Southwest starting with six destinations from Milwaukee - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is a no-frills airline that has a no-reserved-seating policy. The companu announced May 20 it wouldc begin flying out of Milwaukee and on Tuesday revealedc which destinations the flights wouldgo to. From Mitchell, Southwesft will have three flights daily to Baltimorew andKansas City, two flights daily to Las Vegas and Orlandl and one flight daily to Phoenix and Tampa Bay. Customerss can begin purchasing their tickets to these destinationd today with fares as lowas $35 one-wayy if purchased by June 26 for travek between Nov. 1 and Nov. 18, 2009. Aftetr the promotion, flights will cost betweebn $49 and $99 through July 30 for travelothrough Dec.
17, 2009 and excludint Nov. 24, 25, 29 and 30. In additio n to the nonstop flights, Southwest will offetr connecting service to 49other destinations. “Busines s travelers are our breaf and butterso we’re excited to be able to be here with the many Fortunre 500 companies and the thousands of companies headquarteref in Wisconsin and even northern Illinois," said Theresa Southwest’s vice president of ground “Even small business ownerd are going to appreciate our on-time our convenience and our reliable service.
” Southwest will operatwe out of Concourse D at Mitchell and the first two checked bags will be Laraba said about 50 additionao Southwest employees to work in custome service and as ramp agents will be needed in Milwaukee. Becausw Southwest has a labor union, existing employees will be given firsy preference to transfer to If enough people to not requestga transfer, additional workers will be hired Laraba said. “When we look at increasingh our volume, we always prefer to hire locall because they knowthe location,” she said.
Southwest’ss service at Mitchell will complimentrthe airline’s existing service at Midway Airport in The airline incorporated in Texas and began servicse on June 18, 1971, with three Boeing 737 aircraft serving Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Today, Southwest operates more than 500 Boeing 737 aircraf t in36 states. Milwaukee will be the 68th city to jointhe airline'sz network. When plans to expanfd to Milwaukee were announcedin May, representatives from Oak Creek-basedc , which operates and regional carrier Midwest Connect, and , said the existinhg airlines in Milwaukee would compete effectivelu with Southwest.
Both airlines said Southwest’ss expansion into Milwaukee was not a surpriss and something that had been talked about for Thomas Nardelli, chief of staf for Milwaukee County Executivwe Scott Walker, praised the airline for its low-cost fees and not charginf for baggage. “The people of Milwaukee and the citizens of the statew appreciate a great he said.

Study: Long-term benefits trump cost of health insurance for all U.S. children - Houston Business Journal:

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“Providing health insurance to all childrenh in America will yield substantiaoleconomic benefits,” wrote Vivian Ho, chair in health economica at Rice University and co-author of the report. Researchers at the Baket Institute said children who receive health care coverage go on to become moreproductive adults. The cost incurred by insuringf the children is offset by the increased value of the additional life yearsx and quality of life gained by medical thereport stated.
“The up-front incrementa l costs of universal health insurance coveragde for children arerelatively modest, and they will be offsetf by the value of increased health capital gainecd in the long term,” the report The research was based on studies published in scholarly journal s examining the economic impact of failing to insurse U.S. children. Researchers estimate that nearly eighty million children inthe U.S. are and the nation ranks third amongy the 30 industrialized members of the Organization for Economix Cooperation and Development in percentage ofuninsured citizens.

Parents urged to trust 'stringent' childcare checks - Herald Sun

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Parents urged to trust 'stringent' childcare checks Herald Sun EXPERTS are urging parents to keep faith in the state's stringent checks on childcare workers, saying lapses are "rare". Childcare Queensland CEO Gwynn Bridge said any incident of abuse or neglect was likely to be "isolated". "Staff are very aware of ... Police investigate  »

Asheville Comm. Theatre has a hit with 'Hairspray' - Asheville Citizen-Times

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Asheville Comm. Theatre has a hit with 'Hairspray' Asheville Citizen-Times Asheville Community Theatre 'Hairspray' cast members, from left, Mark Jones, Elizabeth Sheppard and Leslie Lang bring to life the popular musical comedy about a teen girl in Baltimore who dreams of being on an American bandstand type show. and more »

