Winston-Salem Journal articles from June 2006

Winston-Salem Journal archives from June 2006

Time to act, Triad is told.
June 30, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 30--The time for making a proactive push for innovation is ticking down for the Triad, speakers said yesterday at the annual meeting of the Piedmont Triad Partnership. Global competition, particularly from...

Operation to be known as Salem Funeral & Cremation.
June 29, 2006... Byline: Brian Louis Jun. 29--Members of the Vogler family plan to operate their own funeral home again -- at the spot where it all began in 1858 on Main Street. In 1988, the family sold its longtime Winston-Salem business to a...

Utilities slow to offer access to broadband.
June 29, 2006... Byline: Brian Louis Jun. 29--Utility companies in North Carolina are in no rush to offer broadband Internet access over their power lines. Although the idea of providing high-speed Internet access over power lines has been around for...

First Horizon National eyes expansion in North Carolina.
June 27, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 27--First Horizon National Corp. said yesterday that North Carolina is looming large on its expansion horizon, which eventually could lead to a sizable banking presence in Triad banking. Bank officials...

Goal is to help small businesses.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Fran Daniel Jun. 26--A Winston-Salem businesswoman is one of three winners in The Piedmont Retail Business Challenge, a local business-plan competition held for the first time to boost retail startups. Dana Suggs will get the...

Jobless rate jumps up.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 26--The Triad experienced the largest jump in its unemployment rate in nearly a year during May, rising to 4.7 percent from 4.2 percent in April, the N.C. Employment Security Commission reported yesterday. ...

N.C. gets high business marks for legal handling of injury cases.
June 22, 2006... Byline: Brian Louis Jun. 22--North Carolina's legal system is good for business and economic growth when it comes to dealing with injury cases, a California research group said in a recent report. The state was ranked No. 9 among the...

Former auto-detailing shop getting a makeover.
June 22, 2006... Byline: Fran Daniel Jun. 22--The Russell Agency in Winston-Salem can't wait to set foot downtown. Owners Betsy Hamilton, Anne Cullen and Cindy Cash searched for over a year for the perfect space for their advertising and marketing...

High-school students get chance to explore possible future careers.
June 22, 2006... Byline: M. Paul Jackson Jun. 22--Stephanie Hertz, a student at Ronald Reagan High School in Pfafftown, had an interest in learning about science, she said. She is getting her chance at Wake Forest University. Hertz, 15, is one of...

BB&T cutting international transfer fees.
June 21, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 21--BB&T Corp. said yesterday that it is waiving its fees for international money transfers as part of a campaign to attract more business from immigrants. BB&T said that its EasySend program is available...

Sweeping up: Diner to turn in its spatula.
June 21, 2006... Byline: Fran Daniel Jun. 21--Parking has always been a struggle at Hero House on Stratford Road. "We lose a lot of customers now because they can't park anywhere," said Harvey Kotsionis, one of the co-owners. "So they just kind of...

Gildan to buy socks maker.
June 21, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 21--The Triad's shrinking textile-manufacturing sector got another jolt yesterday when Gildan Activewear Inc., the largest T-shirt manufacturer in North America, said that it will buy Kentucky Derby Hosiery...

Federal lawmakers follow N.C. model to control predatory lending.
June 20, 2006... Byline: Mary M. Shaffrey Jun. 20--WASHINGTON -- North Carolina passed landmark legislation on predatory-lending practices in 1999. Seven years later, some believe Congress might finally be taking note. Reps. Mel Watt, D-12th and Brad...

Home Depot provides vets with jobs.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Fran Daniel Jun. 19--Charles Butterbrodt's previous experience and training as a captain in the Navy comes in handy as the head cashier at The Home Depot on University Parkway. "It teaches you to deal with people,"...

Supreme court agrees to hear mortgage case.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 19--The U.S. Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear a case on the mortgage-lending practices of nationally chartered financial institutions that could directly affect North Carolina. The case, Watters vs....

