http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/ All the buzz about business in the Triad. en Copyright 2008 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:23:37 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Greensboro Economic Development Alliance has already won the brass ring: It did much of the work in recruiting Honda Aircraft Co. to Piedmont Triad International Airport. Honda is building its headquarters and manufacturing operations there and will hire about 350 workers. That is bringing the Triad international recognition in the aeronautics industry and could attract even more industry. Now, Business Facilities Magazine has added polish to the ring by naming the Economic Development Alliance a winner of an honorable mention in its "Economic Development Deal of the Year Awards." Another winner in the awards was the Mississippi Development Authority for the Toyota plant that had North Carolinians buzzing last year with the possibility that the company might build the plant somewhere in the state, possibly Davidson County. ]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/12/honda_deal_draw.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/12/honda_deal_draw.shtml Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:23:37 -0500 One of the benefits to working downtown is proximity to the Bargain Box, the second-hand goods store run by the Junior League of Greensboro. Clothes are the main staple here, but there's always a wide selection of odds and ends, some of which are odd and some of which should have met an end long ago. But for the most part, the place rocks when it comes to finding good-condition things. We've both subsidized and patronized the Box over the years. Sometimes, walking into the store is like walking into our closet from a year ago. About half of our daughter's closet cache came from the Box. Got qualms about wearing other people's clothes? While the line might reasonably be drawn at monograms and ring-around-the-collar, I've worn many a shirt that bore someone else's name on the collar. Think the clothes won't hold up or are in poor condition? Last week, my 10-month-old son was sporting a red Talbots Kids cable-knit sweater that looked familiar. Turns out I bought it from Bargain Box for my daughter a few years ago. A Brooks Brothers dress shirt I bought four years ago is holding up well. Then there are the Box's sales, which prompts this posting. The store hosts sales several times a year, and these are not piddly sales. The one today is 40 percent off. I've been to sales where discounts were 60 and 75 percent. Don't take these sales lightly; think rugby without the manners. Getting in the place today required three "excuse me's." If you haven't started your holiday shopping at the stores yet, going to the Bargain Box sale will prep you for crowd management. "I'm surprised a fight hasn't broken out in here yet," said the woman in front of me. My haul this trip: three sweaters (one of them cashmere) and an Abercrombie and Fitch casual shirt. I paid $18. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/11/boxing_for_barg.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/11/boxing_for_barg.shtml Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:54:45 -0500 Greensboro-based Legacy Paddlesports has received three patents and is applying for two more. The company, which makes and sells kayaks, has picked up U.S. patents related to its new Native Watercraft Ultimate kayak design, its Adapt-a-Track accessories (which include cup holders and paddle holders) used in the Ultimate Series kayaks, and its Plug-and-Play accessory mounting system (which includes a paddle holder, a thigh pad and a dashboard) used in its Native Watercraft Magic kayaks. Legacy Paddlesports also has applied for two patents: One for a pedal and propeller drive unit that drops into one of the company's kayak models; the other for a lightweight, cushioned seat available on some kayak models or as a separate purchase. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/legacy_paddlesp.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/legacy_paddlesp.shtml Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:16:24 -0500 Time Warner Cable is adding phone service to its package available to small and medium-sized businesses in the Triad. Just as the company is pushing residential customers toward buying digital phone, cable television and high-speed Internet service together, now the cable provider is touting bundled packages for business. It's an effort to broaden Time Warner's offerings far beyond traditional cable television - and further muscle in on the phone company's territory. And it's a continuation of an industry push to get consumers to buy all their telecommunications services through a single company. Time Warner is launching "Business Class Phone" in the Carolinas this week. The service includes unlimited local and long-distance calling in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as three-way call transfer and other features. According to a Time Warner news release, the company has "more than 2 million" residential subscribers in the U.S. who use digital phone. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/its_time_warner.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/its_time_warner.shtml Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:06:32 -0500 A Glen Raven fabric used to protect industrial workers is now going to be used in auto racing. GlenGuard FR, which provides protection from heat and burns, will debut at the Performance Racing Industry Show in Orlando in early December. The performance fabrics company is based in Glen Raven and known for specialty fabrics such as brands including Sunbrella and Dickson. