Business North Carolina articles from July 2002

Business North Carolina archives from July 2002

Medical mysteries. (Up Front).(Brief Article)(Editorial)
July 1, 2002... My son, Jake, was 4 1/2 pounds at birth, though not premature. On his first day of life, his pediatrician noticed an irregular heartbeat. By the time he was four months old, his mom, Jaleh, and I began to notice that he couldn't do things that...

Letters.
July 1, 2002... It all deep ends I am compelled to challenge the statement in "Tug of Wharf" [April] that the 42-foot shipping channel being dredged in the Cape Fear River "might not be enough." From the inception, during the feasibility study and...

Trend.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... TREND EMPLOYMENT (1) Latest Previous month month Total employed (000s) 3,725.1 3,754.7 Civilian labor force...

Searching for nuggets in Golden LEAF projects. (Economic Outlook).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Valeria Lee is president of GOLDEN LEAF Inc., a nonprofit created by the General Assembly to oversee the payout of half of the $4.6 billion the state will get during the next 25 years from the 1998 national tobacco settlement She grew up on a...

VF shares are getting too big for its britches. (Money Matters).(VF Corp.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... Lee dungarees' ads boast that you "can't bust 'em." Their star, a doll named Buddy Lee, gets abused in myriad ways, but he and his jeans are unscathed. It's been like that for Lee's maker, Greensboro-based VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC). Its stock keeps...

Tar heel stock watch. (Money Matters).(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... TAR HEEL STOCK WATCH Expensive stocks Highest price-earnings ratios among North Carolina stocks P/E 4/26/02 52-week Company ratio * price range CT...

State finds financial famine at Robeson farmers market. (Tar Heel Tattler).(Southeastern North Carolina Farmers Market)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Three years after it opened, the state-sponsored Southeastern North Carolina Farmers Market attracts a third as many farmers as an informal curbside mart in nearby Lumberton. The 73-acre complex, which cost $7 million, took in less than...

Lack of pact keeps race team off TRAC. (Tar Heel Tattler).(Team Racing Auto Circuit)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... Team Racing Auto Circuit, a startup based in Huntersville, is sputtering even before crossing the starting line. It told investors it would ink a television deal by January. That was supposed to help it sign up teams and sponsors before an...

No respect. (Tattle Tales).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... First, Las Vegas threatened High Point's International Home Furnishings Market with a furniture show of its own. Now little Gaffney, S.C., home of the famous peach-shaped water tower, wants a piece of High Point's pie. Thomas Built Buses might...

Truth in advertising. (Tattle Tales).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Busting what they described as a brothel, Burke County deputies carted off a Ford Explorer, $3,000 in cash and hundreds of condoms at a Morganton home. They also seized business cards advertising the establishment as a bed-repair shop.

Blasting cap. (Tattle Tales).(package suspected of being a bomb)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Fearing terrorism at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant and Country Store, Jonesville police called in a bomb dog to sniff a suspicious parcel. Its contents: a crocheted hat, returned by a customer from New Hampshire for a refund.

Pork puzzler. (Tattle Tales).(bd's Mongolian Barbeque)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Tired of Southerners stumped about what it served, Michigan-based bd's Mongolian Barbeque has changed the name of its Charlotte and Fayetteville restaurants to bd's Stir-Fry Grill. Translation: They don't serve hushpuppies and slaw.

Capsized. (Tattle Tales).(Confluence Watersports fires Bill Medlin, announces layoffs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... When Bill Medlin ("Rapids Transit," May 2002) took the CEO job at Trinity-based Confluence Watersports in May 2001, he said he didn't intend to stay long because his goal was to teach college theology. He was true to his word. He was fired by...

Water you looking at. (Tattle Tales).(whitewater park chooses location)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Promoters of a whitewater park have picked a location adjacent to the Catawba River west of Charlotte from three possible sites. Eliminated from contention were a downtown site overlooking a concrete plant and a county tract next to a...

