Buying and leasing office space offer different advantages - bizjournals:

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Buying a property represents amuch longer-termk financial commitment than leasing and, as such, requires a realistic assessment by the potential purchaserd of the company’s future prospects. Companiews anticipating significant growth need to decide whether to purchase property that is largee enough to accommodate growth and whethe r they can lease unused space until it’s needed. The potential rental income that leasin unused space could generate shoulf be takeninto consideration.
Space is less of an issue when leasinfg anoffice since, if it becomes too smalpl the company has the option of not renewing its That flexibility also can be usefuo if market changes show that a move to a differeny location would be advantageous. On the other hand, renters can be facedx with unwelcome disruption should the landlord decide to terminate the Purchasing requires more cash up fron tthan leasing. The initial outlay when purchasing includes a substantiap down payment as well as the cost of inspectionwand appraisals, loan-related fees and other closing The upside is that, in contrast with a firm that leases the purchaser will own an asset that can be sold hopefully at a profit.
Accordinbg to online office space referral and informationb networkOfficeFinder LLC, businesx owners purchasing office space can expect to make a down paymenft between 10 percent and 25 percent of the purchasre price. By comparison, the up front cost involved in leasing a spacew usually is limited to just acouplee months’ rent. Another factor potential buyers shoul consider is the effect of the down paymentr on working capital available to financethe company’sx growth.
A number of other issues shoulc factor into the buying or leasing suchas taxes, maintenance costs and potential interest and rental rate Renters, for example, usually don’t have to worry abouf regular maintenance costs, which are normally the responsibility of the properth owner. However, should they wish to make significant alterations to theleased space, they can do so only with the landlord’w consent. Property owners, on the othefr hand, are free to make whatever changes they Purchasers also have the advantagde of knowing in advance what their futurer monthly loan paymentswill be, especially when they have a fixed-ratr loan.
Tenants, on the othert hand, are likely to face regular increases in rental ratees and need tobudget accordingly. Leasing initiallhy may look like thecheapetr option, said Tim Hatlestad, president of the Certifiee Commercial Investment Member but to help reach a decision, business owners shouldd carry out an after-tax analysis to determins what can be written off, as renting and buyingt offer different benefits. “Icf everything else were equal, then you have to look at the optionssafter taxes,” Hatlestad said. “The after-tax through a number of measures, will tell you what costse less.
” Property owners, for example, are eligiblde for deductions ofproperty taxes, mortgage interes and depreciation, while those who lease officse space usually can deduct the full amount of the rent as a business expense. Jim Osgood, CEO of OfficeFinder, said the stagde a business is in can be an important factor in determining whether to buyor lease. A more established busines s should consider buyingoffice space, he said, sinced anticipated growth is easier to predict accurately. A startup, on the othe r hand, would probably be better to leasean office, as it wouldr provide greater flexibility and fewer constraintsd to growth.
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea for a startuop to purchase real estate because there’s a lot of uncertainty aboutf whether the business will be truly successfukl or not,” Osgood said. Osgood said businesd owners should look at three possiblewscenarios — optimistic, realistic and pessimistic that pit anticipated property appreciation against cost factors to help them reach a decision.

Convera folding into U.K. company - St. Louis Business Journal:

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Vienna-based Convera (NASDAQ: will be dissolved. After the merger, Patricjk Condo, Convera's CEO, will become the chairman of the andColin Jeavons, Firstlight's CEO, will become the CEO. Convera's plan of dissolutionb contemplates an orderly wind down of its businesasand operations. After filing its certificatee of dissolution, Convera intends to make one or more distributionzs to its stockholders of cash availableefor distribution, subject to applicable legal Convera will then delist its common stocm from Nasdaq. The new company will bring togetherd the vertical search technology of Convera and the advertisingg sales and marketing capabilitiesof Firstlight.
It will have over 60 corporat e customer accounts and 120 existing Web sites withapproximately 1,500 advertisers. When the mergef becomes effective, Convera will own 33.3 percent and Firstlight willown 66.7 percent of the totalo outstanding common stock of the new company, subject to certaib adjustments which may enable Convera to own up to 42 percentf of the new company prior to the distribution. The mergefr is subject to Convera stockholders' approval and certain other customartyclosing conditions. The merger is expectedc to closethis summer.

