Sunday, December 27, 2009

“Small-business owners can mull key tax moves - Dubuque Telegraph Herald” plus 4 more

“Small-business owners can mull key tax moves - Dubuque Telegraph Herald” plus 4 more

Small-business owners can mull key tax moves - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Posted: 27 Dec 2009 07:55 AM PST

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Jobless claims, goods orders positive signs for economy - Durango Herald

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 11:20 PM PST

by Martin Crutsinger and Daniel Wagner
AP Business Writers WASHINGTON - A fitful economic recovery is drawing strength from a stabilizing job market and signs that manufacturing will contribute to the rebound. The evidence signals a better-than-expected end to the year, though doubts remain about growth in 2010.

The latest signs of improvement came in two reports Thursday. The Labor Department said the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment aid fell more than expected last week. The four-week average for claims, which smooths out fluctuations, fell for the 16th consecutive week, to its lowest point since September 2008, when the financial crisis hit with full force.

Further evidence of a gradually healing economy was a Commerce Department report that orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket durable goods rose in November. The overall increase was less than expected. But excluding the volatile transportation category, the gains were twice what economists had forecast.

Stocks rose after the positive reports, ending a holiday-shortened session at new highs for the year. The Dow Jones industrial average gained about 53 points, or 0.5 percent.

Economists saw the new data as further signs the economy is strengthening as 2009 nears a close. Adding to the optimism was a wave of shoppers - some snowed in by last weekend's East Coast snowstorm - heading to the malls for last-minute purchases Thursday.

"We are seeing progress in a number of areas, from increases in consumer spending and business spending to growth in exports," said Brian Bethune, an economist at IHS Global Economics. "It all adds up to a recovery that is gaining some momentum."

Bethune said he's forecasting the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, will expand at an annual rate of about 4 percent in the current quarter. Helping fuel the gains, businesses are boosting orders to factories to restock their depleted shelves.

Bethune said growth likely will slow in 2010 to a rate of about 2.5 percent. But he said there will be enough momentum to remove the threat that the recovery from the nation's deepest recession in seven decades might falter. Other economists agreed that the rebound in factory orders reflected rising confidence by businesses.

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Michigan firms are happy to get into the film business - Oakland Press

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 10:22 PM PST

By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER
Of The Associated Press

COMMERCE TWP. (AP) — Michigan has desperately sought ways to diversify its economy in the wake of the auto industry's downward trend.

Forays into renewable energy and health care are being explored, but the one new industry that's already paying dividends for the struggling state is moviemaking. Michigan has been drawing filmmakers in droves since tax incentives — among the most generous in the nation — went into effect last year.

Craft services and party rental companies are finding their businesses booming with film opportunities after the number of automotive commercial shoots and pharmaceutical presentations dried up. Two firms stayed put in Michigan after brief flirtations with work in Oregon and Pennsylvania.

And a small technology company northwest of Detroit has looked to Hollywood to pay the bills when the auto industry isn't providing as much business.

Commerce Township-based IGI has supplied automakers for a decade with high-end visualization systems that allow them to envision more clearly the vehicles they're about to build.

The economic slide in the auto sector got IGI founder Pat Hernandez thinking about other industries that could use his company's products — medical and oil and gas exploration among them.

That's when "we stumbled upon" movies, he said.

Earlier this year, IGI rented space at a National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas, where it showed off its PowerWindow 4K device — essen-1 tially a large (10 2/ feet wide by 5 feet tall) TV that has a Sony 4K projector built into it.

Someone from Red Digital Cinema, a California-based maker of digital video equipment, happened upon the PowerWindow at the conference and recognized its potential use in movie production. He told IGI that the PowerWindow could be used by directors who wanted to see their dailies — footage of scenes before editing — in 4K resolution, the highest quality available for digital video.

It's a development that thrills IGI executives, who are excited by their company's potential role in the digital cinema revolution.

"We were so focused on the auto industry and solving their problems ... and lo and behold this 4K PowerWindow that we developed was just the perfect product for filmmakers," IGI marketing director Ted Woerner said.

Meanwhile, a nearby company has found its booming business in the middle of another flashback to the Reagan era: "Red Dawn," the '80s Soviet invasion flick.