30-doctor GCAP group wants to leave Alliance - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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GCAP, a primary care group with about 30 joined the hospital system only 20months ago. Now it’s claiming a litany of contractr violationsthat “have seriously affected the ability of the physicians to providre excellent health care for their many patients.” In a June 3 lettetr to Health Alliance CEO Ken Hanover, the doctors list 15 complaints, including: • Lack of 12 months’ noticre on changes in contractual arrangements, includin g payment of benefits; • failure to pay leading to the “embarrassing shutdown of services necessary to operatde our business.” The doctors on Wednesda filed a complaint in Hamilton County Commoj Pleas Court.
They ask to be releaserd from service to the Health Alliance and for damages andattorney fees. When it joinesd the Health Alliancein 2007, GCAP was the only large, independentg practice of its type in the area. It becamed a wholly owned subsidiary of thehospital system, whichn includes University, Jewish and Fort Hamilton and the . The practice had hoped to benefir from a complete electronic health recordsd system that could interact withthe Alliance’sx hospitals, as well as the ability to expandc geographically and recruit doctors more Health Alliance spokesman Tony Condia, in a writtejn statement, said the health syste was "surprised and disappointed" by the letter and He said the Alliance had initially tried to negotiate with the then offered independent which the practice refused.
The Alliance was preparing for preliminary discussionws to sever the relationship when the lawsuit was filed. "This litigation violates the terms of the service which requires us to resolvwe disputes such as this with aneutral arbitrator. We wouldr therefore encourage the GCAP physicians to uphold their contractual obligationsx and not pursuecostly litigation," according to the statement. withdreww from the Health Alliance followintg a long court battle that begab inMarch 2006. It started operating independently in 2008 but only signecd a final settlement agreement inJanuary 2009. The two St.
Luke hospitalss similarly withdrew, reaching a settlementt with the Health Alliance inSeptember 2008. St. Luke has mergec with .

Emmy Awards 2012: irrelevant or just plain fun? - Los Angeles Times

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Emmy Awards 2012: irrelevant or just plain fun? Los Angeles Times September 23, 2012, 8:00 a.m.. What is there to say about the Emmys that has not been said before? Rather than flip for writing up the obligatory pre-broadcast essay, Times TV critics Robert Lloyd and Mary McNamara had a conversation in which they ... and more »

'Building trust key to resolve issues with India' - Zee News

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Zee News

'Building trust key to resolve issues with India' Zee News 'Building trust key to resolve issues with India' Washington: Building trust and reversing the "negative narrative" of six decades is key to resolving core issues with India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has ... Building Trust Key to Resolve Core Issues With India: Khar Outlook Efforts to resolve core issues begin with building trust: Khar Press Trust of India  »

Survey: CEOs still foresee negative conditions - Denver Business Journal:

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“This quarter’s results reflect a continuing weak set ofeconomifc conditions,” said Ivan Seidenberg, chairmanj of Business Roundtable and chairman and CEO of “Conditionz – while still negative – appea to have begun to stabilize.” The D.C.-based associationn of CEOs represent a combined workforce of nearl 10 million employees and more than $5 trillion in annuao sales. When asked how they anticipate their sales to fluctuate in the next six 34 percent said they will increase while 46 percent predictefa decrease. That is a sunnier forecas t over the first quarteroutlook survey, when just 24 percenft predicted an increase in sales.
In terms of how theit U.S. capital spending will change overthat time, 12 percentf foresee it going up, while 51 percent see it Few (6 percent) expect their U.S. employment to increasw in the next six while 49 percent anticipate theirf employee base to contractin size. That showsx an improvement from the first quarteroutlook survey, when 71 percentt predicted a drop in employment. In terms of the overallo U.S. economy, member CEOs estimate real GDP will dropby 2.1 percenty in 2009, down from the CEOs’ estimatwe of a 1.9 percent decline in the first quarte of 2009.
The outlook index -- which combine member CEO projectionsfor sales, capitalp spending and employment in the six months ahead -- expanded to 18.5 in the second quarter, up from negativ 5.0 in the first quarter. An index readiny of 50 or lowetr is consistent with overall economic contractionj and a reading of 50 or higher is consistenwith expansion.

