Business North Carolina articles from March 2008

Business North Carolina archives from March 2008

More.(UPFRONT)(David Simon)
March 1, 2008... In a piece he recently wrote for The Washington Post, David Simon--the former cops reporter who is the creative force behind what many consider the best-written show on television--recalls what it was like as one of the "starry-eyed acolytes of...

Trend.(Statistical table)
March 1, 2008... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Latest Previous Previous % change from month month year last year ...

Stock watch.(Statistical table)
March 1, 2008... SPOTLIGHT Despite some ups and downs, Cree's share price nearly doubled in 12 months, aided in late January by a strong earnings report. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] HIGHEST PRICE/EARNINGS RATIOS ...

Economic outlook.(interview with Stephanie McGarrah and Gene Byrd)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... Despite some winter rain, North Carolina is still mighty dry. In mid-January, more than half the population was subject to mandatory water restrictions. An additional 25% was under voluntary restrictions. How has the drought affected the state...

Biotechnology wants a lead role: after years of preparing a work force and other infrastructure, the industry is ready to take a star turn in the state's economy.(SPONSORED SECTION)
March 1, 2008... Every state covets biotechnology, but industry leaders in North Carolina believe the state is especially well-positioned for growth. BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA recently asked some of those leaders to address industry issues during a round-table...

Currituck: the show doesn't have to go on.(Eastern)
March 1, 2008... In late December 2005, a lawyer representing the brother of superstar Dolly Parton pitched a deal to government leaders wanting to expand the local economy: build a 1,500-seat theater that would be the linchpin of an entertainment district that...

Working capital.(Eastern)
March 1, 2008... EASTERN REGION Jobs: 1,062,481 YTD change: 8,877 Index: 111.2 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. ...

Population bust.(Eastern)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The number of North Carolinians increased more than 17% in the past 10 years, but the populations of seven counties declined. All are in the East. Population % County (000s) change Edgecombe 52.3 ...

AT & T.(Eastern)
March 1, 2008... GOLDSBORO -- The city and Wayne County each approved $100,000 of incentives for AT & T, which is opening a broadband technical-support call center. Plans called for the San Antonio, Texas-based telecommunications company to begin operations...

GAF Materials.(Eastern)
March 1, 2008... GOLDSBORO -- Wayne, N.J.-based GAF Materials closed its local shingle plant, idling nearly 110. The company cited the housing slowdown.

Leiner Health Products.(Eastern)
March 1, 2008... WILSON -- Carson, Calif.-based Leiner Health Products plans to shut its plant this month and outsource production to India. About 170 will lose jobs.

Quintiles Transnational.(Eastern)
March 1, 2008... WILMINGTON -- Quintiles Transnational plans to open a local office. The Durham-based contract-research organization, which helps drug companies perform clinical trials, would not say how many it will hire.

Brunswick.(Eastern)
March 1, 2008... SWANSBORO -- Brunswick plans to close its Hatteras Yachts plant here this month, idling about 200. The Lake Forest, Ill.-based company plans to consolidate production of the brand in New Bern.

Cape Fear Bank.(Eastern)
March 1, 2008... WILMINGTON -- Cape Fear Bank's board of directors rejected shareholder Maurice Koury's offer to buy the bank holding company for $12 a share--a 13% premium at the time of the offer. Koury, president of Carolina Hosiery Mills in Burlington, has...

Tax sucks life out of biofuels.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... For nearly three years, Stan Bingham has been driving around in a Volkswagen he modified to run on used vegetable oil, which the Republican state senator from Denton gets free from the General Assembly cafeteria. His bug gets more than 40 miles...

Executive moves.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... Raleigh-based Red Hat, which sells and services the Linux computer-operating system, hired James Whitehurst, 40, as CEO. The former chief operating officer at Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines took over for Matthew Szulik, 51, who will remain as...

Working capital.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... TRIANGLE REGION Jobs: 927,838 YTD change: 6,043 Index: 112.5 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. ...

The Castleton Group.(Triangle)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... RALEIGH -- The State Bureau of Investigation and the state Department of Insurance are investigating the finances of The Castleton Group, which provided payroll, health-insurance and other human-resources services for more than 100 small and...

Optimal Technologies.(Triangle)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... RALEIGH -- Optimal Technologies, which makes software that it says can prevent blackouts and lower utility costs, moved its headquarters and 20 employees here from Calgary, Alberta. The company plans to create 125 jobs within a year and add 200...

Nationwide Insurance.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... RALEIGH -- Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Insurance plans to close a call center here by the end of the year, laying off about 60. It will cut about 40 other local jobs as well, part of about 1,000 it is shedding nationally. It will still have...