Bryan and Megan Meganck, the owners and operators of an Auburn Hills craft services company, have been putting in 18- to 20-hour days on the remake's set providing food and drink to the cast and crew. The Megancks were spending more time in Portland, Ore., in 2007, working on commercial shoots after similar opportunities in their home state had dried up. A year later, things changed dramatically for them.

"We got contacted by five productions the day after the incentives passed, and we realized, 'Boy, we've got to get back to Michigan full-time. This movie thing is about to take off,"' Bryan Meganck said.

Post-incentives, the Lake Orion couple hired four full-time employees and three part-timers and got called to work on almost every major film production that came to southeastern Michigan. They've spent a half-million dollars upgrading their restaurant equipment and vehicles.

Rodney Ouellette was in a similar predicament. The party rental company he co-founded in 1991 with his brother was on the verge of moving to Pittsburgh when the tax incentives became a reality.

Now Harrison Township-based S&R Event Rental gets called by 70 percent of the movies that shoot in the Detroit area, said Ouellette, who has hired eight new full-time employees.

His company, which has worked on films from "8 Mile" to "Gran Torino," handles the "stuff people don't like to think about" such as supplying executive bathrooms, tents, air conditioning and heaters to movie sets. It also provides cleaning and other services — S&R even power-washed snow off a roof and brushed it off the grass to make Michigan in February look like California for the film "High School."

Note to readers

Due to the Christmas holiday, the only lottery drawing held Friday night was the Mega Millions drawing.

On the Web

IGI: http://www.werigi.com Kind Services: http:// www.kindfoods.com S&R Event Rental: http:// www.sreventrental.com

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Economy's fall, rebound is the top business story of 2009 - Canton Repository

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 08:56 PM PST

In 2009, the economy was near collapse before pulling back from the brink of depression. Unemployment topped 10 percent, but layoffs eased. General Motors and Chrysler toppled into bankruptcy and emerged smaller and leaner. The Dow Jones industrial average swooned to a 12-year low, then came part of the way back.

It was a year of payback for having lived beyond our means — from Wall Street bankers who devoured risk they couldn't manage to ordinary Americans living in homes they couldn't afford with mortgages they didn't understand.

It was a year of finger-pointing over blame for the worst recession since the Great Depression. Americans pondered how long it would take to mend shattered nest eggs, livelihoods, government balance sheets and economic confidence.

It was a year that gave birth to buzzwords — "new frugality," "new normal" and "green shoots" — that captured the fragility of America's recovery.

The economy's wild ride was voted the top business story of the year by U.S. newspaper editors surveyed by The Associated Press. The collapse of the U.S. auto industry came in second, followed by skyrocketing home foreclosures.

1. ECONOMY'S FALL — AND REBOUND

In the first three months of the year, the economy suffers its worst slide in 27 years. The Federal Reserve, which already had slashed interest rates to a record low, plows money into the economy in new and novel ways.

After four quarters of decline, the economy returns to growth during the July-to-September period, signaling the end of the deepest and longest recession since the 1930s.

The rebound is sluggish and powered mainly by government stimulus to entice people to buy homes and cars. In the meantime, the unemployment rate tops 10 percent for only the second time since World War II.

A total of 15.4 million people are unemployed, and work remains scarce. The recession wipes out 7.2 million jobs. The Federal Reserve says it could take five or six years for the labor market to return to normal.

Americans' nest eggs are starting to heal. Yet experts say it will take years to recoup their losses. Net worth rose 5 percent last quarter but remains far below its pre-recession peak.

2. AUTO INDUSTRY

COLLAPSE

U.S. auto sales plunge to a 26-year low, hastening General Motors' and Chrysler's collapse into bankruptcy protection. Both companies emerge much smaller.

GM axes several major brands, including Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer, and thousands of dealerships. In March, CEO Rick Wagoner is ousted by the government, which by the summer is GM's owner. His replacement, 25-year GM veteran Fritz Henderson, is fired in December. Chairman Ed Whitacre replaces Henderson even though the former AT&T CEO acknowledges knowing little about cars.

