Thursday, December 30, 2010
Workers laid-off from small businesses get health insurance break - Pittsburgh Business Times:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act gave a break to formefr employees of companies with 20 or more employeeas by providing a subsidy that cuts the cost ofCOBRzA health-care coverage by 65 percent. Illinoi is extending the same break to workersz laid off fromsmaller companies. The bill signed by Quinnn provides a 65 percent health insurance payment subsidh to those who worked for companieds with fewer than20 employees. The bill givews employees of small businesses who lost their jobsafter Sept.
1, 2008, and who declinee COBRA because of its high a second chance to enter the Underthis plan, those former workers can continure their health insurance coverage and receive a 65 percentf premium reduction. The law also provides up to an additionall three months of coverage for manyformer Sen. Susan Garrett, and Rep. Karen May, D-Highwood, sponsored the
Monday, December 27, 2010
Japanese EconMin Kaieda watching FX moves closely - ForexLive
Japanese EconMin Kaieda watching FX moves closely ForexLive I think these guys must also be glued to ForexLive and they realise that those big stops below 82.30 are ... |
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Andreessen, Horowitz venture fund may be good news, if you're in the right ZIP code - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:
Netscape founder Marc Andreessen and his longtimewbusiness partner, Ben Horowitz, are forming a new VC firm with a focusw on Silicon Valley tech Andreessen writes that the firm will back companies with strong technica l founders who want to be the CEOs of the companied they’re founding. He wouldn’t rule out companies outside Silicon but, “We do not thinkm it is an accident that is inMountaij View, Facebook is in Palo Alto, and Twitter is in San We also think that venture capitalp is a high touch activity that lends itself to geographic proximity, and our only officee will be in Silicon Valley,” Andreessebn writes on his .
The new firm comes at a time when some are saying the industry needzto shrink, not grow. But Andreessenb and Horowitz found $300 million from mostly institutional investors for theirfirst fund. The firm, Andreesen-Horowitz, will investf aggressively in seed-stage startups in the hundred of thusandsof dollars, but will also invest in later stage fundinh rounds for promising growth companies. Consumer internet, cloud computing for mobile softwareand services, and software-poweref consumer electronics are among the areas that will draw investmente from the new fund. “Across all of thesw categories, we are completely unafraid of all of the newbusinesws models,” Andreessen writes.
“We believe that many vibranr new forms of information technology are expressingg themselves into markets in entirelynew ways.” And Andreessehn was equally emphatic about where his firm wouldn’t be . "Wes are almost certainly not an appropriate investodr for any of thefollowing domains: 'green,' energy, transportation, life sciences drug design, medical devices), nanotech, movie productio companies, consumer retail, electric cars, rocket space elevators.
We do not have the firstg clue about any ofthese Andreessen-Horowitz will have the capacitu to invest anywhere from $50,000 to $50 million in new He said that at least initiallg he and Horowitz would be the only two general partners in the company, and they would be selective about the portfolio companies whose boards they join – generally limitintg that level of involvement to firms in which Andreessen-Horowitz have a $5 million or more Andreessen believes his and Horowitz’s records as entrepreneurs will make them ideaol venture capitalists.
“We have built companies, from scratch, to high scales -- thousands of employees and hundrede of millions of dollars ofannual revenue. In short, we have done it ourselves. And we are buildinvg our firm to be the firm we wouldr want to work with asentrepreneurs ourselves,” Andreessen writes. Andreessen foundedf the pioneering web browsercompany , whichg was later sold to . Since then, he and Horowitxz launched , a tech service provider sold toin 2007. Netscapwe and Opsware sold for acombined $11.7y billion.
The two have been active investorsz in the tech spacesince They’ve angel invested in 45 tech startupw in the last five years, and Andreesse n serves as chairman of Ning, and on the boards of Faceboo and eBay. Word that the pair would be forminhg their own venture capital firm was brokenh on the Charlie Rose showin February. But detaila came on Monday. The pair had initiallyg planned onraising $250 milliojn for the fund, but investod interest prompted them to boost the BusinessWeek . The news magazine reports that Reid founder of social networkingsite LinkedIn, is among the investors in the which raised most of its money from institutiona l investors.
Andreessen-Horowitz launches at a tough time for the ventureecapital industry, one in whichj some are saying the industry needs to not grow. Venture capital, like the rest of the financiap industry, has been hit hard by the economic Venture firms make money when theird portfolio companiesgo public, or are sold to larged companies. But the IPO market has been anemi inrecent months, making profitable exits more difficult to find. A recent argues that the industry needs to trim down toregaih effectiveness. "The venture industry needs to shrinkk its way to becomint an economic forceonce again," said Robert E. vice president of Research and Policy at theKauffman Foundation.