Whither deep throat. (Tattle Tales).(Phil Harvey criticizes abstinence in Washington Post article)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Washington Post identified Phil Harvey as "a writer and businessman" when it published his op-ed piece criticizing federal programs promoting sexual abstinence until marriage. Two days later, the rival Washington Times pointed out that...

Plugging along. (Data Bits).(value of electronics exports)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... DATA BITS PLUGGING ALONG Tar Heel electronics exports were up 3.8% last year but still lag those in two Southern states. Sales (millions) Florida $1,171.5 Georgia ...

Wadhwa sets course for smooth selling. (Tar heel Tattler).(Vivek Wadhwa changes priorities at Relativity Technologies)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Vivek Wadhwa, CEO of Relativity Technologies, was sure business was looking up. His Cary-based software maker had completed several months of cost cutting and had $8.5 million worth of sales ready to close. Good thing, too, because Relativity...

RDU officials seek another taxi way. (Tar Heel Tattler).(Raleigh-Durham International Airport to revise taxi services)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Taxicab passengers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport grumble about long waits, a lack of vehicles late at night, old and dirty cars and some cabbies' inability to take credit cards. That's why Gina Odom, the airport's...

Occidental Chemical. (Eastern).(to cut 70 jobs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CASTLE HAYNE -- Dallas-based Occidental Chemical cut 70 jobs -- about a third of the work force -- at its OxyChem plant, the first layoffs in its 31-year history. It blames a government phase-out of chromated copper arsenate, used to treat...

Volaris Online. (Eastern).(closes call center)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... NEW BERN -- Volaris Online, an Orlando, Fla.-based Internet service provider, closed its call center. It eliminated nine jobs and moved 90 to Lake Mary, Fla.

Pharmaceutical Product Development. (Eastern).(acquires Piedmont Research Center II)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... WILMINGTON -- Pharmaceutical Product Development has acquired Morrisville-based cancer researcher Piedmont Research Center II. Piedmont Research, which has about 30 employees, will operate as a subsidiary of the contract-research organization.

BMCO Construction. (Eastern).(to double employment to fulfill contract)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... LUMBERTON -- BMCO Construction will double employment to 160 to complete a three-year, $25 million contract from the N.C. Department of Transportation to build two miles of an eight-mile loop around Fayetteville to connect Interstate 95 to U.S....

Cape Fear Commercial. (Eastern).(names director of business development)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... WILMINGTON -- Hank Miller has been named director of business development for Cape Fear Commercial, a real-estate brokerage. He is the former president of Miller Building, which shut down in February after 52 years in business.

Cooperative Bank. (Eastern).(buys Lumina Mortgage)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... WILMINGTON -- Cooperative Bank is buying Lumina Mortgage for an unspecified sum in a deal expected to close by the end of June. Lumina has offices in Wilmington, North Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Virginia Beach, Va. It originated $118 million in...

Guilford Mills. (Eastern).(to close North Carolina knitting plant)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... LUMBERTON -- Greensboro-based Guilford Mills is closing its knitting plant here, part of a restructuring after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. About 100 people worked at the plant.

VisionAir. (Eastern).(lays off 65 employees)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CASTLE HAYNE -- VisionAir, which makes software for 911 centers, police cars and police record keeping, has laid off 65 employees, about 27% of its work force. It blamed the economy.

aaiPharma. (Regional Report).(acquires rights to Darvon, Darvocet pain relievers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Wilmington drug company aaiPharma bought rights to the pain-relievers Darvon and Darvocet from Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly for $211.4 million. aaiPharma also named President Philip Tabbiner CEO, succeeding Frederick Sancilio, now executive...

Paradigm Genetics. (Triangle).(lays off 20% of work force)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Paradigm Genetics, an agricultural biotechnology company, has laid off 50-20% of its work force -- as part of a restructuring. The cuts leave the company with 223 workers. Paradigm's board fired CEO John Ryals earlier...

Cigna Healthcare of North Carolina. (Triangle).(closes claims-processing and call center)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... RALEIGH -- Cigna Healthcare of North Carolina is closing its claims-processing and call center here, costing 85 jobs. It's part of a nationwide consolidation of 20 centers to nine, including one in Charlotte, which will handle North Carolina....

