Business North Carolina articles from August 2003

Business North Carolina archives from August 2003

Seven the hard way.(Up Front)(Area Business Publications Editorial Excellence Awards)
August 1, 2003... Edward Martin is clearly one of the best reporters and writers working in business journals today. His work, in fact, is comparable to the top business writing being done anywhere." That's what judges of the Association of Area Business...

Trend.(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... TREND Latest Previous Previous % change month month year from last year EMPLOYMENT (1)...

State needs to tweak how it courts industry.(Economic Outlook)(Michael Luger, Office of Economic Development at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill)(Interview)
August 1, 2003... Responding to a request from the General Assembly on how to improve coordination between the Commerce Department and the seven regional economic-development partnerships, Michael Luger, director of the Office of Economic Development at UNC...

Insurer struggles to get under Fed's limbo stick.(Money Matters)(Jefferson-Pilot Corp.)
August 1, 2003... Low interest rates are great if you're refinancing a loan. They're trouble if you're running an insurance company. With interest rates low and investment returns falling, life-insurance companies have watched profit margins shrink. Case in...

Tar Heel stock watch.(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... TAR HEEL STOCK WATCH Expensive stocks Highest price-earnings ratios among North Carolina stocks P/E 06/27/03 52-week Company ratio * price range Unifi...

BTI merger could give Raleigh new numbers.(Tar Heel Tattler)(BTI Telecom Corp.)(ITC DeltaCom Inc.)
August 1, 2003... When Raleigh-based BTI Telecom Corp. and West Point, Ga.-based ITC^DeltaCom Inc. announced their merger in July, it wasn't met with cheers in the state capital. The new company will get ITC^ DeltaCom's name and have head-quarters in its...

Break-in bread: the sum rises in the yeast.(Tar Heel Tattler )(owner of Famous Pita and Bakery Co. arrested )
August 1, 2003... It had the ingredients of a spy novel: A man dons a disguise to slip past sophisticated security devices to steal secret formulas. A lucky break fingers the suspect. Most of all, there's plenty of dough. Especially sourdough. Greensboro...

CNET/business North Carolina index.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Limp bank stocks put a damper on the state's large-cap and small-cap indexes. Small caps still had a positive 52-week return, aided by drug stocks. Large caps got a boost from some retailers. [GRAPHIC OMITTED]

Scratch that.(Tattle Tales)(Charlotte's new NBA team called the Bobcats.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Scratch that: When BET billionaire Bob Johnson announced the name of the Charlotte Bobcats, his new NBA franchise, he and other team officials handed out Mardi Gras beads in the team colors. Mardi Gras beads? Isn't that what they toss out down...

Book it.(Tattle Tales)(Never Give Up)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Book it: And speaking of New Orleans, Hornets owner George Shinn is writing a book, Never Give Up, about his final year in Charlotte. It's being published by Gretna, La. based Pelican Publishing, which describes it as "the true story of the...

Type cast.(Tattle Tales)(UNC Chapel Hill criticized for some of the books on this year's reading list.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Type cast: They didn't ask incoming freshmen to read about the Quran this year, but UNC Chapel Hill officials still caught heat from critics. On this year's reading list: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, an account of working...

Warm and cozy.(Tattle Tales)(Wachovias's CEO makes changes to the boardroom.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Warm and cozy: Wachovia CEO Ken Thompson says he's made a few changes to the boardroom so it won't seem so cold and distant. Gone is the 39-foot granite conference table. And the alphabetical seating chart.

Selling short.(Tattle Tales)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Selling short: Moore County's effort to sell sports cards donated to benefit its animal-adoption program (Tattle Tales, June) produced dismal statistics: 165,000 cards sold on eBay raised just $1,000. That took five tries. The benefactor kicked...

Clogged line.(Tattle Tales)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Clogged line: Steve Carris, who spent $50,000 to market his Mount Holly plumbing company and get a toll-free number, gets plenty of calls. Wrong numbers were costing him $1,000 a week, he says, after the feds set up a national...

