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• Insight drops Tempe bowl sponsorship

  National Business News - Local Business News | bizjournals

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm

  Insight Enterprises Inc. is ending its title sponsorship of the Insight Bowl after 14 years. The Fiesta Bowl, which also runs the annual Tempe bowl game, said it is searching for a new title sponsor and will rename the game."We are grateful to Insight Enterprises for its support and help building the game into a top-tier bowl," said Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods. "We have enjoyed a long and stable partnership. With our ties to the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences, an unmatched record of hospitality and a premier location, we believe we have a lot to offer...

• OfficeSpace.com tweaks Portland website

  Business News from the Midwest - bizjournals.com

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Seattle-based OfficeSpace.com is beta testing a new business model that targets smaller office tenants on its Portland website. The revised website and online tools will eventually be rolled out in OfficeSpace.com’s five other markets. The impetus for the changes — which include unlimited photos with listings, an online calendar for booking tours and easy integration of marketing materials onto social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ – came from the firm’s new ownership. OfficeSpace...

• OfficeSpace.com tweaks Portland website

  Bizjournals.com Northwest RSS Feed

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Seattle-based OfficeSpace.com is beta testing a new business model that targets smaller office tenants on its Portland website. The revised website and online tools will eventually be rolled out in OfficeSpace.com’s five other markets. The impetus for the changes — which include unlimited photos with listings, an online calendar for booking tours and easy integration of marketing materials onto social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ – came from the firm’s new ownership. OfficeSpace...

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  Business News from Southwest US - bizjournals.com

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• Duane Kurisu appointed to CPF board

  Business News from the Northeast US - bizjournals

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:16 pm

  Honolulu businessman and investor Duane K. Kurisu has been appointed to the board of Central Pacific Financial Corp., parent of Central Pacific Bank. Kurisu has been a member of the bank’s board since 2004 and will serve on both the Central Pacific Financial (NYSE: CPF) and Central Pacific Bank boards. Kurisu has a variety of real estate, media, sports and food business interests in Hawaii and on the Mainland. His real estate investments include office buildings, shopping centers and industrial parks in Hawaii and Washington...

• 

  National Business News - Local Business News | bizjournals

• Insight drops Tempe bowl sponsorship

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm

  Insight Enterprises Inc. is ending its title sponsorship of the Insight Bowl after 14 years. The Fiesta Bowl, which also runs the annual Tempe bowl game, said it is searching for a new title sponsor and will rename the game."We are grateful to Insight Enterprises for its support and help building the game into a top-tier bowl," said Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods. "We have enjoyed a long and stable partnership. With our ties to the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences, an unmatched record of hospitality and a premier location, we believe we have a lot to offer...

• PG&E fined over neglected pipeline leak surveys

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:13 pm

  The California Public Utilities Commission has fined San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company $16.8 million for failure to conduct pipeline leak surveys. PG&E has 10 days to pay the fine to the state’s general fund from shareholder dollars or submit a notice of appeal. The CPUC fined PG&E under its new citation program, created Dec. 1, 2011. Under the program, natural gas companies can be fined by CPUC staff for violating state and federal safety rules. PG&E is the first utility to receive a citation under the program...

• Former First Hawaiian Bank manager admits embezzling $2.6M

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:49 pm

  A former manager of First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of embezzling more than $2.6 million, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Lani Ann Miho, 52. a bank employee for 29 years, was a branch manager and personal banking officer at First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island from 2000 to September 2010, U.S. Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni said in a statement. During that time, Miho created about 56 accounts under different names, withdrawing money and using proceeds from recently opened accounts to pay balances due on…

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• Abercrombie releases $15.6M for improvement projects

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:41 pm

  Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday released more than $15.6 million for capital improvement projects statewide that are designed to improve the state’s public safety, wastewater, civil defense and communications infrastructure. The funds include $6.65 million for repairs and alterations to buildings under the state Department of Public Safety’s jurisdiction, such as the Oahu Community Correctional Center and the Halawa Correctional Facility; $3.5 million for staff positions at the Public Works Division within the state Department of Accounting and General Services; $3...

• 

  Business News from the Midwest - bizjournals.com

• OfficeSpace.com tweaks Portland website

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Seattle-based OfficeSpace.com is beta testing a new business model that targets smaller office tenants on its Portland website. The revised website and online tools will eventually be rolled out in OfficeSpace.com’s five other markets. The impetus for the changes — which include unlimited photos with listings, an online calendar for booking tours and easy integration of marketing materials onto social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ – came from the firm’s new ownership. OfficeSpace...

• WBJ survey finds support for Ambassador Hotel incentive

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:56 pm

  Developers of the Ambassador Hotel in downtown Wichita have to like results of a Wichita Business Journal online survey over the past week. Survey participants voted resoundingly to approve the room-tax rebate for the Ambassador. Readers were asked: “If the vote were held today, would you vote for or against the Ambassador Hotel incentive?” The incentive — to rebate Ambassador developers 75 percent of guest taxes collected at their property over 15 years — will go before Wichita voters on Feb...

• Wichita entrepreneurs see Pipeline program as avenue to growth

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:37 pm

  Two Wichita entrepreneurs, Brandon Shuey and Mark Allen, will take part in a new, expanded Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship Program this year. The program selects high-potential, high-growth entrepreneurs and puts them through a series of training modules to help them hone their business plans and operations, improve their networking abilities, and put them in contact with venture capitalists and private investors nationwide. The program initially launched in Kansas, but when its state funding was cut last year, organizers looked to investors from other states to help it match a Kauffman…

• See's Candies to open at Mayfair

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:32 pm

  See's Candies has opened its Milwaukee-area store at Mayfair in Wauwatosa, the company said in a news release. The San Francisco candy shop will officially celebrate its grand opening Feb. 3. The company has had holiday kiosks at area malls, including Mayfair, in the past, but this is its first permanent store. The store is on the lower level of the mall near Macy's.

• Butler Community College kicks off 4th Advance Kansas leadership program

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:25 pm

  Forty business professionals and executives from the Wichita area are embarking on a four-month leadership training initiative with the help of Butler Community College’s Advance Kansas program. The 2012 program kicks off Friday. Advance Kansas includes four full-day workshops during a four-month period. Workshops will include classroom discussions, lectures and a community project. Look for more information about some of those projects as the program progresses this spring. This Wichita Business Journal story from last spring details more about the Advance Kansas program...

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  Bizjournals.com Northwest RSS Feed

• OfficeSpace.com tweaks Portland website

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Seattle-based OfficeSpace.com is beta testing a new business model that targets smaller office tenants on its Portland website. The revised website and online tools will eventually be rolled out in OfficeSpace.com’s five other markets. The impetus for the changes — which include unlimited photos with listings, an online calendar for booking tours and easy integration of marketing materials onto social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ – came from the firm’s new ownership. OfficeSpace...

• Strong forecast from Nautilus sends shares up 19%

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Nautilus Inc. on Friday said it expects a 12 percent jump in fourth quarter sales, sending its share price up more than 19 percent. The Vancouver, Wash.-based fitness equipment brand (NYSE: NLS) released preliminary, unaudited fourth-quarter results Friday. It won’t unveil its full financial report until March. Royalties from licensing its brands to third parties are expected to be up 15 percent to $1.8 million. For the fourth quarter, the company expects sales to rise 12 percent over the prior year to $60...

• Regional stocks: Dow ends week down

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:49 pm

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to lose steam Friday, ending the week down 74.17 points to 12,660. That follows a 22.33 point drop Thursday that halted what had been a robust January rally. The NASDAQ closed up 11.27 points to 2,816 on Friday and the S&P 500 closed down 2.10 points to 1,316. The Davidson 99, which tracks stocks in seven western states, including 19 in Oregon, closed up 0.45 points to 172.67. A day after reporting a third-quarter loss of $1.9 million, Electro Scientific Industries (NASDAQ: ESIO) was among the regional companies that lost ground Friday, closing down…

• Beaverton software firm Cayuse sold to Evisions

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:47 pm

  Cayuse Inc., a Beaverton-based developer of research management software, was acquired last week in a deal it believes will help expand its product to a wider audience. Irvine, Calif.-based Evision Inc. on Jan. 13 announced it had acquired Cayuse. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cayuse was founded and is led by Chris Harker, a state representative from Beaverton and a former researcher at the Mayo Clinic and Oregon Health & Science University. The company’s Web-based products are used in research management and grant proposal development primarily in higher education and health care…

• Regulators warn Seattle's P.I. Bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:46 pm

  Regulators have told Pacific International Bank to appoint a qualified CEO and increase a capital cushion it keeps to make up for loan losses, among other things, according to an announcement Friday from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC also told the bank to reduce its concentration in loans in the commercial real estate sector, especially those with borrowers in the hotel or gas station industry. I put a call in to Seattle-based P.I. Bank's interim CEO Paul Sabado to ask about the regulatory order, known as a consent order, but he didn't immediately respond...

• 

  Business News from Southwest US - bizjournals.com

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• FDIC orders Mile High Banks to boost capital

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:13 pm

  Federal regulators have ordered Longmont-based Mile High Banks to boost its capital levels, categorizing the bank as “significantly undercapitalized,” according to an FDIC enforcement action made public on Friday. Mile High Banks has 13 branch locations, including in LoDo, Cherry Creek, 17th Avenue near Pennsylvania Street near downtown and the Denver Tech Center, according to its website. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued a “supervisory prompt corrective action directive” to Mile High Banks on Dec...

• OfficeSpace.com tweaks Portland website

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Seattle-based OfficeSpace.com is beta testing a new business model that targets smaller office tenants on its Portland website. The revised website and online tools will eventually be rolled out in OfficeSpace.com’s five other markets. The impetus for the changes — which include unlimited photos with listings, an online calendar for booking tours and easy integration of marketing materials onto social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ – came from the firm’s new ownership. OfficeSpace...

• Hospital systems explain withdrawal from association

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Three of the state’s largest hospital systems have released an explanation for their withdrawal from the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association — a loss to the tune of what some say is $1 million in collective annual dues. Banner Health, Abrazo Health Care and Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West) sent a letter today to Laurie Liles, CEO of the state hospital association, announcing their membership termination, effective March 1. “The association is no longer consistent with nor reflective of our collective interests on legislative and regulatory issues before the…

• S.A. Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Matej secures national honor

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:52 pm

  The Event Services Professionals Association has named Casandra Matej, executive director of the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, as the recipient of its Executive Excellence Award. The Event Services Professionals Association is a New Jersey-based trade organization. Its award recognizes an executive for his or her commitment and dedication to the hospitality industry. “I am humbled by this award,” says Matej, “But the honor really goes to our city’s great convention services managers, event coordinators and catering managers, and all those who service our clients...

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  Business News from the Northeast US - bizjournals

• Duane Kurisu appointed to CPF board

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:16 pm

  Honolulu businessman and investor Duane K. Kurisu has been appointed to the board of Central Pacific Financial Corp., parent of Central Pacific Bank. Kurisu has been a member of the bank’s board since 2004 and will serve on both the Central Pacific Financial (NYSE: CPF) and Central Pacific Bank boards. Kurisu has a variety of real estate, media, sports and food business interests in Hawaii and on the Mainland. His real estate investments include office buildings, shopping centers and industrial parks in Hawaii and Washington...

• Going South: Aerospace manufacture conference to be held in Charlotte, N.C.

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:48 pm

  Wouldn’t you think a leading North American conference on commercial aircraft manufacture would be held where the biggest planes are made? You might, but you'd be wrong. The first “Civil Aviation Manufacturing” conference, or CAM, is scheduled for Charlotte, N.C., May 8-9 of this year — not in Washington state. The conference, organized by New York-based Aviation Week, went where the new action is, said Aviation Week Marketing Director Jennifer Roberts, speaking from Manhattan. "There’s so much growth going on in that area,” she said, speaking of the South...

• Win-win week for Arizona Republicans in U.S. Senate race

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:39 pm

  Both Republicans running for U.S. Senate this year — U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake and businessman and philanthropist Wil Cardon — received some good news this week. Former Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo — one of the few household names from the business community in the Valley — is endorsing Cardon. “Wil’s ideas and track record of creating jobs in the current economic climate is impressive and should be a telltale sign of his ability to get the job done in Washington...

• Christus decision rings positive note for Irving, mayor says

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:16 pm

  With a squeal, Mayor Beth Van Duyne was a bit ecstatic when I called her for comment about Christus Health consolidating its corporate offices in Irving, adding 650 jobs to the region. The employees will come mostly from San Antonio and Houston. The move will be staggered starting this summer and will be completed no later than next year. After Irving-based Hostess Brands Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, and MetLife Inc.’s operation in Irving laying off about 900 employees — this was welcome news, Van Duyne said...

• Adscend: McKenna, Facebook case full of ‘fake claims’

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:37 pm

  Delaware-based Adscend Media LLC says it is being wrongly accused of hijacking clicks and "friending" on Facebook as a deceptive means of spreading spam, and the company accused Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna of blindsiding Adscend with the "false claims." Adscend's response Friday came a day after the company was attacked by Facebook and McKenna as a spam-spreading scourge plaguing social networking sites such as Facebook. The online ad network is the target of federal lawsuits in Washington and California filed Thursday by Facebook and McKenna (pdf, 27 pages), accusing the company…

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  Business News from Southeast US - bizjournals.com

• Republic Bancorp buys troubled Tennessee bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:13 pm

  Republic Bancorp Inc. has entered the Nashville, Tenn., market through its acquisition of "substantially all" deposits and selected assets of Tennessee Commerce Bank of Franklin, Tenn., according to a company news release. Through its subsidiary Republic Bank & Trust Co., Louisville-based Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ: RBCAA) purchased the Tennessee bank’s assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the release said. The FDIC closed the troubled TCB this afternoon, according to a report by the Nashville Business Journal, a sister newspaper to Business First...

• Duke Energy gets 7.2% rate increase in North Carolina

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  N.C. regulators have approved Duke Energy’s proposed 7.2% rate for this state in a ruling that will raise the typical residential customer’s bill an average of $7 a month. Last summer, Duke announced it was seeking a 15% rate increase in North Carolina. The proposal, and a similar one in South Carolina, met immediate protests from consumer and business groups as well as the state agencies assigned to protect the interests of utility customers. In November, the company reached a settlement with the Public Staff of the N...

• FTC moves to block Omnicare takeover of PharMerica

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

  The Federal Trade Commission has filed an administrative complaint against Covington, Ky.-based Omnicare Inc., moving to stop the company's hostile bid to buy Louisville-based PharMerica Corp. The case will be heard before an administrative law judge at the FTC in June. As Business First reported earlier this month, Omnicare had disclosed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would extend the deadline for the FTC to review its proposed acquisition until Jan. 26. Earlier Friday, Omnicare also extended its deadline to buy PharMerica shares to 5 p...

• First Guaranty employees relieved by bank failure

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:35 pm

  Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. employees arrived at the eight First Guaranty Bank & Trust Company of Jacksonville branches just before 5 p.m. tonight. The FDIC failed the bank at 5 p.m. tonight. Booker Shorter, a senior ombudsman specialist with the FDIC, said 60 to 65 FDIC employees will make the transition to CenterState Bank of Florida NA over the next five to six days. Bank executives and employees were receptive to their arrival. "They seemed to be relieved that the deal was over with," Shorter said of the employees' reaction, adding that some of them had already heard rumors that the…

• Hospital systems explain withdrawal from association

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Three of the state’s largest hospital systems have released an explanation for their withdrawal from the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association — a loss to the tune of what some say is $1 million in collective annual dues. Banner Health, Abrazo Health Care and Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West) sent a letter today to Laurie Liles, CEO of the state hospital association, announcing their membership termination, effective March 1. “The association is no longer consistent with nor reflective of our collective interests on legislative and regulatory issues before the…

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  Accounting News - Accounting News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Insight drops Tempe bowl sponsorship

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm

  Insight Enterprises Inc. is ending its title sponsorship of the Insight Bowl after 14 years. The Fiesta Bowl, which also runs the annual Tempe bowl game, said it is searching for a new title sponsor and will rename the game."We are grateful to Insight Enterprises for its support and help building the game into a top-tier bowl," said Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods. "We have enjoyed a long and stable partnership. With our ties to the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences, an unmatched record of hospitality and a premier location, we believe we have a lot to offer...

• PG&E fined over neglected pipeline leak surveys

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:13 pm

  The California Public Utilities Commission has fined San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company $16.8 million for failure to conduct pipeline leak surveys. PG&E has 10 days to pay the fine to the state’s general fund from shareholder dollars or submit a notice of appeal. The CPUC fined PG&E under its new citation program, created Dec. 1, 2011. Under the program, natural gas companies can be fined by CPUC staff for violating state and federal safety rules. PG&E is the first utility to receive a citation under the program...

• Former First Hawaiian Bank manager admits embezzling $2.6M

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:49 pm

  A former manager of First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of embezzling more than $2.6 million, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Lani Ann Miho, 52. a bank employee for 29 years, was a branch manager and personal banking officer at First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island from 2000 to September 2010, U.S. Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni said in a statement. During that time, Miho created about 56 accounts under different names, withdrawing money and using proceeds from recently opened accounts to pay balances due on…

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• Abercrombie releases $15.6M for improvement projects

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:41 pm

  Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday released more than $15.6 million for capital improvement projects statewide that are designed to improve the state’s public safety, wastewater, civil defense and communications infrastructure. The funds include $6.65 million for repairs and alterations to buildings under the state Department of Public Safety’s jurisdiction, such as the Oahu Community Correctional Center and the Halawa Correctional Facility; $3.5 million for staff positions at the Public Works Division within the state Department of Accounting and General Services; $3...

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  Agriculture News - Agriculture News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Insight drops Tempe bowl sponsorship

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm

  Insight Enterprises Inc. is ending its title sponsorship of the Insight Bowl after 14 years. The Fiesta Bowl, which also runs the annual Tempe bowl game, said it is searching for a new title sponsor and will rename the game."We are grateful to Insight Enterprises for its support and help building the game into a top-tier bowl," said Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods. "We have enjoyed a long and stable partnership. With our ties to the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences, an unmatched record of hospitality and a premier location, we believe we have a lot to offer...

• PG&E fined over neglected pipeline leak surveys

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:13 pm

  The California Public Utilities Commission has fined San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company $16.8 million for failure to conduct pipeline leak surveys. PG&E has 10 days to pay the fine to the state’s general fund from shareholder dollars or submit a notice of appeal. The CPUC fined PG&E under its new citation program, created Dec. 1, 2011. Under the program, natural gas companies can be fined by CPUC staff for violating state and federal safety rules. PG&E is the first utility to receive a citation under the program...

• Former First Hawaiian Bank manager admits embezzling $2.6M

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:49 pm

  A former manager of First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of embezzling more than $2.6 million, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Lani Ann Miho, 52. a bank employee for 29 years, was a branch manager and personal banking officer at First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island from 2000 to September 2010, U.S. Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni said in a statement. During that time, Miho created about 56 accounts under different names, withdrawing money and using proceeds from recently opened accounts to pay balances due on…

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• Abercrombie releases $15.6M for improvement projects

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:41 pm

  Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday released more than $15.6 million for capital improvement projects statewide that are designed to improve the state’s public safety, wastewater, civil defense and communications infrastructure. The funds include $6.65 million for repairs and alterations to buildings under the state Department of Public Safety’s jurisdiction, such as the Oahu Community Correctional Center and the Halawa Correctional Facility; $3.5 million for staff positions at the Public Works Division within the state Department of Accounting and General Services; $3...

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  Banking & Financial News - Banking & Financial News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Former First Hawaiian Bank manager admits embezzling $2.6M

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:49 pm

  A former manager of First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of embezzling more than $2.6 million, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Lani Ann Miho, 52. a bank employee for 29 years, was a branch manager and personal banking officer at First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island from 2000 to September 2010, U.S. Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni said in a statement. During that time, Miho created about 56 accounts under different names, withdrawing money and using proceeds from recently opened accounts to pay balances due on…

• Duane Kurisu appointed to CPF board

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:16 pm

  Honolulu businessman and investor Duane K. Kurisu has been appointed to the board of Central Pacific Financial Corp., parent of Central Pacific Bank. Kurisu has been a member of the bank’s board since 2004 and will serve on both the Central Pacific Financial (NYSE: CPF) and Central Pacific Bank boards. Kurisu has a variety of real estate, media, sports and food business interests in Hawaii and on the Mainland. His real estate investments include office buildings, shopping centers and industrial parks in Hawaii and Washington...

• Republic Bancorp buys troubled Tennessee bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:13 pm

  Republic Bancorp Inc. has entered the Nashville, Tenn., market through its acquisition of "substantially all" deposits and selected assets of Tennessee Commerce Bank of Franklin, Tenn., according to a company news release. Through its subsidiary Republic Bank & Trust Co., Louisville-based Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ: RBCAA) purchased the Tennessee bank’s assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the release said. The FDIC closed the troubled TCB this afternoon, according to a report by the Nashville Business Journal, a sister newspaper to Business First...

• FDIC orders Mile High Banks to boost capital

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:13 pm

  Federal regulators have ordered Longmont-based Mile High Banks to boost its capital levels, categorizing the bank as “significantly undercapitalized,” according to an FDIC enforcement action made public on Friday. Mile High Banks has 13 branch locations, including in LoDo, Cherry Creek, 17th Avenue near Pennsylvania Street near downtown and the Denver Tech Center, according to its website. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued a “supervisory prompt corrective action directive” to Mile High Banks on Dec...