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/glen_raven_fabr.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/glen_raven_fabr.shtml Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:17:59 -0500 Jobless rates fell last month in eight of 12 Triad counties, including Guilford, Alamance and Forsyth. Statewide, nearly 75 percent of counties saw unemployment rates drop in September, as the state's overall jobless rate fell to 4.5 percent, from 4.7 percent in August. Guilford's rate also dropped to 4.5 percent last month, with 236,604 people working and 11,225 people filing for unemployment benefits. The county had a jobless rate of 4.8 percent in August. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/guilford_jobles.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/guilford_jobles.shtml Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:23:47 -0500 Update: Talked to a Kellogg spokeswoman, who said the company will effectively be doubling the size of its local snack distribution facility with the new lease, which has a five-year life. Kellogg has 29 employees at its current distribution center of Business Park Drive, just a few miles away from the space at Enterprise II. The company will gain occupancy of its new space on Dec. 1, spokeswoman Thuy-An Wilkins told me. Kellogg hasn't yet determined whether it will add more local jobs during or after the move, she said. "The impetus for this is growth in our snack business," Wilkins said, referring to brands such as Keebler. If you didn't see it in today's News & Record, cereal maker Kellogg Co. has signed a lease on 117,500 square feet of industrial space in Greensboro. The Battle Creek, Mich.-based food company's lease is at Enterprise II, part of an airport-area park owned by Highwoods Properties. Officials with Raleigh-based Highwoods confirmed the Kellogg lease Thursday but said they did not know what the space will be used for and how many people Kellogg might employ there. Kellogg officials still haven't returned my calls from yesterday. With the cereal maker lined up, Enterprise II, a 418,000-square-foot distribution facility, is 72 percent pre-leased. Other park tenants include Greensboro-based RF Micro Devices, which plans to open its new microchip wafer plant in another shell building on Brigham Road within a year.]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/kellogg_co_sign.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/kellogg_co_sign.shtml Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:24:46 -0500 Area apartments are at their lowest vacancy rates since 2000, with Triad communities at an average of 92 percent leased. That's according to a report just out from Charlotte-based Real Data Apartment Market Research. And those findings aren't really much of a surprise, considering that the region's apartment market has showed almost steady improvement in the past five years and that some would-be homebuyers likely are opting to rent now that credit isn't so easy to come by. Demand for area apartments remains strong, with the newest communities reporting the best occupancy rates. Average rents here have risen 4 percent in the past year, to $641 a month. The lowest vacancy rates for September were in southwest Winston-Salem and southwest Greensboro, the latter of which happens to have the most expensive square-footage in the area. Southeast Greensboro saw the highest vacancy rate - 12.4 percent. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/occupancy_stron.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/occupancy_stron.shtml Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:35:27 -0500 Here's some news you likely expected: Existing home sales fell in the Triad - and throughout the state - last month, according to a report out today from the state's Realtors group. Sales of existing homes statewide fell 22 percent in September, when compared to the same month last year. Statewide, 9,267 existing homes sold during the month, at an average price of $228,072. People I talked to with the N.C. Association of Realtors wouldn't speculate on reasons for the 8 percent jump in the average sales price between September of last year and September of this year. It's likely part of that, though, can be chalked up to buyers of less expensive homes shying away from purchases as they find it harder to get loans. But I've also talked to a number of people who study the local real estate market and question the methodology used to arrive at some of these year-over-year figures. Regardless, the Realtors group saw some gloom here in the Triad, where existing home sales fell 28 percent from September 2006 to September '07, according to the report. About 1,140 such homes sold in the region last month, compared to about 1,580 during the same month last year. Total sales dollars for September were $204,614,985 - down 27 percent from a year prior. The average sale price for an existing home here was up just 2 percent last month, according to today's report. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/triad_state_hom.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/triad_state_hom.shtml Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:41:13 -0500 A board member has resigned from Thomasville-based Old Dominion Freight Line, leaving the company's board and audit committee with too few independent members and out of compliance with Nasdaq rules. Independent director W. Chester Evans III tendered his resignation to the company's board on Monday, starting that he was no longer "able to continue to devote the time and attention necessary to properly represent the shareholders," according to a news release from Old Dominion. Evans served as chairman of the company's compensation committee and a member of both the audit committee and governance and nomination committees. After Evans's resignation, Old Dominion is no longer in compliance with Nasdaq's requirements for the composition of its boards. The company has time to regain compliance and plans to immediately launch a search process to replace Evans. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/old_dominion_bo.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/old_dominion_bo.shtml Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:37:59 -0500 Unifi will take a pre-tax charge as it sells its interest in a joint venture. The Greensboro-based yarn maker plans to charge off between $4.25 million and $4.75 million to account for changes in the value of Unifi-Sans Technical Fibers, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unifi's 50 percent stake in the joint venture is valued at $13.4 million on the company's balance sheet; however, that figure exceeds the market value of the investment, the company reported this week. Unifi, which announced the joint venture with Sans Fibres of South Africa in 2000, disclosed plans to sell its stake in a quarterly filing earlier this year. The venture agreement allowed Unifi to sell its stake in the nylon yarn-producing business for fair market value and to unload its interest in an affiliated plant in Stoneville. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/unifi_to_charge.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/unifi_to_charge.shtml Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:36:28 -0500 WINSTON-SALEM - BB&T Corp. has reported that its total third-quarter net income was up by 6.5 percent compared with the third quarter of 2006. Net income was $444 million, or 80 cents per diluted share, compared with $417 million, or 77 cents per diluted share, earned during the third quarter of 2006. Operating earnings for the third quarter of 2007 totaled $448 million, or 81 cebts per diluted share, compared to $424 million, or 78 cents per diluted share, earned during the third quarter of 2006. Operating earnings exclude $4 million and $7 million in net after-tax merger-related and restructuring charges from the third quarters of 2007 and 2006, respectively. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/bbt_reports_goo.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/bbt_reports_goo.shtml Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:43:38 -0500 So the Triad's existing-home sales slumped in the third quarter. Actually, they fell more than 8 percent from the third quarter of last year, according to a report out today from the Greensboro Regional Realtors Association and Triad MLS. Seasonally adjusted figures show that 2,636 existing single-family homes sold in the eight-county Triad during the third quarter. Nearly half were in Guilford County, with 877 of those in the Greensboro area. Though average Greensboro home prices rose slightly in the past year, they didn't keep pace with inflation - indicating that real prices are down slightly, says local economist Don Jud. The Realtors group reported Thursday that existing home sales in Greensboro were down for September, when compared to a year before, but that the average home here is selling for more than it did a year ago. Oddly, the group's September report claimed that home sales were down more than 26 percent compared to a year before; however, the Realtors said that the average sales price for an existing single-family home sold here climbed 7 percent in the same period. At this point, no one I've talked to has been able to explain that particular data. I imagine the average existing home sale price might have climbed a little bit, since the credit crunch and the subprime collapse have made it challenging for would-be buyers of cheaper homes. And a lot of homes in the $100,000s seem to be sitting on the market. But I don't think that trend, alone, could explain away such a dramatic jump. Anyone have thoughts on that? http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/home_sales_slum.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/home_sales_slum.shtml Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:20:08 -0500 Glen Raven says it has developed a better flame-resistant fabric for the industrial apparel market with help from a European partner. The Glen Raven-based company has been working for two years on product development with Kermel, a performance fiber manufacturer. The result is GlenGuard FR, a fabric the companies tout as more comfortable, durable and color-fast that other protective clothing used by electric, oil and gas companies, for industrial maintenance, by engineering firms, in automotive racing and other sectors where people are exposed to heat, flames, chemicals and other hazards.]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/glen_raven_part.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/glen_raven_part.shtml Tue, 09 Oct 2007 12:42:20 -0500 This came in too late for last Sunday's retail column, but I wanted to make sure to get it up somewhere. Macy's, which has locations at Friendly Center and off Wendover Avenue in Greensboro and at Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem, will host it second annual "Shop for a Cause" charity event on Saturday. Macy's donates tickets to regional and local charities, which sell the tickets for $5 each and keep the proceeds. Shoppers can redeem their tickets at any Macy's store Saturday to get deals on clothing, accessories and home goods. The inaugural event raised nearly $10 million last year, according to a news release from Macy's. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/shopping_column_1.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/bizbuzz/2007/10/shopping_column_1.shtml Tue, 09 Oct 2007 12:20:02 -0500