Business North Carolina articles from July 2008

Business North Carolina archives from July 2008

His heart is in it.(UPFRONT)
July 1, 2008... In one of the three straight years that Ed Martin won the Alliance of Area Business Publications gold medal for best body of work by a magazine reporter, the judges wrote: "His biggest talent? Telling a story. The concept sounds simple, but all...

We asked ...: In last month's up front column, publisher Ben Kinney asked readers to share their thoughts about the magazine.(READERSWRITE)(Column)
July 1, 2008... As a small (nine employees) business, we feel no one, especially government, listens to us. We have no clout, but collectively we do matter. I have read BNC for several years, and I feel that you are talking to me as much as to Bank of America...

Diverse view.(READERSWRITE)
July 1, 2008... I noticed that all editorial photos and features in the June issue were about white men. Our state is way more diverse than that. Your Law Journal featured some white women writers, but no women, not one, in any of the editorial content. And...

Let market do it.(READERSWRITE)
July 1, 2008... One particular line in the April Fine Print column stuck in my mind: "Don't seek to create something the market can create more quickly and cheaply." I can only dream that this line would be over the entrance to every legislative chamber from...

Correction.(Correction notice)
July 1, 2008... Correction: Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce President Radford Thomas's first name was misspelled in the May issue's cover story. Send your letters to bnc@businessnc.com or to Editor, BNC, 5435 77 Center Drive, Suite 50, Charlotte, N.C....

Nctrend.(Statistical table)
July 1, 2008... Latest Previous Previous % change from last year month month year EMPLOYMENT Employed 4,306.6 4,306.8 4,310.5 (0.1) (000s) Civilian...

Business north carolina index.(>STOCKWATCH)(Statistical table)
July 1, 2008... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] HIGHEST PRICE/EARNINGS RATIOS Company P/E ratio (3) 5/30/08 price 52-Week range Hatteras Financial 177.7 ...

Economic outlook.
July 1, 2008... The U.S. economy has softened, but there's no hard evidence it's in recession--defined by many economists as at least two straight quarters of decline in real gross domestic product. More than 50% of economists in a recent poll say it is or...

PCS wants to move into some new digs.(Eastern)
July 1, 2008... PCS Phosphate's clock is ticking, but only time will tell if the countdown by one of Eastern North Carolina's largest employers is cause for alarm. Ross Smith, environmental manager of PCS Phosphate, says the company needs federal...

Working Capital.(Eastern)
July 1, 2008... EASTERN REGION Jobs: 1,051,264 YTD change: (5,631) Index: 110.0 Source: Employment Security Commission, March. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000. ...

Kinston gets in the spirit plus plucks a poultry plant.(Eastern)
July 1, 2008... The specter of a sluggish national economy might not seem as scary as before in Kinston. Not only did civic leaders exorcise some demons recently by luring airplane-parts maker Spirit AeroSystems--and more than 1,000 jobs -- to the...

Roanoke Rapids.(Eastern)(Gilmore Entertainment Group)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... ROANOKE RAPIDS -- The city agreed to pay Gilmore Entertainment Group $500,000 a year to operate Roanoke Rapids Theatre, but the two sides were still ironing out details. The city fired entertainer Randy Parton last year as manager of the...

New Bern.(Eastern)
July 1, 2008... NEW BERN -- Craven County commissioners asked the General Assembly to change the name of Craven County Regional Airport to Coastal Carolina Regional Airport. They say that would better reflect the region it serves.

Castle Hayne.(Eastern)
July 1, 2008... CASTLE HAYNE -- Titan America plans to build a $469 million factory that would employ about 160 within three years. Average pay will be $72,068 a year; the New Hanover County average is $33,228. The Norfolk, Va.-based maker of cement and other...

Fayetteville.(Eastern)
July 1, 2008... FAYETTEVILLE -- Cape Fear Valley Medical Center cut 24 jobs as part of the health system's restructuring. It says it has lost money the last two years because of a drop in surgeries and low reimbursement rates from government insurers. About...

