story first appeared in usatoday.com
Unemployment rates declined last month in more than half of the 372 largest U.S. cities, further evidence of steady improvement in the job market.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that rates fell in 201 metro areas. They rose in 116 and were unchanged in 55. And the number of cities with unemployment below 7% rose to 180 last month, up from 107 a year ago.
Child protective services defense lawyers have found that each 1 percent increase in unemployment was associated with at least a
0.50 per 1,000 increase in confirmed child maltreatment reports one year
later. In addition, higher levels of unemployment appeared to raise the
likelihood of child maltreatment, as it was not only the lagged change
in unemployment, but also the previous year's unemployment level that
influenced the number of child abuse cases.
Nationwide, the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9% from 7.8% in September. That was mostly because more Americans began searching for work but not all found jobs.
Employers added 171,000 jobs in October and the previous two months were revised higher.
Unlike the national data, the metro unemployment rates are not adjusted for seasonal trends, such as the hiring of many part-time retail employees for the winter holidays. So they tend to be more volatile from month to month.
The number of areas with sharply higher unemployment is declining. Thirty-five metro areas had unemployment rates of 10% or above last month. That's the same as the previous month but down from 80 a year ago.
Bismarck, N.D. once again posted the lowest unemployment rate, at 2.2%. The city is benefiting from an oil and gas drilling boom.
Yuma, Ariz. and El Centro, Calif. recorded the highest unemployment rates, at 29.8% and 28.1%, respectively. Both cities include large numbers of migrant farm workers.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Construction Industry Lacks Workers
story first appeared in usatoday.com
The construction industry shed 2.2 million workers between January 2007 and last year.
So now there's an overabundance of them eager for jobs, right?
Wrong.
Contractors are struggling with shortages of workers as the home-building market comes to life and some commercial sectors strengthen. The crunch is affecting a handful of states, including Texas, Arizona, Iowa and Florida. But it's expected to worsen and spread across the USA over the next few years, building officials say. The shortages are already prompting builders to raid each other's job sites for workers.
Milton Chicas, who heads recruiting for Wayne Bros., a Kannapolis, N.C.-based commercial builder in the Southeast, said he thought because there are so many individuals out of work right now, he thought we were going to have a large amount of individuals coming through the door, but was shocked by the contrary.
During the downturn, hundreds of thousands of laid-off construction workers left the field, retired or moved to other states to find work, leaving some markets without an adequate supply for even the current moderate upswing in activity. After scrounging for odd jobs and hoping for an upturn, many workers retooled to become truck drivers, factory workers or roughnecks in the nation's booming oil and natural gas fields.
Meanwhile, Baby Boomers are retiring and fewer high school graduates are entering the field as parents and school officials promote a college education or training in high-tech fields such as computers.
The result is a widening gap between construction labor demand and supply in some areas.
Nationally, building-permit applications for homes and apartments this year are up 31% over 2011, though they're still well below average and the mid-2000s peak, according to the Census Bureau. Builders are finally responding to record low new-home inventories, historically low interest rates and a modestly improving job market. All construction spending, including commercial and government, in September was up 14% from the market bottom in February 2011.
Yet construction payrolls are virtually unchanged from two years ago at 5.5 million. Contractors are coping with the added workload in part by paying employees more overtime, says Ken Simonson, chief economist of Associated General Contractors of America.
Some companies are being cautious following a brutal slump, but others simply can't find workers. Despite the industry's static employment, its jobless rate has dropped from 17.3% to 11.4% the past two years as 320,000 construction laborers stopped working or looking for work, Labor Department figures show.
Twenty-nine percent of home builders surveyed by the National Association of Home Builders in June reported some shortage of framing workers and 6% said there was a serious deficit — only slightly less than in 2006 at the height of the home construction frenzy. By 2017, there could be a shortage of 2 million commercial construction workers, according to the Construction Users Roundtable, a trade group.
The shortfalls are slowing the recovery in some states hit hardest by the housing crash. In Florida, permits to build single-family homes this year are up 25% from last year but remain less than a quarter of the 2005 peak. In Tampa, crews that install drywall in new homes are especially scarce after many headed north when projects and wages plummeted in the recession, says Angela Phillian, owner of Angela Drywall. Walls can typically be installed in a house in a week, but it's now taking up to two weeks or more, she says, because she often has to wait at least several days for a crew to free up from another job.
She routinely contends with managers of rival companies who sidle up to a job site and poach her workers by offering them an extra dollar per drywall board, a tactic Phillian says she's forced to deploy as well.
Recently, she says, the builders that subcontract drywall services have agreed to pay more. That has allowed Phillian and her competitors to return their pay rates to pre-recession levels of $5 per board after they fell to less than half that. And it's helping Phillian gradually lure drywall crews back to Tampa from Northern states such as New York.
But it's squeezing Tampa builders such as John Fowke, who says he's been hit recently with a 10% increase in both labor and material costs, forcing him to raise the sales prices of his houses. He worries that home appraisers won't increase their valuations in a still-distressed market, preventing buyers from obtaining a loan.
In Arizona, which is also seeing a moderate turnaround after being battered by the housing crash, a labor shortage is exacerbated by the new law that lets police check people's immigration status. Most white laborers won't work in Arizona's brutal heat and many Hispanic construction workers have left the state because of the law, says Buddy Satterfield, president of Shea Homes in Scottsdale. He says he's tried to coax Hispanic workers from Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, but "those guys won't come to Phoenix."
Satterfield says he's building about 450 homes this year instead of the 750 he should be putting up based on demand.
Although the housing bust wasn't nearly as severe in Texas, many construction workers left the industry to toil in the state's thriving oil and natural gas drilling fields for higher pay and greater stability. With limited crews putting up frames, Tilson Homes is building houses in six to eight months, two months longer than normal, says President Eddie Martin.
Commercial contractors are also struggling in some areas. Scott Norvell, head of Master Builders of Iowa, a trade group, worries there won't be enough workers in the state to handle billions of dollars in projects over the next few years to rebuild structures damaged by the 2011 floods.
Redstone Painting & Finishes, which is turning a historical 12-story building in Des Moines into a complex of offices, stores and condos, has been unable to add 14 workers to the 41 now on site, says company President Rob Knudsen. Instead, he says, existing employees are running up overtime, increasing his costs by 50% and reducing his profits by 25%.
Knudsen says he could double his revenue if he could find enough workers.
At North Carolina's Wayne Bros., which builds concrete walls and foundations for power plants and other commercial buildings, positions stay open three to six months, forcing the company to accept about 25% fewer jobs than it can handle, Chicas says. The contractor offers apprenticeships, but it takes one to three years for an apprentice to be productive, he says.
Such training is less prevalent than it used to be. Many commercial contractors offer apprenticeships and courses in-house or through local trade groups and unions, says Don Whyte, president of the National Center for Construction Education and Research. But a declining number of residential builders provides training, says John Courson, head of the Home Builders Institute. There were 5,453 construction apprenticeship programs overseen by the federal government in fiscal 2012, down from 6,076 in fiscal 2007, Labor Department figures show.
Home builders want workers that can hit the job site and go to work the first day, Courson says.
Meanwhile, some laid-off construction workers are trickling back as activity picks up, but others are entrenched in more stable fields. James Bewley of Omaha, a 36-year mason who was laid off in 2008, worked sporadically at reduced hours for several years. After his income dwindled so dramatically that he almost lost his house, he took a $4,000, four-week class at JTL Truck Driver Training in August 2011.
His first job kept him away from home 11 days at a time and paid half the roughly $50,000 salary he earned in construction. But he recently took a $34,000 job with a petroleum company that lets him make deliveries to area stores and sleep at home nightly. His company also offers a 401(k) plan and paid holidays and vacation — perks he never had in construction.
He sometimes misses his old job, but hasn't forgotten how difficult it was.
Others are open to returning to construction. Steelworker Ryan Espinoza of Reno saw his work slow down in 2008, forcing him to eventually take a job as a bill collector for a cable company and file for bankruptcy. This year, he took a 16-week class to learn to operate computer-controlled factory machines.
He quickly found work at an area factory earning $12 an hour, far below his $30-an-hour construction salary. He also misses working outside and at an endless variety of locations. Espinoza says he'll stay in manufacturing if he can learn to program factory machines, allowing him to approach his former pay.
The construction industry shed 2.2 million workers between January 2007 and last year.
So now there's an overabundance of them eager for jobs, right?
Wrong.
Contractors are struggling with shortages of workers as the home-building market comes to life and some commercial sectors strengthen. The crunch is affecting a handful of states, including Texas, Arizona, Iowa and Florida. But it's expected to worsen and spread across the USA over the next few years, building officials say. The shortages are already prompting builders to raid each other's job sites for workers.
Milton Chicas, who heads recruiting for Wayne Bros., a Kannapolis, N.C.-based commercial builder in the Southeast, said he thought because there are so many individuals out of work right now, he thought we were going to have a large amount of individuals coming through the door, but was shocked by the contrary.
During the downturn, hundreds of thousands of laid-off construction workers left the field, retired or moved to other states to find work, leaving some markets without an adequate supply for even the current moderate upswing in activity. After scrounging for odd jobs and hoping for an upturn, many workers retooled to become truck drivers, factory workers or roughnecks in the nation's booming oil and natural gas fields.
Meanwhile, Baby Boomers are retiring and fewer high school graduates are entering the field as parents and school officials promote a college education or training in high-tech fields such as computers.
The result is a widening gap between construction labor demand and supply in some areas.
Nationally, building-permit applications for homes and apartments this year are up 31% over 2011, though they're still well below average and the mid-2000s peak, according to the Census Bureau. Builders are finally responding to record low new-home inventories, historically low interest rates and a modestly improving job market. All construction spending, including commercial and government, in September was up 14% from the market bottom in February 2011.
Yet construction payrolls are virtually unchanged from two years ago at 5.5 million. Contractors are coping with the added workload in part by paying employees more overtime, says Ken Simonson, chief economist of Associated General Contractors of America.
Some companies are being cautious following a brutal slump, but others simply can't find workers. Despite the industry's static employment, its jobless rate has dropped from 17.3% to 11.4% the past two years as 320,000 construction laborers stopped working or looking for work, Labor Department figures show.
Twenty-nine percent of home builders surveyed by the National Association of Home Builders in June reported some shortage of framing workers and 6% said there was a serious deficit — only slightly less than in 2006 at the height of the home construction frenzy. By 2017, there could be a shortage of 2 million commercial construction workers, according to the Construction Users Roundtable, a trade group.