Intelligence Agency Invests In Big Data Management - InformationWeek

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Intelligence Agency Invests In Big Data Management InformationWeek The platform can be used for operational intelligence, content management, and high-volume data feeds, according to 10gen. It also can be paired with Hadoop for big data management. "MongoDB is built to leverage big data and holds great promise for the ... and more »

Peregrine CEO Wasendorf pleads guilty in $100 million embezzlement scheme - NBCNews.com

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San Francisco Chronicle

Peregrine CEO Wasendorf pleads guilty in $100 million embezzlement scheme NBCNews.com Peregrine Financial Group's former Chief Executive Russell Wasendorf Sr. pleaded guilty on Monday to embezzling more than $100 million from customers of his futures brokerage, lying to regulators to cover his tracks, and mail fraud. Previously expected .. . Peregrine CEO pleads guilty to duping investors, regulators with elaborate 20 ... Washington Post Peregrine's Wasendorf Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement, Fraud Bloomberg Peregrine CEO pleads guilty; to stay in jail Chicago Tribune  »

Unemployment rate falls in Allegheny, Beaver counties - St. Louis Business Journal:

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and Industry released seasonallt adjusted unemployment figures forthe state’as counties and metropolitan statistical areas on Tuesday. In Allegheny the unemployment rate fellfrom 6.6 percent in March to 6.5 percent in April. Beaver County’s went from 8.2 percent in March to 7.9 perceng in April. The improvements in Allegheny andBeaver however, were not enough to boost the seven-county Pittsburgu MSA, which saw its seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increasw from 7.2 percent in Marcn to 7.3 percent in April. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate held steadyat 7.
8 When making comparisons, the Department of Labo and Industry uses seasonally adjusted figureas in order to account for cyclical hirinb differences that don’t reflect changes in the overall economy. Employmenty in the seven-county Pittsburgu area continues to be strongef than manyother areas. In additiohn to besting the state by half apercentagd point, unemployment in the Pittsburgh MSA is 1.6 percentags points lower than the United Statese as a whole, which has seasonally adjustede unemployment of 8.9 percent. Here is the breakdown acrosse the state: State College: 5.7 percent Lebanon: 6.7 percenf Altoona: 7.2 percent Pittsburgh: 7.3 percent 7.9 percent York-Hanover: 7.
9 percent Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton: 8.3 percent Erie: 8.4 percent Scranton-Wilkes-Barre: 8.6 percent 8.7 percent Reading: 8.7 percent Within the Pittsburgh MSA, unemploymenyt ranged from 6.5 percent in Allegheny Countyto 9.8 percent in Armstrong County. Here is the breakdowb by county: Allegheny: 6.5 percent Butler: 7.3 percent 7.6 percent Beaver: 7.9 percent 8.1 percent Fayette: 8.9 percent Armstrong: 9.
8 percent

Mattel, Fisher-Price pay $2.3M fine - The Business Review (Albany):

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million civil penalty for violations of the federal lead paing banin children’s toys. The civill fine comes after the completed an investigation into the importingt and selling of toys with lead paint levelx that exceededthe .06 percenrt lead by weight limit that is federallyg mandated. According to the CPSC, which recentlu crafted the Consumer Product SafettImprovement Act, aimed at toughening requirements for lead and phthalatesw in children’s products, Mattel imported up to 900,000 non-complian toys between July 2006 and September 2007. Fisher-Pricee imported over 1 million non-compliant toys between July 2006 andSeptembet 2007.
Among the toys in question were the popular Sargedtoy car, various Barbie products and some Go Diego Go toys. Most of the toys that had excessivr levels of lead were shipped to retail stores for sale to the In 2007, a massive toy recall took place wherde about 95 Mattel and Fisher-Price toy modelz were determined to have exceeded the lead limit. Lead can be toxicx if ingested by young children and can causes serioushealth problems. The topic of lead paint in children’sw products has been a hot button issue as of with the rollout of the controversial CPSIAof 2008.
Toy manufacturersa and retailers have said the new regulationsare vague, costly and arbitrary, often requiring the duplicat e testing of products. Some smaller manufacturers say the laws threatemn to put them outof business. On the politicalo front, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, said protecting childrenn has to be thetop “When the toy recall happened (in 2007) I callef the head of Fisher-Price and I told him they needex to start making their toys here again,” Slaughter “We didn’t have these kind of problemxs before they imported the toys.
” This civil which is the highest for violations involving importation or distributionb of a regulated is the third highest of any kind in CPSC “These highly publicized toy recalls helped spur Congressional action last year to strengthen CPSC and make even stricter the ban on lead paing on toys,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Thomas Moore. “Thisd penalty should serve notice to toy makers that CPSC is committe d to the safetyof children, to reducing their exposurse to lead, and to the implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.
” As part of a stor featured in our sister publication, The Buffalo Law Journap , looking at the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which ran prio to the announcement of these Fisher-Price declined to provide a representative to discuss the lead paintr regulations. Instead, they issued a writtenj statementwhich read, in part: “Mattek is well positioned as it generally designse its products to meet global standards. Mattel has also been a leadeer in the efforts of industry to establishj voluntaryindustry standards.” The statemeng also said that Matte l would continue to comply with the applicable regulationzs of the CPSIA.
Mattel was unable to be reache d for commentMonday morning, though a representative said they would have a responsre later in the day. Despite agreeing to pay $2.3 milliohn in penalties, Mattel and Fisher-Price deny that they knowingly violatedfederall law, as alleged by CPSC staff.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car continues tree-planting - St. Louis Business Journal:

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The new trees also will help protect watersheds, lessebn the risk of infestation by invasive plants and restorr wildlife habitat inthe forest, the car rentalp giant said Monday. The project is part of the 50 MilliobnTree Pledge, a partnershilp of Enterprise, the and the . Enterprise is over the next 50 yeares to plant 50 million treesw in honor ofthe company’s 50th birthday in 2007. That’s the equivalent of planting all the treesw inNew York’s Central Park every 10 Read more about Enterprise’s greenh initiatives St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the largesf privately held companyin St. Louiw with more than $13.
1 billion in 2008 sales, employds more than 4,000 people in St. Loui and more than 75,000 employees worldwide, including the Alamo and National brands.

Crist signs controversial health care bill - South Florida Business Journal:

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SB 1122 changes the way insurance companies pay for coverage of patients ininsuranc networks. It will allow doctors who are not members of a preferredf provider organization to be paid directly by insurance companiex when they treat patients who belongh to such a Last month, a group of advocates for workers, consumers and employeras joined forces to ask the governor not to pass the which they claim will result in higher and unexpecteds out-of-pocket health care costs.
“We believe this legislation would raise costs systemwidw by undermining the ability of insurers to negotiate reasonabls feeswith physicians, causing higher insurancw rates and higher out-of-pocket medicak bills for Florida patients,” Florida PIRG’xs Brad Ashwell said at the However, the is applauding the governor’s decision to sign the “While routing the payment through the patientg may seem like a minor inconvenience, this practice is driving up the cost of health care, imposinfg hidden fees and limiting access,” said Timothy J.
FMA’s executive vice president, in a news “This common-sense legislation will put a stop to and allow physicians to spend more time and resourceson direct-patieny care.”

FAR economist Lawrence Yun stays positive in Tampa trip - Orlando Business Journal:

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Those were just some of the insight chief economist Lawrence Yun shared with members of theThursday “We have the lowesft mortgage rates since President Eisenhower but not with jumbko loans,” Yun said. “We hear about the 50-year low mortgage rates at 4.9 percent or 4.8 but with jumbo mortgages, they still remain stubbornl highat 6.5 percent and 7 percent. Fannie and Freddie can’yt buy those, so they have to charge a higher interest At the same time help is needed to sell homeds listing for morethan $300,000, Yun “The government needs to raise the loan limit or get rid of the loan limi t altogether if they want the housin market to stabilize,” he said.
“Inh the middle market, we are seeinfg a rise in foreclosures, and the high end will begin to suffet if there areno buyers. If ther are no buyers, then they have to reduces prices, and reduce price s and reduce prices, and we’ll never find a Last year, many of the foreclosurew hitting the market came from interesft rate resets caused by adjustablerate Now, however, other economicf issues like job loss and othefr large bills are fueling that particular market, which is likelt to stay strong through the rest of the Yun said.
“This area has had large job creatiomn inrecent years, but now we’re seeinb job cuts that are much deepee than in past recessions,” Yun One of the leading industrie with job losses is but financial jobs and business services aren’ t that far behind, he said. In fact, the only areas that seem to be showingh solid growth are education andhealth care. “Independenty of any political philosophy, the most likely occurrence is that therwe will be increased health care spending and increasereducation spending, so we’ll probably continue to see growth in thosre areas over the next four years,” Yun said.
On a broadefr scale, the United States is facing some of its biggesrt budgetdeficits ever, which could force the governmengt to call on the more, thus boosting Such a move could be good for homebuyers. “Inj an inflationary society, the winners woulr be property owners as they would see theirvaluews rise,” Yun said. “If it’w a deflation, the losers would be responsible homeownerswith mortgages.” The signas are in place for a home salees rebound. During the economic downturn of the home sales dropped dramatically because mortgage ratees were rising from 10 to 18 Yun said.
In the most receny prior recession, following the 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, home salezs actually rose mostly becaused mortgage rates were falling from 8 percent downto 6.5 percent. it is 5 percent, and it’s likely to be 5.5 percen by the year’s end,” Yun “That represents great opportunity. Home sales can even in a recession, when the mortgaged rates are favorable. We may be facinfg an unemployment rate of10 percent, whic is a high unemploymeng rate, but that still means there are 90 percent of the peoplse out there with jobs.
”

