Business North Carolina articles from May 2002

Business North Carolina archives from May 2002

Revolution road. (Up Front).
May 1, 2002... Every school kid knows the story of Paul Revere. He was the silversmith who tore out of Boston on horseback at midnight to warn folks in nearby Lexington and Concord that British troops were on the way. Thanks to him, the militia was ready. ...

Letters.
May 1, 2002... What you owe them The following statement from Outlook in the March issue is a disgrace to the American worker. BNC: Many Latinos are here illegally. How does that affect worker-manager relations? Donald Tomaskovic-Devey: The more...

Trend.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Trend EMPLOYMENT (1) Latest Previous month month Total employed (000s) 3,771.8 3,753.3 Civilian labor force...

Triangle should muster its clusters for growth. (Economic Outlook).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Pedro Arboleda, 32, is a consultant with the Cambridge, Mass.-based Monitor Group, which teamed with Harvard professor Michael Porter to study the Raleigh-Durham metro area for the Washington, D.C-based Council on Competitiveness. The council...

Tobacco tracking stock shows Loews the way. (Money Matters).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... When you have a cash cow, you milk it for all it's worth. That's what Loews Corp. did in February, when it created a tracking stock called Carolina Group (NYSE: CG) to represent its Greensboro-based Lorillard Tobacco Co. subsidiary. Sale of...

Getting paid for the study is another economic impact. (Tar Heel Tattler).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. John Maynard Keynes When the Charlotte-based Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition...

Lawmaker bristles at return to sender. (Tar Heel Tattler).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Julia Howard got a letter every taxpayer would dread: The N.C. Revenue Department couldn't find her 1999 tax return, though it had cashed the check that accompanied it. Would she send a copy? If she were like many people, Howard would turn...

Tattle tales. (Tar Heel Tattler).(various briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Frank Maley * Swirl or hurl?: Salisbury neighbors Food Lion, the grocery chain, and Cheerwine, the soft-drink maker, have teamed up to produce and sell an ice cream called Cheerwine Swirl. * Weed digger: Investigators have figured out...

Bondsman should have skipped school. (Tar Heel Tattler).
May 1, 2002... Rambo goofed. Never should a pistol-packing bail bondsman have charged onto an Efland school playground in hot pursuit of a bond skipper. "Frankly," says Joe Shaw of Asheboro, who heads a trade group representing the state's 1,022 bondsmen,...

Tainted toilet titan can keep his seat. (Tar Heel Tattler).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Patrick Swisher once dreamed of being the world's toilet-cleaning king, with his Charlotte-based Swisher International Inc. spanning the globe with franchises. But while his company was keeping bathrooms smelling fresh, regulators were raising...

Correction.
May 1, 2002... Money Matters in March incorrectly reported McRae Industries' dividend history. The quarterly dividend has varied since its 1982 IPO.

National Spinning. (Eastern).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... KINSTON -- Washington-based National Spinning has cut 80 jobs at the Kinston textile plant it purchased in February from Burlington-based Glen Raven Yarn. About 100 remain at the yarn plant, which employed 330 as recently as two years ago.

Irvin Aerospace. (Eastern).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... HOPE MILLS -- Parachute maker Irvin Aerospace will keep its plant here to be near Fort Bragg, one of its largest customers, President Paul Colliver says. But the company is moving its headquarters, including about 15 administrative and...

Newport Generation. (Eastern).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... HAMLET -- California-based Newport Generation wants to build a $500 million gas-fired power plant adjacent to an existing Progress Energy substation. If the state approves, construction could begin in the first half of 2003. The plant would...

New Hanover County Airport Authority. (Eastern).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... WILMINGTON -- The New Hanover County Airport Authority has rescinded incentives designed to attract new flights to Wilmington International Airport. Airport Director Jon Rosborough says the incentives -- waiving terminal rent and landing fees...

Fayetteville Regional Airport. (Eastern).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville Regional Airport has raised long-term parking 50% to $6 a day. The increase is the first since a 25-cent hike in 1991. The new rate is higher than the $4.50 Piedmont Triad International Airport charges or $4 at...