The shortfalls are slowing the recovery in some states hit hardest by the housing crash. In Florida, permits to build single-family homes this year are up 25% from last year but remain less than a quarter of the 2005 peak. In Tampa, crews that install drywall in new homes are especially scarce after many headed north when projects and wages plummeted in the recession, says Angela Phillian, owner of Angela Drywall. Walls can typically be installed in a house in a week, but it's now taking up to two weeks or more, she says, because she often has to wait at least several days for a crew to free up from another job.
She routinely contends with managers of rival companies who sidle up to a job site and poach her workers by offering them an extra dollar per drywall board, a tactic Phillian says she's forced to deploy as well.
Recently, she says, the builders that subcontract drywall services have agreed to pay more. That has allowed Phillian and her competitors to return their pay rates to pre-recession levels of $5 per board after they fell to less than half that. And it's helping Phillian gradually lure drywall crews back to Tampa from Northern states such as New York.
But it's squeezing Tampa builders such as John Fowke, who says he's been hit recently with a 10% increase in both labor and material costs, forcing him to raise the sales prices of his houses. He worries that home appraisers won't increase their valuations in a still-distressed market, preventing buyers from obtaining a loan.
In Arizona, which is also seeing a moderate turnaround after being battered by the housing crash, a labor shortage is exacerbated by the new law that lets police check people's immigration status. Most white laborers won't work in Arizona's brutal heat and many Hispanic construction workers have left the state because of the law, says Buddy Satterfield, president of Shea Homes in Scottsdale. He says he's tried to coax Hispanic workers from Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, but "those guys won't come to Phoenix."
Satterfield says he's building about 450 homes this year instead of the 750 he should be putting up based on demand.
Although the housing bust wasn't nearly as severe in Texas, many construction workers left the industry to toil in the state's thriving oil and natural gas drilling fields for higher pay and greater stability. With limited crews putting up frames, Tilson Homes is building houses in six to eight months, two months longer than normal, says President Eddie Martin.
Commercial contractors are also struggling in some areas. Scott Norvell, head of Master Builders of Iowa, a trade group, worries there won't be enough workers in the state to handle billions of dollars in projects over the next few years to rebuild structures damaged by the 2011 floods.
Redstone Painting & Finishes, which is turning a historical 12-story building in Des Moines into a complex of offices, stores and condos, has been unable to add 14 workers to the 41 now on site, says company President Rob Knudsen. Instead, he says, existing employees are running up overtime, increasing his costs by 50% and reducing his profits by 25%.
Knudsen says he could double his revenue if he could find enough workers.
At North Carolina's Wayne Bros., which builds concrete walls and foundations for power plants and other commercial buildings, positions stay open three to six months, forcing the company to accept about 25% fewer jobs than it can handle, Chicas says. The contractor offers apprenticeships, but it takes one to three years for an apprentice to be productive, he says.
Such training is less prevalent than it used to be. Many commercial contractors offer apprenticeships and courses in-house or through local trade groups and unions, says Don Whyte, president of the National Center for Construction Education and Research. But a declining number of residential builders provides training, says John Courson, head of the Home Builders Institute. There were 5,453 construction apprenticeship programs overseen by the federal government in fiscal 2012, down from 6,076 in fiscal 2007, Labor Department figures show.
Home builders want workers that can hit the job site and go to work the first day, Courson says.
Meanwhile, some laid-off construction workers are trickling back as activity picks up, but others are entrenched in more stable fields. James Bewley of Omaha, a 36-year mason who was laid off in 2008, worked sporadically at reduced hours for several years. After his income dwindled so dramatically that he almost lost his house, he took a $4,000, four-week class at JTL Truck Driver Training in August 2011.
His first job kept him away from home 11 days at a time and paid half the roughly $50,000 salary he earned in construction. But he recently took a $34,000 job with a petroleum company that lets him make deliveries to area stores and sleep at home nightly. His company also offers a 401(k) plan and paid holidays and vacation — perks he never had in construction.
He sometimes misses his old job, but hasn't forgotten how difficult it was.
Others are open to returning to construction. Steelworker Ryan Espinoza of Reno saw his work slow down in 2008, forcing him to eventually take a job as a bill collector for a cable company and file for bankruptcy. This year, he took a 16-week class to learn to operate computer-controlled factory machines.
He quickly found work at an area factory earning $12 an hour, far below his $30-an-hour construction salary. He also misses working outside and at an endless variety of locations. Espinoza says he'll stay in manufacturing if he can learn to program factory machines, allowing him to approach his former pay.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Bond Investors Look At California
Story first appeared on WSJ.com.
California has long ranked second only to Illinois in the dubious honor of being the least-loved state among municipal-bond investors.
But since Election Day, some investors have had a change of heart.
On Nov. 6, California voters approved temporary tax increases that Standard & Poor's estimates will boost the state's revenue by more than $6 billion over the next several years. The tax rise was a controversial move in the already high-tax state, but it suddenly made California's bonds more appealing, market participants said. California also passed modest pension changes this year.
Meanwhile, Illinois has done little to address its $83 billion unfunded pension liability. The state had roughly $6 billion in unpaid bills as of the end of September, according to the state comptroller's office.
That has separated the two states in the minds of some investors. The difference in yield, or spread, between the debt of the two lowest-rated states has increased to its widest point since early March 2011, according to Thomson Reuters Municipal Market Data.
Last week, the yield on 30-year Illinois debt was 0.60 percentage point above that of similar California debt. As prices fall, yields rise. The higher the yield, the bigger the perceived risk. On Election Day, the spread was 0.42 percentage point. In July, it was 0.18 percentage point.
Over the past year, California has done much more than Illinois to help its fiscal situation. As a consequence, "there appears to be decoupling" in the way the states' bonds are trading.California's debt has rebounded so much that its yields this month fell below that of Nevada for the first time since August 2009, according to MMD.
In November, California munis have returned 1.50% through Friday, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, compared with 1.43% for Illinois. For 2012, S&P Municipal Bond California index has returned 9.80%, while the Illinois index has returned 9.78%.
Both states are outperforming the broader muni market, as investors hunt for extra yield amid rock-bottom rates in markets such as Treasury bonds. The S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond index has returned 1.32% in November and 7.88% so far this year, through Friday.
The passage of the tax increase, under Proposition 30, was the "catalyst for this rally" in California bonds, said Dan Berger, MMD's senior market strategist.
Investors are favoring California debt, even though S&P and Fitch Ratings give the Golden State the lowest rating of all 50 states, at A-minus, while Illinois is rated a notch higher, at A. Moody's Investors Service gives Illinois the lowest state rating at A2, while it rates California a notch higher at A1.
The market is signaling California has a better chance of getting upgraded, while Illinois may see a downgrade. Director of fixed income at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, said his firm has bought more California bonds in light of Proposition 30's passage, while keeping exposure to Illinois debt steady.
To be sure, California still faces challenges, market participants say, and the tax increase voters approved this month is only for seven years, meaning a more permanent solution must be found to mend the state's budget woes.
Managing director at research advisory firm Municipal Market Advisors, said investors should be leery of California's boom-and-bust economy, as well as its more tenuous cash position. The state's current cash deficit stands at $24.7 billion, covered with $14.7 billion of internal borrowing, and a $10 billion short-term debt deal from earlier this year, he said.
California has long ranked second only to Illinois in the dubious honor of being the least-loved state among municipal-bond investors.
But since Election Day, some investors have had a change of heart.
On Nov. 6, California voters approved temporary tax increases that Standard & Poor's estimates will boost the state's revenue by more than $6 billion over the next several years. The tax rise was a controversial move in the already high-tax state, but it suddenly made California's bonds more appealing, market participants said. California also passed modest pension changes this year.
Meanwhile, Illinois has done little to address its $83 billion unfunded pension liability. The state had roughly $6 billion in unpaid bills as of the end of September, according to the state comptroller's office.
That has separated the two states in the minds of some investors. The difference in yield, or spread, between the debt of the two lowest-rated states has increased to its widest point since early March 2011, according to Thomson Reuters Municipal Market Data.
Last week, the yield on 30-year Illinois debt was 0.60 percentage point above that of similar California debt. As prices fall, yields rise. The higher the yield, the bigger the perceived risk. On Election Day, the spread was 0.42 percentage point. In July, it was 0.18 percentage point.
Over the past year, California has done much more than Illinois to help its fiscal situation. As a consequence, "there appears to be decoupling" in the way the states' bonds are trading.California's debt has rebounded so much that its yields this month fell below that of Nevada for the first time since August 2009, according to MMD.
In November, California munis have returned 1.50% through Friday, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, compared with 1.43% for Illinois. For 2012, S&P Municipal Bond California index has returned 9.80%, while the Illinois index has returned 9.78%.
Both states are outperforming the broader muni market, as investors hunt for extra yield amid rock-bottom rates in markets such as Treasury bonds. The S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond index has returned 1.32% in November and 7.88% so far this year, through Friday.
The passage of the tax increase, under Proposition 30, was the "catalyst for this rally" in California bonds, said Dan Berger, MMD's senior market strategist.
Investors are favoring California debt, even though S&P and Fitch Ratings give the Golden State the lowest rating of all 50 states, at A-minus, while Illinois is rated a notch higher, at A. Moody's Investors Service gives Illinois the lowest state rating at A2, while it rates California a notch higher at A1.
The market is signaling California has a better chance of getting upgraded, while Illinois may see a downgrade. Director of fixed income at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, said his firm has bought more California bonds in light of Proposition 30's passage, while keeping exposure to Illinois debt steady.
To be sure, California still faces challenges, market participants say, and the tax increase voters approved this month is only for seven years, meaning a more permanent solution must be found to mend the state's budget woes.
Managing director at research advisory firm Municipal Market Advisors, said investors should be leery of California's boom-and-bust economy, as well as its more tenuous cash position. The state's current cash deficit stands at $24.7 billion, covered with $14.7 billion of internal borrowing, and a $10 billion short-term debt deal from earlier this year, he said.
AGE DETERMINES HOW YOU SHOP THIS HOLIDAY
Story first appeared on WSJ.com.
The Smith family has always approached Christmas shopping on overdrive, piling dozens of presents under a small forest of decorated trees. But the Smiths and their four children wrangle the annual extravaganza in different ways, underscoring the challenge facing retailers as technological changes transform Americans' buying rituals.
During a recent holiday shopping trip, Chris Smith, and her husband happily wandered the suburban Easton Town Center mall here, sipping caramel frappuccinos and admiring the festive horse-drawn carriages.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who met as sales clerks at J.C. Penny Co. 35 years ago, say they are shopping more online these days, but they have yet to make a major purchase on their cellphones. For the mall, they came armed with clipped-out paper coupons.
Their children are a different matter. Ranging from age 10 to 27, the offspring mostly ignore the holiday décor, and instead peer into their smartphones, comparing prices, looking for deals and seeking friends' advice about potential purchases.