Rocky Mount.(Eastern)
July 1, 2008... ROCKY MOUNT -- Volkswagen eliminated Nash County as a site of an assembly plant that will employ about 2,000. No reason was given. The German automaker narrowed its search to Alabama, Michigan and Tennessee.

Morehead City.(Eastern)
July 1, 2008... MOREHEAD CITY -- The state Coastal Resources Commission denied requests from about 150 home and business owners who want to block beach erosion with sandbags. The state began a phased removal of sandbags in May. Regulators say they worsen...

Maple.(Eastern)
July 1, 2008... MAPLE -- Currituck County will spend more than $2.5 million to buy about 63 acres adjacent to Currituck Regional Airport for expansion--if the state approves. Federal and state grants will pay 90% of the price.

Bull City gores rival in ranking.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... For years, Durham has played Raleigh's little brother, tagging along and getting less attention. It's Raleigh-Durham International Airport, not the other way around. Until a few years ago, they were part of the same metropolitan statistical...

Power play.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... Normally, when demand for a product or service goes down, prices do, too. Not so at the RBC Center in Raleigh. Though attendance dropped 4% last season and the Carolina Hurricanes played more like tropical depressions--missing the playoffs for...

Working Capital.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... TRIANGLE REGION Jobs: 924,219 YTD: (2,704) Index: 112.1 Source: Employment Security Commission, March. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000. ...

Raleigh.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... RALEIGH -- Waste Industries USA went private after a $544 million management-led buyout. The trash hauler says it wants to escape the reporting requirements of a public company. Shareholders received $38 a share, 33% over the closing price on...

Chapel Hill.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... CHAPEL HILL -- Fayetteville native Holden Thorp becomes chancellor of UNC Chapel Hill this month. Thorp, 43, was a chemistry professor and dean of the university's College of Arts and Sciences. He replaces James Moeser, 68, who will return to...

Morrisville.(Triangle)(ParagonDx get approval from fda)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... MORRISVILLE -- ParagonDx won permission from the federal Food and Drug Administration to sell its first product--a genetic test that can identify heart-attack and stroke patients likely to bleed excessively if they take Coumadin, a common blood...

Cary.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... CARY -- Software developer Epic Games bought Chair Entertainment Group, a Provo, Utah-based competitor, for an undisclosed amount. Epic will add 11 employees for a total of 111.

Cary.(Triangle)(Cornerstone BioPharma Holdings acquire Boston-based Critical Therapeutics )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... CARY -- Cornerstone BioPharma Holdings, which develops and sells treatments for respiratory diseases, agreed to buy Boston-based Critical Therapeutics for about $63 million. The acquisition, expected to close by the end of the year, will add an...

Morrisville.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... MORRISVILLE -- Salix Pharmaceuticals failed to win federal approval for its balsalazide tablet, a stronger version of its ulcerative colitis treatment Colazal. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested more information. Salix didn't say...

Durham.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... DURHAM -- Aldagen filed plans for an initial public offering of stock that it hopes will raise $80.5 million. The company employs 18 developing medical treatments based on adult stem cells.

Research triangle park.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Joan Siefert Rose, 51, will take over in August as president of the council for Entrepreneurial Development. She's general manager of the public-radio station WUNC-FM. Her predecessor, Monica Doss, 56, left at the end...

Cary.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... CARY -- SAS Institute cut more than a dozen positions from its education division as the software maker tries to reorganize the unit around Web-based sales. The shift will help SAS lower prices and boost market share. It still employs more than...

Cary.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... CARY -- Connexion Technologies laid off about 100 of its 550 employees. About 40 were in North Carolina, where it employed more than 200. The company, which builds fiber-optic networks for subdivisions and other real-estate developments, blamed...

Morrisville.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... MORRISVILLE -- Airlines at Raleigh-Durham International Airport eliminated three daily outbound flights and plan to end two more in September. That will leave the airport with 216 daily departures to 42 airports.

Durham.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... DURHAM -- Proventys raised $5.7 million in venture capital. It's working on diagnostic software to prevent complications from chemotherapy. San Francisco-based Burrill & Co. led the round of funding.

