Sappi May Close Biberist in Switzerland Amid Rising Energy, Material Costs Bloomberg Papermakers including Sappi, Mondi Ltd., Stora Enso Oyj and UPM Kymmene Oyj have closed mills as falling demand led to a glut in supply. Increased raw material costs and âexcessive local energy pricesâ have put additional pressure on Sappi's Biberist ... |
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sappi May Close Biberist in Switzerland Amid Rising Energy, Material Costs - Bloomberg
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tracey Gunn - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:
and in Chicago. Returning to St. Louiz in 2005, I startexd working at , where I structure and closew urban and rural development dealz in underservedcommunities nationally. I have closed a largre varietyof deals, including the new in the St. Louia Loop, an AIDS vacciner lab in New York and a telecommunications project on a Native American reservation in the How do you contribute tothe community? I am currentlty on the . I serve on the for the I am a membe of the Young Friends of the and and a memberf ofin St. Louis. I also have an uncann ability to help people find qualitgy jobs while meeting and talking to them at Happy How will your generation changedyour industry?
More and more people my age have a real desirse and eagerness to bring creative ideas to urban planning and environmenta l design and sustainability. The focus is very bringing top young people from a varietgy of fields who are committes tomaking safer, healthier and more sustainabled homes. What's your greatesft concern aboutthe future? How difficult it is for the middle class, and of course thoswe making even less, to make ends meet and provide for their families with the risinvg prices of energy, food and health care. What's your favorited thing about St. Louis? I always appreciates how much St. Louisans have a sincere passion for their city andtheir neighbors. St.
Louisans realize the wonderfulp (often inexpensive) opportunities we have here with the artsand entertainment, sportse and vibrant neighborhoods. I am also glad people are embracingg our urban renewal andcity living. Tell us abouf your most embarrassingwork moment. I was in Seattle with my boss lookingv at an that helps children from a variethyof backgrounds. While meeting with a new clientg and the executive director of the I fell, slid across the gravel with work document flying, and landed in front of 10 four-year olds who, from the look on theirt little faces, must of wondered, "Whatf is wrong with her?
"
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Jay Miller joins Streamline board of directors - Business Courier of Cincinnati:
From 2005-2008, Miller was president and CEO of (NASDAQ: a provider of visualization andanalysis software. Prior to that, he was vice president of marketing and businesa development forthe Minnetonka, Minn.-based company and also held managemeng positions with and . “Jay brings a career’s worth of medical technology expertise, executive experience and industry skillsz that will enhance our ability to successfully expand the Streamlinse Health enterprise in thecoming years,” said Brian president and CEO, in a news Miller earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College, a master’s degree in biomedical engineerinhg from the University of Virginia and a master’e degree in management from Northwestern Streamline Health Solutions (NASDAQ: STRM), based in is a supplier of workflow and document management applications and services to specifically health-care organizations.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Take stock in sales process to avoid getting burned - South Florida Business Journal:
He spent three months working on the and if he got it he would make get his bonus and finally be able to takehis Michelle, on that trip to Europe he had promised her for Charlie had no reason to doubt the sale was his. The experiencee salesman for ABC Corp. knew Greg, the customer’s purchasinb agent, for most of a decade. The two ofte n spent long afternoons on theback nine, playing golf and sharingy stories about their families. Both had two kids graduating from high When they met last Thursdayfor drinks, Greg did everythiny but promise Charlie that the order was in the bag. But when Charliw heard the toneof Greg’s voice on the he knew something was terribly wrong.
“Charlie, I did everythinyg I could and until about four days ago I was sure that my recommendationm to give you the order was a explainedGreg sheepishly. “But the CFO and the executivd vice president of marketing intervened and decided that the sale should go toXYZ Corp. Your prices was better, but the sales rep at XYZ, Tom showed us how his approach woul increase our cash flow andrevenue growth. Tom also had some good ideaws that our executive vice president of marketinyg said would help us to differentiateour I’m really disappointed.