Daughter Danielle, 24, who works at a payroll company, is accustomed to receiving pitches through social media and email, so much so, she said, that it takes something special—like a call to her cellphone from a saleswoman—to grab her attention. "A personalized call usually gets me in the store," she said.
Despite a lot of looking, Danielle left the mall without spending any money. When she got home, though, she went online and bought herself a red lace dress she had seen earlier in the day at J. Crew Group Inc.'s Madewell. That is not surprising; about 70% of people age 18 to 34 plan to "self gift" this year, compared with 44% of people over age 65, the National Retail Federation said.
Little sister Drew, 10, uses her rhinestone-encased iPhone to post photos of potential purchases as she shops, while polling her friends with an Instagram app to get opinions on which clothes to wear to school the next day.
Retail chains are struggling with how to respond to families like the Smiths, hoping to capture the attention of the so-called Millennial generation, ages 16 to 34, but fearful that moving too fast will alienate baby boomers.
The 79 million people who make up the Millennial generation wield $200 billion in annual spending power. While that is only a sliver of the $3.4 trillion that baby boomers spend each year, analysts say, retailers need to try to nab those younger shoppers now, because their spending is likely to rival the boomers' as early as 2020 and they already exert a disproportionate influence on their parents' spending decisions.
Moreover, during the holidays, shoppers age 25 to 44 plan to spend the most of any age group, about $820, according to the NRF. But shoppers aged 45 to 64 are also heavy spenders, planning to spend about $760.
At Macy's, Mrs. Smith dug through her purse for a 20% off coupon to buy a pair of boots. Although she couldn't find the coupon, she successfully persuaded the saleswoman to give her the discount anyway. The boots joined two shopping bags of loot from Justice, a tween apparel chain.
The bags were crammed with jeans, sweaters and a $75 sparkly blue makeup case Mrs. Smith bought using a 50%-off coupon.
Her son Derek, a 26-year-old Ohio State student, who is also a loyal Macy's customer, told his mom he prefers to shop online and search for coupon codes rather than keep track of offers in the mail. He didn't buy anything at the mall but picked out a Timex watch at Nordstrom for Santa to bring. He said he plans to do his holiday shopping on macys.com.
Derek's brother Dustin, 27, also would rather be anywhere but a physical store. The real-estate agent says he shops only when he need something" and favors discounters like Target Corp. He focuses his spending on big, important items, like his new, white Audi and left the mall empty-handed.
Retailers includeing Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Best Buy Co. are trying to target younger consumers this holiday season by offering some of their in-store deals online, while others such as Macy's and Sears Holdings Inc. are Technology plays an increasing role in the generational shopping split. Millennials are 2½ times more likely to be early adopters of technology than older generations, serving as a leading indicator for retailers of what is likely to become mainstream, said Christine Barton, a partner at Boston Consulting Group. Millennials are more likely than older shoppers to check out brands on social networks (53% versus 37%) and use mobile devices to read reviews, research products and compare prices while shopping (50% versus 21%), according to a recent BCG/Barkley report.
Macy's, which created a separate Millennial division this year, has sectioned off parts of its department stores to house Impulse and MStyle Lab, boutique-like spaces with bright signage and pop music to attract shoppers ages 13 to 30.
Retailers can run the risk of taking the quest for youth too far. In an attempt to overhaul its century-old store in search for younger customers, J.C. Penney has remodeled stores, altered its merchandise mix, changed its logo and, most of all, is eschewing special discounts in favor of overall lower prices. But so far the plan has largely backfired: Penney's sales fell 27% in the three months ended Oct. 27, in a fourth consecutive quarterly drop.
Impressions are hard to change, though. While Mrs. Smith says she was raised going to Penney, where you never buy things full price, her daughter Drew refers to Penney as a place "for old people."
Meanwhile, with her phone Drew points her mother to Christmas gifts, highlighting the best deals on things including Amazon.com's latest tablet
The Smith family has always approached Christmas shopping on overdrive, piling dozens of presents under a small forest of decorated trees. But the Smiths and their four children wrangle the annual extravaganza in different ways, underscoring the challenge facing retailers as technological changes transform Americans' buying rituals.
During a recent holiday shopping trip, Chris Smith, and her husband happily wandered the suburban Easton Town Center mall here, sipping caramel frappuccinos and admiring the festive horse-drawn carriages.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who met as sales clerks at J.C. Penny Co. 35 years ago, say they are shopping more online these days, but they have yet to make a major purchase on their cellphones. For the mall, they came armed with clipped-out paper coupons.
Their children are a different matter. Ranging from age 10 to 27, the offspring mostly ignore the holiday décor, and instead peer into their smartphones, comparing prices, looking for deals and seeking friends' advice about potential purchases.
Daughter Danielle, 24, who works at a payroll company, is accustomed to receiving pitches through social media and email, so much so, she said, that it takes something special—like a call to her cellphone from a saleswoman—to grab her attention. "A personalized call usually gets me in the store," she said.
Despite a lot of looking, Danielle left the mall without spending any money. When she got home, though, she went online and bought herself a red lace dress she had seen earlier in the day at J. Crew Group Inc.'s Madewell. That is not surprising; about 70% of people age 18 to 34 plan to "self gift" this year, compared with 44% of people over age 65, the National Retail Federation said.
Little sister Drew, 10, uses her rhinestone-encased iPhone to post photos of potential purchases as she shops, while polling her friends with an Instagram app to get opinions on which clothes to wear to school the next day.
Retail chains are struggling with how to respond to families like the Smiths, hoping to capture the attention of the so-called Millennial generation, ages 16 to 34, but fearful that moving too fast will alienate baby boomers.
The 79 million people who make up the Millennial generation wield $200 billion in annual spending power. While that is only a sliver of the $3.4 trillion that baby boomers spend each year, analysts say, retailers need to try to nab those younger shoppers now, because their spending is likely to rival the boomers' as early as 2020 and they already exert a disproportionate influence on their parents' spending decisions.
Moreover, during the holidays, shoppers age 25 to 44 plan to spend the most of any age group, about $820, according to the NRF. But shoppers aged 45 to 64 are also heavy spenders, planning to spend about $760.
At Macy's, Mrs. Smith dug through her purse for a 20% off coupon to buy a pair of boots. Although she couldn't find the coupon, she successfully persuaded the saleswoman to give her the discount anyway. The boots joined two shopping bags of loot from Justice, a tween apparel chain.
The bags were crammed with jeans, sweaters and a $75 sparkly blue makeup case Mrs. Smith bought using a 50%-off coupon.
Her son Derek, a 26-year-old Ohio State student, who is also a loyal Macy's customer, told his mom he prefers to shop online and search for coupon codes rather than keep track of offers in the mail. He didn't buy anything at the mall but picked out a Timex watch at Nordstrom for Santa to bring. He said he plans to do his holiday shopping on macys.com.
Derek's brother Dustin, 27, also would rather be anywhere but a physical store. The real-estate agent says he shops only when he need something" and favors discounters like Target Corp. He focuses his spending on big, important items, like his new, white Audi and left the mall empty-handed.
Retailers includeing Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Best Buy Co. are trying to target younger consumers this holiday season by offering some of their in-store deals online, while others such as Macy's and Sears Holdings Inc. are Technology plays an increasing role in the generational shopping split. Millennials are 2½ times more likely to be early adopters of technology than older generations, serving as a leading indicator for retailers of what is likely to become mainstream, said Christine Barton, a partner at Boston Consulting Group. Millennials are more likely than older shoppers to check out brands on social networks (53% versus 37%) and use mobile devices to read reviews, research products and compare prices while shopping (50% versus 21%), according to a recent BCG/Barkley report.
Macy's, which created a separate Millennial division this year, has sectioned off parts of its department stores to house Impulse and MStyle Lab, boutique-like spaces with bright signage and pop music to attract shoppers ages 13 to 30.
Retailers can run the risk of taking the quest for youth too far. In an attempt to overhaul its century-old store in search for younger customers, J.C. Penney has remodeled stores, altered its merchandise mix, changed its logo and, most of all, is eschewing special discounts in favor of overall lower prices. But so far the plan has largely backfired: Penney's sales fell 27% in the three months ended Oct. 27, in a fourth consecutive quarterly drop.
Impressions are hard to change, though. While Mrs. Smith says she was raised going to Penney, where you never buy things full price, her daughter Drew refers to Penney as a place "for old people."
Meanwhile, with her phone Drew points her mother to Christmas gifts, highlighting the best deals on things including Amazon.com's latest tablet
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Sandy Triggers Early Tourism
Story first appeared on HeraldTribune.com.
High tourist season has kicked into high gear in Southwest Florida, and many industry watchers point to Hurricane Sandy as a primary factor behind the earlier-than-usual influx of visitors.
High tourist season has kicked into high gear in Southwest Florida, and many industry watchers point to Hurricane Sandy as a primary factor behind the earlier-than-usual influx of visitors.
Eager to escape the
devastation or avoid repair woes brought by the superstorm that battered
the Northeast last month, many tourists and seasonal residents appear
to have headed south months earlier than they normally would, according
to some local businesses, anecdotal traffic counts and Sarasota Vacation Rentals.
Though winter
tourist season here traditionally ranges from January to April,
restaurant owners have noticed a definite pickup in
customer traffic overall — and more than a few people from areas hardest
hit by the storm.
In this case, the difference this month has been felt across the board at his three Sarasota area eateries.
Before
Sandy, Southwest Florida was on pace to shatter visitor records, thanks
in part to the continued glow from the May 2011 designation of Siesta
Key's beach as No. 1 in the nation, pent-up demand, beefed up marketing
efforts and an incrementally improved national economy.
Even
with the recent influx, though, tourism officials are left wondering
whether visitors from storm-ravaged regions will maintain their plans to
travel this winter or reconsider, to focus time and money instead on
rebuilding and repairs.
Tourism plays a major role in
Southwest Florida's economy and the state's, accounting for one in
every seven jobs. Statewide, it brings roughly 80 million visitors a
year and more than $70 billion in spending.
Vacation
rentals from Manatee to Charlotte counties are almost completely booked
for the season, said a Sarasota-based real estate brokerage and property
management company.
While
advanced bookings are hovering near 90 percent overall, rentals near
Sarasota's beaches like Siesta, Longboat and Lido keys are reporting
expected occupancy rates of nearly 98 percent through the winter months. Longboat Condo Rentals are already nearing capacity, according to resort owners.
Almost all of Anna Maria Vacations' 200-plus units have been rented for the high season this year.
It is noticed that people are traveling in larger groups, and bigger
homes, with five to seven bedrooms, are what are rented first.
Although
Southwest Florida has typically drawn the majority of its winter
visitors from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other Midwestern states,
the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic have become increasingly important
geographic areas for the region.
