A bandage for battered construction industry - Charlotte Business Journal:

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million for work on two stat highway projects funded with federal stimulus One of the projects isin Charlotte, where Blythr will widen more than a mile of N.C. Highwayh 51 between Pineville andthe S.C. line. Franik Blythe, who founded the compan y withhis brother, says the projects will definitelg help. But the stimulus fundes aren’t the boon for the industry thatsome expect, he “It probably will allow some contractors like us to stop laying off people and maybe maintain what we’ve got,” he says. Blythe’s work force has dropped to 450, down from 750 last summer, as site-developmenr work at residential and commerciall projects hasslowed dramatically.
During the last 10 the company has kept a foot in governmengt work but focused on work in theprivats sector, such as subdivisions for Centexc Homes and other builders. That sourcw of revenue has vanished, however, and the contractor is shiftingh back to public work as it waitds for the economyto “The fortunate thing about it is we have stayed in touchy with it and we know how to do Blythe says. The is receiving $838 millionh through the federal economic-recoveryg plan, including $735 million for highway and bridgee projects. In February, the state announced 70 projects would be put out for bid between March and June usin g the first half ofthe funds.
The remainin projects will be announcedsin April. The stimulus money will help an industry hard hit by the According tothe , construction employment in North Carolin a peaked last May at 258,700. By the industry had shed 19,700 of those or 7.6% of the statewides work force. Construction spending is expected to decline by as muchas 7% nationallt this year, the AGC forecasts. Tony a professor of finance at who follows the says the stimulus projects are needefd becausethe state’s budget shortfall has resulted in a loss of highwagy and bridge funding. In November, N.C.
DOT decided to reducwe the number of projectsz it puts out for bid each monthby 75%, and it has delayede at least $250 million in work. Gov. Bev Perdue’s budgett proposal calls for transportation cuts during the next two yeards due to shortfalls intax receipts. “Anything’s helpful at this Plath says. “But at the end of the day, we’re stil seeing significant deterioration in commercial With fewer government contracts togo around, the biddingv on state projects has become fiercely competitive. Over the last 10 N.C. DOT has averaged four or five bids for each of its saysRandy Garris, a contract officer at the The average reached 10 this year.
Firms that turned to private-sectotr work in recent year s are actively bidding on publicprojectzs again, and about a dozen firms that have neverf worked with the state have become prequalifiec and are bidding on transportation Garris says. Otis Crowder, president of , says the numberf of bidders reflectsthe pent-up demanx among contractors for work. “You have a lot of people who build roads and build bridges that are marginally tryingb to stay in business and maybe living off a littlre bitof backlog,” he says. “Theh have a lot of idle and they’re all trying to bid on The rising number of bidders puts downward pressureon prices.
On a recentf project in Davidson County, for Crowder and Blythe came in withbids 6.5% and 3.4% beloew the engineer’s estimate, respectively. But neither was low The winning bid came from Davie Grading in Its $1.3 million bid was 20% below the engineer’s On the jobs that Blythe won in Charlotte and the company’s bids were 24% below the engineer’s estimates. That’s good for the state becausd the stimulus funds willstretch further, but it’se hard on the contractor profits, says Berr Jenkins, N.C. highway division director at Carolinad AGC.
“For a little while, that may be OK, but long term that’sa not good for the healt of the industry,” he says. Frano Blythe says his company was able to submi winning bids on the Charlotter and Albemarle projectsbecauss they’re close by and Blythe can handled most of the work insteadr of using subcontractors. “I doubt we’ll make any moneyt on them,” he “I think what people are doing is juststaying They’re hoping to break even and that’s OK. We can live througn times like this if thingsget better. I thinj they will, eventually.
”

Target relaunches its store brand, called 'up and up' - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The Minneapolis-based retail giant said Thursdaythat it’s rebranded its core commoditieas line — a product category that includes everydayu items such as baby wipes, sunscreen, dryedr sheets and plastic containers under the name “up & The relaunch includes new packaging that replaces the traditionap bullseye logo with colorful arrows and the new Target (NYSE: TGT) has been phasing in “up up” products into its stores sincr March.
By the end of September, Target will be sellinfg more than800 “up up” products in its Target claims the brands is equal in quality to national brands — it hired a third-party testing firm to back up its claims — but at a lower price, offering a savingas of 30 percent on average. “Our guests are savvuy and knowthey don’f have to spend a lot to get high-quality Mark Schindele, Target’s senior vice president of merchandising, said in a news The rebranding goes alont with other Target efforts to stay competitiver in the recession.
The retailer long capitalized on its lineof stylish, affordable housewares and clothing, but that approacb hasn’t done as well in the downturj — shoppers are more reluctant to spenrd on such discretionary items and are using their cash on foodas and necessities. Store brands are also on the upswing they’re generally more profitable than name-brandas for the retailer, and marker researchers say that consumers are increasinglybuyinhg in-house brands to save money. Earlier this Target rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc. relaunchedx its own private brand, called Great Value.
Targeft has also been working to boosyt salesof food, both and increased emphasis on its in-storse Archer Farms line.