Quintiles Transnational. (Triangle).(enters joint venture with Orion)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... DURHAM -- Quintiles Transnational, a contract-research company, has launched a joint venture to develop drugs with Orion, a Finnish company. Orion's pharmaceutical division will contribute five potential drugs to the venture, which will operate...

BioStratum. (Triangle).(wins venture capital funding)
July 1, 2002... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- BioStratum has landed $20 million in venture capital to continue developing drugs based on its expertise in basal lamina, a membrane surrounding cells. BioStratum also acquired BioCrine, a Swedish startup that develops...

Martin Marietta Materials. (Triangle).(to build trailers for Composittrailer)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... RALEIGH -- Martin Marietta Materials, which mines stone, gravel and sand for the construction industry, is diversifying into trailer manufacturing with a Belgian company. It will build trailers for commercial trucks at Composittrailer's...

First Citizens Bancshares. (Triangle).(plans expansion in Texas)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... RALEIGH -- First Citizens Bancshares is entering Texas via its Atlantic States Bank subsidiary. Atlantic will open two branches in Austin, the state capital. Atlantic, with 42 branches, is the smaller sibling of First Citizens Bank, which has...

Lenox. (Regional Report).(to close plant in Oxford, North Carolina)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Lenox will close its Oxford plant next spring, costing 373 jobs. It will move production of bone china to its Kinston plant and odd 30 jobs there. It will move production of ivory china overseas. Employees who lose their jobs will receive...

Big gains since 1990 mean one person in 10 is now a Latino in two Triangle counties. (Triangle).(North Carolina)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... Big gains since 1990 mean one person in 10 is now a Latino in two Triangle counties. Lee 12% Chatham 10 Johnston 8 Durham 8 Harnett 6 Wake 5 Vance 5 Orange 4 Franklin 4...

CME North American Merchant Energy. (Triad).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... WINSTON-SALEM -- Boston-based CME North American Merchant Energy wants to build a $300 million, gas-fired power plant on the south side of town near natural-gas pipelines and electrical-transmission lines. The electricity would likely be sold...

Blue Rhino. (Triad).(sells $10.9 million in stock)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... WINSTON-SALEM -- Blue Rhino has sold 1.5 million shares of stock for $10.9 million in a private placement. The company, which runs a propane-cylinder exchange service, will use the money for working capital and to repay debt.

Burlington Industries. (Triad).(sells upholstery business to Richloom Fabrics Group)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... GREENSBORO -- Burlington Industries is selling its residential-upholstery business to New York-based Richloom Fabrics Group as part of its plan to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy. The deal was expected to close in May. The company has...

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. (Triad).(vice chairman sells shares)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... WINSTON-SALEM -- John McAleer, vice chairman of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, recently sold 330,000 shares of company stock for more than $113.2 million. He still owns 615,200 shares directly and 832,400 shares indirectly.

Cone Mills. (Triad).(announces profits)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... GREENSBORO -- The first quarter of 2002 was Cone Mills' first profitable one in nearly four years. Cone reported net income of $1.2 million, 2 cents a share. The company cited more efficient manufacturing operations and better-than-expected...

High Point Bank and Trust. (Triad).(hires new CEO, Charles Myers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... HIGH POINT -- Charles Myers has been named CEO of High Point Bank and Trust. Formerly executive vice president for trust and financial services, Myers succeeds Robert McInnis, who died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 50 earlier this...

BB&T Insurance Services. (Triad).(acquires Benefit Consultants of Virginia)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... WINSTON-SALEM -- BB&T Insurance Services, a Raleigh-based subsidiary of BB&T, is expanding its employee-benefits operation with the acquisition of Richmond, Va.-based Benefit Consultants of Virginia. Benefit Consultants had 13 employees....

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. (Regional Report).(loses two court cases)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... R.J. Reynolds Tobacco took two legal hits in one week recently. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge upheld a $14.8 million fine against Reynolds For giving away cigarettes on public grounds with children present. Then, a federal judge dismissed...

