Business North Carolina articles from January 2003

Business North Carolina archives from January 2003

Why that guy? (Up Front).(North Carolina Senator Marc Basnight is profiled)(Biography)
January 1, 2003... Why name a state legislator elected to represent less than 3% of North Carolinians our Mover and Shaker of the Year? Good question. We had considered choosing a business executive, but as Ed Martin, who wrote the profile of Sen. Marc Basnight...

Trend.(employment, retail sales, and transportation)(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... TREND Latest Previous month month EMPLOYMENT Total employed (000s) 3,726.9 3,715.4 Civilian...

Business pays steep price when cost of college rises. (Economic Outlook).(Joni Finney of National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education discusses North Carolina's performance in higher education)(Interview)
January 1, 2003... Joni Finney is vice president of the San Jose, Calif.-based National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, which recently studied state performance in higher education. North Carolina, which earned an A for affordability in 2000, got a...

Rocky road lies ahead for aggregates maker. (Money Matters).(Martin Marietta Materials Inc.)
January 1, 2003... For the nation's second-largest producer of construction aggregates--the crushed stone, sand and gravel used to make concrete--the third quarter of 2002 was the pits. Raleigh-based Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (NYSE: MLM) blamed bad...

Tar heel stock watch. (Money Matters).(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... TAR HEEL STOCK WATCH Expensive stocks Highest price-earnings ratios among North Carolina stocks P/E 10/25/02 52-week Company ratio * price range CT...

Cooking school could get burned by pols' promise. (Tar Heels Tattler).(John Yena of Johnson & Wales University says North Carolina officials promised $10 million for cooking school in Charlotte)
January 1, 2003... John Yena plans to build a cooking school in Charlotte, but six months after state leaders dangled $10 million before him to clinch the deal, he's getting a lesson--in waffling. The politicians don't have the money. And maybe they didn't really...

Museum exhibits need to loan out. (Tar Heel Tattler).(Airborne and Special Operations Museum Foundation struggles to pay back $4.5 million loan to city of Fayetteville)
January 1, 2003... No paratrooper worth his jump boots would leap out of a plane and assume someone would hand him his chute on the way down. But that's essentially what the Airborne and Special Operations Museum Foundation did when it borrowed $4.5 million from...

Tattle tales.
January 1, 2003... * Those who can't do, teach: Immigration authorities busted Alejandro Llinas, publisher of Mundo Latino, at Wilmington's Gran Fiesta Latina, where the Spanish-language newspaper sponsored a workshop on how to get work visas. Seems Llinas, a...

Greenhouse thumbs. (Data Bits).(top ten states ranked by floriculture sales)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... DATA BITS GREENHOUSE THUMBS Floriculture, including cut flowers, garden plants and sod, generated $1 billion for the state in 2001. Sales (millions) 1 California $2,832.0...

Two logos you can take to the Banks. (Tar Heel Tattler).(OBX-Stock Inc. challenges SOBX logo)
January 1, 2003... If he has to, Jim Douglas is willing to be an SOB about SOBX. The acronym stands for Southern Outer Banks, which he says is a rip-off of OBX, his logo for the Outer Banks. The Kitty Hawk resident came up with it -- OB for Outer Banks, X to make...

BellSouth wants city to go out of business. (Tar Heel Tattler).(telecom sues Laurinburg, North Carolina, for selling excess capacity)
January 1, 2003... Through three quarters of 2002, Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. grossed $16.7 billion. So why is it suing Laurinburg, population 15,980, over a three-year, $72,000 contract with a Fayetteville company that sells Internet access as a sideline to...

Smith Investment Properties. (Regional Report: Eastern).(acquires Vernon Park Mall from VPM)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... KINSTON -- Washington-based Smith Investment Properties purchased Vernon Park Mall from Raleigh-based VPM for $7.75 million. The 540,000-square-foot mall is about 15% vacant, but the new owner plans to fill it by the end of January.

Camtuck Ventures. (Regional Report: Eastern).(industrial real estate development plans)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... MOYOCK -- Currituck and Camden county commissioners are considering developing an industrial park on the county line. Neither size nor site has been set for the Camtuck Ventures project.