Dow shows 90-point gain - Denver Business Journal:

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at orup 90.99 points and 1.08 percent NASDAQ rose 5.84 points, or 0.32 percent, to The S&P 500 climbec 8.33 points, or 0.91 percent, to end at 927.23. Among Colorado’sw most heavily traded Gasco Energy Inc. (GSX) topped advances, rising 28.57 Shares rose 6 cents to 27 cents. American Oil & Gas up 10.11 percent, or 9 cents, to 98 cents. Level 3 Communicationse (LVLT): up 7.14 percent, or 10 to $1.50. Ball Corp up 5.5 percent, or to $45.25. TW Telecom (TWTC): up 4.26 or 42 cents, to $10.29. Amonfg the decliners, Ascent Solar Technologies had theworst day, with shares dropping by 11.07 or 97 cents, to $7.79. Crocs (CROX): down 9.
11 or 35 cents, to $3.49. Deltsa Petroleum (DPTR): down 7.83 or 17 cents, to $2. Venoci (VQ): down 6.9 percent, or 58 cents, to $7.83. US Gold down 5.73 percent, or 15 to $2.47.

Reese Witherspoon fought animal anxiety while filming 'Water for Elephants' - San Jose Mercury News

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Reese Witherspoon fought animal anxiety while filming 'Water for Elephants' San Jose Mercury News As far as tightly wound actresses go, Reese Witherspoon tops the list. She insists upon a strict sense of order in her life. Her production company is called Type A, a moniker her latest co-star, Robert Pattinson, says fits her strong sense of self ... and more »

Republic Airways will buy Midwest Airlines - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Milwaukee-based Midwest has a hub at , and Denver-based Frontiert flew about 10 flightx out of KCI before it filed for bankruptcy inApripl 2008. Midwest had a 6.4 percent market share at KCI in April the most recent month for whicjh the hasdata — and Frontier had a 3.1 percen market share. Frontier occupies two gates in KCI’s Terminak C, and Midwest occupies three gatew inTerminal A. (Nasdaq: RJET) will buy all the equity in Midwestfrom , a Fort Worth, private equity firm. Republicc also will buy TPG’s $31 million securex note from Midwest. Consideration will be $6 million in cash and a $25 five-year note, which may be convertee to Republic stockat $10 a share.
In TPG will have the right to nominates a member to theRepublic board. The transaction is subjectf to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to closer in four tosix weeks. “Thw question is (about) the intention of Republic and what they plan to do if they end up owninv boththese carriers,” Justin Meyer, managere of air service development for the Kansas City Aviation said in a Wednesday “This is (Republic’s) first foray into operations on this where they actually own the I would assume Republic will continue doing what Midwesrt and Frontier have been doing, but it could make sense at some point to make changez for economy of scale.
” Republic uses an airplanr model that’s “the righ t size plane for this market,” Meyef said. “This is reallyy a bold move by Republic,” he “Everybody’s saying it’s a buyer’se market right now.” Republic operates , Republic Airlines and . Thoss airlines offer scheduled passenger service onabouty 1,200 flights daily to 101 cities in 37 states, Canadw and Mexico through airline services agreements with seven U.S. including Midwest. Midwest will becomer a wholly owned subsidiary and will continue to operatr as abranded carrier. Rick a partner with TPG Capital, said the transaction secures a more certaij futurefor Midwest.
“At the time we acquirexd Midwest, we envisioned that it would ultimately become part of a larger airline and as the ability to operate asa small, independent carrierf is increasingly challenging in this economix environment,” he said. On Republic said it reached an investment agreementf with bankrupt Frontier Airlines that will resultr in Frontier becoming a whollyu owned subsidiary of Republic for a price of $108.75 million. Republic has been one of threr companiesfinancing Frontier’s emergence from bankruptcy.
Republix Airlines also is one of Frontier’sz major unsecured creditors, having filed a $260 million damage claim for Frontier’ breaking an agreement with Republix to operate regional jet service aftefr Frontier filed forbankruptcy protection.

Govt looks at cracking down on overseas student debtors - Otago Daily Times

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Otago Daily Times

Govt looks at cracking down on overseas student debtors Otago Daily Times Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said today students who had left the country represented about 15 percent of those who owed money, but about 55 percent of the overdue debt. There had been some success in "chasing money" in Australia and using ... Q+A: April 17, 2011 TVNZ Changes may be coming to student loans 3News NZ Minister hints at changes to student loans New Zealand Herald Radio New Zealand -Newstalk ZB -Scoop.co.nz (press release)  »

WhiteboardSelling Certification for Advanced Marketing Concepts - San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

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WhiteboardSelling Certification for Advanced Marketing Concepts San Francisco Chronicle (press release) WhiteboardSelling and Advanced Marketing Concepts (Admarco) are pleased to announce that Mark Gibson is now a certified WhiteboardSelling Affiliate. WhiteboardSelling is powerful sales enablement process that helps customer-facing sales, marketing and ... and more »

Looking at toxic ingredients in our cleaning products - Blast

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Blast

Looking at toxic ingredients in our cleaning products Blast However, makers are required by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to list ingredients that are active disinfectants or potentially harmful. Otherwise, they usually keep their other ingredients secret, presumably so competitors can't copy ... and more »

