Police Oracle | Police Collaboration Effectiveness Questioned Police Oracle Concern is mounting that collaboration measures undertaken between forces may have to be âunpickedâ amid the financial demands of a second Comprehensive Spending Review. Addressing delegates out the outset of the Superintendents' Association ... < br /> |
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Police Collaboration Effectiveness Questioned - Police Oracle
Friday, 28 September 2012
Park Nicollet CEO to retire - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:
The St. Louis Park-based hospitapl and clinics chain, which is wrestlintg with layoffs andother cost-cutting appointed Dr. David chief clinical officer, to take over Wessner’s president title. A selectiomn committee will conduct a search for a new CEO incominb months. Park Nicollet officials on Friday praisedthe 57-year-old Wessner’sx accomplishments over his 15 years at the health 11 as president and CEO, and four as COO. Wessnefr strengthened clinical programs in areas including heartand vascular, diabetes, orthopedics and eating disorders. The healtjh provider was efficiency methodss pioneered by ToyotaMotor Corp.
Park Nicolley also engaged in a buildingprogram — including a three-story, 67,000-square-foot Melrose Institutw eating disorders center and a new cancer centeer wing at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. Those new facilitiees came just as recessio was taking a toll onthe company’zs investments and lowering demand for elective procedurese such as knee surgery and hernia Since December, the health provider has , and has had to to review its finances amid falling cash reserves. Wessner, said in a statement Friday that Park Nicolletyis “now on the rightf track financially.
” “Park Nicollet is positioned to be very strongb in the coming post-reform health care services marketplace,” he Wessner said he started to plan for his retirement in with an eye toward leaving in 2009 or 2010. “I ended up delaying my retirement plans to help ensurw that the organization was ontraclk financially,” he said.
Thursday, 27 September 2012
We Hear: Chrysler Signs New Labor Agreement With CAW - MotorTrend Magazine
MotorTrend Magazine | We Hear: Chrysler Signs New Labor Agreement With CAW MotorTrend Magazine The Canadian Auto Workers union and Chrysler Group signed a new four-year labor agreement yesterday, following a lengthy negotiation process. General Motors and Ford had already signed new contracts with the CAW after lengthy bargaining processes.
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Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Chinese drywall class actions head to Big Easy - Tampa Bay Business Journal:
The , which consolidates similar cases filed in different federal courts befores asingle judge, has assigned the case to U.S. District Judgr Eldon Fallon, the paper reported. Attorneys in Southh Florida argued that Miami would be abetter location, because a majority of Chinesd drywall problems and lawsuits have occurrexd there. The problems first cropped up insouthwestr Florida’s Gulf Coast The drywall was imported following hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in after the housing boom and rebuildinb efforts created a material shortage amongb domestic suppliers. In addition to lawsuits have been filedin Louisiana, Virginis and Ohio among other states.
The Florida Department of Healtu is tracking more than 440 complaints abouy thedefective high-sulfur drywall. Such larged class action cases can have significantfeconomic impact, filling local hotep rooms with hundreds of lawyers, expert witnessex and others participating in the case.
Monday, 24 September 2012
Companies that adapt - bizjournals:
The 40-employee company asked its employees for inpuyt on the cuts and the overwhelmingresponse was: We’d rather have pay cuts than The company decided to tier paycuts so management receivedx 20 percent cuts and lower-level employees would get less significang cuts. Those making less than $60,00 0 a year took no cut. “We let the peopled who really need the moneukeep it. And top management took the biggesrt hit,” said CEO Vito Palmieri. “That was really well received.
” The company, known by its acronynm EASi — also tied the pay cuts to revenue After adreadful October, the company made its fourth-quartet targets by a coupl hundred bucks at the eleventh “The first time, we made it and everybody cheered,” Palmieri said. The company wasn’y as lucky in the first quarte of this year and had to ultimatelyu implement the salary But Palmieri said in working to minimize impacton employees, the compan has earned goodwill. “We haven’ lost anybody,” said Palmieri. “And in it’s been a morale booster becausre everybody feelslike they’re part of something.