Paraclete Armor and Equipment. (Regional Report: Eastern).(will not relocate to Raeford, North Carolina)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... ST. PAULS -- Paraclete Armor and Equipment, which makes military combat apparel, will not move to Raeford. The company says it found asbestos in the building it planned to buy from the city for $150,000. Paraclete still plans to double...

Consolidated Diesel. (Regional Report: Eastern).(announces staff cuts of 11%)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... WHITAKERS -- Consolidated Diesel laid off 11% of its nearly 1,200 employees, blaming weak demand for its electronic, diesel and propane engines. Consolidated Diesel is a joint venture of Columbus, Ind.-based Cummins and Racine, Wis.-based CNH...

Kinston Indians. (Regional Report: Eastern).(city is borrowing $2 million to renovate Grainger Stadium)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... KINSTON -- The city is borrowing $2 million to renovate Grainger Stadium for its Kinston Indians minor-league baseball team. The loan will be repaid with 5.6% interest over 15 years. The city and the Indians agreed to a seven-year, $449,000...

FCC. (Regional Report: Eastern).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... LAUREL HILL -- Japan-based FCC, which makes automobile and motorcycle clutches, is expanding its plant 24,000 square feet to 107,000 square feet. The company has not said whether it will add to its 130 employees when the project is finished in...

Cingular Wireless. (Regional Report: Eastern).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Cumberland County and Fayetteville officials slashed Cingular Wireless' $1.9 million incentives package by a half-million dollars over five years. Atlanta-based Cingular, a joint venture of SBC Communications and BellSouth, didn't fulfill its...

Embrex. (Regional Report: Triangle).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... DURHAM -- Embrex, a maker of poultry vaccines and vaccination devices, will build an $11.6 million plant in Laurinburg. It will employ 36 to make Inovocox, a vaccine against a digestive parasite in chickens. No date has been set for the start...

Interface Fabrics Group. (Regional Report: Triangle).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... ABERDEEN -- Atlanta-based Interface Fabrics Group will close its plant here, idling more than 100. The company, which makes yarn and dyes fabric for office-furniture makers, blamed a downturn in the market. It will shift production to a larger...

Cogent Neuroscience. (Regional Report: Triangle).(laid off its 48 employees and suspended operations )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... DURHAM -- Drug-discovery company Cogent Neuroscience laid off its 48 employees and suspended operations while it tried to restructure and find new investors. The company, which had raised $20 million from private investors, focused on drugs to...

Pinpoint Networks. (Regional Report: Triangle).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... CARY -- Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture-capital firm New Enterprise Associates is investing $4 million in software maker Pinpoint Networks. Pinpoint, which employs 37, will use the money to continue its expansion. NEA partner Suzanne King will...

North Carolina Central University. (Regional Report: Triangle).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... DURHAM -- North Carolina Central University received two research grants totaling $9 million for its Biomedical! Biotechnology Research Institute. The institute, which opened in 1999 to study heart disease, high blood pressure, breast and...

PharmaNetics. (Regional Report: Triangle).(will begin sales of its Enox test)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... MORRISVILLE -- PharmaNetics, maker of tests that measure blood clotting, will begin sales of its Enox test, which measures the effectiveness of Aventis Pharmaceuticals' anti-clotting drug Lovenox. Analysts say the test could generate up to $12...

Harris. (Regional Report: Triangle).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... DURHAM -- Harris, a Melbourne, Fla.-based communications-equipment maker, is consolidating research-and-development operations in Durham. It will move as many as 40 employees from California and Washington to Durham in January and hire 50...

Salix Pharmaceuticals. (Regional Report: Triangle).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... RALEIGH -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration set final conditions for approval of Salix Pharmaceuticals' antibiotic rifaximin. The drug treats travelers' diarrhea. The company, which has 120 employees, expects final approval to sell...

Midway Airlines. (Regional Report: Triangle).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... MORRISVILLE -- Midway Airlines delayed its return to the skies as a regional carrier for Virginia-based US Airways until January because its negotiations for loans and aircraft were moving slower than expected. Midway suspended operations in...

Faison & Associates. (Regional Report: Triangle).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... DURHAM -- South Square Mall, vacant since September, will be demolished to make room for a new strip center. The 27-year-old mall closed because many of its stores left for a new mall, The Streets at Southpoint in southern Durham....