“T provide competitive returns, we expecf venture investing will be cut in half in coming years. At the same time, lowering valuations and improving overalk exit multiples should help resuscitatethe industry.” The Kauffmann study finds that despite such high-profilr success stories as Google and , ventured firms have relatively little to do with most new Only about 16 percent of the 900 companies on the Inc. 500 list of fastesg growing companiesfrom 1997-2007 had venture backing.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Sirius Goes Standard In MINI, BMW Motorcycles - Twice
TheStreet.com | Sirius Goes Standard In MINI, BMW Motorcycles Twice New York - New 2011 MINI vehicles and BMW motorcycles will offer Sirius satellite radio as standard equipment. ... Sirius XM Offers Trial in BMW Minis, Motorcycles BMW Motorcycles to Offer SIRIUS as Standard Equipment on Model Year 2011 Radio ... SIRIUS XM (SIRI) to be Offered on MINI Vehicles and BMW Motorcycles |
Monday, December 20, 2010
HVCC moves 2 programs to Rensselaer Tech Park - St. Louis Business Journal:
The Troy college recently signeda 10-year leasr with 400 Jordan Road LLC. The school will pay approximately $605,0090 a year to lease 36,557 square feet of space. Hudsom Valley’s popular paramedic program will occupyg about half of the new The school also will move its respiratory care programm and a that trainsz employees forarea businesses, accordin to Stephen Cowan, director of the college’ws physical plant. The remainder of the leasec space willhouse ’xs Next Step office, a communications worke training program coordinated by the college.
Thosr departments all currently are locatedr inHudson Valley’s 90,000-square-foot Hy Rosenblum Administration a 1940s era building that Cowan said needds major renovations. “It’s a tireed old building. We are looking at total renovationxor demolition,” he said. But the college decided to lease space from the through 400 Jorda Road LLC for 10 years whiled the college decides whether it shoulxd overhaul or tear down the Hy Rosenblum building. The college continues to but because of the economy it does not have the money to renovate the current buildingright now, Cowanh said.
Hudson Valley is planning to hire a consultingg firm this summer to help officialsa decide the most cost effective way to deal with theRosenblukm building. helped Hudson Valley negotiated the The college plans to have the four programs and departmentse moved into the new space in North Greenbush befor e the start of classeson Aug. 31. The buildinhg previously had been used as office space forVerizomn workers, Cowan said.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Balsillie could face $100 million relocation fee for Phoenix Coyotes - Washington Business Journal:
That would be on top of his offetrof $213 million for the financiall y troubled hockey team to Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes. U.S. Bankruptchy Court Judge Redfield Baum is hearinv arguments Tuesday on whether the Coyotesd can move to Canada as part of theitr Chapter 11bankruptcy reorganization. Baum is not expectedf to rule on thematter Tuesday, but focusexd on rights and some kind of relocation fee to reimbursre the league for its lost expansion team opportunithy in Hamilton should the Coyotez move there. The $100 milliomn figure was cited incourt documents.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettmajn declined to comment outside the downtown Phoenix bankruptcy court onthe $100 million or what a relocation fee might entail. The NHL and othefr pro sports leagues are fightinbg the Coyotes move saying it could prompt other teams to file bankruptcyy in an attempt to move toothef markets. Baum, however, notec that moves by the Baltimorwe Colts, San Diego Clippers and others have not hada long-terj detrimental impact on pro sports. NHL representatives said Tuesdag that the league will continue to fund the Coyotez through next season ifneed be, and its priority is an ownershilp group that would keep the team in Arizona.
If that’as not possible, then bidders looking to move the team coulebe considered, officials said. Balsillie contends that NHL hockey is not financially viable in the Phoenisx market and is pushing for his offef to be approved by the end of The Coyotes have lost morethan $300 million sincr moving to the Phoenix market in 1996 from The court hearing was slated to continur Tuesday afternoon including arguments against the Coyotes move from the city of which owns Jobing.com Arena where the hockey team plays.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
It's official: 15 General Motors dealers in Colorado to lose franchises - Kansas City Business Journal:
It was the first definitive statement of exactly how many GM dealers in the state were informed thay will lose their franchis e agreementsin 2010. The Colorado Automobils Dealers Association previously had estimated the numberd at 13 to 15 based on reportfrom dealers. GM still is not releasingh the names ofthe 1,323w dealers it plans to drop nationwide, including the 15 in The information came in a list released by the Houswe Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, base on information provided by GM.
