Saturday, November 10, 2012

Politicians want answers as rumors swirl NCR to leave Dayton - Dallas Business Journal:

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Government officials said word began swirling in the community Thursdaty thatNCR (NYSE: NCR) is planning to move its headquarterse and 1,300 employees to the Atlanta area and make an announcement about the move this NCR Global Spokesperson Richard speaking by phone Saturday from confirmed that an effort was made for Ohio Gov. Ted Stricklaned and NCR Chief Executive Officer Bill Nuti to however they were not ableto Strickland’s spokesperson said Saturday that he is “continuingy to reach out to the companuy to have a direct conversation.
” When asked aboutg NCR possibly moving its headquarters out of Dayton, Maton said the companyu does not respond to rumors and NCR Corporate Spokesperson Alan Ulman responded to questions aboutg NCR’s plans with an e-mail messagwe Saturday that read: “We have no announcement In the past, NCR has been quicko to deny rumors of its relocation and affirmm its commitment to remaining in Dayton. The has repeatedlh sought information from the companysince Thursday, but NCR had not respondefd to their requests as of Fridayg evening, a development department spokesperson said.
Montgomery Countyy Commissioner Dan Foley said he is frustrated by the lack of Foley said he has asked multiplecompany officials, via e-mail, to respondx to the rumors, but has yet to receivr any information. Foley said he, along with other county, state and city of Dayton have met with NCR representative in the past in an efforg tosafeguard NCR’s local jobs. “Allo that said, nobody has confirmed to me that theie statushas changed,” Foley said “I have to assume that -- I I very much hope -- they are staying in Dayton, because our citizens have helpee build that company up to be world-class and will continue to do Rumors have long circulated that the company woulc move, however multiple government and economic development officiald said they reached a new level in the past few NCR is said to be seekinb about 100,000 square feet of offics space in Georgia, .
NCR is believe to have looked at sitesin Savannah, and Ga. Based on the square footage the operation could house about 300 to 400 according to realestate sources. Georgia governmentg and economic development officialsremainedc tight-lipped on any potentialp development. In October, NCR said it woule move its Worldwide Customer Services headquarters to an Atlanta investing $15 million and creating more than 900 jobs in the suburbxs of Peachtree City and Deluth. The state of Georgia providedc morethan $8 millio n in incentives, according to officials. NCR, founded locallg in 1884, is the Daytom region’s second largest with 20,000 global employees and $5.3 billion in revenude in 2008.
The company, whicu sells ATMs and retail automation systems, is Dayton’a lone remaining Fortune 500 company. At one time, the company had more than 18,00 employees in the Dayton area, but that numbetr has dwindled during the pastseveral decades. As recentl as two years ago, NCR had about 2,000 Daytonj employees. That number has declined by abouty 700 workers in the past several In 2007, NCR announced it was relocatinvg its executive offices to New York City and leasinbg an entire floor of the 7 Worl d Trade Center building. But, on paper, its headquarteras remained in Dayton.
In March, the compant also told employees it is undergoingb a structural reorganization and woulcd cut an unknown amount of itsgloball workforce. That same month, the company removed the language “worlr headquarters” from the sign at its Dayton though it said at the time it wasjust

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Stimulus funds lag health woes - Austin Business Journal:

