Business North Carolina articles from January 2009

Business North Carolina archives from January 2009

To go boldly.(UP FRONT)
January 1, 2009... As this is written on deadline, early one morning 13 days before Christmas, the Three Kings from Detroit have been told there is no room for them at the inn. When the market opens in a few hours, the slaughter of the innocents will begin anew....

NC trend.(North Carolina, United States)(Statistical table)
January 1, 2009... Latest Previous Previous % change month month year from last year EMPLOYMENT Employed (0005)...

Stock watch.(Statistical table)(Company rankings)
January 1, 2009... HIGHEST PRICE/EARNINGS RATIOS Company P/E ratio (3) 11/28/08 price 52-week range Bank of the Carolinas 197.00 $5.91 $3.70-11.50 Hatteras Financial 171.8 25.77 ...

Economic outlook.(Interview)
January 1, 2009... For three years, Wayne Goodwin was state Insurance Commissioner Jim Long's understudy. In November, voters picked Goodwin to succeed Long, who made his reputation battling auto insurers over rate hikes and will step down this month after 24...

Looking under the TARP.(FINE PRINT)(Troubled Asset Relief Program)
January 1, 2009... Having trouble figuring out the rhyme and reason buried within the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program? Me, too. That's why I undertook a study of participation by North Carolina banks in the effort, in which the government...

To be, rather than to seem.(CAPITAL GOODS)
January 1, 2009... It would be interesting to know how many times in the last eight years Mike Easley has uttered something about the challenges of competing in a global economy. Perhaps two or three thousand? North Carolina's outgoing governor isn't alone. For...

Farmers cultivate a market.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... They couldn't move soybean markets closer or push the price higher, so farmers in four Eastern North Carolina counties took matters into their own hands: They are creating their own market and hoping to get bigger bucks for their beans. East...

Doubling their odds.(Eastern)(Martin and Pitt Counties Unveil for LandsEast industrial park)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Think of LandsEast Industrial Park in Pitt and Martin counties as a testament to the principle of sharing. "We've all learned over the years if our neighbors aren't prosperous, we aren't prosperous," says Wanda Yuhas, executive director of the...

Working capital.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... EASTERN REGION Jobs: 1,058,303 YTD change: 1,408 Index: 110.8 Source: Employment Security Commission, September. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000.

Rocky Mount.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... ROCKY MOUNT -- West, an Omaha, Neb.-based corporation that answers customer-service calls for companies, added 250 workers here, giving it 650. It's expanding after winning contracts for Southwest Airlines and Comcast.

Washington.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... WASHINGTON -- Fountain Power-boats laid off 70 workers to cut costs because of slowing sales. It still employs about 270.

Washington.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... WASHINGTON -- Lorton, Va.-based Impressions Marketing Group, which makes store displays, cut about 50 of 220 jobs at its plant here and put the others on a four-day week.

Greenville.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... GREENVILLE -- Metrics, which makes drugs for other companies, planned to add at least 50 jobs after expanding its plant, where about 230 people work.

Wilson.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... WILSON -- Carolina Forge laid off 27 of about 150 employees. The company, which makes automobile parts, blamed the slowdown in car sales. It's a subsidiary of Meadville, Pa.-based MFC Group.

Edenton.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... EDENTON -- State investigators probing a $3.8 million budget shortfall in Chowan County questioned nearly $260,000 in payments to a Raleigh lobbying company. State and county officials say the money County Manager Cliff Copeland paid Capstrat...

Rocky Mount.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... ROCKY MOUNT -- QVC plans to cut about 10 of 1,300 jobs at its distribution center here as part of the West Chester, Pa.-based TV home-shopping channel's plans to eliminate 700 positions. It blamed slower sales.

Fayetteville.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... FAYETTEVILLE -- Federal authorities decided against suspending Medicare and Medicaid payments to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. The reimbursements, about 64% of revenue, were in question after the hospital admitted in October that it had...

Wilmington.(Eastern)
January 1, 2009... WILMINGTON -- The City Council agreed to invest $7 million in a private development near the convention center during the next 20 years. Riverfront Holdings II plans to build hotels, a marina, office and retail space and condominiums on the...