Students' search for summer jobs increases work force until the fall.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 19--Increased competition for summer jobs led to the first rise in North Carolina's unemployment rate in three months during May, the N.C. Employment Security Commission reported yesterday. The rate rose...

Smiths Aerospace to pump $44 million into turbine-engine plant.
June 16, 2006... Byline: Monte Mitchell Jun. 16--After officials announced that Smiths Aerospace was going to spend $44 million on an Ashe County plant to make turbine-engine components for airplanes, workers hustled to set up machines and ship the first...

Main Street gets Apple-expertise computer shop.
June 16, 2006... Byline: Sherry Youngquist Jun. 16--MOUNT AIRY -- Making money on the sleek iPods and MacBooks would be nice, but the two men behind a new computer store on North Main Street said they mostly want to get people in the door. Jacob...

Small businesses make up much of workforce.
June 16, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 16--Adele Casanova said she knows as the owner of a small business with one full-time employee -- herself -- that she will never benefit from economic incentives and likely never offer a retirement package....

Panel to study helping furniture industry.
June 15, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 15--A group of high-end-furniture manufacturers, legislators and educators will begin Monday to build their case for why investing in the industry's future is not throwing good money after bad. A joint...

N.C. Military Business Center offers help in submitting proposals.
June 14, 2006... Byline: Fran Daniel Jun. 14--Opportunities to do business with the government are out there. It's just a matter of understanding the playing field, Gary Anderson, a business-development specialist for the N.C. Military Business...

Realtor and bureau form partnership.
June 14, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 14--People requesting housing information from the Winston-Salem Convention and Visitors Bureau are being referred to Prudential Carolinas Realty in a partnership that is being formally introduced this week....

Students give Winston-Salem, N.C., university's business program high marks.
June 13, 2006... Byline: Brian Louis Jun. 13--Mia Breaux, a rising senior at the N.C. School of the Arts, is beginning to make up for the lack of business classes at the arts school. Breaux, a modern-dance major, wants to open her own dance studio...

Hiring to dip, poll finds.
June 13, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 13--The Winston-Salem job market is expected to slow considerably in the third quarter, with just 10 percent of employers planning to add staff, according to a Manpower Inc. survey prepared for release today....

It attributes loss to legal costs, fewer stores.
June 13, 2006... Byline: Brian Louis Jun. 13--Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. said in a regulatory filing yesterday that revenue dropped sharply and that it expects to report a loss in its fiscal first quarter because of the high costs of dealing with its...

City ranks favorably in survey of business costs.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 12--A reputation as a save haven for sensitive data operations may provide Winston-Salem and the Triad with another key piece of their economic-development puzzle. The city was ranked by The Boyd Co. Inc....

New blood test better.
June 12, 2006... Byline: M. Paul Jackson Jun. 12--Researchers at the University of North Carolina said yesterday that a blood test developed by a local company can detect some blood-sugar levels in diabetics better than standard blood tests. The...

Black-college apparel store draws shoppers' interest.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Fran Daniel Jun. 12--People keep peeking in the windows at Shannon Fuller and Shaun Grace's new business, HBCUStore, on West Fifth Street. "I have to clean the windows off every day, because everybody's all in the windows,"...

Residents of Illinois agree to pay $432,034 in forfeited profits.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 12--The Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday that it has settled four of five cases of inside trading over the 2004 sale of Blue Rhino Corp. to Ferrellgas Partners LP. The SEC said that the...

Winston-Salem Journal, N.C., Retail Notes column.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Fran Daniel Jun. 12--CHANGEOVER TO MACY'S COMING SOON: The wait is almost over for Macy's arrival in the Triad. The conversion of Hecht's department stores to Macy's is scheduled for Sept. 9, but changes should be noticeable...

