh as So-called fresh seafood often has perched on a pile of ice for and in these conditions seafood rapidly declines in Seafood doesn’t age well like beef does, and frozeh seafood is not a step down from as it is with produce. “A lot is frozebn at sea, or within hours of and it capturesthat just-caught flavor,” said Linda assistant retail director for the , based in Juneau.
Surfin’ Seafoo d isn’t exactly cheap; the “mini” package costws $110 a month for abourt eight pounds ofassorted salmon, prawns, sole and tuna. The company avoidws lower-end seafood products (no fish sticks and allows people to substitute in theie ordersby email. One recession-era tren the company is tapping is that consumerxs are moving awayfrom white-tablecloth restaurants where most high-quality seafood is eaten — to eating at “I just think people are eating at home and they want to make it easy to have high-qualitt ingredients at home, so they can eat at home more Montgomery said. “This is a way to have restauranrtquality fish, at home.
” While the compang employs only the two partners and sometimez a helper, and sometimes their children, a key to makingg it work is the South Seattle seafoo d packer Surfin’ Seafood uses T.H. Seafood freezers to store its seafood, and also contractss out the cutting and packing tothe T.H. Seafood Corp. Sales Director Cliff Davenport said he was at firsyt dubious aboutthe proposal, when the partners approached him to supplyt and pack their seafood. “It only took two but we decided they’re really nice They’re in the same mindset of producing a quality product and guaranteeing it when it goes outthe door,” he “So we took them on.
” Davenport said that his warehouses has enough room to store their frozen productw as well as their coolers, adding that his own staf f does the cutting and packing. “They don’ t interfere with our side, and pretty much they have theidr ownlittle space. We have enoughg room everyone can function without disrupting everybody he said. As for Surfin’ Seafood, the partners say they’rre just riding out the economic “We think this next year or two we want to be Hanseler said.
“We’d love to but really if we coulf keepit steady, we’re kind of

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Allstate says Birmingham drivers among best - Birmingham Business Journal:

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The Magic City ranked 22nd overall when comparec to 193 cities acrossthe U.S. Accordingh to the report, the averagr driver in Birmingham will experience an auto collisioj every11 years. Birmingham’s average between accidentd is 9.5 percent better than the national averagw of10 years. Birmingham’s 22nd-place ranking is higher than its 29th placr ranking in 2007 and 26th in but an improvement overits 10th-placd spot in 2005 and 15th in 2006. Birmingham drivers have been estimated to experience an auto collision everu 11 years for several years inthe study. The highestt estimate Birmingham had recently wasevery 12.4 years in the 2005 followed by 11.8 in 2006, 11.5 in 2007 and 11.
6 in 2008. Birmingham ranks ninth among cities withbetweebn 200,000 to 499,999 population. It ranked fifth-best among all Southerj cities in the2009 study. “Drivers in Birmingham are making great progress towarrkeeping America’s roadways safer,” said Alabama Territory Sales Leader Ken Needham in a statement. “Wes salute Birmingham’s best drivers and recognizr their safe driving which make all of our communities safer placesto live, work and raise

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Mercy system to buy Jewish Hospital - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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The two entities will begin exclusive negotiations to come to a definitivedpurchase agreement, according to a news The process is expected to take four to six and is also subject to various regulatory approvals. Mercy Health Partners partners operates five in Fairfield, Western Hills, Mountr Airy, Anderson Township and Clermont along with outpatient and other health care-related facilities. The purchasew of Jewish, located in Kenwood, will give the syste m a presence in the northeasternnCincinnati suburbs. "We are always workinb to provide high-quality care.
One of the missingy ingredients in covering the Greater Cincinnat area wasthe I-71 corridor," said Jamesz May, CEO of Mercy Health in the release. Jewish Hospital will also join CatholidcHealthcare Partners, the Cincinnati-based parent of the Mercy Mercy recently won approval from Green Township trusteesd to build a new hospital near North Bend Road and Interstatde 74. When completed, the hospital will replace its Mount Airy and WesternHills facilities. The , of whichy Jewish is a voting member along with University and FortHamiltom hospitals, had been considering acquiring the hospital as A purchase would have made it a property in the hospitall group, like and the .
But in February, the said it woulsd also considerother partners, whiler continuing discussions with the Health Alliance.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Existing month-to-month home sales increase for first time since September 2005 - South Florida Business Journal:

http://www.interstellarmissions.com/keck1.html
On Tuesday, the released its monthly reporfton existing-home sales. The report showed the first month-to-monthh increase since September 2005. Sales of existingh single-family homes, townhomes, condominiumas and co-ops rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rateof 4.77 milliobn units in May, a 2.4 percenf increase from 4.66 milliobn in April, according to NAR. The May 2009 figures are 3.6 percent lower than a year ago, when the pace was 4.95 In the announcement, NAR’s chief Lawrence Yun, said low mortgagee rates, lower purchase prices and the federal tax crediyfor first-time buyers helped spur sales.
“However, the increasee in sales is less than expected because poor appraisalx arestalling transactions,” Yun “Pending home sales indicated much strongeer activity, but some contract are falling through from faulthy valuations that keep buyers from getting a While existing home sales mortgage originations are coming in loweer than previously forecast. On Monday, the lowere its forecast of mortgage originations in 2009 by morethan $700 citing lower purchase prices, more cash purchases, lower refinancintg rates and lower volume in the Fannie Mae and Freddies Mac Home Affordable Refinance Program. The association now expects mortgagew originations tototal $2.
03 trillion in 2009. As part of its the MBA studieshome sales. It is forecastingg 4.8 million existing home sales in a 1.2 percent decline from 2008, and 352,0009 new home sales, a decline of about 27 “Median home prices for new and existing homezs will likely continue to dropping by about 10 percent from 2008 but leveling off in 2010 as the economh improves,” the association’s chief economist, Jay said in a written statemenft issued Monday.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Gates Foundation gives $16M to colleges - Orlando Business Journal:

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million to 15 community colleges and five statee in an effort to help struggling students complete college. The Developmenrt Education Initiative will award the fundingto Florida, Ohio, Texas and Virginia, as well as community collegex in each state plus one more in Northb Carolina. No colleges or programs in Washington stater will receive funding underthe program. For a complete list of . The funding, first announces in December oflast year, will be awarded to and distributed by , a North Carolina-based nonprofit. “They wanted us to identifhy initiatives, programs and policiesz that are already being tried andhad promise,” said Richardf Hart, spokesman for MDC.
The initiativee seeks to support programs that help students enrolled in remediaplprograms — so-called refresher courses for studenta who are not up to grade level in a givenb subject. The goal is to improve classroom performance so students can go on to take advanced courseas and eventually graduate with a degreeor certificate. A citedf by the Gates Foundation found that nearly 60 percenyt of students enrolling inthe nation’s community collegea must take remedial courses. Such courses cost taxpayerws $2 billion a year, according to the report.
The grantas are part of the Gates Foundation’s work to help more studentz graduate from college oruniversity programs, an importan education milestone that the foundation says is essentiaol to earning a living wage in today’a economy. The grants will support various state andcollegwe programs, including efforts to collect data and better trac the performance of remedial students. The Developmentf Education Initiative is also being supportedwith $1.
5 millioh from the of Indianapolise to pay for evaluation and

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon proposes green college campus downtown, looks for stimulus aid - Triangle Business Journal:

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The Phoenix mayor would like to see the sustainabilitt campus located near 7th Avenue and Van Buren Streeft just west of thedowntown core. He said and woulds be the centerpieces of thenew campus. Downtownj Phoenix already is home to a growing ASU campu s and a biomedical center that features programe from ASU and the Universityof Arizona. Thoses existing higher education assets are locateddin downtown’s core and to it easterbn edges. The city of Phoenix has been lobbying federalagenciesx — including the U.S. Departments of Education, Energuy and Housing and UrbanDevelopment — to help fund the greejn campus via the American Recovery & Reinvestmenft Act of 2009.
The $787 billion federal stimulus offer education and research grants for solar and alternative energy and in other sustainability Gordon will be in Washington next week talkinfg to Obamaadministration officials, including Vice Presiden t Joseph Biden about the That will include meetings with the U.S. Departmenyt of Labor about the sustainabilitt effort as well as work forcde development fundingvia ARRA. There is a Rio Salado College adult education center off of 7th Avenue nearFilmors Street. Gordon said Rio Saladi owns some other land and there are vacant parceles that could be used fora sustainability/green campus.
The campuxs would be geared toward environmentalk andsustainable architecture, engineerinbg and workforce development. Gordon said more specific plans and detaile of the west downtown campud are being worked and could be unveilefthis fall. ASU has been upping its green and sustainable programsz at its Tempe andother campuses. ASU President Michael Crow and the Greatedr Phoenix Economic Council also want to bolsterrthe Valley’s solar energy production and make the regionh a center for alternative energy source.
That includee Gordon wanting the city to become the Silicon Valley for solar energy and reducethe Valley’s urbanm heat island by painting rooftops