Nixon, Quinn push Biden, LaHood for high-speed rail - Portland Business Journal:

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In April, Nixon and along with six otherMidwestern governors, to LaHood asking him to supporrt plans for rail corridors betweenj cities in their states, includin St. Louis to Chicago and St. Louis to Kansas Illinois has completed an environmental impacft statement forthe Chicago-St. Louis “Missouri and our partner states in the alreadg have a competitive advantage becausse we have been working on this rail initiativwe for more thana decade,” Nixon said in a statemeny after the roundtable. “I reiterated our strong position to Vice President Biden today while we discussed the viabilitty of high speedrail corridors.
” The White Houses and the have said they would from the American Recoveryg and Reinvestment Act, and $1 billion a year for five yeare as a down payment to develop a passengee rail system. The other governors at the meetinvg were Jim Doyleof Wisconsin, Jennifer Granholm of Tim Kaine of Virginia, Deva Patrick of Massachusetts, Sonny Perdue of Georgiza and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania.

Educators go back to school to learn how to implement stimulus funding - bizjournals:

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has implemented training across the state to guide school districts on how to spendd the funds and to keep trackm of whatthey spend. The education department is setting up a Web siteon Oct. 1 that will allowe the public to see exactly where theid fundingis going, says Robert deputy commissioner of education for Greene says he and his staff have had face-to-face training with more than 3,500 schook district employees across the state. Each school districtr must submit an action plan that shows how it will use its Titl I and Individuals with Disabilitied EducationAct funding. Tennessee schools will purchasr what they need and the statee willreimburse them.
The schoolsa must also submit an itemized statement every quartere that shows where fundinghas gone. Title I programsx focus on students from families that live in while IDEA programs focus on students withmental handicaps. Both programse are historicallyfederally funded, undefr No Child Left Behind, but the ARRA has increasedf funding to both for the next two Greene says the fundinhg accomplishes two goals: spurring the economy by letting peoplr keep their jobs and improving educationa opportunities for children and the school “There are a lot of opportunities for a lot of children and teacherzs that wouldn’t have had them otherwise,” Greene “When (the funding) goes away, you still have better trainerd teachers and anything that they’vwe bought is still in the system.
” Locally, Memphias City Schools and Shelby County Schools have receiveds state training on how to use funds. Officiale from both school districts are well awares of the rules andregulations involved. Martaviuse Jones, Memphis City Schools Board of Educationm commissioner forDistrict 4, says MCS is still working out all of its reportingg responsibilities, but wants to make sure everythingt related to funding is mistake free. “We know it’lk be more labor intensive,” Jones says.
“It’xs possible that it could be butI don’t foresee that being the James Aldinger, director of federal programs for Shelby Countyu Schools, says the system simply has to folloe the guidelines employees were traines under. “It was rolled out very quickly and thingschangr daily, but we know what we’re supposerd to do,” Aldinger says. Unlike road project s or other stimulus-related funding, the resultds of education funding will take at leastt one year to Jones says MCS is more concerned withthe long-termn impact the funding will have on the school system.
Instead of staffing up, training and technology will be “In an ideal world, we’d want to have both immediatse andsustainable impact, but this is money that will only be availablwe for a finite period of time,” Jonezs says. “We have to make sure the investmenta we make canbe sustained.” In Shelby Aldinger says three schoolz (Highland Oaks Elementary, Highland Oaks Middle and Lowrancr Elementary) have been added to the Title I list so the schoolsw will be eligible to receive funding. Shelby County has 10 Titlee I schoolsin all. “The highest poverty schoolsa must be given more Aldinger says.
“And we’ve got schools that have 55% povertyt and one with 100% poverty. Those schools definitelyg need support. We feel as a districft we need to meet the need s of the students who may not have exposure to technolog and the needs of teachers forprofessional development.” As with MCS, Shelbuy County Schools won’t add significant personnel, Aldingee says. “You want to help with studenr achievement, but you don’t want to lay people off in two he says. “We’ve taken minimal hiring becausewe don’g want to have that hiring cliff.
”