Thanks to flights to
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport by JetBlue — and formerly
AirTran Airways from Baltimore — from New York and other cities, the
region has greater access to tourists than ever before.
Despite
the storm, Northeast marketing promotions are ongoing, officials from
both Visit Sarasota County and the Bradenton-Area Convention Center and
Visitor's Bureau note.
Pinellas
County officials had signaled immediately after the storm that
advertising dollars might be diverted away from New York.
Southwest
Florida is not the only part of the state benefitting from the influx
of seasonal snowbirds and transient travelers, though.
The
Sunshine State as a whole also is on its way to a record-setting year
for tourism, according to recent data released by Visit Florida, the
state's tourism promotions entity.
Visit
Florida estimates the state hosted nearly 22 million visitors during
the third quarter, an increase of 3.5 percent compared with the same
three-month period in 2011.
Of the third-quarter total, domestic travelers accounted for 18.9 million visitors, a 3.2 percent increase from a year before.
There
also was a larger percentage increase in the number of Canadians who
came to Florida — 4 percent — while the number of international
travelers rose 5.5 percent.
Although most Canadian
visitors have tended to winter in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, the
number of visitors from the Great White North who frequent the
Sarasota-Bradenton area remains strong, said Michael MacKenzie,
president of the Canadian Snowbird Association.
In
2011, tourism was up more than 10 percent. It is expected this year it's
going to be even greater, with the Canadian dollar being on
par with the United States' currency this year, more Canadians will want
to travel, especially to Florida.
The
boost in tourism activity also means more jobs and taxable sales for
the state. Direct travel-related employment rose 1.5 percent to 1.02
million, a net addition of 15,000 positions, according to Visit Florida.
Tourism
and recreation taxable sales from January through August, the last
reported month, were $49 billion. That represented an increase of 7.5
percent from the same period in 2011.
With
business up and more bookings expected in the initial months of 2013,
some hoteliers have raised their average daily room rates, a move that
had been limited by the Great Recession and more frugal travelers.
If projections hold, those increases will spread to area attractions and eateries as well.
Holiday Skiing Vacation
Story first appeared on SummitDaily.com.
Breckenridge Ski Resort will host a Thanksgiving dinner at Sevens
Restaurant, located at the base of Peak 7. The Thanksgiving Prix Fixe
menu includes the traditional holiday spread, according to a press
release.
The resort will also give holiday goers an option for Black Friday along Main Street with various deals at shops around town.
At Keystone Resort, Thanksgiving weekend marks the start of the season's Kidtopia programming with '80s-themed tubing tonight, Meet and Greet with Keystone's Ski Patrol Avalanche Dogs Thursday, the Riperoo parade Saturday, and Keystone's house DJ at Dercum Square ice rink Sunday.
Vail Condo Rentals offer daily discounts and holiday deals for ski vacation travelers.
John Bivins, a self-described workoholic, is a child abuse defense lawyer in Michigan who says he visits Breckenridge every year for the holiday. He says it is the one time a year he can give himself a break.
Keystone's Kidtopia programming, newly offered as a daily service this season, is expanding from special event weekends to daily programming all season long in tow with the ski area's offer of free skiing for kids under 13 with the purchase of lodging at the resort.
The new Kids Ski Free offer bolsters the ski area's numerous efforts targeting families. Keystone has developed several programs and facilities this year that cater to young skiers and riders.
In Keystone Village, the annual holiday light installation kicks off Thanksgiving Day.
Copper's seventh annual Gobbler Chase Snowshoe Race is slated for Saturday. All proceeds from the race will go toward the Copper Environmental Foundation, supporting youth environmental and education projects in the community.
All race participants should plan to meet in Burning Stones Plaza at the Race Registration Tent prior to the start of the race at 11 a.m. The approximate 5k course layout will take the participants toward Union Creek, through the beautiful Copper wilderness on the Colorado Trail, and eventually back into Burning Stones.
Summit County ski areas are gearing up for Thanksgiving weekend making
preparations to open additional terrain and features, with Keystone's
tubing hill and night skiing operations slated to open today. Colorados Aspen Condo Rentals are also gearing up.
The ski area will also open The Alley, Dercum's Dash and Ina's Way trails bringing the terrain tally to 170 acres with access to nine trails and seven lifts.
Schoolmarm will be open top to bottom with access to Mountain House and Peru lift. Keystone A51 Terrain Park will have A-51 lift access, night skiing and riding will begin and tubing at Adventure Point.
Breckenridge Ski Resort officials announced the opening of Peak 9 slated for today, adding the QuickSilver Super6, Peak 8 SuperConnect, and the Village Carpets giving access to Silverthorne, King's Way, Lowest Sundown Access, Crosscut, Lower Sawmill and Spruce trails.
Officials plan to open additional terrain on Peak 9 and Peak 8, including a double jump line in the Park Lane Terrain Park for today as well.
Peak 9 will be open with full base area services, including ski & ride school and on-mountain dining at Ten Mile Station and The Maggie.
With the added terrain, Breckenridge Ski Resort will offer Thanksgiving skiers and riders 145 total acres for the weekend.
After opening the American Flyer Lift Nov. 17, Copper Mountain has six lifts running and 129 acres of skiable terrain including: American Eagle with access to the Bouncer, Main Vein and Rhapsody trails; the newly opened American Flyer with access to the High Point trail; the Excelerator Lift with access to the Ptarmigan trail; the Gem and Pitchfork lifts with access to the Green Acres beginner's area and the Easy Rider lift with access to the learning area as well.
Loveland Ski Area tallies are also up to 123 skiable acres open to holiday traffic.
The ski area will also open The Alley, Dercum's Dash and Ina's Way trails bringing the terrain tally to 170 acres with access to nine trails and seven lifts.
Schoolmarm will be open top to bottom with access to Mountain House and Peru lift. Keystone A51 Terrain Park will have A-51 lift access, night skiing and riding will begin and tubing at Adventure Point.
Breckenridge Ski Resort officials announced the opening of Peak 9 slated for today, adding the QuickSilver Super6, Peak 8 SuperConnect, and the Village Carpets giving access to Silverthorne, King's Way, Lowest Sundown Access, Crosscut, Lower Sawmill and Spruce trails.
Officials plan to open additional terrain on Peak 9 and Peak 8, including a double jump line in the Park Lane Terrain Park for today as well.
Peak 9 will be open with full base area services, including ski & ride school and on-mountain dining at Ten Mile Station and The Maggie.
With the added terrain, Breckenridge Ski Resort will offer Thanksgiving skiers and riders 145 total acres for the weekend.
After opening the American Flyer Lift Nov. 17, Copper Mountain has six lifts running and 129 acres of skiable terrain including: American Eagle with access to the Bouncer, Main Vein and Rhapsody trails; the newly opened American Flyer with access to the High Point trail; the Excelerator Lift with access to the Ptarmigan trail; the Gem and Pitchfork lifts with access to the Green Acres beginner's area and the Easy Rider lift with access to the learning area as well.
Loveland Ski Area tallies are also up to 123 skiable acres open to holiday traffic.
Thanksgiving festivities
Breckenridge Ski Resort will host a Thanksgiving dinner at Sevens
Restaurant, located at the base of Peak 7. The Thanksgiving Prix Fixe
menu includes the traditional holiday spread, according to a press
release. The resort will also give holiday goers an option for Black Friday along Main Street with various deals at shops around town.
At Keystone Resort, Thanksgiving weekend marks the start of the season's Kidtopia programming with '80s-themed tubing tonight, Meet and Greet with Keystone's Ski Patrol Avalanche Dogs Thursday, the Riperoo parade Saturday, and Keystone's house DJ at Dercum Square ice rink Sunday.
Vail Condo Rentals offer daily discounts and holiday deals for ski vacation travelers.
John Bivins, a self-described workoholic, is a child abuse defense lawyer in Michigan who says he visits Breckenridge every year for the holiday. He says it is the one time a year he can give himself a break.
Keystone's Kidtopia programming, newly offered as a daily service this season, is expanding from special event weekends to daily programming all season long in tow with the ski area's offer of free skiing for kids under 13 with the purchase of lodging at the resort.
The new Kids Ski Free offer bolsters the ski area's numerous efforts targeting families. Keystone has developed several programs and facilities this year that cater to young skiers and riders.
In Keystone Village, the annual holiday light installation kicks off Thanksgiving Day.
Copper's seventh annual Gobbler Chase Snowshoe Race is slated for Saturday. All proceeds from the race will go toward the Copper Environmental Foundation, supporting youth environmental and education projects in the community.
All race participants should plan to meet in Burning Stones Plaza at the Race Registration Tent prior to the start of the race at 11 a.m. The approximate 5k course layout will take the participants toward Union Creek, through the beautiful Copper wilderness on the Colorado Trail, and eventually back into Burning Stones.
Affordable Aspen Vacation
Story first appeared on OregonLive.com
Zooming down the steep face of Ajax with the wind in your face on sun-sparkled snow makes for a memorable ski day in the Rockies. Luxury Aspen condo rentals. What makes for a memorable winter vacation is the wall-to-wall mountain experience of Aspen.
No longer just a playground for the rich, Aspen has evolved into a more accessible and varied destination that seeks to draw regular folks. It had no choice.
In the 1980s, Aspen was the haughty queen of North American ski resorts, with an international brand that catered to Hollywood celebs and jet setters with Euro-style skiing and nightlife. Since then, places such as Whistler, Vail and Park City, Utah, have eclipsed Aspen by luring couples, families and teens with deals, new facilities and expanding winter activities that offer a lot more to do than skiing. No wonder. Aspen Ski Co. stubbornly banned snowboarders from Aspen Mountain for a decade until then-owner Jim Crown lifted the ban in 2001.
Today, all four mountains operated by the ski company -- Aspen, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk -- welcome boarders, with Buttermilk hosting the annual in-your-face extravaganza, the Winter X Games.
Grand Rapids child abuse defense lawyer Bill Bright says he started vacationing in Aspen years ago, and that the offerings from resorts and local businesses keep him coming back year after year.
Aspen's comeback also has been helped by discounts and promotions. A discounted daily lift ticket that is interchangeable at all four ski areas, for instance, runs about the same price as an $87 ticket to Disneyland.
Still, Aspen is no budget vacation by any stretch. It's more affordable to stay in a condo in nearby Snowmass and cook your own meals than stay in a pricey hotel and eat out every night in town. Either way, though, Aspen is where you want to go at night to sample the bar and club scene.
Aspen is a historic mining town that is much more than a winter sports mecca -- it also has a long cultural tradition of music, art and political activism. In fact, summer is Aspen's busiest season with nonstop festivals, hiking, biking, camping, river rafting, fly fishing, mountain retreats and public policy forums.