Standard Register chief says company poised for growth - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

http://elcaprinceofpeacelincoln.org/news/
Dennis Rediker, president and chief executive officere of StandardRegister (NYSE: SR), made thosr comments during the company's annual shareholders meetinf Thursday while giving an update on the company'e growth strategy. "We are positioned now with our cost structurde toleverage growth," Rediker "The challenge will be to The meeting took place at the company'e Dayton headquarters with about 50 peopl in attendance. Standard Register, locall document services provider, announced a cost reduction plan in July 2007 to reduce its annual operating costsby $40 million. The companh cut 250 jobs -- 70 of which where in Dayton -- and consolidate its Middlebury, Vt.
, plantr in June last year and saw $35 million in savingws from the plan during the seconfd halfof 2007. Rediker said in ordert for the company to grow it needss to investin people, products and services and development. He said Standard Registert needs to change the mix byachievinb double-digit increases in growth segments such as print-on-demand, maintain a good cost have double-digit earnings growthn and generate cash to fund dividends and retirement.
Rediker said he believe s the company is undervalued in its stock price which is why he and Bob vice president ofinvestor relations, and Craig chief financial officer, have been pro-actively marketing the companu to investors since November 2007 to driv the stock price up. "This is not a good time for smalol cap companies but we need to present our storygto would-be investors, so when we the time is we are well positioned," he Also at the meeting, shareholderz approved an increase to the numberd of board members from seven to eight, electexd two new members and re-elected currentt members.
David Bailis, who runs his own consultinvg company; Michael Kohlsdorf, president, chief executive officer of , and; Eric McCarthey, presidentt of 's 7-Eleven Global busines team. Roy Begley, senior vice president and investment officer at groul ofJohn Schiff, chairman and chief executive officer of and John manufacturer representative with David chairman of Standard Register providesx document services to the health financial services, manufacturing and other industries.
It employs abourt 3,700 people overall and 550 in

D.C. Mayor taps Valerie Santos as deputy mayor - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Santos, as chief operating officer under has been closely involvedin decision-making on many of the real estatr deals Albert managed, including major city projects such as Poplare Point. Albert began his new job as city administratorton Monday, replacing Dan Tangherlini, who is takintg a job in the Obama "In Ms. Santos, we not only have a steady hand who knowwsthe job, we have someonde who is a consummate professional who will bringh private-sector talents to get the job Fenty said.
Santos was previously a vice presidengt at commercial real estate servicea firm and a managefrwith 's real estate She holds both an MBA and master's of public polict from the Kennedy School of Government at . Santos has displayed a no-nonsensre approach appearing as Albert’s stand-inn to testify at D.C. Council meetings and in publix forums representing the city when hewas unavailable. She is alreadyh getting her feet wet in dealing with the political aspects ofthe job. On Tuesday, when the D.C.
Council was busy squaringt away final details of budgetimplementation legislation, Santos and Albert’s otherd top deputy, Director of Developmenyt David Jannarone, moved around the Wilson Building seeking changes from council members. Santos apparently was not Fenty’s initial choice to be deputy mayor. Greg Washington Convention Center Authority CEO and a former staf f member of thedeputy mayor’es office, had been considered a top candidatr to replace Albert, but a source close to O'Dell says he was offered the job and turned it down.
O’Dellp would not confirm that, but indicated he would remai n in hiscurrent post, wherde he is now tasked with seeking publifc financing for all of a $550 million conventioh center hotel. “The board and the mayor have every expectatiobn of me completing all the tasks I have he said. Fenty would not say whether he had offeres the jobto O’Dell or anyones else before Santos. He announced the pick outsides the Walker JonesElementary School, which is being rebuilt as part of a new Northwesft One neighborhood, and said she was “the first person who has risen to the deputyg mayor’s position from within the ranks.
” “I think it’s a great sign for the D.C. governmeng that not only does Valerie Santos have amazing experiencw in the private sector butthat she’s been hard at work serving the peopls of the District of Columbia for the last two the mayor said. He said Santoss shared the vision that he and Albert had for how economif development in the city shouldbe run, not by owning or overly managing projects but by allowing the privatwe sector to bring ideas to the “We should try to just facilitate development. We’ve got the greatestf business community in the world herein D.C. We don’ need to try to replicate what they’re doing.
We don’t need an emphasis on owninhg or building inthe D.C. government. We need to And to do so, we need to hire the best and the brightesrtand we’ve done that.” Santos, 36, who livesd in Columbia Heights, was working for Jones Lang LaSalls as a consultant to the city when Alberrt -- whom she called a mentof -- recruited her to work for him. She is believeds to be the first woman to serve in the rolefor D.C. and will managed 65 employees and as well as oversee the Officreof Planning, Department of Housing and Community the Office of Property Managementy and the Washington D.C. Economic Partnership, a contractor.
“I the coming weeks my goal is to ensurs asmooth transition, which I expect will be relatively easy, because I am very fortunate to manag e a very talented and skillef team,” she said. She said she would continuwe to move projects all over the with a particular focus on those east of theAnacostiq River, such as the planned redevelopment of St. Elizabethss Hospital in Southeast D.C. “We will continue to focusa on implementingMayor Fenty’s vision for economic In the context of the current economic we will focus on business attraction and retentionm efforts, and in continuing to provide tools to allow our local businesw and not-for-profits to grow,” she A member of the D.
C. Counci l who regularly butts headsewith Albert, Councilman Kwame Brown, D-at largee and chair of the economic development issued a press release during the announcementt saying he was disappointed he was not invitedf but saying Santos “has the experienc and the operational knowledge” for the job and that her appointmentr was “an opportunity to forge a new relationship between the Council and the executive to createw jobs for District residents, new opportunities for local more affordable housing and to efficiently move projectw to completion.
”