Deals of the Decade: Colonial's Power Centers - Birmingham Business Journal

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Deals of the Decade: Colonial's Power Centers Birmingham Business Journal The Promenades are open-air, big box centers, typically up to 500000 square feet. The Pinnacles are upscale lifestyle centers, typically in the 300000 square foot range. In Alabaster, Colonial Properties Trust has built two Promenades. ... and more »

Facebook leads social networking space as Twitter growth skyrockets - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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According to the new Facebook userslogged 13.9 billion minutew on the site in April, makingy it the most popular social networking site on the Web. was the secons most popular social networking site with about 5 billion minute s spent loggedin April. Twitterd logged roughly 300 million minutes, and LinkedIm about 202 million. According to the Nielseh study, total minutes spent on sociapl networking sites has increased 83percenyt year-over-year. Twitter had far-and-away the fastest growth over the pastyear -- with about 37-times more minutes spent on the site in April 2009, compared to April of last Facebook also posted rapid with a seven-fold increase over last year.
“Wee have seen some major growth in Facebook during the past and a subsequent declinein MySpace. Twitteer has come on the scene in an explosive way perhapds changing the outlook for theentire space,” said Jon Gibs, Nielsen vice president, onlinr media and agency insights. “The one thing that is cleae about social networking is that regardless of how fast a site is growingb or how bigit is, it can quicklyh fall out of favor with While Facebook has become the top dog in the socia l networking space, MySpace is the leader in onlinde video. With 121 million videp streams, MySpace.com was the No.
1 sociao networking destination when rankeed by streams and total minutez spentviewing video. MySpace visitors spent 384 million minutex viewing video onthe site, with an averagee of 38.8 minutes per viewer. In comparison, Facebook visitord spent only 114 million minutes viewing videin April, with an average of 11.2 minutess per video viewer. The Nielsen Co. is a global information and media company specializing inconsumer information, television and other media measurement.

Toyota, Microsoft hook up on electric car energy use - USA Today

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Toyota, Microsoft hook up on electric car energy use USA Today Microsoft and Toyota announced today a joint venture to create a system for energy management of plug-in cars for now -- and perhaps to oversee energy use in the home, as well, in the future. Toyota President Akio Toyoda and ... Toyota and Microsoft hook up on next-gen telematics Autoblog (blog)  »

Memorial Hospital West wants to add 200 beds, cites demand - South Florida Business Journal:

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The first phase of the project wouldcost $42 The 299-bed hospital in western Pembroks Pines, part of , is one of the busies t in South Florida. It saw nearly 220 patients a day infisca 2008, up 20 patients a day from threer years earlier, according to a hospital systej memo. The hospital has a shortagwe of medical/surgical beds, routinely leavinhg patients awaiting inpatient beds and backing up the emergency department andrecoverty rooms, according to the memo. In fiscal 2008, Memorial West logged more than 123,000 inpatient holdover hours in theemergencuy room.
To create new inpatient Memorial Healthcare System would have to builda seven-storhy tower above the hospital’se west entrance. The first phase of the projecft would include the firstfour floors. Constructioh would start in June and last r two Memorial Hospital Westearned $40.8 million on $291.5 million in net operating revenue in fiscal 2007, according to state data. Memorial Healthcare System operatees five hospitals in southern Broward County.

Email Provider Epsilon Responsible For Gigantic Security Breach - Mashable

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Email Provider Epsilon Responsible For Gigantic Security Breach Mashable Epsilon, the world's largest permission-based email marketing services company that serves TiVo users and many more, reported a breach in its security Friday, and the list of companies affected keeps on growing. TiVo users had a rude awakening this ... and more »

Colorado Hispanic business leaders to lobby Bennet, others on union bill - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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The delegation includes members of the Hispanic Contractorsz ofColorado (HCC) and the Denver Hispanic Chamberr of Commerce. The grouop will be in Washington on Tuesdayand Wednesday, joininh small-business leaders from other The Colorado business leaders want to tell Bennet, D-Colo., and other lawmakers “why this bill would really hurt them as they try to emerged from a tough economy,” said HCC spokesman Sean Duffy. Duff y said the group arranged to meet with Benneft because he has not yet declared how he will vote on thelaboe bill.
“In these very difficulft economic times, companies are struggling to retain the jobs they Helga Grunerud, HCC executive director, said in a “We want to send a message that we want to help jump startf economic recovery but [the labor bill] would make that challengre far, far greater.” The Employee Free Choicw Act, also known as the “carfd check” bill, would allow workers to organize a union without a secret election, as now Instead, a local could be launched at a workplace if at least half its workerx sign an authorization card. Unions say the bill is needed to protecty worker rights inthe recession.
But in a HCC said that enactment of thelaw “would unfairly tip the delicated business-labor climate in Colorado sharplhy away from employers, and would result in furthee economic damage and job loss.” As part of a larger nationwidse contingent organized by the , the Colorado groupp will meet with Sen. John R-S.D., and other legislators “to be determined,” Duffy The business leaders also want to discuss other issues, including health care reform and the allocatiob of federal stimulus funds.