Sunday, November 29, 2009

“Business briefs - Dubuque Telegraph Herald” plus 4 more

“Business briefs - Dubuque Telegraph Herald” plus 4 more

Business briefs - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Posted: 29 Nov 2009 07:52 AM PST

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FYI: Business - Tulsa World

Posted: 29 Nov 2009 08:21 AM PST

TTCU, which began in a cigar box in Room 326 of the old Tulsa Central High School, celebrated its 75th anniversary Nov. 19 at its Midtown branch, 3720 E. 31st St.

Tulsa Teachers Credit Union — as it was formerly known — was formed in 1934 during the midst of the Depression as a new kind of financial cooperative that had recently been authorized by federal and state law. By the end of 1934, the credit union had 21 members and assets of $1,600.

Today, TTCU is approaching 80,000 members and $1 billion in assets.

It is no longer necessary to be a teacher to become a TTCU member. Residents from 14 counties in northeastern Oklahoma are all eligible to join, as well as employees or members of select employee and association groups who have affiliated themselves with the credit union to provide membership as an added benefit.

As part of the 75th anniversary events, TTCU has commissioned a book written by John Hamill, titled "A Cigar Box in the Right-Hand Desk Drawer in Miss Wilson's Room." The book tells the history of the credit union — its humble beginnings and steady growth over the last seven and a half decades. Member testimonials have been incorporated into special anniversary promotions, which include giving away cash prizes and culminating in a giveaway of $7,500 worth of diamonds to several TTCU members.

Local projects honored with Oklahoma AIA awards

The state chapter of the American Institute of Architects recently awarded two projects with local ties during the AIA's Award of Excellence Program.

Earning the "Preservation Honor Award" on the Colcord Hotel in Oklahoma City was Don Beck with Beck Design of Tulsa, as architects for the project.

And the "Residential Merit Award" went to the project at 302 E. Brady St. Architect was Selser Schaefer Architects of Tulsa, and owner was 200 E. Brady LLC.

Mazzio's Webb given high honor by IFMA

Ted Webb, director of facilities for Tulsa-based Mazzio's Corp., was recognized recently by the International Facility Managers Association as its 2009 Distinguished Member Award recipient.

The award is IFMA's second-highest recognition.

Webb oversees the physical facilities for 64 Mazzio's Italian Eatery restaurants and one Oliveto Italian Bistro casual dining restaurant, two call centers, and the corporate office support center. His duties include the management of corporate energy, corporate service contracts, corporate maintenance budgeting and planning, and coordinating major maintenance and remodeling projects.

Webb has been a member of IFMA for 23 years and was a founding member of the Tulsa chapter. He has served on the chapter executive board and held the offices of treasurer, president and certification or education chair.

Online AWC Media Guide available

The online AWC Media Guide is produced and updated quarterly by the Association for Women in Communications, Tulsa Chapter.

The directory provides contact information for many media outlets in Tulsa and northeastern Oklahoma, including daily, weekly and biweekly newspapers; magazines; television and radio stations; and wire services and regional bureaus.

Cost for access to the online AWC Media Guide is: $45, annual single user rate; $42 per user, access for three or more users; $41 per user, access for five or more users; and $40 per user, access for 10 or more users. AWC members receive an annual one time $20 discount.

Contact Annette Overlease at annette@overleasedesign.com for more information or to order a one-year subscription to the online guide.

Manhattan Construction reaches safety milestone

Manhattan Construction Co., one of the country's largest commercial construction firms, has announced it has reached a major safety milestone delivering more than 2 million work hours without a single lost workday.

"This milestone is especially noteworthy considering the compressed construction schedules and highly complex projects our teams have delivered successfully during this period," said Manhattan President Leonard Rejcek, in a written comment. "Manhattan's safety success not only makes for a safe work environment but also helps to lower operating costs, which in turn allow us to deliver better value for our clients."

Manhattan Construction Co. award-winning portfolio includes corporate headquarters, institutional, health care, office, hospitality and leisure, sports and entertainment, aviation, retail and mixed-use, and judicial facilities.

Manhattan constructs throughout the Southwest and East regions of the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Manhattan operates from offices in Dallas and Houston; Tulsa and Oklahoma City; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; and Mexico City.

River Spirit Casino opens six-story parking garage

River Spirit Casino at 8330 Riverside Parkway in south Tulsa has opened a new six-story, 1,300 space parking garage between the new casino and the former Creek Nation Casino.

There are several approaches to the new parking facility, including the bridge that connects the old and new properties for those who want to enter the parking facility from the Casino Drive entrance.

"Our entire team is excited to have this new parking facility available," said Tiffany Ellis, casino public relations manager. "It will greatly increase our current parking capacity and alleviate any parking problem for our guests. We want all of our guests to have the best entertainment experience possible and it begins with parking their car."