Progress Energy. (Regional Report: Triangle).(Strategic Resource Solutions subsidiary pleads guilty)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Strategic Resource Solutions, a subsidiary of Raleigh-based Progress Energy, paid $1 million to San Francisco and its school system after it pleaded guilty to grand theft. It was charged under corporate-liability laws that make businesses...

Durham County businesses failed at a higher rate than in neighboring Orange, Granville and Chatham.(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... Durham County businesses failed at a higher rate than in neighboring Orange, Granville and Chatham. State Failure rank County rate 9 Johnston 5.6% 11 Granville 5.8 15 Chatham 6.0 16...

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings. (Regional Report: Triad).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... BURLINGTON -- Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings is planning to buy back as much as $150 million of stock. The medical-testing company had about 148 million shares outstanding at the time of the announcement. The stock was trading at...

Glass Dynamics. (Regional Report: Triad).(plans expansion)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... STONEVILLE -- Glass Dynamics, maker of glass tabletops for the furniture industry, is adding 77 jobs here over the next three years. The jobs will support the company's expansion into architectural glass products. The company employs 83.

Rockingham County Airport Authority. (Regional Report: Triad).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... WENTWORTH -- The Rockingham County Airport Authority has received $400,000 in state and federal grants for improvements to Rockingham County/Shiloh Airport. It will be used for terminal renovation, land acquisition, apron expansion and airfield...

American City Business Journals. (Regional Report: Triad).(closes Triad Business News )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... GREENSBORO -- Charlotte-based American City Business Journals, publisher of The Business Journal Serving the Greater Triad Area, has bought and closed Triad Business News. Price wasn't disclosed. American City bought only its rival's subscriber...

BB&T Insurance Services. (Regional Report: Triad).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... WINSTON-SALEM -- BB&T Insurance Services is buying Cranman & Co. of Savannah, Ga., and will combine it with its other Savannah agency, BB&T-Lofton Group. The new agency will be named BB&T-Lofton & Cranman. Terms of the deal, which should close...

Sara Lee. (Regional Report: Triad).(plans job cuts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... WINSTON-SALEM -- Sara Lee's hosiery unit expected to cut about 100 of its nearly 700 jobs in Winston-Salem and about 75 of its roughly 570 jobs in Rockingham by year's end to reduce excess capacity. Company executives blamed weak demand for...

Unifi. (Regional Report: Triad).(plans job cuts )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... GREENSBORO -- Yarn maker Unifi plans to cut 65 of 1,906 jobs in Rockingham County by the end of the first quarter of 2003 as it closes a nylon plant in Mayodan and shifts production to a mill in Madison. Falling demand for the nylon, used in...

Goodyear Tire & Rubber. (Regional Report: Triad).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... ASHEBORO -- Ohio-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber has completed a $4.5 million expansion of its cable plant here. Goodyear is increasing its production of cable used in radial truck and bus tires. Employment was boosted from 400 to 431.

Steven D. Bell & Co. (Regional Report: Triad).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... GREENSBORO -- Steven D. Bell & Co., a real-estate-investment and property-management firm, has bolstered its portfolio by leading purchases of three Florida properties totaling $40 million. A Bell-led group of investors bought shopping centers...

FNB Southeast. (Regional Report: Triad).(Guaranty Bank's branch in Harrisonburg, Va., is being acquired)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... REIDSVILLE -- FNB Southeast is buying the Harrisonburg, Va. branch of Charlottesville, Va.-based Guaranty Bank, subject to regulatory approval. It will be FNB's second branch in Harrisonburg. The deal was expected to close by the end of 2002....

FedEx Express. (Regional Report: Triad).(Piedmont Triad International Airport enters into a lease)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... FedEx Express has finally signed a 25-year lease with Piedmont Triad International Airport that commits it to building and operating its $300 million, 1,600-employee Mid-Atlantic Hub. The hub is scheduled to open in 2007. The operating unit of...

The Triad metropolitan area is the second-most-sprawling of the nation's 83 largest metro areas. (Regional Report: Triad).(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... The Triad metropolitan area is the second-most-sprawling of the nation's 83 largest metro areas. Overall sprawl score * 1 Riverside Calif. 14.2 2 Triad ...

