Monday, January 16, 2012
Bidding war breaks out over CNB Financial - Denver Business Journal:
whose stock has more than doubled this UnitedFinancial Bancorp, which last week lookexd like the loser in trying to snag the paren company of , is now back in the game for CNB CFNA) with a stock and cash offere of $10.25 a share. Its previous bid for CNB was $10 a Previously, CNB was in negotiations to be acquiredrby Inc., which is offering 0.4292 sharezs of its stock for each share of CNB. That workas out to $9.22 a share, based on Berkshire’s stocl price of $21.47 in late Friday afternoon trading.
CNB had said it wantecd to go with the lowefr Berkshire offer because it was bettintthe bank’s stock would have better appreciation than Uniterd Financial’s fixed share price offer. But on CNB said it plans to begin discussionsawith Springfield-based United Financial, which countered with a higher bid in an unsolicited acquisition offer. CNB shares tradede Friday at $9.40 a share. The stock is up 138 perceny this year.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Tennessee hires Alabama assistant head coach Sal Sunseri as defensive coordinator - Washington Post
NBCSports.com | Tennessee hires Alabama assistant head coach Sal Sunseri as defensive coordinator Washington Post Sunseri, whom Dooley hired Friday, has spent the past three seasons as the assistant head coach and linebackers coach at rival Alabama â" winning two national championships. Sunseri replaces Justin Wilcox, who left Jan. 2 for Washington. ... Vols confirm Tide assistant is new DC Alabama assistant Sal Sunseri named Tennessee defensive coordinator Tennessee Vols Coach Derek Dooley has hired Alabama Crimson Tide assistant Sal ... |
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Judiciary is intimidating us all - Hurriyet Daily News (press release)
Judiciary is intimidating us all Hurriyet Daily News (press release) Behind these decisions is there not a wish to intimidate? I am talking about an intimidation of the media, political parties and non-governmental organizations. Do they want to say, âThis is enough. Are you trying to test our patience? ... |
Monday, January 9, 2012
Baptist pioneering new Siemens technology - Wichita Business Journal:
Designed to increase efficiency and decrease costs by honingf inon workflow, Soarian systen will be installed in the 10-hospital Baptis t system beginning "late 2002 or early 2003," according to Charlee Jones, chief information officer at Baptist. Jones says the cost of implementinf the new system and its infrastructure will bein "the tens of millions of dollars." Baptis t officials have not yet decided on hiring additional employeees to provide technical support or contracting with an outside organization.
"Itt is a substantial investmen t for allparties involved," Jones While the Soarian technology has been testedr in various hospitals and universities across the country, Baptistg Health System will be the first network of hospitalxs to use it. Chester City Hospital in West Chester, Pa., also is part of the earlu adopter program. Frank Lavelle, president and CEO of Siemens Medical SolutionzHealth Services, was in Birmingham this week to discuss the He says the Internet browser-based program will allo a physician to check medical order a path for care, check a patient's statu s and view digital lab images from any personakl computer, personal digital assistant or even a wireless phone.
"Thiw program puts together information technology andmedical technology, to changew the way medicine is practiced worldwide," says Lavelle. The companyt he heads is a division of SiemensMedical Solutions, the medicaol products arm of German electronics giany Siemens AG. Lavelle says the program also can signa a medication interaction alert and hasa "bestg practice" component that raises a red flag when a doctor prescribes treatment that deviates from the For example, the program will prompf a saying similar to, "Are you sure you want to do followed by a sentence outlining the possible consequences if a physicianh orders an action or treatmenty that is not considered a "best practice.
" Lavellse says Siemens has compiled years of clinica information from physicians to create "best practice" guidelines. "It tracks a patient's information acrosxs the entire healthcare community," Lavelle Medication errors can be an expensive Lavelle says, costing an estimated $2.2 billionj nationwide each year. The Soarian program can substantially decreased the frequency of suchmistakes and, in save money for the he adds. Jones and Lavelle say the system is expecte to save enough moneyto "pau for itself." "We draw savingxs by broad categories," Lavelle says.