River Spirit Casino has 300,000 square feet of gaming space and is one of the largest gaming floors in Oklahoma.

Society of Petroleum Engineers honors professors

Several University of Tulsa petroleum engineering professors have been honored recently for their efforts.

At a special "Legends of Production and Operations" event, held during the annual Society of Petroleum Engineers conference this fall, Professors emeriti James Brill and Kermit Brown were honored as pioneers in the first generation of production and operations technology. They were selected by editors of the SPE magazine, Journal of Petroleum Technology, to share their stories and inspire a new generation of engineers to invent technologies that move the industry forward.

Other SPE Legends included TU alumnus Joe Mach (BSPE '71) and Harry McLeod, Jr., a former director of information services (now called Petroleum Abstracts), who also taught well completion courses at TU.

Also during the SPE conference, Mohan Kelkar, professor and chair of petroleum engineering, was honored for excellence in his profession with the 2009 SPE Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty.

Brill also received the designation of Honorary Member, the highest international honor SPE bestows.

Sheets honored with Fulbright administrative grant

Wendy Sheets, assistant director of the Center for Global Education at The University of Tulsa, received a Fulbright International Education Administrators award to further intercultural opportunities during a two-week program in Germany.

Sheets is TU's first recipient of a Fulbright administrative grant in more than a decade.

"It was a great experience to see what European administrators are envisioning for their programs and how TU can partner with institutions to better benefit our American students studying abroad and international exchange students coming to TU," said Sheets, who recently returned from the Fulbright program.

The Council for International Exchange of Scholars, which administers the federal Fulbright Scholarship Program, chose Sheets among the 24 U.S. university administrators in the areas of international exchanges, career services, alumni affairs, international student advisors and development and fundraising in higher education.

Broken Arrow plasma donation center opens

A new plasma donation center recently celebrated its grand opening in Broken Arrow,

Biolife Plasma Services, which opened Nov. 3 at 2301 E. Hillside Drive, will be one of 65 centers in the United States and Europe that collects donated plasma used to create life-saving and sustaining therapies.

BioLife Plasma Services is part of Baxter Healthcare Corp, the principal domestic operating subsidiary of Baxter International Inc.

Center manager is Craig Lamberson.

For an appointment or more information, call 355-4890.

OBA honors Grimm with president's award

Tulsa attorney Bill Grimm was honored with a president's award at the Oklahoma Bar Association's Annual Meeting in Oklahoma City.

Grimm received the award for his support and counsel to OBA President Jon Parsley and his outstanding service to the organization. He was one of seven people chosen for the honor.

Grimm served as OBA president in 2006. He chaired the OBA Administration of Justice Task Force in 2009, which was charged with identifying legislation that might have negatively affected the legal profession and threatened to deny equal justice under the law to all. The task force made recommendations to the OBA Board of Governors on what responses and positions it deemed appropriate.

Grimm practices law with Barrow & Grimm in Tulsa, where he serves as shareholder, director and treasurer of the firm. He is an active member of many OBA committees and is a past president of the Tulsa County Bar Association.

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Business profile - Highlands Today

Posted: 29 Nov 2009 07:02 AM PST

By BILL ROGERS

Highlands Today

Published: November 29, 2009

Name of Business: Photo-Lotus Photography

Location: 2071 W. Royalton, Avon Park

Telephone number: 863-667-6217

Office Hours: Seven days a week, hours vary by session

Who owns the business? Tiffany Weaver

Why did you start the business?

I started this business to live out my dream. When we lost my only sibling last August, it made me realize it was time to stop thinking and start doing. This is my passion.

Is there anything unique about your business that makes it different from the competition?

We offer unique on-location services, meaning you don't have to wait in line to get stuffy, posed pictures. You can get true quality photographs from a pro for your family, wedding, children, newborns and businesses at an affordable cost.

What challenges do you face in business?

Letting people know that we are here and offer such a custom experience is our biggest challenge as a new company.

What do you like about your business?

I love everything about what I do - especially all the new people and families that we are able to build long-term business and friendships with. Capturing all the little memories as we watch families grow from first steps to steps down the aisle is an awe

Bill Rogers can be reached at 863-386-5825 or wrogers@highlandstoday.com

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Business News - Am770chqr.com

Posted: 29 Nov 2009 08:07 AM PST


With Burj Dubai, world's tallest under construction tower in background, camels look for their morning food in the outskirts of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009. European stock markets rebounded Friday after Wall Street didn't fall as much as feared on the news that Dubai is having trouble handling its debt. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Kamran Jebreili)"

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The United Arab Emirates' central bank said Sunday it would offer additional liquidity to banks, signalling a push by the federal government to reassure investors worried about the country's banking sector and its exposure to Dubai's crushing debt.

