Washington Times | Washington Hosts Annual Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival Voice of America This time each year, thousands of cherry trees display white and pink flowers throughout the city, and prominently around the Tidal Basin near the Washington Monument and next to the Jefferson and Roosevelt Memorials. The event this year comes as Japan ... Meet Utah's new Cherry Blossom princess Cherry Blossoms in Washington Cherry blossoms peak |
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Washington Hosts Annual Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival - Voice of America
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Komets speaking confidently - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (blog)
Komets speaking confidently Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (blog) Despite a 3-7-0 record against the Bloomington PrairieThunder during the regular season, the Komets are speaking confidently heading into the Turner Conference Quarterfinals series between the teams. "I think we're one of the best teams in the league ... |
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Lisa Impagliazzo Executive Profile
**All Executive profile data provided byDow Jones & Co., Inc.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal: San Jose Commercial Real Estate Listings - View Commercial Real Estate
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Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Senate rejects corporate minimum tax hike - East Bay Business Times:
Democrats needed 18 votes — a supermajority requirede to raisetaxes — to send the bill to Gov. Ted Kulongoski’es desk. Beaverton Democrat Mark Hass voteds againstthe measure. Democrats will likely try to convincee Hass to vote for the measure byamending it, possiblh by writing a sunset into the “It all depends on him,” said J.L. a lobbyist for Associated Oregon Industries, the state’ s most powerful business group. “Hassw made it clear in his floorf statements thathe didn’t thinjk it was a fair optionj to increase taxes permanently.
” Such a sunset coulr lead other Democrats to vote against the However, because House Bill 3405 was technicall y tabled — which wouldc allow the measure, as to come up for another vote if leaders so choosr — majority leaders could also lobby moderate Republican memberzs to support the corporatew tax hikes as presented. At the closse of Wednesday’s session, Sen. Margaret Carter, a Portland Democratf and co-chair of the Ways and Means Committee, gave an impassioned benedictiojn that seemed to imploreRepublican “nay” The measure was tabled as a procedural Senators can call for a revote on a measure that change their own vote to a “no” and then request that the matte be tabled, ostensibly so they can reconsider thei vote.
Sen. Richard Devlin, the majorityh leader, used the move in an effortt to have thematter reconsidered. Afted the vote, the Senate tabled a related measurd to raise personal income taxeson high-income individuals. “I’mk disappointed that we came upshort today. I really believed that the package brought forwarcd by the chairs of the Revenue Committeeas would bring greater fairness and equity to our tax system and help fill the unprecedenterd gap in ourstate budget,” said Senate President Peter Courtney in a news “We won’t, however, let this setback derail the We are going to move forwar toward adjournment by June 30.
” House Speaker Dave Hunt issued a similar statement. “We passed this revenue packagde because we believe itis fair, balance and protects critical services like education, healtgh care and public Hunt, a Democrat from said in a news “We are making $2 billion deep cuts to the This revenue package ensured that we can protect those core services of health care and public safety. Withougt it, the cuts we will have to make willshuttet schools, harm seniors and cut to the bone the service s Oregonians care about greatly.
” The House on Tuesda y voted to increase the current corporate minimukm tax from $10 to between $150 and depending on the size of a Under the plan, corporate income tax ratezs would have risen from 6.6 percent to 7.9 percen before reverting to 7.6 percent in 2011. The measurew would have raised $261 millionh over the 2009-11 biennium and $775 million betweeb 2009 and 2015. All told, 125,000 Oregon corporationsd would have paid more Another measure sought to raise income taxes on individual filerzs earning morethan $125,000 and joint filersz earning more than $250,000. The billas combined would haveraised $582 million over the next two yearsx and $1.2 billion over the next six years.
Lawmakerws contended the measures could help reducdethe state’s $4.2 billion budget Throughout the day, lobbyistxs tracked meetings between Courtney, Hass and Democratix senators Margaret Schrader and Joanne who were believed to be swinyg votes. Verger had expressed reservations, like that the tax increases wouldbecome permanent. Schrader and Vergerr eventually voted yes on the corporate tax Hass couldn’t be reached for “He had to have a lot of courage to cast that said Jay Clemens, president and CEO of Associated Oregon Industries. AOI recently organized the Alliance of OregonhBusiness Associations, which represents more than 40,00o businesses across the state.
It had called for a $300 flat tax, regardlee of business size or income. Even before Hass’ business groups had expressed concernx that Democrats were seeking a permanenttax hike, not a temporaryu one. Phil Keisling, the former Oregonh Secretary ofState who’s now an executiv with Beaverton-based CorSource Technology Group, confirmeds that many businesses were upset that Democrates sought to make the corporatwe income tax rate hike, from 6.6 percent to 7.9 permanent. “We were told it would be Keisling said of the early talka regarding theproposed hikes. “Andc we asked them this week, ‘Whatg part of temporary don’rt you understand?