The average yearly growth of bank deposits in Triad counties during 1997-2000 trailed the statewide rate. (Triad).(North Carolina)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... The average yearly growth of bank deposits in Triad counties during 1997-2000 trailed the statewide rate. Davie 6.9% Monlgomery 5.2 Davidson 5.0 Stokes 4.6 Yadkin 4.0 Alamance 3.9 Randolph ...

Wachovia. (Charlotte).(CEO Ken Thompson's expansion plans)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CHARLOTTE -- The merger of Wachovia and his former bank, First Union, is ongoing, but CEO Ken Thompson says once it is complete, he will launch more takeover attempts. He told bankers meeting in Charlotte that he wants to expand in mutual...

American Trans Air. (Charlotte).(introduces new flights)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CHARLOTTE -- Indianapolis-based American Trans Air will launch three daily flights during the week and two a day on weekends from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport to Chicago Midway Airport in July. ATA will be Charlotte's first low-fare...

Bank of America. (Charlotte).(class action suit for fraud)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CHARLOTTE -- A class-action suit contends Bank of America and eight other banks tried to defraud investors by participating in Enron's off-the-books partnerships and helping the energy company hide losses. The company denies allegations made in...

Carolina Mills. (Charlotte).(closes, downsizes plants)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... MAIDEN -- Carolina Mills will close one Ranlo yarn plant and downsize another, eliminating 170 jobs. It shut down a third Ranlo plant that employed 100 in October.

Cogentrix Energy. (Charlotte).(to be acquired by Aquila)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CHARLOTTE -- Cogentrix Energy has found a buyer -- Kansas City, Mo.-based Aquila, which will pay $415 million and assume $355 million in debt. The private company, which builds electricity-generating plants, had put itself on the market after...

RealtiCorp. (Charlotte).(will build NorthLite retail, office center)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CONCORD -- RealtiCorp, a Greenville, S.C.-based developer, will build NorthLite, a $50 million, 700,000-square-foot retail/office center and hotel off Interstate 85 at Dale Earnhardt Boulevard. In a rapidly developing retail section of...

Ken Iverson. (Regional Report).(former Nucor CEO dies)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
July 1, 2002... Ken Iverson, the retired chairman and CEO who built Nucor into one of the world's largest steel manufacturers, has died at the age of 76. Iverson moved a failing conglomerate from Arizona to Charlotte in 1966 and became known as a maverick in...

The percentage of workers with graduate degrees has inched up in Charlotte region counties. (Charlotte).(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... The percentage of workers with graduate degrees has inched up in Charlotte region counties. 1990 2001 Mecklenburg 7.2% 7.7% Union 3.9 4.4 Cleveland 3.5 4.0 Cabarrus 3.4 3.8 Iredell 3.4...

Asheville Historic Trolley Tours. (Western).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... ASHEVILLE -- Asheville Historic Trolley Tours will operate a motor-powered trolley four times a day between Grove Park Inn, downtown Asheville and Biltmore Village. Owners Richard Mills and Ann Chalmers have run similar operations in Florida...

United Chemi-Con. (Western).(receives foreign trade zone status)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... LANSING -- United Chemi-Con, which makes electrical parts, has received foreign trade zone status from the government. United, which employs 265, will be able to avoid many tariffs and duties, saving up to $1 million a year.

Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. (Western).(new headquarters)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... ASHEVILLE -- The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce is going ahead with its new headquarters, despite coming up nearly $1 million short of its $5.2 million fund-raising goal for the project. Leaders say they're confident the shortfall will be...

Aston Park Health Care Center. (Western).(will build Alzheimer's unit)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... ASHEVILLE -- State regulators have given Aston Park Health Care Center permission to build a $4.1 million, 32-bed Alzheimer's unit, to be completed in June 2003.

Union Butterfield. (Western).(shuts down North Carolina operations)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... ASHEVILLE -- Toolmaker Union Butterfield, where a former employee killed three workers and wounded two others in 1995, has shut down its last operations here, moving 10 service-center jobs to a plant in Illinois.