Atlanta Hawks owner in good spirits - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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a partner in the city’s and Despite a federal lawsuit with a member of the ownershilp group set to be decidedthis summer, and courtg documents showing poor financial performance, the ownershi p group is still strong, Gearon “There’s one reason I got into this and that’ to win,” Gearon “You want fans focused on the not the ownership.” In a wide-ranginy interview, Gearon discussed the state of the finances, the lawsuit withinh the ownership group, the improvement of the teams undert LLC’s ownership and the need to make each franchise better for the 2009-2010 The financial condition of the teams has made headlinexs since court documents in a federal court case showedthes teams lost a combined $174 milliojn over six years.
In October, cour documents also showed the teams hadlost $40 millionj in 2002 and expected to lose $55 milliobn in 2003. The Hawks and Thrashers on opposite ends of the winning spectrumin 2008-09 — had collectively one of their best seasonas operationally since the Atlanta Spirit Group purchased them in 2003, Gearon said. “The losses have come down substantiallyg from where they were when we bought theteams [while fielding] a better product,” he said. The teams’ combined annual losses have been inthe $10 millioj to $20 million range, Gearon contends. The Hawks have improvedr each of the past five and had its best season in a decade on and off the courtin 2009.
The Thrashers, dreadful at the start of the seasonb and next to last in attendancs inthe NHL, finished the season strong. “I thinmk we feel very good abouy wherewe are,” Gearon said of the Hawks. “Wse had 18 sellouts this the largest attendance for the Hawkd atPhilips Arena.” As for the Gearon said there are some concerns, but the season’sd finish has left the team with “a lot of While still in the red collectively, the teams are in better shapse than many in professional sports, Gearob said. “Both teams are They have zero debt.” Still up in the air is a lawsuif with estranged ownerSteve Belkin.
The case, which should be decideds in a Maryland federal court this centers on the processe Spiritpartners Gearon, Rutherford Seydel, Bruce Levensonh and Ed Peskowitz proposed to buy out Belkim of his 30 percent stake in the teamz and operating rights at Philips Arena. On reportzs the group is looking fornew investors, Gearon “We’re always doing that and that’sa just smart business.” Putting out a better product solves everything, and that’w something Gearon said his partners have always intended to do. The Hawkd had their best year in a decade last winning 47 games and a playoff seriezs before falling to the in theseconsd round.
The Hawks remain 20th in attendance inthe NBA. Attendanc was up 3 percent in 2008-09, to 16,751 per said Tracy White, chief sales officer for Atlanta Spirit. Overall, attendance to NBA games was up 0.7 percent last The Hawks are third in the NBA fornew season-tickef purchases and renewals have been solid, Gearon said. “W e feel very good about our coreand re-signing our and if there’s a way to improvs on that, we will,” Gearon Starters Marvin Williams and Al Horford were injurex during the playoffs, as was shooting guarxd Joe Johnson, who Gearon said suffered from an undiscloseed foot injury throughout the second half of the Williams (a restricted free agent), Horford and forwarsd Josh Smith are all young stars in the Williams, or one of the other restricted free agents on the team (playersz that canbe tendered an offer, which the Hawksare permittee to match), could be targets for a sign-and-trads deal, to bring in new talent.
Talk is also rampingg up that former Hawks swing man Josh Childress couldf rejoin the team aftera one-year stintr in Greece. The Thrashers, which had a woeful seasohn and have been the subject of rumors abouf a possible sale and relocatiohto Canada, have struggled with attendance. Gearon said the team isn’t goingb anywhere, and promised it woule build upon its last 28 games of the when the team played its best Thrashers attendance wasdown 7.6 percent, while attendanced league-wide grew 1.1 percent. Gearon said ownership has been deservinfg of some of the criticism it has receivede forthe Thrashers.
The team is committec to re-signing its star left wing, Ilya Kovalchuk, as well as findingy a dominant center andfinding immediate-impact playersa in the upcoming draft, he

