Business North Carolina articles from March 2007

Business North Carolina archives from March 2007

Schooling.(UP FRONT)(Column)
March 1, 2007... I approached this month's cover story with some trepidation. The assignment went to freelancer Jerry Shinn, a former editorial writer and associate editor of The Charlotte Observer. Those were not the credentials that concerned me. Like a great...

Trend.(economic indicators)(Statistical table)
March 1, 2007... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] % change Latest Previous Previous from last ...

Stock watch.(Statistical table)
March 1, 2007... SPOTLIGHT A good third quarter and a CEO change helped Trimeris' stock post the biggest three-month percentage gain in the state. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Highest price/earnings ratios ...

Study fuels a debate over renewable energy sources.(ECONOMIC OUTLOOK)(Interview)
March 1, 2007... Singer Willie Nelson peddles automobile fuel made from vegetable oil and animal fats. Raleigh-based Progress Energy, the state's second-largest electricity provider, experiments with poultry bedding and waste. Maybe the tide is turning against...

Bosch does durable good to New Bern.(EASTERN)
March 1, 2007... BSH Home Appliances, part of Munich, Germany-based Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate, will spend $11 million to expand one of the three factories on its New Bern campus, adding 200 jobs to more than 1,000 already there. BSH began production in New...

PenCell Plastics.(EASTERN)
March 1, 2007... ROCKY MOUNT -- PenCell Plastics, based in New Egypt, N.J., began refitting a 170,000-square-foot building here to produce plastic sheathing for utility lines. The company will spend $5.5 million and hire about 150 workers. Production is...

Division of Marine Fisheries.(EASTERN)
March 1, 2007... MOREHEAD CITY -- Louis Daniel, 43, became director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, which oversees fishing in coastal waters and up to three miles offshore. He began working for the division in 1995 and had been an executive assistant...

Division of Motor Vehicles.(EASTERN)(call center jobs moved)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... ELIZABETHTOWN -- The state Division of Motor Vehicles will move 86 call-center jobs here from Raleigh by the end of the year. The workers average about $32,400 a year. The division expects to save about $2.3 million within five years, partly by...

Solv-It Technologies.(EASTERN)
March 1, 2007... ST. PAULS -- Marietta, Ga.-based Solv-It Technologies wants to build an ethanol plant here. It would employ about 15 and pay an average of $30,000 a year. Robeson County gave tentative approval, pending public hearings, to a $690,000 grant to...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.(EASTERN)
March 1, 2007... JACKSONVILLE -- Onslow became the first county in North Carolina declared tsunami-ready. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cited the county's emergency-alert system, which includes tsunami-zone warning signs for visitors to...

Working capital.(REGIONAL REPORT)
March 1, 2007... Source: Employment Security Commission, November. Figures are not seasonally adjusted. The index is the number of jobs as a percentage of the average in 2000. [GRAPHIC OMITTED]

Store purchase should pump up sales.(TRIANGLE)
March 1, 2007... The Pantry, a Sanford-based owner and operator of 1,506 convenience stores in the Southeast, agreed to buy 66 from Charlotte-based Petro Express for an undisclosed sum. Fifty-five of the Petro Express stores are in North Carolina, and the rest...

Florida Marine Tanks.(TRIANGLE)
March 1, 2007... HENDERSON -- Miami-based Florida Marine Tanks plans to open a factory here this month, creating 100 jobs and investing $2 million during the next three years. The company makes fuel, water and other kinds of tanks. The new jobs will pay $455 a...

Environ-OPW.(TRIANGLE)(expansion plans)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... SMITHFIELD -- Environ-OPW will spend $3.6 million to expand here and add 78 jobs, for a total of 144, during the next three years. The company is part of Cincinnati-based OPW, a maker of nozzles and other fueling equipment. The new jobs will...

North Carolina Biotechnology Center.(TRIANGLE)
March 1, 2007... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Leslie Alexandre, 49, has resigned, effective the end of this month, as CEO of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center "to pursue new opportunities." She has run the nonprofit, which promotes the state's biotech...