We arrived in February, our first visit in several years. While we didn't see any celebrities on this trip, there were plenty of sleek private jets parked tip to tail at the airport. On the Aspen pedestrian mall, fur coats have been replaced by fleece, which reflects the Aspen Ski Co.'s drive to go green. Aspen and Jackson Hole are the only ski resorts in the nation to receive international certification for their environmentally friendly management practices.
What makes this area stand apart from other destinations is the variety of terrain at the four mountains. Here's a summary:
Aspen Mountain
Take the town gondola to the 11,212-foot summit and ski or board nearly 3,300 feet straight back down. That's the vertical rush of this mountain, which boasts no beginner runs or bunny hills. Half the mountain is rated intermediate and the other half is advanced and expert, with deep steeps and occasional knee-grinding bumps.
The signature trail is Ruthie's Run, also called "America's downhill" because this is where the world's fastest skiers race in the World Cup competition every November. Unlike much of the rest of the mountain, Ruthie's is usually corduroy groomed so you, too, can fly down like a racer, at least until your legs give out near the bottom.
Snowmass
Everything is big here: more sprawling terrain than the other three mountains combined, more parks and pipes for snowboarders, more activities and programs for kids and more winter offerings that include everything from snowshoeing to hot-air ballooning to paragliding.
The mountain is a cruiser's paradise, with meandering, wide runs up to five miles long. The penultimate Snowmass cruiser is called the Big Burn, named after a wildfire that scorched hundreds of pines decades ago. After taking the lift up to the top at nearly 12,000 feet, we skied in and out of scattered trees to an open slope with panoramic views of the Rockies. There is plenty of room to move and just enough pitch for intermediate skiers and boarders to make sweeping turns without worrying about getting in over their heads.
Buttermilk
The name suggests a warmed-over bunny hill, and indeed Buttermilk for years was a gentle learning hill for kids and beginners. Not anymore. Boarders flock to the parks, pipes and the top-to-bottom advanced terrain in the Tiehack area. The base area still has a popular open glade where ski school instructors teach beginners of all ages to board and ski.
Aspen Highlands
If you want to escape the crowds, come here. Aspen Highlands is similar to Aspen Mountain, with its narrow profile and steep terrain, but it lacks cachet because it's a day use area tucked away in a canyon with minimal amenities. Besides the low-key vibe, the chief attraction is the top-of-the-world views of the Maroon Bells, the twin 14,000-foot peaks to the west whose jagged summits are the most photographed mountains in Colorado. Though the runs are shorter than Snowmass and less steep than Ajax, the views at the top are worth the trip.
Other Colorado Greats
Aspen is just one of many iconic ski towns Colorado has to offer. Vail vacation rentals offer skiers walk-out access to lifts, and other resorts like Breckenridge have the kinds of amenities once only reserved for bourgeois now available to average travelers.
Zooming down the steep face of Ajax with the wind in your face on sun-sparkled snow makes for a memorable ski day in the Rockies. Luxury Aspen condo rentals. What makes for a memorable winter vacation is the wall-to-wall mountain experience of Aspen.
No longer just a playground for the rich, Aspen has evolved into a more accessible and varied destination that seeks to draw regular folks. It had no choice.
In the 1980s, Aspen was the haughty queen of North American ski resorts, with an international brand that catered to Hollywood celebs and jet setters with Euro-style skiing and nightlife. Since then, places such as Whistler, Vail and Park City, Utah, have eclipsed Aspen by luring couples, families and teens with deals, new facilities and expanding winter activities that offer a lot more to do than skiing. No wonder. Aspen Ski Co. stubbornly banned snowboarders from Aspen Mountain for a decade until then-owner Jim Crown lifted the ban in 2001.
Today, all four mountains operated by the ski company -- Aspen, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk -- welcome boarders, with Buttermilk hosting the annual in-your-face extravaganza, the Winter X Games.
Grand Rapids child abuse defense lawyer Bill Bright says he started vacationing in Aspen years ago, and that the offerings from resorts and local businesses keep him coming back year after year.
Aspen's comeback also has been helped by discounts and promotions. A discounted daily lift ticket that is interchangeable at all four ski areas, for instance, runs about the same price as an $87 ticket to Disneyland.
Still, Aspen is no budget vacation by any stretch. It's more affordable to stay in a condo in nearby Snowmass and cook your own meals than stay in a pricey hotel and eat out every night in town. Either way, though, Aspen is where you want to go at night to sample the bar and club scene.
Aspen is a historic mining town that is much more than a winter sports mecca -- it also has a long cultural tradition of music, art and political activism. In fact, summer is Aspen's busiest season with nonstop festivals, hiking, biking, camping, river rafting, fly fishing, mountain retreats and public policy forums.
We arrived in February, our first visit in several years. While we didn't see any celebrities on this trip, there were plenty of sleek private jets parked tip to tail at the airport. On the Aspen pedestrian mall, fur coats have been replaced by fleece, which reflects the Aspen Ski Co.'s drive to go green. Aspen and Jackson Hole are the only ski resorts in the nation to receive international certification for their environmentally friendly management practices.
What makes this area stand apart from other destinations is the variety of terrain at the four mountains. Here's a summary:
Aspen Mountain
Take the town gondola to the 11,212-foot summit and ski or board nearly 3,300 feet straight back down. That's the vertical rush of this mountain, which boasts no beginner runs or bunny hills. Half the mountain is rated intermediate and the other half is advanced and expert, with deep steeps and occasional knee-grinding bumps.
The signature trail is Ruthie's Run, also called "America's downhill" because this is where the world's fastest skiers race in the World Cup competition every November. Unlike much of the rest of the mountain, Ruthie's is usually corduroy groomed so you, too, can fly down like a racer, at least until your legs give out near the bottom.
Snowmass
Everything is big here: more sprawling terrain than the other three mountains combined, more parks and pipes for snowboarders, more activities and programs for kids and more winter offerings that include everything from snowshoeing to hot-air ballooning to paragliding.
The mountain is a cruiser's paradise, with meandering, wide runs up to five miles long. The penultimate Snowmass cruiser is called the Big Burn, named after a wildfire that scorched hundreds of pines decades ago. After taking the lift up to the top at nearly 12,000 feet, we skied in and out of scattered trees to an open slope with panoramic views of the Rockies. There is plenty of room to move and just enough pitch for intermediate skiers and boarders to make sweeping turns without worrying about getting in over their heads.
Buttermilk
The name suggests a warmed-over bunny hill, and indeed Buttermilk for years was a gentle learning hill for kids and beginners. Not anymore. Boarders flock to the parks, pipes and the top-to-bottom advanced terrain in the Tiehack area. The base area still has a popular open glade where ski school instructors teach beginners of all ages to board and ski.
Aspen Highlands
If you want to escape the crowds, come here. Aspen Highlands is similar to Aspen Mountain, with its narrow profile and steep terrain, but it lacks cachet because it's a day use area tucked away in a canyon with minimal amenities. Besides the low-key vibe, the chief attraction is the top-of-the-world views of the Maroon Bells, the twin 14,000-foot peaks to the west whose jagged summits are the most photographed mountains in Colorado. Though the runs are shorter than Snowmass and less steep than Ajax, the views at the top are worth the trip.
Other Colorado Greats
Aspen is just one of many iconic ski towns Colorado has to offer. Vail vacation rentals offer skiers walk-out access to lifts, and other resorts like Breckenridge have the kinds of amenities once only reserved for bourgeois now available to average travelers.
Ikea Used Prisoners
Story first appeared on NYTimes.com.
Ikea has long been famous for its inexpensive, some-assembly-required furniture. On Friday the company admitted that political prisoners in the former East Germany provided some of the labor that helped it keep its prices so low.
A report by auditors at Ernst & Young concluded that Ikea, a Swedish
company, knowingly benefited from forced labor in the former East
Germany to manufacture some of its products in the 1980s. Ikea had
commissioned the report in May as a result of accusations that both
political and criminal prisoners were involved in making components of
Ikea furniture and that some Ikea employees knew about it.
Even though Ikea Group took steps to secure that prisoners were not
used in production, it is now clear that these measures were not
effective enough.
The use of political prisoners as forced labor, even decades ago, is a
publicity disaster for a company that with its familiar blue and yellow
logo seems at times like a cultural ambassador for Sweden. Inexpensive
Ikea furnishings have filled countless student apartments and the homes
of millions of young families around the world.
Accusations against Ikea started to appear about a year ago in news
media reports in Germany and Sweden. Ikea’s admission has given new
impetus to efforts by victims’ groups to receive compensation for work
they were forced to perform under the Communist government in East
Germany, an issue that has long been overshadowed here by the large and
deadly slave-labor program under the Nazis.
“There’s little recognition,” said the chairman of the
Association of Victims of Stalinism, himself a former forced laborer,
after a news conference here a short walk from the former Checkpoint
Charlie border crossing, in a building that stands along the path of the Berlin Wall.
Ikea is not the only company that has been linked to forced labor in the
former East Germany by purchasing goods from suppliers there, though
the actual number may never be known.
The prisoner said that after an attempt to escape from East Germany, he
was forced to make steel pipes for the firms Klöckner & Company and
Mannesmann.
At least two well-known mail-order companies in the former West Germany,
Neckermann and Quelle, which have since run into financial trouble,
have also been accused of using forced labor.
Christian Sachse, a Berlin historian, said forced labor permeated
institutions across East Germany, and that it would take years of
research to properly understand the field.
The prisoner said that more needs to be done for the victims, many of
whom today live under worse circumstances than their former tormentors.
Ikea’s announcement received a mixed response. There was praise that the
company had made an effort to uncover unpleasant facts about its past,
but also criticism that it had not been transparent enough with the
results. Rather than releasing the entire report, the company made only a
four-page summary available, citing privacy concerns.
Investigators examined 20,000 pages of internal Ikea records, as well as
80,000 pages of documents from federal and state archives. They
interviewed about 90 people, including current and former Ikea workers
and witnesses from East Germany.
A political prisoner in Naumburg, about an hour’s drive from Leipzig,
told investigators that he was sent to VEB Metallwaren Naumburg, one of
East Germany’s state-owned enterprises. He was put to work placing metal
pegs in chair legs and furniture rollers, and remembered seeing boxes
with the Ikea logo.
A purchaser for the company said that the use of prison labor was not
an official Ikea strategy, but that there was an awareness within the
company about the issue.
The G.D.R. did not differentiate between political and criminal
prisoners, andduring this time period, many innocent individuals were sent to
prison. Ikea repeatedly raised concerns about the possible use of
forced labor at the time but no action was taken, the report said.