Chrysler emerges from bankruptcy under the control of Italy's Fiat. In November, Chrysler announces a plan to spend $23 billion to overhaul or replace all of its Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram models by 2014. The overhaul hinges on cost savings from combining purchasing and engineering with Fiat, and using Fiat's smaller, more fuel-efficient designs to replace aging Chrysler vehicles.

3. FORECLOSURES HEAD HIGHER

Home foreclosures top 4 million, as more people lose their jobs and can't afford to pay their mortgages. As a result, increasing numbers of people with fixed-rate loans and good credit are losing their homes.

The Obama administration's plan to help financially strapped homeowners, an-nounced in March, results in 680,000 loan modifications, far short of the government's goal of up to 4 million.

By the end of the year, a record 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are either behind on their payments or in foreclosure. Bargain-priced foreclosures are dragging down home values in neighborhoods across the country. Nationwide, American homeowners have lost $4 trillion in home equity since the housing bust.

4. WALL STREET CLAWS BACK

In March, major stock indexes tumble to 12-year lows. Then the fever breaks. Seven months later, in October, the Dow Jones industrial average is back above 10,000 and still advancing. In the nine months since the turnaround took hold, the Dow scoops about 3,900 points, or 59.5 percent, on signs that layoffs are slowing, corporate profits are climbing and factories are producing more.

5. SMALL AND MID-SIZE BANKS FAIL

140 banks collapse as consumer loan losses keep rising and commercial real estate loans sour. It's the biggest number in any year since 181 banks failed in 1992 at the end of the savings-and-loan crisis.

The banks have been undone by real estate, construction and industrial loans that soured as the recession has deepened. Defaults are up as developers abandon failing projects and landlords can't meet their loan payments.

Small- and mid-sized banks hold lots of those loans and have been hurt more than big institutions by the sinking commercial real estate market, especially in states like California, Georgia and Illinois. As defaults rise, these banks must set aside more money to cover losses.

6. U.S. SPILLS RED INK

 The federal deficit triples to record $1.4 trillion as financial bailout and war costs soar. It's more than the total national debt for the first 200 years of the Republic, more than the entire economy of India, almost as much as Canada's, and more than $4,700 for every man, woman and child in the United States.

7. MADOFF SCANDAL

 Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff is sentenced to 150 years in prison for his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. A year after Madoff's scheme collapsed in December 2008 — with headlines of $50 billion in losses — investigators and investors are still struggling to measure the full scope and impact of the largest securities fraud in history.

8. FEDERAL AID FOR ECONOMY

Government stimulus programs spur sales of homes and autos but raise doubts about whether the economic recovery can be lasting if federal aid is withdrawn.

9. A NEW FRUGALITY

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, shows tentative improvement but remains far below pre-recession levels. Evidence mounts that many Americans have become lasting coupon-cutters, scrimpers and savers. Consumer confidence in November rises to 49.5 from 48.7 in October. A reading above 90 means the economy is on solid footing; above 100 signals strong growth.

10. FINANCIAL REFORM STALLS

A White House plan to re-regulate thefinancial industry slows over industry opposition and renewed signs of a stabilized financial system. The House OKs a plan in December that would grant the government new powers to split up companies that threaten the economy, create an agency to oversee consumer banking transactions and shine a light into shadow financial markets that have escaped federal oversight. But the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate.ꆱ

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BRIEF: Two-alarm fire in Suffolk damages business - FireEngineering.com

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 11:48 PM PST

By Lauren King, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Dec. 27--SUFFOLK -- A two-alarm fire Thursday morning closed the 900 block of Portsmouth Blvd. in both directions.

About 6:15 a passer-by saw flames coming from an auto body shop and called 911, said Debbie George, Suffolk city spokeswoman. Firefighters from five Suffolk fire stations had the fire under control at 7:44 a.m.

George said a dog died in the fire. The fire marshal was investigating the cause of the fire.

Ten people work at the business and January is typically its busy time of year. The employees will be out of work until the business can be reopened. At the time of the fire, the garage was full of vehicles that had not been picked up before the Christmas holiday.

Portsmouth Boulevard reopened about 10 a.m.

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To see more of the The Virginian-Pilot, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pilotonline.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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