• U.S. Bancorp buys failed Tennessee bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  U.S. Bancorp has purchased a failed Tennessee bank's assets, deposits and branches in a regulator-brokered deal made public Friday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shut down Knoxville-based BankEast Friday evening. The BankEast Corp. subsidiary had assets of $261.95 million and $259.57 million of customer deposits as of Dec. 31, FDIC records show. The Minneapolis-based parent of U.S. Bank will receive 10 branches, about $272 million worth of loans, and $268 million in deposits through the purchase, with an asset discount of about $67...

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  Bankruptcy News - Bankruptcy News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Insight drops Tempe bowl sponsorship

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm

  Insight Enterprises Inc. is ending its title sponsorship of the Insight Bowl after 14 years. The Fiesta Bowl, which also runs the annual Tempe bowl game, said it is searching for a new title sponsor and will rename the game."We are grateful to Insight Enterprises for its support and help building the game into a top-tier bowl," said Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods. "We have enjoyed a long and stable partnership. With our ties to the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences, an unmatched record of hospitality and a premier location, we believe we have a lot to offer...

• PG&E fined over neglected pipeline leak surveys

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:13 pm

  The California Public Utilities Commission has fined San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company $16.8 million for failure to conduct pipeline leak surveys. PG&E has 10 days to pay the fine to the state’s general fund from shareholder dollars or submit a notice of appeal. The CPUC fined PG&E under its new citation program, created Dec. 1, 2011. Under the program, natural gas companies can be fined by CPUC staff for violating state and federal safety rules. PG&E is the first utility to receive a citation under the program...

• Former First Hawaiian Bank manager admits embezzling $2.6M

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:49 pm

  A former manager of First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of embezzling more than $2.6 million, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Lani Ann Miho, 52. a bank employee for 29 years, was a branch manager and personal banking officer at First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island from 2000 to September 2010, U.S. Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni said in a statement. During that time, Miho created about 56 accounts under different names, withdrawing money and using proceeds from recently opened accounts to pay balances due on…

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• Abercrombie releases $15.6M for improvement projects

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:41 pm

  Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday released more than $15.6 million for capital improvement projects statewide that are designed to improve the state’s public safety, wastewater, civil defense and communications infrastructure. The funds include $6.65 million for repairs and alterations to buildings under the state Department of Public Safety’s jurisdiction, such as the Oahu Community Correctional Center and the Halawa Correctional Facility; $3.5 million for staff positions at the Public Works Division within the state Department of Accounting and General Services; $3...

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  Commercial Real Estate Industry News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Optimism, and a wizard’s hat, at 2012 Hawaii real estate forecast

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  A wizard’s hat, poems and a kaleidoscope. No, I wasn’t at a carnival on Friday morning. Instead, those were just some of the tools used by the presenters at the 2012 Hawaii Real Estate Forecast, held at the Hawaii Convention Center. The captive audience, mostly made up of Realtors, listened to the experts throughout the marketplace. Paul Brewbaker, principal of TZ Economics, kicked off the event with an economic outlook. He said there are good signs that a recovery is nearing, like home prices beginning to stabilize...

• Slideshow: Top 7 Bay Area property managers

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:25 pm

  The accompanying gallery is an excerpt from this week's List of the Largest Property Management Firms in the Bay Area. Click on the image to start a slideshow of top Bay Area property managers. The San Francisco Business Times publishes industry rankings in each issue of the paper and reprints them at the end of the year for our annual Book of Lists. These lists are unique and authoritative sources of Bay Area business news. One of this week’s lists is the Largest Property Management Firms in the Bay Area...

• OfficeSpace.com tweaks Portland website

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Seattle-based OfficeSpace.com is beta testing a new business model that targets smaller office tenants on its Portland website. The revised website and online tools will eventually be rolled out in OfficeSpace.com’s five other markets. The impetus for the changes — which include unlimited photos with listings, an online calendar for booking tours and easy integration of marketing materials onto social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ – came from the firm’s new ownership. OfficeSpace...

• Regulators warn Seattle's P.I. Bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:46 pm

  Regulators have told Pacific International Bank to appoint a qualified CEO and increase a capital cushion it keeps to make up for loan losses, among other things, according to an announcement Friday from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC also told the bank to reduce its concentration in loans in the commercial real estate sector, especially those with borrowers in the hotel or gas station industry. I put a call in to Seattle-based P.I. Bank's interim CEO Paul Sabado to ask about the regulatory order, known as a consent order, but he didn't immediately respond...

• Kaiser 'tops' new Redwood City Hospital

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:42 pm

  Kaiser Permanente said it plans to "top out" the steel skeleton of its new 280,000-square-foot Redwood City Hospital on Friday. The structure was to be hoisted to the top of the seven-story building, located at Veterans Boulevard and Walnut Street. The thousand-pound framing structure was signed by hospital physicians, staff and dignitaries. The contractor is Redwood City's Rudolph and Sletten Inc., which began erecting the steel on the site Dec. 5. According to Kaiser Permanente: "Crews from Schuff Steel of Stockton worked nearly every day during December and January to finish the hospital…

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  Economic Snapshot News - Economic Snapshot News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Insight drops Tempe bowl sponsorship

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm

  Insight Enterprises Inc. is ending its title sponsorship of the Insight Bowl after 14 years. The Fiesta Bowl, which also runs the annual Tempe bowl game, said it is searching for a new title sponsor and will rename the game."We are grateful to Insight Enterprises for its support and help building the game into a top-tier bowl," said Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods. "We have enjoyed a long and stable partnership. With our ties to the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences, an unmatched record of hospitality and a premier location, we believe we have a lot to offer...

• PG&E fined over neglected pipeline leak surveys

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:13 pm

  The California Public Utilities Commission has fined San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company $16.8 million for failure to conduct pipeline leak surveys. PG&E has 10 days to pay the fine to the state’s general fund from shareholder dollars or submit a notice of appeal. The CPUC fined PG&E under its new citation program, created Dec. 1, 2011. Under the program, natural gas companies can be fined by CPUC staff for violating state and federal safety rules. PG&E is the first utility to receive a citation under the program...

• Former First Hawaiian Bank manager admits embezzling $2.6M

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:49 pm

  A former manager of First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of embezzling more than $2.6 million, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Lani Ann Miho, 52. a bank employee for 29 years, was a branch manager and personal banking officer at First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island from 2000 to September 2010, U.S. Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni said in a statement. During that time, Miho created about 56 accounts under different names, withdrawing money and using proceeds from recently opened accounts to pay balances due on…

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• Abercrombie releases $15.6M for improvement projects

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:41 pm

  Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday released more than $15.6 million for capital improvement projects statewide that are designed to improve the state’s public safety, wastewater, civil defense and communications infrastructure. The funds include $6.65 million for repairs and alterations to buildings under the state Department of Public Safety’s jurisdiction, such as the Oahu Community Correctional Center and the Halawa Correctional Facility; $3.5 million for staff positions at the Public Works Division within the state Department of Accounting and General Services; $3...

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  Education News - Education News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• How much does the average educator make?

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:44 pm

  The average educator in the Sacramento region makes an average of $54,630, or about $26.27 an hour. That covers about 63,830 employees in the sector of education, training and library occupations. But the real money within the sector is as a professor or other post-secondary instructor, according to a new analysis. On Numbers used U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data to rank the earning power of employees in fields of education as well as in the sector of arts, design, entertainment and media. The highest pay in that sector is that of a law school professor, at an average of $117,020...

• Database: top-paid Portland workers in education, media

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:16 pm

  The 70 economics professors in Portland are the highest-paid teachers in the metro area. According to an On Numbers analysis of educator salaries compiled by the Business Journal, area economics professors make an average of $103,150 a year. Engineering professors were second, with an average salary of $101,060, followed by professors in health specialties at $99,060, computer science at $95,700 and architecture at $94,890. The Business Journal determined the ranking using Education, Training and Library sector data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics...

• Powerhouse Science Center gains another partner

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:42 pm

  The $50 million Powerhouse Science Center has landed another founding partner. Keller Group Office Environments, the Sacramento region’s largest office furniture dealer as ranked by the Business Journal, joins other community and business leaders in supporting the museum project. The Powerhouse Science Center, which will be built on the banks of the Sacramento River at 400 Jibboom St., will replace the nearly three-decade-old Discovery Museum Science & Space Center at 3615 Auburn Blvd. The Powerhouse Science Center is expected to open in 2014...

• Tennessee one of four highest-scoring states in teacher quality

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:44 pm

  Tennessee teachers earned one of the highest overall grades in the nation on the National Council on Teacher Quality’s 2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbook. Tennessee earned a B- and was one of only four states to receive a B grade. Tennessee overall grade rose from a C- in 2009, according to the biannual report. The Yearbook is compiled by the National Council on Teacher Quality and has tracked teacher policies for the last five years. The report measures progress against a set of 36 policy goals focused on helping states put in place a comprehensive framework in support of preparing,…

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  Energy & the Environment News - Energy News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• PG&E fined over neglected pipeline leak surveys

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:13 pm

  The California Public Utilities Commission has fined San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company $16.8 million for failure to conduct pipeline leak surveys. PG&E has 10 days to pay the fine to the state’s general fund from shareholder dollars or submit a notice of appeal. The CPUC fined PG&E under its new citation program, created Dec. 1, 2011. Under the program, natural gas companies can be fined by CPUC staff for violating state and federal safety rules. PG&E is the first utility to receive a citation under the program...

• Duke Energy gets 7.2% rate increase in North Carolina

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  N.C. regulators have approved Duke Energy’s proposed 7.2% rate for this state in a ruling that will raise the typical residential customer’s bill an average of $7 a month. Last summer, Duke announced it was seeking a 15% rate increase in North Carolina. The proposal, and a similar one in South Carolina, met immediate protests from consumer and business groups as well as the state agencies assigned to protect the interests of utility customers. In November, the company reached a settlement with the Public Staff of the N...

• Sandia Labs spent $400M with New Mexico firms in 2011

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:51 pm

  Sandia National Laboratories paid about $400 million to New Mexico businesses for goods and services in fiscal year 2011, according to Sandia’s annual economic impact report, released Jan. 26. About $296 million, or 74 percent, went to small businesses, said Small Business Utilization Program Manager Don Devoti in a news release. “Sandia National Laboratories is committed to strengthening our relationships with the New Mexico business community and, in particular, to be a strong advocate for New Mexico’s diverse small business suppliers,” Devoti said...

• Houston approves tax incentive for Colorado engineering group

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:26 pm

  Houston City Council has voted in favor of giving Colorado-based CH2M Hill an estimated tax break of $160,000 to move its new global energy group to the city. The Houston Chronicle reports the city will give the tax break in exchange for the group’s commitment to create 333 full-time jobs and retain 167 existing full-time jobs in Houston for 10 years. The city is permitted to give companies tax breaks under its 380 agreement, which gives companies tax breaks for creating or relocating jobs to Houston...

• Kansas ranked top state for wind capacity under construction

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pm

  Gov. Sam Brownback has repeatedly said he hopes Kansas can better harness its potential for wind energy. And according to a new report from the American Wind Energy Association, the state appears to be on the right track. AWEA’s review of the wind energy industry for the fourth quarter of 2011 places Kansas as the top state in terms of wind energy capacity under construction. Kansas has 1,188 megawatts worth of wind projects in the works. The next closest state in that category was Texas with 857 megawatts...

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  Green News - Green News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Draft of flood protection plan released

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:51 pm

  The long-awaited public draft of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, a first comprehensive systemwide flood plan, has been released, GEI Consultants Inc., lead consulting firm for the state Department of Water Resources’ FloodSAFE California Program, announced today. The plan calls for $17 billion in infrastructure projects over a 25-year period. It will be adopted by the Central Valley Flood Protection Board following public hearings slated for the next three months. The draft plan is expected to be finalized and adopted by the board by July 1...

• Gamesa working with DOE to advance wind turbine technology

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:41 pm

  Gamesa Technology Corp. Inc. said Friday it has agreed to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in three areas of wind-turbine development. The agreement has core provisions that run through 2013 and options for two additional years of collaboration. Financial terms of the agreement weren’t revealed. The agreement calls for Gamesa, which is based in Spain but has its North American headquarters in Langhorne, Pa., to work with the NREL on three programs: developing new components and rotors for the U...

• Wichita environmental awards announced

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:40 pm

  The city of Wichita on Friday announced the winners of the 2012 Clean Air and Sustainability Awards. The nine winners — chosen from throughout Butler, Harvey, Sedgwick and Sumner counties — included the Koch Industries Conservation Program and Wichita Mid-Continent Airport’s “Green Team.” The winners were announced at the 2012 Kansas Preservation, Energy and Sustainability Conference and Fair, which runs through the weekend at Century II. Here is the city’s full list of winners, along with descriptions of each.

• Slideshow: New hotel opening near RBC Center

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:22 pm

  A new Hyatt Place hotel soon will open on a site less than a mile from the RBC Center arena in west Raleigh, and it is only the second hotel property in the Triangle region seeking LEED certification for its green building features. With 132 guest rooms, the Hyatt Place Raleigh West/RBC Center at the intersection of Trinity and Nowell roads will open to its first hotel guests on Feb. 7. It boasts a variety of features intended to increase environmental sustainability, according to a news release issued by its developer...

• New Resource Bank raises $7.7M in oversubscribed offering

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  San Francisco-based New Resource Bank said it raised $7.7 million in an offering that was oversubscribed by 10 percent. The bank sold 1.75 million shares for $4.40 each, bringing total shares outstanding to 5.57 million. “At a time like this, when banking is so challenged, this funding is a huge vote of confidence in the success of the bank,” said Mark Finser, chairman of $161 million New Resource Bank. The bank’s president and CEO is Vincent Siciliano, who was featured in a 2010 San Francisco Business Times executive profile...

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  Health Care News - Health Care News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Slide show: High tech meets performance at Brooks Sports shoe lab

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:31 pm

  Inside the Brooks Sports shoe lab, tucked inside a suburban office park in Bothell, biomechanical engineers, footwear developers and designers are trying to create the latest and greatest running shoe. Brooks’ efforts show the ever-increasing convergence of athletic performance gear and technology, which is expected to grow even more pronounced in the next five years as clothing gets embedded with UV screens and digital sensors, and as computers gain the ability to respond to people’s motions...

• FTC moves to block Omnicare takeover of PharMerica

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

  The Federal Trade Commission has filed an administrative complaint against Covington, Ky.-based Omnicare Inc., moving to stop the company's hostile bid to buy Louisville-based PharMerica Corp. The case will be heard before an administrative law judge at the FTC in June. As Business First reported earlier this month, Omnicare had disclosed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would extend the deadline for the FTC to review its proposed acquisition until Jan. 26. Earlier Friday, Omnicare also extended its deadline to buy PharMerica shares to 5 p...

• Hospital systems explain withdrawal from association

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Three of the state’s largest hospital systems have released an explanation for their withdrawal from the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association — a loss to the tune of what some say is $1 million in collective annual dues. Banner Health, Abrazo Health Care and Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West) sent a letter today to Laurie Liles, CEO of the state hospital association, announcing their membership termination, effective March 1. “The association is no longer consistent with nor reflective of our collective interests on legislative and regulatory issues before the…

• Kaiser 'tops' new Redwood City Hospital

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:42 pm

  Kaiser Permanente said it plans to "top out" the steel skeleton of its new 280,000-square-foot Redwood City Hospital on Friday. The structure was to be hoisted to the top of the seven-story building, located at Veterans Boulevard and Walnut Street. The thousand-pound framing structure was signed by hospital physicians, staff and dignitaries. The contractor is Redwood City's Rudolph and Sletten Inc., which began erecting the steel on the site Dec. 5. According to Kaiser Permanente: "Crews from Schuff Steel of Stockton worked nearly every day during December and January to finish the hospital…

• Christus decision rings positive note for Irving, mayor says

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:16 pm

  With a squeal, Mayor Beth Van Duyne was a bit ecstatic when I called her for comment about Christus Health consolidating its corporate offices in Irving, adding 650 jobs to the region. The employees will come mostly from San Antonio and Houston. The move will be staggered starting this summer and will be completed no later than next year. After Irving-based Hostess Brands Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, and MetLife Inc.’s operation in Irving laying off about 900 employees — this was welcome news, Van Duyne said...

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  Human Resources News - Human Resources News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Skybridge Marketing may add 200 jobs with expansion

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:24 pm

  Skybridge Marketing Group is close to finalizing a deal to expand its operations in Bemidji and create up to 200 jobs. The Bemidji Pioneer reports that the Greenfield-based marketing company, which used to be a business unit of Archway Marketing Services, is expected to finalize the deal next month. The company, which also has an office in Winnipeg, Ontario, and has more than 800 employees in the U.S. and Canada, expects to hire up to 50 people by July and eventually employ 200 people in Bemidji...

• Former Palm chief Rubinstein leaving HP

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:40 pm

  Jon Rubinstein has left Hewlett-Packard Co. as of Friday, according to All Things Digital. Rubinstein is a former executive of Apple Inc. who helped to create the iPod. He later ran handheld device maker Palm, which was acquired by Palo Alto-based HP (NYSE:HPQ) in 2010 for $1.2 billion. He was the senior vice president of HP's PC business. Rubinstein reportedly completed his commitment to HP after its purchase of Palm, and has no immediate plans other than taking a break from developing webOS, he told AllThingsD...

• Adscend: McKenna, Facebook case full of ‘fake claims’

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:37 pm

  Delaware-based Adscend Media LLC says it is being wrongly accused of hijacking clicks and "friending" on Facebook as a deceptive means of spreading spam, and the company accused Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna of blindsiding Adscend with the "false claims." Adscend's response Friday came a day after the company was attacked by Facebook and McKenna as a spam-spreading scourge plaguing social networking sites such as Facebook. The online ad network is the target of federal lawsuits in Washington and California filed Thursday by Facebook and McKenna (pdf, 27 pages), accusing the company…

• TN Senate: Multi-pronged unemployment reform arrives

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:50 pm

  Whatever its fate, a spate of legislation filed Thursday makes it clear unemployment insurance will at least be a source of debate this year in the Tennessee General Assembly, as promised. While Senate Republicans have called unemployment reform a top priority — to the joy of some business advocates who believe fraud is burdening the system — it’s been unclear how much traction the issue would get there or in the House. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has called it a top priority. “I’m still very interested in reforming our unemployment (system) in Tennessee,” the Republican head of the…

• Mosaic having a hard time finding workers in Canada

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:39 pm

  The CEO of The Mosaic Co. said Friday the fertilizer company is having a hard time finding workers in western Canada. Jim Prokopanko told Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that it was a "real challenge" competing against Canada's energy companies for workers. "It's a gold-rush, boomtown mentality going on," Prokopanko said. The tight labor market comes three years after Mosaic laid off 1,000 workers in Canada. Plymouth-based Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) has been doing business in Canada for a long time...

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  Insurance News - Insurance News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• FTC moves to block Omnicare takeover of PharMerica

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

  The Federal Trade Commission has filed an administrative complaint against Covington, Ky.-based Omnicare Inc., moving to stop the company's hostile bid to buy Louisville-based PharMerica Corp. The case will be heard before an administrative law judge at the FTC in June. As Business First reported earlier this month, Omnicare had disclosed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would extend the deadline for the FTC to review its proposed acquisition until Jan. 26. Earlier Friday, Omnicare also extended its deadline to buy PharMerica shares to 5 p...

• FDIC closes Tennessee Commerce Bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:56 pm

  Tennessee’s reign as the largest state to avoid a bank failure since the economic downturn came to an end today, with regulators closing institutions in the Nashville and Knoxville areas. Tennessee Commerce Bank — the Franklin lender that’s been searching for capital under continual regulatory oversight for weeks — will become part of Republic Bank & Trust Co. of Louisville, Ky. And BankEast, a Knoxville-area lender under the leadership of former state banking commissioner Fred Lawson, has been sold to U...

• Birmingham man sentenced in mortgage fraud case

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:40 pm

  A Birmingham man was sentenced to five years in prison this week for a mortgage fraud scheme in which he sold three houses that he did not own, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Darryl Cobb, 54, was sentenced on two counts of mail fraud in connection to the scheme. Cobb pleaded guilty to the charges in August. The judge also ordered Cobb to pay restitution of $262,861 and to forfeit $262,861 to the government as proceeds of his illegal activity. You can find more details about the case here.

• Greystone Bank’s wind down now complete

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:01 pm

  The final step in the formal wind down of Raleigh’s Greystone Bank belonged to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The regulatory agency on Friday released a document saying it would no longer offer insurance coverage on any Greystone deposits. The agency covers deposits at insured banks up to $250,000. Its action on Greystone was essentially a file closing move. Six-year-old Greystone, a real estate lender that experienced a bumpy ride during the market drop, had wound down both its deposit base and operations last fall...