Time flies.(Tattle Tales)(Iredell County)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Time flies: Iredell County deputies evacuated the courthouse and dynamited a ticking, tape-wrapped package addressed to a judge when X-rays revealed a clock mechanism inside. When the smoke cleared, state officials promised to send Chief...

The real bummer.(Tattle Tales)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The real bummer: The package might have been a dud, but county officials still couldn't breathe easy--not with dust wafting from the blasted ceiling. They had just deleted $84,000 from the budget for removing asbestos from the courthouse,...

Capital gains.(Data Bits)(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... CAPITAL GAINS Venture-capital investments in the state fell about 18% in 2002, yet it made the top 10 for the first time. (millions) 1 California $9,467.3 2 Massachusetts 2,362.7...

DEI says Kannapolis needs driver's license.(Tar Heel Tattler)(Dale Earnhardt Inc. licensing spat over statue with the city of Kannapolis)
August 1, 2003... Death is making soul mates of Dale Earnhardt and Martin Luther King Jr. The racer and the civil-rights leader may not have had much in common in life, but efforts to build monuments to them after their deaths do. In Kannapolis, a licensing...

Shareholder vote nails Lowe's board.(Tar Heel Tattler)(Lowe's Companies Inc.)
August 1, 2003... The board of Wilkesboro-based Lowe's Cos. must have considered it a long shot: A resolution, sponsored by a bricklayers union acting through a mutual fund that owns a piddling 15,500 shares, asked it to dump a 1988 anti-takeover measure....

Correction.(Tar Heel Tattler)(Correction Notice)
August 1, 2003... Hematologist Steven A. Limentani was omitted from the list of top doctors in the July issue. He was fourth in Charlotte with 12 votes.

Graphic Packaging.(Eastern)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... LUMBERTON -- Golden, Colo.-based Graphic Packaging will spend $15.5 million to expand its plant here. Employment will increase by 20% to about 180. The city will spend $300,000 on infrastructure, expanding utility service and widening a road to...

Converse.(Eastern)(Hassan Imam)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... LUMBERTON -- Cary real-estate investor Hassan Imam purchased the former Converse shoe factory here for $500,000 at an auction by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The 341,500-square-foot plant, valued at $4.65 million, closed in 2001 after...

Sampson County.(Eastern)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CLINTON -- Sampson County has hired John Swope, former chief industry hunter for the Fayetteville Area Economic Development Corp. Swope, who started his new job in July, is Sampson's first full-time economic developer in two years.

Seeco-Eastern.(Eastern)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... EVERETTS -- Providence, R.I.-based Seeco-Eastern, which makes industrial and other lubricants, will open a distribution center here this fall. It will employ 10.

VisionAir.(Eastern)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CASTLE HAYNE -- Software maker VisionAir has raised $5 million with a private stock offering. The funding was led by Bank of America and included Southeast Interactive Technologies, GE Capital and Covestco. VisionAir will use the money to...

Flaroma.(Eastern)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... ROCKY MOUNT -- Flaroma, a Parsippany, N.J.-based flavoring and scent maker, is spending $3 million to renovate and move into a former Pepsi bottling plant. The company expects to hire 25 when operations begin, possibly by September.

West Pharmaceuticals.(Eastern)(West Pharmaceutical Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... West Pharmaceuticals, a Lionville, Pa.-based medical-equipment maker, is building a factory in Kinston to replace one destroyed by an explosion and fire that killed six people Jan. 29. It will spend $16 million to improve a shell building it...

Working capital.(Eastern)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... North Carolina's unemployment rate stayed at 6.1% in April. Rates decreased in 45 counties, remained the same in 13 and increased in 42. Vance County had the highest rate at 12.8%. Camden, at 2.3%, had the lowest.