It was
well known at the time that East Germany was using prisoners to work in
factories but that West Germany encouraged the production of goods in
the East because it allowed the East to reduce its debt. At the same
time, companies liked to move production to East Germany because costs
were lower.
Companies like Ikea would still have paid for the
work in East Germany but that the pay never reached the workers. It was
pocketed by the G.D.R.
Ikea employees did visit the production sites in East Germany, but rules
governing such visits were strict, that way reducing the effectiveness
of site inspections. Any visit had to be registered and approved in
advance and could take place only in selected parts of the plants, and a
representative of the East German government had to be there.
Ikea said Friday it was sorry about the episodes and pledged to donate
money to research on forced labor in the former East Germany.
BP: $4.5 Billion in Fines
Story first appeared on NYTimes.com.
BP, the British oil company, said on Thursday that it had agreed to pay $4.5 billion in fines and other penalties and to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges related to the rig explosion two years ago that killed 11 people and caused a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
In a rare instance of seeking to hold individuals accountable for
company misdeeds, the Justice Department also filed criminal charges
against three BP employees in connection with the accident.
The government said that BP’s negligence in sealing an exploratory well
caused it to explode, sinking the Deepwater Horizon drill rig and
unleashing a gusher of oil that lasted for months and coated beaches all
along the Gulf Coast. The company initially tried to cover up the
severity of the spill, misleading both Congress and investors about how
quickly oil was leaking from the runaway well, according to the
settlement and related charges.
While the settlement dispels one dark cloud that has hovered over BP
since the spill, it does not resolve what is potentially the largest
penalty related to the incident: the company could owe as much as $21
billion in pollution fines under the Clean Water Act f it is found to
have been grossly negligent. Both the government and BP vowed to
vigorously contest that issue at a trial scheduled to begin in February.
Under its deal with the Justice Department, BP will pay about $4 billion
in penalties over five years. That amount includes $1.256 billion in
criminal fines, $2.394 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation for remediation efforts and $350 million to the National
Academy of Sciences. The criminal fine is one of the largest levied by
the United States against a corporation.
BP also agreed to pay $525 million to settle civil charges by the
Securities and Exchange Commission that it misled investors about the
flow rate of oil from the well.
In addition, the company will submit to four years of government monitoring of its safety practices and ethics.
A broader settlement that would have resolved the Clean Water Act claims
failed to win agreement from some parties, in particular the state of
Louisiana. BP and the government now intend to go to trial on those
claims in February.
The government charged the top BP officers aboard the drilling rig,
Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine, with manslaughter in connection with
each man who died, contending that the officials were negligent in
supervising tests to seal the well.
Prosecutors also charged David Rainey, BP’s former vice president for
exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, with obstruction of Congress and
making false statements for understating the rate at which oil was
spilling from the well.
As part of its plea agreement, BP admitted that, through Mr. Rainey, it
withheld documents and provided false and misleading information in
response to the House of Representatives’ request for information on how
quickly oil was flowing. While Mr. Rainey was publicly repeating BP’s
stated estimate of 5,000 barrels of oil a day, the company’s engineering
teams were using sophisticated methods that generated significantly
higher estimates. The Flow Rate Technical Group, consisting of
government and independent scientists, later concluded that more than
60,000 barrels a day were leaking into the gulf during that time.
Lawyers for all three men charged denied that their clients had committed any criminal wrongdoing.
Mr. Holder, the attorney general, said that the government’s
investigation was continuing and that other criminal charges could be
filed.
Under the settlement announced on Thursday, BP agreed to plead guilty to
11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect related to the deaths in the
explosion. The company pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor violation of
the Clean Water Act and one misdemeanor violation of the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act. It also agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of
obstruction of Congress over its statements about the flow rate.
Shelley Anderson, whose husband, Jason, died in the Deepwater Horizon
disaster, said she was happy to hear about the settlement.But Ms. Anderson said the agreement did not change her own situation.
BP has repeatedly said it would like to reach a settlement of all claims
against it if the terms were reasonable. The unresolved claims have
been weighing on the company’s share price.
On Thursday, BP’s American shares closed at $40.30, up slightly on the day and down about 34 percent since the accident.
The settlement is one less thing to be negative on BP about and a minor
step in the right direction toward the rehabilitation of BP.
As part of Thursday’s announcement, BP said it was increasing its
reserve for costs and claims related to the spill to about $42 billion.
Brian Gilvary, BP’s chief financial officer, said in a conference call
with analysts that the board weighed the settlement struck with the
government against the prospect of a much wider criminal indictment that
would have involved more people in the company.
BP said that before Thursday’s announced payments, it spent more than
$14 billion on operational response and cleanup costs and $1 billion on
early restoration projects, and paid out more than $9 billion to
individuals, businesses and government entities.
In March, BP agreed with the lawyers for plaintiffs to settle claims of
economic loss, including from the local seafood industry, and medical
claims stemming from the oil spill. The company said it expected that
settlement to be an additional $7.8 billion, which it will pay from a
trust it set aside to cover such costs.
Until this week, the only BP employee to be arrested and indicted was a
low-level engineer, Kurt Mix, who has been charged with obstruction of
justice for deleting text messages about company estimates of the flow
rate from the spill. The government has asserted that in October 2010,
Mr. Mix, of Katy, Tex., deleted from his smartphone a string of more
than 200 messages with a supervisor about the flow rate estimated at the
time of a failed effort to contain the spill. He is also accused of
deleting a second string of messages with a contractor in August 2011.
Mr. Mix has pleaded not guilty to both counts of impeding a grand jury
investigation, saying that the deletions were routine and that other
records of the communications still existed.
David Yarnold, chief executive of the National Audubon Society, said
Thursday’s settlement matches the unprecedented offense BP committed.
But BP needs to compensate the Gulf Coast in the form of civil
damages, he said.
The company could still face billions of dollars in penalties under the
Oil Pollution Act or the Clean Water Act. This possibility has spurred
political jockeying between the Obama administration and Gulf Coast
politicians who want to maximize the amount of money the states receive
to help local communities affected by the spill.
Under the Clean Water Act, fines could range from $1,100 for every
barrel spilled through simple negligence to as much as $4,300 a barrel
if the company were found to have been grossly negligent. With an
estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled in the accident, the
company faces liabilities of as much as $5.4 billion to $21 billion.
Gulf Coast lawmakers passed legislation called the Restore Act last
summer under which 80 percent of fines paid by BP under the Clean Water
Act would go to gulf communities.
The Justice Department could also levy fines under a provision of the
Oil Pollution Act, in which case BP would face a bigger penalty — more
than $31 billion — to repair damages. But BP would be allowed to take a
tax deduction for damages paid, and federal agencies would control how
the fine money was spent.
While the government will no longer be able to hold the threat of
criminal charges over BP in negotiations about a civil fine, its quiver
is not empty.
Brandon L. Garrett, a law professor at the University of Virginia who
studies corporate prosecutions, said the government could still invoke
the threat of “debarment,” or disqualification from getting federal
contracts. Although debarment is rare, he said, that could be a very
large blow both to reputation and to business BP does with the federal
government.
Two other companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico accident, the rig
operator Transocean and the cement contractor Halliburton, also face
potential civil and criminal liabilities.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Top 10 Vacations to Get away from the Office
Itching to get away from the business this winter? Here are ten unusual ideas for you that are a good value for your dollar from now through March. Happy travels!
1. West FloridaW
With white sandy beaches, year-long sunshine and a more relaxed vibe than you'd expect in touristy areas around Florida, the Gulf Coast is a favorite destination for readers
Destin Condo Rentals allow you to soak up the sun right from your backyard. Skip the crowds and routine of hotel stays, with your very own condo. May travellers these days rent condos with other families or friends for both expanded socializing and funds.
Destin Condo Rentals allow you to soak up the sun right from your backyard. Skip the crowds and routine of hotel stays, with your very own condo. May travellers these days rent condos with other families or friends for both expanded socializing and funds.
2. The Caribbean island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin
On the half-French, half-Dutch island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin, the exchange rate is favorable: one euro = one dollar in many restaurants and stores. There's plenty to do, from world-class water sports on the Dutch side to world-class dining on the French side, and there's also plenty of nonstop airline service. Consider renting a villa. Three years ago my family rented a beachfront villa at Coral Beach Club for our February school break (click here to read why we liked it so much), and to this day it remains one of our favorite family resorts. Coral Beach Club is offering seven nights for the price of five until December 15 and a 20% discount from January 5 through April 15. Book through Sint Maarten/St. Martin villa specialist Marilyn Pulito of Villas in Paradise, who has access to 15% discounts on additional villas starting in January.
4. Mexico's Riviera Maya, Pacific Coast, or Michoacan Highlands
Thanks to lingering misperceptions that Mexico is unsafe—its vacation spots are no more dangerous than popular tourist destinations in the U.S.—values abound. Two great deals pre-Christmas are in the Puerto Vallarta area: The Four Seasons Punta Mita is offering three nights for the price of two through December 21; rates start at $400 per night. The St. Regis Punta Mita is offering three nights for the price of two, with daily breakfast included, through December 20; rates start at $406.On the Riviera Maya on the Caribbean coast, Mexico specialist Zach Rabinor of Journey Mexico is offering four nights for the price of three at the Rosewood Mayakoba (my new favorite tropical resort) January 4 through April 14; 25% off stays at the Banyan Tree Mayakoba after January 2 (stay three nights and you also get a complimentary spa session); and, at Esencia Estate, a third night free until December 20 and a fourth night free from January 5 through April 30. As for the Christmas/New Year's holiday itself, your best bet is the Pacific Coast, says Rabinor, because of simple supply and demand. Suites at Las Alamandas south of Puerto Vallarta, for instance, start at $561 per night (December 19-26 a minimum five-night stay is required; December 26 – January 2 a minimum seven-night stay is required). Looking to experience Mexico's nature and culture rather than just chill on a beach? Consider a private insider's tour of the country's colonial heartland and forested highlands to see the extraordinary annual gathering of Monarch butterflies. A one-week tour, starting on the date of your choice (including over the holidays) and staying in the remarkable boutique hotels of colonial Morelia and cultural Pazcuaro, costs anywhere from $1,600 per person (if you’ve got 10 people) to $2,540 per person (if you are only two), with a 10% discount for Condé Nast Traveler readers.