• Report: Undocumented workers pay taxes

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:48 am

  Undocumented workers generate up to $552 million in local, state and federal taxes, according to a study released Wednesday. The Oregon Center for Public Policy released the report identifying the economic impact of the state’s 110,000 to 220,000 undocumented worker. The report estimates undocumented workers in Oregon earn between $2.3 billion and $4.5 billion in annual wages, figures that should inform public debate about undocumented workers in the state. The report estimates that half of the earnings of undocumented workers is subject to taxes...

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  Legal Services News - Legal Services News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Ex-Viking Voigt faces banking ban, steep fine from FDIC

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:39 pm

  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. wants to fine former Viking Stu Voigt $125,000 and ban him from banking on allegations of misconduct as chairman as Bloomington-based First Commercial Bank. In allegations made public on Thursday (72 KB PDF), the FDIC says Voigt, as a bank board member, supported risky lending to a company in which he had a personal financial interest. Voigt denied the allegations through his attorney, Phil Cole of Minneapolis law firm Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, who said Voigt disclosed his conflicts at the time of the deal...

• Houston attorney named ABA Problem Solver

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pm

  Houston attorney Harry Tindall is one of two attorneys in the nation who earned the American Bar Association’s Problem Solver award in 2012. The award was established a decade ago to recognize individual attorneys and organizations that use their legal acumen in creative, non-traditional ways to solve problems for their clients. Tindall, a partner in the family law firm Tindall & England PC, “has been a role model for lawyers who wish to transition from litigators to peacemakers,” according to a news statement from the association...

• Adscend: McKenna, Facebook case full of ‘fake claims’

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:37 pm

  Delaware-based Adscend Media LLC says it is being wrongly accused of hijacking clicks and "friending" on Facebook as a deceptive means of spreading spam, and the company accused Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna of blindsiding Adscend with the "false claims." Adscend's response Friday came a day after the company was attacked by Facebook and McKenna as a spam-spreading scourge plaguing social networking sites such as Facebook. The online ad network is the target of federal lawsuits in Washington and California filed Thursday by Facebook and McKenna (pdf, 27 pages), accusing the company…

• McGinn, Smith plead not guilty

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:14 pm

  Albany investment brokers Timothy M. McGinn and David L. Smith pleaded not guilty Friday in US. District Court on charges that they defrauded investors. They were released on their own recognizance after each signed $100,000 bonds. No date was set for further action. A grand jury on Jan. 26 indicted the pair on 30 counts of felony crimes, including cases of securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy and falsifying tax returns. McGinn and Smith each face up to 30 years in prison, if convicted on most or all of the counts—effectively putting them away for life...

• Legal Sonar uses social networks to link lawyers, clients

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:57 pm

  With an established business matching lawyers with clients facing legal projects, Diana Kander is ready to put another notch on her belt. Kander, CEO of Kansas City-based KR Legal Management LLC, is launching a new company to help Kansas City-area lawyers find one another. Legal Sonar Inc. will offer a search engine that uses social networks to make connections between attorneys and anyone looking for them. The service will be free and available to anyone, but it’s mostly designed to help lawyers in the crucial process of referring work to and from their practices...

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  Logistics & Transportation News - Logistics & Transportation News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Matson Navigation to raise fuel surcharge

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:48 pm

  Matson Navigation Co. said Friday that it is raising the fuel surcharge for its Hawaii shipping service by 5 percentage points to 45.5 percent, effective Feb. 26. The Oakland, Calif.-based shipper, a subsidiary of Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE: ALEX), cited “rising bunker fuel prices and other energy related costs” as the reason for the increase. “While we were encouraged by the moderation of bunker fuel prices in the second half of 2011, that trend has been reversed in recent months,” Dave Hoppes, senior vice president of ocean services, said in a statement...

• Sister ship of Italian Costa Concordia arrives in San Francisco

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:16 pm

  The Costa Deliziosa, a sister ship of the cruise ship that sank off the coast of Italy, arrived in San Francisco on Friday for an overnight stay. Click on the image to view a short slideshow on the Costa Deliziosa. The 961-foot long Costa Deliziosa passed through the Golden Gate around 11 a.m. Friday and berthed at the Cruise Ship terminal at Pier 35. It was expected to depart mid-day Saturday to continue a round-the-world cruise that began in Italy on Dec. 28. Still to come on the itinerary are Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore...

• Kansas accelerates $50M in road projects to create jobs sooner

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:59 pm

  The Kansas Department of Transportation is hitting the gas on $50 million worth of preservation projects to generate jobs and capitalize on the current low construction costs. The 32 projects — which were in the 10-year, $8 billion T-WORKS transportation program passed in 2010 — are for work such as the repair and reconstruction of roads and bridges. The section near the Kansas City metro area is getting the most projects — seven highway projects and four bridge projects worth a collective $15...

• Kansas City approves nearly $700K streetcar design contract

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:53 pm

  The Kansas City Council on Thursday took another step forward in its development of a Downtown streetcar line by authorizing a design contract with HDR Engineering Inc. An ordinance approved by the council Thursday authorizes a contract worth as much as $697,559 for additional design and conceptual engineering work on a preferred 2-mile streetcar line. This comes a week after the Kansas City Council signaled its support for a special election in which about 10,000 voters, largely in the downtown core, would vote on creating a transportation development district that would include a 1 percent…

• Citizen input sought on Memphis transportation plan

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:53 pm

  Citizens from across the Greater Memphis area can see the latest long-term plan for transportation and give their final input before it’s finalized. The Memphis Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is in the final stages of updating its Long Range Transportation Plan and is seeking public review and comment through Feb. 17. Called Direction 2040, the multimodal transportation plan will help map out the area’s growth to the year 2040. It covers Shelby County, the western portion of Fayette County and northern DeSoto County...

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  Manufacturing News - Manufacturing News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Strong forecast from Nautilus sends shares up 19%

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Nautilus Inc. on Friday said it expects a 12 percent jump in fourth quarter sales, sending its share price up more than 19 percent. The Vancouver, Wash.-based fitness equipment brand (NYSE: NLS) released preliminary, unaudited fourth-quarter results Friday. It won’t unveil its full financial report until March. Royalties from licensing its brands to third parties are expected to be up 15 percent to $1.8 million. For the fourth quarter, the company expects sales to rise 12 percent over the prior year to $60...

• Going South: Aerospace manufacture conference to be held in Charlotte, N.C.

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:48 pm

  Wouldn’t you think a leading North American conference on commercial aircraft manufacture would be held where the biggest planes are made? You might, but you'd be wrong. The first “Civil Aviation Manufacturing” conference, or CAM, is scheduled for Charlotte, N.C., May 8-9 of this year — not in Washington state. The conference, organized by New York-based Aviation Week, went where the new action is, said Aviation Week Marketing Director Jennifer Roberts, speaking from Manhattan. "There’s so much growth going on in that area,” she said, speaking of the South...

• DBJ Tech Watch for Friday 1/27: News of Facebook's IPO, Apple, ZeaChem and more

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:16 pm

  Welcome to the Denver Business Journal's Tech Watch, our roundup of today's tech news from around the nation, featuring reports on Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, ZeaChem, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Motorola Mobility, Juniper Networks and more. Facebook to file for IPO next week USDA gives ZeaChem a $232.5M loan guarantee Gessler launches password protection for Colorado business information Microsoft spending ‘billions’ on Nokia WP7 project Cook says Apple will address supply-chain issues Apple retook smartphone lead from Samsung in Q4 Samsung loses to Apple in German patent…

• U.S. Steel quiet on reports it sold Serbian mill

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:54 pm

  United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: USX) is staying tight lipped about reports that it has sold its Serbia operations for $1 to the Serbian government. There has been speculation about the operation since the company released third quarter financial results in October, and Chairman and CEO John Surma said the steelmaker is “not satisfied with our poor financial results in Serbia, and we are evaluating all options to improve our situation.” In a statement Friday, the company declined to comment on the reports out of Serbia and reiterated that it was exploring all options related to the Serbia…

• Mosaic having a hard time finding workers in Canada

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:39 pm

  The CEO of The Mosaic Co. said Friday the fertilizer company is having a hard time finding workers in western Canada. Jim Prokopanko told Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that it was a "real challenge" competing against Canada's energy companies for workers. "It's a gold-rush, boomtown mentality going on," Prokopanko said. The tight labor market comes three years after Mosaic laid off 1,000 workers in Canada. Plymouth-based Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) has been doing business in Canada for a long time...

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  Media & Marketing News - Media & Marketing News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Skybridge Marketing may add 200 jobs with expansion

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:24 pm

  Skybridge Marketing Group is close to finalizing a deal to expand its operations in Bemidji and create up to 200 jobs. The Bemidji Pioneer reports that the Greenfield-based marketing company, which used to be a business unit of Archway Marketing Services, is expected to finalize the deal next month. The company, which also has an office in Winnipeg, Ontario, and has more than 800 employees in the U.S. and Canada, expects to hire up to 50 people by July and eventually employ 200 people in Bemidji...

• Strong forecast from Nautilus sends shares up 19%

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Nautilus Inc. on Friday said it expects a 12 percent jump in fourth quarter sales, sending its share price up more than 19 percent. The Vancouver, Wash.-based fitness equipment brand (NYSE: NLS) released preliminary, unaudited fourth-quarter results Friday. It won’t unveil its full financial report until March. Royalties from licensing its brands to third parties are expected to be up 15 percent to $1.8 million. For the fourth quarter, the company expects sales to rise 12 percent over the prior year to $60...

• How much does the average educator make?

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:44 pm

  The average educator in the Sacramento region makes an average of $54,630, or about $26.27 an hour. That covers about 63,830 employees in the sector of education, training and library occupations. But the real money within the sector is as a professor or other post-secondary instructor, according to a new analysis. On Numbers used U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data to rank the earning power of employees in fields of education as well as in the sector of arts, design, entertainment and media. The highest pay in that sector is that of a law school professor, at an average of $117,020...

• Database: top-paid Portland workers in education, media

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:16 pm

  The 70 economics professors in Portland are the highest-paid teachers in the metro area. According to an On Numbers analysis of educator salaries compiled by the Business Journal, area economics professors make an average of $103,150 a year. Engineering professors were second, with an average salary of $101,060, followed by professors in health specialties at $99,060, computer science at $95,700 and architecture at $94,890. The Business Journal determined the ranking using Education, Training and Library sector data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics...

• DBJ Tech Watch for Friday 1/27: News of Facebook's IPO, Apple, ZeaChem and more

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:16 pm

  Welcome to the Denver Business Journal's Tech Watch, our roundup of today's tech news from around the nation, featuring reports on Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, ZeaChem, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Motorola Mobility, Juniper Networks and more. Facebook to file for IPO next week USDA gives ZeaChem a $232.5M loan guarantee Gessler launches password protection for Colorado business information Microsoft spending ‘billions’ on Nokia WP7 project Cook says Apple will address supply-chain issues Apple retook smartphone lead from Samsung in Q4 Samsung loses to Apple in German patent…

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  Residential Real Estate News - Residential Real Estate News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Optimism, and a wizard’s hat, at 2012 Hawaii real estate forecast

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  A wizard’s hat, poems and a kaleidoscope. No, I wasn’t at a carnival on Friday morning. Instead, those were just some of the tools used by the presenters at the 2012 Hawaii Real Estate Forecast, held at the Hawaii Convention Center. The captive audience, mostly made up of Realtors, listened to the experts throughout the marketplace. Paul Brewbaker, principal of TZ Economics, kicked off the event with an economic outlook. He said there are good signs that a recovery is nearing, like home prices beginning to stabilize...

• Former Wachovia loan officer Andrew Vulpis sentenced

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pm

  Andrew Vulpis was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Vulpis was an officer of Wachovia Bank in Tampa when he played a role in 12 residential real estate transactions in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties that involved fraud, a written statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida said. U.S. District Jude Steven Merryday also entered a money judgment of $1.25 million against Vulpis, who forfeited a 2007 Volvo sedan as a substitute asset in partial satisfaction of the money judgment, the statement said...

• GenCorp development ZIP code change denied

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:09 pm

  GenCorp Inc.’s effort to get a Folsom ZIP code for a part of its proposed residential development called Boroughs of Easton failed. The U.S. Postal Service turned down the company’s request for the Folsom name change, and the area will remain part of Rancho Cordova. “We are delighted with the decision,” Rancho Cordova Mayor David Sander said in a statement. “A ZIP code change would have caused confusion and divided our community. We fought to maintain our community identity.” Easton Development Co...

• PNC loans $41M for Stiles’ apartment project

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:39 pm

  PNC Bank provided a $40.6 million mortgage to a joint venture partnership between Stiles Corp. and Prudential Insurance (NYSE: PRU) to build an apartment project in Plantation. University Center Partners, an entity controlled by Fort Lauderdale-based Stiles, had a $12.5 million mortgage with EverBank covering the 85,812-square-foot mixed-use property at 1349 S. University Drive plus the 5.5-acre site on its south side – just north of Interstate 595. It sold the property with the mixed-used building for $8 million to PR/Stiles Plantation Apartment Owner, which is a joint venture between…

• San Jose: Tough place to rent, good place to buy?

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:12 pm

  Prospective home buyers take comfort. A recent analysis of the nation’s housing markets found San Jose to be the second hottest housing market in the country. Local Market Monitor, a firm that analyzes markets for the banking industry, recently put together a three-year forecast of the nation’s largest housing markets. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara came in at No. 2, behind only McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas. What’s so great about this market? The fact that home prices are close to a bottom is one...

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  Retailing & Restaurants News - Retailing & Restaurants News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Slide show: High tech meets performance at Brooks Sports shoe lab

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:31 pm

  Inside the Brooks Sports shoe lab, tucked inside a suburban office park in Bothell, biomechanical engineers, footwear developers and designers are trying to create the latest and greatest running shoe. Brooks’ efforts show the ever-increasing convergence of athletic performance gear and technology, which is expected to grow even more pronounced in the next five years as clothing gets embedded with UV screens and digital sensors, and as computers gain the ability to respond to people’s motions...

• Strong forecast from Nautilus sends shares up 19%

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Nautilus Inc. on Friday said it expects a 12 percent jump in fourth quarter sales, sending its share price up more than 19 percent. The Vancouver, Wash.-based fitness equipment brand (NYSE: NLS) released preliminary, unaudited fourth-quarter results Friday. It won’t unveil its full financial report until March. Royalties from licensing its brands to third parties are expected to be up 15 percent to $1.8 million. For the fourth quarter, the company expects sales to rise 12 percent over the prior year to $60...

• Celeb Seattle chef goes Google for local, sustainable food

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:51 pm

  On one of my occasional visits to Crush restaurant in the Capitol Hill neighborhood with my family, I had the chance to meet celebrated Chef Jason Wilson. Thanks to that chance introduction a few months ago, I had the opportunity to break a story this week about Wilson’s expanded role: He’s now also designing menus for Google employees at the Kirkland and Bothell campuses. The award-winning chef also cooks at two restaurants on the search giant’s Kirkland campus and splits his time between that and Crush...

• High steaks: Seattle's Met rejoins the pure Wagyu beef club

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:17 pm

  Full-blood Japanese Wagyu beef is considered the best in the world, so naturally, Executive Chef Eric Hellner of Seattle’s Metropolitan Grill had to have some. And he did, until an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease in Japan shut down beef exports in April 2010. As time passed and it became clear that nobody knew when the ban might be lifted, Hellner went on a quest to find the next-best thing. He’s serving it now. It’s full-blood Wagyu from Mayura Station, a 166-year-old boutique beef producer in South Australia...

• Powerhouse Science Center gains another partner

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:42 pm

  The $50 million Powerhouse Science Center has landed another founding partner. Keller Group Office Environments, the Sacramento region’s largest office furniture dealer as ranked by the Business Journal, joins other community and business leaders in supporting the museum project. The Powerhouse Science Center, which will be built on the banks of the Sacramento River at 400 Jibboom St., will replace the nearly three-decade-old Discovery Museum Science & Space Center at 3615 Auburn Blvd. The Powerhouse Science Center is expected to open in 2014...

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  Sports Business News - Sports Business News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Insight drops Tempe bowl sponsorship

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm

  Insight Enterprises Inc. is ending its title sponsorship of the Insight Bowl after 14 years. The Fiesta Bowl, which also runs the annual Tempe bowl game, said it is searching for a new title sponsor and will rename the game."We are grateful to Insight Enterprises for its support and help building the game into a top-tier bowl," said Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods. "We have enjoyed a long and stable partnership. With our ties to the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences, an unmatched record of hospitality and a premier location, we believe we have a lot to offer...

• Slide show: High tech meets performance at Brooks Sports shoe lab

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:31 pm

  Inside the Brooks Sports shoe lab, tucked inside a suburban office park in Bothell, biomechanical engineers, footwear developers and designers are trying to create the latest and greatest running shoe. Brooks’ efforts show the ever-increasing convergence of athletic performance gear and technology, which is expected to grow even more pronounced in the next five years as clothing gets embedded with UV screens and digital sensors, and as computers gain the ability to respond to people’s motions...

• San Jose Giants name Daniel Orum as CEO

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:19 pm

  The San Jose Giants on Friday named Daniel Orum as president and CEO of the minor league baseball team. He replaces interim president Bill Schlough, who is going back to his full-time position as senior vice president and chief information officer for the San Francisco Giants. Orum most recently was president of AFAR Media in San Francisco where he oversaw all operational aspects of the company’s travel media business. Prior to joining AFAR Media, he worked at Gamepro Media beginning as a senior vice president of business development and consumer marketing before becoming president and…

• How much does the average educator make?

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:44 pm

  The average educator in the Sacramento region makes an average of $54,630, or about $26.27 an hour. That covers about 63,830 employees in the sector of education, training and library occupations. But the real money within the sector is as a professor or other post-secondary instructor, according to a new analysis. On Numbers used U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data to rank the earning power of employees in fields of education as well as in the sector of arts, design, entertainment and media. The highest pay in that sector is that of a law school professor, at an average of $117,020...

• Rams can't play in London, CVC says

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:15 pm

  In the press release announcing the St. Louis Rams would be playing three regular-season games in London over the next three seasons, the NFL called it an “unprecedented step that begins the next chapter” of the NFL’s international outreach. Maybe because it is ‘unprecedented,’ the NFL and the Rams apparently forgot to check if anybody had a problem with it. Anybody? Yes, the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission has a problem with it. “Having the Rams play a game in London will elevate an awareness of St...

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  Technology News - Technology News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• First lady hosts Instagram founder

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:42 pm

  The White House has released a video featuring an interview with popular photo-sharing application Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, who was hosted this week at President Obama's state of the union speech by Michelle Obama, and Digital Media Wire has put together a nice package about it. Krieger, who started Instagram in late 2010 with Kevin Systrom, was invited along with Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs and nearly two dozen other people to sit with the First Lady in her guest box at the event...

• OfficeSpace.com tweaks Portland website

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Seattle-based OfficeSpace.com is beta testing a new business model that targets smaller office tenants on its Portland website. The revised website and online tools will eventually be rolled out in OfficeSpace.com’s five other markets. The impetus for the changes — which include unlimited photos with listings, an online calendar for booking tours and easy integration of marketing materials onto social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ – came from the firm’s new ownership. OfficeSpace...

• Checking in on pair of Silicon Valley 'demo days'

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:53 pm

  I took a trip into startup-land yesterday, checking out “demo days” at esteemed VC firm Andreessen Horowitz in Menlo Park and seed accelerator 500 Startups in Mountain View (featured in a recent Business Journal article). Demo day events always provide an interesting overview of the trendiest sectors for startups, and there was quite a variety at the two events. The Andreessen Horowitz event featured startups from the "Flashpoint" program, an accelerator at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The startups were doing a bit of a venture capital tour and had already presented in New York before coming…

• Beaverton software firm Cayuse sold to Evisions

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:47 pm

  Cayuse Inc., a Beaverton-based developer of research management software, was acquired last week in a deal it believes will help expand its product to a wider audience. Irvine, Calif.-based Evision Inc. on Jan. 13 announced it had acquired Cayuse. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cayuse was founded and is led by Chris Harker, a state representative from Beaverton and a former researcher at the Mayo Clinic and Oregon Health & Science University. The company’s Web-based products are used in research management and grant proposal development primarily in higher education and health care…

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  Travel Business News - Travel Business News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• S.A. Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Matej secures national honor

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:52 pm

  The Event Services Professionals Association has named Casandra Matej, executive director of the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, as the recipient of its Executive Excellence Award. The Event Services Professionals Association is a New Jersey-based trade organization. Its award recognizes an executive for his or her commitment and dedication to the hospitality industry. “I am humbled by this award,” says Matej, “But the honor really goes to our city’s great convention services managers, event coordinators and catering managers, and all those who service our clients...

• Report: Now Delta is considering buying US Airways

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:50 pm

  Delta Air Lines Inc. is considering making a bid to acquire US Airways Group Inc., The Wall Street Journal reports. The report comes just a couple of weeks after news broke that Delta was considering buying the struggling parent company of American Airlines, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. People familiar with the discussions said Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) is trying to figure out which airline would make the most sense to pursue. The Journal said US Airways (NYSE: LCC) has looked for partners in the past...