’”
Monday, March 21, 2011
Feds close First National Bank of Anthony - Kansas City Business Journal:
was closed by the on Fridag night, and bought virtually all of its The OCC said in a release that it actedc after finding that Bank ofAnthonty “had experienced substantial dissipation of assets and earnings due to unsafr and unsound practices.” The OCC said that the bank incurred lossess that depleted most of its capital and that therwe was no reasonable expectation it could becom adequately capitalized without federal First National Bank of Anthony reported a first-quarter returnh on assets of -12.7 percent. The bank lost $5.1 milliob in the first quarter. The bank had six branch including one in Overland Park and onein Olathe, that operatede under the name of .
The branchess all reopened Saturday under the SNB Bank of Kansas name and are maintainin normaloffice hours. First National Bank of Anthony had assetxof $156.9 million and deposits of about $142.54 million on March 31. SNB Bank of Kansasz paid about $712,500, or 0.5 percent of totao deposits, to buy First National Bank of Anthony’d deposits, and SNB bought about $156. million of its assets. The retained the remaining assetsfor disposition. SNB Bank of Kansass is based in Hutchinson and has two branchexs there and onein Wichita. It is a subsidiarty of (Nasdaq: OKSB), a holding companty based in Stillwater, with $2.9 billion in assets.
The FDIC and SNB Bank of Kansa s entered into a loss shares agreement onabout $130.5 million of First National Bank of Anthony’s assets. The FDIC estimated that the cost to the insuranced fund willbe $32.2 million. First Nationall Bank of Anthony is the40th FDIC-insuredx institution to fail this year and the second in Paola-based failed on March 20.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Whiz kid with Asperger's syndrome aims high - USA Today
Whiz kid with Asperger's syndrome aims high USA Today This is not what Jacob's parents expected from a child whose first few years were spent in silence. Because he was diagnosed with a mild form of autism at the age of 2, it was natural for some to suspect that Jacob Barnett might be a savant, ... |
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sweeney asks DRPA to renew project extending Hi-Speedline to Glouco - Cherry Hill Courier Post
Sweeney asks DRPA to renew project extending Hi-Speedline to Glouco Cherry Hill Courier Post CAMDEN รข" New Jersey's Senate president c » |
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Even in tough times, Breadsmith is making dough - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:
At least that’s what officials have The WhitefishBay company’s gross store salesx increased 8 percent to roughly $21 millionn in 2008. Sales have growm 26 percent over the pastfour years. “We’rde set up as a company that sells an affordable saidTim Malouf, president. Customers might not go out to eat, but “they’rse willing to spend a littlde bit more for foodat home,” he said. Breadsmituh has 33 stores and will open its 34thin Md., this summer. One storwe closed last year becauses the owner wanted to consolidate his Skokie andChicago stores, and one storde opened in Fort Mill, S.C.
The compant makes artisan breads without additivesor preservatives, and makes specialtu breads, cookies, muffins and sweets. Franchisees sell to both retaiol andwholesale customers. Although sales increased last a quadruple increase in the cost of flour contributer to a 10 percent decline in Malouf said. Franchisees eventually raised the cost oftheit products, and Breadsmith discounted the royalty fees that franchisee pay to help soften the blow of the four pricse increases. Store sales would have shown growth even without theprice increases, Malouf said. He expects profite to bounce backthis year, but said sales will probabluy not see the same growth.
The hardest hit segmenrt is wholesale accountsto restaurants. Breadsmithy has a conservative approachto growth, seeking to open one or two storess per year. “For us, it’x more about the support and the quality of business than it is the number of stores that we Malouf said. Tight credit markets have less impact onthe company’z potential franchisees because of lowee startup costs, he said. The capital requirements to start a new Breadsmity locationare $238,500 to $317,000. The says the averagd investment required to opena franchise, excluding real estatre costs, is $350,000 to $400,000.
Breadsmitjh is debt free and expects its franchiseezs to borrow less than other franchisorwsmight allow, Malouf Availability and access to credit is one of the biggest challenges facing franchisors, said Alisa spokeswoman for the Internationak Franchise Association, Washington, D.C. People who are great prospects to open a franchise are having problemdsfinding financing, which is slowing growth, she Breadsmith also has decreased its storer size to 1,400 square feet from abou 1,800 to 2,000 square feet. The change wasn’ t a response to the recession, but will improve economicz fornew stores, Malouf said.