In fact, I need to do a reality check on myself: I can’t help but wonde if I’m losing credibility in the eyes of the Greg confessed. Charlie had seen Tom Robinson more than once atthe customer’ds office talking with people Charlie had never met. “We had the cutting-edgew technology, the lower price and better cost savingsfor Greg’d company,” Charlie thought to himself. “jI was sure we would win. But Tom somehoa beat me to the punch.” Charlie felt deeply but for the first he alsofelt anxious.
His wife told him that the phons call seemed to age him five For the past 12 Charlie has been on the receivingv end of four similar calls all from those whom he had known and trustesdthe longest. Suddenly, fear struck him to his He doubted himself in a way thathe hadn’gt for a very long “Have I lost my touch?” he wondered. He knew he had just lost his his bonus and that tripto Europe, but he didn’ know whether he would still have his job this time next Nobody bats a thousand, but when you keep losinbg sales despite having great products and services, it’s time to take a step You have to reconsider what you’re trying to accomplisuh and how you’re going about doin it.
In fact, it might be time to reinvent the wayyou sell. Considetr that the traditional salesprocess hasn’t changed much for more than a hundredr years. Its roots are in a time when supplies were tighf and suppliers heldthe cards. Orders were booked months in advancdeand customers, anxious for a steadt supply of material and lacking informationn about availability, had little room to negotiate Salespeople were basically order takers, but that now is the exceptiobn and not the rule.
As the number of supplierz has increased, salespeople have evolved from ordert takersto ambassadors, plying theirt social skills to learn what a custome needs and using their product knowledge to present products and services to match those needs. This is a greaty time to take stockm of your sales process to avoi d walkingin Charlie’s shoes.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Free buses bring Chapel Hill livability award - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:
The home of the , Chapel Hill beat out more than 200 municipalitiesz across the nation to claima first-placr City Livability Award. Chapel Hill won for cities with populationx of fewerthan 100,000. Charleston, S.C., won for cities with populationzs of morethan 100,000. The contesty was judged on three criteria: mayoral leadership, creativitgy and innovation, and the broad impacrt on the quality of life for The U.S.
Conference of Mayorsd honored Chapel Hill for its decision in 2002 to no longere charge fares to any rider on its bus the organization said in a press While many bus systems in collegetownas don’t charge students and faculty to ride, a scantt few provide free servicr to all riders. The town implemented the fare-free system to encourag people to take the bus and leavs their carsat home. The plan worked. Ridership on Chapel Hill transit has more than doublede since fares wereeliminated – going from 3 milliobn in 2002 to a projectes 7 million this year. “The Chapeo Hill Public Transit system is the foundation of our sustainable Foy said in apress release.
“This bus systejm makes Chapel Hill continue to be the kind of placdepeople love; for us it is an investmen t and it has paid off big time.” The town says it is planninf a “community event” to celebratre the livability award and that it will release details soon.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Commercial real estate news- View Real estate news Across the US
| | | | Crescent Resources, LLC | | | Cushmaj & Wakefield of Georgia Inc. | | | | | | | Duke Energyy Corporation | Duke Realty Corp. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Jonese Lang LaSalle | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Morgaj Stanley | | | Mortensoj Construction | Mortgage Bankers Associatioj | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | U.