• $250 million debt offering will benefit SAWS

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:46 pm

  The City of San Antonio is planning to sell $245.7 million in water system revenue refunding bonds on behalf of San Antonio Water System as part of a plan to refinance a portion of the city-owned utility’s debt. City officials expect to save money from the bond sale by refunding older debt issued at a higher interest rate. The bonds should be sold during the week of Feb. 7. Fitch Ratings rated the latest round of bonds “AA+.” The rating agency also affirmed SAWS’ $1.5 billion in outstanding water system revenue bonds “AA+” and $386 million in outstanding water system junior lien…

• WBJ survey finds support for Ambassador Hotel incentive

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:56 pm

  Developers of the Ambassador Hotel in downtown Wichita have to like results of a Wichita Business Journal online survey over the past week. Survey participants voted resoundingly to approve the room-tax rebate for the Ambassador. Readers were asked: “If the vote were held today, would you vote for or against the Ambassador Hotel incentive?” The incentive — to rebate Ambassador developers 75 percent of guest taxes collected at their property over 15 years — will go before Wichita voters on Feb...

• Kansas City approves nearly $700K streetcar design contract

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:53 pm

  The Kansas City Council on Thursday took another step forward in its development of a Downtown streetcar line by authorizing a design contract with HDR Engineering Inc. An ordinance approved by the council Thursday authorizes a contract worth as much as $697,559 for additional design and conceptual engineering work on a preferred 2-mile streetcar line. This comes a week after the Kansas City Council signaled its support for a special election in which about 10,000 voters, largely in the downtown core, would vote on creating a transportation development district that would include a 1 percent…

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  Albany Business News - Local Albany News | Business Review of Albany

• McGinn, Smith plead not guilty

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:14 pm

  Albany investment brokers Timothy M. McGinn and David L. Smith pleaded not guilty Friday in US. District Court on charges that they defrauded investors. They were released on their own recognizance after each signed $100,000 bonds. No date was set for further action. A grand jury on Jan. 26 indicted the pair on 30 counts of felony crimes, including cases of securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy and falsifying tax returns. McGinn and Smith each face up to 30 years in prison, if convicted on most or all of the counts—effectively putting them away for life...

• Janitorial supplier E.A. Morse and Co. leases warehouse in Schodack

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:56 pm

  E.A. Morse and Co., a janitorial products supplier in Middletown, New York, opened a new warehouse and distribution center in Schodack to accommodate its growing business and improve service to customers in the Albany area. E.A. Morse is leasing 19,500 square feet at 1210 Route 9, near Exit 12 of Interstate 90. The company moved into the building, which is owned by Quality Carton, last week, said Emerson Morse, treasurer. The company has 18 people, including sales staff, work there. The company distributes janitorial products to schools, municipalities and private businesses in the Hudson…

• AG Schneiderman details fed mortgage probe

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:51 pm

  New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman joined U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and other federal officials today to outline the joint investigation he is leading into the mortgage crisis. President Barack Obama announced Schneiderman would head the probe during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Schneiderman said today that the goals of his investigation include: • holding institutions that violated the law accountable; • helping victims receive compensation; • providing relief to homeowners struggling from the aftermath of the housing collapse; For more information

• NYS Bar appoints officers

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:26 pm

  David Schraver of Rochester has been named president-elect designee of the New York State Bar Association. A partner with Nixon Peabody in Rochester, he will begin a one-year term as president-elect on June 1, 2012 and a one-year term as president on June 1, 2013. Secretary David Miranda of the Albany firm Heslin Rothenberg Farley and Mesiti, and Treasurer Claire Gutekunst of the Manhattan firm Proskauer were both reelected for one-year terms. The House of Delegates, the association’s governing body, held its election during its 135th Annual Meeting in Manhattan...

• Hike the minimum wage, New Yorkers say

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:14 pm

  New Yorkers overwhelmingly support raising the minimum wage, according to new poll. According to the NY1/YNN-Marist Poll, 69 percent of New Yorkers surveyed support increasing the minimum wage, while 27 percent say it’s a bad idea. The minimum wage in New York is $7.25 an hour. The Business Review survey on raising the minimum wage The poll also found: • 30 percent believe their finances are improving, up from 23 percent in November; • 26 percent believe New York’s economic problems are improving; up from 23 percent in November...

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  Albuquerque Business News - Local Albuquerque News | New Mexico Business Weekly

• Verizon Wireless invested $180M in area network in 2011

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:55 pm

  Verizon Wireless spent nearly $180 million in New Mexico and El Paso in 2011 to provide new wireless services, expand network coverage and add capacity for customers. The company has invested a total of $550 million since 2000 in New Mexico and El Paso, said Verizon Wireless Southwest Region President Brian Danfield in a news release. “We know customers depend on their smartphones, tablets, laptop modems and other wireless devices to stay connected, to be more productive and for entertainment,” Danfield said...

• Sandia Labs spent $400M with New Mexico firms in 2011

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:51 pm

  Sandia National Laboratories paid about $400 million to New Mexico businesses for goods and services in fiscal year 2011, according to Sandia’s annual economic impact report, released Jan. 26. About $296 million, or 74 percent, went to small businesses, said Small Business Utilization Program Manager Don Devoti in a news release. “Sandia National Laboratories is committed to strengthening our relationships with the New Mexico business community and, in particular, to be a strong advocate for New Mexico’s diverse small business suppliers,” Devoti said...

• Apple iPhone pushing AT&T smartphone payoff

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:18 pm

  AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) activated 7.6 million iPhones in the latest quarter, accounting for one out of every five sold around the world and driving AT&T's smartphone business, The Washington Post reports. The iPhone has accounted for about 80 percent of the smartphones AT&T activated in the fourth quarter of 2011, up from 70 percent. AT&T did, however, see a nearly 80 percent drop in profit in 2011 following a pre-tax charge of about $4 billion for its failed acquisition of T-Mobile USA and other charges...

• Creative Albuquerque announces Creative Bravos Award winners

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:18 am

  Creative Albuquerque has announced the honorees for its Creative Bravos Awards. The awards event will take place March 24. The Bravos Awards, once given mostly to nonprofit arts organizations, were rebranded as the Creative Bravos Awards when the former Arts Alliance was refashioned into Creative Albuquerque with the mission of connecting the arts and economic development. The honorees are the Media Arts Collaborative Charter School, which uses digital media and technology to engage students; Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque, the longest-standing flamenco event outside of Spain,…

• Bank of America suspends cash-out refinancing operation

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:14 am

  Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) has stopped originating cash-out home-refinance loans. The new policy went into effect last week. And the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank has suspended all mortgage refinancing activity that allows homeowners to convert equity in their homes to cash. BofA is the second-largest bank in New Mexico. Industry website National Mortgage News first reported the change. It cited a memo by BofA mortgage sales executive Matt Vernon that says, “While we regret the inconvenience this will cause to some of our customers in the short term, we are making the responsible choice…

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  Atlanta Business News - Local Atlanta News | Atlanta Business Chronicle

• Lowe’s adding 50-product Zep commerical line

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:59 pm

  Zep Inc. lined up a partnership with home improvement retailer Lowe’s Companies Inc. to sell 50 Zep Commercial products in its stores and on Lowes.com. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Zep products will hit Lowe’s shelves by March. The line includes professional strength cleaning and maintenance solutions such as All Purpose Cleaner-Degreaser, Oxy Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Hardwood Floor Cleaner, and High Traffic Floor Cleaner. Lowe’s already carries Zep’s Enforcer brand of insecticide, herbicide and rodenticide products...

• Morris, Manning & Martin snares Troutman Sanders team

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:45 pm

  Atlanta-based law firm Morris, Manning & Martin LLP has lured a six-person international trade group away from Troutman Sanders LLP, providing a significant boost to its small District office. Partners making the move include Donald Cameron, Julie Mendoza, Will Planert and Brady Mills. Associate Mary Hodgins and trade analyst Paul McGarr are also coming along. Morris, Manning wants to establish itself as a leader in comprehensive representation of foreign companies wanting to enter the U.S. market, firm leaders said...

• The Reel Thing: Oscar nominations and ruminations

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:07 am

  Oscar nominations are out and probably the only thing Oscar addicts enjoy as much as second-guessing the eventual winners is second-guessing who got nominated and who got snubbed. Here are some random thoughts on last Tuesday’s naming names. Best Picture “The Artist” “The Descendants” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” “The Help” “Hugo” “Midnight in Paris” “Moneyball” “The Tree of Life” “War Horse” With the Best Picture category expanded to anywhere between 5 and 10, you’d think there wouldn’t be any snubs...

• UPS to take $827M charge for accounting change

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:55 am

  United Parcel Service Inc. will take $827 million for the fourth quarter of 2011 due to a change in pension accounting. The Atlanta-based package shipping and logistics company said the charges will reduce its earnings per share for the year by 41 cents. UPS (NYSE: UPS) reports fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on Jan. 31 UPS said the new accounting method records actuarial gains and losses on the income statement in the year incurred rather than amortizing them over time. “This policy provides greater transparency to the company’s underlying operating results,” said Kurt Kuehn, UPS…

• Newell Rubbermaid profit decreases to $125M in 2011

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:45 am

  Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL) The Atlanta-based consumer products giant saw a 9 percent drop in annual profit in 2011, impacted negatively by $15.2 million in restructuring-related costs associated with its European Transformation Plan; $77.4 million of Project Acceleration restructuring costs, including asset impairment charges and employee termination and other costs; and $218.6 million in charges incurred to retire outstanding debt under the Capital Structure Optimization Plan. Net Sales: $5...

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  Austin Business News - Local Austin News | Austin Business Journal

• Three Rivers files for $300M IPO

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:51 pm

  Three Rivers Operating Company LLC filed Friday a registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission to have an initial public offering. The Austin-based oil and natural gas producer hopes to raise $300 million. Three Rivers intends to use the money raised to repay outstanding debt, of which $286.5 million was outstanding as of Sept. 30, 2011. The company had borrowed money to buy Chesapeake Energy Corp. and the Samson Acquired Properties as well as to fund exploration, development and other capital expenses...

• Facebook to file for IPO next week

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:27 pm

  Social media giant Facebook Inc. may file plans for an IPO as early as Feb. 1 of next week. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based social networking company, which opened an Austin office in 2010, is close to choosing Morgan Stanley as its lead underwriter, according to the Wall Street Journal on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Facebook is looking at a $75 billion to $100 billion valuation and wants to raise as much as $10 billion. The founders of Austin-based social networker Gowalla Inc...

• Report: Austin lawyer makes an average $104K per year

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:14 pm

  The average annual salary of one of Austin’s 4,150 lawyers is $104,660 and the average hourly pay is $50.32 per hour. California is the leader in lawyer pay, according a study by On Numbers, the research division of American City Business Journals. The average annual pay for lawyers is higher in San Jose ($184,660) than anywhere else. Danbury, Conn., is second, followed by San Francisco and Napa, Calif. Want to stay up to date? Sign up for our DailyUpdate news blast email. Follow us on Twitter @MyABJ and on Facebook.

• Service is the spice to your business' success recipe

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:01 pm

  As we forge ahead into a new year, you are probably working hard to develop plans that will take your company to new and better places. It’s common to look at your activities last year to determine what should be done to make this year better. If you do, ask yourself as part of that process whether there are any missing ingredients in your business. As you and your management team search for new ways to grow your business this year, consider adding a third purpose beyond helping customers and providing employment: service...

• Big Blue Sky grows out of its trailer

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:52 pm

  Big Blue Sky Advertising started as two guys in a trailer. Two-and-a-half years later, the agency founded by Chad Swisher and Tony Lopez has moved into its second office in North Austin, and has NASCAR Performance, Little Woodrow’s and Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que as clients. It recently added Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, a growing Fort Worth-based fish taco chain to its customer base. The agency has a staff of seven, including its founders, and is looking to hire a designer and an account executive. Swisher and Lopez — who worked for Makos Advertising LP, an advertising agency that is no longer…

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  Baltimore Business News - Local Baltimore News | Baltimore Business Journal

• Lt. Gov. Brown outlines 2012 legislative priorities

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:43 pm

  Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown will push legislation this year to promote public-private partnerships, reduce health disparities and implement federal health reform in Maryland. Each of those measures have been areas of focus for Brown. They join Gov. Martin O’Malley’s agenda including developing offshore wind power and legalizing same-sex marriage in the O’Malley administration’s legislative priorities. Brown is promoting the public-private partnership legislation as a means of creating jobs. The bill, which has yet to be introduced, would clarify the state’s definition of a public-private…

• Photos: Baltimore Business Journal 2012 Book of Lists party

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm

  Nearly 500 business leaders from across the region attended the Baltimore Business Journal's 2012 Book of Lists party Thursday night at the National Aquarium. The event celebrates the release of the BBJ's annual "Book of Lists" publication. Scroll a photo gallery to the right for images from the party.

• BBJcast: Johns Hopkins' $1.1 billion patient towers

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:49 pm

  In this week's BBJcast, we sit down with reporter Scott Dance to talk about the new $1.1 billion patient towers at Johns Hopkins Medicine's East Baltimore campus. Dance had a behind the scenes tour of the hospital this week, and shares some juicy details about the billion-dollar facility. Listen to this edition of the BBJcast here. Related Links: Photos: Johns Hopkins unveils $1.1B pair of patient towersJohns Hopkins wins $8.5M to study asthma among blacksJohns Hopkins names Rothman medical school's dean, CEO of Hopkins Medicine

• Cinemark Theatres to anchor $85M Towson Circle III

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:35 am

  Cinemark Theatres will be the anchor tenant of Towson Circle III, an $85 million retail and restaurant development in downtown Towson that has been planned for a half decade. Baltimore-based The Cordish Cos. and Heritage Properties of Towson are partnering on the project, which includes a 16-screen, 3,200-seat theater. Heritage will handle the development, while Cordish handles the leasing. Towson Circle III, a 4.2-acre parcel at East Joppa Road and Pennsylvania and Virginia avenues, also will include an 862-space parking garage, which will be operated by the Baltimore County Revenue…

• T. Rowe Price CEO Kennedy says hiring will continue in 2012

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:33 am

  Last year was a good one if you hoped to land a job at T. Rowe Price Group Inc.. The Baltimore money manager added employees both in the Baltimore area and across the world in 2011. It expects the hiring to continue in 2012, CEO James A.C. Kennedy said in an interview Friday. T. Rowe is looking to hire about 100 people worldwide, including about 70 in the Baltimore area. With investors pouring about $14.1 billion into T. Rowe’s funds last year, the company needs more workers in client services and technology, Kennedy said...

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  Birmingham Business News - Local Birmingham News | Birmingham Business Journal

• Feds shut down Birmingham tax prep service

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:04 pm

  A Birmingham tax preparer’s operations have been shut down by a federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today. Lakeisha Pearson has permanently barred from preparing federal tax returns for others after the court found that she used fraudulent schemes to increase her customers’ earned income tax credit claims and generate large, erroneous tax refunds for her customers. The government’s civil injunction complaint alleged that the service operated under the trade names LGS Tax Service, PositiveEndeavors LLC and AGA Tax Service...

• Mortgage rates edge higher

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:50 pm

  Long-term mortgage rates reversed a three-week trend of setting record lows, rising modestly this week. Freddie Mac’s weekly rate report said a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.98 percent in the week ending Jan. 26, up from 3.88 percent last week. This is still the eighth consecutive week the average rate on a 30-year fix has stayed below 4 percent. A 15-year fix averaged 3.24 percent this week, up from 3.17 percent. According to Lending Tree, 30-year rates of 3.5 percent and 15-year rates of 2...

• Birmingham man sentenced in mortgage fraud case

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:40 pm

  A Birmingham man was sentenced to five years in prison this week for a mortgage fraud scheme in which he sold three houses that he did not own, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Darryl Cobb, 54, was sentenced on two counts of mail fraud in connection to the scheme. Cobb pleaded guilty to the charges in August. The judge also ordered Cobb to pay restitution of $262,861 and to forfeit $262,861 to the government as proceeds of his illegal activity. You can find more details about the case here.

• Real estate roundup: Optimism at the ACRE conference

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:07 pm

  Alabama commercial real estate experts seemed upbeat at the 2011 Alabama Center for Real Estate conference today. Or maybe they’re just happy they’re not in the residential sector after the Associated Press today said U.S. December new-home sales broke records and not in a good way. In any case, I was told by several brokers, including J.H. Berry & Gilbert Inc. Vice President John Hardin, that commercial real estate deals have been picking up lately. And that flurry of activity, along with some residential sector improvement, is beginning to drift into other markets...

• Photos from our Economic Forecast

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:05 pm

  Earlier this month, we hosted our annual Economic Forecast panel discussion at Samford University. As you can read in this recap, panelists expect a lot more of the same in the new year, including uncertainty, slow growth and debate about government regulation. Use the slideshow on the right to check out photos from the event.

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  Boston Business News - Local Boston News | Boston Business Journal

• ABA chief: Feds' new watchdog agency is hurting community banks

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:32 pm

  During his career, Frank Keating has served as an FBI agent, a U.S. Attorney, two-term Governor of Oklahoma, and author of children's books. He's now president and chief executive of the American Bankers Association. Gov. Keating sat down with the Boston Business Journal on Friday following a talk he gave for Massachusetts Bankers Association members. Massachusetts bankers want to be relieved of regulatory burdens before they are forced to make major cutbacks to services to trim costs, Keating said...

• Museum of Science gets $5M grant

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:08 pm

  The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center gave a $5 million grant to the Museum of Science Boston on Wednesday to build an exhibit on biology and biotechnology to be called the Hall of Human Life (HHL). The exhibit, expected to open next summer, will include 10,000 square feet of space relying on life sciences research connections through businesses and universities in the area. The HHL itself is planned to include an interactive segment in which visitors can anonymously record their experiences in areas of food, physical forces, living organisms, social experience and time...

• Alkermes diabetes drug wins FDA approval

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:07 pm

  Alkermes Inc. (Nasdaq: ALKS) and its California partner Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: AMLN) have finally won approval from the FDA for the diabetes drug Bydureon after years of attempts. In a letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Drug Evaluation, the two partners were told that the New Drug Application that had been originally been submitted in May 2009 was approved and the contents of package labels should be sent to the office as soon as possible. Following the original application in 2009, the FDA issued a complete response letter in March 2010, requesting…

• Granite Telecom president Rob Hale joins Boston Celtics investor group

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:05 pm

  Quincy, Mass.-based Granite Communications president Rob Hale has joined the Boston Celtics investor group, the Celtics said today. “We are happy to welcome Rob and his family to the Celtics family as a part of our ownership group,” Celtics CEO and Co-owner Wycliff Grousbeck said in a statement. “His entrepreneurial spirit as well as his demonstrated commitment to serving the New England community through various philanthropic efforts makes him a perfect fit with the Celtics.” The Celtics declined to give out specifics on how much Hale invested, a spokeswoman said...

• Mass. invests $14.6M in Fall River biomanufacturing plant

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:57 pm

  True to its word from a year ago, the state of Massachusetts has ponied up nearly $15 million for a new biomanufacturing plant tied to UMass Dartmouth. In a release Friday, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center board of directors gave final approval to a $14.6 million capital grant to fund the building of the new Massachusetts Biomanufacturing Center in Fall River. The 32,000-square-foot facility will house early stage life sciences companies and span four acres of city-donated land, while 150 acres will be held for potential expansion...

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  Buffalo Business News - Local Buffalo News | Business First of Buffalo

• Sen. Schumer announces and pushes a lot of stuff (Yawn)

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:37 pm

  Just for the heck of it, I took a look at the website of the senior U.S. senator from New York, Democrat Charles Schumer. Below are the highlights of the news releases his office issued from Monday through Friday. As you can see, the senator sure spends a lot of his time announcing, calling on, urging, pushing and recommending. Ah, yes – senators and members of the House. Don’t you just love them? They announce. They urge. They urge. They announce. Such is life in their rarefied realm, I guess...

• Poll: Hike New York's minimum wage

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:30 pm

  New Yorkers overwhelmingly support raising the minimum wage, according to new poll. According to the NY1/YNN-Marist Poll, 69 percent of New Yorkers surveyed support increasing the minimum wage, while 27 say it’s a bad idea. The minimum wage in New York is $7.25 an hour. The poll also found: • 30 percent believe their finances are improving, up from 23 percent in November; • 26 believe New York’s economic problems are improving; up from 23 percent in November. The survey involved 681 New York adults and interviews took place Jan...

• Rochester attorney picked to head NYS Bar

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:06 pm

  David Schraver of Rochester has been named president-elect designee of the New York State Bar Association. A partner with Nixon Peabody in Rochester, he will begin a one-year term as president-elect on June 1, 2012 and a one-year term as president on June 1, 2013. Scraver Schraver concentrates his practice in complex civil and commercial litigation, with a special emphasis on Indian law and gaming, energy and utilities litigation, contract litigation, and fiduciary and professional liability. The House of Delegates, the association’s governing body, elected Schraver during its 135th Annual…

• Moog off to fast start in 1Q

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:03 am

  A strong first quarter at Moog Inc. — during which sales improved for four of its five manufacturing divisions — has driven increases in net sales and net earnings. The East Aurora aerospace and defense manufacturing company (NYSE: MOG.A, MOG.B) on Friday reported net earnings of $36.4 million, or 80 cents per share, for the quarter ending Dec. 31. That’s up 8.9 percent from $33.4 million, or 73 cents per share, in net earnings reported for the end of 2010. Net sales totaled $600.6 million for the most recently completed quarter, up from $554...