Saiden Technologies.(Triangle)(Toyota Motor Corp.)(Saiden Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... SANFORD -- Adhesive maker Saiden Technologies, a subsidiary of Japan's Saiden Chemical, has signed an agreement to supply Toyota with paints and coatings for use in manufacturing its Lexus RX 330 sport-utility vehicle. Terms were not disclosed,...

Kerr-Tar Hub.(Triangle)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... RALEIGH -- Corrugated-box maker National Packaging Solutions Group, which moved its headquarters here in April, sold its Interstate Packaging sheet plant in Albert Lea, Minn., to Georgia-Pacific. Terms were not disclosed. The company plans...

ALSCO Metals.(Triangle)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... RALEIGH -- Sun Capital Partners bought Owens Corning Metal Systems for an undisclosed amount and renamed the aluminum smelter and fabricator ALSCO Metals. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based investment company plans no layoffs. ALSCO employs 22 at its...

Kyma Technologies.(Triangle)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... RALEIGH -- Kyma Technologies, which makes and supplies gallium nitride components for semiconductor manufacturers, has received $4 million in private funding, led by Digital Power Capital and Siemens Venture Capital, to expand capacity.

Paradigm Genetics.(Triangle)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Gene researcher Paradigm Genetics is no longer in imminent danger of delisting from the NASDAQ National Market. The company had been threatened with the action earlier this year because its stock was trading below $1,...

UNC Chapel Hill's Office of Economic Development.(Triangle)(Franklin, Granville, Person, Vance and Warren counties team for development)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Five rural counties in the northern part of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership are trying to create a technology center to attract business investments. Franklin, Granville, Person, Vance and Warren counties will form the Kerr-Tar Hub,...

Elberta Crate and Box.(Triangle)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... WARRENTON -- Elberta Crate and Box, a Bainbridge, Ga.-based wood-veneer maker, is expanding its plant here. It will add another production line by the beginning of 2004, increasing employment by 30 to about 120.

Ziptronix.(Triangle)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... MORRISVILLE -- Semiconductor-maker Ziptronix raised $17.4 million in venture capital to complete its factory here and design 3D circuits for wireless telecommunications devices. Spun off from Research Triangle Institute in 2000, it expected to...

Storr Office Environments.(Triangle)(Business Interiors Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... RALEIGH -- Storr Office Environments, which furnishes, cleans and moves corporate offices, purchased Greensboro-based Business Interiors Group for an undisclosed price. Storr plans to integrate Business Interiors' 35 employees to bring its work...

BTI Telecom.(Triangle)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... RALEIGH -- BTI Telecom will no longer offer long-distance telephone service to university students. The company says the service is no longer profitable because students have abandoned dorm phones for cell phones.

Winston Hotels.(Triangle)(Interstate Hotels and Resorts)(Winston Hotels Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... RALEIGH -- Winston Hotels terminated management contracts for 33 hotels with Washington, D.C.-based Interstate Hotels & Resorts. It transferred the contracts to Alliance Hospitality Management, owned by Atlanta-based Noble Investment Group....

Two Triangle medical schools rank among the nation's top 15 in grants from the National Institutes of Health.(Triangle)(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... Two Triangle medical schools rank among the nation's top 15 in grants from the National Institutes of Health. Grants * School City (millions) 1 Johns Hopkins...

BB&T.(Triad)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... WINSTON-SALEM -- BB&T agreed to buy STHARCO, parent company of Kingsport Development Company Insurance of Kingsport, Tenn. Terms weren't disclosed. The deal, expected to be completed in July, gives BB&T a foothold in the Tri-Cities area of...

HIGH POINT -- Martinsville, Va.-based Bassett Furniture Industries bought upholstery maker Preview Furniture.(Triad)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... HIGH POINT -- Martinsville, Va.-based Bassett Furniture Industries bought upholstery maker Preview Furniture. Terms were not disclosed. Preview's operations here, which employed about 50, have moved to Christiansburg, Va. Some employees were...

