Friday, 30 December 2011

New Vine Logistics responds to critics - San Francisco Business Times:

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The company, which two yearas ago seemed poised to ship 20 percentof California’s direct-to-consumer wine market, laid off much of its staff on Frida and brusquely told customers over the weekend that it was no longer receiving or processing The move left many Wine Country provideras scrambling to gather information and to figurw out how to get back inventory at New Vine’s American Canyon warehouse so they coulde ship it to customeras another way. Published accounts said two ofthe company’ds venture capital investors effectively pulled the plug last by declining to invest additional capitap in New Vine.
“Some people changed their minds at the last saidBarbara Insel, a wine industryh analyst who served on New Vine’s advisory Kathleen Hoertkorn, New Vine Logistics’ founder and former CEO, and Chairmab of the Board Homer Dunn issuedf a statement Tuesday in response “to media report s about the suspension of its business operations.” Hoertkornh and Dunn said New Vine is working with customerz “to transfer all services to anothedr means of legal direct shipping, and in the is finalizing all work, including compilinyg of reports, reconciling inventory and invoices, and performingv all of the necessary business operationw for the month of May and June.
” Hoertkorn added, in response to reports that the companuy knew or must have known it was in financial that officials “truly believed that they would have been fundesd and were not expecting to have to cease The wine industry heardc rumblings about New Vine’s implosion over the weekene and was greeted Monday by published reports saying it had ceasec most business operations. The company’s voicse mail on June 1 said “New Vine is no longere receiving or shipping orders for shipmeny fromour facility,” and noted that it had “limites staff” to handle a transition.
Hoertkorj sent an email to clientws over the weekend indicating that NewVine “has abruptlyy gone into a state of financial crisis and is currently working on the plan forward.” The companyt -- which as recently as March 2007 had 63 staffers and plannedx to acquire a similar firm and nab up to 20 percen of the direct-to-consumer wine shipping market in the Goldej State -- had more than 200 customer s and roughly 110 employees as of last sources say.
It now has a skeletoj crew of about 30 staffers at its Napa headquartersd and American Canyonshipping facility, including a handfulk of executives who are working to wind down A host of questions remain about its situation, including whether workers laid off on Friday receivex final paychecks, the role investords and played in the company’s recengt collapse, how its partnership with (NASDAQ: AMZN) to help the online retaip giant develop a wine sales site affected the and how customers will retrieve theirt inventories and make other arrangements to ship their winea to consumers.
Insel told the San Francisco Businesse Times that a reviewq ofthe company’s operation s by state regulators delayed dealingsw with Amazon, and that Amazon “got skittish, very after a lengthy compliance review of New Vine by the Californias Department of Alcoholic Beverage New Vine was startex in 2001 on the notion that it couldd help expedite shipments to consumers in various states with confusinhg and complicated legal restrictions on wine shipments, a lingering legacy of the Prohibitioh years in America.
Charlotte Milan, apparently brought in as a companty spokeswoman sometime Monday orearlyt Tuesday, told the San Francisco Businessx Times that New Vine is workingb with its lawyers “to handle this (payingv laid-off employees) and all issues. “Alol I can say is the employees are thetop priority, and New Vine is workinbg on any employee related issues rightf now,” Milan added. In March Hoertkorn told the Business Times that New Vine woulf shipabout 4.2 million bottles that year for about 260 and expected to ship wines worth about $200 the vast majority of them for California along with small amounts for Oregonh and Washington state wineries.
At the time, New Vine’s annuak revenue was about $10 million, officialsx said, and was expected to doubl in 2007. Customers at the time included , , , , and . Financialk backers include Menlo Park’s , and New Vine has approximately 200 according to a report Monday onWine Business.com, abouft half of them wineries and the other half marketintg agents and others. It also had plans to partner with Amazon.com to launchy a wine buying andshipping site, whicu now appear to be kaput.
Hoertkorn said Tuesday that the companu will keepwinery customers, employees and shareholders advised of its next adding “We deeply apologize for the and we pledge to work with our customers to make as smooty and expedient shipping transition as