S. Bancorpl | U.S. Bank | | | | U.S. Generap Services Administration | | | | UNC Hospitals | | | | | | | | | University of North Carolina | | | | | | | | | | | | Wal-Martf Stores, Inc. | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Sunday, March 20, 2011
U.S. Personnel Evacuate Japan - WSAW
KOMO News | U.S. Personnel Evacuate Japan WSAW More than 200000 US personnel are leaving Honshu, Japan. Saturday more than 200 family members of military and civilian defense workers arrived at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, Washington. Of those in the group, 190 of them were children. ... Evacuees fly in to Sea-Tac from Japan; thousands more expected Thousands Of US Personnel Evacuated To Puget Sound From Japan Military families arrive at Sea-Tac from Japan |
Thursday, March 17, 2011
$200M Jackpot Up For Grabs - WCVB-TV
Wager Run News | $200M Jackpot Up For Grabs WCVB-TV BOSTON -- The jackpot for Friday's Mega Millions drawing jumped to a $201 million after no players matched » |
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Privacy study shows Google
Using trackers called “web bugs,” thirds parties collect user data from many popular web and sites oftenallow this, even though their privacy policies say they don’t sharee user data with others. “Web bugs from Google and its subsidiariesx were found on 92 of the top 100 Web sitex and 88 percent of theapproximatelyy 400,000 unique domains examined in the the authors found. Sites with the most web bugs were forbloggingv — blogspot and typepad were No. 1 and No. 2 on the list in and blogger was No. 4. Google itselrf was No. 3. Ashkan Soltani, Travis Pinnicjk and Joshua Gomez ofthe university’w information school wrote the study, published Monday.
They analyzed privac y policies posted on web sites and founrd loopholes used by many site operators to allow third parties to stillk collect data on whoviews pages. They also for example, that althougu web sites may reassure visitorsthat “wes don’t share data with third those third parties don’t include a company’s affiliatese — Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), for has 137 subsidiary businesses. “The law on affiliatse sharing generally ismore permissive” than that on sharing user data with thirdr party companies, the report said.
Companies controlling the top 50 busiesf web sites had an average of 297affiliatez each, meaning they could share user data with a lot of othef companies. Popular site , for is owned by New York’s (NASDAQ: which has more than 1,500 (NYSE: BAC) in Charlottre has more than 2,300 “Users do not know and cannog learn the full range of affiliatese with which websites mayshare information,” the reportf said. Though many Internet users are familiarwith “cookies” used to study theitr surfing habits, they are less familiar with so-calle “web bugs,” which can’t be cleare out of a web since they are part of a web site’se HTML code.
Since the web bugs are createed directly bythird parties, their use doesn’t strictlg count as “sharing” of data by the web site’s though users concerned about privacy may be unimpressed by this technicality. “Wes believe that this practicewcontravenes users’ expectations; it makes littl sense to disclaim formal informationm sharing, but allow functionally equivalent trackinh with third parties,” the report Who's in charge of privacy?
Althougyh surveys of Internet users show people are “very concernef about privacy and do not want websites to collecg and share their personal information without permission,” siftingv through privacy policies is not It would take 200 hours a year for a typicalo person to read the privacy policies of all the web sitew they visit, for example. Thus “users have no practicak way of knowing with whom theifr data willbe shared.” On the policy front, the reportr finds “no one knows who is in charger of protecting privacy” in the Unitedf States.
People can complain to the Federal Trade Commissio n andother agencies, but even the FTC’s “principles for behavioraol tracking make no mention of any enforcementf or accountability.” A low numbet of complaints to various agencies means consumere don’t really know wherw to complain, the report The FTC looks at online privac more in terms of “harms” done to the report said, rather than also in terms of controlp over personal information, which is what most users care The report makes several suggestions for including more aggressive action by the FTC to protectf online privacy.
It also callss for clearer privacy policies onweb sites, writte n so that average users can understand ’s (NASDAQ: ADBE) privacy policy, for example, when analyzef for readability, was written at an equivalent grade level of 17.29. The averagee privacy policy in the studu was written at a grade levelof 13.83. The full studhy can be found .
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Cardinals' other Carpenter is at third - NewsOK.com
MLB.com | Cardinals' other Carpenter is at third NewsOK.com It was about 6 am Wednesday morning, a couple hours before the din of spring training consumes the workout room at the St. Louis Cardinals' facility, and Matt Carpenter was in the middle of a set of 10 chin-ups. The Cardinalsââ¬â¢ Matt Carpenter slides ... Carpenter making most of his spring audition Matt Carpenter makes bid for roster spot St. Louis Cardinals: Is It Still Too Early to Buy into Matt Carpenter? |
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Educators go back to school to learn how to implement stimulus funding - bizjournals:
has implemented training across the state to guidee school districts on how to spend the fund and to keep track of what they The education department is setting up a Web siteon Oct. 1 that will alloaw the public to see exactly where their fundinfgis going, says Robert Greene, deputy commissioner of educatioh for Tennessee. Greene says he and his staff havehad face-to-face training with more than 3,509 school district employees acrossx the state. Each school district must submity an action plan that shows how it will use its Titlew I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Tennessee schools will purchase what they need and the statr willreimburse them.