Suit: HR firm was running on empty.(Triangle.)(human resource)(The Castleton Group Inc. file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy)
January 1, 2009... Suzanne Clifton convinced lots of folks that she was running a successful company More than 100 businesses counted on The Castleton Group Inc. to pay their taxes and handle other human-resources matters. Several magazines gave her awards. One...

Working capital.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... TRIANGLE REGION Jobs: 920,871 YTD change: (6,052) Index: 111.7 Source: Employment Security Commission, September. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000.

State officials expect Wake to become North Carolina's most-populous county, passing longtime leader Mecklenburg, in four years.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Source: Office of the Governor

Sanford.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... SANFORD -- Wyeth Pharmaceuticals will eliminate 124 jobs at its plant here. The layoffs, about 10% of the factory's work force, are part of the Madison, N.J.-based drug maker's effort to cut 6% of its U.S. jobs.

Roxboro.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... ROXBORO -- Georgia-Pacific laid off about 120 at its plant, which makes wood beams for residential construction. The layoffs constituted about 60% of the Atlanta-based company's local work force.

Research Triangle Park.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- IBM dismissed 35 workers at its Research Triangle Park campus, where it employs about 11,000. In October, the Armonk, N.Y.-based computer-services giant let go approximately 100 local contract workers.

Morrisville.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... MORRISVILLE -- Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines will begin five weekly direct flights between Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Paris in June. It will be the airport's second trans-Atlantic destination. American Airlines has daily flights...

Research Triangle Park.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline designated its campus here as its U.S. headquarters. The location had shared the designation with Philadelphia. The move came as GSK announced it would cut 1,000 U.S. sales jobs by...

Durham.(Triangle.)(Department of Labor)(Duke University)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... DURHAM -- The state Department of Labor fined Duke University $35,000 for nine safety violations related to an explosion in a steam plant that killed a worker in May. Violations included failing to provide employees with operating instructions,...

Morrisville.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... MORRISVILLE -- Digitalsmiths, which designs video search engines for the entertainment industry, raised $12million in a second round of venture financing. The 10-year-old company plans to double its 35-member staff. Aurora Funds in Durham was...

Raleigh.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... RALEIGH -- First Citizens Banc-Shares wants to open its first branch in Washington, D.C., in the second quarter. It has been in northern Virginia and Maryland since 2005 and has 353 branches in five states.

Research Triangle Park.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Nortel Networks plans to cut 1,300 of its 31,00 jobs worldwide during the next year to reduce costs. The Canadian maker of telecommunications equipment wouldn't say how many cuts would come from its campus here, where...

Raleigh.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... RALEIGH -- Optimal Technologies laid off 35 of its 120 employees, delaying plans to grow to at least 325 employees. The company, which makes software that helps manage utilities, blamed tight global credit.

Research Triangle Park.(Triangle.)
January 1, 2009... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Hatteras Networks laid off 20 employees, leaving it with about 60. The communications-equipment maker blamed the slowing economy. For a daily roundup of business news in the Triangle region, go to...

Detroit's woes impact region's parts makers.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... Just because the Triad sits hundreds of miles from Detroit doesn't mean it's immune to the ailments of the automobile industry. It has no assembly plants, but it does have factories that make car parts. And some are hurting. Statesville-based...

Working capital.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... TRIAD REGION Jobs: 755, 305 YTD change: (9,652) Index: 98.8 Source: Employment Security Commission, September. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000.

Textile and textile-product manufacturing employment in the region declined more than 58% in nine years.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Source: N.C. Employment Security Commission * first quarter only

Kernersville.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... KERNERSVILLE -- Pittsburgh-based FedEx Ground Package System will build a $100 million regional distribution hub, employing 750 when it opens by summer 2011.

Winston-Salem.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... WINSTON-SALEM -- Apparel maker Hanesbrands is cutting 155 white-collar jobs here as part of a corporate reorganization that should be complete early this year. It also planned to close a yarn plant in China Grove by the end of 2008, cutting 185...