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

Gates Foundation, MDC give $1M grant - The Business Review (Albany):

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Valencia will get $743,000 over threr years to create a centralizedremedial program, used acrossd four campuses. It plans to align high school, remedial and college-levekl standards, expand its remedia l learning communities, and embed reading skills into remedialkmath courses. The grants, announced June 22, will suppory remedial programs developed by Valencia through Achievinbthe Dream: Community Colleges Count, a multiyea r national initiative aimed at increasing college graduation rates among disadvantaged students. The state will get also get $300,000 over threee years to collaboratewith K-12 to reduce the need for remedial education.
Ohio, Texas and Virginia also got the which will be used to develolp new policies accelerating the remedialeducation programs. The Florida grants are part ofa $16.6 million effort to improve remedial educatiojn at community colleges in five reaching about 45,000 students nationwide. Four states and 14 othetr colleges received similar Gates grants for their Achieving theDreamm program. Each community college will receiver $743,000 over three years to expandits programs. Luminq Foundation for Education has alsocommittedx $1.
5 million to this initiative for evaluation and About 375,000 Florida degree-seeking students annuallg attend a local cmmunity with nearly 40 percent of them takingf remedial classes to build basidc academic skills. National studies have shown nearly two-thirdw of those taking remedialk classesnever graduate, but successful programs at several colleges demonstrate these numbers can be

Monday, 26 December 2011

K&L Gates opens Dubai office - Birmingham Business Journal:

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Dubai is the firm’s 33rd office and its firstt in theMiddle East. K&L Gates Chairman and Globa Managing Partner Peter Kalis said the officewas “in the workas for about a year” and that the firm’e entry was “well-timed compared with a year ago becauses the costs are reduced and there is much more legapl talent at more reasonable compensationb levels available on the market.” K&L Gate s expects to grow the Dubai office principally through hires in that region. “I could see additional office in theMiddle East,” said Kalis, who first visited Dubai six months ago in preparing the firm’s entryt there.
“Because of the concentration of financia and professional services in theDuba area, it’s a very attractives and efficient point of entryy into the Gulf region. But certainlg it’s not the only market for legall servicesthat matters. A logical next step woulrd be Abu Dhabi, but there is nothing scheduled for thatto K&L Gates is also open to continued expansion opportunities internationally and in the continentap United States, Kalis said, but did not identify specific cities or countries.
Neal one of the firm’s senior dispute resolution partners, is relocatinv from the Pittsburgh office to serveas co-founder of the Dubai Joining Brendel is Paul de Cordova, who most recently worker with Ashurst, establishing and managing that firm’s Dubai office and helpinv to open a second office in the United Arab He is a corporate and projects lawyer with more than 20 yeards experience. Associate Richard Dollimors also is joining the Dubai He most recently worked inthe K&Lp Gates office in London.

Saturday, 24 December 2011

Lehman Pays Marsal Firm Almost $500 Million to Manage Bankruptcy - Bloomberg

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Lehman Pays Marsal Firm Almost $500 Million to Manage Bankruptcy

Bloomberg


Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) has paid almost half a billion dollars in fees to restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal LLC during its bankruptcy, according to a court filing. The firm, whose co-founder Bryan Marsal runs the defunct investment bank ...



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Dan Snyder stays at Six Flags under reorganization - Washington Business Journal:

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Six Flags is also seekinh a $600 million loan, secure d by its assets, and $150 million in a new revolvinhcredit line. The company’s executive retentiobn plan would keep Snyder as boarf memberand chairman. Mark Shapiro, currently chief as well as chief financial officer Jeffrehy Speed and several other top management would also stay on inexecutiv roles. Six Flags, which announced its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filingy overthe weekend, listed $2.4 billion in debt and $3 billioj in assets. It hopes to cut debt by $1.8 billion and wipe out more than $300 millio in preferred stock.
Snyder and his managemeny team, who took control of the theme park operatoer three and a halfyears ago, have not been able to returmn the company to despite increasing attendance and selling several parkxs to raise capital last year. The company reported a $146 million firsgt quarter loss. Six Flags has said its reorganization will not affect park operations and its vendorsx and employees will continue tobe paid. Six Flags 20 theme parks includein Largo.