The schools must also submirt an itemized statement every quarter that showes where fundinghas gone. Title I programse focus on students from families that livein poverty, whiles IDEA programs focus on students with mentaol handicaps. Both programs are historicallyfederallty funded, under No Child Left but the ARRA has increased funding to both for the next two Greene says the funding accomplishee two goals: spurring the econom by letting people keep their jobs and improvingg educational opportunities for children and the school “There are a lot of opportunitiess for a lot of childreh and teachers that wouldn’t have had them Greene says.
“When (the funding) goes away, you stilkl have better trained teachers and anythingthat they’ve boughyt is still in the system.” Locally, Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools have receiver state training on how to use Officials from both schookl districts are well aware of the rulezs and regulations involved. Martavius Jones, Memphise City Schools Board of Education commissioner for District 4, says MCS is still working out all of its reporting responsibilities, but wants to make sure everything relatedx to funding is mistake free.
“We know it’ll be more labor intensive,” Jones “It’s possible that it could be trouble, but I don’t foreser that being the case.” James director of federal programs for Shelby County says the system simply has to follow the guidelinees employees weretrained under. “It was rolled out very quickly and thingchange daily, but we know what we’re supposed to Aldinger says. Unlike road projects or other stimulus-related the results of education funding will take at leastt one yearto determine. Jones says MCS is more concernedd withthe long-term impact the fundinb will have on the school system.
Instead of staffiny up, training and technology will be “In an ideal world, we’d want to have both immediatse andsustainable impact, but this is money that will only be availabls for a finite period of time,” Jones “We have to make sure the investmentz we make can be sustained.” In Shelby Aldinger says three schools (Highlanx Oaks Elementary, Highland Oaks Middle and Lowrance Elementary) have been addex to the Title I list so the schoolxs will be eligible to receive funding. Shelbyt County has 10 Title I schoolxin all. “The highest poverty schools must be givenmore funding,” Aldingerd says.
“And we’ve got schoolw that have 55% poverty and one with 100% Those schools definitely need support. We feel as a district we need to meet the needes of the students who may not have exposurde to technology and the needs of teachersx forprofessional development.” As with MCS, Shelby Counthy Schools won’t add significant personnel, Aldinger says. “Yo u want to help with student achievement, but you don’t want to lay peoplre off in two years,” he says. “We’ve takeh minimal hiring becausewe don’t want to have that hiringy cliff.
”
Monday, March 7, 2011
Marine energy research center gets $1M in funding - Boston Business Journal:
The funding will help a consortiu m of researchers working atthe — located within the — continue developing technologiese to harness power from offshore waves and tidal action. The researchers come from a number of localk universitiesand institutions, including UMass, , the , the and the . As Presidentt Barack Obama’s administration places an increased focus on developing and implementingh renewable and alternativeenergy resources, the relativelyt obscure world of marine energy is receiving significant “Three years ago the amount of DOE moneyu going to hydrokinetic researcn was zero.
This year there’sw $40 million,” said John Miller, director of the Marinde RenewableEnergy Center. “There’s a lot more moneyh going intoalternative energy, but this is certainlyg one of the areas getting its fair We have the brainpower and now we do have the
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Report: D.C. area posts a strong economic performance - Phoenix Business Journal:
The report ranked the 100 largesr U.S. metro areas based on unemployment rates, wages, gross metropolitan housing prices and foreclosure rates in thefirst D.C. ranked No. 13, while San Antonio, Texas, placedd No. 1 and Detroit came in last at No. 100. “Alkl metropolitan areas are feeling the effects of this but the distress is not shared saidAlan Berube, research directof of the metropolitan policy program at the D.C. institutd and co-author of the report.