Greenboro.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... GREENBORO -- International Textiles Group let go about 150 employees at the White Oak plant in its hometown. The cuts left about 360 workers at the factory, which opened in 1905 and once was Cone Mills' flagship denim plant.

Mocksville.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... MOCKSVILLE -- Ingersoll-Rand plans to erase 110 of 430 jobs here in the first quarter. The company, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, makes air compressors, tools, fluid handling and other products. It's outsourcing sheet-metal work done here.

Greensboro.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... GREENSBORO -- Precor, which makes exercise equipment, plans to open a factory and warehouse here that will employ 142 by 2011. The Woodinville, Wash.-based company received a $294,000 grant from Guilford County. Salaries will average $38,456 a...

Winston-Salem.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... WINSTON-SALEM -- SL Winston-Salem paid $36 million to buy the Wachovia Center from Gramercy Capital Corp. of New York. It plans to renovate the 28-story building, which opened in 1995. Wachovia occupies 17 floors.

Mayodan.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... MAYODAN -- General Tobacco laid off 31 of its 126 employees. The company, which makes GT One, Bronco, Silver and 32 Degrees menthol cigarettes and Vaquero Little Cigars, blamed the sagging economy.

Winston-Salem.(Triad)
January 1, 2009... WINSTON-SALEM -- Winston-Salem State University will repay the federal government $1.15 million over three years for loans and grants given to students who weren't eligible. For a daily roundup of business news in the Triad region, go to...

Racing faces a bumpy road.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... When hard times forced a stock-car team to cut costs in racing's early days, it usually meant losing five or six grease monkeys. "Now, you've got to put another zero on everything," says Humpy Wheeler, former president and general manager of...

Rob Peter to pay Paul.(Charlotte)(J.V. Huffman Jr. )(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Claremont resident J.V. Huffman Jr. confessed to cheating more than 500 investors in a Ponzi scheme that lasted 17 years and raised more than $25 million, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Initially, he told investors...

Working capital.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... CHARLOTTE REGION Jobs: 1,039,444 YTD change: (7,419) Index: 108.1 Source: Employment Security Commission, September. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000....

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... CHARLOTTE -- Areva, a French company that engineers and maintains nuclear plants, will nearly double the 545 employees it has here by 2012.

Concord.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... CONCORD -- Orlando, Fla.-based Connextions has begun adding 250 call-center jobs to its 800 here. The company answers customer inquiries for other businesses.

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... CHARLOTTE -- Blaming the economic slowdown, processor Poseidon Seafood closed, idling about 200.

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... CHARLOTTE -- The Federal Reserve will consolidate check processing in Cleveland and cut 78 jobs at its branch here. Combined with 53 previously announced cuts, that will leave fewer than 250 employees. The Fed says more Americans are using...

Grover.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... GROVER -- Glen Allen, Va.-based MeadWestvaco plans to close its packaging plant, idling about 120 workers in Cleveland County. It plans to move production elsewhere.

Concord.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... CONCORD -- Philip Morris USA told 180 hourly workers at its cigarette factory that they could lose their jobs by the end of this month. The Richmond, Va.-based company plans to close the plant, which employs about 1,700, by the end of 2010.

Hickory.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... HICKORY -- Merchants Distributors plans to add 200 jobs by 2014 at its distribution center, giving it more than 1,700 here. The food distributor, a subsidiary of Alex Lee, could get $2.8 million in state incentives.

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... CHARLOTTE -- Duke Energy promoted Carolinas President Ellen Ruff to president of nuclear development. She reports directly to CEO Jim Rogers. Her old job was filled by Brett Carter, senior vice president of customer service and business...

Hickory.(Charlotte)
January 1, 2009... HICKORY -- Corning Cable Systems, which makes optical fiber, cut some of its 1,500 workers here, part of 300 layoffs nationwide. It wouldn't specify the number for competitive reasons. For a daily roundup of business news in the Charlotte...

Woods helps project stay out of the rough.(Western)
January 1, 2009... Even with golfer Tiger Woods involved, selling high-dollar real estate might seem like a long shot these days. With many potential buyers' finances in the rough, The Cliffs at High Carolina wants $500,000 to $3 million for a chance to play...