• Graham sees industrial recovery as 3Q profit rises

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:44 am

  Graham Corp. said Friday that profits doubled in the 2012 third quarter. Net income was $1.6 million, or 16 per share, compared with $800,000, or 8 cents per share, in the same prior year period. Net sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 were $24.3 million, up from net sales of $19.2 million in the third quarter. Graham officials noted that the results include Energy Steel & Supply Co., a nuclear code-accredited fabrication and specialty machining company, which was acquired on Dec. 14, 2010...

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  Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal

• Duke Energy gets 7.2% rate increase in North Carolina

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  N.C. regulators have approved Duke Energy’s proposed 7.2% rate for this state in a ruling that will raise the typical residential customer’s bill an average of $7 a month. Last summer, Duke announced it was seeking a 15% rate increase in North Carolina. The proposal, and a similar one in South Carolina, met immediate protests from consumer and business groups as well as the state agencies assigned to protect the interests of utility customers. In November, the company reached a settlement with the Public Staff of the N...

• Babcock & Wilcox leads Charlotte stocks

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:35 pm

  Shares of The Babcock & Wilcox Co. (NYSE:BWC) closed Friday at $25.50, up 54 cents. The company announced a $75 million contact early in the day. That 2.2 percent gain lead Charlotte stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74 points to close at 12,660. These stocks gained value: •Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) closed at $29.60, up 55 cents. •Nucor Corp. (NYSE:NUE) closed at $44.50, up 37 cents. •SPX Corp. (NYSE:SPW) closed at $69.57, up 18 cents. •Goodrich Corp. (NYSE:GR) closed at $124...

• Charlotte lounge Loft 1523 says it's shutting down in Facebook post

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:57 pm

  Charlotte lounge Loft 1523 says it's shutting down in a Facebook post. Elizabeth-area bar Loft 1523 announced on its Facebook wall that it will close down operations this weekend. Owner Adam Whalen writes, “48 hours from closing this chapter... Can't wait to see some old friends this weekend and as always make some new ones.” A send-off party is planned for the lounge located at 1523 Elizabeth Ave. Friday evening. Loft 1523 opened in January 2006. Whalen could not be reached by phone calls made to the lounge.

• Rea Contracting wins $3M resurfacing contract

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:27 pm

  Rea Contracting, a division of Lane Construction Corp. of Charlotte, has been awarded a $2.9 million contract to resurface nearly eight miles of roadway in Orange County. Work can begin as early as April 2, and it is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 10, the N.C. Department of Transportation says in a news release. The Orange County deal was one of 31 contracts totaling $85.5 million awarded by the department for highway and bridge projects across North Carolina.

• U.S. mortgage rates edge higher

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:18 pm

  Long-term mortgage rates reversed a three-week trend of setting new record lows, rising modestly this week. The weekly rate report from Freddie Mac (OTC BB:FMCC) says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.98 percent in the week ending Jan. 26, up from 3.88 percent the previous week. It is still the eighth consecutive week the average rate on a 30-year fix has stayed below 4 percent. A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 4.8 percent. Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.24 percent this past week, up from 3...

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  Cincinnati Business News - Local Cincinnati News | Business Courier of Cincinnati

• Cincinnati hospitals put ER wait times on the table

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:38 pm

  Greater Cincinnati hospitals are pushing themselves to decrease emergency room wait times, and with good reason. Eventually, there’s a good chance the federal government will make its reimbursement payments to hospitals contingent, in part, on ER speed. Low “door-to-doctor” times in the ER are a selling point for hospitals in an increasingly intense battle for Cincinnati market share, as the Business Courier reported Friday. Good Samaritan, which is part of TriHealth, recently decreased to eight minutes from 32 minutes the average time an ER patient waits to get a bed after arriving...

• Would Waldorf School work for a worry-wart reporter/mom?

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:51 am

  I’ll admit it, I’m the kind of mom who is a worry wart. My two daughters are healthy, happy and thriving, and I know I should relax. But I worry constantly. Are they getting enough calcium in their diets? What about whole grain? Did the younger one get all the conditioner out of her hair in the shower? And what might be living under the pile of laundry in the older one’s bedroom? But what probably tops my worrying chart is education. My daughters attend a small, public school in Northern Kentucky, a school that I picked...

• Two Baker Hostetler attorneys shift to Adams Stepner

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:13 am

  Lawyers Ben Dusing and Angela Hayden have moved to the Covington law firm Adams Stepner Woltermann & Dusing from Baker Hostetler in downtown Cincinnati. Dusing is a former federal prosecutor in Cincinnati and Covington who joined Cleveland-based Baker Hostetler in 2010 to head up its local white-collar criminal defense practice. He will now lead the same at Adams Stepner. Hayden will lead Adams Stepner’s employment practice group. According to their websites, Baker Hostetler now has 27 lawyers in Cincinnati, while Adams Stepner has 23.

• Dinsmore & Shohl opens Philadelphia office

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:53 am

  Dinsmore & Shohl has opened an office in suburban Philadelphia, its second in the state of Pennsylvania, adding five lawyers from the Pittsburgh-based law firm Burns White. The new office will be led by Rich O’Halloran, a partner who previously was chair of Burns White’s business practices group. All five of the Burns White transfers previously worked in that firm’s Philadelphia and Princeton, N.J., offices. The expansion now gives Dinsmore a total of more than 475 lawyers in 13 cities throughout Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington, D...

• Is Fifth Third Bank a buyout candidate?

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:25 am

  Could Fifth Third Bancorp really be a possible buyout candidate? One analyst recently raised that possibility. Miller Tabak & Co. analyst Tom Mitchell figures Fifth Third is worth $23.80 to a “sophisticated buyer.” That’s one way he figures out a company’s valuation, so he doesn’t necessarily expect it to be acquired. On the other hand, he does see its traditional geographic market of Greater Cincinnati and the surrounding Tri-State – long thought of as too slow to grow – as an attractive lure to any potential buyer...

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  Columbus Business News - Local Columbus News | Business First of Columbus

• Gilbert Group lands retail agent from Cassidy Turley

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:09 pm

  Cassidy Turley has suddenly found itself in need of rebuilding its retail leasing practice. Columbus Business First readers may have already read that Kevin James and Micha Bitton left the real estate brokerage Jan. 17 for Colliers International’s Columbus office after several years at Cassidy Turley and its predecessor, Turley Martin Tucker Co., which held the Colliers franchise in the market until 2010. Today comes word that retail agent Carlton Dargusch IV, who also focused on retail leasing transactions at Cassidy Turley, has left to join Gilbert Group Inc...

• Honda returning to Super Bowl with CR-V ad

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:49 pm

  A Central Ohio-built vehicle is going to be in the spotlight on the biggest television advertising day of the year. American Honda Motor Co. will feature the East Liberty-built Honda CR-V in a commercial during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl on Feb. 5, a company spokeswoman confirmed Friday. The Super Bowl ad is Honda’s first since 2010. Media reports said the spot would feature actor Matthew Broderick reprising his Ferris Bueller character, but the spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on that...

• White Castle Slider Bowl cashing in on Super Bowl weekend

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:09 pm

  We all know about the hoopla that goes with National Football League’s Super Bowl, but this year’s game in Indianapolis won’t be able to match White Castle’s inaugural Slider Bowl in one respect. The Columbus-based hamburger chain’s finger football championship Jan. 31 will be preceded by a wedding for a New York City couple that battled in the Slider Bowl regional finals back in the fall. The PR folks at White Castle told me Efrain Medero and Christine Chhay will tie the knot during a ceremony at a White Castle in downtown Indy on Jan...

• Slideshow: What’s on the menu at Inferno Gourmet Burger

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:08 pm

  As someone who’s been thrilled with the burgeoning burger wars, I’m always interested when a new competitor enters the fray. So I was happy to hear we’d be reporting in this week’s paper about Inferno Gourmet Burger Bar coming down from the Cleveland area to join the likes of the expanding Five Guys Burgers and Fries, the evolving Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (NASDAQ:RRGB), the soon-to-arrive Flip Side to Easton, and locally grown Burgers Dogs and Fries and Graffiti Burger. In fact, Inferno is taking over a former Graffiti Burger storefront at 10503 Blacklick Eastern Road in…

• Time Warner holding job fair for Zanesville call center Monday

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:30 am

  Time Warner Cable Inc. is hosting a career fair as it looks to add to its Zanesville call center’s work force. The company plans to hire up to 50 full-time employees to handle customer service at the center. Call center positions carry a starting wage of $10.30 an hour, but the company also provides shift differentials, commission and other incentives, according to a press release. Time Warner (NYSE:TWC) is hosting a career fair from 2 to 6 p.m. on Monday at the call center at 3940 N. Pointe Drive in Zanesville...

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  Dallas Business News - Local Dallas News | Dallas Business Journal

• Christus decision rings positive note for Irving, mayor says

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:16 pm

  With a squeal, Mayor Beth Van Duyne was a bit ecstatic when I called her for comment about Christus Health consolidating its corporate offices in Irving, adding 650 jobs to the region. The employees will come mostly from San Antonio and Houston. The move will be staggered starting this summer and will be completed no later than next year. After Irving-based Hostess Brands Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, and MetLife Inc.’s operation in Irving laying off about 900 employees — this was welcome news, Van Duyne said...

• Idaho-based sugar company expands in Dallas

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:05 pm

  Idaho-based Amalgamated Sugar Company has roughly doubled its distribution space to 154,330 square feet at the Parkway Distribution Center in Grand Prairie. "It's a new business venture for the company," said Noel Hutcheson of Colliers International's Dallas office, who represented the tenant in its search. "In the past, they had a small space and used third-party logistics company." Hutcheson would not disclose the details of the business venture, or what the company's plans were moving forward...

• Dallas, Fort Worth mayors discuss regionalism

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:57 pm

  The cities that make up North Texas should celebrate their diversity while working together to solve its greatest challenges like water supply, transportation and education, the mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth said Friday. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price discussed regionalism at a North Texas Commission lunch event. The mayors agreed that the region needs to work on branding itself for the world. Rawlings noted that the Dallas-Fort Worth area is fourth-largest region in the United States, while Dallas is the ninth-largest city...

• Christus Health to bring 650 jobs to Irving in HQ move

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:35 pm

  After a four-city search, Christus Health will consolidate its corporate offices in Irving in a move that will add about 650 jobs in North Texas. Most of Christus' employees who now office out of the two corporate offices in Houston and the corporate office in San Antonio, as well as the hospital system's associates based in other locations, will be requested to move to the Dallas area, said Linda McClung, chief administrative officer. The Dallas-Fort Worth area beat out Houston, San Antonio and Austin as the corporate headquarters site for the Catholic health care system, she said...

• Jeff Sangalis to join ORIX Corporate Capital in Dallas

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:15 pm

  ORIX Corporate Capital, a Dallas-based investment firm backed by ORIX Corp. (NYSE: IX) said Friday that Jeff Sangalis will become its managing director of mezzanine and private equity co-investments. Sangalis is a former founder and managing partner of Capital Point Partners, a Houston-based investment firm that provides mezzanine securities to middle-market companies. Prior to that, Sangalis was a founder and managing partner at RSTW Partners, a Houston private equity firm. ORIX Corporate Capital said in a statement that Sangalis will focus on mezzanine and private equity in the middle…

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  Dayton Business News - Local Dayton News | Dayton Business Journal

• Dayton’s Best Chef winner: Dana Downs of Roost Modern Italian

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:56 pm

  Dana Downs, executive chef at Roost Modern Italian, feels as comfortable on the golf course as she does in the kitchen. The winner of Dayton’s Best Chef, Downs initially considered a career on the links before a chance encounter with a friend led her to the culinary world. While playing soccer — another of Downs’ varied interests — she learned of Franco Germano’s (owner of Franco’s Ristorante Italiano) need for help at his traditional Italian restaurant. At the end of a busy night in the kitchen, Downs found Germano calmly sipping a glass of wine, having spent the evening…

• Harrison College opens Dayton learning center

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pm

  Harrison College, which has campuses in Indiana and Ohio, has opened a pilot learning center in Dayton to serve online students in the region. The 3,000-square-foot learning center opened Jan. 9 on Presidential Drive in Fairborn to businesses and community groups for meetings. The space, which includes two classrooms, two computer labs, a medical lab, conference room and common room, will welcome students in the fall. Harrison College, formerly Indiana Business College, has 11 campuses in Indiana and one in Grove City...

• Fortis Plastics to close Wilimington facility, 119 jobs lost

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:43 pm

  Fortis Plastics LLC will shutter a Wilmington facility and layoff 119 workers. The company said the closing will occur by the second week of April, according to a filing with with state of Ohio. The plant is located at 185 Park Drive. The news comes on the heels of a tough economic period for Wilmington, situated just 35 miles southeast of Dayton. The city lost about 8,000 jobs after shipping giant DHL in 2008 decided to close its freight hub at the Wilmington Air Park.

• Ford revs up 4Q profits to $13.6B

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:15 am

  Ford Motor Co. posted fourth quarter profits of $13.62 billion, or $3.40 per share, compared to $190 million, or 5 cents per share, in the same period in 2010. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker reported quarterly revenue of $34.6 billion, up from $32.5 billion in 2010. Ford’s profit for the quarter included a one-time, non-cash tax benefit totaling $12.4 billion. For the year, Ford reported a profit of $20.21 billion, or $4.94 per share, up from $6.56 billion, or $1.66 per share, in 2010. Annual revenue rose to $136...

• Dinsmore & Shohl expands into Philadelphia

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:27 am

  Dinsmore & Shohl has opened an office in suburban Philadelphia, its second in the state of Pennsylvania, adding five lawyers from the Pittsburgh-based law firm Burns White. The new office will be led by Rich O’Halloran, a partner who previously was chair of Burns White’s business practices group. All five of the Burns White transfers previously worked in that firm’s Philadelphia and Princeton, N.J., offices. Dinsmore is the second-largest law firm in Dayton, according to the 2011 DBJ Book of Lists...

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  Denver Business News - Local Denver News | Denver Business Journal

• Cherry Creek teachers’ support helped Google exec pursue his passion

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Anyone who wonders how schools can prepare the next generation for tomorrow’s jobs in technology should consider Google’s Rajen Sheth. The 36-year-old Denver native helped create Google’s Apps products for business, which has 40 million customers, and today he’s product manager for its Chromebook and Chrome browser for businesses and schools. Before Google, Sheth had Stanford University degrees, an internship at Microsoft during the dot-com boom, and Silicon Valley startup experience. But Sheth traces his career success to Cherry Creek High School...

• FDIC orders Mile High Banks to boost capital

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:13 pm

  Federal regulators have ordered Longmont-based Mile High Banks to boost its capital levels, categorizing the bank as “significantly undercapitalized,” according to an FDIC enforcement action made public on Friday. Mile High Banks has 13 branch locations, including in LoDo, Cherry Creek, 17th Avenue near Pennsylvania Street near downtown and the Denver Tech Center, according to its website. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued a “supervisory prompt corrective action directive” to Mile High Banks on Dec...

• Colorado stocks: Golden Star, ADA-ES up 7%, Gevo up 5%

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:51 pm

  Stocks finished the week mixed, with the Dow slipping as the Nasdaq gained. In Colorado, Golden Star Resources and ADA-ES led actively traded gainers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the trading day at 12,660.46, down 74.17 points (0.58 percent). The S&P 500 closed at 1,316.33, down 2.1 points (0.16 percent). The Nasdaq Composite finished at 2,816.55, up 11.27 points (0.4 percent). Among actively traded Colorado-based stocks, Golden Star Resources Ltd. (GSS) led the day’s gainers percentagewise, up 7...

• DBJ Tech Watch for Friday 1/27: News of Facebook's IPO, Apple, ZeaChem and more

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:16 pm

  Welcome to the Denver Business Journal's Tech Watch, our roundup of today's tech news from around the nation, featuring reports on Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, ZeaChem, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Motorola Mobility, Juniper Networks and more. Facebook to file for IPO next week USDA gives ZeaChem a $232.5M loan guarantee Gessler launches password protection for Colorado business information Microsoft spending ‘billions’ on Nokia WP7 project Cook says Apple will address supply-chain issues Apple retook smartphone lead from Samsung in Q4 Samsung loses to Apple in German patent…

• Taco Bell to offer breakfast in Colorado

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:50 pm

  Taco Bell is getting into the breakfast market in Colorado and nine other western states, partnering with such brands as Johnsonville Sausage, Cinnabon, Tropicana and Seattle's Best Coffee. Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell Corp., a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM), said Thursday it plans to offer breakfast in about 750 stores in 10 states, also including California and Arizona. Taco Bell tested its breakfast “FirstMeal” menu, which includes breakfast burritos, in more than 150 stores in four markets in Arizona, California, Ohio and Oklahoma...

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  Greensboro Business News - Local Greensboro News | The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area

• Visit Winston-Salem launches marketing campaign

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:55 pm

  Sales and marketing agency Visit Winston-Salem on Friday unveiled a new strategic destination marketing campaign. The campaign focuses on four core areas — food and wine, art, culture and history — as selling points for the Twin City. “Winston-Salem clearly has many attractive venues, attractions and destination-defining festivals that key audiences would love to experience,” said Richard Geiger, president of Visit Winston-Salem, in a statement. “We believe this targeted campaign is cleverly crafted at every level to literally wake up consumers that Winston-Salem is a great…

• U.S. mortgage rates edge higher

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:53 pm

  Long-term mortgage rates reversed a three-week trend of setting new record lows, rising modestly this week. The weekly rate report from Freddie Mac (OTC BB:FMCC) says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.98 percent in the week ending Jan. 26, up from 3.88 percent the previous week. It is still the eighth consecutive week the average rate on a 30-year fix has stayed below 4 percent. A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 4.8 percent. Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.24 percent this past week, up from 3...

• W-S Business Inc.'s Bob Leak named to SEDC board

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm

  Winston-Salem Business Inc. President Bob Leak Jr. has been named the the board of directors of the Southern Economic Development Council. The Atlanta-based group is the oldest and largest economic development association in the country and includes more than 800 members from a 17-state area. Leak will serve as alternate state director for North Carolina and serve a one-year term on the council's board. He's a 31-year member of the council and has served in various leadership roles in the past.

• Greensboro Partnership offers awards at annual dinner

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:17 pm

  At its annual dinner Thursday night, the Greensboro Partnership kicked off its One Job for Greensboro campaign while honoring members of the business and arts communities. The campaign is a partnership between the partnership, the city of Greensboro, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and the Guilford Merchants Association designed to encourage job creation by local organizations. So far, 56 local groups have pledged to invest in 412 new jobs toward the ultimate goal of 1,000 jobs this year. Also at the dinner, the Tim Rice, president and CEO of Cone Health, was presented the Thomas Z...

• High Point Regional at risk of losing Medicare reimbursement

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:55 pm

  High Point Regional Health System risks losing reimbursement for its treatment of Medicare patients following its handling of a potentially suicidal patient in December, the High Point Enterprise is reporting. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has notified the hospital that it could cut reimbursement as of Feb. 11 over the incident, which involved a patient who arrived in the emergency room on Dec. 11, according to the newspaper. Further details about the December incident weren't released by the hospital, which cited privacy rules, but the patient was treated and later discharged…

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  Honolulu Business News - Local Honolulu News | Pacific Business News of Honolulu

• Former First Hawaiian Bank manager admits embezzling $2.6M

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:49 pm

  A former manager of First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of embezzling more than $2.6 million, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Lani Ann Miho, 52. a bank employee for 29 years, was a branch manager and personal banking officer at First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and the Big Island from 2000 to September 2010, U.S. Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni said in a statement. During that time, Miho created about 56 accounts under different names, withdrawing money and using proceeds from recently opened accounts to pay balances due on…

• Abercrombie releases $15.6M for improvement projects

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:41 pm

  Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday released more than $15.6 million for capital improvement projects statewide that are designed to improve the state’s public safety, wastewater, civil defense and communications infrastructure. The funds include $6.65 million for repairs and alterations to buildings under the state Department of Public Safety’s jurisdiction, such as the Oahu Community Correctional Center and the Halawa Correctional Facility; $3.5 million for staff positions at the Public Works Division within the state Department of Accounting and General Services; $3...

• Duane Kurisu appointed to CPF board

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:16 pm

  Honolulu businessman and investor Duane K. Kurisu has been appointed to the board of Central Pacific Financial Corp., parent of Central Pacific Bank. Kurisu has been a member of the bank’s board since 2004 and will serve on both the Central Pacific Financial (NYSE: CPF) and Central Pacific Bank boards. Kurisu has a variety of real estate, media, sports and food business interests in Hawaii and on the Mainland. His real estate investments include office buildings, shopping centers and industrial parks in Hawaii and Washington...

• Optimism, and a wizard’s hat, at 2012 Hawaii real estate forecast

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  A wizard’s hat, poems and a kaleidoscope. No, I wasn’t at a carnival on Friday morning. Instead, those were just some of the tools used by the presenters at the 2012 Hawaii Real Estate Forecast, held at the Hawaii Convention Center. The captive audience, mostly made up of Realtors, listened to the experts throughout the marketplace. Paul Brewbaker, principal of TZ Economics, kicked off the event with an economic outlook. He said there are good signs that a recovery is nearing, like home prices beginning to stabilize...