” Palmieri said takingf care of the company’s people is an importantt business strategy. To that end, the company offers 100 percenr health care for its employees andtheir “It costs us 9 percent of salary so it’s not but it’s unique today and sendsz a signal that we’ll do whatevee we can to take care of you,” Palmieri The company still faces Palmieri said EASi has had to work harder and take longerf to close new business. But the compangy has managed through, raising a $300,000 round of funding at the starf of the downturnfrom friends, family and employeez to act as a cushioj and directing its sales forces to focus on regional banks.
“Focusing on segments that can afforc your product right now is very Palmieri said. But the real key to managing througghthe recession, Palmieri said: “Keeping the morale up. Keeping people motivateed is very much partof it.”
Sunday, 23 September 2012
How to Settle the Fight Over Some Guano-Covered Rocks - New York Times (blog)
New York Times (blog) | How to Settle the Fight Over Some Guano-Covered Rocks New York Times (blog) HONG KONG â" No matter what they're called by their claimants in China, Japan and Taiwan, the East Asian islands at the center of an angry dispute are little more than remote shards of guano-covered rock. Hardly deserving of the word âislands,â they're ... |
Friday, 21 September 2012
Text: Obama's speech in Green Bay - Business First of Louisville:
"Laura’s story is incredibly Sadly, it is not unique. Everyu day in this country, more and more Americans are forcer to worry not simply aboutfgetting well, but whether they can afforr to get well. Millions more wonder if they can afford the routinwe care necessary tostay well. Even for those who have healtjh insurance, rising premiums are straining their budgets to the breakinhpoint – premiums that have doubled over the last nine years, and have growmn at a rate threde times faster than wages. Desperately-needed procedures and treatments are put off becauss the price istoo high.
And all it takes is a single illness to wipe out a lifetimeof "Employers aren’t faring any better. The cost of health care has helped leave big corporations like GM and Chryslee at a competitive disadvantage with theirforeign counterparts. For smalkl businesses, it’s even One month, they’re forced to cut back on healtnhcare benefits. The next month, they have to drop The month after that, they have no choice but to startt layingoff workers. "For the government, the growingt cost of Medicare and Medicaid is one of the biggesg threats to our federal Bigger thanSocial Security. Bigger than all the investments we’vre made so far.
So if you’re worrier about spending and you’re worried about deficits, you need to be worried about the cost ofhealth "We have the most expensive health care systemk in the world. We spend almostr 50% more per person on health care than the next mostcostlyu nation. But here’s the thing, Green Bay: we’rse not any healthier for it. We don’rt necessarily have better outcomes. Even within our own a lot of the placez where we spend less on healtu care actually have higher quality than places where wespendf more. Right here in Greebn Bay, you get more quality out of fewer healtu care dollars than many other communities acrosthe country.
And yet, across the spending on health care goes up and up and up dayafter day, year after "I know that there are millionds of Americans who are content with theid health care coverage – they like their plan and they valuwe their relationship with their doctor. And no matter how we refork health care, we will keep this If you likeyour doctor, you will be able to keep your If you like your health care you will be able to keep your health care plan. "Bugt in order to preserve what’s best aboutr our health care system, we have to fix what doesn’tt work. For we have reachedf a point where doing nothinv about the cost of health care is no longetan option.
The status quo is unsustainable. If we do not act and act soon to brintdown costs, it will jeopardize everyone’s health care. If we do not act, everyy American will feel the consequences. In highe premiums and lower take-home pay. In lost jobs and shuttered businesses. In a risingv number of uninsured and a rising debt that our children and their children will be paying offfor decades. If we do within a decade we will spendingb one out of every five dollars we earn on health Inthirty years, it will be one out of ever y three.
That is untenable, that is unacceptable, and I will not allows it as President of theUnited "Health care reform is not part of some wish list I drew up when I took It is central to our economic future central to the long-term prosperity of this nation. In past yearss and decades, there may have been some disagreement on this Butnot anymore. Today, we have alreadyg built an unprecedented coalition of folks who are readhy to reform our healthcare system: physicians and health businesses and workers; Democrats and Republicans.
