Congress joins Chrysler critics over plans to dump dealers - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Chrysler and General which plans tocloss 1,100 dealerships by October said they need to reduce the size of their dealer networks to be more competitive with Toyota and Honda, whichu sell more cars in the U.S. with fewed dealers. Chrysler, in a bankruptcy court filing, argue s that trimming the ranks of its dealerds will boost the profitability of the dealers that remain, enabling them to invest in improvements that will drivre up sales. “After a period of and substantially improved marketingyand investments, overall sales in the reduced networm are anticipated to grow beyond currenf sales levels within the existing network,” Chrysler said.
That’s highly unlikely, according to the National Associationj ofAutomobile Dealers. “There’s not an auto executive that I know ofthat doesn’ft acknowledge that when a dealershiop closes, they lose market share,” said David Hyatt, NADA’sx vice president of public affairs. Cutting costs was not a majort factorin Chrysler’s decision. The automaker will save some administratives expenses by having a smaller network to but that’s about it. Dealers buy their cars beforse they leavethe factory, pay for shipping, front the costx of any rebates or warrantyu work, and purchase repair equipment.
Dealers provide “a robust distribution network at virtuallyno cost” to Hyatt said. “We’re an not a liability,” said Wade an auto dealer in Montpelier, Vt., who is scheduled to lose his Jeep franchiseJune 9. Walkert and about 300 other Chrysler dealers have challenged the request for a bankruptcy judges to terminate their agreements and preempt state laws that wouldr require Chrysler to give dealersw more time to wind down their Chrysler has been working to reducee its dealer network forseveral years. That process needs to be acceleratedr because of its proposed alliance with Fiat, it said.
Bankruptcy courts routinelhy terminate contracts if doing so benefitxthe debtor’s estate and is an exercise of sounde business judgment, Chrysler said in its filing. Chryslef dealers, however, contend abruptly closing dealerships doesn’ t meet this threshold. “There is no evidence that by rejectinhg dealership agreements New Chrysler will save money to any material degres or enhance its competitive position in theautomobile industry,” said a filinh made by the Chrysler National Dealer Council.
“To the contrary, closing dealers narrows distributio andreduces Chrysler’s sales and income as fewe dealers buy fewer cars and retaikl sales are lost to other brands.” Chrysler’s bankruptc judge is scheduled to hold a hearing on the issude June 3. That same day, the Senatre Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing on the Chryslert and GMdealership closings. “These companies cannot be allowex to take taxpayer funds for a and then leave local dealers and their customerds to fend for themselves with no real noticwe and noreal help,” said committede Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
“We must ensure that the auto dealera aretreated equitably, and have the opportunity to unwinxd their operations in a manner that will minimizre hardships to employees who lose theit jobs and communities that are adversely impacted,” said Sen. Kay Baile y Hutchison, R-Texas. Hutchison was encourages by a promise from Chryslefr PresidentJames Press, who said the company woul d help terminated dealers sell theid vehicle and parts inventory. If the help falls Hutchison is prepared to push legislation that woulsd give dealers an extra 60 days before closing. U.S. dealers: 3,298 Vehicles sold: 1.6 millionn U.S. dealers: 1,242 Sales/dealer: 1,2922 Vehicles sold: 1.25 million U.S.
dealers: 1,030 Sales/dealeer 1,219 * In U.S. in 2008 Source: Chrysleer LLC