• Hawaii stocks close higher; markets mixed

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:32 pm

  ML Macadamia Orchard’s stock gained 3 percent to lead Hawaii stocks on a mixed day for the broader markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 74.17 points, or 0.58 percent, to close at 12,660.46, while the Nasdaq gained 11.27 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 2,816.55. Gainers: Alexander & Baldwin Inc. (NYSE: ALEX) closed at $46.92, up 22 cents, or 0.47 percent; Bank of Hawaii Corp. (NYSE: BOH) closed at $46.03, up 21 cents, or 0.46 percent; Barnwell Industries Inc. (AMEX: BRN) closed at $2...

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  Houston Business News - Local Houston News | Houston Business Journal

• Houston attorney named ABA Problem Solver

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pm

  Houston attorney Harry Tindall is one of two attorneys in the nation who earned the American Bar Association’s Problem Solver award in 2012. The award was established a decade ago to recognize individual attorneys and organizations that use their legal acumen in creative, non-traditional ways to solve problems for their clients. Tindall, a partner in the family law firm Tindall & England PC, “has been a role model for lawyers who wish to transition from litigators to peacemakers,” according to a news statement from the association...

• Christus Health to move Houston, San Antonio HQ to DFW

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:12 pm

  After a four-city search, Christus Health will consolidate its Houston and San Antonio corporate offices to a new headquarters in Irving. Most of Christus' employees at the two corporate offices in Houston and the corporate office in San Antonio, as well as the hospital system's associates based in other locations, will be requested to move to the Dallas area, said Linda McClung, chief administrative officer. Between 700 to 800 Houston corporate employees will move to the Dallas area, however, the company will still keep its Houston hospital and ministry employees...

• Texans are first to taste new Bud Light beer product

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:59 pm

  Bud Light has added a new brand to its portfolio, and Texans will be the first to taste it as Silver Eagle Distributors is launching it here one week earlier than the national debut. The local Anheuser-Busch distributor rolled out Bud Light Platinum in local markets this week. The new light beer option won’t be launched nationally until Jan. 30. With a slightly sweeter taste, higher alcohol by volume — 6 percent — and a cobalt blue glass bottle, the beer is designed to offer an alternative light beer option, according to Silver Eagle...

• Francesca’s upsizes and prices public offering

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:56 pm

  Francesca’s Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: FRAN) said Jan. 26 that it has boosted the size of its follow-on public offering. The Houston-based fashion retailer originally said it would conduct a follow-on offering of 9 million shares. Now, the company said it will offer 10.4 million shares priced at $23 per share. Stockholders are selling the shares in the offering, and certain stockholders have granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.56 million shares. Since stockholders are selling the shares, Francesca’s will not receive any proceeds from the offering...

• Texas Ren Fest doubles campground area for 2012 season

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:43 pm

  The Texas Renaissance Festival is expanding its campgrounds by 100 acres to provide visitors with more overnight festivities. The campgrounds, which are currently comprised of 70 acres, will more than double in size in 2012, allowing campers to have plenty of space to bring tents and other essentials onto the camp ground. The entire Texas Renaissance Festival facilities will reach more than 600 acres with the addition, almost a complete square mile. The Texas Renaissance Festival will host its opening weekend on Oct...

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  Jacksonville Business News - Local Jacksonville News | Jacksonville Business Journal

• First Guaranty employees relieved by bank failure

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:35 pm

  Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. employees arrived at the eight First Guaranty Bank & Trust Company of Jacksonville branches just before 5 p.m. tonight. The FDIC failed the bank at 5 p.m. tonight. Booker Shorter, a senior ombudsman specialist with the FDIC, said 60 to 65 FDIC employees will make the transition to CenterState Bank of Florida NA over the next five to six days. Bank executives and employees were receptive to their arrival. "They seemed to be relieved that the deal was over with," Shorter said of the employees' reaction, adding that some of them had already heard rumors that the…

• First Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. of Jacksonville fails

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:15 pm

  The First Guaranty Bank & Trust Company of Jacksonville has failed and CenterState Bank of Florida NA has assumed all the deposits of the city’s oldest continuously operated bank. The eight branches of First Guaranty will reopen on Monday as branches of CenterState Bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and CenterState Bank (Nasdaq: CSFL) entered into a loss-share transaction on $292.9 million of First Guaranty’s assets. CenterState will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement...

• USDA Deputy Secretary Merrigan visits Jax Farmers Market

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:17 pm

  U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan met with business leaders in Jacksonville for a private roundtable Friday at the Jacksonville Farmers Market on West Beaver Street. Merrigan discussed the vision laid out in President Obama’s State of the Union Address that will help grow the Florida economy, emphasizing the importance of American manufacturing, homegrown energy development, education and rewarding hard work and responsibility, according to a press release. “We are trying to find ways for the middle class to grow and prosper,” she said of the roundtable…

• TPG under contract to buy Flagler's 12 million square foot portfolio

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:21 pm

  TPG Capital is under contract to purchase 12 million square feet of developed office and industrial properties in Florida from Flagler, according to real estate sources. Parkway Properties Inc. (NYSE: PKY) will joint venture with TPG for a 10 percent interest in the portfolio and will manage the office properties, according to sources. The TPG-led group’s deposit on the deal, which is expected to fetch more than $1 billion, is nonrefundable as of Feb. 8 or 9. Coral Gables-based Flagler declined to comment for this story...

• Economic outlook: Housing market 'just not good'

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:31 pm

  When the person delivering the invocation at the First Coast Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. monthly luncheon quoted Maya Angelou — “people will never forget how you made them feel” — Robert Hinckley knew he was sunk. Hinckley, a certified public accountant and partner at The LBA Group LLC in Jacksonville, was about to deliver an economic outlook presentation to the construction industry, and the news wasn’t good. There are bright spots in the market for sure, Hinckley told the group gathered Friday at the San Jose Country Club...

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  Kansas City Business News - Local Kansas City News | Kansas City Business Journal

• Kansas accelerates $50M in road projects to create jobs sooner

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:59 pm

  The Kansas Department of Transportation is hitting the gas on $50 million worth of preservation projects to generate jobs and capitalize on the current low construction costs. The 32 projects — which were in the 10-year, $8 billion T-WORKS transportation program passed in 2010 — are for work such as the repair and reconstruction of roads and bridges. The section near the Kansas City metro area is getting the most projects — seven highway projects and four bridge projects worth a collective $15...

• Legal Sonar uses social networks to link lawyers, clients

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:57 pm

  With an established business matching lawyers with clients facing legal projects, Diana Kander is ready to put another notch on her belt. Kander, CEO of Kansas City-based KR Legal Management LLC, is launching a new company to help Kansas City-area lawyers find one another. Legal Sonar Inc. will offer a search engine that uses social networks to make connections between attorneys and anyone looking for them. The service will be free and available to anyone, but it’s mostly designed to help lawyers in the crucial process of referring work to and from their practices...

• Kansas City approves nearly $700K streetcar design contract

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:53 pm

  The Kansas City Council on Thursday took another step forward in its development of a Downtown streetcar line by authorizing a design contract with HDR Engineering Inc. An ordinance approved by the council Thursday authorizes a contract worth as much as $697,559 for additional design and conceptual engineering work on a preferred 2-mile streetcar line. This comes a week after the Kansas City Council signaled its support for a special election in which about 10,000 voters, largely in the downtown core, would vote on creating a transportation development district that would include a 1 percent…

• U.S. ag secretary: Missouri could boost U.S. energy production

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:31 pm

  Missouri could use its manufacturing and agricultural prowess to boost national energy production, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a presentation Friday at the Mid-America Regional Council offices. Vilsack held a round-table meeting in Kansas City with business owners and agricultural leaders to discuss President Obama’s recent State of the Union address. Vilsack affirmed the role of manufacturing in Obama’s plan to create U.S. jobs, saying continued tax incentives, stronger trade enforcement and other measures would need to continue...

• Kansas City scores MIAA basketball tournament through 2014

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pm

  Kansas City scored a commitment from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association to keep its basketball championship tournament through 2014. MIAA Commissioner Bob Boerigter said the league agreed to keep its basketball tournament in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium in 2013 and 2014. While MIAA basketball has history with Kansas City — this year’s tournament will mark the 10th in the city — Boerigter said the decision wasn’t a slam dunk. The league now has 11 member schools, including the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri Western State University in…

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  Los Angeles Business News - Local Los Angeles News | Los Angeles Business from bizjournals

• Top California court rejects GOP redistricting challenge

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:39 pm

  Even if a Republican-backed challenge to California’s nonpartisan redistricting system makes it onto the November ballot, the nonpartisan group’s map will still be used for elections this year. The California Supreme Court ruled that election officials “to use the state Senate map certified by the Citizens Redistricting commission … even if the referendum qualifies for the ballot.” This decision in Vandermost v. Bowen was meant “to eliminate uncertainty and avoid a potential disruption of the 2012 election process...

• Southern California gas prices creep up

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:34 pm

  Drivers in Southern California saw small price jumps at the pump, a week after seeing no movement on prices. According to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.749 per gallon, which 1.7 cents more than last week, 17 cents higher than last month, and 40 cents higher than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.786, up 2.4 cents from last week, 18 cents higher than a month ago, and 39 cents above last year...

• Marcus Theatres won't show 'One for the Money'

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:20 pm

  Movie fans in the Midwest hoping to catch the Katherine Heigl flick “One for the Money” this weekend suddenly have fewer options. Marcus Theatres, a division of Milwaukee-based The Marcus Corp., won’t be showing the film because it couldn’t reach a financial deal with Lionsgate, the film’s distributor, according to the website Deadline Hollywood. The site reports that Marcus was unhappy with Lionsgate’s deal with Groupon this weekend for discounted tickets to the movie. Marcus spokesman Carlo Petrick sent me the following statement: "Unfortunately we were not able to reach an…

• California led U.S. in new wind generation projects in 2011

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:38 am

  California installed 921 megawatts of new wind generation capacity in 2011, the most of any state. Illinois ranked second with 692 megawatts and Iowa was third with 646 megawatts, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The group’s report said California kept its overall No. 3 spot on the list of states with the most wind power overall last year. Texas and Iowa also held onto their No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. Illinois, however, boosted by the 692 megawatts installed in 2011, knocked Minnesota out of the No...

• California sets the salary pace for legal profession

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:28 pm

  If you're looking to make big money in the law or related professions, California may be the place for you. The Business Journals On Numbers has analyzed salaries for three related employment sectors -- community, legal and protective services -- based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data for 406 metropolitan areas and divisions: • Hanford, offers the highest salaries in the Community and Social Service Occupations sector (BLS Code 21). The typical Hanford worker in Sector 21 earns $65,370 per year...

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  Louisville Business News - Local Louisville News | Business First of Louisville

• Republic Bancorp buys troubled Tennessee bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:13 pm

  Republic Bancorp Inc. has entered the Nashville, Tenn., market through its acquisition of "substantially all" deposits and selected assets of Tennessee Commerce Bank of Franklin, Tenn., according to a company news release. Through its subsidiary Republic Bank & Trust Co., Louisville-based Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ: RBCAA) purchased the Tennessee bank’s assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the release said. The FDIC closed the troubled TCB this afternoon, according to a report by the Nashville Business Journal, a sister newspaper to Business First...

• FTC moves to block Omnicare takeover of PharMerica

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

  The Federal Trade Commission has filed an administrative complaint against Covington, Ky.-based Omnicare Inc., moving to stop the company's hostile bid to buy Louisville-based PharMerica Corp. The case will be heard before an administrative law judge at the FTC in June. As Business First reported earlier this month, Omnicare had disclosed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would extend the deadline for the FTC to review its proposed acquisition until Jan. 26. Earlier Friday, Omnicare also extended its deadline to buy PharMerica shares to 5 p...

• Collapse at the Cincinnati casino site injures workers

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:03 pm

  Part of the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati construction site collapsed this morning, sending at least 11 workers from the downtown site to area hospitals. Several workers at the site were injured when the floor on a 60-foot-by 60-foot area of the casino floor where they were pouring concrete collapsed- Latest reports put the figure at 11 workers who were hurt, and injured workers were sent to University Hospital in Cincinnati, Mercy Mount Airy and Good Samaritan Hospital. Up to four other workers sustained minor injuries...

• BBC Beer gets loan to increase brewing

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:58 pm

  Louisville Metropolitan Business Development Corp. has approved a $100,000 loan to support an expansion at the BBC Beer Co. brewery and bottling operations, 636 E. Main St. The loan was approved for FTC LLC, which operates as BBC Beer. According to a news release, the loan will help BBC Beer owner Scott Roussell purchase tanks at the manufacturing site to meet growing demand. The expansion will create nine full-time and eight part-time jobs, the release said. BBC Brewing was founded in 2002 and began bottling beer at the site in 2005.

• Actors Theater opens downtown apartments for visiting artists

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:49 pm

  Actors Theatre of Louisville Inc. has opened 18 downtown apartments designed to house as many as 170 artists, such as actors and directors, who come to Louisville to work on shows at the theater. Three floors of the historic 300 Building, 300 W. Main Street, which also houses Bluegrass Brewing Co., have been renovated in the $1.15 million project. The apartments, adjacent to the theater, are a combination of studio and one-bedroom apartments that vary from 420 to 650 square feet in size. The apartments occupy the third, fourth and fifth floors of the building...

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  Memphis Business News - Local Memphis News | Memphis Business Journal

• Seismic upgrade doesn't have to be expensive, design group says

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  A loose coalition of local designers, seismologists, heritage organizations and professional associations have begun outreach efforts for the proposed South Main District Seismic Retrofit and Historic Conservation Demonstration Project, a proposed low-cost seismic retrofit model that would benefit aging brick-and-mortar structures like those found throughout the South Main District. The project is led by local structural engineer Dmitry Ozeryansky, founder of Ozeryansky Engineering, who brings seismic expertise from the West Coast, where he also has an office...

• Citizen input sought on Memphis transportation plan

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:53 pm

  Citizens from across the Greater Memphis area can see the latest long-term plan for transportation and give their final input before it’s finalized. The Memphis Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is in the final stages of updating its Long Range Transportation Plan and is seeking public review and comment through Feb. 17. Called Direction 2040, the multimodal transportation plan will help map out the area’s growth to the year 2040. It covers Shelby County, the western portion of Fayette County and northern DeSoto County...

• ‘Z-Boing’ invites fan participation

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:50 pm

  Even though he’s been injured since New Year’s Day and not expected to return to the court until March, Zach Randolph has inspired a new website, z-boing.com. The site encourages fans to send photos of themselves impersonating Randolph’s defensive stance while wearing a headband and either a mouthpiece (or something else) in their mouths. (Think Tebowing — only Z-Boing.) Started by local web designer Nick Tutor, the site has gotten a few thousand hits and was also the subject of an ESPN...

• Tennessee one of four highest-scoring states in teacher quality

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:44 pm

  Tennessee teachers earned one of the highest overall grades in the nation on the National Council on Teacher Quality’s 2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbook. Tennessee earned a B- and was one of only four states to receive a B grade. Tennessee overall grade rose from a C- in 2009, according to the biannual report. The Yearbook is compiled by the National Council on Teacher Quality and has tracked teacher policies for the last five years. The report measures progress against a set of 36 policy goals focused on helping states put in place a comprehensive framework in support of preparing,…

• Pinnacle renegotiates debt to avoid bankruptcy

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:18 am

  Pinnacle Airlines Corp. is making some progress in its efforts to avoid bankruptcy through renegotiating debt and service agreements. The Memphis-based airline holding company has entered an agreement with Export Development Canada to defer payments owed to the credit agency, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Pinnacle (NASDAQ: PNCL) and subsidiary Colgan Air Inc. were scheduled to pay principal and interest of $16.6 million from Jan. 14 to March 31. Under this agreement, the debt, which was used for aircraft, would be delayed until April 2...

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  Milwaukee Business News - Local Milwaukee News | The Business Journal of Milwaukee

• See's Candies to open at Mayfair

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:32 pm

  See's Candies has opened its Milwaukee-area store at Mayfair in Wauwatosa, the company said in a news release. The San Francisco candy shop will officially celebrate its grand opening Feb. 3. The company has had holiday kiosks at area malls, including Mayfair, in the past, but this is its first permanent store. The store is on the lower level of the mall near Macy's.

• LaPorte named Fox 6 news director

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:32 pm

  John LaPorte has been named vice president of news at Milwaukee Fox network affiliate WITI-TV (Channel 6). LaPorte fills the position vacated by the departure of Jim Lemon, who left the station in December 2011 after serving as news director since 2005. LaPorte has been news content manager at Channel 6 since September 2010. Among his previous positions were news director, executive producer and producer at WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) in Milwaukee. “John has many years invested in the news business and the Milwaukee market and over the past several weeks I had the opportunity to see just how…

• Slideshow: Business Journal Book of Lists party

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:23 am

  If you are a Milwaukee-area business executive, the place to be Thursday night was The Pfister Hotel. More than 500 area business execs packed the ballroom at the downtown Milwaukee hotel to be part of The Business Journal's Book of Lists party. It was quite the party to celebrate our release of our 2012 Book of Lists, which compiles the lists that run in our paper each week. The theme of the party was The Business Journal Candy Factory. The room was filled with jars of candy and fun sponsor booths as guests mingled, networked and tried their hand at games, with fabulous prizes, including two…

• HUD Secretary Donovan talks about Master Lock and jobs in Milwaukee

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am

  Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, visited Milwaukee to talk housing, but spent much time discussing jobs. Check out this video from his Thursday speech, where Donovan brings up Master Lock’s decision to move jobs back to Milwaukee, and how the move exhibits the spirit of President Barack Obama’s “American Promise” premise. Obama mentioned Master Lock in his State of the Union speech. Donovan is followed in the video by Racine Mayor John Dickert discussing Racine’s use of HUD money to create jobs through home renovation...

• A.O. Smith sales climb; earnings flat

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:07 am

  A.O. Smith Corp. reported Friday that fourth-quarter 2011 revenue rose 28.5 percent to $475.8 million, compared with $370.2 million for the same period in 2010, boosted in part by a recent acquisition. Net income for the quarter was 32.1 million, compared with $32.2 million for the year-ago period. Earnings from continuing operations rose to $31.5 million, or 68 cents per share, from $20.5 million, or 44 cents per share, for the same period in 2010. For the full year, net earnings jumped to $305...

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  Minneapolis Business News - Local Minneapolis News | The Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal

• U.S. Bancorp buys failed Tennessee bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  U.S. Bancorp has purchased a failed Tennessee bank's assets, deposits and branches in a regulator-brokered deal made public Friday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shut down Knoxville-based BankEast Friday evening. The BankEast Corp. subsidiary had assets of $261.95 million and $259.57 million of customer deposits as of Dec. 31, FDIC records show. The Minneapolis-based parent of U.S. Bank will receive 10 branches, about $272 million worth of loans, and $268 million in deposits through the purchase, with an asset discount of about $67...

• Regulators shutter Patriot Bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:44 pm

  Federal regulators closed Patriot Bank Friday evening, selling its deposits, assets and three branches to Savage-based First Resource Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. Patriot Bank ended 2011 with a $5.7 million loss and assets of $105.03 million. The Forest Lake-based bank's core capital levels dropped below 2 percent in the second half of the year, dropping to 1.3 percent as of Dec. 31. Regulators consider banks with core capital, or Tier 1 leverage, ratios of 5 percent and above well-capitalized...

• Skybridge Marketing may add 200 jobs with expansion

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:24 pm

  Skybridge Marketing Group is close to finalizing a deal to expand its operations in Bemidji and create up to 200 jobs. The Bemidji Pioneer reports that the Greenfield-based marketing company, which used to be a business unit of Archway Marketing Services, is expected to finalize the deal next month. The company, which also has an office in Winnipeg, Ontario, and has more than 800 employees in the U.S. and Canada, expects to hire up to 50 people by July and eventually employ 200 people in Bemidji...

• Report: Now Delta is considering buying US Airways

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:50 pm

  Delta Air Lines Inc. is considering making a bid to acquire US Airways Group Inc., The Wall Street Journal reports. The report comes just a couple of weeks after news broke that Delta was considering buying the struggling parent company of American Airlines, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. People familiar with the discussions said Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) is trying to figure out which airline would make the most sense to pursue. The Journal said US Airways (NYSE: LCC) has looked for partners in the past...

• Ex-Viking Voigt faces banking ban, steep fine from FDIC

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:39 pm

  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. wants to fine former Viking Stu Voigt $125,000 and ban him from banking on allegations of misconduct as chairman as Bloomington-based First Commercial Bank. In allegations made public on Thursday (72 KB PDF), the FDIC says Voigt, as a bank board member, supported risky lending to a company in which he had a personal financial interest. Voigt denied the allegations through his attorney, Phil Cole of Minneapolis law firm Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, who said Voigt disclosed his conflicts at the time of the deal...

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  Nashville Business News - Local Nashville News | The Nashville Business Journal

• SLIDESHOW: Most bank-failure prone states

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:07 pm

  Tennessee is the largest state to go without a bank failure since the start of the Great Recession. The last bank failure in the Volunteer state was in 2003, according to FDIC data. Other states have not been so fortunate. For a look at which states have suffered the most, click on the photo at right.

