News-Record.com

This company claims to help corporate executives Demotivate their employees... a hysterical lampooning of the self-help movement.

Enjoy!

The Associated Press
Thursday, February 2, 2006

North Carolina's largest health insurer said Thursday it is giving $3 million to an effort by the state's hospitals to reduce the risk of patient deaths through improved care practices.

The money will be used by the Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety to analyze data and to hire trainers to coach health care workers, hospital association vice president Don Dalton said. The trade association created the center last year as part of a national effort to increase safety and efficiency in hospitals.

More than 100 North Carolina hospitals have pledged to implement nationally recognized quality improvement measures.

They include preventing pneumonia in patients who breath with the help of ventilators by elevating the head by 30 degrees. Infections of surgical wounds can be avoided by correct use of antibiotics and established procedures.

Blue Cross said the donation is part of its effort to lower health care costs and improve quality by preventing expensive medical complications.

"The push to improve overall quality and patient safety is the most important initiative in hospitals today," said Dr. Bill Atkinson, president and chief executive officer of WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, one of the hospitals who joined the effort.

Staff writer Marta Hummel developed a piece for today's paper that examines the maturation of the blogging medium.

A number of local bloggers have taken great exception to the headline, as do I. But if you can get past that, you'll see the greater point of the story: an Internet phenomenon that has matured. Some bloggers have pared back their posts, others have given up completely and yet others are just now entering the blogosphere.

As Marta's editor, I can tell you how we developed the idea. Frankly, we had noticed in the last several weeks a dropoff in the rate of postings at some blogs. Some bloggers had gone completely missing. In talking to some local bloggers, Marta heard that the pull of home and office life was taking its toll on the time some were dedicating to blogging.

Remember, over the last 18 months you could not pick up a publication, change a channel or surf a site without coming across or hearing about blogging. If Internet trends move in waves, this clearly was one. The fact that that wave was now moderating -- typical of such Internet trends -- seemed interesting. Hence, today's story.

There are of course a number of opinions. Share your own.

The Bryan School of Business at UNCG, said Jim Melvin, president of the foundation. Details to follow.

High Point's Economic Development Corporation Board will get a few new faces.
About six new members will join the board in March.

New members include:
John Faircloth, an at-large city councilman and a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Triad.
Warren Lowder, with Brayton International.
Tom Mitchell, with Merchandise Mart Properties in High Point.
Dr. Adnan Mjalli, with TransTech Pharma.
Ruffin Price, with Ruffin Price Insurance Agency.
Dean Sink, with Mickey Truck Bodies.

In addition to the new members, the High Point City Council reappointed the following members this week:
Charles Cain, with Banner Pharmacaps.
Demetrious Gooden, with High Point Bank.
Harvey Lowd, with KAO Specialties Americas.

The High Point Economic Development Corporation is a public-private organization that works to promote economic growth in High Point and the Triad.

Jo Ferreira, who recruits Fed Ex customers to move to its hubs -- had this to say about the Triad:

"I think it means very little to very few people."

Lisa Blakley, head of the Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network, a California transplant, said the same thing when she took her job in September, 2004.

"Calling this area the Triad does not give any visual image of anything except the number three," she said.

Ferreira said the name would not prevent the region from developing.

But she points to a big issue -- people don't know where it is. And likely don't know what goes on here.

I think that's because its largely in flux. FedEx and Dell's decision to branch out here shows that the Triad's location is probably its best asset.

Some logistics jobs pay well -- truckers can earn $50,000 and up. But many pay the same or less than textile or furniture manufacturing jobs.

No corporate headquarters have moved here over the past few years -- and entrepreneurs flcok to other parts of the state to start businesses. That points to another issue. Will there be high paying jobs in the region down the road?

Consumers had the chance to choose from 323 billion coupons last year, at a total savings of $37 billion. Yet, coupon redemption fell 6 percent in 2005, according to a recent report from Winston-Salem-based CMS, an intermediary between manufacturers and retailers.

That means consumers redeemed 3 billion coupons at U.S. retail stores last year, down from 3.2 billion in 2004.

One reason for that, CMS says, is that coupons just became less valuable last year. Though the average coupon value increased a penny - to $1.16 - that slight rise couldn't keep pace with inflation. And the increase in coupon values came off as paltry compared to hikes from pervious years - as much as 14 percent in 2004.

Other than that, the coupon industry remained steady. The average coupon expiration period was 2.9 months, and most coupons expired within five months of issue. About 25 percent of coupons required purchase of at least two products.

The vast majority - 88 percent - of last year's coupons came to consumers via Sunday newspapers.

Remember that rather lackluster episode of "King of Queens" when Doug gets miffed over Carrie's "work husband" - and retaliates by labeling his best friend as his "work wife?"

OK, well, maybe you aren't an insomniac and don't watch crummy TV reruns at odd hours. The point is, that plot isn't as farfetched as it might seem.

A recent survey from job site Vault.com found that 32 percent of office workers have an office "spouse" - their better half in a nearly full-time, but platonic, workplace relationship.

About 58 percent of survey respondents admitted to having had a romantic office rendezvous, with nearly 27 percent of employees surveyed saying their trysts had taken place literally IN the office. Think about that the next time you head to the supply closet.

But pre-Valentine's day office romance surveys this year didn't just turn up roses.

PostNet, a Colorado-based company whose stores offer digital printing, mailing and publishing options, is looking to open 10 retail locations in the Greensboro area during the next five years.

The private company, whose offerings might be described as a blend of Mailboxes, Etc. and Kinkos, has a store in Greensboro and one in Whitsett. Another Greensboro location is slated to open within the next year.

PostNet targets individual consumers and business-to-business traffic. The company sold 66 franchises and opened 54 stores in the United States during 2005 and reported a worldwide revenue of $232 million for that year.

Real earnings dropped 0.2 percent from December 2005 to January 2006, according to seasonally adjusted data from the BLS.

Year over year average weekly earnings fell 0.4 percent. Before adjustement for seasonal change and inflation, average weekly earnings were $558.38 in January 2006, compared with $537.26 a year earlier.

So the country is adding jobs but not ones that pay particularly well.

The chief exec of Radio Shack and James Frey are just the public faces for a larger trend of deception.

Questionable memoirs aside, lying about life experience is all too common, particularly in the corporate world.

A study released this week by ResumeDoctor.com, a national resume writing service based in Vermont, found that nearly 43 percent of resumes contained one or more significant inaccuracies or fabrications in dates of employment, job titles or education of applicants.

And almost 13 percent of the randomly selected resumes the site analyzed during a six-month period showed up two or more serious problems.

These weren't minor missteps, says Brad Fredericks, co-founder of ResumeDoctor.com.

Calling last year’s local housing market good would be an understatement.

Overall home sales in Guilford County increased 21.5 percent last year over 2004.

That’s possibly the greatest hike in the overall market in more than a decade, said Bernard Helm, who has been running a market research firm in Rocky Mount since the late 1980s.

Helm’s firm, Market Opportunity Research Enterprises, released a report Tuesday detailing the ups and downs of the housing market for the final quarter of 2005.

Those three months – October through December – saw overall market growth a little less than 13 percent. That’s not quite as good as 2005, as a whole, but it’s nothing to scoff at.

Helm said Tuesday’s report indicates that home purchases stood strong heading into 2006. Though he doesn’t expect this year to hit the banner mark 2005 did, he believes the market for homes locally will continue to climb.

“It’s just good, healthy growth,” he said. “Enjoy it.”