Rowan Regional Medical Center. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(plans expansion)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... SALISBURY -- Rowan Regional Medical Center will spend $17 million to add three stories to its outpatient building, if state regulators approve the project. Construction would start in October and take two years. Already under way is a $24.8...

Bank of America. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- Citing misuse and high delinquencies, Bank of America has accumulated $60 million in unpaid military travel-card debt since 1998. Among the bases where the cards, which work like corporate credit cards, are widely used are Fort...

Duke Power. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- The federal government offered potassium iodide tablets to nearly 200,000 people who live within 10 miles of Duke Power's McGuire Nuclear Plant, near here, and Catawba Nuclear Plant in South Carolina. If radiation escapes,...

CT Communications. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(WaveTel subsidiary's wireless broadband services in Fayetteville have been shut down)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... CONCORD -- CT Communications shut down its WaveTel subsidiary's wireless broadband services in Fayetteville, taking a write-off of about $5 million. The company also will scale back its Web site design-and-hosting program, eliminating six jobs....

Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(increases stake in Piedmont Coca-Cola Bottling Partnership )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated paid $10 million to increase its stake and gain a controlling interest in Piedmont Coca-Cola Bottling Partnership, which serves Eastern North Carolina and parts of South Carolina. A...

Swisher International. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(Founder Patrick Swisher will spend time in prison)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- A businessman who mopped up in the toilet-cleaning business will spend 2 1/2 years in prison for income-tax evasion. Patrick Swisher, 47, founder of Swisher International, was convicted of failing to report nearly $2 million in...

US Airways. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(more layoffs)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- US Airways added 147 workers to its list of layoffs here. The company still employs 7,000 here. The airline filed for bankruptcy reorganization in August. It also confirmed that it might reduce its fleet more than originally...

SPX. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(Vance International has been acquired)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- Manufacturing conglomerate SPX bought Vance International of Oakton, Va., for $67 million. SPX officials say Vance, which provides corporate security and investigations, has about $95 million a year in revenue.

Parkdale Mills. (Regional Report Charlotte).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... GASTONIA -- Yarn maker Parkdale Mills closed its third plant in a year, but there was good news for the plant's 130 employees. All were expected to be placed in the company's 28 other mills, including eight it operates in Gaston County.

Eaton. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... STATESVILLE -- Miffed by the closing of an Eaton brake-pad plant that the county had paid $57,000 in incentives for, Iredell County commissioners are drawing up a plan to require that companies remain in business for a certain time - how long...

Royal & Sun-Alliance USA. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(cutting jobs)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE -- Royal & Sun-Alliance USA is cutting about 800 of its 7,000 jobs in the United States over the next few months as it focuses on business property-and-casualty insurance. The cuts will include some from its 1,800 workers here.

Piedmont Natural Gas. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(will pay Raleigh-based Progress Energy $425 million for its gas-distribution subsidiary, the former North Carolina Natural Gas, plus its share of EasternNC)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... In a deal expected to close mid-year, Charlotte-based Piedmont Natural Gas will pay Raleigh-based Progress Energy $425 million for its gas-distribution subsidiary, the former North Carolina Natural Gas, plus its share of EasternNC, a joint...

High employment and low poverty help rank Charlotte among the best locations for raising black families. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... High employment and low poverty help rank Charlotte among the best locations for raising black families. % black 1. Columbus, Ohio 7.5 2. Houston 13.9 3. Boston 22.2 4....

Welch Allyn. (Regional Report: Western).(will close Arden, North Carolina, plant)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... ARDEN -- Medical-instrument maker Welch Allyn is closing its plant here by the end of 2003 and consolidating its U.S. manufacturing operations in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y., to shed excess production capacity. All 156 Arden employees will be given...

eWorker Technologies. (Regional Report: Western).(is acquired by Public Consulting Group)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... ASHEVILLE -- A Boston-based health-care management consultant bought eWorker Technologies, a software-service provider. Terms weren't disclosed, but Public Consulting Group is expected to keep all eight of eWorker's employees.

Oldham Saw Co. (Regional Report: Western).(bought by Pentair)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... WEST JEFFERSON -- Minnesota-based Pentair, a publicly traded manufacturer, has purchased Oldham Saw Co., which makes router bits, saw blades and related products. Oldham's sales in the previous 12 months were about $65 million. All of Oldham's...