Jacksonville is Florida's worst retail market - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Linens ’n Things Inc. and customerd and employees regularly visitedthe fast-food chain, an outparce in the same shopping “It’s affected me a whole lot, I can feel it rightf now,” Handcock said. “Hopefully they’lpl put something back over There is a growing amount of largdetenant space, also called big-bos space, coming on the market as more national chainss consolidate or shut down completely. More than half of the 13 retaikl submarkets in Jacksonville had an increasee inavailable mid-size storwe space and big-box store space, according to the commercia real estate data company , a D.C.
-based investor, developer and operator of retail and mixed-usse real estate, ranked the Jacksonville area as the 17th-worstg market in the country for distressed retail property. Jacksonville was the highest-ranking Florida city on the list of 63citiese nationwide, meaning it has the highest incidencew of distressed stores in Florida. Browarc County ranked No. 19, Southwest Florida No. 23, Petersburg No. 28, Orlando No. 29 and Miami/Dadwe County No. 51. Based on the indexing, the top 35 markets nationally are most likely to havedistressed assets. The remaining although stressed, are less likelgy to break under the weighgtof recession.
The rankingxs are based on how fast the vacancy rate currentvacancy rate, net absorption of new inventory, new inventory in the pipeline and level of preleasing. The Southside area of Jacksonville has been hit particularl hard with large contiguousz areas of retail spacebecomingh vacant. CoStar’s definition of the Southside area includes the Intracoastal Waterway west to Hendricks Avenue and Interstate 95 and Atlantix Boulevard southto J. Turner Butler From the first quarter of 2008 to the estimates first quarterof 2009, the number of availables stores in the 10,000- to 19,999-square-foor range went from four to 12.
The nearby Butler/Baymeadows area went from two to nine inthe 20,000-square-footg and above range. Strategic Sites-Clifford Commerciap Senior Sales Associate Tom Mundy said the amount of availabld space will likely continue to particularly in the Regency area in abouta one-mile radiue from Southside Boulevard north of Atlantic to Stat Road 9A. The popularity of that retail markeyt has been declining for several years because of the strength of The Avenues malland St. Johnws Town Center, Mundy said.
In the past 12 Linens ’n Things, Circuit Toys ’R Us, Babies ’R Us, Sofa Sound Advice and a Marshall’s all darkenecd in strip centers, while Homeworks Furniture closed in the RegencytSquare mall, which is owned by the financially strugglinhg mall operator (NYSE: GGP). “The list is pretty long for thetroubled guys,” Mundy said. “It’s expectede that we’re going to see more It’s just hard to say who and The gaping holes causedby big-bosx retailers closing has a big impact on surroundinfg retailers, said commercial broker and Warren Co. President Bob Warren.
Some of the impacts are like the fact that dark space reduces the customer draw and that smaller retailers ofteh rely on the anchors to help supporrtheir business. But some of the impacts are less obvious, like the psychological impact on customers who tend to visig shopping centers with large vacancieswless frequently. Many landlordxs understand the consequences of dark Warren said, and as a result are taking unprecedented steps to work with almost in a partnership capacity. owns the Southside Square Shopping Center and the center in the Regencuy area where the otherLinens ’n Thingsa moved out.
Company President Toney Sleiman saidthat he’d working on a letter of intent to leasew two of the three empty spaceds and is also negotiating with a couple of users interestedd in taking both emptty boxes at the Southside “I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ve hit Sleiman said. “I’m feeling pretty good abourt it.”

Manpower: 6% of Honolulu employers to hire in 3Q - East Bay Business Times:

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From July to September, 6 percentf of the companies interviewed in the Honolului metro area plan to hiremore employees, while 11 percent expect to reduce their according to the survey from Milwaukee-baseds (NYSE: MAN). Seventy-eight percent expect to maintain theire current staff levels and 5 percent remain uncertaijn abouthiring plans. Hiring is expected to be a little lighter than in the second when 10 percent of companies surveyesd planned to hire and 12 percent expected to cut said Manpower spokeswoman MaryLou Callahan. For the coming job prospects in the Honolulu area appeaf best in wholesale and retaio trade and leisureand hospitality.
Employers in durable goodds manufacturing, nondurable goods manufacturing, information, professional and businessz services, education and health services and governmen t intend tocut staffing. Hiring in transportation and utilities, financial activities and othedr services is expected toremaibn unchanged. National survey results showed little change from theseconc quarter. Of the more than 28,0009 employers surveyed acrossthe country, 15 percent expect to increase theidr staff levels during the thirxd quarter, while 13 percent expect to reduced their payrolls. Sixty-seven percent expecf no change in hiring and 5 percen are undecided abouttheir third-quarter hirinv plans.
“The data shows continued hesitancyamonhg employers,” said Jonas Prising, president of the Americas for “They are treading slowlg and watching with guardedd optimism, hoping a few quarters of stability will be the precursorr to the recovery.”

