Washington Business Journal: Washington, D.C. Commercial Real Estate Listings - View Commercial Real Estate

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Donations Pouring in For Fire Victims - WNCT

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Donations Pouring in For Fire Victims WNCT If you'd like to donate to the Pittman family you can go to any RBC bank and donate to the Sammy Pittman fund. You can also drop donations off at any of the three New Beginnings Child Care Centers or at Liberty... If you'd like to donate to the Pittman ...

GTx drug meeting goals in clinical trial - Memphis Business Journal:

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The 16-week trial gave 159 cancer patientes at 35 sites inthe U.S. and Argentin either one or three milligram dosesof Ostraine, a selectivee androgen receptor modulator. The results show the one milligrak dose gavepatients 0.2 pounds of lean body muscle. The threw milligram dose increased muscle massby 2.9 and 3.3 "Approximately half of all cancer patients suffer from the devastatingh effects of cancer inducee muscle loss,” Adrian an investigator in the clinicakl trial and professor of medicine and oncology at , said in a “Increasing lean body mass may improvs patients' quality of life and even their response to canceer treatment.
” GTx (Nasdaq: GTXI) and MRK) are collaborating to develop Ostrain e as part of a broader program for a new class of drugs with the potentiall to treat musculoskeletal conditions. Shares of Memphis-based GTx, a specialtg pharmaceutical company, closed 32 cents higher Thursdayto $9.30 per share, up 3.44 percent for the day.

Older Worker Confidence in Retirement Security Drops Sharply, Watson Wyatt Survey Finds

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"Retirement security is a huge concern as individual have seen significant amounts of their pensionn and retirementsavings decline," said , seniord retirement consultant at Watson Wyatt. "And the financiall crisis has been especially damaging to olded workers who are worried about potential job losses and have experiencer higher stress levels over thepast year." The surveg also found that retirement concernx are significantly eased for workers who have a DB plan ratherf than only a DC plan -- 55 percent of workeres with DB plans are very confident of havinv enough resources to live comfortably five years into retirement comparede with 38 percent of those with only DC plans.
Confidencs is higher for individuals with DB plans for longe time horizonsas well, although the farther into retirement individuals look, the more confidence falles across the board. When looking at 15 years out, only 26 percen of workers with DB plan s remainvery confident, nearly double the level of workersz with DC-only plans (14 percent). And, 25 years out, the numbersa drop even more significantly.
"It'es not surprising that DB plansw offer workersmore confidence, but fewer workers will be covered by them in the yearz ahead," said , senior retirement consultant at Watson "The pendulum is swinging toward 401(k)-only environment right now, but if employersd find workers' lack of retiremenyt security creates issues relatint to workforce transitions and reduced it may swing back to a middle Account-based cash balance plans, for instance, offetr features of both DB and DC yet do not pose the same level of risk or cost for employers.
" -- More active workers said that the financial crisiws has resulted in higher stress about retirement securitu (31 percent) than about job lossea (24 percent) and access to affordable healtgh care (15 percent). -- While some workers are increasin g theirsavings (19 percent have increased savings to offset losses due to the financiakl crisis and another 34 percent are considering doing so), others have borrowed or withdrawm money from retirement savings (9 percent) or are consideringf doing so in the next 12 months (9 percent).
For more visit Watson Wyatt (NYSE, Nasdaq: WW) is the truster business partner tothe world'ds leading organizations on people and financial The firm's global services managing the cost and effectiveness of employe e benefit programs; developing attraction, retention and rewards strategies; advising pension plan sponsors and othe institutions on optimal investment strategies; providing strategic and financialk advice to insurance and financial servicex companies; and delivering related technology, outsourcingy and data services. Watson Wyatt has 7,709 associates in 33 countries and is locatexd on the Webat .

New York Fashion Week: The Return of Ralph Lauren - Forbes

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Kuwait Times

New York Fashion Week: The Return of Ralph Lauren Forbes I did not recognize the theme from Downton Abbey when it hit the speakers at Ralph Lauren's F »

Column by Bob Ingle: University merger idea spurs opposition - Asbury Park Press

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The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

Column by Bob Ingle: University merger idea spurs opposition Asbury Park Press TRENTON â€" When they talk merger, whether it be an airline, grocery chain or fast food outlets, among the issues usu »

LDS church helps members with bills, jobs, mortgage payments - Birmingham Business Journal:

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That includes Mormon bishops sometimes helping distresses members pay their billsand mortgages, said Don a spokesman for the church in Arizona. “Itf happens occasionally,” Evans said. Mormon bishops are the laypersom equivalent to parish priests in the Romab Catholic andEpiscopal churches. They have the discretiom to offer various services and aid to thosein need, including financial assistance, LDS officialds said. Evans said most of the church’s help come through food banks, but it may extenxd to helping memberswith bills. He stressed the latter is offered only asa short-term aid and does not extenc to credit card debts.
Buddy Blankenfeld, a spokesmanb at LDS headquarters in SaltLake City, reportws a 20 percent increase this year in members’ requestd for help via the church’sw social service programs. The church encouraged members at recenty services tohire out-of-work fellosw Mormons and has stepped up operations and outreach from its church-run employmentr service centers. The church has 300 such centers worldwide, includinbg five in Arizona: in Mesa, Phoenix, Tucson, Snowflaked and Window Rock. The church also is helping throughits Bishop’d Store House in Mesa, a food bank of sortas that offers free groceries and othere necessities to members in need.
Some of the LDS services are extendecd to nonmembersas well. Local Mormon church members, ex-members and those familiar with the East Valley real estate markety are not surprised by the increasein LDS-relatee assistance. “The Mormon church has long had its own unofficiao welfare system that helps church members meettheit families’ financial obligations during job loss, medical etc. They also have a large system that provideas food to needy Mormon familiesd vialarge storehouses,” said Arizona Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who grew up in a Mormonm household.
Brandon Hinson, a real estate agengt with in the East said he’s seeing variousx churches and religious groups offeringt help to distraught “I know churches do that. They watch out for theier followers,” Hinson said. The LDS church is not officiall y helping members refinance or modifytroublesomr mortgages, Blankenfeld said. The Phoenidx area has one of the worst foreclosure ratess inthe U.S. That includes East Valleu suburbs with substantialMormon populations. The Phoenix metrp area had the ninth-worst foreclosure notice rate inthe U.S.
durin g the first quarter, accordinh to One in every 40 Phoenix-area households received a foreclosure notice or was in the foreclosure procesx duringthat period, RealtyTrac said. Las Vegaxs had the worst rate, with 1 in every 22 homea in theforeclosure process. There were 541 foreclosure salesw in East Valley suburbs of Chandler and Gilbertin 2008, according to the , a real estate data firm based in Glendale. By Phoenix had more than 1,100 foreclosures last West Valley suburbs, which have more new subdivisions hit hard by thehousinb slide, had 671 foreclosures, according to Informatiob Market.
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Keeping up appearances - Orlando Business Journal:

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For theme parks struggling with flat or decliningy attendance and sinking revenue duringthe recession, the temptation to closre a ride here and cut a menu therwe is large. But saving money with the wrong cuts can proved to be acostly error. “Operators know when they take something out of a they have to do it behindsthe scenes,” said Dennis Speigel, president of in “You never want the guests to thinl they’re getting less.
” Orlando themew parks and smaller attractions are trying to save moneyu while still providing customers with exciting — the world’s largest theme park which drawsa 17 million visitors a year and employss more than 60,000 — cut 1,6009 workers this year and last month closes Space Mountain, one of the park’s iconiv rides that debuted in 1975 in the Magicc Kingdom, for an overhaul. Universal Orlando, whicg draws 10.6 million visitors annuallyu andemploys 13,000, closed its Fear Factor ride on what it caller a seasonal basis. “It’s tied to guest demand,” said spokesman Tom Schroder.
The park also laid off abourt 1 percent of its staff to contain he said. Last month, the company reportes attendance was down 20 percent in the first quarter ofthe year. also has made adjustments. “Last we trimmed our staff [by 15 and got ready for a tough saidMark McHugh, president of Gatorland, one of the region’s oldesrt parks. However, SeaWorld hasn’t cut staff this nor has it undertaken other cost-cutting measures. Jerrhy Aldrich, an Orlando theme park said realigning theme park staffs is as longas it’ws done discreetly. “In recessionary periods, theme parks step back and look at how they can do thingsxmore efficiently.
It helps put them in a bettedr position forthe future. But they have to remember the core business isguest service.” Orlando theme parks know they must lower prices this year to keep customersw coming due to the “This is the year of the discount,” Speigepl said. “There will never be more discountinvg thanin 2009. The parks want to brinhg people in.” But the theme parks are clever. Insteadr of lowering standard ticket prices, they provide discount For Disney, it’s stay four night at a hotel with park tickets and get threse moredays free.
Universal offers a similar The offer encourages longer stays and more but doesn’t devalue the basic admissio price, which has risen slowlg over the years. Dropping the admission pricde would create a pricing setback that woulc be hard to readjust after therecession subsides, said them park consultants. This will be a tougb year for U.S. especially those known as “destinations,” which require peoplw to travel more than100 “We estimate regional parks will be down 4 percent and attendancs at destination parks will be down in the 7 [percent] to 8 percen t range,” Speigel said.
Theme parks often countr on new rides and exhibits to give attendance aboos — but they’re planned year in advance, so they can’t be timed to coincided with periods when the parkes could benefit from extra attention amid a slowinb economy. And little new is happening in 2009 at twoof Orlando’sd biggest draws, Disney and Universal. Disney’s Hollywood Studioa theme park this year opene d its AmericanIdol Experience, an interactive attractio n based on the television show. But it doesn’t have a blockbustet in the works.
Universal Orlando opene the Simpsons ridelast year, and will open the Hollywoof Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster, a giant ride that soar s 17 stories above the ground, in late springy or early summer at its themew park. But experts say some touristx are waiting forits much-anticipated Wizardint World of Harry Potteer to open next year. In addition, the compangy faces an April 1, 2010, deadline to restructurse $950 million in debt, which may be difficult to do durinv this time of tighter banklending standards. If that’e the case, Universal may have to cut back spendintg on new attractions inthe future.
But Universal’ s Schroder said the financialissues won’t affecy the timetable for the Harry Potter attraction. ’s new Manta ride, a large roller coaster, opened May 5. “We’re fortunate to have a new attraction this saidDan Brown, Universal’s general manager. “We’ree hoping it will drive more peopleto Orlando, just as the openingh of Aquatica did last year. We’re bullish about the Brown said the park had mixed results in the first but he sees promise in the openinyg of Manta and discount packages that include an offerd to visit two ofBusch Entertainment’s three Centrak Florida parks for $79.95.
like the other has focused on using resident discounts to attract And it has triedothere tactics, including lodging and admission ticket Gatorland, which introduced a broofd of albino alligators in also has discounted admission to Florida In addition, it increased its marketing budgeft by 25 percent, targetinf people who live withib 100 miles of the “Typically, Florida residents are 10 [percent] to 15 percent of our McHugh said. “Now they are 25 percent during the week and 35 percenton weekends.
” Working to attract Floridians makes sense during a downturn, especially when gas price are more affordable now than last said Ady Milman, a professor at the ’x Rosen College of Hospitality Management who focuseas on theme parks. Meanwhile, he said, “Disnehy and the other large parks have to maintainh what makes them even in arecession — the show must go on.”

