Business North Carolina articles from February 2009

Business North Carolina archives from February 2009

Hard times.(UPFRONT)
February 1, 2009... Except when I'm in a bind and prevail upon someone to pinch-hit, I have dutifully performed the task of writing this monthly column going on 22 years now. Over the course of a couple of decades, I might be excused for retreading certain...

NCtrend.(Statistical table)
February 1, 2009... Latest Previous Previous % change month month year from last year EMPLOYMENT Employed (000s) 4,264.5...

Stockwatch.(Hatteras Financial )(Sonic Automotive )(Salix Pharmaceuticals )(Statistical table)
February 1, 2009... HIGHEST PRICE/EARNINGS RATIOS P/E ration (3) 12/26/08 52-week Company price range Hatteras Financial 173.5 ...

Signing up for unions.(FINEPRINT)(Occupational safety and health)
February 1, 2009... It took 16 years, but the Smithfield Packing plant near Tar Heel--where 32,000 hogs a day go in one door and countless pork chops pour out another--is now a union shop. Labor organizers fought, and eventually won, a battle against both...

The best-laid plans of governors.(CAPITAL GOODS)
February 1, 2009... In 16 years as governor, Jim Hunt never let anyone doubt what he wanted his legacy to be. During his final two terms, people parodying him always began by talking about "the little bitty chil'ren." Improving public education was hispriority,...

"I've been very honest with everybody: who knows what we'll have to do?" Gov. Beverly Perdue takes office amid a budget crisis and one of the weakest economies since the Depression.(COVER STORY)(Interview)
February 1, 2009... On Jan. 10, Beverly Eaves Perdue became the 73rd governor of North Carolina--the first woman to hold the office. The New Bern Democrat spent eight years as lieutenant governor and 14 as a state legislator. Like predecessor Mike Easley in 2001,...

What a piece of work is man; but it's getting hard to fit tightly in a job as recession flattens the payrolls of many North Carolina companies.(FEATURE)(Company rankings)
February 1, 2009... TOP PRIVATE-SECTOR EMPLOYERS Rank Company Headquarters North Carolina Employment 1 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Bentonville, Ark. 53,740 2 ...

Forward thinking.
February 1, 2009... Leaders of 10 top Tar Heel industries review last year and forecast how business will be in the months ahead.

Caught in the money PIT; the federal government struggles to yank banks out of the hole it dug and then let them fall into.(FINANCE)
February 1, 2009... As autumn's chill fell, financial institutions that seemed strong and nimble creaked and buckled. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System tried to ease the pain with hundreds of billions of bailout dollars, but action...

It's an ill wind that blows: as the economy winds down, the cost to business for providing health coverage keeps spiraling up.(HEALTH CARE)
February 1, 2009... Health-insurance costs for U.S. employers are rising--by about 6% this year, according to one consulting firm--and care is still hard to find in some parts of North Carolina. Hospitals compete fiercely for patients in places with affluent,...

Squeezing out sparks: facing tight credit and diminished demand for power, utilities see themselves between a rock and a hard place.(ENERGY)
February 1, 2009... Three months before panic hit the financial industry, Charlotte-based Duke Energy Corp. started seeing demand for electricity soften. With industrial customers cutting production, unemployment rising, disposable income falling and homeowners...

Trying to make due: despite job losses, manufacturers survive by supplying the right product at the right place at the right time.(MANUFACTURING)
February 1, 2009... North Carolina has lost more than a third of its manufacturing jobs since the end of 1999, and the exodus accelerated last year when the state shed about 6% of its factory jobs through November. The apparel industry has been hit particularly...

Getting nailed by tight credit: prices of commercial construction are falling, so this is a good time to build--if you can raise the money.(CONSTRUCTION)
February 1, 2009... Last year was perhaps the worst in a decade for commercial builders in North Carolina, according to Carolinas AGC Inc., a trade group for general contractors. After two quarters, its construction barometer, which tracks employment, economic and...

Consider the alternative: high-tech and life-science companies show their resiliency by reinventing themselves to adapt to changing markets.(TECHNOLOGY)
February 1, 2009... Last year, Tar Heel high-tech and life-science workers escaped the worst of the shock waves rippling through the economy. In November, statewide employment in computer manufacturing and systems design had increased slightly from a year earlier....

Shop till you drop: high unemployment and low consumer confidence dash chances of spending our way out of a slump.(RETAIL)
February 1, 2009... When the going gets touch, Americans tend to go shopping. Consumer spending has pulled the U.S. economy out of many tight spots. But this time, it might take lot more than that. With unemployment rates rising, retail sales started to slip after...

The road to recovery: rail and trucking tend to lead the way, but tight money could slow down needed infrastructure improvements.(TRANSPORTATION)
February 1, 2009... Painfully high gasoline prices in North Carolina crept even higher--averaging more than $4 a gallon--after two hurricanes slammed Gulf Coast refineries in September. Pricey petrol made trains more competitive with trucks and helped bolster rail...

Crop busters: from feed and fertilizer to land and labor, rising costs threaten to plow profits under for this growth industry.(AGRICULTURE)
February 1, 2009... For many in business, agriculture might seem like a quaint abstraction. But state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler says agriculture and agribusiness, which includes processing, constitute the state's biggest industry--worth about $70...

Y'all come--and stay a while: the travel industry hopes lower prices at the pump will mean more heads in beds and feet under seats.(TOURISM)
February 1, 2009... Gasoline prices fell dramatically during the final days of 2008, but it wasn't enough to help the hospitality industry. Nationally, occupancy rates fell to about 53% during November and December--about five percentage points below normal. In...

The lay of the land: to survey the economy across the state, we measure ups and downs in each county and its largest cities.(BY THE NUMBERS)
February 1, 2009... THE LAY OF THE LAND To survey the economy across the state, we measure ups and downs in each county and its largest cities. POPULATION 2007 (000s) Avg. annual Density...

Largest cities.
February 1, 2009... LARGEST CITIES CITY 2007 2000 CHANGE INTERNAL ANNEXATION POPULATION POPULATION SINCE GAIN GAIN SINCE 2000 SINCE 2000 ...