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That’s the view of the eight-memberd panel of industry and medical experts who were invited by the Southb Florida Business Journal to share their views of whatthe $787 billiojn federal stimulus package means to the health care sector. What emergedf was a broad discussion of how stimuluse legislation is just one piecwe of change needed in an industruy that has run financially amok due to an overreliancewon specialists, shortfalls in information technologyu and patients who are undereducated. The Congressional Budgetr Office has projected that total national spending on healtbh care could hit 48 percent of gross domestiv product by 2050 ifleft unchecked.
To solver this problem will takemore money, in the short term. The Obama administration’s $59 billio n for health care stimulus spendinyincludes $19 billion for electronic health care Starting in 2011, doctors who can show meaningfuol use of electronic medical records will get incentivezs – and those who don’ty will get declining Medicare But, the old-fashioned general practitioner may also have a big Linda Quick, president of the , said health care reform legislation that coincidexs with the stimulus calls for individuals to have a home locatiojn or a primary care provider.
She said that allows for “as community location close to home and getting more done in a actually high clinicaltechnology setting.” in turn, will also translats into a less costly location, the panelists said. Rache l Sapoznik, CEO of , said: “Thes reason I believe in the last 25 years of seeing healtn care costs rise dramatically is we have movedr away from the primary care physicia knowing the patient to Patients go from specialis t to specialist to get each ailment but an overview of their condition and family historhyis lacking. George executive VP and chief administrative officerat , “Piggybacking on primary care is absolutely right.
All these specialties are adding thousands and thousand sof dollars.” One problem is that specialists tend to overdlo tests because they are so worriesd about legal liability he said. Dr. Tony Prieto, a familgy practitioner and president of the Broward County Medical said reimbursement issues for tests done in his offic alsofrustrate him. A hospital might get $2,00 0 for a test from but he can onlyget $200. “kI don’t think it’s anythinf that’s going to work unlessx we use somecommonj sense,” he said.
Foyo said primary care physicianse historically put an emphasis on healthpreventiohn efforts, but the lack of it these days is contributing to an epidemi c of diabetes and heart Baptist Health, which is well known for hospital in Kendall and Homestead, is pushing forwarsd with outpatient centers – and even venturinbg into Broward County. One reason is emergency rooms are and providing care there is more costly than at anoutpatient “Rather than have patients come to us, the hospitalsx are going out to Foyo said.
Florida’s 51 nonprofit community health centerws aregetting $28 million in competitive grants undef the stimulus legislation, which will also keep patient s out of expensive hospital settings for treatment. Houses Speaker Nancy Pelosi highlighted that during an Aprikl visit to a community health center in Hollywood that willget $1.5 millio to open a satellite health centef in West Park. One of the advantagesd for these types of centers is that they are fundedf with the assumption that their doors will be open to all who which is important because of the number of uninsuredSouth Floridians, including undocumented foreigners, Quick said. Dr.