5. Rome
December through February is a highly enjoyable time in Rome. You'll need a coat and gloves, but you'll also need sunglasses, as the sun is usually shining. You'll find many more locals than tourists (not the case in the summer months), everything's open, museums are uncrowded, restaurants where the locals eat are affordable—and, if you're a shopper, there are steep January sales on Italian designer merchandise. December through February also brings low rates for rental apartments. Many apartments can be rented daily, with a three-, four-, or five-night minimum. Rent through Rome apartment specialist Patrice Salezze of Papavero Villa Rentals. She has deluxe apartments in a small palazzo (privately owned by the same family for 40 years), for instance, that include two-bedroom/one-baths for about $394 per night in January and February (vs. $527 in June or July ) and one-bedroom/one-baths for about $292 per night (vs. $440 in high season). Tell Patrice that you're a Condé Nast Traveler reader and she'll waive the minimum-stay requirement. Got a full week? Consider sleeping four people in a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment on a lovely pedestrian street between the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps for just $1,820 for the week.3. Ski resorts Dear Valley, Jackson Hole, Banff/Lake Louise, and Aspen
The ski travel window that starts a couple of days after New Year's and ends a couple of days before Presidents' Day Weekend in mid-February traditionally brings good snow conditions, a lack of crowds, and favorable pricing. Places that offer particular value for your dollar are those where winter is actually low season—resorts such as Deer Valley Condo Rentals, Jackson Hole in Wyoming, and Banff/Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. Looking to ski over the Christmas/New Year's holiday? You can save 50% at Capitol Peak Lodge in Snowmass, Colorado (packages start at $422 per person for four nights in a two-bedroom condo and three-day lift tickets; packages are based on quadruple occupancy); and you can get a 7th night free at the Rustic Inn in Jackson Hole (packages start at $762 per person and include seven nights in a king superior cabin and six-day lift tickets). You can save big with Aspen Vacation Rentals. Another high-value holiday ski idea: Base yourself in Salt Lake City—since there are plenty of flights into Salt Lake and plenty of empty hotels that normally cater to business travelers. It's an easy 45-minute drive to seven different ski mountains, so rent a car and you can try a different mountain every day!
6. Prague and Vienna
These cities are a festive winter wonderland in December. In Prague—which is a lot more delightful when free of the summertime tourist hordes—the Christmas markets run longer than those elsewhere in Europe: They start December 1 and last through January 6. Central/Eastern Europe specialist Gwen Kozlowski of Exeter International, which is known for its smart itineraries and savvy English-speaking guides, is offering a three-night package at the five-star Kempinski Hybernska that includes daily breakfast, round-trip private transfers from either airport or train station, two hours of a private guide to give you an insider's tour of Prague's Old Town, and all taxes, for $333.33 per night for two people, based on double occupancy. Can't make it for the Christmas festivities? The deal is available from now through March 24. Consider combining the three nights in Prague with four in Vienna, where Gwen is offering a four-night package at the four-star Le Meridien (in a great location just a block from the Opera House) that includes daily breakfast, round-trip private airport or station transfers, a Vienna Card (which provides discounted admission to all the top sights and free use of public transportation), and all taxes, for $300 per night for two people, based on double occupancy. (Vienna's Christmas Markets start November 17 and run through December 24.) The package is available from now through March 24, although there are blackout dates.
7. Berlin
Five-star hotels in Berlin are discounting aggressively over Christmas/New Year's (as well as throughout the winter), airfare is relatively affordable (since business travelers don't fly over the holidays), and there is always so much going on in this European cultural capital. The Regent is located smack in Gendarmenmarkt—where the Christmas market lasts until December 31—and has a "Winter to Remember" package that includes daily breakfast and Wi-Fi. Central/Eastern Europe specialist Gwen Kozlowski of Exeter International is offering a five-night rate that includes private roundtrip transfers, a three-day museum pass per person, and one admission per person to the Christmas market, for $180 per person per night (based on double occupancy). At the Adlon Kempinski (which has a pool), she is offering a five-night package that includes a particulately elaborate buffet breakfast daily, private round-trip transfers, a three-day museum pass per person, and one admission per person to the Christmas market, for $200 per person per night (based on double occupancy). Gwen has plenty more hotel deals up her sleeve, so contact her if you're happy with four-star values as well.8. Anna Maria Island
Anna Maria Island is a quaint Barrier Island nestled in the Gulf of
Mexico. Beautiful turquoise waters and white sandy beaches are the main
attraction here. It is a place where "old" Florida charm can still be
found, flip flops are a way of life and the speed limit never exceeds
35mph. High rise condos and fast food restaurants are pleasantly absent
from our pristine "get away from it all" island. Anna Maria Vacation Rentals accommodations and
restaurants offer something for everyone. From quaint cottages by the
sea to deluxe suites, from million-dollar villas to rustic cottages to
own, One visit to Anna Maria Island and you will be calling it, "My
island in the sun".
9. Abu Dhabi
The world's richest city (with branches of the Louvre and the Guggenheim on their way) is terrific value for the money right now. In winter the temperature is hot but not 100-degrees-plus (as it can be the rest of the year), and for just $200 to $300 a night you can snag rooms in sparkling, over-the-top hotels fit for a sheikh. Combine two nights in the city with three nights in the desert or on Sir Bani Yas Island—a nature reserve where you can do an array of activities, including snorkeling, falconry, and animal safaris. United Arab Emirates specialist Lindsey Wallace of Linara Travel has access to deals you can't get elsewhere and will ensure all goes seamlessly. In the city he recommends the new waterfront Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara, which has a rate of $200 to $250 (including daily breakfast and taxes) for all but a few nights close to New Year's, or the beachfront Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island, which is $300 per night (including daily breakfast and taxes). Combine that with three nights on Sir Bani Yas Island at the Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara for $250 to $295 per night (including daily breakfast and taxes, based on a minimum three-night stay) or in the desert at Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, where, for $280 to $320 per night (including daily breakfast and taxes), you can live out your Arabian Nights fantasy amid endless sand dunes.
10. A "repositioning" cruise
Got lots of time and enjoy spending it at sea on a ship? There are bargains on longer cruises where the ship is doing its seasonal repositioning from one region of the world to another. On December 7 there is a 15-night cruise on Celebrity Cruises' Infinity from Fort Lauderdale through the Panama Canal to Santiago, Chile, starting at $699 per person. On January 14 there is a 14-night cruise on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas from Barcelona through the Suez Canal to Dubai, starting at $799 per person. If you're looking for a simple one-week Caribbean getaway, some of the lowest prices are on Royal Caribbean out of New Orleans in February (and it's relatively inexpensive to fly to New Orleans on most February dates): The Navigator of the Seas has balcony cabins priced at $649 per person. Sailings on the Disney Magic out of Galveston, Texas, are also a particular value, compared with the cost of sailings on other Disney ships from other ports. My source for these deals is plugged-in cruise specialist Tom Baker at Cruise Center, whom I recommend you contact to book these sailings.
Hurricane Sandy Gives Boost to Vacation Industry
story first appeared on Herald-Tribune
High tourist season has kicked into high gear in Southwest Florida, and many industry watchers point to Hurricane Sandy as a primary factor behind the earlier-than-usual influx of visitors.
Eager to escape the devastation or avoid repair woes brought by the superstorm that battered the Northeast last month, many tourists and seasonal residents appear to have headed south months earlier than they normally would, according to some local businesses, anecdotal traffic counts and tourism officials. Captiva Island Condo Rentals have been experiencing a surge, due to their great value to these early-season travellers.
Though winter tourist season here traditionally ranges from January to April, restaurant owners like Paul Mattison have noticed a definite pickup in customer traffic overall — and more than a few people from areas hardest hit by the storm.
In Mattison's case, the difference this month has been felt across the board at his three Sarasota area eateries.
Before Sandy, Southwest Florida was on pace to shatter visitor records, thanks in part to the continued glow from the May 2011 designation of Siesta Key's beach as No. 1 in the nation, pent-up demand, beefed up marketing efforts and an incrementally improved national economy.
Even with the recent influx, though, tourism officials are left wondering whether visitors from storm-ravaged regions will maintain their plans to travel this winter or reconsider, to focus time and money instead on rebuilding and repairs.
Tourism plays a major role in Southwest Florida's economy and the state's, accounting for one in every seven jobs. Statewide, it brings roughly 80 million visitors a year and more than $70 billion in spending.
Vacation rentals from Manatee to Charlotte counties are almost completely booked for the season, said Amy Chapman, rental director for Michael Saunders & Co., a Sarasota-based real estate brokerage and property management company. Sanibel Condo Rentals, for example, have seen steady growth over the past several years because of the "best kept secret" status keeps property rentals low, but reservations have been ahead of the curve so far this season.
While advanced bookings are hovering near 90 percent overall, rentals near Sarasota's beaches like Siesta, Longboat and Lido keys are reporting expected occupancy rates of nearly 98 percent through the winter months.
Chapman said Sandy hadn't resulted in any cancellations for them, in fact she says they had a steady stream of calls trying to reschedule trips a week or two earlier than planned.
Those advanced commitments are significant because they buck a pre-recession trend toward later bookings by visitors, which had stymied an industry dependent on steady cash flows.
Almost all of Anna Maria Vacations' 200-plus units have been rented for the high season this year, said owner Joe Varner. The surge is motivating some vacationers to seek better options, like Anna Maria Condo Rentals.
People are traveling in larger groups, and our bigger homes, with five to seven bedrooms, are what are rented first, according to Varner. He also noted that the company has not had any cancellations in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Although Southwest Florida has typically drawn the majority of its winter visitors from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other Midwestern states, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic have become increasingly important geographic areas for the region.
Thanks to flights to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport by JetBlue — and formerly AirTran Airways from Baltimore — from New York and other cities, the region has greater access to tourists than ever before.
Despite the storm, Northeast marketing promotions are ongoing, officials from both Visit Sarasota County and the Bradenton-Area Convention Center and Visitor's Bureau note.
Pinellas County officials had signaled immediately after the storm that advertising dollars might be diverted away from New York.
Going forward, Haley said that additional online reservation capabilities will help boost bookings this year, including at a remodeled Ramada Inn in Venice, which is slated to open in January.
Southwest Florida is not the only part of the state benefitting from the influx of seasonal snowbirds and transient travelers, though.
The Sunshine State as a whole also is on its way to a record-setting year for tourism, according to recent data released by Visit Florida, the state's tourism promotions entity.
Visit Florida estimates the state hosted nearly 22 million visitors during the third quarter, an increase of 3.5 percent compared with the same three-month period in 2011.
Hurricane Sandy will of course have some impact on the state, but not on the momentum of one record-breaking year to another, according to Will Seccombe, chief marketing officer and acting president and CEO of Visit Florida.
Of the third-quarter total, domestic travelers accounted for 18.9 million visitors, a 3.2 percent increase from a year before.
There also was a larger percentage increase in the number of Canadians who came to Florida — 4 percent — while the number of international travelers rose 5.5 percent.