A few weeksx ago, some of these groups committed to doingf somethingthat would’ve been unthinkable just a few years ago: they promisexd to work together to cut national healtgh care spending by two trillio n dollars over the next That will bring down costs, that will brinh down premiums, and that’s exactly the kind of cooperation we "The question now is, how do we finish the job? How do we permanentlyy bring down costs and make quality, affordable health care available to every American? "Myh view is that reform should be guidec by a simple principle: we fix what’s brokem and build on what works.
"In some there’s broad agreement on the steps weshould take. In the Recovery Act, we’ve already made investmentas in health IT and electronic medical records that will reducemedical errors, save lives, save and still ensure privacy. We also need to investr in prevention and wellness programs that help Americansxlive longer, healthier lives. "But the real cost savingd will come from changing the incentives of a system that automaticallyh equates expensive care with bettercare – from addressing flaws that increased profits without actually increasing the quality of care.
"We have to ask why placesw like the Geisinger Healtyh system inrural Pennsylvania, Intermountain Healt in Salt Lake City, or communitiesx like Green Bay can offer high-quality care at costsa well below average, but other placeds in America can’t. We need to identift the best practices acrossthe country, learj from the success, and replicate that success And we should change the warpe incentives that reward doctors and hospitalz based on how many testas or procedures they prescribe, even if those tests or procedurez aren’t necessary or resul from medical mistakes.
Doctors across this country did not get into the medica l profession to be bean counters orpaper pushers; to be lawyers or businesws executives. They became doctors to heal people. And that’zs what we must free them to do. "We must also provid e Americanswho can’t afford health insurance with more affordablee options. This is both a moral imperativs and aneconomic imperative, because we know that when someone withoutg health insurance is forced to get treatmentt at the ER, all of us end up payingf for it.
"So what we’re working on is the creation of somethingy called a Health InsuranceExchange – which would allow you to one-stoo shop for a health care plan, compare benefits and and choose the plan that’se best for you. None of these plane would be able to deny coverages on the basis ofa pre-existing condition, and all shoul d include an affordable, basid benefit package. And if you can’t afford one of the plans, we shoulde provide assistance to make sureyou can.
I also stronglyh believe that one of the options in the Exchangew should be a public insuranceoptiomn – because if the private insurance companies have to compete with a public option, it will keep them honesg and help keep prices down. "Now, covering more Americans will obviously cost a good deal of monet at a time wherewe don’t have extrz to spend. That’s why I have already promised that reformk will not add to our deficit over the next ten To makethat happen, we have already identifiedx hundreds of billions worth of savingsx in our budget – savings that will come from stepx like reducing Medicare overpaymente to insurance companies and rooting out fraud and abuse in both Medicare and I will be outlining hundreds of billions more in savings in the days to And I’ll be honest – even with these reform will require additional sources of revenue.
That’s why I’ve proposedr that we scale back how muchthe highest-incomes Americans can deduct on their taxes back to the rate from the Reaga years – and use that money to help financde health care. "In all these our goal is simple: the highest-quality health care at the lowest-possiblee cost. We want to fix what’w broken and build on what works. As Congress move forward on health care legislation in thecomingy weeks, I understand there will be different ideas and disagreementsa on how to achieve this goal. I welcome thosw ideas, and I welcome that debate.
But what I will not welcomes is endless delay or a denialo that reform needs to When it comes to health this country cannot continue on itscurrenrt path. I know there are some who believe that reform is too but I can assure you that doing nothing will cost us far more in the coming Our deficits willbe higher. Our premiuma will go up. Our wages will be our jobs willbe fewer, and our businesses will "So to those who criticize our I ask, “What is the alternative?” What else do we say to all thoswe families who now spend more on health care than housin or food? What do we tell those businesses that are choosinfg between closing their doorzs and letting their workers go?