Winston-Salem State hires new biz-school dean.
June 9, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 9--Winston-Salem State University ended a nearly 1 1/2-year search for a new business-school dean yesterday with the hiring of Jessica Bailey from Virginia Union University. Bailey will take over as dean...

Union drops protest of vote at RJR.
June 9, 2006... Byline: Brian Louis Jun. 9--A labor union has withdrawn its objections to its election loss at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. last month, but it plans to file charges alleging unfair labor practices against the company. Labor officials...

Study into lipids, heart disease catches attention of drug firms: researcher.
June 8, 2006... Byline: M. Paul Jackson Jun. 8--The Lipid Science Program at the Piedmont Triad Research Park is conducting studies on the molecular factors behind heart disease, a key way to treat major illnesses. But the program is also emerging...

275 jobs to be lost when Hooker closes furniture plant.
June 8, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 8--Hooker Furniture Corp. said yesterday that it is closing a wooden-furniture plant in Roanoke, Va., and cutting 275 jobs as it accelerates its production shift from domestic manufacturing to imports. The...

Krispy Kreme continues push into Asia.
June 7, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 7--Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. said yesterday that it is accelerating its international expansion by opening stores in China beginning this fall. The company has awarded development rights in Hong Kong and...

Furniture maker Thomasville to expand new-product debuts beyond trade show.
June 6, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 6--Thomasville Furniture Industries Inc., an anchor of the International Home Furnishings Market for many years, said yesterday that it no longer would introduce new products only at the semiannual trade show....

Winston-Salem, N.C., retailer dies at 81.
June 6, 2006... Byline: Fran Daniel Jun. 6--Lewis K. Mowery Sr. believed in downtown Winston-Salem shopping and revitalization, his family and friends said. That commitment never waned, even after he closed his last Mother and Daughter store on...

Undoing quotas: Vietnam wants entry into the WTO.
June 6, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 6--HIGH POINT -- Granting Vietnamese textile manufacturers quota-free access to the U.S. market may be akin to pouring salt into an open wound for some U.S. companies already dealing with fierce Chinese...

Business-plan contests can bring needed exposure.
June 5, 2006... Byline: M. Paul Jackson Jun. 5--For Mark Hendrickson, winning a business-plan competition wasn't about the money. Hendrickson, the co-founder of AudioFusion in Winston-Salem, a startup company that makes medical devices, was one of...

CEO steps down at Thomasville, N.C.-based furniture maker.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 5--Bob Stec, the architect of Lexington Home Brands' controversial and painful shift from domestic manufacturer to global marketer, is resigning as chief executive and president, the company said yesterday....

Imminent increase in the minimum wage could ripple through the state's economy.
June 4, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 4--Working the concession stand at Marketplace $2 Cinemas suits Dray Thiel just fine, even though the weekend shifts can stretch to 11 or 12 hours and slow lines can be trying at times. "It's pretty much...

B/E Aerospace expanding work force after landing United Airlines deal.
June 2, 2006... Byline: Richard Craver Jun. 2--B/E Aerospace Inc. is flying high these days, signing up more than $1.1 billion in orders from international airline carriers in the past 1 1/2 years. A new $165 million contract to upgrade the...

Former Krispy Kreme chief looking ahead.
June 2, 2006... Byline: Brian Louis Jun. 2--Scott Livengood is back in business. Livengood, the former chief executive of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., has taken a 50 percent stake in Dewey's Bakery, a Winston-Salem institution. Terms of the...

HUD officials promote home ownership during North Carolina tour.
June 1, 2006... Byline: Fran Daniel Jun. 1--The benefits of homeownership take center stage this month. Local officials with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are touring North Carolina to promote National Homeownership Month, which...

Snuff gets new home.
June 1, 2006... Byline: Brian Louis Jun. 1--Reynolds American Inc. said yesterday that it completed its $3.5 billion purchase of Conwood, the No. 2 smokeless-tobacco manufacturer in the United States. Reynolds is betting that with the purchase of...