Burlington Apparel Fabrics.(Triad)
August 1, 2003... GREENSBORO -- Burlington Apparel Fabrics, part of Burlington Industries, won a five-year contract worth as much as $50 million to supply tropical-weight polyester/wool cloth to the Navy. The work will be done at plants in Raeford and Cordova...

Moses Cone Health System.(Triad)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... GREENSBORO -- Moses Cone Health System plans a $22 million, 61,000-square-foot expansion of its heart center. It also wants to add a $3.7 million, 8,247-square-foot outpatient cardiovascular diagnostic center. The hospital, which needs approval...

RF Micro Devices.(Triad)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... GREENSBORO -- RF Micro Devices, a maker of wireless-communication products, is spending $40 million, most of it for new equipment, to add 10,000 square feet to its 1.2 million-square-foot headquarters here. The expansion, expected to be...

During the past 10 years, Delta has replaced USAir as the airline carrying the most passengers from Piedmont Triad International Airport. The number of airlines there has nearly doubled.(Triad)(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... During the past 10 years, Delta has replaced USAir as the airline carrying the most passengers from Piedmont Triad International Airport. The number of airlines there has nearly doubled. Passenger boardings in 1992 * USAir ...

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings.(Triad)
August 1, 2003... Richard Bogan resigned as chief financial officer of Winston-Salem-based RJ. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings. During his 11-month tenure, the company announced layoffs of more than 600 of its approximately 8,200 employees as the cigarette maker tries...

Hooker Furniture.(Triad)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... KERNERSVILLE -- Hooker Furniture is closing its factory here and laying off 270 workers by late August. Hooker, based in Martinsville, Va., made home-theater furniture, wall units and entertainment armoires at the 115,000-square-foot plant....

High Point Regional Health System.(Triad)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... HIGH POINT -- High Point Regional Health System has opened a $15.5 million, 50,000-square-foot cancer center. It includes new equipment and larger patient rooms. The center was paid for with reserves and a campaign that raised $2.7 million.

Truliant Federal Credit Union.(Triad)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... WINSTON-SALEM -- Truliant Federal Credit Union plans to build a $14 million office complex that will allow it to nearly double its corporate work force during the next 10 years. The first phase, to be completed by the end of 2004, would expand...

Alveolus.(Charlotte)(Pulmonary stent sales should be profitable.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- Medical-device maker Alveolus received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell pulmonary stents, tubes that hold open airways in lung-cancer patients. Alveolus officials estimate the market for stents used in...

Cope Industries.(Charlotte)(New plant opening will bring employment.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... NORWOOD -- Locally based Cope Industries, a maker of wooden furniture for military barracks, opened a plant here in July that will initially employ 25 and cost about $2 million. As many as 60 could eventually be employed.

A judge awarded an equipment-rental company $15 million after concluding that another company unfairly hired more than 100 of its 3,800 employees.(Charlotte)(Head and Engguist Equipment L.L.C.)(Sunbelt Rentals Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- A judge awarded an equipment-rental company $15 million after concluding that another company unfairly hired more than 100 of its 3,800 employees. Sunbelt Rentals accused Head & Engquist Equipment of raiding BET Plant Services,...

Autobell Car Wash.(Charlotte)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- Autobell Car Wash is expanding outside the state. Time 34-year-old company will open a car wash in Newport News, Va., this summer, and plans several more in the vicinity. It has 33 car washes in North Carolina.

La-Z-Boy.(Charlotte)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... MONROE -- La-Z-Boy is closing its upholstery plant here, eliminating about 150 jobs. About half of the workers will be offered jobs in other La-Z-Boy recliner plants.

Clariant.(Charlotte)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... MOUNT HOLLY -- A deal that fell through cost about 45 Clariant workers their jobs here. Company officials say technical difficulties forced Proctor & Gamble to drop an order for bleach that would have been made at the plant.

Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.(Charlotte)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Airport and city officials are swallowing their pride. After declining for more than 10 years to impose a fee of up to $4.50 per passenger authorized by Congress in 1992, Charlotte/Douglas International Airport has asked City Council for...

CHARLOTTE -- Optical Experts Manufacturing, which makes compact discs and digital videodiscs, will use $8 million in venture funding to buy new equipment.(Charlotte)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- Optical Experts Manufacturing, which makes compact discs and digital videodiscs, will use $8 million in venture funding to buy new equipment. Frontier Capital, also based here, and a Florida partner led the funding by buying about...

Union County.(Charlotte)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... MONROE -- Union County ranks near the top of the nation's 3,140 counties in percentage gain in population. It grew nearly 13% between April 2000 and July 2002, to 139,611, making it the 20th-fastest growing. Planners say much of Union's growth...

There's plenty to sneeze at in Charlotte. Allergies have a greater impact here than in most markets.(Charlotte)(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... There's plenty to sneeze at in Charlotte. Allergies have a greater impact here than in most markets. U.S. rank Market Score * 1 Louisville, Ky. 100.0 2 Austin, Texas 97.2 ...

LeeBoy.(Charlotte)(Rosco Manufacturing Co.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... DENVER -- LeeBoy, which makes paving equipment, will move its Rosco Manufacturing Division and 60 jobs from South Dakota to its plant here. LeeBoy will invest about $1 million.

Kirco Realty Services Group.(Charlotte)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- Kirco Realty Services Group will build a $37 million business park in southwest Mecklenburg County. Steele Creek Corporate Center will consist of buildings totaling 800,000 square feet, arranged on a 73-acre site.

Porter's Fabrications.(Charlotte)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... GASTONIA -- Charlotte based Porter's Fabrications relocated its metal-fabrication plant and 40 jobs to Gaston County. Owners say the company will invest $2 million in a building and equipment.

Charlotte Bobcats.(Charlotte)(Bob Johnson names his new team.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- Billionaire Bob Johnson named his new National Basketball Association team the Charlotte Bobcats. Time Bobcats will replace the Hornets, which moved to New Orleans in 2002.

Continental Teves'.(Western)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... ASHEVILLE -- Continental Teves' brake plant, which employs 350, will close by December 2004. Continental plans to shift production to plants in Fletcher, Culpepper, Va., and Mexico. About 125 positions will move to other plants.

Ingles Markets.(Western)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... BLACK MOUNTAIN -- Ingles Markets sold $100 million in debt. Proceeds will repay other debt and be used for undisclosed purposes. The company's debt-to-equity ratio was 2.5 to 1 at the end of May.

RFS Ecusta.(Western)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... PISGAH FOREST -- A bankruptcy court judge approved the sale of the former RFS Ecusta paper mill to a South Carolina recycling company for $1.3 million. Fort Mill-based New Tech Environmental hopes to find a tenant for the 700,000-square-foot...

Lowe's.(Western)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... WILKESBORO -- Hardware retailer Lowe's opened a $13 million warehouse in Grand Ledge, Mich. It will be used for products that lie flat such as lumber and pipes and will serve 62 stores in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Iowa.

Phenix Research Products.(Western)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... ENKA -- Phenix Research Products, a designer and distributor of laboratory products, moved its headquarters here from California and expected to open a warehouse in July. It plans to increase employment from five to 22 by the end of the year...

Suddenly, it's chic to sell banks in western North Carolina.(Western)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Suddenly, it's chic to sell banks in western North Carolina. Newland-based Avery County Bank--chartered in 1913--and Boone-based High Country Financial--chartered in 1998--have agreed to sell themselves. Raleigh-based First Citizens BancShares...

No Child Left Behind law leaves schools in the lurch.(Capital)
August 1, 2003... When George W. Bush and Ted Kennedy, two people who are poles apart politically, agree on a federal law, it's a good idea to start searching for the devil in the details. And you can just forget all that Republican rhetoric about keeping the...