Morrisville.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... MORRISVILLE -- Sun Tech Medical opened a factory that employs 26 in Shenzhen, China. The company, which makes blood-pressure monitors, employs 105 at its headquarters.

Morrisville.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... MORRISVILLE -- eTix, which makes software for online ticket sales, raised $1 million in venture capital. The company says it will use the money to add several sales and marketing jobs. It employs about 70, more than half at its offices here...

Morrisville.(Triangle)
July 1, 2008... MORRISVILLE -- New York-based AEA Investors bought Implus Footcare, which makes socks, shoelaces and other products, from New York-based FdG Associates. No layoffs are expected among the more than 100 employees at Implus' factory here.

Cuts dye Unifi's quarter black.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... Earlier this year, Greensboro-based yarn maker Unifi managed its first profitable quarter since 2003. It did so partly by consolidating production, closing factories and slashing jobs in North Carolina and other states The profit wasn't...

What vow is worth now.(Triad)(Wachovia merged with First Union)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Seven years ago, Ken Thompson promised Winston-Salem 3,000 jobs. He did it to generate support for Charlotte based First Union's takeover of Twin City pillar Wachovia, and it worked. Wachovia merged with First Union, even surrendering its name....

Working capital.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... TRIAD REGION Jobs: 764,964 YTD change: 7 Index: 100.1 Source: Employment Security Commission, March. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000. ...

Cooleemee.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... COOLEEMEE -- Jockey International Plans to close its knitting mill by the second quarter of 2009. About 210 people will lose jobs. The Kenosha, Wisc.-based apparel maker says the 20-year-old factory is out-dated. An adjacent warehouse that...

Winston-Salem.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... WINSTON-SALEM -- Starting in 2009, Wake Forest University will no longer require SAT or ACT test scores for admission. School leaders say they aren't accurate predictors of academic performance. Wake Forest will become the only top 30...

Winston-Salem.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... WINSTON-SALEM -- The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference agreed to hold its men's and women's basketball tournaments here for three years, beginning next year. In that time, they're expected to generate $5.2 million for the city's economy. Raleigh...

Lexington.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... LEXINGTON -- SunEdison of Beltsville, Md., plans to harvest solar energy by 2011 on 100 to 200 acres in Davidson County. Charlotte-based Duke Energy has agreed to purchase power from the $173 million solar farm. It will employ three.

Greensboro.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... GREENSBORO -- Executives at Piedmont Triad International Airport expect about $27.6 million in revenue during the fiscal year that begins this month--down 4% from the year just ended. They say 6.5% fewer passengers will fly from the airport...

High point.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... HIGH POINT -- CBL & Associates Properties wants to sell Oak Hollow Mall for $40 million. The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company also owns Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem and Randolph Mall in Asheboro. Oak Hollow is 13 years old and about 800,000...

Winston-Salem.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... WINSTON-SALEM -- Targacept, which was spun off from cigarette maker Reynolds American in 2000, received $500,000 from drug maker GlaxoSmithKline for identifying a chemical compound that could lead to a new smoking-cessation drug. London-based...

Greensboro.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... GREENSBORO -- Canplast will add 33 jobs at its factory here by the end of the year, bringing employment to about 75. The company, part of Buttenwiesen, Germany-based Surteco, makes edging used in furniture and cabinets.

Winston-Salem.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... WINSTON-SALEM -- Software maker Silk Road Technology secured $54 million in venture capital. The round was led by Menlo Park, Calif.-based Foundation Capital. Silk Road's software helps companies manage human resources. It plans to use the...

Walnut Cove.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... WALNUT COVE -- Gastonia-based Parkdale America plans to spend at least $30 million on new equipment to preserve the 85 jobs at its yarn factory here. Stokes County commissioners approved more than $200,000 in incentives.

Mocksville.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... MOCKSVILLE -- Renegade Holdings, parent of cigarette maker Alternative Brands, plans to add 25 jobs at its factory here by September after buying cigar-making equipment from Yoe, Pa.-based House of Windsor. It did not disclose the purchase...