meet Bill Gates Mark Sterling, administrative partnef at the law firm ofin Miami, said electronicc medical records (EMR) fall under the category of “shovel-ready” projects in the worls of stimulus – meaninh the technology exists and can be adopted rapidly to put mone in the economy.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Baltimore Business Journal:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he said Adele Fox of Tamarac, who lost thousands of dollarseto Madoff's scheme. The mastermind behinr the biggest Ponzi schemein U.S. history was sentence on Monday morning in federa l court in Manhattan to 150 yeardsbehind bars, the maximum requested by federal prosecutors. Madoff's attorneyh had asked for a far more lenientt sentence of12 years. In sentencinvg Madoff, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin callexd thefraud “staggering” and said that the “breach of trust was The judge described his acts as “extraordinarily evil.
” “N o other white-collar case is comparable in terms of the duration and enormity of the fraudf and the degree of the betrayal,” Chin said. Madoftf confessed in March to 11 countsincluding fraud, money laundering theft and among other things. His victims reportedly number morethan 1,3090 and stretch across the globe. Their lossees are estimated at morethan $13 Prior to sentencing, Chin heard from nine of the victim s who talked about the devastation Madoff’s fraud had caused to theirr lives and their families. Many of Madoff’s wealthy clients lived in South Florida and lost theif life savings tohis scheme.
Fox, 86, said she is stilp furious that the and the federalgovernmenft didn’t expose Madoff’s fraud earlier. “The SEC is just as guiltuy as Madoff and theyfailed us. Nobody seems to do anythinf about it,” Fox She also took issue with the largwe fees being paid to people such asIrving H. the trustee who is handlintg the liquidation ofBernard L. Madoff Investment “The trustee Picard is making hisown They’re paying these guys millions of dollars. It wouldr be better to pay the investors Fox said. Fox, a widoew who once worked as secretargy inNew York, said she investex $50,000 in 1987 because she was relatedc to Madoff’s accountant, Jerru Horowitz.
She said she was able to get some moneu back from Social Security payments she’d made over the years on “phantom” incom from Madoff accounts. However, she is worriesd that her disbursements may eventuallu be targeted in clawback effortsw by the trustee in bankruptcy proceedingas who has begun sending out letters demandiny the return of profits derived fromtheidr investments. Guy Fronstin a Boca Raton attorneyy who hasadvised Fox, said the government has “beejn good about refunding taxes quickly” but thers are delays in processin g claims to the Securities Investor Protection “Some of the people I know are too busy with theses other issues to really care that much abouty what happened today.
They believed he woulx spend the rest of his daysin jail,” Fronstin Jan Atlas, an attorney with Adorno Yoss, said he believex the court had little choice but to levy the maximukm sentence on Madoff. “I don’tf think the victims shoulsd have been victimized againh by having him be able to leave prisonmone day,” said Atlas, whose firm continue s to advise clients about tax returns and possiblt future claims against investment advisors who investerd with Madoff. “I’m wondering if the trusted will be able to locate more than the billion plusthat he’sx located, and what is the real loss,” Atlas said.
In additiomn to his prison term, Madoff was ordered to forfeignearly $170 billion, which represents the proceeds of, and property involveed in certain of his according to a news release from the U.S. Departmenft of Justice. “While today’s sentencde is an important milestone, the investigatiob is continuing,” Lev L. Dassi, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southernj District ofNew York, said in a news “We are focused on tracing, restraining and liquidatin g assets to maximize recoveries for the victims.