RBC Centura Banks.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... RALEIGH -- RBC Centura Banks, based here, will change its name in April, dropping Centura. The trade name will become RBC Bank. Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada kept the Centura name when it acquired Rocky Mount-based Centura Banks in 2001...

Granville County.(Triangle)(United States. Department of Homeland Security)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... OXFORD -- Granville County commissioners have withdrawn support for a $450 million animal-disease research center that the federal Department of Homeland Security is considering building in Butner. Commissioners say they are frustrated because...

Motricity.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... DURHAM -- Motricity, which makes software for downloading games, ring tones and other content to mobile phones, sold its electronic-books division and eReader.com Web site to Chatham, N.J.-based online book retailer Fictionwise. Terms were not...

Arsenal Digital Solutions.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... CARY -- Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM plans to buy Arsenal Digital Solutions, which stores, manages and protects data for other companies. The purchase price was not disclosed. IBM says it plans to add to the 100 employees at Arsenal, which will...

Qimonda.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... CARY -- Qimonda plans to close its design center in Burlington, Vt., and consolidate operations at its North American headquarters here. The German company makes microchips for cell phones and other electronics. The shift will result in a net...

Pozen.(Triangle)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... CHAPEL HILL -- Pozen expects to hear by mid-April whether its migraine treatment will be approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. In August, the agency requested further study of whether Treximet, formerly known as Trexima, could...

Invitrogen.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... DURHAM -- Carlsbad, Calif.-based Invitrogen plans to buy CellzDirect, which supplies liver cells and other cell-based products for drug research, for $57 million. Invitrogen sells more than 25,000 products used to research diseases and drugs....

Clinipace.(Triangle)
March 1, 2008... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Clinipace, which makes software used by drug companies to collect and manage data generated by clinical trials, raised $2.6 million in a funding round led by Durham-based Hatteras Venture Partners. It plans to use the...

Furniture making may come back--literally.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... All three events occurred within a week. Asheboro-based Klaussner Furniture Industries said it was closing a plant in its hometown. Norfolk, Va.-based furniture importer Ison International announced it was moving to Thomasville. Chinese...

Working capital.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... TRIAD REGION Jobs: 781,442 YTD change: (3,783) Index: 102.3 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. ...

Home is where the heart is--and incentives are.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... TransTech Pharma and its PharmaCore spinoff agreed to stay in High Point and add more than 200 high-paying jobs within five years. In return, they will get nearly $10 million in state and local incentives. TransTech, which develops drugs to...

GoldToeMoretz.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... BURLINGTON -- GoldToeMoretz plans to close its factory here by the end of June, idling about 425, and expand production offshore. The Newton-based sock maker will still employ about 850 in North Carolina.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... BURLINGTON -- Medical tester Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings purchased Utah-based clinical researcher Tandem Labs. Terms were not disclosed. Tandem will become part of LabCorp's clinical-trials group. The deal was expected to close...

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... WINSTON-SALEM -- Krispy Kreme Doughnuts named James Morgan, 60, to replace Daryl Brewster as president and CEO. Morgan also will remain chairman. Brewster, 51, resigned, citing personal reasons. He had been CEO since March 2006. Morgan was...

RF Micro Devices.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... GREENSBORO -- RF Micro Devices, which makes power amplifiers for cell phones, plans to buy Filtronic Compound Semiconductors for about $24.8 million. The company, a subsidiary of United Kingdom-based Filtronic, is one of RF Micro's suppliers....

Hanesbrands.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... WINSTON-SALEM -- Hanesbrands plans to close plants in Advance and Asheboro by the end of June, idling about 120. The plants make elastic fabric used in waistbands for women's underwear. The apparel maker plans to outsource production. It will...

Pace Airlines.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... WINSTON-SALEM -- Pace Airlines has begun adding about 70 employees at its heavy-maintenance base at Smith Reynolds Airport. The jobs, with annual salaries averaging $50,000, will bring the commuter airline's employment to about 425.

Remington Arms.(Triad)
March 1, 2008... MADISON -- Gun and ammunition maker Remington Arms bought North Haven, Conn.-based Marlin Firearms, which makes rifles and shotguns. The family-owned company also owns the Harrington and Richardson, New England Firearms and LC Smith brands....

Detention center slips across river to Gaston.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... Hey, Mecklenburg County: You snooze, you lose. Gaston County has taken center stage as the possible site of a detention center for illegal immigrants after the project's main proponent, Rep. Sue Myrick, announced that "insurmountable obstacles"...