High point.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... HIGH POINT -- LifeStyle Enterprises, which imports case goods and leather upholstery from Asia, scuttled plans to expand its Forbidden Center showroom here. It will sell back--for the price it paid--a 1.5-acre site it bought from the city in...

Greensboro.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... GREENSBORO -- NewBridge Bancorp plans to buy Capital Bank's branch here for an undisclosed price. When the deal closes in the third quarter, NewBridge will have 38 branches--six in Guilford County. Raleigh-based Capital Bank still will have...

Greensboro.(Triad)
July 1, 2008... GREENSBORO -- The News & Record wants to sell 3.6 acres adjacent to its offices for $5.7 million. That includes a 280-space parking lot and a 31,338-square-foot warehouse. Norfolk, Va.-based Landmark Communications has been trying to sell the...

Thompson is made to take one for the team.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... If your mother says she loves you, aspiring journalists are often told, don't take her word for it. Check it out. Investors would do well to treat announcements from Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp. with similar skepticism. In April, the bank cut...

Working capital.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE REGION Jobs: 1,044,856 YTD change: (2,007) Index: 108.6 Source: Employment Security Commission, March. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000. ...

The Charlotte region.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... The Charlotte region--including four counties in South Carolina--has experienced little or no year-over-year employment growth since October. Source: Employment Security Commission [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Lincolnton.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... LINCOLNTON -- Crate & Barrel will add 220 jobs at its distribution center during the next five years. The Northbrook, III.-based retail chain employs about 65 here. Plans call for a $23.5 million expansion of the three-year-old warehouse from...

Concord.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... CONCORD -- Marcus Smith, 35, was named general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway and chief operating officer of Speedway Motor-sports, which owns Lowe's and six other racetracks. He's the son of Speedway CEO Bruton Smith and replaced H.A....

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Wachovia agreed to sponsor its namesake PGA Tour event through 2014. Terms weren't disclosed. The four-year extension was announced before the ouster of former CEO Ken Thompson

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Doctors who work for Carolinas HealthCare System may no longer give patients free samples of medicine. CHS wants to lessen the influence of drug companies on doctors.

Kannapolis.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... KANNAPOLIS -- N.C. State University hired University of Illinois scientist Mary Ann Lila, 52, to lead its efforts at the North Carolina Research Campus. She starts in August. The N.C. State Fruit and Vegetable Science Institute will try to...

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith bought nearly half of Velocity Sports Performance. It provides specialized training to improve athletes' agility, speed, strength and resistance to injury. The amount of his investment...

Statesville.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... STATESVILLE -- New York-based Kooks Custom Headers plans to move its headquarters and production here by the end of the year. It will employ about 55 making exhaust systems for automobiles.

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- The state Utilities Commission rejected Duke Energy's request to add a special drought fee to customers' bills, saying droughtrelated costs are a normal business risk. Duke wanted to recoup $20 million it spent on an option to...

Shelby.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... SHELBY -- Philips Lighting of Somerset, N.J., plans to add at least 50 jobs here, nearly doubling employment, during the next three years. It also will spend about $2 million to renovate its 120,000-square-foot factory.

Charlotte.(Charlotte)(Charlotte Knights baseball team won't play in a downtown stadium because of lawsuit)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Charlotte Knights won't play baseball in a downtown stadium until at least 2010. The minor-league team, which now plays in Fort Mill, S.C., had hoped to move in next season but can't because of lawsuits challenging the project. It...

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Steelmaker Nucor will pay about $658 million for half of Duferdofin-Nucor, a joint venture with Swiss steelmaker and trader Duferco. It will produce steel beams in Italy and distribute them in Europe and North Africa.

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Krista Tillman, 54, took over as dean of undergraduate evening programs at Queens University. She was president of BellSouth in North Carolina but retired last year after the Atlanta-based company was sold to AT&T.

Matthews.(Charlotte)(PokerTek got a contract for supply a 12-table at Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City, N.J.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... MATTHEWS -- PokerTek, a maker of electronic poker tables, agreed to supply a 12-table game room at Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Terms weren't disclosed. If approved by state regulators, itwill be New Jersey's first automated poker...