Oceanit hiring, cranking out federal tech grants - Business First of Columbus:

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The Honolulu science and engineering firm has 26 job and expects to hire about a dozen peoplewthis year, said marketing manager Ian Kitajima. It has 150 with engineers and researchers making up abou t 75 percent ofthe staff. “Fortunately, business is unfoldin as planned, but anything can happen, so we are bein g more aggressive this year by seekinhg out new markets and looking for incredible people to join the he said. Last week, the privatelu held company submitted a dozen federa grant proposals through the Small Business Innovation Research program.
Kitajima said Oceanit is on track to writw about 230 proposals this year for fundinvg throughthe program, exceeding last year’ss record of 201 proposals. The grante are unique because theyfund cutting-edge technologiea and innovative ideas for federal and there is no limit to the numbefr of SBIR grants a business can receive. Some example of projects Oceanit is pursuing includw developing asynthetic virus, a virus-like delivery syste m to quickly and easily get medication into the It’s also pitching ideas on new ways to cultivate algae, and improving wind-energgy technologies.
“If some of these proposals get we could easily hire up to three dozenm to handle thework load,” Kitajima said. The companyt also is benefiting indirectly from some ofthe $111 billioh in stimulus money dispersed to large science and tech companiea nationwide. For example, Kitajima said Oceanit is supporting stimulus-fundedf research projects through the NationalScience Foundation, the and the Department of On top of filling job openings, the compan also has created some new positionss to attract new talent. “It’s reallg tough and rare to find superstars in the field that wework in, so when we do, we have to creat a position,” Kitajima said.
The company recently hired Glen who was a senior engineer at in as a senior scientist to handle projects related to national Kitajima said to help cover salaries for such newly createdpositiones — “They’re not cheap” — Oceanirt looks at existing funded projects for them to work on at “That helps cover about 60 percent of their he said. “Then the remainingg 40 percent to 50 percent comes frombusinesxs development. We have them write proposals and go after business.
” Kitajima said in the past eight the company has created abour 10 positions for such “We’re trying to build an organization that will last way beyonf all of us,” he said. Oceanit also is lookingf for new laboratory space to handled itsincreased business. The company currentlt has in-house labs at its offices on Fort Stree t in downtown Honolulu and another onMerchanf Street. Patrick Sullivan founded the compant in 1985 after graduating from the with a doctorate inoceanh engineering. Sullivan’s wife, Jan, is Oceanit’s chief operatinyg officer.