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

University of Tennessee Health Science Center, University of Memphis nab $1.1M in federal research funds - Memphis Business Journal:

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million collectively in federal research funds from the Americamn Recovery andReinvestment Act. UTHSC was awarded two grantsw from the totaling One study will focuson tularemia, a disease foundd in contaminated water, carried by infected rodents or used in biologicalo warfare. The other study will focus on developinb anew anti-tuberculosis agent. The has given $495,452 to the University of Memphids math department to study graph a new branch of mathematicxs that has been used by the intelligenced community to create bettertraffix patterns. “These research dollars will help create jobs in the Nintn District and help to attract the best and brightest scientifi c minds toShelby U.S.
Rep. Steve D-Memphis, said in a statement. “I was proud to suppor t the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and am grateful that these funds are moving quickly to our distric to help spureconomic

Monday, 19 December 2011

Penn National Gaming taking

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The Wyomissing, Pa.-based owner of Charles Town Racezs and Slots said it would consider working on a proposal at the Anne Arundekl County racetrack should an application for a facilith at Arundel MillsMall fail. But it’se not actively pursuing the spokesman EricSchipper said. And that wouldn't fit withinn the slots licensing anyway, said Donald C. Fry, chairman of the state commissiomn overseeingslots development. “We’re taking a wait-and-sewe approach,” Schipper said.
The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday that Penn which has a pending license applicationb for a slots parlor inCecipl County, was chomping at the bit for an opportunityt at Laurel Park because it appeards possible that the Arundel Mills site could fail to get zoning approval. State law allows only one slots parlore inthe county. A snag in the zoningy process wouldn’t be enough to kill the ArundeolMills proposal, put forth by Baltimore developer the The stat e slots commission’s review of Cordish’s application is ongoing untilp the fall, Fry said. Only then will therr be a final decision to accept or rejecrtthe application, he said.
From there, the commissiobn would have to put out a requestg for new bids on the slots license in Anne Arundel Fry said. And Penn National couldn’ft make such a bid on its own because applicants are limitedx toone license. “There is only one validx [Anne Arundel County] proposal before us at this and that is theCordishn proposal,” Fry said. The county councikl has delayed voting on a slots zoning designatiom for the Arundel Mills sitefour times, most recentlyh Monday. It’s slated to come up again next month, but it’xs not clear if that will happen because Council Chairman Edward Reilly is expected to take an open stats Senate seat beforethat meeting.
, the Canada-baseds owner of Laurel Park andPimlico racetracks, had applied for a slots license at Laurel but its application was rejectedd outright because it lacked a required $25 million in up-fronrt construction financing for each 500 slot Since then, the company filed for bankruptcyt and could end up selling one or both , a Magna subsidiary, also filed a lawsuir that is pending in the Maryland Court of Specialk Appeals. The group argued that it wasn’t clear whether the financintg would have been refunded if thebid wasn’g accepted. Anne Arundel County Circuit Court uphele theslots commission’s decision to disqualify the bid, but Magna appealecd the decision.
Horse racing industry advocatews were disappointed that LaurelPark didn’t make it to the finalo list of potential slots While a share of slots revenue will go to the horsew racing industry regardless of whether the slot machinese are at a it would have been better if the machine s could have made tracks more of a destinatiob to drum up business, said Alan Foreman, lawyer for the But the horsre industry is still hopefully eyeing the situation, Foremanj added. “This thing has been fraught with surprises, so I wouldn’ty think we wouldn’t see any more surprises before this thing is all he said.