Working capital.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE REGION Jobs: 1,056,590 YTD change: 9,440 Index: 109.8 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....

BofA will reach the top with Countrywide deal.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... Charlotte-based Bank of America is set to add "largest U.S. mortgage lender" to its list of credits, following the news it intends to purchase financially troubled Countrywide Financial in a $4 billion deal. The bank will add Calabasas,...

Carolinas HealthCare System.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... MONROE -- Charlotte-based Carolinas HealthCare System hired Michael Lutes, 36, as president and CEO of its Carolinas Medical Center-Union hospital. Lutes is the former CEO of Greenbrier Valley Medical Center in West Virginia. He replaces...

Hickory Brands.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... HICKORY -- Nissan Joseph, 43, resigned as CEO of Hickory Brands, which makes shoe polish, cleats, insoles and laces. He took a job as chief operating officer of Birmingham, Ala.-based sporting-goods retailer Hibbett Sports. Hickory Brands,...

Cogdell Spencer.(Charlotte)(Marshall Erdman and Associates Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Cogdell Spencer, a real-estate investment trust, agreed to pay $247 million for Madison, Wis.-based Marshall Erdman and Associates, which specializes in the planning, design and construction of health-care buildings. The...

Parkdale Mills.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... GASTONIA -- Parkdale Mills purchased Rio Rancho, N.M.-based US Cotton, which makes private-label cotton balls, pads and other products at factories in Charlotte, Cleveland, Montreal and Rio Rancho. Terms were not disclosed.

Exactech.(Charlotte)(Exactech Inc. acquired ALTIVA Corp.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Gainesville, Fla.-based medical-device maker Exactech acquired Altiva, which makes spinal implants and related products, for $25 million. Altiva will operate as a subsidiary of Exactech and plans to add five workers this year to...

Cambria.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Le Sueur, Minn.-based Cambria, which makes quartz countertops, flooring and other products, opened a factory that will employ about 80 here. The company says it spent $4 million on the plant.

Speedway Motorsports.(Charlotte)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... CONCORD -- Speedway Motorsports plans to complete construction of its $60 million drag strip near Lowe's Motor Speedway here in time for a National Hot Rod Association event Sept. 11-14. The drag strip was a source of controversy between...

Nexxus Lighting.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Nexxus Lighting, which uses light-emitting diodes to make traffic lights, electronic signs and other products, agreed to buy Maple Grove, Minn.-based Lumificient, which makes LEDs. Terms of the sale, expected to close by the end of...

Consolidated Theatres.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Knoxville, Tenn.-based Regal Entertainment Group, which owns and operates movie theaters, plans to purchase competitor Consolidated Theatres for $210 million. The sale, scheduled to close in the first half of the year, will add 28...

Lance.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Saying that it wants to diversify, Lance purchased a minority stake in Hyannis, Mass.-based Late July Snacks. Late July makes organic versions of crackers, sandwich cookies and other snacks. Lance also started making lower-fat...

Johnson C. Smith University.(Charlotte)(appointment of Ron Carter)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Johnson C. Smith University named Ron Carter, 59, to succeed Dorothy Cowser Yancy, 63, as president, effective July 1. Yancy, who has led the school since 1994, announced last year that she would retire June 30. Carter, a High...

Goodrich.(Charlotte)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Goodrich purchased Fort Worth, Texas-based Skyline Industries, which makes military helicopter seats and armor. Terms weren't disclosed. Skyline and its 40 employees will become part of the aerospace manufacturer's Interiors...

Chelsea Therapeutics.(Charlotte)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... CHARLOTTE -- Chelsea Therapeutics is in the middle of second-stage clinical testing on a drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The three-month test of CH-1504 is scheduled to end in April. Chelsea believes its drug is as effective as existing...

Foes fear you can't see the forest for the trees.(Western)
March 1, 2008... Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder. That also goes for value. Covering the landscape along a mountain road, trees are lovely to behold and create vistas that draw visitors--and their money--to western North Carolina. Thinned out,...

Working capital.(Western)
March 1, 2008... WESTERN REGION Jobs: 500,488 YTD change: 232 Index: 103.0 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. ...

Keep Asheville Weird.(Western)
March 1, 2008... Even before the influx of neohippies, mountain folk had a tradition of doing their own thing. It has long been part of the highland charm. Bumper stickers urge: Keep Asheville Weird, and visitors seem to like the vibe. Downtown Asheville on a...