Lewisville planners thinking big - Dallas Business Journal:

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The city is seeking a masteer developer to carry out the vision forthe transit-orientede development on the south bank of Lake said Nika Reinecke, director of economixc development for the City of Lewisville. “The overall goal is Reinecke said. “We have a natural asset in Lake Lewisville that we wantto enhance. We want to creat a recreational amenity not only for the City of Lewisvilles but forthe region.” City officials haven’yt attached a pricetag to the project yet, Reinecke said. But Don Silverman, managing directof of Dallas-based Margaux Development Co.
, estimated the valuew of the fully-built project at more than $400 million in today’s The development is planned on 127 acres around theHighland Village/Lake Lewisvillee Station on the Denton County Transportation Authority’sa commuter rail line, which is set to open in December 2010. The site is just east of Interstatre 35E on land that Lewisville lease fromthe . The city’ws conceptual plan calls for abougt 405,000 square feet of retail, 83,000 square feet of restauranyt space in five orsix restaurants, and 865,000 square feet of waterfront apartments, townhouses and othert residential uses spread across four The project is in the early planning stages, so it’sw too soon to brea k down the number and type of residentia units, Reinecke said.
The development, when fullgy constructed, could also include three hotels, Reinecke said. The hotels woulr be a 200-room full-service hotel, a 125-room boutique hotel, and, eventually, a 400-roomm resort hotel with a large conferencecentet and, potentially, a golf she said. Which hotel operatorsa sign on and when the hotel construction occurs would be negotiated by themasteer developer, Reinecke said. The master developer will be in chargse of overseeing the entire and will work with other developers to makethe project’ pieces fall into place. The city hopes to select a mastetr developer by the end of the Reinecke said.
The retail space would include shops relatecto boating, fishing, bicycle rentals and hiking and camping equipmentr and other forms of lake recreation, as well as a according to the masterplan. About 100,000 square feet woule be set aside fora “civiv use,” which for now is planned to be an Reinecke said. Other potential civi c uses include a museum orwaterfront amphitheater, she The city has had preliminary discussiona with , an aquarium development and management Reinecke said. The Grapevine-based company coordinates all phases of buildinfg andoperating aquariums.
Aspects include design, construction and species collection as well as retaikl and restaurants related tothe aquarium, said Erik the company’s president and CEO. Visitors to the propose d $40 million, 200-million-gallon aquariujm would walk through transparent tunnels and be surroundee byocean animals, including sharks, stingv rays, sea turtles and groupers, said Pedersen, whose company builtt and operates a similar aquariun in Guam. The experience would simulat e a walk onthe ocean’s floor, he said. Freshwater exhibitas highlighting the fish in Lake Lewisville could alsobe incorporated, he said.
“This would be the largesg tunnel aquarium inthe world,” Pedersen said of what his companyg is proposing. “When you are in the aquarium, you are on the inside lookingv out, rather than standing on the outside and looking intoa It’s a very cool concept.” U.S. Aquariu m Team projections indicate a facility in Lewisville would easilt draw more than 1 million visitorssa year, Pedersen said. If the projec t moves forward, how the revenue would be splitbetweeb U.S. Aquarium Team and the City of Lewisville would need tobe negotiated. “The location is he said.
“It’s a perfect storm of rail and highwagyand lake, and it’s an area where people already go for Construction of the aquarium would take about 18 months, and could includ space for a food court, a fine-dining and space for corporate events, educational seminarsd and other gatherings, he said. The credir crisis will need to ease, before any aquarium could get the financing itwoulsd need, and the project would require “substantives involvement” from the City of Lewisville to make it Pedersen said. U.S.
Aquarium Team’s plans for an aquariumm near Grapevine Mills mall dissolved in 2007 aftef the company had difficulty obtaining financingh and significant questions arosee about parking forthe project, he said. The Lake Lewisvillw masterplan would be developed over 15 to20 years, Reineckr said. It hinges on the rail line’s completiohn and an Interstate 35 expansion now under way, she said. “This is a very long-rangs plan,” Reinecke said. “I think it will fall into place as the transit system comexs into place andbecomes successful.
”

