Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Caps hope subtle improvements impact long run - NHL.com

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Caps hope subtle improvements impact long run

NHL.com


NEW YORK -- It would be easy for the cynical fan to look at the hot start by the Washington Capitals and ask ...



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Monday, November 8, 2010

Raytheon wins three defense contracts worth $95M - Boston Business Journal:

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million, according to a variety of publishedrdefense reports. The US Navall Air Systems Command awarded Raytheona $75.6 million contract for a fourth batch of the laser- and sensor-based targeting and navigating devicez known as Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared Jane's Defence, published by British-baser Jane's Information Group, announced the deal. Delivery is expected to take place between December 2007 andNovembe 2008. According to Jane's, Raytheon has already delivered 168 podsand $43.u7 million worth of spare parts. Locally, Raytheon's Integratefd Defense Systems unit in Tewksburuy wona $7.1 million U.S.
Navy deal for logistics, manufacturing, test and delivery of NATO SEASPARROWreplacementy parts. The contract is the third optiomn year forRaytheon RTN), which is headquartered in Waltham, Mass., and years four and five are worty $7.7 million and $8.3 respectively, according to . In separats news, the U.S. Army Research, and Engineering Command in Adelphi, Md., announced yesterday that Raytheon TechnicalpServices Co. LLC of Reston, Va. won a $12.8 millioh deal to supply hard-to-kill improvisexd explosive device countermeasure Work on the contract will take place in Indianapolis, Ind. by June 30, 2006.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Arts and Education Council gets funding - St. Louis Business Journal:

http://excellaventures.com/getinvolved.html
million with the addition of a new Over the nexttwo years, the , will inves $200,000 in the St. Louis area to be allocated by the Arts andEducatiohn Council. As a result, the Arts Council’sx total budgeted funding for 2009 is up 7 percentfrom $1,232,850 last year. “Givenn the fact that it’s a challenging environment to raise funds forthe arts, the timing is fantastic,” said Jim chairman of the Arts and Education Council’s board.
The new Kresgd grants, which will range from $2,500 to $10,000, represent a shift in the way the Arts Councilpfunds projects, according to Brian Adkisson, director of marketing and Where once the council had donorss contribute to an overall fundraising campaign, Adkisson said the program is now evolvinfg into specific grants named after corporate sponsors. This year, the council’s boarxd of directors has budgeted $45,000 in granta for artistic projects, down nearly 48 perceny from a budgetof $86,000 last Project grant allocations totaled $104,309 in 2007. However, the Kresges grants will make up the differencrein funding. “Grantees will not be impacted,” Adkissoj said.
“The money is not diluted to the same numberof

Friday, November 5, 2010

Battle brewing over AEP rate hike - Business First of Columbus:

http://all-turkish-hotels.com/Antalya/Lares-Park/
Groups that include the and Office of the Ohio Counsel are considering a request for hearings beforde the PUCO to challenge parts of its AEP rate They are also considering an appeal to the Ohio Suprems Court if they thinkl theirconcerns aren’t addressed by the “(The rate hikes) will have a dire effect on manufacturers in AEP said Kevin Schmidt, director of public policy services for the 1,600-memberr manufacturers’ association.
“This forces our hand to see what we can IssuedMarch 18, the PUCO rulin caps rate increases at 7 percent this year and 6 percent each in 2010 and 2011 for commercial and residential customers of , the AEP businesz that services central and southern The caps for the company’s business, whicuh supplies eastern and northwest Ohio with electricity, are 8 percent this year, 7 percent in 2010 and 8 percent for 2011. AEP soughy 15 percent rate hikes in each of thethrere years. The PUCO-approved hike meansd an average Columbus Southern residential customerpayingg $99.52 a month will see monthly bills increase $6.98 this year, rise an additional $6.39 in 2010 and clim b an extra $6.
77 in 2011, according to a calculatiobn by Columbus-based AEP. The increases are expected to begin duringg the Aprilbilling period. But Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Janinwe Migden-Ostrander said the size of the rate hikeis “jusgt not right,” especially in light of the financia pressures Ohioans are under in the depresseed economy. “We think the rate increase is excessive and she said. Migden-Ostrander isn’t ruling out an appeal to the stat Supreme Court ifrelief won’t be provided duriny rehearings by the commission.
The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel has appeales 23 PUCO decisions tothe state’s highesft court since Migden-Ostrander took charge of the office in 2004. Groups with a stake in the AEP rate including thecompany itself, have 30 days from the PUCO’sw ruling to seek a rehearing. The commissiom would have 30 days after that to make saidShana Eiselstein, a PUCO In making its ruling, the commission said the rate increasew will provide an incentive for AEP to add programs to improvr the reliability of its electric service and give customerws tools to save on power Those efforts will include a stepped-upo vegetation management program alongt power lines and AEP’s gridSmart program that allowes customers to control their electric bills through advanced The rate increase is roughly half of what AEP requestef when it filed its rate plan with the PUCO in It cited the need to keep pace with risinbg fuel prices, especially coal burnedd at its power and other operating expenses.
Even with the AEP will still have the lowest electricityt ratesin Ohio, the PUCO said. Yet that is littler consolation to manufacturers facing jumps in their electric bills at a time whenthey can’t pass on the adder expense to customers, Schmidt said. “Our (members’) costs are increasing, too,” he said, “bug they’re being forced to give price Their customersare saying, ‘We’re not buying from you unless you lower your prices.’ “The (PUCO) orde r is very unfair,” Schmidt “especially when you consider today’s economifc environment. Manufacturers are barely hanging on bya thread.
” Criticz of the rate increases are irritated that the PUCO made the rate hike retroactivse to Jan. 1. They also don’rt like that the commission will allows AEP to defer the recovery of costs exceedintg the rate cap limits set for the nextthrewe years. Such costs, whicg might include expenditures for coal and compliance with possible greenhouse gas emission regulations, could be recovered from rate payers from 2012 through 2018.
Such provisions have businesses scrambling for answersx on how the AEP rate increases willaffecft them, said Sam Randazzo, a Columbus attorney who represent Industrial Energy Users-Ohio, a coalitio of about 50 industrial and commercial businesses that have opposefd the AEP rate request. The size of the rate increass was nota surprise, he said, sincee the PUCO staff had recommended 7 percent but approval of the deferred cost provision was “It’s the unknowns and increases that can be deferred that are hardee to put boundaries around,” Randazzo said.
“Peoplee are trying to figure out how much the hangover will He also said the rates AEP filefd with the PUCO on Marc 23 appear to contain increases for larger electrif customers that are higher than the percentage caps contained inthe PUCO’ order. That adds another question to the mix aboutthe commission’sx ruling. “The more we look into the thingsd thePUCO did, the less sensd it makes,” Randazzo said. Parts of the PUCO ruling did not sit wellwith AEP.
A statementg on the company’s Web site said the commission’se decision to moderate the impact of rate increase s on consumers means theruling “does not provide the cash flow necessarg to deal with the significant increasews related to fuel and environmental costse as we incur them.” Instead, that money will need to be collecte d over an extended period, the company “The fact our rates will be so much lowet than what our detailed analysis showe is necessary to fund operations is of particular the statement said. Still, AEP was encouraged the PUCO ruling support its proposed vegetation management andgridSmarr programs.
“It has its pros and cons,” AEP-Ohio spokeswomanm Terri Flora said ofthe PUCO’s ruling. “We need to work with the commissiojn to see where they arecoming from.” The company’s options at this point, she said, are to accep the commission’s decision, appeal it through file another electric service plan or pursuer a market rate option allowed under a comprehensive energh law passed by the General Assemblt last year. The law providew for a system in which rates are set by the PUCO througb electric service plans like the one filedfby AEP. It also outlines a path for electric utilitiese topursue market-based pricing.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Boomers show entrepreneurial spirit - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Job trends may increase entrepreneurial activity amongolder Americans. “While peoplde under age 30 have historically jumped from jobto job, the most strikinfg development today has been the deep drop in the incidence of jobs among men over age writes Dane Stangler, senior analyst at the foundation and authorf of the study. The past year’s economic upheavalx also may produce more entrepreneurs among allage “The very idea of ‘too-big-to-fail’ institutionds has been permanently damaged,” Stangler writes. “Recen t economic trends – away from lifetime jobs and toward more new companies will thus gain even greatercultural traction.
New and strongerd regulations aiming to prevenrt the rise of such giant organizations also may help creatse amore market-oriented society.” See www.kauffman.org.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Iridium earnings fall 42%; revenue up - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The Bethesda-based provider of satellite telephonw services, which expects to become publicly traded this summer throughan acquisition, posted a 42 percent declinre in net income in the first quarter ended March 31, to $9.7 millionj from $16.7 million a year ago. Th companyh attributed the decline to costsd related toits next-generation satellite program. “Iridium continuee to grow, although the pace slowed given the curreneconomic climate,” said CEO Matt “In addition to the impact of phasing out equipment we believe the economic climatw is affecting equipment sales, as is the transitionn of newly introduced products into the distribution channe l as our partners move existing inventorgy to make way for new Company officials say either Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin or Thaleds Alenia Space will be selectecd as the program’s lead contractodr this summer.
The program’s new network of satellites callecd Iridium NEXT is expected to be deployesdin 2014. Iridium NEXT will providse higherdata speeds, greater bandwidth and the potentia l to deliver new data services and applicationss to customers. The company says its EBITDA, or earningzs before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, increased 4.9 percent to $27.6 million in the first quarter, up from $26.3 milliojn a year ago, though most analystxs do not use that as a reliablefinancial measure. Iridium’sa revenue rose 2 percent to $75.7 million for the quarter, comparefd to $74.3 million for the first quarter 2008.
The slightlhy higher revenue came from increased commercial services revenueof $36.8 millio n but was offset by a decline in subscribe r equipment revenue to $20.5 million for the Iridium’s commercial markets includes maritime, aviation and land mobile which grew by 11.5 percentr for the quarter. The company’x sales to government customers, includinv the Department of Defense, grew 31 Despite a 31 percent increase in subscribersto 328,000, comparedf to 250,000 in the first quarter of a $2 million amortization of equipmenty related to prior year equipment sales, added to the decline in subscribetr equipment revenue.
The company is planning to go public this but it is not taking the initial public offering It is acquiring a publicly tradedinvestment group, GHQ), an affiliate of Greenhill Co. Iridium has retainer Deutsche Bank as its financial adviser forthe transaction.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Milken Institute report gauges life sciences impact on Phila. area - Denver Business Journal:

http://www.ruscampus.co.il/articles/articleview.php?art_id=298
The report, commissioned by severap Philadelphia-area biotech and economic development organizations, found one in six jobs in the Philadelphiz region can be traced to the lifesciences “The Greater Philadelphia region is seeing the return on the investmentw they have made in their life sciences industry,” said Ross director of regional economics at the Milken Institute, an economic thinm tank in Santa Monica, Calif. “Thd combined efforts of policy makers, academic institutions and entrepreneurs are shapingthe region’s futur e as a top location for economi growth and high-wage jobs.
” The report comez out at a time when the region’ s smaller biotech companies are struggling to attract This year has already seen of Pa., sell it assets, the board of in Plymouthh Meeting, Pa., approve a dissolution plan, and (NYSE Alternext US:ILE) in Exton, Pa., announce it was runningf out of cash and pursuing debtor-in-possession financing in connection with a possible bankruptcy filing.
The study’s “current impacgt composite index” category evaluates measures such asemploymenty level, relative size and industry The Philadelphia region — which for the study includee parts of Pennsylvania, New Delaware and Maryland — ranked second in the Milken Institute’d overall composite index, trailing only Bostomn and just ahead of Greater San Francisco. The overalpl composite index used the currenyt impact score along with a ranking fora region’a pipeline of potential innovative new producte and “small business vitality indices” to rank what the studu describes as the elite “life sciences” clustere in the country.
Philadelphia was rankexd third overall when the Milkebn Institute last conducted a studyin 2005. In otherf categories, Philadelphia retained its third place ranking for innovatiobn pipelines and moved to thirde from fifth for life sciences work The region had itslowest ninth, in the study’s small businesss vitality index. The study foun d the region’s life sciences directly employed 94,400 workers and generatedf $7.7 billion in direct earnings.
“It’s encouraging that the report recognizexsthe region’s capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship and that acceszs to risk capital has increased during the past five years,” said Barbaraq Schilberg, managing director and CEO of the Philadelphia-based operator of the Biotechnology Greenhouse of Southeasterbn Pennsylvania. “The findings also reinforce our belief that therse are additional opportunities for regionalo partners to leverageGreater Philadelphia’s resources, to create new businessess that foster medical innovation and at the same time contributed to a strong regional economy.
” The Milken Institutes Study was commissioned by Pennsylvania Bio, Select Greater Philadelphia, BioNJ, Greater Philadelphia Life Sciences Delaware BioSciences Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturerse of America.