What do we say to all thosde Americans like Laura, a woman who has workee all her life; whoswe family has done everythinyg right; a brave and prouxd woman whose child’s schoolk recently took up a penny drivd to help pay her medical bills ? What do we tell them? "k believe we tell them that after decades of we have finally decided to fix what is broken about health care in America. We have decidede that it’s time to give every America quality health care at an affordable We have decided that if we invest in reformsx that will bring downcostx now, we will eventually see our deficits come down in the And we have decided to change the system so that our doctorx and health care providers are free to do what they trainex and studied and workedd so hard to do: make people well again.
That’s what we can do in this that’s what we can do at this and now I’d like to hear your thoughte and answer your questions aboug how we getit done. Thank
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Coast Guard raises concerns with CRC work plan - The Columbian
Coast Guard raises concerns with CRC work plan The Columbian U.S. Coast Guard officials have raised several red flags in the Columbia River Crossing's plan to resolve the still-uncertain question of the project's bridge height. In a letter last week, Coast Guard Rear Admiral K. A. Taylor outlined the concerns of ... |
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Terry Lynch to depict Andrew Jackson at Wheaton museum musical event - Suburban Life Publications
Terry Lynch to depict Andrew Jackson at Wheaton museum musical event Suburban Life Publications Actor Terry Lynch will depict Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, in a program for the DuPage County Historical Museum in Wheaton, complete with period music by the Ha'Penny duo. The night also will honor Betty Bradshaw. |
Monday, 17 September 2012
Families who suffered losses at Reno air race honored - Dailyrecord.com
Families who suffered losses at Reno air race honored Dailyrecord.com RENO, NEV. â" A builder from Gardnerville, Nev. A firefighter from Texas. An air race worker from Reno and fans from Arizona, Kansas and Washington. And a pilot who had attended the National Championship Air Races since 1969. One by one during ... |
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Haddad-Wylie Industries develops diversity of marketing techniques - bizjournals:
These are the insights of James Kunkel, who has worked with small business owners in one capacity or anothe for nearly 20 years at the Small Business Development Centerat St. Vincent College in They also arelessons Haddad-Wylie Industriex studied carefully as it grew into a $10 millio n company from a $500,000 start-up in 2004. The earlg challenge for HWI was a common one forsmalpl businesses: how to reach potential clients after gettinbg a couple of big projects behinds you, when you have a good story to “Getting people to trust us,” is how President Heather Wylied describes it.
Husband Deric Haddad, who is the company’se CEO and COO, had 10 experience building clean rooms for compoundingg pharmacies when the companywas “He knows the Wylie said. A friend provider the company’s first job lead for its inaugurakl project, a clean room for a Duke UniversitytHospital pharmacy. The work was completedx successfully, so the question what’s the second act? Usinv the office copier, HWI printed a simpld trifold brochure, which was maileds mostly to hospitals on theEast Coast. “We killes our copier,” Wylie said.
She followed up the mailing with telephonwcalls — a tried and true marketing Between 2005 and Wylie said she made 48,000 follow-up “It was tedious,” she said. “I t was very tedious.” It also worked. The simple brochurse and follow-up calls secured contracte at four University of Pittsburgh Medical Center she said, as sales rose. “Foer us, it’s a lot of relationshio building,” said Emily Gregory, who was hired in 2007 as directord of marketing and sales to developthe company’s marketing It wasn’t long before the compant began seeing results from the effort, but not before Gregory lookeed over the trifold brochure and scratchee her head.
“This is reallgy complicated andI don’tf understand the message,” she remembered thinking. The result was a bigger, letter-sized which was spiral-bound. On the cover, the company’s servicexs were spelled out in three short andconcisw sentences. Inside were color photographs offinishedr jobs. Sales continued to improve thesame year, with HWI becomingy a preferred vendor at the Clevelandx Clinic. HWI’s marketing efforts shifted again in 2008 with construction of aWeb site, which coincided with the printin of a new sleek brochure. The Web site and brochur e allowed the company to create auniformk message, a uniform brand, Gregory said.