Saturday, 17 December 2011

Cushman & Wakefield loses third Miami exec - Business First of Louisville:

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Caplin’s exit is the latest of severalrecentt high-profile departures at C&W in Miami. The firm is one of Southn Florida's largest real estate brokeragesx and, like other brokerages, has seen few investmenr deals in thelast year. Formert branch manager Tere Blanca left in the springv tolaunch , a firm focused on office leasinb and sales. Hank Klein, executive director of C&Ws in Florida, was notified last montg that his position wasbeing eliminated. Steelbridgde owns and manages propertythroughoutf Florida. It sold , on Miami’s Brickell Key, for $150 million in 2007 aftere an eight-year hold.
Steelbridge founder Gavin Campbell will continue asmanagingt principal, sharing the helm with Caplin is one of a handfukl of commercial brokers involvedx in South Florida’s largest commercialp transactions. Caplin said his exit is in responss to a paradigm shift in local investment that come at the tail end of a where leasing and management for institutional investors becamr secondary tomarket momentum. Duringv the boom years leading upto 2006, the expectation was that assetx with strong track records coulsd be purchased and flippedf quickly for big returns. For a shortt period of time, some owners made the strategy but then the economic meltdown put the brake onthe market.
Some, who bought in the last few were holding assets that cost too much compared tomarket fundamentals. The market has now shiftede back to fundamental principlesof investment, with institutional investors and private capital “seeking to co-investr with strong, nimble, local operatiny partners,” Caplin said. “The markeg and investors mostlybelieve it’s about operationd on the ground and knowin g how to position a building in a particularf submarket,” he said.
Caplin oversaw more than $7 billiomn in transactions at C&W, including ’ $307 milliomn purchase of a half-stake in downtown Miami’zs landmark and full ownership of the 1221 Brickell buildingin 2006. He was involver in the sale of 355 Alhambra in Coral Gablezsfor $87.3 million in 2008 and is currently workinyg with Hines to refinance its debt at . Capli n is a graduate of sout Miami-Dade County’s Palmetto High School. He graduatex from in 1985 witha bachelor’es degree in finance and real estate. Two yeard later, he left C&W’s appraisap group to launch the company’s local investment sales operation.
Caplin was part of a team in the late 1980x that first specialized in investmengt salesin Miami. During the mid-1990s, Steelbridgew Capital had 2 million square feet of commercial real estate in its portfoliok in seven Florida marketssincluding Jacksonville, Naples and Miami. They sold much of it from 2005to 2007. Caplin’xs arrival marks another periodof opportunity-investment for the company, Steelbridge’s Campbell said. "We thinkm valuations are finally starting to lookattractivre again,” Campbell said in a statement.
“The opportunity to buy Floridz assets at significant discounts to replacement cost is whilethe long-term job and demographic prospectsz for Florida and the Caribbean basin are as strongf as ever. Jay’s leadership will be the linchpinm ofour strategy."

Thursday, 15 December 2011

Weekly Indicators: 'Tis The Seasonality Edition - Seeking Alpha

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Weekly Indicators: 'Tis The Seasonality Edition

Seeking Alpha


The high frequency weekly indicators are at the point where holiday seasonality strongly affects their week over week performance. YoY comparisons are more important, but whether those comparisons are improving or deteriorating is most important. ...



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Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Swiss Post Solutions Opens Document Processing Center in New York - San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

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Saturday, 10 December 2011

Ford will stop Claycomo F-150 production for a week - Denver Business Journal:

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The UAW Local 249 posted the information in a newsletter on itsWeb site. Local 249 Vice President Bobb Wyse confirmed Monday that the informationhis accurate. The production stoppage comes a week befores an alreadyscheduled one-week summerd break for the entire plant startingf June 29, a Local 249 spokeswoman said. The plant also is schedule for a summer break during the weekof Aug. 17. Sales of Ford F-series trucks were 33,381 in May, up 16 percentt from 28,757 in April but down 22.3 percen from 42,973 in May 2008.
UAW Local 249 said the slightt increasein month-to-month sales enabled Ford F) to cancel the scheduled down week on June 22 at its F-1500 truck plant in Dearborn, but the down week was left intactf at the Kansas City Assembly Plant. “Thise is partially due to depleted funds forthe state’ds Division of Unemployment in Michigan, making down weeks at less of an the Local 249 said in the Local 249 added that sales projections continue to be less than the five shift at the two truc plants can produce if they work full time through the 2010 productio year.
Ford runs two shift at Claycomo and three in Wyse said Ford is considering once agai n moving a shift fromthe F-15o0 side of the Kansas City Assembly Plant and puttingt them to work on the SUV However, nothing has been determinex so far, he said. A year ago, Ford movec about 800 workers from a second shif t onthe F-150 side of the Kansaz City plant to a third shiftf on the SUV The employees were moved back to the F-150 side on Jan. 12. Ford Escap e sales in May reached 16,391, up 20.6 percengt from 13,596 in April but down 7.2 perceny from 17,667 in May 2008. The Kansas City Assemblhy Plant also produces the Mercuryy Mariner and hybrid versions of the Ford Escaped andMercury Mariner.
Combinedf sales of hybrid versions of theFord Fusion, Mercuru Milan, Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner reachedx 3,906 in May, a new companyt record. The old sales record of 3,420 hybrid vehicle s was set inAprilk 2006. As of May, Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plangt in Claycomo hadabout 3,900 hourly and 200 salariecd employees.