International Paper. (Regional Report).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Columbus County's economy is improving, but not enough, soy county officials, complaining that a state Department of Commerce decision to move the county from Tier 1, the poorest counties, to Tier II will cost it state economic-recruiting...

Carolina Power & Light. (Triangle).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... RALEIGH -- Progress Energy is buying almost a downtown block to develop condos, stores and offices. The company, owner of Carolina Power & Light, is purchasing the site for an undisclosed amount from First Citizens BancShares. The deal should...

LipoScience. (Triangle).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... RALEIGH -- LipoScience, inventor of a test that measures cholesterol to assess risk of heart disease, has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to sell as much as $100 million in stock in an initial public offering....

Bayer CropScience. (Triangle).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Bayer CropScience will make this its North American headquarters. RTF, where Bayer employs 600, beat out Kansas City, Mo. RTP had been the North American headquarters of Aventis CropScience, which Germany-based Bayer...

Magellan Laboratories. (Regional Report).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Magellan Laboratories announced in March that it was being acquired by Cardinal Health. Magellan, a Morrisville-based contract research company, will become part of the pharmaceutical technologies and services division of Cardinal, an...

Paradigm Genetics. (Triangle).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- The board of Paradigm Genetics, a 260 employee agricultural-biotechnology company, has fired CEO and co-founder John Ryals. John Hamer, chief scientific officer, was named interim CEO. Company officials wouldn't...

Konover Property Trust. (Triangle).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... RALEIGH -- Konover Property Trust, a shopping-center real-estate investment trust based here, has sold its RMC/Konover Property Trust subsidiary in Tampa, Fla., to Suzanne Rice, who co-founded the company. RMC, which will do business as RMC...

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. (Triangle).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... CHAPEL HILL -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina reported that its net income rose to $85.6 million in 2001, compared with $66.6 million in 2000. Blue Cross, the state's largest health insurer, said its revenues increased 16% to $2.1...

Linux software. (Triangle).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... DURHAM -- Red Hat, a Linux software distributor here, saw its losses grow in the fiscal year that ended in February. The company reported a net loss of $139.9 million, or 83 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $86.7 million, 53 cents a...

Triangle population grew by double-digit rates in the '90s, with Johnston's 50% leading the way. (Regional Report).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Triangle population grew by double-digit rates in the '90s, with Johnston's 50% leading the way. 1990 2000 County (000s) (000s) change Johnston 81.3 121.9 50% Wake 426.3 627.8 47...

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. (Triad).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... WINSTON-SALEM -- After Enron-spooked investors questioned its accounting, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts changed the way it will pay for a $35 million manufacturing and distribution plant in Illinois. Instead of an off-balance-sheet lease, the plant...

Lorillard Tobacco and American Legacy Foundation. (Triad).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... GREENSBORO -- Lorillard Tobacco and American Legacy Foundation are suing each other over Lorillard's claim that foundation ads vilify big tobacco. The foundation was created by the 1998 tobacco settlement to educate people about smoking...

Panera Bread. (Triad).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... HIGH POINT -- St. Louis-based Panera Bread expects to open a dough-making plant here this spring. The plant is expected to employ 40 within two years and will provide fresh dough -- now made in Washington, D.C. -- to the company's nine...

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. (Triad).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... WINSTON-SALEM -- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice has acquired Pepper & Corazzini, a communications-law firm based in Washington, D.C. Pepper & Corazzini is moving its 10 lawyers to Womble Carlyle's Washington office -- established in 1998 -- as...

Metals USA. (Triad).(closes plant in North Carolina)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... GREENSBORO -- Metals USA has closed one of its plants here and consolidated operations in Randleman. About a dozen people will lose their jobs. The Houston-based company is a metal distributor and fabricator, with revenues of $1.6 billion last...

Burlington Industries. (Regional Report).(filed for bankruptcy, along with Guilford Mills, Galey and Lord)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The Triad textile industry is unraveling fast. Galey & Lord filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, just three months after Burlington Industries. The New York Stock Exchange already had halted trading of their stack. Another Greensboro...