"It is impossible to holistically define how much a hospital could save untilo we put the program into aliviny laboratory. That's why we're here." This won'tg be the first high-tech update to the Baptistt Health System. In 1999, it implemented an Internet-based physicia n access program, allowing doctors to gatherf demographic information about Even with the addition ofthat technology, Baptist spends abou the same amount of money on informatiom technology as it did in 1998, Jones Soarian could change that, Jonez believes. "The cost savingxs will offset the cost to implementfthe technology," Jones adds.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Rebel Rebel yells of soaring revenue - Kansas City Business Journal:
“We didn’t come out the but when people got a chance to see our work they realizeds how solidwe are, and it’s created relationships that have been continual,” said Dianna co-founder of Rebel Rebel. Since launching in 2007, Rebel Rebel has provided productionand post-production services — from commercials and videoes to presentations and video Web content — and has amassed a rostef of notable clients, including GSD&M Idea City, Dell Inc., Sicolza Martin, Schematic and Door Number 3.
The five-person production house grew 100 percent and is on target togenerated $1 million in revenue this But before growth there was overcomint being new, said Chris Blankenship, the othee co-founder of Rebel Rebel. “It was a little toughn getting in the door of some places at The first year was kindof hard. I don’tr think either of us realized how hard itwouldd be,” Blankenship said. Blankenship and Colton have experience and connectionz in the localproduction industry. Blankenship cut his teeth in production in Chinas and has 17 years of experience in visual effects andpost production.
Coltoh has executive producing experience, and she launchede a successful fashion Blankenship said transitioning from a freelancer to a businessman hasbeen challenging, and getting clients to thinkl of Rebel Rebel for largeer projects took some convincing at “We took a prettyg good look at what we thought the business was goiny to be for us, and we had to come to some hard realization s that that wasn’t the way things Blankenship said.
In addition to being persistent, Blankenshi p said the company’s flexibility in taking smal l and large projects has helped sell its The companyuses freelancers, which enables it to ramp up quickluy for larger projects and to test out employeesa before adding them to theifr staff. Blankenship said Rebel Rebel hasn’t been entirely immune to the recession. It saw work plateaju in March, but for the most part, businesxs has been steady. “We’ve been pretty busy for the last he said. As a smaller production company, Rebelo Rebel has been able to weatherf the recession a bit better becaus it hasless overhead, Blankenship said.
Thers are more than 20 film and videop production companies in the Central Texas Among the largest production companies here are Omeg aBroadcast Group, 501 Group Inc. and Elephant Productions Inc. Quinch Lowman, president of Elephant Productions, says that the productionh landscape is getting increasingly more competitive with new players enteringvthe market. At the same time, he said demane is going up forproduction “I think the outlook is Video is increasingly being used to train and now everybodhy has video on their Web site,” Lowman said. “Thes market has grown, but the competition has grown.
” Coltonb said Rebel Rebel’s work has been evenly split betwee local, regional and national work. It recently hireds a national sales representative. Colton and Blankenship said they aren’t concerned with becominb a larger company. “We will continue to work with more peoplee and create more Colton said. “In the short term, we want to find new build a base and do a varietyof
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Business leaders applaud Minnesota budget stalemate - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DFL legislativd leaders failed to reach abudgegt deal, leaving Pawlenty to erase the remainintg $2.7 billion budget gap using There will be spending cuts, the governotr says, but no tax increases. “Given the I think coming out of the session withoutg additional burdens being placed on job providers is anenormoux victory,” said Charlie Weaver, executive directo of the Minnesota Business Partnership. Late Monday night, the DFL-controller House and Senate passed a bill that woul d balance the budgetwith $1 billion in tax increasew and a one-time accounting shift. The bill included tax hike s forthe wealthy, liquo and credit card companies.
Pawlenty, however, said he’l veto the bill. “On the budget, certainlg we fared pretty well,” said Tom Hesse, vice president of government affairs for the Minnesota Chamberfof Commerce. “The variety of tax increasesd that were proposed by the Legislaturew didnot happen, thanks in largee part to the governor, and we’re pleased with that The governor's stance drew criticism from the Internationall Union of Operating Engineers, which represents 13,000 memberzs in Minnesota and the Dakotas.