Working capital.(Western)
January 1, 2009... WESTERN REGION Jobs: 499,323 YTD change: (1,367) Index: 102.8 Source: Employment Security Commission, September. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000.

Losing Little League office is big loss for Morganton.(Western)
January 1, 2009... After Morganton's team got whacked 8-2 in the 2004 Little League World Series by a team from Texas, a measure of redemption seemed possible when the Little League sought a new Southeastern headquarters earlier this year. Against 18 competitors,...

Forest city.(Western)
January 1, 2009... FOREST CITY -- Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Eaton Hydraulics temporarily laid off about 55 of its 198 employees at its Eaton Aeroquip plant during the final six weeks of 2008. It makes hydraulic systems for vehicles.

Hendersonville.(Western)
January 1, 2009... HENDERSONVILLE -- Pardee Hospital officials reported bad debt increased 6% to about $22 million in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. That's an improvement from the previous year, when it increased 40%. The hospital increased efforts to...

Morganton.(Western)
January 1, 2009... MORGANTON -- Citing poor business conditions, Valdese Weavers laid off about 60 of 800 employees. The company, part of Hickory-based CV Industries, makes fabric for furniture.

Hildebran.(Western)
January 1, 2009... HILDEBRAN -- Adden Furniture, which makes furniture for colleges, the military and hospitals, laid off 20 of 150 employees. The Lowell, Ma.-based company blamed seasonal fluctuations in demand.

Fletcher.(Western)
January 1, 2009... FLETCHER -- Vanir Solar Construction Co. has launched a $2.4 million solar heating and cooling project. Formerly Appalachian Solar Energy, the company was acquired in October by Vanir Energy of Sacramento, Calif. The project will include...

Asheville.(Western)
January 1, 2009... ASHEVILLE -- Tourism during the fall leaf season lagged in Buncombe County. Hotel occupancy in September was down 13%, with experts blaming the poor economy and a regional gas shortage. For a daily roundup of business news in the Western...

A lure that's tempting: trophy bass--as well as the tournament anglers who seek them--are hooked on Brian Huskins' handiwork.(PICTURE THIS)
January 1, 2009... When it comes to fishing, luck is fine for beginners. But pros need an edge, and for that, many turn to a four-building complex in a backyard in Mount Holly, near Charlotte. There Brian Huskins and his family-run business mingle art with...

Hot stocks for 2009: it's a tough time to pick winners. But here are some our panel of pros believe you won't get burned by.(FEATURE)
January 1, 2009... Plenty of words come to mind to summarize the stock market last year. But which one does it best? "Brutal," says Frank Jolley, president of Jolley Asset Management in Rocky Mount. "Unfortunate," says John Woodard, president of Woodard &...

Our Mover and Shaker of the Year's fatal flaw was hewing to the traditions of the corporate culture that had nurtured him.(COVER STORY)
January 1, 2009... It is an enduring trap for all those who labor in important, high-profile jobs to have their words recorded and thoughts chronicled. The fate of Richard Nixon, as you may recall, was sealed by the sound of his voice on the infamous White House...

Purging the urge to merge: the state's changing economic climate could cool off the coupling of homegrown and out-of-state law firms.(FEATURE)
January 1, 2009... In the 2000s, the urge to merge seemed to surge. If Tar Heel law firms weren't pairing up, they often were playing the field, flirting with potential suitors looking for that special someone. As the state's reputation grew, especially for...

Legal Elite: for the eighth year, North Carolina layers judge their peers to decide who presides as best of the bar.
January 1, 2009... To call it BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA'S Legal Elite is a bit misleading. The magazine compiles and publishes the list, as it has since 2002, but its staff doesn't pick the lawyers who appear on it. Their peers do. Ballots were mailed last summer...

Bricks & mortar.
January 1, 2009... No matter what colors you see, Greensboro's year-old Proximity is as green as it gets--the only hotel to earn platinum status for environment-friendly, energy-efficient design from the U.S. Green Building Council. It uses 39% less energy and...