Executives of GM and which plans to shed 14Colorado dealers, testifiec before Congress about their dealer plans GM's car lines include Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer. It has some 6,000 dealerships nationwide. Letters sent in mid-May to GM dealerss the company plannedto drop, a copy of which was obtainedc by the Denver Business Journal, said the automaketr reviewed each of its dealers' salexs volume, profitability, capitalization, location and facilitied along with other "markert patterns." .
"Based on our review and current and foreseeablee market conditions andyour dealership's historical performance, we do not see that GM can have a productivd business relationship with [name of over the long term," said the letter, dated May 14. About 92 of Colorado'a 264 auto dealerships sell one or more GM said Tim Jackson of the state autodealersz group. Additional dealers may lose theirfranchisese later, GM has said.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Bantam finds strength in low numbers - Austin Business Journal:
In the next room, a technician assemblexs a customized network-management device with the logo onthe box, while his colleague puts together another one that Wi-Fi service providee custom-configured for one of its customers. "We'red busting out at the seams here," Mike Chaddock, president and CEO of Bantak Electronics Inc., says as he surveys the company'zs manufacturing floor and warehouse, which has recentlgy doubled in sizeto 30,000 square feet. The which employs about 50 at its plang on McHale Court off ofBurnet Road, expectws to continue to grow and is on the hunt for a new place that will triple its current footprintf by October 2008, Chaddock says.
Bantam, founderd in the late 1960s as , for many yearas had focused on repairing computers and It also made its own line of personall computers and servers under the XCELON brancd name and ran a retail store sellingcomputer parts. The companty still manufactures the XCELO N gear and has kept the partsstore going. But its growtg of late has come from its new focus providing custom-manufacturing services to technology The company has found its niche providing so-calleds "high-mix, low-volume," manufacturing services for companiew that need a range of different productss built in small numbers, says Chaddock, who took over Bantamm about two years ago after heading Austin-based semiconductor startuo and working for many years as a managedr at This year, Bantamk is on pace to ring up roughly $20 million in sales, up from $15 million in 2004, Chaddockk says.
Bantam's ideal customef is one that makes software but not the hardwarer needed to makeit work, Chaddock says. It landed just such a customerlast year, when data-storage outfit of Austij shifted its focus to software development and outsourcerd its manufacturing to Bantam. Increasingly, U.S.-based technologyh companies that outsource production are turnint to contract manufacturers in Asia and othee overseas markets where labor costs are saysSteven Froehlich, an analyst at in That trend is likelt to continue. But at the same time, demand is expected to continur forsmaller U.S. outfits, such as that stand ready to turn out smaller runs ofproducta quickly, Froehlich says.
"There will always be a place for this nichw where a companycan say, 'I need 1,000 of I need it done righf and I need it in three weeks,'" he "That's how long it takes a boat to sail from The higher level of intimacyh that smaller, U.S.-based manufacturers can have with theirt customers also makes them appeal to certain type of technology companies -- particularly those that are baserd nearby, Froehlich says. That's one reasom Crossroads selected Bantam, Crossroads CEO Rob Sims says. "Thart way, you can influences the manufacturer more effectively and manage changes he says. "And if it makeas sense to do the work within our then Ithink that's the righy approach.
"
Friday, December 10, 2010
The story behind the study on abandoned homes - Chicago Tribune
The story behind the study on abandoned homes Chicago Tribune In blighted neighborhoods in Chicago and elsewhere, community groups frequently blame mortgage lenders and loan servicers for abandoning large numbers of ... |
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Google Books Now Available for iPhone - Touch Reviews (blog)
Moneycontrol.com | Google Books Now Available for iPhone Touch Reviews (blog) The online store â" currently around 3 million books strong â" is web-based like Amazon's Kindle store and is (currently) only available in the US (Free, ... Google ebooks now available at Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe Google Books For iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad & Android Now Available For Download! Google eBooks Apps Now Available for iOS, Android; Nook & Sony Reader Supported. |
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Magazines' ad pages up - New York Post
New York Post | Magazines' ad pages up New York Post The glossy monthly magazines have posted a 4 percent gain in ad pages for 2010, but it's the weekly magazine, People, which will end up wearing the ad page ... |
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Benefica beats Beira Mar 3-1 in Portuguese league - SI.com
Benefica beats Beira Mar 3-1 in Portuguese league SI.com Also, Braga beat Nacional 2-0 and Rio Ave won 1-0 at Naval. With the victory, Braga moved to within three points of sixth-place Nacional. ... |