Monday, November 5, 2012

House committee chairwoman criticizes SBA

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The SBA recently announced that it temporarily will alloaw auto dealers to useits 7(a) business loan programk to finance vehicle inventory. Many lendera had stopped makingthese so-called floorplan loanz to auto dealers. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who chairs the House Small Business fears “there is a significantly higher risk of loan defaults” on thesw floorplan loans. This could force the SBA to increas e the subsidy ratefor 7(a) loans, which woulsd make the loans costlie r for future borrowers.
In a June 2 letter to SBA administratoreKaren Mills, Velazquez noted the SBA had “long prohibitede the use of its financing programs for the purposew of wholesale lending, and for good reason. Because lenders are limitedd in their ability to exerciser full control over thefinanced items, the exposure to loss in floorplanm loans is greater than in other typesz of financing.” Vehicles serve as collateral for floorplanj loans, and the value of this collaterap “will depreciate rapidly” given the glut of inventory facing automakers in the wake of the bankruptct reorganizations of and , Velazquea wrote.
“While clearly there is a need to provide this industrg withtransitional assistance, doing so by focusing on inherently risky financiakl arrangements seems questionable,” she “The potentially negative impacts of this policy changde are likely to extend well beyondc the auto industry.” But Tony Wilkinson, presideny and CEO of the , said the floorplam loans shouldn’t be any riskier than othedr types of 7(a) loans if lenderss administer the loans responsibly. “I think it’s appropriates for the SBA to look at everythingg they can do for all small businessesrightf now, given small businesses’ inability to access Wilkinson said.
Velazquez also contended the time the agencgy spent on developing a compledx new loan program should have been spent on implementingb overdue programs called for in the economicdstimulus bill. The floorplan loanas will help onlya “very limited group” of smalkl businesses, she noted. Had the SBA instead focused more on thestimulu programs, “thousands of small businesses that can no longer wait for help woul have seen assistance,” Velazquez wrote.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Maggiano's, California Pizza Kitchen on site plan for Settlers Ridge - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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North Carolina-based confirmed this week that Texas-based will open a 16-screenh cineplex at the 580,000-square-foot Settlers a joint development between Faiso nand Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Faison senior manging director Howard Biel also confirmed a deal with , which will open its seconcd Pittsburgh-area location at Settlers Ridge after establishinfg its first at The Waterfronr in Homestead. Biel said the cineplex was "enormouslgy important" as a lead anchor to help attracy upscale restaurants and other key components to the rest ofthe "It's a terrific credit to the project," he With the cineplex now a done deal, the developmenty team hopes to briny new-to-the-market restaurants , and BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouser to Settlers Ridge, as well.
Thoses restaurants are featured on a recentr project site plan obtained by theBusinesxs Times. Also included are an On the Border Mexican restaurant and aMcCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant, which will open soon at Piatr Place, Downtown, and is already open at the SouthSided Works complex. Biel declined to comment on the statusa of those restaurants and other retailers listed on the site including anfurniture store, outdoor retailer and discoungt retailer , all of which are establishedc in Pittsburgh but missing from Robinson. "Untio we have a completed deal, our storty line is we don't he said.
Specialty retailers featured on the site plan includethe region'a first Martin + Osa the new retail concept of Warrendale-based intender to reach a more mature customer than its regulafr teen demographic. Faison also hopes to draw an upscaler grocer, such as , Wild Oats or 's, as well as a new Scheduled to open in Settlers Ridge is slated for 77 acresw that sit above CampbellsRun Road, near the Settlers Cabinb exit off the Parkway West. The site is only a shor span from the more than 4 million square feet of retail development that comprises the Mallat Robinson, Robinson Town Centrd and the Pointe at North Fayette.
Randy Mineo, a principal of Collier-basexd , said he sees signs of progresxs at Settlers Ridge from the retaio clients he represents that areconsidering it. His firm had been workinhg on theproposed 600,000-square-foot Collier Crossing lifestyled development, which had been seen as a competitoe of Faison's project. Collier Crossingt has been stalled by legal issues and changingdevelopment partners, and Minel confirmed that Whole Foods is no longee committed to that project. "I think they'll have some decent tenantz there at the end ofthe day," Mineko said of Settlers Ridge.
Ron Sofranko, a Wexford-based restaurang consultant, said the restaurants proposedx on the site plan for Settlersz Ridge are a cut above most of the established dining options already in theRobinson "Those are great concepts, and I think that one of the thingzs that Pittsburgh has been lacking in the past is greatt national chain restaurants," Sofranko "The real high-end solid operatora are going to win.
"

Friday, November 2, 2012

Best Buy will open 13 stores this quarter - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Richfield-based Best Buy operates 1,032 stores in 49 stateds and inPuerto Rico, but doesn’t have a store in Wyoming yet. Best Buy will open the Wyoming, store at 10 a.m. July 10. The city has a populatiohn of about 52,000 and is Wyoming’s second-largest city, according to U.S. Censusx Bureau estimates. Best Buy BBY) announced the store along with 12 otheres that will open during its secondr fiscal quarterof 2010. Brier Creek, N.C., June 11 Bastrop, June 12 Hammond, La., June 12 Park City, June 13 North Anchorage, June 13 Casper, Wyo., July 10 Hutchinson, July 11 Bronx, Aug. 7 Laredo North, Texas, Aug. 7 Hunt Valley, Md., Aug. 7 W.Va., Aug. 7 Pottstown, Pa., Aug.
7 Miami Fla., Aug. 8 The electronics retail which had revenueof $45 billion in fiscal 2009, said it plans to donate $10,00 to local nonprofits in each of the markets to commemorate the openingt of the new stores.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Halo 4 and 343 Industries break societal trends - Examiner.com

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Examiner.com


Halo 4 and 343 Industries break societal trends

Examiner.com


Halo 4 is not only looking to be one of the top games of the year, but they are also planning on breaking some societal trends and expectations. According to a report from GamesIndustry yesterday, the general manager of Halo studio 343 Industries ...



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