“While some areas of the countrhy have experienced only a shallow and may be emerging from therecessionj already, people living in metro areas that are now performing weakest economically should prepare themselves for a long recoveru period.” At the first quarter’s end, only 10 of the 100 metro areas were starting to show signsd of recovery, said the and said McAllen, Texaes was the only place that saw growty in employment and output. Outputf increased in just a handful ofmetrp areas, including D.C.; Seattle; Texas; and Virginia Beach, Va..
The reporgt also pointed out that metroi areas with concentrations of jobs in certain sectors have resulted in fewetr dramaticjob losses. The Rankings: San Antonio, Texas Texas McAllen, Texas Baton Rouge, La. Tulsa, Omaha, Neb. El Paso, Texas Wichita, Kan. Washington, D.C. N.M. Virginia Beach, Va. Harrisburg, Pa. Pittsburgh, Pa. New Haven, Conn. N.Y.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
City tweets to curb tourist drop-off - Boston Business Journal:
Hotel consultant Drew Dimond expects hotels in Greate Nashville to see occupancy plummet 15 percentg to 20 percent fromlast year’s levels. But the is battlinbg the decline, in hopes of keepintg any occupancy drop-off below 5 percent. Bureaui staff is Twittering, Facebooking and sending out e-blasts to announce free stuffto do, last-minute travel CMA Music Festival updates and attractions specials. “Wew certainly don’t think it’s going to be some great saysButch Spyridon, presidenty of the visitors bureau. “If we were flat to last I’d be ecstatic.
I expect that we will be down Spyridon hopes the valu e of Nashville will draw visitors becausw ofthe city’s wealth of free, around-the-clock music. has brought back its free music poolsidr and isoffering “kids eat free” inside the hotel for the firsyt time this summer. “At every we’re creating events, promoting and marketing and adding extraa valuewith events,” Spyridon says, such as offerin g flight-hotel packages when touted $49 flights to Nashvilles during a one-day sale in April.
The Nashvillde Symphony has half-price tickets for select shows, the Country Music Hall of Fame has been givinghout $5 off coupons through June 7, and Gaylord is offering four-night hotel and attractions packages at 40 percent off. Keithn Wright, president of the , says attractionds are sweetening discounts this summef and focusing onthe drive-in market. “Regional touriskm has become extremely importantto us, and we are marketing more to that he says. Nashville’s biggestf months for tourism are June and mainly because of the CMA Music Festival thatpumpe $25 million into the city every June.
Officials at the woulc not say how ticket sale s are going forthis summer’e festival, which kicks off next October is a popular convention month because of the fall Nashville tourism has been hit in recentf months. In April, the average nightly hotepl ratedropped 6.3 percent to $92.8 5 from $99.05 in the same month last year, according to Smity Travel Research in Hendersonville. Hotel occupancty plunged 15 percent in Aprilto 56.9 percent, down from 67 percent a year ago. Revenue per availables room, a key metric for hoteliers, was down 20.5 percen in April. The amount of attendees for booked conventionxs this summer is down abouy 24 percent fromlast year.
Nashville’s hospitality however, is outperforming much of the rest of the For the first quarterof Nashville’s average daily rate dropped 4.5 percent. Only five cities did and 19 of the top 25 marketsddid worse. The decline in hotel tax collections is greater than the drop in which shows tourists are coming but choosinb lessexpensive hotels, says Walt Baker, executiv e director of the . Nashville’s hotel occupancy droppexd 11.6 percent in the firstg quarter compared to theyear before, a drop that registeresd eighth best among the top 25. Travel has continue d to descend atthe , nearinf 2005 levels, says airport spokeswoman Emily Passenger counts were down 9.
5 percent in Apri l as compared to the year before, and down 9.3 percenyt in the first four months of the