News-Record.com

I was just finishing my coffee when an email from the Chamber of Commerce "Chambers Reach Goal to Form HOT Partnership" arrived in my inbox this morning.

Steamy it isn't. I can't tell if the groups were trying to be cute or not. My guess is no.

The Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point and Kernersville chambers have raised enough money to fund (another) plan! The $400,000 total ($200,000 local and $200,000 from the state) will pay for a consulting firm to create a "Land Use Plan and Transportation Plan for the Heart of the Triad initiative," otherwise to be referred to as LUPATP-HOTI.

I'm just kidding about the acronymn. Its almost as hard to remember as the actual name.

The reason for the plan:

In my print story on Wednesday (not posted), I report about Delta and US Airways dropping a total of 12 flights at Piedmont Triad International Airport. That narrows the Triad's choices for flights, but there's one point that didn't make the paper: cuts here and across the country are also going to push airfares higher, beginning now.

USA Today reported that nearly all major airlines are cutting seats as demand increases.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance reported (story not posted) that the squeeze will drive up already rising prices. That's good for the airlines, but will passengers take a pass and drive more? Looks like airlines are betting that high gas prices will keep passengers more interested in flying.

The IRS says it will take you longer to do your taxes using tax software than to do them by hand.

Confused? Well, it is the IRS.

In this year's instructions for filing your 1040, the IRS provides a chart showing the estimated average time spent and cost of preparing a return, depending on whether you do it yourself or pay someone to prepare it (see page 79 of the PDF file).

Locally founded RF Micro Devices was named "Electronics Company of the Year" recently by the North Carolina Technology Association. The Greensboro company makes radio frequency integrated circuits for wireless communications.

“Being named our state’s ‘Electronics Company of the Year’ speaks volumes about the high caliber and exceptional quality of our employees,” said Bob Bruggeworth, president and CEO for RF Micro Devices.

NCTA is a not-for-profit membership-driven trade organization and the primary voice of the technology industry in North Carolina, according to the organization.

I was on vacation last week so missed Gov. Easley's announcement that small businesses will now be allowed to apply for grants.

In some ways this is not big news. The government has been handing out money to large businesses for a long time. Dell's $300 million plus package of tax breaks, cash, infrastructure improvements is one that stands out recently. So its more of a shift in scale than philosophy.

But the fact that they are now putting money behind the constant din of speeches saying small business creates the most jobs is significant.

The only problem is that choosing to fund small business does not mean that state and local governments have become any better at picking successful businesses. Dell's recent earnings have fallen and Merck's decision to shutter plants and fire people -- about a year after it received money from the state, point to problems with choosing winners.

TREBIC, the government affairs arm of the real estate industry in the Triad, has elected a new executive committee for 2006. TREBIC stands for Triad Real Estate and Business Industry Coalition and serves 85 business members as well as a variety of associations for Realtors and local builders.

The new members are:
Chairman: Gary Paul Kane, Center to Create Housing Opportunities

Vice Chairman: Keith Price, Samet Corporation

Immediate Past Chairman: John Higgins, Hunter Higgins Miles Elam and Benjamin

Treasurer: Gary Rogers, Starmount Company

Secretary: Lisa Dellinger, Koury Corporation

Janet Parris- Gray, Craven-Johnson-Pollock

Tim Grein, PHD Development

Kevin Green, Yost & Little

Tony Collins, Collins & Galyon

Brian Pierce, Pierce Homes

Betty Smith, Smith Marketing

Paul Gilmer, Royal Realty and Development

Cal Reynolds, Calvin W. Reynolds & Associates

Guess which one describes Dell. Answer at the bottom.

Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

2005 MOST UNBELIEVABLE WORKPLACE EVENTS

·The Whine-Free Policy. A German company initiated a strict no-whining policy. Negative Nellies and other boat rockers are under a two-moans-and-out rule. According to the company, several workers have quit and two others have been fired for violating the whine-free policy.

·We Are Family, Only. DaimlerChrysler’s transmission plants in Kokomo, Indiana, have designated 80 percent of their employee parking as reserved for Chrysler vehicles only. Any non-Chrysler vehicle parked in a reserved area will be towed to Indianapolis, 50 miles away, where the employee will have to pay $200 to get his or her car back.

·No Slack For War Wives. A Michigan woman was fired from her part-time receptionist job after failing to show up for work the day after seeing her husband off to war as a National Guard member.

·Rescue Squirrels On Your Own Time. A woman says she was suspended from her job for spending too much time trying to rescue a squirrel trapped in the ceiling of the library where she works.

·Executive Whipped Into Shape. An executive for a foundation that funds heart disease research was accused of embezzling more than $237,000 and using some of the money to pay for the services of a dominatrix.

·Anyone Desperate For A Job? The National Labor Relations Board refused to strike down a security company’s rule that prohibits employees from getting together away from work. The policy forbids workers from going to lunch together, attending each other’s weddings, or doing anything else they might want to do with each other outside of work.

·Productivity vs. Religion: And the Winner is… 30 Muslim workers were fired from a major computer manufacturer’s Nashville plant for adhering to religious doctrine that requires them to pray daily at sunset.

·Forgot To Wrap That Can! A worker with a good record and no problems with his supervisors was unexpectedly fired from his job with a beer distributor. While no reason was given, the firing occurred on the same day a picture of the worker drinking a competitor’s beer appeared in a local newspaper.

·No Hablas Español. Two Spanish-speaking hair stylists in Chicago claim in a federal lawsuit that the company they worked for strictly banned the use of Spanish, even when employees were on their breaks. A sign at the establishment read, "Speaking a language other than English is not only disrespectful, it’s also prohibited."

Dell= Productivity vs. Religion. See the Tennessean's article here.

Earlier today a Greensboro blogger submitted this as the proposed plan for the former Wachovia Tower.

Developer Roy Carroll, who has a contract on the building, said that the plan on the site was a proposed web site design, not a building design.

His proposed plans call for a single tower and a working name of "Center Pointe." The website names the development as "Park Center Plaza" and shows two towers.

Carroll said he has not made a decision to develop the site at this point.