Superior Machine Company of South Carolina.(Western)
March 1, 2008... MARION -- Superior Machine Company of South Carolina plans to add at least 25 workers this year at its factory here, which employs nearly 55. The Florence-based company may add another 25 if there are enough qualified applicants. The plant...

Bank of Granite.(Western)
March 1, 2008... GRANITE FALLS -- Charles Snipes, 74, retired as CEO of Bank of Granite. The title went to Scott Anderson, 52, the president and chief operating officer. Snipes, who has worked at the bank 25 years, plans to quit as chairman in April. He...

Ultracoat.(Western)
March 1, 2008... FOREST CITY -- Ultracoat, a subsidiary of Shelby-based Ultra Machine & Fabrication, plans to open a factory here to paint military vehicles. The $2 million plant, scheduled to begin production in May, will employ nearly 50 by the end of 2009....

Swift Galey.(Western)
March 1, 2008... MARION -- Swift Galey let go about 150 of 525 employees at its fabric plant here. The Atlanta-based textile maker blamed Asian competition.

Western Carolina University.(Western)
March 1, 2008... CULLOWHEE -- Student applications for the fall 2008 semester at Western Carolina University totaled 5,352 in mid-January--up more than 62% from last year. Officials credited targeted recruiting. For a daily roundup of business news in the...

John Swofford.(Sports)(Atlantic Coast Conference)
March 1, 2008... COMMISSIONER ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE, GREENSBORO Education: bachelor's, UNC Chapel Hill; master's, Ohio University Athletic career: quarterback and defensive back for the Tar Heels [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Some critics called...

Jim Rutherford.(Sports)
March 1, 2008... GENERAL MANAGER CAROLINA HURRICANES RALEIGH Education: attended Canadian Business College Number of National Hockey League teams played for: four Detroit Red Wings' summary of his three stints with the team: "Jim Rutherford was the...

Judy Rose.(Sports)(UNC Charlotte)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS, UNC CHARLOTTE Fans love an underdog, whether it's a stubby hoopster like former Charlotte Hornet Muggsy Bogues or a no-way-they-can-win Super Bowl champ like the New York Giants. Count Judy Rose, 55, as someone to...

Kym Hougham.(Sports)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... DIRECTOR, WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP, CHARLOTTE Kym Hougham announced his arrival with 32 bottles of Dom Perignon. It was 2003, and he had just been hired as director of the fledgling Wachovia Championship. He needed to draw top players--a...

Spotlight on: Ben Sutton Jr. CEO, ISP Sports, Winston-Salem.(Sports)(International Sports Properties Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Sports is a conservative industry run by cartels that call themselves leagues. That conservatism crimps innovation. So give a double shot of credit to Ben Sutton Jr., founder of International Sports Properties Inc. in Winston-Salem, for coming...

Wisdom of the sage's.(FINEPRINT)
March 1, 2008... It's often hard to separate fact from lore, and sometimes not even worth the trouble if you subscribe to that cynical wisdom among journalists that holds, "Facts have killed many a great story." So I use Joseph Kennedy here only as a starting...

A moderating influence.(CAPITALGOODS)
March 1, 2008... Every four years, North Carolina Republicans talk about ending the Democrats' stranglehold on political power in the state. And every four years, Democrats usually beat them back. The Democrats' success, at least since the 1970s, has come in...

Changing prescriptions: pharmacists compound a new formula to keep fit a business that's been in the family four generations.(FEATURE)
March 1, 2008... The past seems to cling to Mount Pleasant, change treading lightly on this 160-year-old town of about 1,400, with its quiet, shady streets and antebellum homes. The most prominent structure is still Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute's main...

The picture of health: Duke Executive Health Program provides a detailed look, but its true value is what clients draw from the experience.
March 1, 2008... Lamplight glints off the stainless-steel coffee machine, one of those high-tech models that make a mug at a time. Beside it sits a basket of bagels and muffins, each tucked in a plastic bag tied with a silver bow. A bowl of organic pears and...

Roll your own: with price support gone up in smoke, the growers co-op is making cigarettes to make a market for its members.(PICTURE THIS)
March 1, 2008... In 1839, a slave in Caswell County discovered a better way to cure tobacco when he stoked a dying blaze and the burst of heat turned the leaf bright yellow. The mild-tasting "bright leaf" made the soils of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain more...

Bricks & mortar.
March 1, 2008... Straddling waterfalls with its wings unfurled, the home of Lowe's Cos. was no do-it-yourself project. Finished in 2003, the five-level, 400,000-square-foot building sits on 157 acres in Mooresville. About 2,000 work here. Before moving, the...