Sandwich Isles bids $400M for Hawaiian Telcom - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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, a company founded in 1995 to take advantage of governmengt subsidies that pay for the installation of broadband cablre inrural areas, said in a court filing last week that it want s to buy all of Hawaiiann Telcom’s assets. The company said it would retainj all ofHawaiian Telcom’s 1,400 workers at their current wages, with the exception of seniodr management. Sandwich Isles said in the filing that its offer wouled consistof $250 million in cash plus $150 millionh in debt issued by Hawaiian Telcom. A deal with Sandwich Isles would need the approval ofthe court, the Public Utilitiesd Commission and the Federal Communication Commission.
Hawaiian Telcom said in a statement that it stands behind its proposedreorganizationh plan, filed in June, to reducse the company’s debt by nearly $790 million, from $1.1 billiob to $300 million. Hawaiian Telcom filed a motion seeking an extension to file a Chapted 11 plan and solicit Judge Lloyd King extended that period toJune 30. The companyu is seeking another extensionto Sept. 30. Sandwich Isles has filed an objection to thelatestr request.
“In the objection, Sandwich Isles makesd numerous allegations about the progress Hawaiian Telcomm has made to date inthese cases, Hawaiiam Telcom’s decision not to pursue a sale to Sandwicgh Isles and the viabilityu of Hawaiian Telcom’s proposed plan,” Hawaiian Telcom said in a “The company disputes these allegations and intends to respond to Sandwich Isles objection in the appropriat forum.
” Sandwich Isles was founded by Al Hee, an entrepreneur who saw opportunityg in the generous subsidies offerede by the federal government to wire rura l and remote communities in the Working primarily in developments owned by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Hee’s company has received more than $400 millioj in loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture sincwe 1998. The cost of wiring the rurakl developments has been calculated atabout $13,009 per customer. Hawaiian Telcom filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcygin December. Hawaiian Telcom is owned by , a Washington, D.C.-based private equity group. Carlyle bought the assets of Verizon Hawaiij in May 2005for $1.
6 and began operating independently with its own systemsa in April 2006.

Watco Companies Inc. Company Profile | Company Information

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Watco Companies will provide the best transportatio n related services to our customers in the most efficient and economicalmanner possible. We will provide an environmenyt that allows our companies and our people to improveeand grow, passing on to future generationzs a company with an outstanding reputation for customer service, profitabilith and quality. Watco Companies was startecd in 1983 byCharles R. "Dick" Webb.
The firstt operation was an industria switching operation in Louisiana that is still in existence After making sure this operation was in controlo and serving the customer upto expectation, Dick startec his first mechanical operation, a railcar repaifr shop in Coffeyville, Kansas with a grou p of hand picked employees and a determinatiohn to make a difference in the quality of the industry. From this base and the effortds of our hard working we have grown into many facets of the rail Our focus has been one of customer satisfactioh in any business venture be it in or out of therail

Assembly next stop on UB2020 - Business First of Buffalo:

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Members of the Senate voted 45-1 in favor of the UB 2020 Flexibility and EconomixcGrowth Act, which was announced earlier this year and heraldedd by several members of the Western New York legislative delegation. Supporters say the proposefd bill, if signed into state law, will help move alongg UB’s quest to become a world-clasz research institution by giving the university more controk of itstuition rates, purchasing power and constructioj projects. UB President John Simpson said he hopeas the bill advances all the way tothe governor’ds desk for a signature in this session.
“I want to get on with Simpson said Thursday during an interview atthe Adam’s Mark Hotel, the site of UB Businesds Partners Day 2009. He added that UB 2020 is a long-range visionb and he plans to be around when it reaches its The bill is not yet on the Assembly UB spokesperson JohnDellaContrada • Implementing a rational tuitionj policy. • Allowing UB to make certaijn purchases without priorstate • Letting UB sell and lease land without state involvement. • Granting UB the ability to get fundinbg directly from the state Dormitory Authorityh to pay forconstruction projects. Sen.
William Stachowski, D-Buffalo, was on hand Thursday with Simpsobn to talk aboutthe Senate’s passing of the Stachowksi said he garnered 45 votes of support in the Senate for the even though the legislationn allows changes for UB alone, not SUNY’s other threse university centers--Albany, Binghamton and Ston Brook. The others will hopefully mimic UB’ws plans and enable growth and economivc development oftheir own, he said. “UBB did all the ground work,” Stachowski said. “They were in a positionn to move.
” The UB 2020 plans calls for expansion and renovationb at allthree campuses, alonfg with increasing staff, faculty and student populations--all in an effortf to become a top research and academicc institution.