Local executive to lead GE's $6B health care initiative - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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Barber was named head of "healthymagination," a GE programj focused on improving health care for more peopled atreduced cost, by GE chairman and CEO Jeffre y Immelt. Barber, 48, is a 27-year veterah of GE and since 2005 has servedd as chief technology officer forGE Healthcare. He joineds GE in 1982 and has held a varietty of roles of increasingy responsibility withinGE Healthcare. In 2001, Barber was general manage r forComponents Engineering, and from 2002 to 2005 he was the generap manager for Global Components Operationsd for GE Healthcare, which has significant operations in Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and Barber was a 1994 winner of The Business Journal'sa Forty Under 40 award, which recognizes young Milwaukee-are executives making a difference in their professiona and community.
"Over the last four years, Mike has led all aspectxs of product development for advanced healt hcare technologies," Immelt said. "Mike knows how our technologu canhelp patients, he knows what clinics and hospitals need to improves care and cut cost s and he knows how to lead With his deep experience in engineering and technology and his stron g operations and process-driven expertise, Mike is the rightr leader to lead healthymagination and to grow our health care partnershipw globally." that can be offered in rural and underserved regiona of the world, where quality healthj care can be difficult to obtain.
It is also designe to reduce the company's own health care costes for employees and expand profitability for the GEHealthcarer business. Locally, GE which produces medical imaging equipment and medical informatiom technology products fromits Milwaukee-area will spend $3 billion by 2015 to developl at least 100 new products designed to lower costs, improver access and improve quality of care by 15

Outsourcing firms find silver lining in gray economy - Kansas City Business Journal:

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In response, many companiex are considering outsourcing asan option, turning over functionz such as human resources, payroll, employee benefits, risk management and workers’ compensation to companies that have expertisde in those areas. Leawood-baserd expanded its HR outsourcing services to includ payrolllast year, creating the business and people management The division has experienced 75 percentr growth in the first quarter of 2009 comparedr with the same period in Senior Vice President Shirley Lind said.
“In this economy, it is increasinglg beneficial to focus on the core business and outsource HR andbenefitsw functions, which require a high leve l of expertise and are she said. So far, most of the division’sx clients already are Bukaty clients. The companu has a 17-year history in the healthg insurance and employeebenefit arena, so it was a natura extension to add payroll services and form a new Senior Vice President Mary Amundsen said. The company plans to markeft the payroll system on its merits in the butright now, the new divisioh is focusing on its current clients.
The outsourcing divisiomn started with two employees in 2007, has six currently and probably will add additionak staff before the end of the year, Lind said. Humahn resources issues become magnified in tough economic saidJerry Diddle, president of , a Lenexa-based professionao employer organization. Companies are dealing with wage and staff reductiojn issues and trying to ease the psychologica l effecton employees. Axcet added more than 30 clientsin 2008.
Clientas come from several different directions, but Diddle attributews much of the new business to To handle theextra business, Axcet has hired four employeed during the past year in IT, human resources, benefits administration and added a record number of new relationshipsd last year and is off to a good start this President and CEO Mark Perlbergh said. Oasis, which is based in West Palm Fla., and has an office in Overlans Park, is optimistic about the opportunity inthe heartland, he The success of the local office led the company to open an offics in St. Louis.
Many potentiak customers are looking at health care trying to decide whether they can affordr to offer a group what type, to what extenyt and what the employee contribution will be, Perlbert said. Also, many owners are dealing with employew terminations, or they need to understand how the laws affecft them if they chang e the number of hoursemployees work. “In a tougyh market, particularly if companies are goingh throughdifficulties themselves, having this support becomes important,” Perlberg said. Some clients have HR compliance issuees that could put their corporate assets at Diddle said.
For the government has revamped and businesses have to be incompliance “In today’s marketplace, often employeeas are more versed on theirr rights than employers are on exposures,” Diddle said. “Our job is to assess the situation and guide them toward doing the right thingg in theproper way.”

Pew report: Clean energy powers job growth - Washington Business Journal:

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study said Florida was one of 38 states and the Districtg of Columbia in which job growth in the cleah energy economy outperformed overalljob gains. Pew defined a cleam energy economy as one thatgenerates jobs, businessee and investments while expanding clean energy increasing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste and pollution, and conservin water and other natural resources. In there was a 7.9 percent increase in clean energy jobsfrom 28,84t jobs in 1998 to 31,122 jobs in 2007.
The numbersd are a hard count of actual Pew said ina release, and rangs from jobs as diverse as engineers, plumbers, administrativ assistants, construction workers, machine setters, marketinfg consultants and teachers with annual incomes ranging from $21,00p0 to $111,000. Nationally, jobs in the clean energy industryh grew at a rateof 9.1 percent between 1998 and while total jobs grew by 3.7 percent in the same the report says. Florida had 3,831 clean energy businessesx at the end of a 22.7 percent increase from 3,121 businesses in 1998, the report says.
There were 236 cleahn energy patents in Florida between 1999and 2008, and venturs capital firms invested $117 in clean technology in Florida between 2006 and 2008.

University of Phoenix settles discrimination lawsuit - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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UOP settled the discrimination claim brought by Latrish Elaine who worked as enrollment counselor atthe school’s Houston and the . The EEOC and Tarhin i claimed that University of Phoenix managemenf said she would not be in line for a promotio n because she made an earlier pregnancy discriminatio n charge againstthe Phoenix-based company and its The EEOC filed suit against UOP in Septembe r 2008 in federal court, claiming the for-profit university violaterd retaliation statutes of the Civil Righte Act of 1964. It violates federakl law to discriminate against workere who previously filed discrimination claims againsttheir employers.
In the the University of Phoenix admitted no wrongdointor liability, according to a statement provided to the Phoenix Businessw Journal . “University of Phoenix is pleased to have resolverthis matter. We are dedicated to providing a work environment in which our employees are treatefd fairly andwith respect, and are recognized and rewarded basec on their accomplishments. University of Phoenid is committed to providing equak opportunity in all aspects of employment and does not toleratew discrimination or harassment ofany kind,” the university statement The EEOC said UOP will be requirec to provide updates on othefr possible retaliation claims by its workers.
The Universituy of Phoenix is a subsidiaryof Phoenix-based Apollo Group Inc. (Nasdaq: APOL). UOP has 397,000 students enrolled in its online andcampue classes. The school has 200 campusess worldwide. For more: .

Parsinen Law sold to Indianapolis firm - San Francisco Business Times:

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Minneapolis-based Parsinen, founded in 1981, will officially becomee part of Indianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburg on July 1. The firm has 22 including 14 partners. Parsinen’s practice areaa include business litigation, commercial real estate, corporate law, employmenft law, employee and executived benefits, personal legal planning and renewable energy. In a Parsinen Managing Partner Howard Rubin said the firmremaineds profitable, but increasingly has had to turn away businesse that doesn’t fall into its core practice areas. Barnes & Thornburb will help fill gaps in areas such as intellectual he said.
“We were looking for more breadthh to offerour clients, and Barnes & Thornburg provided an ideaol fit for us as a Midwest-based firm with a national presence,” Rubin said. “Barnes & Thornburg maintains quality practicesz at a price point consistentwith ours, adding immediate value to our The Minneapolis office will be Barnes Thornburg’s 10th office nationwide. The firm has roughly 540 attorneys and othelegal professionals.