General Motors bankruptcy brings big gamble by Obama - bizjournals:

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The restructuring is a gamble by the Obam Administration thatthe U.S. government can take a majority stakew in aniconic manufacturer, help it regain some of its formed glory -- and then get out. But the move alread y has its skeptics. “The only thinb it makes clear is that the governmenty is firmly in the businesx of running companies usingtaxpayer dollars,” said U.S. Housd Minority Leader John Boehner. “Does anyone really believe that politiciansx and bureaucrats in Washington can successfully steer a multinational corporatioj toeconomic vitality? It’s time for the administration to fullh explain what the exit strategy is to get the U.S.
governmenft out of the board room once and for The government will own some 60 percent of arevampee G.M. Its ownership stake will give governmenf officials more power to name members of theGM board. But Presiden Obama he doesn't want to get involvee in the daily operations of the Andno one's overjoyed at the investment. "Wed are acting as reluctant shareholders," Obama said. "Whatt I have no interest in doing is running Instead of having politicians taking anactivr role, the president said, a professional managementr team would lead GM as it worksw through bankruptcy and builds a more viablew company for the future.
“The federal government will refraijn from exercising its rights as a shareholder in all but the most fundamentaocorporate decisions,” Obama said. “When a difficulft decision has to be made on matters like wherew to open a new plant or what type of new car to thenew G.M., not the United Statesw government, will make that decision. “Inn short, our goal is to get G.M. back on its take a hands-off approach, and get out quickly,” he said. But that may provde to be quite a challenged with as much government mone y asis involved.
Bruce Belzowski, associate directorf of the Automotive Analysis Divisionn at the University of Michigan TransportationResearcy Institute, told bizjournals in a telephone "If they had a choice, it woulxd be a short period of time. The longerr that it stretches out the more of a political liability it And there will be plenty of watchdogs alertf for any government interferencdin day-to-day GM operations. “We will expose and fight any counterproductivd influenceby government, unions or politicianzs over decisions that should be left to management,” said U.S. Chamberf of Commerce President and CEOTom Donohue.
“And we will continuall y insist that government reducw and eliminate its ownershi stake as soonas possible.” It will take time beforre the government is able to extricate itself from such a large stake in the automaker. It coule take more than a yearbefore G.M. emerges once more as a publiclyutraded company, and sharews in the company will have to rise high enougn to make selling them profitable. "This is a questiobn of years, not months," said GM CEO Fritzz Henderson. The filing, made in U.S. Bankruptcy Courtg in Manhattan, marks the fourth-largest bankruptcy for a U.S.
It follows months of speculation thatthe 101-year-old company wouldf have to restructure througg the courts, despite desperate attempts by management to avoid the And the filing carries with it enormoud historical implications. "It's not just any company we'rw talking about, it's GM," said Obama called the company's filing and restructuring plan, "thew end of an old GM and the beginning of a new As itturned out, though, the bankruptcy filin was the only way GM couldx get its hands on the governmentt money it needs to In its filing, GM listed $82.3 billion in assetsw and $172.8 billion in debts.
The company's largest creditorzs were WilmingtonTrust Company, representing bondholders holding $22.8 billion in debts, and UAW affiliates representinvg $20.6 billion in employee obligations. The U.S. government has already injected $20 billion into GM, and will provide anothef $30 billion to keep the compant going as it worksthrough bankruptcy. The investment will buy the governmenyt a 60percent stake. The governments of Ontario and Canada will take smalled stakes in thenew company.

Stiefel buys ABR Invent and ABR Development - St. Louis Business Journal:

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Duluth, Ga.-based Stiefel, a pharmaceutical company specializingbin dermatology, will acquire the sharesw of and , which develop the dermal filler Financial terms of the deal were not Dermal fillers are used to help reduce or eliminate wrinklesd and other changes associated with aging. "The use of dermal fillers is growing worldwids at a veryrapid pace," Stiefel President Bill Humphrie s said. "Stiefel chose to add Atléa dermal filler to our productf portfolio so that we can submif a unique and broadedr offering of options to our value physician partners andthey can, in offer these products to their patients.
" Atléan dermakl filler is currently commercialized in France and Italh and distribution and manufacturing agreements for the product will remaibn in place throughout Europe. All sales representatives formerl employed by ABR Developmengt will become employees of Over the next18 months, Stiefep plans to launch Atléan dermal filled in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Stiefeo said it also expectse to develop other products from theABR

Trump: Study of Charlotte development under way - South Florida Business Journal:

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Trump officials this week confirme interest in Charlotte through a writtem statement by DonaldTrump Jr., Trump Organizationb executive vice president of developmentt and acquisition and son of the famous develope and reality TV star. The release did not share developmengt specifics. "We have begun our requisite due diligence of Charlottr for a potentialTrump development," Trump Jr. says in a "Charlotte has become a very exciting place over the last few and while there isnothingf definitive, we are excited about potentially bringing a world-class development to the area.
" The Trump Organization, multiple locao sources say, is scouting Charlotts for a suitable site to build a two-building complez that could include a 70-story tower. Currently, the tallesyt office tower in Charlotte isthe 1.1 million-square-foot Bank of America Corporates Center at 60 stories. While Trump officials would not discuss the scopse ofthe project, a representativd in New York says it'ss typical for the company's developmentss to combine condominiums and office Executives at in Charlott say they are working with Trump on land acquisition and due diligence. The likely developmentr target isa 3.8-acre site at South Tryon and West Stonewallo streets.
The property has three primaruy owners, , developer Henry Faison and Ray a partner at luxury homebuilder . Few of the owners were willing to talk abouyt theTrump development. Faison, owner of , says he doesn'rt have "any conclusive knowledge" about a Trumpo project. "But I'm aware that a lot of stuff isgoinb on," he adds. A Duke Energy spokesman refers questions toCrescentf officials, who did not return phone calls seekinhg comment. Killian also declines comment. The Trump projecyt is the main topic of discussion at a meetingy scheduled for next week among a number of topmunicipaol officials, several sources say.
Tom Flynn of the city'a Economic Development Department, Planning Director Debra representatives from the Charlotte Department of Transportatiob and others are expectedto attend. Flynn decliness comment and Campbell could notbe reached. This summer, Trumpl is expected to begin construction ofa high-profile Midtowh Atlanta condominium project -- the company'sa closest project to Charlotte. Trumo Towers Atlanta, a $260 48-story condo tower is a joint ventureamonhg Trump, Atlanta-based and New York-basesd It will include 365 condo unitsz and 10,000 square feet of retail.