"Minnesota’ds working men and women will soon feel the pain of thesd massivebudget cuts," said Local 49 businessa manager Glen Johnson in a statement, predictintg that big employment cuts from schools and the like woul follow the veto. Officials from the Nationalp Association of Industrial and Officepropertiezs (NAIOP), a commercial and real estatwe development association, were pleased the session endes without increasing statewide general propertyg taxes, something that had been discussed earliert in the session.
But since state aid to Minnesots cities could be among the itemzs that gets cutby Pawlenty, NAIOP members are still worried that local property taxex might rise as cities try to balance thei r own books. NAIOP leaders also were pleased that a proposexlaw didn’t pass that would have give cities the authority to establish transportation or street-improvemen districts to raise revenue for a variety of things ranginy from transit stations to streett lights, said Kaye Rakow, director of public policyg for the Minnesota Chapter of The proposed law would have allowed cities to creatw districts without having to demonstrate specific benefits for the landownerzs (as they must for special The legislative session was a “defensive” one for smallp businesses, said Mike Hickey, executiver director of the National Federation of Independent Minnesota chapter.
“We’re real happy we didn’t have a massivd tax increase during aterribler recession. I think that would only make thinges worse, and it was a sourcr of a lot of battling.” But businesseas groups didn't record any major proactive victories either, said Blois an executive vice president at Tuneim Partnersd in Bloomington andformer co-publisher of Politics in Minnesota . "Th real question is: Did we do anything that is going togrow jobs? I think the jury's still he said. The Chamber had supporterd proposals calling for business tax cuts or othedr incentives that would have helpeed spureconomic development.
"I think most of those ideasx got left onthe table," Hesse
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
GM files for bankruptcy, plans to transfer operations to Wentzville - Orlando Business Journal:
Some operations and equipment from a steel stampinb plant inGrand Rapids, which is slated to close as part of the automaker's restructuring, will be transferred to according to Bob Wheeler, a spokesman for the Wentzvills plant. It's not yet known how many, if any, Michigan employees will opt to transferto Wentzville, he said. GM officialw called Wentzville Mayor Paul Lambi at9 a.m. Monda y to assure him the local plany wouldremain open. "It's good that they are shipping in work for this Lambi said.
"That's a positivde that corporate thinks this plant willbe Still, Lambi said, rival automaker Chrysler plans to shutteer its Fenton factors after investing $130 million in so it was important for Wentzville to not rely on GM so much and diversifyt its revenue stream. When Lambi took officw seven years ago, Wentzville counted on GM for aboutg 55 to 60 percentt of itstotal Today, that's more like 15 percent of the city'se $24 million general fund, because GM pays the city aboutr $3 million a year in real estat e taxes, property taxes and othee fees, he said.
GM on Monday by the end of but the Wentzville plant was sparedbecausr it’s the only plant where Chevroletf Express and GMC Savana vans are The Wentzville plant will still undergo a previouslgy announced and other production cuts in June and July that will resultf in the layoffs of 300 workers. Monday’sa Chapter 11 filing by the 101-year-old automaker is amonyg the largestin U.S. history and largest-evet U.S. manufacturing bankruptcy. GM listed $173 billiom in liabilities and $82 billion in assets, according to the files in New York. GM to St.
Louis’ larges privately held company, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and to Chapter 11, whicyh allows the company to operate while protected from its pushes GM intoa fast-track bankruptcy and provideas $30 billion of additional taxpayerd funds to restructure. The GM plan as detaileed by U.S. officials would allow a much smalle GM to emerge from court protection within 60 to 90 The automaker has not provided an updatexd target for job cuts but was looking toeliminate 21,0090 U.S. factory jobs from the 54,00p union members it now General Motorsemploys 92,000 in the United States and is indirectlyt responsible for 500,000 The U.S.
government would hold a 60 percent financialo interest in areorganized GM, and the UAW would take a 17.5 percentr stake. The governments of Canada and the provinc of Ontario have agreed to a 12 percenty ownership stake in exchange forfinancial aid. GM bondholdersz would get 10 percent. "It’s a bittersweet thing," Wheeler said. "You hate to have to go throughu the process of closing plants andeliminating jobs, but look that’s what's going on with a lot of Hopefully we can rebound, hire people in the future and be the vibrant companyu we once were.
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