Economic development group enlists new leader - Portland Business Journal:

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has brought on Tim Priest, who formerly served as executive director of thein Washington, D.C. Priestf will help Greenlight Greater Portland attract nationa l and international companies tothe four-county metropolitan area. He spenf nearly 10 years with theWashington "Portland has a different type of Priest said. "There's high-tech manufacturinfg and athletic apparelin Portland; there's little of that [in Washington]. But both places are marketexd as regional and nationalheadquarters Washington, like Portland, also hosts many environmenta l services companies, he noted.
Priest lived in Oregoj before trekking east to He joined GWIin 1998, became vice presideng of business development in 2001 and was namedc executive director in 2005. During his firstf year on the job, he helpedd recruit 28 companies who delivered an economic impacg estimatedat $350 million. Greenlight Greater Portlanc is apredominately private-sector group that promotes economiv growth in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties.

Prepare today for future economic recovery - Houston Business Journal:

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As we all have been informed manytimees over, the current economy is the worst since the Greaft Depression. To do an effective bob and weave in this one requires the flexibility of arelaxed contortionist. If you want to surviver as the recession eases and we you must change your approachto selling. If you believe therde is a shift inyour customers’ buying you need to identifg where they are shifting to. The most common is a shifr towardbuying low-cost, high-value products and services from truste d sources. Now that you have more time on your quit playing sudoku on your laptolp and find answers to some keyquestionsa — Are your customers purchasing more online?
Are they buying from vendors closer to home or work ? What sacrifices are your customers making to accommodatwe their limitations in this current economy? Everyones knows the saying about making assumptions. Don’t do it. Use your time to do some hard-corse research. Talk to your staff, talk to your customers and evaluatre the effects of this new information on your After chewing on the changes your customerdsare making, it’s time to figure out exactly what changde your business needs. Are you still the business your clientw want to dobusiness with?
If you find your markey demanding low-cost solutions and you don’g offer one, you might need to positiobn your solution in termsw of the money it saves instead of the value it If you are not known as a trusted resource, you need to focusz on customer relations. Remember the old commerciak when a company sent people out to visitrevery customer? Do you understand what your clientsz expect and value from your producgt or service? Another old saying is, “One never knows his customers until he walkx in their shoes.” Identify the value you provide your customera — from their perspective.
Restaurantse are excellent examples — no longedr just places to eat, they are places to be By improving the environment that surrounds the the customer receives the core benefit they want whilse the restaurant strengthens its relationship to the Understandingthe client’s true motivatiojn creates new opportunities. Before you embark on a journeyhof change, you have some due diligencs to complete. You will need to createe specificmeasurable goals, then you can build a plan of actiohn to achieve them. Your plan of or implementation plan, must address ever area of the business affected by yourintendec changes.
Potential problems must be identifiefd along with risks andmitigatiobn plans. To be thorough, you should also includr a competitive market analysis and The implementation plan should take into consideration everyon yourbusiness touches, the stakeholdera in the value chain, and it shoul d be a large list. All your employees and vendorsz shouldbe included. Your landlorcd is a stakeholder if you rentor lease, and the county is if you own. It shouldx also include those businesses that arenear you. If you are a business-to-businesd company, the clients of all your clients are also stakeholders tosome Don’t ignore anyone simpluy because you think they aren’t directly related.
The more effectively you can expose all your stakeholders topositive change, the more successful you will be at achievinv your goal. This is why a communicatio plan is key to every successful change All of your stakeholders need to be informed as to what you are goiny to be doing befor e youdo it, and they need to understand how it will impactf them. If you leave that to chance, they will find all the problem s and weaknesses in the change before they recognize any Be sure to promote the benefitxs clearly and frequently using those communication tools yourcustomers prefer, not just the tools that are easy for you to use.
Our currenyt economic environment is If you look at it in there are far more businesses doinbg well thandoing poorly. If yours is on the brin of being engulfed by the roll up your sleevez and get to work making somemeaningfu changes. If you keep doing what you havealwaysx done, you will continue to get what you have been Said another way, what workeed yesterday won’t work tomorrow. Change is inevitable. Don’tg let it just happen be the one whodrives it.