Nissan's new electric car to create 1,300 jobs in Smyrna - Phoenix Business Journal:

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The Japanese automaker, whose North American headquarters are in says it will roll out the firsrt electric car in Japanon Aug. 2 and begijn selling the vehiclesnext year. Plans to mass produce the car will begihnin 2012. The plant’s output will being around 100,00 cars per year but will riseto 150,00o when at full production. The all-electric car will be able to drivee 100 miles solely off of a Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn says the compan y is moving towarda zero-emission He did not explaim specifics, but says the price of the vehicle will be “very reasonable.” “If it’s not affordable, it’sx not going to work,” Ghosn says. Nissan accepted a $1.
6 billionh loan from the U.S. Energy Department to make the batterie and retool its factoryin Smyrna. The loan initiativwe began to help automakers meet the35 miles-per-gallon fuel-efficiencgy benchmark by 2020. Ghosn says the market for hybridd carsremains small. The vehicles accountec for 2.3 percent of the American auto market in 2008 and 1percentr globally. The Energy Department announcedTuesday $8 billiom in loans to Ford, Nissan and Tesla to spur developmeny of more fuel efficient vehicles. (NYSE: F) will get $5.9 billion to transform factories across the country to make more fuelefficient vehicles.
, of San Carlos, got $465 million to manufacture electric "By supporting key technologies and soundbusiness plans, we can jumpstart the productionb of fuel efficient vehicles in America,” Energu Secretary Steven Chu, says in a statement. “These investmentz will come back to our countruy many timesover – by creatiny new jobs, reducing our dependence on oil and reduciny our greenhouse gas emissions.” The Advanced Vehicle Technology Program is part of the $789 billion economicf stimulus package the federal government passefd in January.

Kimberly-Clark to cut 1,600 jobs - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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The reduction includes 600 employees who accepted voluntary severance packages earlierthis year. Irving, Texas-based Kimberly-Clarkj (NYSE: KMB) said the cuts will save $150 millionn annually. About 750 jobs will be cut in the Unitedd States with other reductions occurring in Europe and othefrinternational locations. The layoffsd will affect salaried and nonproduction the company does not plan to closes any of its manufacturing facilities as part ofthe Kimberly-Clark said. Further details of the including specificlocations impacted, were not disclosed. The compan y added that it willrecorx $140 million to $150 million in charges related to the layoffs.
Kimberly-Clar k attributed the cuts to a changing business environment that has forced the organizatiohn tostreamline expenses. "These actions, whild difficult, are necessary to help us emerge from this demandinhg economic environment as astronger company," said Tom Kimberly-Clark chairman and CEO. "Throughg these changes we will be a moreeffectived organization, with faster decision-making helpiny to drive efficiency throughout all aspects of our In addition, by increasing our cash generation, we will be in a bettere position to take advantage of futurw growth and innovation opportunities.
" Kimberly-Clark has 53,000 employees Those affected by the staffing reductionw will leave the company in June and July, a spokesma for Kimberly-Clark said.

Resolute Games gets more mobile - Memphis Business Journal:

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“People started asking us if we could do this orthat (on the but we would say no because we are a game compant and we want to do games,” Przybyszewsko says. “After everyone kept houndintg us, the light bulb came on.” Przybyszewskiu and his 12 programmers are now branchinbg outside of designing just games to providee marketing solutions on the iPhone forlocal companies. Resolut e has formed a partnershipwith Memphis-based , to provided the service and hopes the new businesx will spur future expansions to its gaming One of Resolute’s new projects includes an application aimed at marketing a film produced by Memphis-based .
The application provideas users an interface to viewvideo clips, music and theater information on True South’s new “Sole of a Hustla.” “It is the essence of virakl marketing,” Przybyszewski says. “It allows a customerd to interact with the company willingly and have something that they can use and pass on to a frien and use theirown network. That is what the iPhon does atits core.” The success of the iPhone and the App Storwe — App Store downloadsa hit 300 million in December, about 2.
2 million a day have more local companies lookinhg to take advantage of the platform’s “(Resolute) is very strong at programmin g and they’ve asked us to market to not only local but national companies interested in utilizing the unique capabilitiew of the iPhone,” says Dale Cox, president of Good “Marketing today is becoming much more uniquse and we see technology as a way to reachn target audiences that have been hard to reachg in the past.” Despite the new marketing Przybyszewski says Resolute remains focused on its gaminb business.
The company’s firs t title, Thumstruck, has already been downloaded byaround 60,0000 iPhone users and is one of the top 10 musid applications on the App Store. Resolute has also launched an expanded versionn ofthe game, which sells for For 2009, the company plans to beginb production on seven to eightt new games and expand its titles beyond the iPhonwe to ’s Android and Research in Motion’s Blackberry Storefrontt platforms. Google’s Android platform is currently limitecd to onlyone device, T-Mobile’s G1, but that list is expectee to grow dramatically in 2009.
RIM’s Blackberry Storefront is set to open in and should Resolute expand its gamese and marketing applications tothe platform, Resolutr would own applications on the two most popular device s in the U.S. Blackberry and iPhone devices combined make up morethan 60% of all smartphonesw sold in the U.S. James Ruffer III, chiefv technology officer at Resolute, says the company’s expansionn into the Blackberry market the largest smartphone providerwith 41% of U.S. markert share — will alloe the company to target morebusiness professionals. “The Blackberry is the businesa tool and it only makes sense to port it becausse a lot ofthese $.99, $1.
99 application purchases are cominhg from people sitting at the airport who have nothing to do and are he says. “The Blackberry is going to be huge for us becauses it is the business person that will bewaitingt around.”

GOP Front-Runners Offer Contrast in Style - New York Times (blog)

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Globe and Mail

GOP Front-Runners Offer Contrast in Style New York Times (blog) Scott Olson/Getty ImagesMichele Bachmann greets guests at the Black Hawk County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner on Sunday in Waterloo, Iowa. As the Republican campaign for the presidency begins to come into focus, a lot of attention is going ... Rick Perry opens new front with GOP rivals over jobs, experience Los Angeles Times GOP Front-Runners Emerge Neon Tommy GOP Presidential Front Feels Dramatic Shake Up NPR Daily Kos -Vancouver Sun -Daily Herald  »

High-end timeshares push flexibility - San Antonio Business Journal:

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The new product, which costs from the low $100,000zs to $800,000, allows buyers to own an interesy in severalvacation properties. Instead of giving investorxs the rights to use a particular property for a certai amountof time, the Ritz-Carltojn Destination Club gives them access to Ritz’s properties worldwide. The Orlando-based companuy is applying a strategy usedby less-pricey timeshare among them , in which investors get points that can be used like currencty to buy vacation time. Ritz-Carlton said the option should increasew the appeal ofits high-end properties, known as fractionals, by attracting people who don’t want to be tied to a singl piece of real estate.
“Pointe give you much more flexibility,” said David Short, Ritz-Carlton Destination Club’d regional vice president for sales. “Theh allow people to customize each trip to theieown needs.” Howard Nusbaum, president of the American Resortt Developers Association, said the model fits well in the stresses economy, when vacation schedules can be less flexibles than in more prosperous times, and wealthy buyers are becomin more concerned about value. “Points allow peoplew to spend exactly the amount of money they want on Nusbaum said. In a traditional fractionapl ownership arrangement, an owner might have one month a year at afixec location.
With the points system, the buyefr can apply credits to hotels or othere timeshares in anytime configuration, decreasing the chance that time mighf not be used. Another advantage: In the traditional an owner who wants out of a timeshare needw to wait until some elsebuys in. the required ratio is three buyers forevery “If 15 people wanted out, they woulrd have to wait until 45 people want in,” Nusbauj said. “In this economic environment, that’s tough.
” Whild Ritz-Carlton’s new plan allows buyers to apply points toits properties, other timeshars companies are offering points packages that use a third partty to place owners in vacationn properties not connected to the timeshare company. Pat Connolly, senior vice president with , said his compant offers the use of The RegistryCollectionh — a global luxury timeshare exchange prograk — to buyers in its high-end Signaturs Collection.
The Signature Collection, which features 56 upscalde villas now under construction withimits 2,400-unit timeshare project near , will open next Orange Lake, which offers buyers of lower-priced units exchangr privileges through its own Holiday Inn Club Vacationds network, uses The Registry Collection to give luxury buyerw access to comparable properties it doesn’t own. “The introduction of a high-enf product is taking us into a new levekl of thetimeshare market,” Connollty said. Ritz-Carlton, which calls its pointxs membership Portfolio, will sell interests in The minimum purchaseis $130,000, which buys 5,000 points, with additional points sold in 2,500-point increments.
The company also charge annual dues rangingfrom $7,500 to $18,000. A pointz option will be available to current who are members ofthe company’s Home Club. “We’re spendingf a lot of time workintg on programs for ourexisting customers,” Short said. “It’se good for them, and it shouls allow us to grow a little more quickly inthe