Icagen.(TRIANGLE)
March 1, 2007... DURHAM -- A bump in price prevented Icagen shares from losing their Nasdaq listing. The drug developer's price, which had fallen as low as 66 cents in November, needed to close above $1 10 straight days to avoid delisting.

Duke University.(TRIANGLE)
March 1, 2007... DURHAM -- Blair Sheppard, 54, will replace Douglas Breeden, 56, as dean of Duke University's business school July 1. Breeden, dean since 2001, plans to return to teaching at Duke full time. Sheppard joined the faculty in 1981 but has been on...

University of North Carolina Hospitals.(TRIANGLE)
March 1, 2007... CHAPEL HILL -- University of North Carolina Hospitals asked the state for permission to add 68 beds. The expansion would cost $25 million and bring UNC Hospitals' total number of beds here to 799.

Malt-O-Meal.(TRIAD)
March 1, 2007... ASHEBORO -- Minneapolis-based cereal maker Malt-O-Meal will spend $104 million to open a factory here by 2008. It hopes to employ 164 within six years. The company is renovating a former soup plant that closed in 2005. Malt-O-Meal also...

VF.(TRIAD)
March 1, 2007... GREENSBORO -- VF, which makes clothing under Nautica, Wrangler and other labels, agreed to sell its lingerie division for $350 million to Bowling Green, Ky.-based Fruit of the Loom. The division has no North Carolina employees. VF will use...

Lodging by Liberty.(TRIAD)
March 1, 2007... HIGH POINT -- Lodging by Liberty, which makes chairs and other furniture for hotels, is moving here from Liberty and expanding. The company, part of Pompano Beach, Fla.-based furniture maker Brown Jordan International, plans to finish moving by...

Kayak.(TRIAD)
March 1, 2007... GREENSBORO -- Flat Rock-based kayak maker Liquidlogic merged with competitor Legacy Paddle-sports. Terms were not disclosed. Legacy's employment will increase from 105 to about 120 employees when the deal closes by the end of this month....

Dixon Hughes.(TRIAD)
March 1, 2007... HIGH POINT -- Dixon Hughes, an accounting firm with headquarters here and in Asheville, acquired Simpson & Osborne, a Charleston, W.Va.-based accounting firm. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal adds about 70 employees to Dixon Hughes'...

Insteel Industries.(TRIAD)
March 1, 2007... MOUNT AIRY -- Insteel Industries (cover story, January), which makes steel wire for concrete construction, plans to repurchase up to $25 million of its stock during 2007. It has about 18.2 million shares outstanding. In mid-January, shares were...

International Textile Group.(TRIAD)
March 1, 2007... GREENSBORO -- Burlington Apparel Fabrics, part of International Textile Group, won a $6.3 million contract to supply cloth for Air Force uniforms. New York financier Wilbur Ross formed ITG in 2004 from bankrupt textile makers Burlington...

The Qualicaps Group.(TRIAD)
March 1, 2007... WHITSETT -- The Qualicaps Group, which makes capsules for drug companies, bought Windsor, Ontario-based competitor Pharmaphil. Terms were not disclosed. Qualicaps also has factories in Japan and Spain.

Honda decides to tool its jets in Triad.(TRIAD)
March 1, 2007... Honda Aircraft will spend up to $100 million to build a factory that will make lightweight business jets near its headquarters at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro. The plant will employ more than 275, bringing the company's...

Truck maker will unload loads of jobs.(CHARLOTTE)
March 1, 2007... Portland, Ore.-based truck maker Freightliner plans to lay off as many as 1,440 workers at factories in Gastonia and the Rowan County town of Cleveland. As many as 1,180 of the more than 4,000 who work at the Cleveland factory will be idled by...

Nucor.(CHARLOTTE)
March 1, 2007... CHARLOTTE -- Steel maker Nucor agreed to its biggest deal yet--a $1.1 billion purchase of Toronto-based Harris Steel Group. Harris makes and distributes steel wire and concrete-reinforcing steel. It grossed $1.2 billion during the 12 months...

Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.(CHARLOTTE)
March 1, 2007... CHARLOTTE -- Charlotte/Douglas International Airport will break ground this month on a $220 million runway to handle passenger traffic. It will be the airport's fourth and is expected to boost takeoffs and landings by 46% after it opens in...

Telerx Marketing.(CHARLOTTE)
March 1, 2007... KINGS MOUNTAIN -- Telerx Marketing, a Horsham, Pa.-based customer-service contractor, plans to invest $8.8 million to build a 60,000-square-foot customer-service center here and hire more than 450 during the next three years. Telerx is part of...

Shutterfly.(CHARLOTTE)
March 1, 2007... CHARLOTTE -- Shutterfly, a Redwood City, Calif.-based online photograph-publishing service, plans to open a $31.5 million photoprocessing center here by July. It will create 233 jobs during the next three years.

Toyota Racing Development.(CHARLOTTE)
March 1, 2007... SALISBURY -- Toyota Racing Development, part of Japanese car maker Toyota Motor, plans to open a 30,000-square-foot chassis-design center here next year to support its NASCAR teams. Toyota will invest $22 million and hire at least 40 people at...

Tourist magnet attracts $24 million.(WESTERN)(sale of Chimney Rock Park)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... In a move hailed by tourism officials, the state agreed to buy Chimney Rock Park in Rutherford County for $24 million, including nearly $2.4 million from a private donor. The Morse family of St. Louis owns the park and had sought $55 million....

Collins & Aikman.(WESTERN)
March 1, 2007... OLD FORT -- Collins & Aikman, a Southfield, Mich.-based maker of automobile fabrics, plans to sell its 375,000-square-foot factory here, clouding the future of the plant's 675 workers. The company filed for reorganization in 2005 but decided in...

General Electric.(WESTERN)
March 1, 2007... ASHEVILLE -- Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric, agreed to buy Smiths Aerospace, a London-based maker of aircraft parts, for $4.8 billion. The deal is expected to close in June. It includes a factory with about 400 employees here and one...

Baldor Electric.(WESTERN)
March 1, 2007... MARION -- Baldor Electric, a Fort Smith, Ark.-based maker of electrical motors, bought the mechanical and motor business of Rockwell Automation, which employed 100 here. No layoffs are expected. The plant will continue to make roller bearings.

National Park Service.(WESTERN)
March 1, 2007... BRYSON CITY -- A National Park Service study says a $600 million, 42-mile road through Great Smoky Mountains National Park wouldn't hurt air quality. Proponents say the road was promised in 1942 when the federal government built Fontana Dam....

Healthways.(REGIONAL REPORT)(expansion plans)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Healthways, a Nashville, Tenn.-based medical consultant, plans to expand its call center in Cary and add 109 jobs, for a total of about 240, within three years. The additional jobs are expected to pay an average of $1,250 a week; the Wake...

Russell.(REGIONAL REPORT)
March 1, 2007... Atlanta-based Russell, which makes sporting goods and clothes, plans to close its Cross Creek Apparel factory in Mount Airy by the end of August, idling about 300. Russell, which includes brands such as Jerzees, Spalding and Huffy Sports, cited...

FairPoint Communications.(REGIONAL REPORT)
March 1, 2007... Charlotte-based FairPoint Communications agreed to buy Verizon Communications' land-line business in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont for $2.7 billion. The deal will make FairPoint the eighth-largest telecommunications company in the U.S., with...

Mayor: critics need to ogle Google deal.(TAR HEEL TATTLER)
March 1, 2007... Promising a company incentives for creating 210 jobs might seem a no-brainer--as in state and local officials must have no brains to cut a deal that gives Google Inc. $260 million over 30 years for coming to Lenoir. After all, that's more than...

It's a lotto work for a little dough.(TAR HEEL TATTLER)(North Carolina Education Lottery marketing)
March 1, 2007... In their first year of selling tickets for the North Carolina lottery, retailers are learning to leave little to chance. To get the games to pay off for them, they're finding ways to turn losers into winners, even if it means peddling tickets...