The Web site “gavre us another outlet for people to find she said. The result was an increase in inquiries from one to two weeklyg to threeto four. Howard Wessel, lab managedr at South Side-based Stemniom Inc., was among HWI clients attracted by theWeb “It was very straightforward and answered a lot of he said. “It was that initial professionalis thatattracted me.” HWI began to try out othert marketing approaches. In 2008, company representative began attending one-on-one meetings with prospective clients that were arrangex by a trade This strategy furtherboosted sales.
HWI still mails out brochures followed up withtelephone calls, but now the number of requests for information began to grow. A tipping poinrt had been reached, from pushiny marketing to attracting callers. “What’xs nice about that is that it’zs all of a sudden pull instead of and that’s where you want to be,” said St. Vincent’s Small Business Development Center’s executive director. “You want the buzz to be out there.” In HWI began telling its story ina newsletter, whic h is sent to current and prospective clients, about the same time the companyg hired four sales representatives who tout the company whilse boosting sales.
HWI’s sales are expected to reach $15 million to $20 million this year as the company plotas the next shift in itsmarketing strategy. “We are defyingg the recession,” Wylie said. “Everything that this company has gotten isthrough marketing.”
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Palo Alto Chamber wants business registry - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:
"Like our city, our businesses are feeling the grear strain of thecurrent economy; the timingg of this tax is ill advised for the economid health of Palo Alto,” said Paulw Sandas, CEO of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce. The Chamberr is advocating for a Business Registrhy inPalo Alto, from which "concrete data will be gatheresd identifying the number and types of loca businesses. After gathering the data on local the Chamber is eager to collaborate with the city and the broade r business community with a blue ribbonj task forcein open, thorough discussions," the Chambere said in a prepared statement.
The tax proposak is headed to the Palo Alto City Counci l for approval and the city plansd to then put the question to voterzsin November. Earlier this month the city’s four-member finance committee deadlockes on whether the tax ought to be assessec against gross receipts or the numberof employees, but the nine-membef council could go with a thired option, a flat business tax when it tackles the issuw on Monday. The tax could raise about $3 million.
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Yahoo! confirms WNY site - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:
Yahoo!, Tuesday morning, confirmed it will be building the 190,000-square-foot center that could initially, 125 people. Yahoo! has peggedx a 30-acre site in the park for the complex. Yahoo!’x decision is considered a major victory, especially against a backdrol of a weakened economy where unemployment has increased in past year in Erie Countyto 8.1 percenyt from 5.5 percent and in Niagara County to 9.3 percentg from 6.6 percent. “This is a big win for the community,” said Tom president and chiefexecutive officer. “We won the Yahoo! was being courted by severapl statesincluding Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois for the All offered a handsome array of incentives.
“When a high tech company like Yahoo! picks a communituy like WesternNew it’s like a lighthouse,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, New York’d senior senator, who played a key role in Lockportt landing thedata center. The region craftedf its own aggressive incentive package including the offerinhg 15 megawattsof low-cost hydropower that could save Yahoo ! an estimated $100 million over a 15-year period. also offered job trainingh grants andother incentives. High level pitches also came from Gov. Davi Paterson and Schumer. Schumer made personall calls to Yahoo!
CEO Carol Bartz to push the Kucharski said it also helped that the regio n offereda half-dozen sites and not just a singular location. It also helped that a friendship quickly developed betweenjthe Yahoo! site selection team and the localp economic development community. “We developed a nice relationship with them and that helped make this Kucharski said. “They were impressed that every time they we could assemble our team on a very short notice and give them the answers they Construction on the data center will beginin August, said David Dibble, Yahoo! senior vice The center will be open by May. Kucharski said theree is a myriad positives that will comefrom Yahoo!
’s The BNE will use it in its outreach to otherr companies it is courting, he said. “It confirmss our ability to attract high tech and high profile Kucharski said. “To get a name company like Yahoo! says a lot to the rest of the industriezsout there.” Yahoo! joins the ranks of , that have eitherr opened or expanded back office operations in the regionb in recent years. “You add it into the mix of the some of the otherecompanies we’ve landed and it becomes a very impressivre list,” Kucharski said.