The Triad is expected to grow more slowly than the state average through 2020. (Regional Report).(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... The Triad is expected to grow more slowly than the state average through 2020. Population growth County 2000-2020 Randolph 37.1% Davie 36.7 Guilford 35.0 Alamance ...

Rowan Bancorp. (Charlotte).(will merge with FNB of Asheboro)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... CHINA GROVE -- Rowan Bancorp has agreed to merge with FNB of Asheboro in a $21.8-million cash-and-stock deal. Rowan is a $116-million bank holding company with three offices in Rowan County. FNB is the $590 million holding company of First...

AeroDyn Wind Tunnel. (Charlotte).(will open facility in Mooresville)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... MOORESVILLE -- The auto racing industry will get a boost late this year when AeroDyn Wind Tunnel opens here. President Gary Eaker, a former aerodynamics engineer with General Motors, declines to specify the cost, but says it will be less than...

Bank of America. (Regional Report).(settles shareholder class-action lawsuits)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Bank of America agreed in February to pay $490 million to settle shareholder class-action lawsuits contending that NationsBank and BankAmerica, which merged in 1998, failed to disclose a risky deal with New York-based hedge-fund manager D.E....

Garden Ridge Corp. (Charlotte).(will expand Statesville distribution center)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... STATESVILLE -- Garden Ridge Corp., the Houston-based house-ware-and-gardening retailer, is doubling the size of its Statesville distribution center to about 640,000 square feet and will add up to 50 jobs to its staff of 80. Construction should...

Charlotte's average city and county property tax is the highest of the state's 24 largest cities.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Charlotte's average city and county property tax is the highest of the state's 24 largest cities. Tax per City person Charlotte $1,000.60 Wilmington 984.44 Durham 909.80 Hickory ...

Belk. (Charlotte).(will invest in opening, renovating department stores)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... CHARLOHE -- The Belk department-store chain announced in February that it plans to spend $93 million opening and remodeling stores. Five stores are planned in Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and Tennessee. Two are being built in the Triangle to...

Fenner Group. (Charlotte).(will shut down conveyer belt factory in Charlotte)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... CHARLOTTE -- Fenner Group of Great Britain will close its Charlotte conveyer-belt manufacturing plant, which operates under the company's Scandura division. The shutdown will mean the elimination of 130 jobs. The Charlotte operations will be...

Ruddick Corp. (Charlotte).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... CHARLOTTE -- Citing competition from Asian imports, Ruddick Corp. will merge the Gastonia and Belmont dyeing- and-finishing plants of its American & Efird industrial-thread subsidiary. Ruddick will pay severance and other costs through an $8...

Outboard Marine. (Western).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... BURNSVILLE -- It's not Enron, but the December 2000 bankruptcy of Montreal-based Outboard Marine, which employed 1,000 at plants in Andrews, Burnsville and Spruce Pine, could cut into some retirees' pensions. The federal Pension Benefit...

Clay County. (Regional Report).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Clay County and its neighbor, Towns County, Ga., will share more than a state line when a 78-acre interstate industrial park is completed, possibly next year. State and focal officials say they know of no other park that crosses state lines....

Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. (Charlotte).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... ASHEVILLE - The Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area ranks 29th among the nation's MSAs for manufacturing expansion, according to a survey of 75 national site consultants by Expansion Management magazine. The consultants cite work-force...

Eaton Cutler-Hammer. (Western).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... AVERY'S CREEK -- Eaton Cutler-Hammer, which makes electrical equipment for construction and utility customers, will add 85 customer-service jobs to its office and plant here. Some employees will be relocated from Pittsburgh, and others will be...

Beacon Blankets. (Western).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... SWANNANOA -- Beacon Blankets, after operating here 69 years, is closing and will dismiss 300 employees. The company's human resources director, Don Koppen-haver, cited weak demand.

Bank of America. (Western).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... ASHEVILLE -- Grants of $100,000 from Bank of America and $80,000 from Eaton Corporation Foundation helped UNC Asheville raise $11.1 million in its first private-money campaign, exceeding the $8 million goal. The money will be used to improve...

Drexel Heritage. (Western).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... BLACK MOUNTAIN -- Three local investors have bought the former Drexel Heritage plant here and will convert it to a business park. The plant, 180,000 square feet, closed last year. Bill Goacher, David Moore and Jay Stewart converted a larger...