• FDIC closes Tennessee Commerce Bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:56 pm

  Tennessee’s reign as the largest state to avoid a bank failure since the economic downturn came to an end today, with regulators closing institutions in the Nashville and Knoxville areas. Tennessee Commerce Bank — the Franklin lender that’s been searching for capital under continual regulatory oversight for weeks — will become part of Republic Bank & Trust Co. of Louisville, Ky. And BankEast, a Knoxville-area lender under the leadership of former state banking commissioner Fred Lawson, has been sold to U...

• 2.8-acre former apartment site sells for $2.2 million

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:51 pm

  A 2.8-acre site in the West End submarket has sold for $2.2 million. 511 Chesterfield Partnership purchased the property located at 511 Chesterfield Avenue, which was once home to the Blair House apartments. The seller was Place Properties out of Atlanta. In 2006, the property sold for $4.8 million.

• TN Senate: Multi-pronged unemployment reform arrives

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:50 pm

  Whatever its fate, a spate of legislation filed Thursday makes it clear unemployment insurance will at least be a source of debate this year in the Tennessee General Assembly, as promised. While Senate Republicans have called unemployment reform a top priority — to the joy of some business advocates who believe fraud is burdening the system — it’s been unclear how much traction the issue would get there or in the House. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has called it a top priority. “I’m still very interested in reforming our unemployment (system) in Tennessee,” the Republican head of the…

• U.S. mortgage rates edge higher

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:59 pm

  Long-term mortgage rates reversed a three-week trend of setting new record lows, rising modestly this week. The weekly rate report from Freddie Mac (OTC BB:FMCC) says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.98 percent in the week ending Jan. 26, up from 3.88 percent the previous week. It is still the eighth consecutive week the average rate on a 30-year fix has stayed below 4 percent. A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 4.8 percent. Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.24 percent this past week, up from 3...

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  Orlando Business News - Local Orlando News | The Orlando Business Journal

• CenterState Bank takes over First Guaranty Bank's deposits

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:39 pm

  First Guaranty Bank & Trust Co. of Jacksonville was closed today by the state and CenterState Bank of Florida NA of Winter Haven has assumed all the bank's deposits. The eight branches of First Guaranty will reopen on Monday as branches of CenterState Bank. First Guaranty Bank signed a deal to sell seven branches to Certus Bank in November. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, CenterState Bank agreed to buy essentially all of the assets. First Guaranty, like most community banks based in Northeast Florida, has struggled during the recession do its high amount of bad…

• Officials to SunRail backers: Find a funding source

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:52 pm

  Central Florida municipal, business and community leaders, and other backers of SunRail came out in full force on Jan. 27 for the official rail spike-hitting — not groundbreaking — of the 61-mile, $1.3 billion commuter rail project in Altamonte Springs. Federal, state and local officials celebrated the project’s start and tipped their hats to the partnership — public and private — that was required to get SunRail approved. Florida Department of Transportation officials, local mayors and commissioners were joined by transportation champions U...

• Universal Orlando hiring hundreds for new parade

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:33 pm

  Universal Orlando Resort is hiring hundreds of full- and part-time workers for Universal's Superstar Parade, an all-new daily parade featuring floats, state-of-the-art technology and performances. Positions being hired include dancers, drummers, stilt walkers and animated character performers. Interested candidates can learn more about the available positions and schedule an audition by visiting www.universalauditions.com/Orlando. Auditions will be held Feb. 4-7 at Universal Studios Florida.

• CHEP named finalist for 2012 Stevie Award

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:44 am

  CHEP USA was named a finalist in two categories of the annual Stevie Awards for sales and customer service, and also was nominated for the People's Choice Stevie Award for favorite customer service. The Orlando-based pallet and container pooling solutions company is a finalist in the Business Intelligence Solution-New Version and Customer Service Department of the Year-Airlines, Distribution & Transportation categories. Final results will be announced Feb. 27 in Las Vegas. More than 1,000 entries were submitted this year.

• Florida Hospital Altamonte expands cardiac program

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:17 am

  Florida Hospital Altamonte will offer expanded cardiac services at its cardiac catheterization lab starting in February, the hospital announced Jan. 27. The hospital will offer percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, for emergency cardiac care, such as placing a balloon or stent in the coronary artery during a heart attack. The hospital currently offers peripheral intervention, interventional radiology, pacemakers and diagnostic catheterizations.

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  Philadelphia Business News - Local Philadelphia News | The Philadelphia Business Journal

• Have your say on next Philadelphia schools superintendent

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:49 pm

  The United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania said Friday that it and the University of Pennsylvania’s Project for Civic Engagement will host a series of community forums next month aimed at helping the School Reform Commission in its search for the next superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia. Specifically, the forums will try to get the public’s thoughts on the leadership characteristics the School Reform Commission has identified to guide it in its selection process. Information from the forums will be relayed to the SRC’s superintendent search committee...

• Gamesa working with DOE to advance wind turbine technology

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:41 pm

  Gamesa Technology Corp. Inc. said Friday it has agreed to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in three areas of wind-turbine development. The agreement has core provisions that run through 2013 and options for two additional years of collaboration. Financial terms of the agreement weren’t revealed. The agreement calls for Gamesa, which is based in Spain but has its North American headquarters in Langhorne, Pa., to work with the NREL on three programs: developing new components and rotors for the U...

• The Philadelphia auto show’s new and notable cars: Slideshow

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:25 pm

  This year’s Philadelphia International Auto Show, which starts tomorrow, features 700 vehicles from 40 manufacturers. And a new feature for Philadelphia: A little test track where you can ride around in Toyota hybrids, right on the floor of the show. The extra room from the expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center made the tiny track possible. To see photos of that, and some new and notable vehicles, click on the photograph at right. Read Peter Van Allen’s preview of the show from our print edition here...

• Latest evidence of women’s strides is on our front page

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:13 pm

  Readers, I just wanted to point something out about this week’s print edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal, which hit the newsstands this morning. We were pleasantly surprised when we noticed that all four businesspeople pictured on our front page are women — Hire An Esquire founder Julie Claire, Catholic Teachers Local 1776 President Rita Schwartz, Please Touch Museum CEO Laura H. Foster and VIST Financial Corp. executive Tina McDonald. This was not intentional; in fact, the editors didn’t even notice it until the paper was ready to be printed...

• Youth from Hopeworks ’N Camden assist in Mexico

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:37 pm

  When you hear about young people heading to Mexico for a trip, you might immediately think of high school and college students celebrating spring break in not-so-PG ways. However, for a group of youths from Camden, a recent service trip to Mexico was quite the opposite. Six young people, ages 15 to 21, who are members of the nonprofit Hopeworks ’N Camden traveled to Cuernavaca from Jan. 12 to 17 to work with a nonprofit called VAMOS! (Vermont Associates for Mexican Opportunity and Support, Inc...

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  Phoenix Business News - Local Phoenix News | The Business Journal of Phoenix

• Insight drops Tempe bowl sponsorship

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm

  Insight Enterprises Inc. is ending its title sponsorship of the Insight Bowl after 14 years. The Fiesta Bowl, which also runs the annual Tempe bowl game, said it is searching for a new title sponsor and will rename the game."We are grateful to Insight Enterprises for its support and help building the game into a top-tier bowl," said Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods. "We have enjoyed a long and stable partnership. With our ties to the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences, an unmatched record of hospitality and a premier location, we believe we have a lot to offer...

• Hospital systems explain withdrawal from association

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Three of the state’s largest hospital systems have released an explanation for their withdrawal from the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association — a loss to the tune of what some say is $1 million in collective annual dues. Banner Health, Abrazo Health Care and Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West) sent a letter today to Laurie Liles, CEO of the state hospital association, announcing their membership termination, effective March 1. “The association is no longer consistent with nor reflective of our collective interests on legislative and regulatory issues before the…

• Win-win week for Arizona Republicans in U.S. Senate race

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:39 pm

  Both Republicans running for U.S. Senate this year — U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake and businessman and philanthropist Wil Cardon — received some good news this week. Former Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo — one of the few household names from the business community in the Valley — is endorsing Cardon. “Wil’s ideas and track record of creating jobs in the current economic climate is impressive and should be a telltale sign of his ability to get the job done in Washington...

• Arizona bill requires ID to get food stamps

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:28 pm

  Conservatives traditionally don’t like the idea of national identification cards, citing Orwellian “big brother” fears. Those same concerns aren’t always held when it comes to trying to keep illegal immigrants from getting jobs or welfare benefits. Some Arizona Republican lawmakers have introduced new bill at the Legislature requiring those receiving food stamps in the state to have a state-issued identification card. They would then have to produce that card and another form of identification when buying groceries via the assistance program...

• Brewer may want to give Obama a thank-you note next time

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:06 pm

  Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer released the handwritten note she gave to President Barack Obama Wednesday in Mesa. She might also want to pen Obama a thank-you note. Her tiff with the president on the tarmac Wednesday made the relative political unknown a darling of conservatives nationally. Here’s copy a of Brewer’s note to Obama. Brewer’s spats with Obama first over Senate Bill 1070 and earlier this week over how she portrayed him in her book have propelled the Arizona governor’s political and book-writing careers...

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  Pittsburgh Business News - Local Pittsburgh News | The Pittsburgh Business Times

• U.S. Steel quiet on reports it sold Serbian mill

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:54 pm

  United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: USX) is staying tight lipped about reports that it has sold its Serbia operations for $1 to the Serbian government. There has been speculation about the operation since the company released third quarter financial results in October, and Chairman and CEO John Surma said the steelmaker is “not satisfied with our poor financial results in Serbia, and we are evaluating all options to improve our situation.” In a statement Friday, the company declined to comment on the reports out of Serbia and reiterated that it was exploring all options related to the Serbia…

• Calgon Carbon launches new products to fight mercury from powerplants

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm

  In a twist on the “fighting fire with fire” mantra, Calgon Carbon Corp. is looking to capitalize on coal’s undesirables by cleaning them with... coal, of course. This week, the company (NYSE: CCC) launched a new generation of powered coal products called Fluepac, which is supposed to decrease the amount of activated carbon a power plant needs to control mercury pollution by 50 to 70 percent. The powdered coal, which has been “activated”, or processed to develop a mercury-trapping pore structure, in dosed into the power plant...

• Tech Council launches Creative Technology Network

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:02 pm

  A snazzy video (see below) set the tone for the kick-off of Creative Technology Network the latest initiative of the Pittsburgh Technology Council, and one that ties together a theme that has marked Audrey Russo’s time at the group’s helm. In the four years since Russo took over as president and CEO of the council there has been a focus on the intersection of art and technology and how to make the trade group more relevant to the region’s burgeoning creative industry. Now, with Creative Technology Network the council is hoping to promote companies in design, gaming, film making,…

• How can you get on the radar of angel investors?

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:57 pm

  How can Pittsburgh-region entrepreneurs get on the radars of angel investors? That's the question that we asked five angel investors in a recent roundtable assembled by the Pittsburgh Business Times. In an article in the Jan. 27 edition of the Pittsburgh Business Times, they talked about the evolution of the investment vehicle for high-net-worth individuals. See what the following angel investors had to say: Mel Pirchesky, president of Eagle Ventures Inc. VIDEO Eric Silver, CEO of Pikimal LLC and founder of Alt-Capital...

• More than 3,000 people attend job fair

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:54 pm

  People hoping to land a job at the new UPMC East Hospital began lining up four hours before a job fair opened on Thursday, with more than 3,000 people showing up for around 400 openings before the event ended at 7 p.m. “I don’t want to say it was an overwhelming response,” University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Human Resources Vice President Mike Anderson said on Friday, “But we had a strong response. “People just kept on coming.” Job applicants began lining up at 7 a.m. for a job fair that opened at 11 a...

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  Portland Business News - Local Portland News | The Portland Business Journal

• Strong forecast from Nautilus sends shares up 19%

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Nautilus Inc. on Friday said it expects a 12 percent jump in fourth quarter sales, sending its share price up more than 19 percent. The Vancouver, Wash.-based fitness equipment brand (NYSE: NLS) released preliminary, unaudited fourth-quarter results Friday. It won’t unveil its full financial report until March. Royalties from licensing its brands to third parties are expected to be up 15 percent to $1.8 million. For the fourth quarter, the company expects sales to rise 12 percent over the prior year to $60...

• Regional stocks: Dow ends week down

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:49 pm

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to lose steam Friday, ending the week down 74.17 points to 12,660. That follows a 22.33 point drop Thursday that halted what had been a robust January rally. The NASDAQ closed up 11.27 points to 2,816 on Friday and the S&P 500 closed down 2.10 points to 1,316. The Davidson 99, which tracks stocks in seven western states, including 19 in Oregon, closed up 0.45 points to 172.67. A day after reporting a third-quarter loss of $1.9 million, Electro Scientific Industries (NASDAQ: ESIO) was among the regional companies that lost ground Friday, closing down…

• Beaverton software firm Cayuse sold to Evisions

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:47 pm

  Cayuse Inc., a Beaverton-based developer of research management software, was acquired last week in a deal it believes will help expand its product to a wider audience. Irvine, Calif.-based Evision Inc. on Jan. 13 announced it had acquired Cayuse. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cayuse was founded and is led by Chris Harker, a state representative from Beaverton and a former researcher at the Mayo Clinic and Oregon Health & Science University. The company’s Web-based products are used in research management and grant proposal development primarily in higher education and health care…

• Former state economist Potiowsky wants kicker reform

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:32 pm

  Former Oregon economist Tom Potiowsky on Friday announced his support for reforming the state's controversial kicker law. The kicker rebates excess state revenue to taxpayers when the state runs a budget surplus. Critics, including business groups, say it prevents the state from setting aside enough money to weather economic downturns. Supporters say it serves as an effective collar on state spending. Potiowsky disagreed with the law's supporters on Friday at a City Club of Portland luncheon. "We need to build up our rainy day fund," Potiowsky said...

• Database: top-paid Portland workers in education, media

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:16 pm

  The 70 economics professors in Portland are the highest-paid teachers in the metro area. According to an On Numbers analysis of educator salaries compiled by the Business Journal, area economics professors make an average of $103,150 a year. Engineering professors were second, with an average salary of $101,060, followed by professors in health specialties at $99,060, computer science at $95,700 and architecture at $94,890. The Business Journal determined the ranking using Education, Training and Library sector data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics...

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  Raleigh Business News - Local Raleigh News | The Triangle Business Journal

• PNC taps exec to head Raleigh operations

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:08 pm

  PNC Financial Services Group has tapped one of its 20-year executives, Paula K. Fryland, to head up the bank’s eastern North Carolina and Raleigh operations following PNC’s takeover of RBC Bank. The $3.45 billion acquisition is scheduled to be wrapped up by mid-March. Fryland, who joined PNC in 1990, has held a variety of executive positions with the Pennsylvania bank, most recently as head of PNC’s healthcare team. According to Fryland’s LinkedIn account, she lists Louisville, KY. as her current base...

• State divvies up 240 new nursing home beds in Wake County

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:02 pm

  Three groups of nursing home services providers received approval on Friday from the state of North Carolina to expand their services in Wake County by a total of 240 beds. The providers receiving permission to add beds include: • Britthaven Inc. and Spruce LTC Group LLC will build a 120-bed nursing facility in the Brier Creek area; •E.N.W. LLC and BellaRose Nursing and Rehab Center will build a 100-bed nursing facility on Rock Quarry Road in Raleigh; • Universal Properties of Fuquay Varina LLC and Universal Health Care of Fuquay Varina Inc...

• Slideshow: 2012 Space Awards sees renewed optimism

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:56 pm

  Triangle Business Journal handed out 18 awards for the top commercial real estate developments and top commercial real estate deals of the past year at its 2012 Space Awards event on Jan. 26. But much of the chatter among the crowd before, during and after the event was about the renewed optimism in the commercial real estate market. Vacancy rates in the fourth quarter of 2011 dropped in almost all sectors of commercial real estate, including office, flex and retail. Many architects and engineering firms are reporting that projects that had been shelved two and three years ago are being…

• Cary real estate development firm files for bankruptcy

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:39 pm

  Real estate developer Wimberly Associates filed for bankruptcy reorganization Thursday afternoon, citing $2.1 million in debts. The Cary-based company’s largest asset, 16 acres of land on Piney Plains road, was the proposed site for a 450,000-square-foot office park that stalled in 2008 amid neighbors’ opposition and the financial crisis. The company has about $4.6 million in assets. Its bankruptcy filing valued the Piney Plains land at $3.6 million. Its other major asset is four acres of land on O’Kelly Chapel Road that is appraised at $950,000...

• Slideshow: New hotel opening near RBC Center

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:22 pm

  A new Hyatt Place hotel soon will open on a site less than a mile from the RBC Center arena in west Raleigh, and it is only the second hotel property in the Triangle region seeking LEED certification for its green building features. With 132 guest rooms, the Hyatt Place Raleigh West/RBC Center at the intersection of Trinity and Nowell roads will open to its first hotel guests on Feb. 7. It boasts a variety of features intended to increase environmental sustainability, according to a news release issued by its developer...

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  Sacramento Business News - Local Sacramento News | The Sacramento Business Journal

• PG&E fined over neglected pipeline leak surveys

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:13 pm

  The California Public Utilities Commission has fined San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company $16.8 million for failure to conduct pipeline leak surveys. PG&E has 10 days to pay the fine to the state’s general fund from shareholder dollars or submit a notice of appeal. The CPUC fined PG&E under its new citation program, created Dec. 1, 2011. Under the program, natural gas companies can be fined by CPUC staff for violating state and federal safety rules. PG&E is the first utility to receive a citation under the program...

• How much does the average educator make?

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:44 pm

  The average educator in the Sacramento region makes an average of $54,630, or about $26.27 an hour. That covers about 63,830 employees in the sector of education, training and library occupations. But the real money within the sector is as a professor or other post-secondary instructor, according to a new analysis. On Numbers used U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data to rank the earning power of employees in fields of education as well as in the sector of arts, design, entertainment and media. The highest pay in that sector is that of a law school professor, at an average of $117,020...

• GenCorp development ZIP code change denied

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:09 pm

  GenCorp Inc.’s effort to get a Folsom ZIP code for a part of its proposed residential development called Boroughs of Easton failed. The U.S. Postal Service turned down the company’s request for the Folsom name change, and the area will remain part of Rancho Cordova. “We are delighted with the decision,” Rancho Cordova Mayor David Sander said in a statement. “A ZIP code change would have caused confusion and divided our community. We fought to maintain our community identity.” Easton Development Co...

• Draft of flood protection plan released

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:51 pm

  The long-awaited public draft of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, a first comprehensive systemwide flood plan, has been released, GEI Consultants Inc., lead consulting firm for the state Department of Water Resources’ FloodSAFE California Program, announced today. The plan calls for $17 billion in infrastructure projects over a 25-year period. It will be adopted by the Central Valley Flood Protection Board following public hearings slated for the next three months. The draft plan is expected to be finalized and adopted by the board by July 1...

• Powerhouse Science Center gains another partner

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:42 pm

  The $50 million Powerhouse Science Center has landed another founding partner. Keller Group Office Environments, the Sacramento region’s largest office furniture dealer as ranked by the Business Journal, joins other community and business leaders in supporting the museum project. The Powerhouse Science Center, which will be built on the banks of the Sacramento River at 400 Jibboom St., will replace the nearly three-decade-old Discovery Museum Science & Space Center at 3615 Auburn Blvd. The Powerhouse Science Center is expected to open in 2014...

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  St. Louis Business News - Local St. Louis News | The St. Louis Business Journal

• Rams can't play in London, CVC says

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:15 pm

  In the press release announcing the St. Louis Rams would be playing three regular-season games in London over the next three seasons, the NFL called it an “unprecedented step that begins the next chapter” of the NFL’s international outreach. Maybe because it is ‘unprecedented,’ the NFL and the Rams apparently forgot to check if anybody had a problem with it. Anybody? Yes, the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission has a problem with it. “Having the Rams play a game in London will elevate an awareness of St...

• Volvo Rents acquires Midwest Aerials & Equipment

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:44 pm

  Volvo Construction Equipment Rents Inc. has acquired St. Louis-based Midwest Aerials & Equipment. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Midwest is an aerial platform and rental company with locations here and in Kansas City, Springfield, Mo., and in Bloomington, Ill. Midwest rents equipment such as scaffolding, telescopic trucks, industrial forklifts and golf carts. The Midwest location at 2231 Paplin St. in St. Louis had already changed its name to Volvo Rents. Volvo Rents stores lease construction equipment residential, commercial and industrial use...

• Anheuser-Busch’s 6 Super Bowls: a more serious flavor

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:42 pm

  When it comes to preparing for the Super Bowl, forget who’s playing who, I’m more interested in the commercials. For this year’s game, the nation’s largest brewer is serving up commercials with a more sophisticated taste, leaving the exaggerated humor on the shelf. Anheuser-Busch, the game’s exclusive beer advertiser, will promote its new Bud Light Platinum during the first two of its six Super Bowl ads. The two 30-second spots will reveal a more “serious and stylish tone while touting a triple-filtered, smooth finish, too-shelf taste”, according to Ad Age...