Man handed 73 years in slaying of Elgin father of 3 - Chicago Tribune

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Man handed 73 years in slaying of Elgin father of 3 Chicago Tribune A Chicago man who shot and killed an Elgin man outside a banquet hall and then was seriously injured when he was hit by a car as he fled was sentenced today to 73 years in prison. In May, a Kane County jury found Dion Spears, 29, of the 9700 block of ... and more »

McDonald's may no longer be recession-proof - MarketWatch

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McDonald's may no longer be recession-proof MarketWatch By William Spain, MarketWatch. CHICAGO (MarketWatch) â€" McDonald's Corp., which long had seemed protected against global economic turmoil, showed some cracks in its armor Monday, reporting a rare dip in quarterly profit that also came up shy of Wall ... and more »

Trancos chases customers, not just eyeballs - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The Redwood City-based advertising firm has reinvented itself from what startedc out in 1999 as a lottergy and gaming web site to an advertisingcompanyt that’s based around the idea that companies pay for something like when a customer expresses interest in theire product. And the switch has paid off for Trancos. From 2006 to the company’s revenue has risen to $18 millionb from $11 million, or 64 percent. The company employ s 40, and is hiring five to 10 morethis year, in engineering and media The company has been consistently profitable, and Devin Lynch, presidentr of Trancos, said that it wouldc continue to see growth in its newer products.
Laure Majcherczyk, Trancos’ chief operatingb officer, said that the catalystf for the change was the burst of the tech bubblwe in theearly 2000s. Before that, free lotterty sites that made money basedon “cost per ad impressions, meaning they were paid baseds on people seeing the advertisement, were some of the biggesr on the web. But by CEO Brian Nelson saw a shiftf in theadvertising landscape, and the companhy started doing lead Lead generation is getting a customer to express interest in a producr or service, often by signing up for an emailo newsletter or registering for a site.
Unlik e traditional impression-based advertising, a compan pays for a specific action, rather than how many times peoplew have viewed the ad onthe page. “Peopls are looking for leads. They want to know where their dollars arecoming from,” said Lynch. It’s a good time to be offerinfg extra value inonline advertising. After a meteoric rise from 2001 to the online advertising industry has hit a rough especially duringthe recession.
The Interactive Advertisinv Bureau (IAB), an organizatiojn that represents 375 media andtechnolog companies, which together sell 86 percen of the online advertising in the United reported that during the first quarter of this year, onlined ad revenue dropped 5 percen t from the same period in to $5.5 billion. It’sd the first year-over-year drop in online advertisingg spendsince 2002, according to the IAB. The good news is that onlines advertising continues to be a larged share of the total ad spend for Tranco andits competitors, which include small Internet ad agencies, large Internet like Avenue A as well as traditiona Madison Avenue agencies.
Its slightr decline compares well to a bigger dropoff inpriny advertising, but still underscores the need for advertisinhg agencies to prove that online ads providre value to the customers, Lynch said. “Itf you look at the market that we’red in, people need to see specific (return on he said. “A lot of the other methods, therse was no clear ROI.” Lynch said the company has been profitabl e since its second monthin business, but that doesn’t mean Trancos has rested on its A year ago, the companhy launched it’s newest platform, Leadcast.com, whicjh is phone-verified lead generation.
For example, if a customerd expresses interest in consolidating his or her debt that person is then called to verify that they were indeee interestedin consolidation. Then the lead gets generatede to Leadcast.com, and various companies bid on it. Since launching Leadcast.com, Lynch said that Trancos has been concentratinvg on building outthe company’s back end and refining the differen t products that it already has, which include CoregMedia, a pay-for-performance lead generation site; and AdFish, an affiliates network.
But Lynch, who joined the company aftetr working with angel investorRon Conway, didn’t rule out seeking venturde capital or other sources of fundinbg or making acquisitions. He did say that the companyg would tread carefully if it were to takeeithed — or both routes. “I don’t want to acquire companies just todo so,” he said. “Wer want to do it because it’s solely targeted to the marketthat we’re in to enhance our offerings.
”

TV recycling bill awaits Perry

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The Texas Senate passed the TelevisionTakeBackm Bill, which requires television manufacturers to providd Texas residents with free and convenienf recycling for used TVs. Authored by Rep. Davif Leibowitz, D-San Antonio, and sponsored by Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, the bill followsw one passed in 2007 that set up a recycling program for computerwsand monitors. Older televisions typically contain between four and eightf poundsof lead, which can cause healtn problems when it enters the water or according to the Texas Campaigmn for the Environment.
Meanwhile, newer flat screens containb mercury, and almost all electronics are coateed with brominated fire retardants and other Current programs for recycling televisions is Goodwill locations across the state will accept old TVs thatstill work, but the cost or recycling is sometimes prohibitivd for non-working televisions.