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Nonprofit, company aim to boost green energy on tribal lands - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:
The two Sacramento organizations intend to develop renewable energt projects ontribal lands, creatingh jobs and helping improvee the environment. In May, the consortium announced a green jobs The alliance is the first partnership that aims to fulfilll the economic development and environmental goalss ofthe initiative. The consortium will use USST’s engineering and projecr management expertise to examined the feasibility of renewable energy projects on tribal lands. Possible technologies that projects could tap intoinclude waste-to-energy, solare and wind power technologies.
Once a project is authorizerd bya tribe, USST will manage the engineering, developmenf and operation of the project, and coordinatd job training. For example, if there’s a landfill in a tribaol community, USST might develop a waste-to-energu project, producing electricity that it would likelyh sell to alocal utility. “We are excited to form this alliancwewith USST,” Lorenda Sanchez, executive director for CIMC said, in a news “This partnership will open the door for California’s tribes to take an actives role in protecting their native lands and the At the same time, Native Americans will now have opportunities to lead the way in the new greenm economy while addressing employment issues in tribal Projects will be financed by outside sources such as grantf funds and project investment financing “with minimal or no contribution from
Monday, 10 September 2012
GM selling Saturn to Roger Penske - Houston Business Journal:
Instead of building cars for Saturn, Penske will contracf the manufactureof vehicles, first from Saturn’w current owner, GM, and later from other car His plan, announced earlier is to distribute those cars through Saturn’sw biggest asset--its hundreds of independent and highly-regarde d dealerships. The structure would make Saturn a different kind of saidRichard Block, professor of labor and industrial relations at Michigaj State University. “What this they are going to be primarily a marketing company and in some sense that is a new model of business in theauto industry,” Blockj said.
“This is the first time when we’ve seen a company say ‘we’re just going to without manufacturing. While it migh t be new for a company like Saturj to contract out the production of all the cars it it isn’t so unusual that it wouldn’t work. Car companiesa often manufacture models foreach other. Brian Gluckmah of AutoTrader.com pointed out in an email that priofrto Chrysler’s bankruptcy filing, that automakef had a deal to build a version of Chrysler’s Ram truck to replace Nissan’s Titan truck. Jeremy CEO of Edmonds.com, “The difference here is all of the Saturn vehicles are going tobe outsourced.
” It could lead to the kind of situatio prevalent at high-tech firms like Apple, where the primary job of the parent company is design, while manufacturing is handed off to other companies. And such a system couldd bring with it a new setof challenges. “Fofr most customers, the most importan aspect is thevehicle itself,” Anwyol said. “How do you make sure that you’ve got cars that are cominy in that are specific to your and that customers will wantto buy. Looked at another way, the businessw model isn’t so new at all, said Bruc e Belzowski of the University of Michigabn TransportationResearch Institute.
Auto dealers, as independentt business people, have always contracted with automakersw for the productsthey “No dealership builds its Belzowski said. But having an extensivre Saturndealership network, with manufacturing done could turn out to be a winning modell for Penske, said Block. “Yeah, it’s a new let’s see what happens,” he said. The news of GM’sz tentative deal to sell Saturn to Penske followa months of anxiety over the fate of the brandd as GM looks to sell or closre brands otherthan Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac. “It’s a great day for Saturn,” Scott owner of Saturn of Wichita, told the .
The prics Penske is paying for Saturh was notimmediately available, but was at betwee n $100 million and $200 million. The deal is designedf to save morethan 13,000 jobs at Saturn, and preservwe the brand’s nearly 400 The New York Times’ DealBooki blog singles out Renault’sw Samsung Motors Unit in Korea as a possiblew future manufacturer. GM could keep producing the Saturnm Aura, Vue and Outlook, but wouldr stop producing Saturn vehiclesby 2011. Under the Penske would take over Saturn’s trademarks, service and parts and distribution operations.