Jones Media. (Regional Report: Western).(acquired three newspapers )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... BOONE -- Greenville, Tenn.-based Jones Media acquired three newspapers in Watauga and Avery counties--Watauga Democrat, The Avery Journal and The Blowing Rocket--from Art and Fran Powers of Johnson City, Tenn. Terms weren't disclosed. Jones...

Battery Park Associates. (Regional Report: Western).(National Church Residences will acquire the landmark building)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... ASHEVILLE -- Ohio-based National Church Residences, a nonprofit group that provides housing for senior citizens, has a contract to buy a downtown landmark. The 14-story Battery Park building was built in 1924 as a luxury hotel. Battery Park...

Lowe. (Regional Report: Western).(Home Depot is competing)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Two Dixie retailers are squaring off to see who can make the most money selling hardware to Yankees. North Wilkesboro-based Lowe's, the nation's second-largest hardware-store chain, plans to build more than 60 stores in the New York City area,...

The west is home to the North Carolina county with the best rate of high-speed Internet access *. (Regional Report: Western).(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... The west is home to the North Carolina county with the best rate of high-speed Internet access *... Rank County 1 Burke 96.5% 2 Cabarrus 94.4 3 Carteret 92.1 4 Guilford 91.9 5 Forsyth 91.8 ...

Boss Basnight: in Raleigh, the Senate is the one place where everybody knows who's in charge: our Mover and Shaker of the Year. (Cover Story).(Cover Story)(Biography)
January 1, 2003... Marc Basnight shakes his head. "My gosh. Would you look at them things?" The phone rings, and he tosses aside a bag containing peanuts the size of his thumb. They're from a farmer back in his district. "Good morning!" Mike Easley's voice booms....

Bear necessity: the winner of our stock-contest eked out a 0.6% gain. Not bad. Most of our pickers saw double-digit declines. (Feature).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The question was bound to cause a little discomfort: What happened to those stocks that you said last year were winners? George Shipp's response, though tinged with humor, seemed to erupt from some long-simmering volcano of hurt. "Onnhhh!...

Pete's place: in Duplin County, Wendell Murphy's brother builds a high-end development that's no place like home. (Feature).
January 1, 2003... It's lunchtime, and Pete Murphy is hungry. He fasted this morning, expecting to take a stress test--a follow-up to his heart attack two years ago--but the cardiologist canceled it. Now he sits away from the crowd in a corner booth at the Mad...

The legal elite: 2003 Edition.
January 1, 2003... It should come as no surprise that most of the lawyers considered by their peers to be the very best in their fields in BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA'S first Legal Elite came out on top again. After all, it takes a lot longer than a year to earn such...

Cabarrus County races to prosperity. (Special Advertising Section: Regional Focus).(Advertisement)
January 1, 2003... Maybe it's the presence of a NASCAR track in its largest town, but things are happening quickly these days in Cabarrus County. Retail sales have nearly tripled in 10 years. Its population has increased by about 35,000, to 136,300 during that...

She plays a saloonkeeper who also drives the stage. (People).(Barbara Weetman notes that City Stage includes the Level 5 bar)(Biography)
January 1, 2003... Barbara Weetman wanted out of Los Angeles. As an actress, it was the logical place to live. But the cost of living was driving her crazy. Neither Weetman nor her husband, Gil Johnson, who also acts, wanted to raise their son, Cole, there. So...

For buyers and cellars, he's toast. (People).(Carolina Wine Co.'s owner is Chrish Peel)(Biography)
January 1, 2003... Back in college in the early '80s, Chrish Peel was studying wine while his pals were guzzling Budweiser. "I was kind of in the closet," quips the owner of Carolina Wine Co. in Raleigh. He doesn't remember what got him interested. Growing up in...

This broker cannot let his guards down. (People).(Randy James gives up pot, finds Jesus)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Randy James believes firmly in the redemptive power of Jesus and the addictive power of marijuana. The inventor of the Tow-Vac street sweeper and owner of two Cullowhee-based sweeping companies learned about pot first. The Louisiana native...

Bricks & Mortar.(UNC name's building after Hugh McColl)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Retired Bank of America chief Hugh McColl left his mark on business and his name on the McColl Building, the home of UNC Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. It's a contrast to the 60-story BofA tower in Charlotte, which wags dubbed...