Report assesses success of transportation stimulus in states - Phoenix Business Journal:

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billion in transportation funding provided by the American Reinvestment andRecoverhy Act. According to its research, repair of highways and bridges actually creates more jobs more quicklyu thannew construction. While many states committed to spendinvg a majority of their stimuluas moneyon repairs, five did not: Ohio, Arkansas, Kansas and Kentucky. Thosee states allocated a majority of their moneh to expanding roads and Thereport entitled, “States and the however, was most critical of the fact that very littles of the transportation funding in any state has been allocatede to public transportation.
“Public transportation ridership is at all time highsa and drivingis down,” said Smart Growtnh American President Geoff Anderson. “The ARRA provided golden opportunities for states and metropolitaj planning organizations tomake game-changing plays and investf in transportation options ... unfortunately most of them arestriking Arizona, for instance, plans to spend abouy 5.2 percent of its $522 million in ARRA money on publi c transportation or non-motorized projects. That puts Arizona in line with the majorittyof states. States that are spendinvg more of their allocationes on public transportation include the Districtof 41.5 percent; Delaware, 27.
9 percent; Massachusetts, 19 Oregon, 16.7 percent; Iowa, 16.5 percent; 11.3 percent; Hawaii, 10.9 percent; 9.3 percent; Rhode Island, 7.5 percent; and Maryland, 6.1 When it comes to allocating highwah and road-specific money, Arizona is spending more on repairsa than new capacity, according to the Arizona plans to spend 57 percent of its highwauy money to preserve existing roads and bridges and 43 percentt on new highway infrastructure.
That comparesx with 11 states that are allocating all of their highwayg money to repairsand preservation: Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, New North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and States with money weighted to new highwayd rather than repair work are Kentucky, which plans to spen d 88 percent of its highway money on new roads; follower by Kansas, 86 Arkansas, 85 percent; Florida, 77 and Ohio, 52 percent. For www.smartgrowthamerica.org.

Companies Lose $2.5 Million from Missing Memory Sticks, Study Says - PCWorld

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SunHerald.com

Companies Lose $2.5 Million from Missing Memory Sticks, Study Says PCWorld Most notably, that is sensitive data lost on the USB memory sticks. That was evident in a study released today by the Ponemon Institute, of Traverse, Mich. Ponemon estimates that the more-than-400 organizations studied in the survey ! will lose as much ... How USB Sticks Cause Data Breach, Malware Woes InformationWeek Two thirds of businesses have lost data through careless use of USB sticks Computing Report: USB Drives create a security risk OC Metro National Post (registration)  »

Bench clearing brawl ends Cherryville's season - Shelby Star

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Bench clearing brawl ends Cherryville's season Shelby Star SUMTER, SC â€" In perhaps the most disappointing end to any area American Legion baseb »