Haywood County. (Western).(commissioners approve building courthouse)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... WAYNESVILLE -- After months of wrangling over whether it is needed, commissioners in Haywood County have approved building a $22 million, 88,000-square-foot courthouse.

Coltene/Whaledent. (Western).(will not move plant here)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... ASHEVILLE -- Coltene/Whaledent, a New Jersey-based manufacturer of dental tools and health-care products, has pulled the plug on plans to move a plant here that would have employed 400. Company officials blamed high health-care costs and...

Alleghany Memorial Hospital. (Western).(expansion approved by trustees)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... SPARTA -- Alleghany Memorial Hospital trustees have approved an $8 million expansion that will include a new operating suite and emergency departments.

PSNC Energy. (Regional Report).(pipeline, distribuiton centers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Sixty miles of pipeline and four distribution centers will bring natural gas to Jackson and Swain counties by the end of next year. PSNC Energy is building the $31.4 million project, paid for in part by state bonds approved in 1998. One of the...

Health-care businesses in the largest western counties racked up total sales of $900 million in 2000. (Western).(North Carolina)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... Health-care businesses in the largest western countries racked up total sales of $900 million in 2000. Sales Businesses (millions) Buncombe $428.7 459 Henderson 103.1 158...

The chop shop: dead computers give life to CompuTel, a business that's healthy when its parts are worth more than the whole. (Feature).
July 1, 2002... Barney Smith pushes a dolly of dead computer monitors into the old freight elevator, and the cage rattles shut. It groans and stops one floor up, opening into a musty room as large as a gymnasium and lit with dim yellow bulbs. Here, in a...

Brew mistress: Pat Henry was first one at a major American brewery. Now she tries to keep the Eden plant hopping as beer sales go flat. (Feature).
July 1, 2002... Pat Henry could sense trouble coming. It was 1977, and she was moving up during her second stint at the Martinsvflle, Va., nylon plant of E.I du Pont de Nemours & Co. She was even being sent to headquarters in Wilmington, Del., that fall for...

Slice of life: cancer surgeon Douglas Tyler, rated as one of the state's best doctors, uses his head more than his hands to heal. (Cover Story).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The room is small -- cream-colored walls, an exam table, a stool and a light on an articulated arm. They meet here for the first time, a trim 6-footer with 5 o'clock shadow and a small woman old enough to be his mother. She sits on the table,...

These physicians make excellence their specialty. (Cover Story).(Directory)(Cover Story)
July 1, 2002... On the pages that follow, you'll find Tar Heel practitioners in 21 specialties who made the latest Best Doctors Inc. list, plus profiles of six of them. BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA'S editors didn't pick the half-dozen physicians as "the best of the...

He develops land Duke doesn't give a dam for. (People).(Art Fields: Crescent Resources L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Art Fields doesn't like the spotlight, a lesson he learned from his hobby, hunting. "You don't get to be the biggest deer in the woods," he says, "by walking through the center of the fields." At 56, he has stepped out as top buck at...

That deal would've gone up in smoke. (People).(truePilot L.L.C., Michael Brader-Araje)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... To name his early-stage investment fund, Michael Brader-Araje harkened back to his English major and a passage in Life on the Mississippi: "Your true pilot cares nothing about anything on earth but the river, and his pride in his occupation...

Cop branches out in the world of crime. (People).(WestTek Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Keith West admits he was surprised when he got the call: The interior secretary-designate of Moldova wanted to meet with him. It seems Ion Diaconu had read about his Benson-based rent-a-cop company in the newspaper while visiting Raleigh and...

Things are clicking for this icon of class. (People).(Iconfactory; computer iconographers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... When Corey Marion switched majors from business to graphic arts at Appalachian State University, it surprised no one. After all, his dad was a commercial artist for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, and his mom paints pet portraits professionally. ...

Pre-first in flight. (Out Back).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Except for a few final touches, Dr. Daniel Asbury's flying machine was ready, the Daily Charlotte Observer reported in January 1881. The next week, it would soar from his farm, near the present site of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport,...