What's up--docks--when slips show.(TAR HEEL TATTLER)
March 1, 2007... If you want to stash your boat at Creekside Yacht Club in Wrights-ville Beach, you'd better act fast and bring some serious green. Prices for a slip run from $90,000 to $159,000, General Manager Tommy Vann says. That's if you can find one for...

Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers and Facilitators.(WHAT THEY'RE READING)(Scott Blackwell)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Scott Blackwell, CEO, Immaculate Baking Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers and Facilitators by Patrick M. Lencioni Teamwork is an imperative for the growth of a business, and this writer...

The Essence of Leadership.(WHAT THEY'RE READING)
March 1, 2007... Robert Jordan III, president, Jordan Lumber & Supply The Essence of Leadership by Mac Anderson His books are the easiest to read and the most succinct, relative to business. His message is, as my mother used to say, 'Don't waste a good...

The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations.(WHAT THEY'RE READING)(Pat Rodgers)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Pat Rodgers, president, Rodgers Builders The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations by James Surowiecki. This book talks about solutions...

Fishy fire cannot keep Sunburst from shining.(PEOPLE)(Sunburst Trout Co.)
March 1, 2007... Last August, fire destroyed Sunburst Trout Co.'s fish-processing plant. When the smoke cleared, owner Sally Eason found about 75% of the Canton company's trout caviar, nearly 700 pounds, had been stolen. The business would have to be rebuilt,...

He thinks big with other people's ideas.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... Louis Foreman says it often. "Everybody has a great idea. The problem is most people never really follow through on that idea." But the CEO of Charlotte-based Enventys LLC, which helps inventors turn concepts into products, isn't most...

Beer delivers more takeout customers.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... With apologies to H.L. Mencken, no one ever went broke underestimating Americans' desire to do things for themselves. Ryan Faircloth found that out when he opened Raleigh Take-Out in mid-2004. It wasn't enough for customers that the company...

Supply chains keep profits from sliding: North Carolina's roads, ports and airports give it a competitive advantage over other states, logistics experts say.(Sponsored Section)
March 1, 2007... How is technology changing supply-chain management--the process of getting raw goods to factories and finished products to distributors? Experts assembled by Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, a Winston-Salem-based law firm, recently...

Over the river: treating the flood of uninsured illegal immigrants threatens to erode the quality of care hospitals can afford to provide.(FEATURE)
March 1, 2007... On good days, her dark eyes sparkled, but those days grew rare. The walls of her heart were becoming rigid from restrictive cardiomyopathy, and Jesica Santillan seemed to become even tinier inside her print hospital gown. Spirits leaped when a...

Coach K Inc.: follow the leader--not basketball--is the name of the game that runs up the score for Mike Krzyzewski.(Cover story)
March 1, 2007... Inside the student center at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, 300 men and women mingle, munching sushi and sipping wine, bottled water and the occasional beer. Even at $1,600 a pop for two days of lectures and discussion, more would...

Indie dependent: Dolph Ramseur keeps harmony with the Avett Brothers and other artists on his tiny Concord-based record label.(FEATURE)
March 1, 2007... To Dolph Ramseur, the twang of finger-picked guitar combined with vocals sung in a deep Southern drawl is the music angels make. As a teenager, he spent many days at the Concord Public Library looking up old Piedmont blues musicians: Etta...

Hanging out: you must be careful but show no high anxiety when your job is on the ropes washing skyscraper windows.(PICTURE THIS)
March 1, 2007... Later this year, Gary McGrath will swallow hard and take the plunge. "My wife's from Korea, and it's an 18-hour flight," he says. "The thought of flying just kills me." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's scarier than hanging off the side of...

Bricks & mortar.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... The circus doesn't play the Charlotte Convention Center, but some see a white elephant. Costing more than $150 million in 1995, it has six acres of exhibit space, ballrooms and a cafe that seats 375. But experts blame slack travel and stiff...