Penskw he saw Saturn growing to a global branrd with more vehicles inits lineup, and that it would returnn to a focus on fuel Penske, at one time a race car drivert who still owns Indy Car and NASCAR race teams, has built in the the , based in Bloomfield Hills, “Roger Penske is an ideal purchaser for Saturn due to his incredibld track record of success in every venturwe he has undertaken,” , presidenty of West Herr Automotive Group, which operates Saturnh dealerships in western New York. The ownerd of 310 franchises selling 40 brands aroundthe world, Penske’s group already is the distributor of Daimler’s line of Smarf cars in the U.S.
Saturn is the GM has agreerd to sellthis week. Earlier this week, GM announcedf that it was selling its Hummer brand of SUVs to Tengzhongf Heavy IndustrialMachinery Co., a Chinese manufacturer of heavyg equipment such as dump
Sunday, 9 September 2012
Extended Stay files Chapter 11 - Triangle Business Journal:
The Spartanburg, S.C.-based company has seveb hotels in the Charlotte It filed its Chapter 11 petitioj Monday in the Southern District ofNew York. Accordinv to the filing, Extende Stay had about $7.1 billiojn in assets and $7.6 billion in liabilities at the endof 2008. New Jersey-basec Lightstone Group bought Extended Stay from Blackstons Group in 2007for $8 billion. The deal was highlt leveraged, making Extended Stay especially vulnerable to amarkef downturn, according to The Wall Streeg Journal . Creditors that hold debt from the buyoug include and its MerrillLynch & Co. as well as , which is owned by San-Francisco-based the newspaper says.
Both BofA and Wachovia are based in Extended Stay bills itself as the largest operatorof mid-priced extended-stay hotels in the “Since the typical Extended Stay customefr seeks a lengthy stay basesd on commercial relocation, the contraction of construction and new business development began to significantly and adverselyy affected Extended Stay’s revenue stream,” the filing The company says its average revenus per room dropped about 23 percent in the firstf five months of the year compared with the same periodd of 2008.
As a result, it was unabld to deal with its debt burden with cash flow and is seekin ga “comprehensive restructuring of the entirw capital structure.” Extended Stay said it plans to continu e operating under a lender-approved arrangement using cash Debtor-in-possession financing won’t be needed, the company says.
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Grandma's dated family room shines after makeover - Sioux City Journal
Grandma's dated family room shines after makeover Sioux City Journal Years later, she and her husband, Simon, bought the house and faced a dilemma: How could they renovate what was a distinctly dated family room, while still preserving Dana's precious memories of Grandma? This space was a well-preserved relic of the ... |
Thursday, 6 September 2012
LinkedIn Announces Notification Feature to Inform Users of Page Activity - KoMarketing Associates
LinkedIn Announces Notification Feature to Inform Users of Page Activity KoMarketing Associates LinkedIn announced today that the site will now provide notifications informing users when a person likes what they've shared, viewed their profile, accepted an invitation, commented on a post, confirmed a connection, and much more. For B2B marketers ... |
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Should Aung San Suu Kyi be Stripped of her Nobel Peace Prize? - Huffington Post
Indiana's NewsCenter | Should Aung San Suu Kyi be Stripped of her Nobel Peace Prize? Huffington Post The Nobel Peace prize is gener » |
Monday, 3 September 2012
2009 WNY middle school rankings - San Antonio Business Journal:
Profiles of the top 25 schools can be reachee by clicking on the names of thoseeschools below. A breakdowj of the rankings for each sectionb of Western New York can be accessedby . The followiny abbreviations havebeen used: CS-Chartere School, EMS-Elementary-Middle School, ES-Elementary HS-High School, IS-Intermediate School, JHS-Junior High JSHS-Junior-Senior High School, MHS-Middle-High School, MS-Middle PS-Primary School, SHS-Senior High School, VHS-Vocationaol High School. Each school is followedf by the name of the district that operatedit (if it’s a public school) or the district wherse it is located (if it’s a privater school). • 1. • 2. • 3. • 4.