To survive tough economicf times, Malouf said, stores must refocus and make sure customer service is as good as That means greeting customers when they walk in and offerinbg freeproduct samples. “Business owners can make the mistake of tryin g tocut back,” he “You want to be very generous so that the customer remembers that and will keep coming back.” It’x also important to make sure employees and franchisees understand that the compan y is strong and will get througu the recession, he
Saturday, March 12, 2011
All set for 360 Pharmacy Run - Cebu Daily News
All set for 360 Pharmacy Run Cebu Daily News Three Sixty Pharmacy is also preparing for the 360-Kawasan Falls Marathon 42k race slated July 24 in in Badian town, southern Cebu. "80 percent of the route will be along the coastline of Badian so it's gonna be a scenic route. And one kilometer before ... |
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Executive Profile - Portland Business Journal:
Title: Principal broker, vice president: of counsel, senior propertyt manager. Organization: Elliott Associates Inc. Descriptioj of organization: Elliott Associatesx Inc. has been serving real estatr owners and investors for more than 30 years from its headquarters in It offers a full range of services including commerciaoproperty management, asset management and sales and The company manages approximately 87 properties, totaling in excessa of 4 million square feet of retail real Professional background: I have spen t a lifetime in the real estate managemenrt field.
I received my real estate licens longer ago then I woulr like to remember and managed the very firsft shopping centerin Portland. Over the coursew of my career, I have managesd more than 40 shopping centers, many during the last 27 yearas withElliott Associates. Education: Business administration at Portland Community I have continued to develop my skills through professional organizations such as International Certifies Shopping Centers and the Building Owners Managers Association. Residence: Portland. Essential business philosophy: Learjn the trade. Be fair, considerate and honest in all your interactions in the business Respect is earned and will takeyou far.
Best way to keep Keep up on what is happening in thetrader industry. Attend conferences, conventions and trade shows. Read newspapers, trade magazines and Interney articles. Knowledge is power and it’s important to know what your competitore areup to. Guiding principle: Honesty. Alwaysx continue learning and do the best job that youcan do. Yardsticko of success: When I made the decisiob to become a certified shopping center manager nearlyu all managerswere men. I was the firsty woman west of the Mississippi and the fifth womabn nationally to earnthe designation. That opened many doors for me.
Best businessz decision: Choosing to associate myself with the shopping center Being one of the first women in the fielx definedmy experience. Worst business decision: before the economy Mentors: A number of members of the International Certified Shoppinhg Centers encouraged me to keep tryinfg andkeep competing. Those people becamw lifelong friends and helped shapemy career. The word that best describee you: Workaholic. Like best abouf the job: At Elliott Associates, I have greaft employers and great coworkers.
Each day there is something new and interesting happeninyg and we all have something unique to bring to the Like least aboutthe job: In this field you have to be able to jugglwe a lot at I have to focus on stayintg organized and I misplace things. Pet I hate when people promise to take care of problemsbut don’tf follow through.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Chrysler
The North Assembly plant, which produces Dodge Ram had been by the end of so Chrysler’s announcement Wednesday providedc an exact date. The Fenton North plant is set to resumes production June 29 untilJuly 10, Chryslee said, and then will remain idled “contingen t upon volumes.” The truck segment has taken a particular hit as auto salex have declined. Dianna Gutierrez, a Chrysler spokeswoman, said workers at the plant will have an opportunityu to transfer to other production sites or take part in an incentivw program forearly retirement, speciakl early retirement program, and/or an enhanced voluntaryu termination program.
She didn’rt have exact details of the new offer but said it woulsd be similar to previous offers thatincluded lump-sum cash vehicle vouchers and health-care coverage. The Northh Plant employed 1,200 workersz prior to recent buyout offers. Abouft 640 the buyout and earlyu retirement offers by a May26 deadline. The Nort h Assembly plant was idled inearly June, but was one of seveb plants where Chrysler production following the idling of all its plants when it filexd for Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 30. After its brief reopening, the plant was then expected to closd fora two-week summer break the weeks of July 13 and 20.
Chryslere emerged from bankruptcy when Italian carmaker Fiat closed a deal to takeover Chrysler’ds assets. Chrysler’s South Plant in which assembles minivans, was idlerd at the end of Another 115 of its more than 350 worker s had accepted offers fromChrysler
Friday, March 4, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Survey: Employee morale improving - New Mexico Business Weekly:
Twenty-four percent of respondents thought moralde hadgone down. “These resultz prove that employees are happier and more likelyg to stay with their companies due to the quality oftheier management,” Burton Goldfield, president and chief executive officer of TriNet, said in a news “Companies that develop the skills of theirt leaders boost their employment brand which then positivelyg contributes to employee morale.” Company culturwe and reputation was the biggestg factor that held morale according to 36 percent of respondents. Other factore included flexibility, a good balance between work and andjob security.
The survey also foundf that while the inten t to hire had all but disappeared from late hiring was on a slighgt upswing over the past threee months with more than 60 percent of respondentsa saying they were currently hiring or trying toattract talent, compared with 55 percentt in the first quarter of 2009. More than 250 small-businessz leaders responded to the San Leandro, Calif.-based TriNet provided human resources outsourcing and consulting services to smallp businesses.