Cerner finds a treasure in data mining - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

http://stasf.com/making-calls/
The North Kansas City-based health care informatiob technology company, known mostly for the health-record softwars sold to hospitalsand clinics, is leveraginvg the billions of anonymous patient records it has at its disposal as marketablse information to pharmaceutical companies and researchers. Cernerr said the data operation is a big reasomn revenue for its LifeSciences Group has increasee by roughly 20 percent during each of the pastfive years. Mark the company’s life sciences solutions vice president, predicteed that annual growth will be greatere still inthe future. “This is just the beginning for us in the life he said. Included in Cerner’s data warehouse are 1.
2 billionn lab results. It also has smaller numbers of medicationm orders andother data. The companuy collects the informationthrough data-sharingy agreements with roughly 125 of its software By some estimates, it can take as long as 17 years and $1.2 billionh to develop a single Cerner’s data-mining capabilities can quicken that process and save monet for drug companies by helping the companiex establish a study protocol that maximizes the number of eligibl e candidates for a “We believe that can actually eventuallu reduce the cost of drug development,” Hoffman Cerner would not name its pharmaceutical Pharmaceutical companies and clinical researchers pay for Cerner data for othefr reasons, said Scott director of the ’s Office of Therapeutics Discoveryh and Development.
He said Cerner’s data-mining capabilityh can point scientists to potential new uses forexistinb drugs. For instance, Weir said, Cerner’s database mighrt suggest that a drug used to treat cardiovasculatr disease could be helpful in treating cancer Researchers then could run a clinical trial to test the The data is useful to drug companies for much the same Weir said, including helping them identifyu and correct side effects from The KU Cancer Center has used Cerner’s data-miningb capabilities for several projects. “They uncoved information we would never Weir said. “It’s invaluable.
” He said Cerner stands to benefit financially, as well, from collaborations with researcheres that can lead to intellectual property that producezs licensing feesand royalties. Cerner also can work with researchersz suchas Dr. Stephen director of the Center for Personalized Medicinse and Therapeutic Innovationat . Spielberg seekss a $3.9 million grant from the for a stud y of how the center can better captured data in pediatric cancer studies usingCerner software.

PNoy will not certify RH bill as urgent but... - GMANews.TV

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Lifesite

PNoy will not certify RH bill as urgent but... GMANews.TV President Benigno Simeon Aquino III will not certify the Reproductive Health bill as urgent but he might include it on the second batch of priority bills he will be sending to Congress. "I think it will be included in the next list of priorities. ... Noy warns anti-RH advocates on non-payment of taxes Philippine Star 'Sedition' raps for anti-RH Manila Bulletin Aquino not backing down from RH Bill haters ABS CBN News  »

GM owes $9M to AK Steel - Business First of Louisville:

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About $9.1 million is how much the carmakerd owes theWest Chester-based steel manufacturer in trade debt, according to a list of GM’s 50 largest unsecured creditors that was included with its initial bankruptcy court filingx Monday. was listed as the company’x 33rd largest unsecured creditor. The only othe Ohio company on the list was GoodyearTire & Rubbeer Co. in Akron, which is on the hook for almost $7 No Kentucky or Indiana companies were on the Aside from bond debt andemployew obligations, which account for GM’sw five largest unsecured obligations, the top trade debt disclosed was $122 milliob owed to Starcom Mediavest Group Inc. of Chicago.
GM has been AK Steel’sw biggest customer for although the percentage of total sales it derives from the troubledx automotive company has been declining in recent AK Steel did not disclose how much it sold to GM in 2008 in its latesgtannual report, but earlie r annual reports disclosed that shipments to GM accountee for 20 percent of net salesz in 2003, 15 percent in 2004, 13 percent in 2005, and less than 10 percentg in 2006 and 2007. AK Steell said about 28 percent of its trade receivablews outstanding at the end of 2008 were due from businesses associatecd withthe U.S. automotive industry, including General Chrysler and Ford.
Its 2008 annual report also includefd the followingcautionary disclosure: “If any of thesew three major domestic automotivw companies were to make a bankruptcy filing, it coul d lead to similar filings by supplierzs to the automotive industry, many of whom are customer s of the company. The company thus could be adversely impactedr not only directly by the bankruptcyg of a major domesticautomotive manufacturer, but also indirectly by the resultangt bankruptcies of other customers who supply the automotive industry.
The nature of that impact could be not only a reductionb infuture sales, but also a loss associated with the potentiao inability to collect all outstandinb accounts receivables. That could negatively impact the company’s financial results and cash flows. The company is monitorinf this situation closely and has taken stepsw to try to mitigate its exposure to suchadversse impacts, but because of current market condition s and the volume of business it cannot eliminate these risks.
”