• St. Louis general contractors land $6.1 billion in new work

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:12 pm

  Employees at ARCO Construction Co. Inc., ranked eighth on this year’s list of St. Louis’ largest general contractors, spent last week moving into the company’s new headquarters building in Rock Hill, a transition President and CEO Jeff Cook called a “game changer.” ARCO posted $217.5 million in revenue last year, and Cook plans to see that number rise in 2012. “Decision-makers appear to be making decisions to deploy capital and reinvest into their businesses,” he said. “We are cautiously optimistic, anticipating significant revenue growth in 2012 from the pent-up demand of the…

• Anheuser-Busch's two new brews

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:02 pm

  When news came a few weeks ago that Coors Light had passed up Budweiser to become the No. 2 beer in the U.S., it was the first time since 1993 that Anheuser-Busch wasn’t in control of the top two spots. But experts (and A-B spokespeople) were quick to point out that the fall of Budweiser had little to do with corporate strategy or marketing. It was just a reflection of a decades-long consumer trend away from full-calorie beers to light beers, craft brews and spirits. And A-B has been aware of that trend as well...

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  San Antonio Business News - Local San Antonio News | The San Antonio Business Journal

• S.A. Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Matej secures national honor

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:52 pm

  The Event Services Professionals Association has named Casandra Matej, executive director of the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, as the recipient of its Executive Excellence Award. The Event Services Professionals Association is a New Jersey-based trade organization. Its award recognizes an executive for his or her commitment and dedication to the hospitality industry. “I am humbled by this award,” says Matej, “But the honor really goes to our city’s great convention services managers, event coordinators and catering managers, and all those who service our clients...

• $250 million debt offering will benefit SAWS

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:46 pm

  The City of San Antonio is planning to sell $245.7 million in water system revenue refunding bonds on behalf of San Antonio Water System as part of a plan to refinance a portion of the city-owned utility’s debt. City officials expect to save money from the bond sale by refunding older debt issued at a higher interest rate. The bonds should be sold during the week of Feb. 7. Fitch Ratings rated the latest round of bonds “AA+.” The rating agency also affirmed SAWS’ $1.5 billion in outstanding water system revenue bonds “AA+” and $386 million in outstanding water system junior lien…

• San Antonio Business Journal unveils year-round nomination site

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:40 pm

  Today, the San Antonio Business Journal unveiled a one-stop-shop Web site to submit nominations for the paper’s various award programs. The new site allows readers to nominate a person for any of the paper’s nine award programs throughout the year, up until the nomination deadline. To download the nomination forms, log onto the site and simply click on the appropriate logo. Nomination cutoff deadlines are listed under each logo and on each nomination form. The Web site also offers descriptions of each award program and general rules and helpful tips for filling out the nomination forms...

• Lynd named national leader in student housing

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm

  A San Antonio company with an ownership stake in several student-housing communities — including one in San Antonio — has been recognized as one of the country’s largest student-housing owners. Student Housing Business recently released its 2011 edition of the Top 25 Owners & Managers. The publication ranks the firms that own and/or manage the largest number of beds in the industry. Lynd, which is dually headquartered in San Antonio and Miami, took the No. 12 spot on the list. The company entered the student-housing business last year after launching a new division called Lynd Student…

• NADB approves multi-million dollar loan for Baja California

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  The City of Mexicali and the North American Development Bank (NADBank) closed on an $11 million loan for a street-paving project in Mexicali, Baja California in Mexico. The peso-denominated loan will be used to pave about 11 million square feet of dirt roads, as well as rehabilitate water and wastewater lines. The project will be carried out by the city’s Department of Urban Development, Consejo de Urbanización Municipal de Mexicali (CUMM), and is expected to greatly reduce dust, as well as improve urban mobility with safer roadways for motorists and easier access for emergency services...

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  San Francisco Business News - Local San Francisco News | The San Francisco Business Times

• First lady hosts Instagram founder

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:42 pm

  The White House has released a video featuring an interview with popular photo-sharing application Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, who was hosted this week at President Obama's state of the union speech by Michelle Obama, and Digital Media Wire has put together a nice package about it. Krieger, who started Instagram in late 2010 with Kevin Systrom, was invited along with Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs and nearly two dozen other people to sit with the First Lady in her guest box at the event...

• Slideshow: Top 7 Bay Area property managers

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:25 pm

  The accompanying gallery is an excerpt from this week's List of the Largest Property Management Firms in the Bay Area. Click on the image to start a slideshow of top Bay Area property managers. The San Francisco Business Times publishes industry rankings in each issue of the paper and reprints them at the end of the year for our annual Book of Lists. These lists are unique and authoritative sources of Bay Area business news. One of this week’s lists is the Largest Property Management Firms in the Bay Area...

• Arizona says Bank of America settlements hurt probe

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:11 pm

  Arizona Attorney General Thomas Horne is asking a state court to block a provision in some of Bank of America’s settlements with troubled home owners that calls for them to keep the details secret and not disparage the bank. Arizona officials say that the the provision is hindering its investigation into Bank of America and its predecessor Countrywide Financial, which BofA (NYSE: BAC) purchased in 2008. The bank’s attorneys say that the provision doesn’t forbid borrowers to speak with state investigators...

• IPO market swings up as Facebook looms

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:35 pm

  The U.S. market for initial public offerings appears to be in the midst of a recovery as Facebook reportedly prepares to register for its own debut next week, according to Renaissance Capital. The FTSE Renaissance US IPO Index has run up 10.4 percent year-to-date, more than double the S&P 500's 4.8% return. That is a good sign, according to Renaissance, for the "historically large backlog of companies waiting to go public," which includes 217 companies hoping to raise $50 billion, 54 of them technology companies...

• Sister ship of Italian Costa Concordia arrives in San Francisco

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:16 pm

  The Costa Deliziosa, a sister ship of the cruise ship that sank off the coast of Italy, arrived in San Francisco on Friday for an overnight stay. Click on the image to view a short slideshow on the Costa Deliziosa. The 961-foot long Costa Deliziosa passed through the Golden Gate around 11 a.m. Friday and berthed at the Cruise Ship terminal at Pier 35. It was expected to depart mid-day Saturday to continue a round-the-world cruise that began in Italy on Dec. 28. Still to come on the itinerary are Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore...

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  San Jose Business News - Local San Jose News | The Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

• San Jose Giants name Daniel Orum as CEO

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:19 pm

  The San Jose Giants on Friday named Daniel Orum as president and CEO of the minor league baseball team. He replaces interim president Bill Schlough, who is going back to his full-time position as senior vice president and chief information officer for the San Francisco Giants. Orum most recently was president of AFAR Media in San Francisco where he oversaw all operational aspects of the company’s travel media business. Prior to joining AFAR Media, he worked at Gamepro Media beginning as a senior vice president of business development and consumer marketing before becoming president and…

• Checking in on pair of Silicon Valley 'demo days'

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:53 pm

  I took a trip into startup-land yesterday, checking out “demo days” at esteemed VC firm Andreessen Horowitz in Menlo Park and seed accelerator 500 Startups in Mountain View (featured in a recent Business Journal article). Demo day events always provide an interesting overview of the trendiest sectors for startups, and there was quite a variety at the two events. The Andreessen Horowitz event featured startups from the "Flashpoint" program, an accelerator at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The startups were doing a bit of a venture capital tour and had already presented in New York before coming…

• Kaiser 'tops' new Redwood City Hospital

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:42 pm

  Kaiser Permanente said it plans to "top out" the steel skeleton of its new 280,000-square-foot Redwood City Hospital on Friday. The structure was to be hoisted to the top of the seven-story building, located at Veterans Boulevard and Walnut Street. The thousand-pound framing structure was signed by hospital physicians, staff and dignitaries. The contractor is Redwood City's Rudolph and Sletten Inc., which began erecting the steel on the site Dec. 5. According to Kaiser Permanente: "Crews from Schuff Steel of Stockton worked nearly every day during December and January to finish the hospital…

• Facebook revenue, profit numbers out, ahead of IPO

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:58 pm

  Facebook Inc.'s 2011 revenue was $3.8 billion and its operating profit was $1.5 billion, according to a Tweet from Julia Boorstin, a CNBC reporter citing undisclosed sources. The news comes ahead of the Menlo Park-based social networking company potentially filing IPO plans as early as Feb. 1 of next week. Written by Lisa Sibley. She can be reached at 408.299.1830 or lsibley@bizjournals.com.

• San Jose: Tough place to rent, good place to buy?

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:12 pm

  Prospective home buyers take comfort. A recent analysis of the nation’s housing markets found San Jose to be the second hottest housing market in the country. Local Market Monitor, a firm that analyzes markets for the banking industry, recently put together a three-year forecast of the nation’s largest housing markets. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara came in at No. 2, behind only McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas. What’s so great about this market? The fact that home prices are close to a bottom is one...

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  Seattle Business News - Local Seattle News | The Puget Sound Business Journal

• Slide show: High tech meets performance at Brooks Sports shoe lab

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:31 pm

  Inside the Brooks Sports shoe lab, tucked inside a suburban office park in Bothell, biomechanical engineers, footwear developers and designers are trying to create the latest and greatest running shoe. Brooks’ efforts show the ever-increasing convergence of athletic performance gear and technology, which is expected to grow even more pronounced in the next five years as clothing gets embedded with UV screens and digital sensors, and as computers gain the ability to respond to people’s motions...

• OfficeSpace.com tweaks Portland website

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Seattle-based OfficeSpace.com is beta testing a new business model that targets smaller office tenants on its Portland website. The revised website and online tools will eventually be rolled out in OfficeSpace.com’s five other markets. The impetus for the changes — which include unlimited photos with listings, an online calendar for booking tours and easy integration of marketing materials onto social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ – came from the firm’s new ownership. OfficeSpace...

• Celeb Seattle chef goes Google for local, sustainable food

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:51 pm

  On one of my occasional visits to Crush restaurant in the Capitol Hill neighborhood with my family, I had the chance to meet celebrated Chef Jason Wilson. Thanks to that chance introduction a few months ago, I had the opportunity to break a story this week about Wilson’s expanded role: He’s now also designing menus for Google employees at the Kirkland and Bothell campuses. The award-winning chef also cooks at two restaurants on the search giant’s Kirkland campus and splits his time between that and Crush...

• Going South: Aerospace manufacture conference to be held in Charlotte, N.C.

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:48 pm

  Wouldn’t you think a leading North American conference on commercial aircraft manufacture would be held where the biggest planes are made? You might, but you'd be wrong. The first “Civil Aviation Manufacturing” conference, or CAM, is scheduled for Charlotte, N.C., May 8-9 of this year — not in Washington state. The conference, organized by New York-based Aviation Week, went where the new action is, said Aviation Week Marketing Director Jennifer Roberts, speaking from Manhattan. "There’s so much growth going on in that area,” she said, speaking of the South...

• Regulators warn Seattle's P.I. Bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:46 pm

  Regulators have told Pacific International Bank to appoint a qualified CEO and increase a capital cushion it keeps to make up for loan losses, among other things, according to an announcement Friday from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC also told the bank to reduce its concentration in loans in the commercial real estate sector, especially those with borrowers in the hotel or gas station industry. I put a call in to Seattle-based P.I. Bank's interim CEO Paul Sabado to ask about the regulatory order, known as a consent order, but he didn't immediately respond...

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  South Florida Business News - Local South Florida News | The South Florida Business Journal

• Community Bank of Broward falls into red in Q4

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pm

  Community Bank of Broward’s run of profitability in 2011 ended in the fourth quarter as the bank suffered a loss. The Weston-based bank lost $1.87 million in the fourth quarter after earning $322,000 in the third quarter. That wiped out its profits from earlier in the year – leaving the bank with a $1.11 million loss for 2011. It earned $418,000 in 2010. Community Bank of Broward saw its expense to reserve for future loan losses increase to $3.8 million in the fourth quarter, up sharply from $475,000 in the previous quarter...

• PNC loans $41M for Stiles’ apartment project

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:39 pm

  PNC Bank provided a $40.6 million mortgage to a joint venture partnership between Stiles Corp. and Prudential Insurance (NYSE: PRU) to build an apartment project in Plantation. University Center Partners, an entity controlled by Fort Lauderdale-based Stiles, had a $12.5 million mortgage with EverBank covering the 85,812-square-foot mixed-use property at 1349 S. University Drive plus the 5.5-acre site on its south side – just north of Interstate 595. It sold the property with the mixed-used building for $8 million to PR/Stiles Plantation Apartment Owner, which is a joint venture between…

• Former owner of airline services company sentenced

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:08 pm

  Robert A. Riddell, the former owner and operator of a Sunrise-based airline services company, was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison and ordered to pay restitution for conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud in a kickback scheme to defraud Ryan International Airlines, a charter airline company based in Rockford, IL. Riddell pleaded guilty on Oct. 17 to participating in a conspiracy to defraud Ryan by making kickback payments to Wayne E. Kepple, a former VP of ground operations at Ryan, in exchange for Kepple awarding business to Riddell’s company...

• David Stern: From foreclosure king to burger king?

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:06 pm

  Foreclosure king David J. Stern is looking to become a burger king. The Palm Beach Post is reporting that Stern, whose former Plantation-based law firm once handled the most foreclosure cases in the state, has sunk money into a company that owns Five Guys Burger and Fries franchises. Of all of the gourmet burger concepts that have popped up in recent years, the Arlington, Va.-based chain has been among the fastest growing. Stern, for his part, ran the nation’s largest foreclosure practices, filing 70,000 cases in 2009...

• Drug maker Perrigo to lay off 175 in Lake Worth

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:06 pm

  Pharmaceutical manufacturer Perrigo Co. filed a WARN notice with the state about its intention to lay off 175 employees in Lake Worth. The Allegan, Mich.-based company (NASDAQ: PRG) said it would release the employees at 201 4th Avenue, North from April 1 through June 30. It entered that location in 2008 when it acquired Unico Holdings for $49 million. On Jan. 12, a West Palm Beach warehouse building that recently counted Unico/Perrigo as its largest tenant was hit with a $4.5 million foreclosure lawsuit...

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  Tampa Business News - Local Tampa News | The Tampa Bay Business Journal

• Clearwater celebrates Coast Guard distinction

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:36 pm

  The city of Clearwater has become one of 14 cities in the United States designated a “Coast Guard City.” The designation, endorsed by Congress and the Coast Guard, recognizes a community’s support to Coast Guard personnel and families. A public celebration of the designation is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. at the intersection of Cleveland Street and Garden Avenue. Mayor Frank Hibbard will be the master of ceremonies. Clearwater participates in an annual Coast Guard Birthday Celebration, recognizes “Coast Guard Persons of the Year," provides “welcome aboard” packages to arriving…

• CenterState Bank picks up failed First Guaranty Bank

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:30 pm

  The Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed First Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. in Jacksonville. CenterState Bank of Florida in Winter Haven assumed all the deposits and said it would purchase essentially all the assets of Guaranty Bank in an agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was appointed receiver. It is the second consecutive week that CenterState Bank of Florida, one of the largest banks in the Tampa Bay area, acquired a failed bank. CenterState struck a deal with the FDIC for Central Florida State Bank in Belleview when it failed Jan...

• Former Wachovia loan officer Andrew Vulpis sentenced

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pm

  Andrew Vulpis was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Vulpis was an officer of Wachovia Bank in Tampa when he played a role in 12 residential real estate transactions in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties that involved fraud, a written statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida said. U.S. District Jude Steven Merryday also entered a money judgment of $1.25 million against Vulpis, who forfeited a 2007 Volvo sedan as a substitute asset in partial satisfaction of the money judgment, the statement said...

• Express Dental expands in Tampa

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:36 pm

  Facing increased national demand for its services, Express Dental Holdings Inc. has relocated to a larger headquarters. The company’s move strategically positions Express Dental for growth and expansion, and enables it to better respond to an increasing demand for dental and specialty referral management services nationwide, a written statement said. Express Dental is a national dental network addressing specific needs of the workers’ compensation, auto and liability insurance industries. The company was acquired by One Call Medical Inc...

• Women make inroads in Tampa Bay banking

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:19 pm

  The appointment of Susan Blackburn as Tampa Bay regional executive for Sabadell United Bank marks another advance for women in a field that has not always been female-friendly. Blackburn — whose strategy for leading Sabadell is the focus of a news story in the Jan. 27 issue of the Tampa Bay Business Journal — is one of just a handful of prominent women bankers in the Bay area. The Los Angeles Times offered a glimpse of what’s been holding them back in this primer for women in banking published in 2010...

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  Washington, D.C. Business News - Local Washington, D.C. News | The Washington Business Journal

• BRAC history could favor Washington

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:25 pm

  The Pentagon’s call for another round of military base closures could largely spare the Washington area, where government real estate experts say prior BRAC efforts have streamlined what Defense Department installations still exist in the national capital region. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday that President Obama will ask Congress to establish a new Base Closure and Realignment Commission, shorthanded as BRAC, to look at closing or consolidating military bases aross the country, six years after the Pentagon’s 2005 realignment plan...

• Slideshow: The 2012 Washington Auto Show

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:18 pm

  The 2012 Washington Auto Show shifted into gear Friday. The convention, one of the most popular and widely attended in Washington, D.C., will feature more than 700 new vehicles from 32 domestic and foreign manufacturers. Those cars and trucks will be displayed on 750,000 square feet of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. D.C. officials trumpeted the auto show for showcasing the latest in automotive technology, style and innovation for more than 50 years. Click on the slideshow at the right to see what's on display for visitors...

• White House CTO Aneesh Chopra to step down

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:00 pm

  The latest executive to turn in his resignation to the White House is federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra — whose dynamic presence helped drive greater innovation in government and partnership with industry. Chopra's appointment to the CTO post in April 2009 was widely praised — particularly given the fact that he had the direct ear of President Barack Obama as the White House's first appointed technology executive. While he was charged with implementing policy to drive more advanced technologies into government, federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra — who also was…

• Air Force execs call for fifth-gen planes

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:39 pm

  Two senior leaders at the Air Force argued that fifth generation aircraft like the F-22 and the F-35 are needed for anti-access operations, AOL Defense reported. Lt. Gen. Christopher Miller, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and programs, and Maj. Gen. Noel "Tom" Jones, director for operation capability requirements, told reporters that improving anti-aircraft missile systems require fifth-gen planes. The two senior Air Force leaders also referenced "anti-access" environments, a term which is closely associated with China and the AirSea Battle concept.

• Army plans to change deployment of fighting vehicles

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:38 pm

  The Army's Training and Doctrine Command is looking at ways to draw down the light combat fleet while still keeping it viable, AOL Defense reported. To ease the looming budget cuts slated to begin in fiscal 2013, TRADOC is looking at abandoning certain vehicle assignments to specific brigade combat teams and moving to a pool system. So instead of each BCT having its own organic fleet of combat vehicles when it deploys, it will have to share a pool of vehicles with other Army units.

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  Wichita Business News - Local Wichita News | The Wichita Business Journal

• WBJ survey finds support for Ambassador Hotel incentive

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:56 pm

  Developers of the Ambassador Hotel in downtown Wichita have to like results of a Wichita Business Journal online survey over the past week. Survey participants voted resoundingly to approve the room-tax rebate for the Ambassador. Readers were asked: “If the vote were held today, would you vote for or against the Ambassador Hotel incentive?” The incentive — to rebate Ambassador developers 75 percent of guest taxes collected at their property over 15 years — will go before Wichita voters on Feb...

• Wichita entrepreneurs see Pipeline program as avenue to growth

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:37 pm

  Two Wichita entrepreneurs, Brandon Shuey and Mark Allen, will take part in a new, expanded Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship Program this year. The program selects high-potential, high-growth entrepreneurs and puts them through a series of training modules to help them hone their business plans and operations, improve their networking abilities, and put them in contact with venture capitalists and private investors nationwide. The program initially launched in Kansas, but when its state funding was cut last year, organizers looked to investors from other states to help it match a Kauffman…

• FDIC announces bank enforcement actions in Kansas

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:28 pm

  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday announced December enforcement actions involving two Kansas bank, First Security Bank & Trust Co. of Norton and The Peoples Bank of Pratt. For First Security, a Jan. 6, 2010, consent order against it was terminated Dec. 5, FDIC says. For The Peoples Bank, without admitting or denying any violations, it consented to an order to pay a civil money penalty of $3,270 related to alleged violations of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. The order was effective Dec...

• Butler Community College kicks off 4th Advance Kansas leadership program

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:25 pm

  Forty business professionals and executives from the Wichita area are embarking on a four-month leadership training initiative with the help of Butler Community College’s Advance Kansas program. The 2012 program kicks off Friday. Advance Kansas includes four full-day workshops during a four-month period. Workshops will include classroom discussions, lectures and a community project. Look for more information about some of those projects as the program progresses this spring. This Wichita Business Journal story from last spring details more about the Advance Kansas program...

• Kansas ranked top state for wind capacity under construction

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pm

  Gov. Sam Brownback has repeatedly said he hopes Kansas can better harness its potential for wind energy. And according to a new report from the American Wind Energy Association, the state appears to be on the right track. AWEA’s review of the wind energy industry for the fourth quarter of 2011 places Kansas as the top state in terms of wind energy capacity under construction. Kansas has 1,188 megawatts worth of wind projects in the works. The next closest state in that category was Texas with 857 megawatts...