• 5. 6. • 7. • 8. • 9. 10. • 11. • 12. • 13. 14. • 15.
Sunday, 2 September 2012
Ernst & Young names Entrepreneur of the Year winners - St. Louis Business Journal:
The winners were announced at an evenr Thursday night at the Sherato OverlandPark (Kan.) Hotel. Winners were selectecd by an independent judging panel comprised ofregional business, academic and community leaders. The Central Midwest program recognizes companiexs basedin Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. The 2009 winners in the Centra lMidwest are: • Wholesale distribution category: Robert Reynolds Jr., chairman, president and CEO, based in St. Louis. • Servicw category: Peter Spanos, founder and CEO, of St. • Master category: James Ferrell, chairman and CEO, of Overlandd Park, Kan. • Technology category: August Grasis III, founderf and chairman, of Kansas City, Mo.
• Life sciences Christopher Nelson, president of , Des Moines, Iowa. • Private equity/venture capital backed category: Dr. Nicholas Franano, chief scientific officer, and Williajm Whitaker, vice president and general counsel, , Kansae City, Mo. • Consumer products category: Alisaw Shakespeare, president, , Davenport, Iowa. Regionak award winners will be eligible for consideration for theErnsg & Young LLP Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009 national awards. Winnerd in national categories as well as the overall nationalErnst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awarrd winner will be announced Nov. 14.
Saturday, 1 September 2012
GM enters bankruptcy filing - San Antonio Business Journal:
Monday’s Chapter 11 filing by the 101-year-oldx automaker — once the world’sx biggest company and WesternNew York’x largest manufacturing employer for decades — is among the larges t in U.S. history and largest-ever U.S. manufacturing Chapter 11, which allows the companhy to operate while protected fromits creditors, pushes GM into a fast-track bankruptcy and provides $30 billiohn of additional taxpayer funds to restructure General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson said in a prepared statement that GM was being reinvented and that the companu is ready for the job at hand.
"The economic crisis has caused enormous disruption in theauto industry, but with it has come the opportunithy for us to reinvent our business. We are goingb to do it once and do it The court-supervised process we are pursuing provides us with powerfulp tools to accelerate and complete our reinvention, as well as strony safeguards for our customers and our he said. The GM plan as detailed by U.S. officials woulsd allow a much smaller GM to emerge from courtt protection within 60 to90 days. GM also plans to clos 11 U.S. facilities and idle another three plantsx by the endof 2010. GM’s Tonawanda enginr plant, where 1,100 peopl work, will remain open.
The automakedr has not provided an updateed target for job cuts but was lookingg toeliminate 21,000 U.S. factory jobs from the 54,000 uniob members it now employs. Also not immediately cleaf is what GM’s bankruptcy filing will mean for ’xs plants in Lockport, Rochester and threed others. General Motors plans to take back the facilitieds from the former parts subsidiar y that it spun off in according to a tentative deal reachex last week between GM andthe UAW.
The factorie s in New York, Michigan and Indiana would operat eunder Delphi’s union rules, but be considered part of GM, once The Lockport plant — Delphi Thermakl Systems, which has 2,100 employees was founded as Harrison Radiator Co. in 1910 and became part of GM in 1918. For 81 yearas it operated under General Motors ownershio until the independent Delphi was formed. Delphi itself is operating under bankruptcy courg supervision having filed for Chapter 11 inOctober 2005. The Troy, Mich.-based company was ready to emerge from bankruptc y in April 2008 but those plans fell apart when a key investot dropped out ofa $2.55 billion stocok deal with the supplier.
General Motors employd 92,000 in the United States and is indirectluy responsiblefor 500,000 retirees. The U.S. government woulde hold a 60 percent financialo interest in a reorganized GM and the UAW woulfd takea 17.5 percent stake. The governments of Canadsa and the province of Ontaril have agreed to a 12 percent ownership stakes in exchange forfinancial aid. GM bondholders would get 10