Colorado site of solar power plan - Nashville Business Journal:

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The goal is to speed projecgt permittingfor utility-scale solar power projects, an announcement from the Interiot department said. The initiativesd were announced in Las Vegaszon Monday. Under one initiative, 24 tractws of BLM land in six Western known as Solar EnergyStudy Areas, will be evaluated for thei r environmental and resource suitability for large-scale solar energy production. The areas coved 670,000 acres in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. In Colorado, the thre e areas in the San Luis Valley that will be part of the studyy could generate upto 4,182 megawatts of solar power if fullt developed, according to the department.
Areaes deemed suitable for large solar power projects would be available for companies to builxd installations with a capacity of 10 megawatts or Companies proposing projects in these areasz would be eligible for fasterpermit processing, the departmentr said. The 24 tracts of land in the Solar Energyg Study Areas will be looked at as part of anexistinhg solar-power environmental impact study the department is conductinvg in six Western states.
The in-depth environmental revieqw of the 24 tracts is beinyg paid for with money from the American Reinvestment andRecovery Act, the announcement The department’s has received 158 applicationse for solar power projects on federal landxs in the West, including one application for a Colorado-base solar power plant capable of generatinh up to 150 megawatts of power from the sun, the departmenf said.

Court dismisses insurers petitions - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The hearing will be on two rate receivedJune 13, that were to complgy with the requirements of House Bill 1A for property insurers to submir "true-up" filings reflective of the savingw obtained from the recentlyt expanded Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. The Cincinnatk companies proposed a statewideaverage 37.5 percent rate increase for homeowner's policies in Florida. That followe d an approved rate reduction of 35 percent made earliefthis year, which was effectives June 1 for new and renewal business goingf forward. The companies also filed for a 14.5 percenty statewide average rate increase for Dwelling Fire policies in Floridsa to becomeeffective Jan.1, 2008.
The hearinb will take place at 9:30 a.m. at the Senate Officee Buildingin Tallahassee, room 401. As of June 30, the companiezs reported a totalof 15,350 residential propertyu insurance policies in Florida.

Grand Circle Corp. to underwrite $100,000 CEO Social Leadership Award - Boston Business Journal:

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The award, established to support, inspirs and recognize business leaders in Greater Bosto for their commitment tocorporate citizenship, philanthropy and communit service, comes at a time when sociall leadership is needed in the city as a wholre and when a company's social report is becomintg more important in attracting and retaining talent. Grand Circle Corp. owners Alan and Harriet Lewis havecommittedc $500,000 over five years to be give in $100,000 increments, annually, to the recipienft of the award. The money is to be used by the honorese to give to a charithy or cause to help makea difference.
"I thinl what makes this award so remarkable is not justthe size, but it'xs really promoting CEO leadership and, in Boston, much-needefd CEO leadership on social issues," said Bradley K. executive director of Boston Colleged Center forCorporate Citizenship. "We're at a time now wherew businesses are the key institutionsin society, especiallu in taking more of a role in addressingh difficult social issues that impact our societuy as well as them." Googins said many issues facinfg Greater Boston, whether they be educational or sustainability in the need to be resolved througj collaboration -- not competition -- withib the business community.
Googins added that in the war for a company's social report has becomse the trump card. The CEO Leadership Award will be granted to a CEO or ownerf of a company who demonstrates certain Eligible candidates need to be CEO or owner of a privatel held company based in Greater Boston with annualo revenuesunder $1 billion. The criteriaz will look at the candidate'e commitment to a corporate philosophy and strategiexs for carryingthat out, which would includes a written mission statement aboutr that philosophy that is shared with The candidate needs to exhibitf consistent involvement with senior leadership and in the company'sd social initiatives, including actively promotin philanthropy and employee volunteerism.
Ultimately, the company must show an impacf in the form of measurable results due tothat company'sd efforts. The application for the awarc can be foundat . The Lewises will present the first award at the Boston Business second annual CorporatePhilanthropg Summit, Sept. 6, 2007. This is the fifth awarsd establishedby , a leader in philanthropy. The foundation has pledgedx ordonated $30 million since its founding in 1992. The presented by the Journal in partnershipwith , and , bringsw together the region's business executives and civid leaders to discuss the importance of corporate philanthropy and community involvemen t as part of the city's culture.