Global equity markets were set to reopen Monday, and investors are worried about a routing similar to that seen last week after Dubai's chief engine for growth, Dubai World, announced it wanted more time to pay some of its roughly $60 billion in debts.

The UAE's official WAM news agency said the central bank issued a notice to banks saying it would make available "a special additional liquidity facility linked to their current accounts at the central bank." The statement said the facility can be drawn upon at a rate of 50 basis points - half a per cent - above the three-month Emirates interbank offered rate.

International investors reacted with shock and outrage at Dubai World's announcement Wednesday that, as part of its restructuring effort, it would ask creditors to delay repayment of its debt and that of its real estate arm, Nakheel, until at least May. Nakheel has a $3.5 billion bond coming due in December.

The company's roughly $60 billion in debt makes up the brunt of the at least $80 billion Dubai owes as a result of a meteoric decade-long growth boom that saw the tiny city-state transformed into a Middle Eastern Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles all wrapped into one. Dubai World was a key driver of that growth, with interests ranging from ports to real estate.

In the days since the announcement, Dubai officials have gone to neighbouring Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich home to the federal government for a series of meetings. Some analysts have speculated that the timing of Dubai World's announcement - on the eve of a three-day Islamic holiday - caught even Abu Dhabi's rulers by surprise, putting them under pressure to act decisively in a bid to shore up confidence in the country's banks.

UAE banks are believed to be shouldering a large chunk of Dubai's debts, and international ratings agencies have either downgraded the ratings of some of the country's banks - or at least placed them on review for further downgrades - citing exposure to Dubai World's debt.

The central bank's statement was also aimed mitigating any negative fallout on the country as a whole, with concerns that Abu Dhabi would be branded with the same iron of pessimism and skepticism that Dubai will likely endure for years to come.

The UAE's banking system is "more sound and liquid than a year ago," the bank said.

Dubai World's call for more time is seen by many analysts as a classic case of over-extension - a tale of a city-state whose dreams for development propelled it to stardom with its indoor ski-slopes, man-made islands and world's tallest tower.

But that dream was built on borrowed time and money, and as the global recession hammered Dubai, driving property prices down by 50 per cent in a year, forcing layoffs and project delays and cancellations, the emirate no longer had access to the easy credit on which it had pinned its growth.

It simply couldn't pay.

At the beginning of the year, it launched a $20 billion bond program, of which $10 billion was snapped up by the UAE's central bank. The same day Dubai World issued its murky statement about a debt-extension, the emirate's government said a new $5 billion bond issuance had been bought up by two banks majority owned by Abu Dhabi.

While the Dubai World statement made clear that the bonds were not linked to its debt woes, it was obvious that the emirate had little recourse but to turn to Abu Dhabi, whose more conservative growth was fuelled by the same oil that Dubai lacks.

Dubai's debt saga is not new.

It's been obvious for some time that the emirate owes more money than it can repay. But what remained unclear was the overall extent of the debt load and what officials were doing to avert a panic at a time when the world was in the nascent stages of emerging from its worst recession in over six decades.

UAE newspaper Al-Itihad on Sunday quoted an unidentified Dubai World official as saying the conglomerate, over the past few months, "totally rejected the idea of selling some of its good investment and real estate assets at low prices."

The official said that any asset sale needed to be in a "commercially fair manner in order to achieve (Dubai World's) long-term strategic objectives, away from ... economic pressures."

Content Provided By Canadian Press.

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Business development support available from RC&D - High Plains Journal

Posted: 29 Nov 2009 06:26 AM PST

Advertisement

Business development support available from RC&D

Nebraska

In addition to land and natural resource conservation, the Sandhills Resource Conservation and Development Council helps communities with economic and business development, said RC&D coordinator, Bob Broweleit at an extension value-added conference.

Assistance comes in four main areas, he said. Since the RC&D program is administered by the Natural Resource Conservation Service, one of it's main focuses is natural resource concerns. The volunteer council also works in three other main areas.

--It helps communities meet infrastructure needs.

--It assists in community and regional economic development.

--It aids in tourism development.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides Broweleit's expertise, as well as office and planning services to help revitalize rural communities. When the council works with a community, it helps survey those communities, their needs and resources. Then it works with community leaders to develop a project or projects to meet those needs.

Although the council works mostly with other organizations, it has hosted EDGE classes to help individuals write business plans. It also hosted business development training with Mid-Plains Community College.

Through survey work and needs assessments, the council discovered that the six upper north counties of the Sandhills RC&D lacked livable, affordable housing. The council helped communities in those counties to develop a housing rehabilitation program.

The council works with the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway on several projects, particularly marketing, Broweleit said. The mission is to improve the visitor experience along Highway 2 and help communities with economic development.

For more information about the Sandhills Resource Conservation and Development Council, go to: http://sandhillsrcd.org. For information about the statewide Resource Conservation and Development Association, visit www.nercd.com/.

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