Charlotte.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Bank of America paid $1.9 billion to increase its stake in Chine Construction Bank to nearly 11%. It bought 9% for about $3 billion in 2005.

Taylorsville.(Charlotte)
July 1, 2008... TAYLORSVILLE -- Piedmont Fiberglass will move here from Statesville within two years and add 25 employees, bringing the total to 75. Executives say it needs more room to make church steeples, baptismal pools and boat parts.

Appalachian scores on and off the field.(Western)
July 1, 2008... Appalachian State University's football team has gotten national attention for putting points on the board, and it's not too bad at putting coin in the school's coffers. When it shocked college-football fans last September by beating the...

Working capital.(Western)
July 1, 2008... WESTERN REGION Jobs: 494,581 YTD change: (6,109) Index: 101.8 Source: Employment Security Commission, March. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000. ...

Hotel-room sales in Buncombe.(Western)
July 1, 2008... Hotel-room sales in Buncombe County, the region's largest, more than doubled in 10 years, spurred partly by greater spending on tourism marketing. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Source: Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau

Clyde.(Western)
July 1, 2008... CLYDE -- Haywood Regional Medical Center passed federal inspections, and the government resumed Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. The 170-bed hospital had lost them in February because of questions about how some medications were...

Valdese.(Western)
July 1, 2008... VALDESE -- Four Truckers in Morganton will merge with five other companies from as far away as California to form World Wide Logistics, which will be based here and specialize in hauling furniture. The deal was scheduled to close in June. About...

Blowing rock.(Western)(Watauga County Purchasing park and Tweetsie agreed to spend $13 million to renovate the park)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... BLOWING ROCK -- Watauga County will pay $3.15 million to buy land around Tweetsie Railroad to help the theme park survive. Part of its track runs on land it leases, and the property owners want to sell. Tweetsie agreed to spend $13 million in...

Seven Devils.(Western)
July 1, 2008... SEVEN DEVILS -- Town officials approved an expansion of Hawksnest Ski & Snow Tubing, leaving the future of an adjacent golf course in doubt. Resort owner Lennie Cottom, who also owns the golf course, wants to build a 500-space parking lot...

Boone.(Western)
July 1, 2008... BOONE -- Appalachian State University asked the UNC Board of Governors for money so it can join the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. It wants to study quercetin, a potential immune-system booster found in apple, berry and onion...

H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler Jr.: past president and general manager, Lowe's motor speedway past president and coo, speedway motorsports inc., concord.(Entertainment)(Humpy Wheeler announces retirement)
July 1, 2008... Such prestigious titles as president and chief operating officer may have preceded his name, but make no mistake: Humpy Wheeler was, above all, a world-class entertainer. Described as snippets of P.T. Barnum, Walt Disney and Don King rolled...

Paul Beard CEO, Crown Center Fayetteville.(Entertainment)(Crown Center Fayetteville)
July 1, 2008... Though Fayetteville native Paul Beard retired from the entertainment industry at the ripe old age of 18-his parents owned the local speedway, and he grew up selling tickets and concessions--he couldn't stay away. Two decades later, he was back...

Pat whalen: owner, the orange peel social and pleasure club LLC Asheville.(Entertainment)
July 1, 2008... Talk about impressing the right people. In April, Pat Whalen got a phone call from Rolling Stone magazine telling him that The Orange Peel Social Aid and Pleasure Club had made its list of the five best rock clubs in the country. A former...

James M. O'Brien III; head, entertainment law section Poyner & Spruill LLP, Raleigh.(Entertainment)
July 1, 2008... Like a lot of young people, Jim O'Brien dreamed of being involved in the music industry. There were just two problems: "I didn't play an instrument, and I couldn't sing." After earning a bachelor's in English from UNC Chapel Hill, the...

Spotlight on: Elsie Garner president CEO, WTVI Inc., Charlotte.(Entertainment)
July 1, 2008... Elsie Garner, 61, has made a career of television, yet the WTVI president and CEO spent her early years without one. The daughter of missionaries in Trujillo, Peru, she got rare glimpses of TV when the family made trips to Lima. When they...