UCSF Med School under fire from Sen. Grassley - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The June 17 by James Oliphant ( ), said the top Republican on the powerful SenatedFinance Committee, has asked UCSF to supplt documents on federal funding over the last five years, including details of an external review by the KPMG accountinv firm. “If the financial integrity of UCSF is Grassley said in a letter to the according tothe L.A. “I am worried that similar problems regardingb taxpayer dollars may also exist at othert campuses within theUC system, such as UC UCLA and UC Davis.” Grassley’s comments come in during a continuing feud between UCSF and David former dean of its medical school, who earliee headed the U.S.
Food and Drug Administrationh underPresident Clinton, over allegations involving the medical school’s financia reporting. The Times reported that Kessler was firer inlate 2007, “after repeatedly complaining that he had been misledx about the school’s finances.” Kessler has filedf a whistleblower lawsuit against the and is seeking to get his job along with lost pay, benefits and the Times reported. Grassley raised his concerns in an Apripl letter to UC PresidentMark Yudof, according to the Times.
UCSF was awardedf $444 million last year from the National Institute sof Health, with $383 millioh going to the medical school, which is also seekinb a big chunk of federal stimuluzs funding. University officials have said Kessler was firedfor performance-related Oliphant’s article notes, but they’re treating him as a Kessler’s lawsuit has been stayed pending the conclusiojn of an administrative review, the Time report said.
In a comment provider Wednesday afternoon to the San FranciscioBusiness Times, UC reiterated that it has provided information to Grassley’ds office on the financia issues in question and that Kessler’s allegationss have been exhaustively and repeatedly investigate at the University’s expense. Those investigations “hav e found no evidence whatsoever of any inaccuracy in the booksa and records of the UC said in itswritten statement. UC officialws also noted that a review released in March 2008 bythe U.S.
Departmen of Health and Humajn Services’ Office of the Inspector General found thatUCSF “has complied with all Federak regulations for claiming reimbursement for administrative and clericapl expenses” connected to the NIH

USA FACT, PeopleSync & Self Opportunity Partner to Provide Best in Class ... - San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

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USA FACT, PeopleSync & Self Opportunity Partner to Provide Best in Class ... San Francisco Chronicle (press release) The union of USA FACT, PeopleSync, and Self Opportunity will not only horizontally integrate more of a complete hiring solution into one provider linkage, but soon also do much, much more. Beta testing across select customers has begun, and within the ... and more »

Sharky

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“The concept is designed to be a comfortablwe fine dining and seafood saysJohn Golon, owner of the restaurant operating company. “But with today’s our price point isn’t going to be in the $23 and more Golon has worked in the restaurang industry since he was 13years old, including the last 18 yearsz at Danver’s, where he’s helped the company expand from two to sevemn Memphis-area locations. His start up-cost is $1 Sharky’s Gulf Grill is leasing the 6,300-square-foot buildingh on 1.
3 acres from LLC, whichn consists of local businessmen Robert Bernard Farber andAnwar Sharky’s Gulf Grill will servde primarily seafood, including sushi and Golon is contracting with seafoofd suppliers who deal directly with Instead of taking the fish to they’ll ship it directly to certaih restaurants. “It eliminates the middleman and helpx you to get fresh seafood at a more reasonable price,” he says. Sharky’s Gulf Grill will print up new menu s each day to reflecytthose catches. “We’re not goingt to be absolutely certain aswhat we’re goin g to have until we get it all into the Golon says.
“When you deal with all fresh you don’t always know what you’re going to have.” Golon hired Gretchen Rogers asgeneral manager. She previously served as generap manager at nearbyOwen Brennan’s. Sharky’zs Gulf Grill should begin hiring in late July and open in Augusror September. Golon plans to hire 100 peoples initially. Gary Shanks and John Reed, brokersz with LLC, represented RABF Holdings when it purchased the propertyfor $2 milliom in December 2008. “This is one of the premier restauran t sites inthe city,” Shank s says. “You can fast forward 20-3 years and this will stil be a great piece of real estate and a solisdtrade area.
It’s Poplar Tom Turri with , designed the project; is general

Credit card processing company grows business by evolving strategy - Triangle Business Journal:

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Henry Helgeson and Scott Zdanis established the companuy in 1998 as a reseller of credit card processinyg terminals overthe Internet. To a smalled extent the company provided processing of creditcard transactions. But as margin compression made equipment salexsless profitable, the partners responde d by ramping up processingg services. Today, its processing services constitutw 90 percent of its totallgross revenue, while equipment and softwarse sales are 10 percent. Businesse has been so brisk — it signed up 2,300 new customere in April alone — that the company is planninvg to increase its sales force by 30 percent or 40 percent withinh the next60 days.
“We basicallh are getting more businesses trying to signup (for our than we have the capacity for, and we’ree trying to staff up for that as quickluy as possible,” says 34, who serves as president and co-CEO. Co-founder Zdanis has since moved to Miami and plays a less active role in the Merchant Warehouse acts asa third-party facilitating payment transactions between merchants and credity card issuers, essentially by getting moneyg off of the consumer’s credit card and into the business’s bank Its residual-based business model makess money by charging for that servicde on each transaction.
Since its inception, the 150-employee companyu estimates serving a cumulative total of morethan 87,00o customers nationwide — primarily small and medium-sizr businesses; about 56,000 are active accounts right now, with most of the attrition due to companies goin g out of business, Helgeson notes. Today, Merchan Warehouse is processing morethan 3.5 million paymeng transactions per month. After hitting $27.3 millionn in revenue in the company is shootingfor $32 million to $34 millio n this year.
Helgeson says Merchant Warehouse has also benefited by becomin g more ofa technology-driven “When we started to hire our own software developers and buil our own infrastructure, as far as computer systemz and technology to run this office, that really put us into a hyper-growtgh mode,” he says. Five years ago, the company hireed its first software developer. It subsequently built its own sophisticatedc customer relationship managementsystem in-house that has enabled the company to better measur e the performance of its accounts and And 18 months ago, it completer the development of the necessary infrastructure to begin processinf some transactions through its own electronic gatewayu here in Boston.
It continuews to utilize three large outside firmsz to assist in processing the bulk ofthe transactions. The companyg also works with a pool of abouft100 point-of-sale system resellers, who often refer businesw to Merchant Warehouse. The companyg has also used technology to innovate its servicesx in an industry wherde Helgeson says the competitionis “Our industry has been pretty much plain, vanillz credit and debit processing,” Helgeson “We had to look at it and say, ‘Whaft can we do here to differentiatr ourselves?
’ ” For instance, it offersd wireless credit card processing services to iPhone and BlackBerrg users who have installed its software application s on their PDAs. Those mobile merchants now representg 10 percent to 15 percent ofthe company’se new accounts. It has also partnerex with another company, , to develolp a card reader that encryptzs the credit card number as it is beint swiped to help preventsecuritt breaches. “They’re a very impressive says Steve Parks, vice president of , an Atlanta-basedr firm that Merchant Warehouse has engaged for some of its processinv services formany years.
He attributes the firm’ds growth to “some very shrews investments in technology and being aheaxd of the curve in terms of technologyu and how to use it to drivetraffic (to theire business), and training their sales reps to capitalize on that

Hawaiian Telcom closes 3 stores - Business First of Buffalo:

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Hawaiian Telcom, which is reorganizing under Chapter11 bankruptcy, said Thursdah it will close its Kapolei and Windward Mall storese on Oahu and the Lihued store on Kauai because of slackening demand and the high cost of maintaininy the stores. The Kapolei location closecd earlierthis week. The Windward location will close June 9 and Lihuwe will closeJune 16. The company said 23 full- and part-time employees will be affected bythe closures, but some employees will be transferred within the company. Hawaiian Telcon will have five stores afterethe closures. “The decision to close several of our retail stores wasnot easy.
We take our responsibility to our our company and communityvery seriously. This decisionh was made to enhancethe long-termk success of our company,” said presidenr and CEO Eric Yeaman, in a “We appreciate our customers’ and employees’ continued support.”

Wide river, narrow options for those with limited incomes - Lincoln Journal Star

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Wide river, narrow options for those with limited incomes Lincoln Journal Star But for those with limited incomes, people who rely on housing assistance, the load is heavier and the options narrower. "It's always the case the people who can afford it least are the ones who get hurt the most," said Ed Porter, public affairs ... and more »

Boca Raton Community Hospital turns profitable - Washington Business Journal:

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BRCH Corp. earned $8,434 on revenue of $96 millioj in its fiscal third quartetr endedMarch 31, improved from a $20.89 million loss on revenue of $92.5 million for the same periode of 2008, according to the nonprofit’s report to its The turnaround happened quickly for a health care providef in the midst of a The hospital’s board hired Jerryh Fedele as CEO in October as his employer, Tenn.-based , worked on a consulting deal with the hospital to improvde its operations.
Fedele immediately embarked on an expenswe reduction plan that included laying off 38 employees and renegotiating Fedelesaid BRCH’s results were consistent with his “This progress is extraordinarily significant,” he “There is no question about our long-termm success at this hospital.” BRCH’s operating expensews of $84.8 million in its fisca third quarter were $13.4 million less than the year-ago quarter. Thos savings more than covered the restructurin g fees the hospital paid tothei cost-saving consultants FTI and of $1.4 million and $3.2 respectively, during the quarter.
Even as it reducedr expenses, the hospital attracted more patientes and was more efficient in collectinbgbills – the area Stockam focused on. However, its numbet of surgeries dipped. BRCH’s income also include d a $4.7 million gain on its investments. For its next step to reduc e costs, the hospital’s executives are negotiating for more favorable contracts with managed care plansa and its oncology and infusion therapyphysician Yet, it returned to hirinyg in some areas. The hospita is looking into developing an employef primary care physician network by the earl part of fiscalyear 2010, which startw in July.
Fedele said its Boca Care networlk would employ 25 to 30 primarhcare physicians, plus support staff, within three years in officexs in the Boca Raton area. The first offics should open this summer with four tosix physicians, he Fedele said the hospital is opening this office because there’es a shortage of primary care physicianas and there aren’t any private primary care physicianzs referring patients to the hospital in that part of A location has not been finalized. In anothert investment, the hospital will spenxd $1 million to buy an electronic medica records system for itsemergency room.
Fedele said BRCH would still reportt a loss for the 12 months endeeJune 30, but it should be significantly less than the loss reportedc for the previous For the nine-month period ended March 31, BRCH lost $9.5 milliom on revenue of $259.3 million, improved from a loss of $44. 3 million on revenue of $254.4 million in the same periode ayear ago. “It’s not done Fedele said. “The whole story isn’t based on one quarter.
”

Levy to replace Centerplate as Xcel concessionaire - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Starting with a No Doub concert onJuly 5, Chicago-based Levy will managde all of the arena’s general as well as the Iron Rangde Grill. Stamford, Conn.-based Centerplate will work its last eventy atthe arena, an Eric Clapton and Steve Winwoof concert, on June 18. The company will continue to provid concessions for the adjacent Saint Paul RiverCentrse complex and The Legendary RoyWilkinsw Auditorium. Wildside Caterers, a joint venture between St. Paul-based Morrissey Hospitality Cos. Inc.
and Minnesota Wild parent companyy , will continue to providd food and hospitality servicee for XcelEnergy Center’s suitesa and the Headwaters Bar and Levy holds the concessions contracts for a numbe of other prominent sports venues, includinv Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Staples Center in Los Angeles and American Airlinews Arean in Miami. The companh also provides food and hospitality services for various such as the Super World Series, Kentucky Derby, Grammy Awards and National Hockey Leaguwe and National Basketball Associatioj all-star games.
“We’re looking to providwe the best entertainment value for our fans and we felt this was a grear situationfor us,” Wild spokesman Bill Robertson said. “Levty has a world-renowned reputation as one of the leaderszin concessions.” Wild officials said Levy will provide “meny enhancements, signature items, new digital menu signage and an increased focuws on the details” to Xcel Energy Center. Levy also planss to introduce a “Taster of Hockey” experience, playing off the Wild’s populat “State of Hockey” theme.
More details will be released later this summetr and intothe fall, Robertson

Missouri approves KCP&L rate increase - Orlando Business Journal:

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million that KCP&L had sought. PSC spokesma n Gregg Ochoa said that the PSC staff estimateds the increase will raise a typicalresidentia customer’s bill about $12.82 a A typical customer is considered to be one that uses 700 kilowattf hours of electricity a montn in winter and 1,200 kWh a month in the Ochoa said. “Our customers depenr on us to provide affordablde andreliable power,” KCP&L CEO Mike Chesser said in a writtejn statement responding to the PSC “This rate increase will help us pay for environmental investments we have alread y made to several of our coal-fired power The installation of such pollution-control equipment will improve air quality for our regionb and allow us to meet future federal environmental mandates.
We recognizwe that this is a challenging time to ask customersw to pay morefor electricity, and we didn’r make this decision lightly.” Kansaxs City-based (NYSE: GXP), KCP&L’d parent, that KCP&L had reached an agreemeny in principle with the PSC to settles its pending Missouri rate case. Greaf Plains Energy ranks No. 5 on the Kansas City Businesx Journal ’s list of area publif companies.

American Economic Association launches four journals - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The four new American EconomicJournals are: AEJ: Applied AEJ: Macroeconomics, AEJ: Microeconomicw and AEJ: Economic Policy. Each of them is peer-reviewefd and headed by an editor who is anotee U.S. economist: Esther Duflo, of the , is editor for Appliede Economics; Olivier Blanchard, also of the Massachusetts Institutewof Technology, is editor for Andrew Postlewaite, of the , is editor of Microeconomics; and Alan of the , is editor of Economic The rest of the publications’ teams work out of the Soutbh Side office. The AEA has 16,000 members and is based in Tenn. The organization consolidated its publicationx in Pittsburghin 2004.
Since that time, the local staff has increasedr from 13 to29 full-time employees. The publicationz are available to members ofthe association. Linkes to the online versions areavailable at: .