Agfa-Gevaert Group. (Western).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... CEDAR MOUNTAIN - Agfa-Gevaert Group will close its 400-employee X-ray film plant by the end of 2002, shifting production to South Carolina. Executives say hospitals and doctors are shifting from X-rays to other imaging methods.

Asheville Smoke. (Western).(receives $25,000 interest-free loan)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... ASHEVILLE -- A $25,000 interest-free loan allowed the cash-strapped Asheville Smoke minor-league hockey team to finish the season. Lender Michael Megrath, who recently moved here from Florida, asked that one game be dedicated to his son, who...

Lots of college students give Watauga County the region's lowest home-ownership rate. (Regional Report).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Lots of college student give Watauga County the region's lowest home-ownership rate. County Rate Top five Clay 84.5% Graham 82.7 Cherokee 82.2 Macon 81.3 Ashee 81.0 Bottom five...

Good works: after making millions, Bruce Parker focused on philanthropy. Investors wish he would have been minding his own business. (Feature).
May 1, 2002... The building is on a street of shabby brick warehouses in a Charlotte neighborhood where the only green comes from weeds sprouting in driveway cracks. Inside, Bruce Parker -- a wiry bundle of energy in white Nikes, wrinkled chinos and a pastel...

Construction construction: the tight economy put a squeeze on many builders, but it wound up squashing one of the state's biggest. (Building North Carolina).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Charlotte developer Jim Gross was less than two months from finishing a building that already had tongues wagging -- $50 million, 25-story tower of pink glass with residential condominiums, stores and offices just south of downtown. Early in...

Liquid assets: like many manufacturers, modern moonshiners are trying to improve their product's quantity, quality and distribution. (Cover Story).
May 1, 2002... Shadows steal across the lot behind an old church in downtown Benson. A few hours ago, word quietly went out: Meet here at 4 p.m. Now, drivers of a dozen cars mill around in camouflage pants and black or gray T-shirts. All carry guns. They...

Rapids transit: Bill Medlin has guided Confluence Watersports through trials as harrowing as the white water its boats are built to handle. (Feature).
May 1, 2002... Bill Medlin wasn't expecting the call. As he waited for a flight at New York's LaGuardia airport, he had his cell phone on, but he was preoccupied. As chief operating officer and head of manufacturing for Confluence Watersports Co. in Trinity,...

Architects draw up plans for growth. (Special Advertising Section).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Charlotte has always had designs on being a "world-class" city, so it's fitting that nearly 18,000 design professionals -- architects, engineers and vendors -- will visit the Queen City for the national convention of the American Institute of...

Lawyer gets himself in slippery business. (People).(Jim Cain of the Carolina Hurricanes)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Jim Cain wasn't raised on pucks and ice skates. Growing up in High Point, he played the same sports most kids did: basketball, football and baseball. Cain is, however, an opportunist. So when the Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League...

It's one way to wrap up your net profits. (People).(Ronnie Wrenn of Starboard Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... There's something fishy about Ronnie Wrenn's resume, and it's not just that he sells salted cod. An English major at Wofford College in the '70s, Wrenn was tending bar when a customer asked what he was going to do after graduation. When...

Pressure is good for a meter reader. (People).(Dayn McBee of SunTech Medical Instruments Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Dayn McBee, 40, knows firsthand why people need the portable blood-pressure monitors that Raleigh-based SunTech Medical Instruments Inc. makes. Ten years ago, one of them informed McBee he suffered from hypertension, with a reading of 160 over...

He has an affinity for the control key. (People).(Clarence Briggs of Advanced Internet Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Clarence Briggs calls his employees troops and his executives officers. He promises to return your call at 1530 hours. That's military talk for 3:30 p.m. And he swears he doesn't force new hires to go through boot camp, though they do have to...

The call of the bile. (Out Back).(analysis of cell phone usage and traffic accidents)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... For all I knew, it could have been lightning. One moment, I'm sitting behind another car, waiting for the light to turn green. It does, and just as I enter the intersection and reach for the gearshift, there's a violent impact, a loud crunching...