Thursday, 8 December 2011

Yum Brands named one of 40 best for diversity - Business First of Louisville:

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The magazine made its selections based on the numbereof African-Americans and members of other ethnid minority groups in four categories: supplier senior management, board of directors and totalp workforce. More than 50 percent of Yum’w employees are minorities, as well as 50 percent of the company’ds new hires. “We are very proud of Black Enterprise’s and it fuels our passion to continue to develop current and future business franchisees and suppliers that reflect the changing demographics of our customersd aroundthe world,” Yum chairman and CEO Davide Novak said in a news release.
Louisville-basee Yum (NYSE: YUM) is the world’s largest restauranty company in terms of number of with morethan 36,000 in more than 100 companies. It is the parent company of KFC, Pizzz Hut, Taco Bell and Long John

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Howard University opens new pharmacy lab - Washington Business Journal:

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CVS/pharmacy donated $300,000 -- a majod chunk of the $400,000 it took to builr -- to erect the new laboratory. Its purpose is to draw and retai n students inthe school’s 70 freshmen pharmachy positions, a field whicg has grown from 300 applicantz in 1998 to 1,300 applicantw today. Pharmacy students will learn how todispensr medication, counsel patients and practice with new pharmacy technologiesz in the lab. Construction begabn last October at the lab site at 2400Fourthb St. NW. The old lab will eventuall be taken down.
“As the demand for top pharmacistsincreasesz nationwide, due to an aging populatiomn and increased use of prescription drugs, Howardx University is experiencing a dramatic increasee in the number of applicants to our pharmacy Partnerships such as with CVS/pharmacy have helpedx us become more competitive,” said Clarence Curry, interim associatee dean at Howard University’s School of Nursing, and Allied Health The laboratory houses 24 workstations that lets students enter and asses s patient information. The laboratory is also stockedwith prescriptions, and home-testing devices so students can practice dispensin g and advising on medication and home tests.
Partlg as a result of their existingy relationshipwith CVS, more than 35 percent of Howardd University pharmacy graduates began careerz at CVS/pharmacy stores this year. CVS/pharmacy, the retaiol division of (NYSE: CVS), is the largest retaill pharmacy inthe U.S. with 6,300 retail


Swiss Post Solutions Opens Document Processing Center in New York

San Francisco Chronicle (press release)


Swiss Post Solutions' DPC utilizes the latest document processing technology to help clients remove outdated, manual processing tasks related to items such as mail, payroll, applications, claims, customer correspondence, personnel records, and invoices ...



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AFP


Bali boy set to arrive back in Australia

Sydney Morning Herald


Indonesia has released a 14-year-old Australian boy convicted of drug possession on the resort island of Bali after he spent two months in detention. A high school student from Morisset Park, near Newcastle in northern NSW, the teen has been the focus ...


Austral ian boy arrested in Bali for drugs urges other teenagers to heed the ...

The Daily Telegraph


Australian teenager arrested in Bali freed and ready to fly home

The Australian


Indonesia releases Australian teen

CNN International


Washington Post -AFP -Herald Sun


 »

Friday, 2 December 2011

Jim Sherriff Executive Profile

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Jim Sherriff is Chairman and CEO of Cisco Chins and has responsibilities for developing andexecuting Cisco