Report: D.C. area posts a strong economic performance - Jacksonville Business Journal:

http://momvteen.com/2009/09/09/hygiene-part-one/
The report ranked the 100 largest U.S. metrpo areas based on employment, unemploymeny rates, wages, gross metropolitan product, housing prices and foreclosure ratex in thefirst quarter. D.C. rankerd No. 13, while San Antonio, Texas, placed No. 1 and Detroif came in last at No. 100. “All metropolitan areaes are feeling the effects of this but the distress is notshared equally,” said Alan research director of the metropolita n policy program at the D.C. institut e and co-author of the report.
“While some areas of the country have experiencesd only a shallow and may be emerging from the recession people living in metro areas that are now performingv weakest economically should prepare themselves for a longrecovery period.” At the firsrt quarter’s end, only 10 of the 100 metrio areas were starting to show signs of recovery, said the and said McAllen, Texas was the only placw that saw growth in employment and output. Outputy increased in just a handful ofmetro areas, including D.C.; Seattle; Austin, and Virginia Beach, Va..
The report also pointede out that metro areaxs with concentrations of jobs in certaim sectors have resulted in fewer dramatic job The Rankings: San Antonio, Texas Austin, Texas McAllen, Texas Baton La. Tulsa, Okla. Omaha, Neb. El Texas Wichita, Kan. Washington, D.C. N.M. Virginia Beach, Va. Pa. Pittsburgh, Pa. New Haven, Conn. Rochester, N.Y.

German MP says Berlin should help Greece leave euro - Reuters

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BBC News

German MP says Berlin should help Greece leave euro Reuters BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany should constructively support any efforts by Greece to abandon the euro and return to the drachma, a leading MP in Germany's junior coalition Free Democrats (FDP) said on Saturday. ... EU executive, Germany insist no new Greek 'crisis' MSN Philippines News Greece Mulling Exit From Euro Area, Germany's Der Spiegel Says Bloomberg Did Germany Just Publicly Shoot Greece In The Back? The Business Insider W »

The Advisory Board Company Company Profile | ABCO Company Information

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Our membership business model allows us to focus on a broad set of issues relevant to ourmember organizations, while promotinb frequent use of our programs and services by our Our growth has been driven by strony renewal rates, ongoing addition of new memberships in our existinv programs, continued annual price increases and the continued success of our new programk launches. ...

Safeway, King Soopers contracts extended - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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The Safeway contract was set to run out King Soopers employees have been working without a deal sincwe their contract expired onMay 30, meaning that the newesgt contract extension becomes retroactive to then. Those two as well as , have been in negotiationsa with United Food and Commerciao Workers UnionLocal No. 7 since April 7, looking to come up with new five-yeaf contracts. Safeway workers in late May voted to call for a strikseif necessary, and Safeway and King Soopers — the latteer a unit of Kroget Co. — signed a pact allowingt one chain to lock out its workerd ifthe other’s went on strike. No work stoppagd has occurred, however.
Albertsons employees continue to work withouta contract. Negotiations have centered onpay increases, health-care planss and pension benefits. The stores have said they must cutpensionb contributions, while the union has pushed back against Safeway made its latest contract offer to the union Union officials are having a consultant analyze it befor getting back to the chain, UFCW spokeswomanj Laura Chapin said No new negotiation dates have been set betweenj the union and King Soopers. But officialw with the chain are optimistic that the contract extensionwill jump-startg talks again.
“Hopefully, this will provide the additionapl time needed to work out issues onthe pension,” King Soopera spokeswoman Diane Mulligan said.