Bulletproof: the vests are, but not the business--it's under fire from competitors and catches flak from government inspectors.(Feature)(JHRG L.L.C.)
August 1, 2003... Trying to survive as a textile manufacturer in Eastern North Carolina is tougher than when John Holland and his wife, Connie, started their company 15 years ago. Back then, textiles were king in Spring Hope, 90 miles east of Raleigh in Nash...

Faith 'n' numbers: the numbers count, but ratios don't always provide a rationale for stocks rising. Sometimes hope floats.(Top 75)
August 1, 2003... Hope is a strange invention," wrote Emily Dickinson. "A patent of the heart. In unremitting action. Yet never wearing out." Often, though, fear hobbles hope. It seemed that way last year, when the big movers on BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA'S Top...

Public companies.(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... PUBLIC COMPANIES '03 RANKED BY 5/30/03 '02 MARKET VALUE Industry 1 Bank of America Banking 1 (N-BAC) Charlotte 2 Wachovia Banking 2 (N-WB)...

By twelve measures.(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... BY TWELVE MEASURES Earnings per share (latest fiscal year) 1 First Citizens BancShares $8.85 2 Bank of America 5.91 3 Summit Properties 3.33 4 Triad Guaranty ...

Steering wheels: founding family keeps a firm grip on Old Dominion as it gears up for more growth in a troubled industry.(Congdon family)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2003... With heat dancing off the pavement, cars up ahead shimmer In the afternoon sun. Inside the new Freightliner, a console jammed with instruments and switches curves around the air-suspended driver's seat, more like a cockpit than a cab. A sign...

Gambling big up in Canada; after monopolizing the tobacco industry and harnessing the Catawba River, Buck Duke got into some really risky business.(Feature)(In Bold Entrepreneur: A Life of James B. Duke)(Excerpt)
August 1, 2003... In Bold Entrepreneur: A Life of James B. Duke (Carolina Academic Press, Durham), Robert F. Durden has written the first scholarly biography of one of the seminal figures of North Carolina business, a man who rose from humble beginnings to...

Charlotte banking on diversity.(Regional Focus)
August 1, 2003... When you think of Charlotte, it's hard not to think of banks. Bank of America and Wachovia, two of the nation's largest banks, call the Queen City home. But if banking is all you think of, then you're not thinking about all of Charlotte. The...

Executive education 2003 report.
August 1, 2003... To stay competitive in today's global place, business leaders must consider outside programs to expand their knowledge. North Carolina colleges provide degree and professional-development options for those seeking specialized advancement or...

He wants government to play Chinese checker.(People)
August 1, 2003... College math seems like Chinese to many students, but that was especially true for Billy Moore. His professors were Chinese mathematicians at the University of South Carolina, says Moore, executive vice president and chief financial officer of...

She doesn't want her first to be the last.(People)(Sue Cole president and CEO of U.S. Trust Company of North Carolina and chair of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry)
August 1, 2003... Timing, if Sue Cole is any indication, is everything. When NCNB, forerunner of today's Bank of America, was expanding opportunities for women in the '70s, she became its first woman commercial loan officer. On the eve of the '90s wealth boom,...

Agent tests clients' medals in the market.(People )(Evan Morgenstein and Premier Management Group )
August 1, 2003... Talk is not cheap. Ask Evan Morgenstein, who, 16 years after getting his start selling computer hardware and software over the telephone, is turning his gift for gab into a business that should handle $3 million in endorsement, speaking and...

Bricks & mortar.(Natuzzi Salotti S.p.A.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Chic designs by Pasquale Natuzzi have made Natuzzi Group Italy's largest maker of furniture. In High Point, Mario Bellini's architectural design has made the company's ship-shaped U.S. sales offices, built in 1998, a landmark. About 110 work...