Although most Canadian visitors have tended to winter in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, the number of visitors from the Great White North who frequent the Sarasota-Bradenton area remains strong, said Michael MacKenzie, president of the Canadian Snowbird Association.
The boost in tourism activity also means more jobs and taxable sales for the state. Direct travel-related employment rose 1.5 percent to 1.02 million, a net addition of 15,000 positions, according to Visit Florida.
Tourism and recreation taxable sales from January through August, the last reported month, were $49 billion. That represented an increase of 7.5 percent from the same period in 2011.
With business up and more bookings expected in the initial months of 2013, some hoteliers have raised their average daily room rates, a move that had been limited by the Great Recession and more frugal travelers. The thrifty sunshine-seekers can still find great value in lovely places, like Sanibel Island Vacation Rentals.
If projections hold, those increases will spread to area attractions and eateries as well.
With that anticipated bump in sales during the remaining weeks of the year, Mattison said he is optimistic about the year to come.
Overall, sales at his three area restaurants are up 14 percent, and his catering business is up about 23 percent, from last year.
High tourist season has kicked into high gear in Southwest Florida, and many industry watchers point to Hurricane Sandy as a primary factor behind the earlier-than-usual influx of visitors.
Eager to escape the devastation or avoid repair woes brought by the superstorm that battered the Northeast last month, many tourists and seasonal residents appear to have headed south months earlier than they normally would, according to some local businesses, anecdotal traffic counts and tourism officials. Captiva Island Condo Rentals have been experiencing a surge, due to their great value to these early-season travellers.
Though winter tourist season here traditionally ranges from January to April, restaurant owners like Paul Mattison have noticed a definite pickup in customer traffic overall — and more than a few people from areas hardest hit by the storm.
In Mattison's case, the difference this month has been felt across the board at his three Sarasota area eateries.
Before Sandy, Southwest Florida was on pace to shatter visitor records, thanks in part to the continued glow from the May 2011 designation of Siesta Key's beach as No. 1 in the nation, pent-up demand, beefed up marketing efforts and an incrementally improved national economy.
Even with the recent influx, though, tourism officials are left wondering whether visitors from storm-ravaged regions will maintain their plans to travel this winter or reconsider, to focus time and money instead on rebuilding and repairs.
Tourism plays a major role in Southwest Florida's economy and the state's, accounting for one in every seven jobs. Statewide, it brings roughly 80 million visitors a year and more than $70 billion in spending.
Vacation rentals from Manatee to Charlotte counties are almost completely booked for the season, said Amy Chapman, rental director for Michael Saunders & Co., a Sarasota-based real estate brokerage and property management company. Sanibel Condo Rentals, for example, have seen steady growth over the past several years because of the "best kept secret" status keeps property rentals low, but reservations have been ahead of the curve so far this season.
While advanced bookings are hovering near 90 percent overall, rentals near Sarasota's beaches like Siesta, Longboat and Lido keys are reporting expected occupancy rates of nearly 98 percent through the winter months.
Chapman said Sandy hadn't resulted in any cancellations for them, in fact she says they had a steady stream of calls trying to reschedule trips a week or two earlier than planned.
Those advanced commitments are significant because they buck a pre-recession trend toward later bookings by visitors, which had stymied an industry dependent on steady cash flows.
Almost all of Anna Maria Vacations' 200-plus units have been rented for the high season this year, said owner Joe Varner. The surge is motivating some vacationers to seek better options, like Anna Maria Condo Rentals.
People are traveling in larger groups, and our bigger homes, with five to seven bedrooms, are what are rented first, according to Varner. He also noted that the company has not had any cancellations in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Although Southwest Florida has typically drawn the majority of its winter visitors from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other Midwestern states, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic have become increasingly important geographic areas for the region.
Thanks to flights to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport by JetBlue — and formerly AirTran Airways from Baltimore — from New York and other cities, the region has greater access to tourists than ever before.
Despite the storm, Northeast marketing promotions are ongoing, officials from both Visit Sarasota County and the Bradenton-Area Convention Center and Visitor's Bureau note.
Pinellas County officials had signaled immediately after the storm that advertising dollars might be diverted away from New York.
Going forward, Haley said that additional online reservation capabilities will help boost bookings this year, including at a remodeled Ramada Inn in Venice, which is slated to open in January.
Southwest Florida is not the only part of the state benefitting from the influx of seasonal snowbirds and transient travelers, though.
The Sunshine State as a whole also is on its way to a record-setting year for tourism, according to recent data released by Visit Florida, the state's tourism promotions entity.
Visit Florida estimates the state hosted nearly 22 million visitors during the third quarter, an increase of 3.5 percent compared with the same three-month period in 2011.
Hurricane Sandy will of course have some impact on the state, but not on the momentum of one record-breaking year to another, according to Will Seccombe, chief marketing officer and acting president and CEO of Visit Florida.
Of the third-quarter total, domestic travelers accounted for 18.9 million visitors, a 3.2 percent increase from a year before.
There also was a larger percentage increase in the number of Canadians who came to Florida — 4 percent — while the number of international travelers rose 5.5 percent.
Although most Canadian visitors have tended to winter in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, the number of visitors from the Great White North who frequent the Sarasota-Bradenton area remains strong, said Michael MacKenzie, president of the Canadian Snowbird Association.
The boost in tourism activity also means more jobs and taxable sales for the state. Direct travel-related employment rose 1.5 percent to 1.02 million, a net addition of 15,000 positions, according to Visit Florida.
Tourism and recreation taxable sales from January through August, the last reported month, were $49 billion. That represented an increase of 7.5 percent from the same period in 2011.
With business up and more bookings expected in the initial months of 2013, some hoteliers have raised their average daily room rates, a move that had been limited by the Great Recession and more frugal travelers. The thrifty sunshine-seekers can still find great value in lovely places, like Sanibel Island Vacation Rentals.
If projections hold, those increases will spread to area attractions and eateries as well.
With that anticipated bump in sales during the remaining weeks of the year, Mattison said he is optimistic about the year to come.
Overall, sales at his three area restaurants are up 14 percent, and his catering business is up about 23 percent, from last year.
Fracking Potential Moving Past Obstacles
story first appeared on usatoday.com
Political obstacles to oil and gas production are starting to fall away at the state and local levels as voters, elected officials and courts jump on the energy boom bandwagon.
Voters are rewarding local politicians who support production. Ballot measures are distributing potential tax windfalls broadly. And most state legislatures are focused on managing the economic and environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, so the drilling boom can speed up rather than slow down.
The trend is crucial to the nation's energy future because oil and gas production is regulated and taxed almost entirely by state and local governments. The federal government's role is largely advisory, except on federal lands and on pipelines.
Most states were caught off guard when fracking turned Pennsylvania into a major natural gas producer in 2009. Fracking could produce oil or gas in as many as 36 states. Result: The USA will become the world's No. 1 producer of natural gas in 2015 and oil in 2017, overtaking Russia and Saudi Arabia, respectively, predicts the International Energy Agency.
Clearing the way:
Elections. Pro-drilling candidates are winning at the local level, including a sweep in southern New York. It is a hot issue, according to Broome County executive Debbie Preston, who won re-election Nov. 6. She's creating a department to help drillers. The state now has a moratorium on fracking.
Pipelines. The industry is winning approval to build pipelines. Williams Partners. the largest pipeline company, got a thumbs-up Nov. 7 to expand one pipeline and has applied to build another to move natural gas to Boston and New York City.
Even the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada looks more likely. Pro-pipeline Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, winner in North Dakota's U.S. Senate race, predicts federal approval early next year.
Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer Kate Sinding says loopholes in federal law make it hard to stop fracking.
Political obstacles to oil and gas production are starting to fall away at the state and local levels as voters, elected officials and courts jump on the energy boom bandwagon.
Voters are rewarding local politicians who support production. Ballot measures are distributing potential tax windfalls broadly. And most state legislatures are focused on managing the economic and environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, so the drilling boom can speed up rather than slow down.
The trend is crucial to the nation's energy future because oil and gas production is regulated and taxed almost entirely by state and local governments. The federal government's role is largely advisory, except on federal lands and on pipelines.
Most states were caught off guard when fracking turned Pennsylvania into a major natural gas producer in 2009. Fracking could produce oil or gas in as many as 36 states. Result: The USA will become the world's No. 1 producer of natural gas in 2015 and oil in 2017, overtaking Russia and Saudi Arabia, respectively, predicts the International Energy Agency.
Clearing the way:
Elections. Pro-drilling candidates are winning at the local level, including a sweep in southern New York. It is a hot issue, according to Broome County executive Debbie Preston, who won re-election Nov. 6. She's creating a department to help drillers. The state now has a moratorium on fracking.
Pipelines. The industry is winning approval to build pipelines. Williams Partners. the largest pipeline company, got a thumbs-up Nov. 7 to expand one pipeline and has applied to build another to move natural gas to Boston and New York City.
Even the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada looks more likely. Pro-pipeline Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, winner in North Dakota's U.S. Senate race, predicts federal approval early next year.
Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer Kate Sinding says loopholes in federal law make it hard to stop fracking.
Aspen Stays Relevant by Evolving
story first appeared on The Oregonian
Zooming down the steep face of Ajax with the wind in your face on sun-sparkled snow makes for a memorable ski day in the Rockies. What makes for a memorable winter vacation is the wall-to-wall mountain experience of Aspen.
No longer just a playground for the rich, Aspen has evolved into a more accessible and varied destination that seeks to draw regular folks. Now just about anyone can find great Ski Vacation Rentals in Aspen.
In the 1980s, Aspen was the haughty queen of North American ski resorts, with an international brand that catered to Hollywood celebs and jet setters with Euro-style skiing and nightlife. Since then, places such as Whistler, Vail and Park City, Utah, have eclipsed Aspen by luring couples, families and teens with deals, new facilities and expanding winter activities that offer a lot more to do than skiing. No wonder. Aspen Ski Co. stubbornly banned snowboarders from Aspen Mountain for a decade until then-owner Jim Crown lifted the ban in 2001.
Today, all four mountains operated by the ski company -- Aspen, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk -- welcome boarders, with Buttermilk hosting the annual in-your-face extravaganza, the Winter X Games.
Aspen's comeback also has been helped by discounts and promotions. A discounted daily lift ticket that is interchangeable at all four ski areas, for instance, runs about the same price as an $87 ticket to Disneyland.
Still, Aspen is no budget vacation by any stretch. It's more affordable to stay in a condo in nearby Snowmass and cook your own meals than stay in a pricey hotel and eat out every night in town. Either way, though, Aspen is where you want to go at night to sample the bar and club scene.
My wife and I returned to Aspen last winter on a three-day getaway, skiing Ajax (the locals still call Aspen Mountain by the old nickname) and Snowmass. We stayed at the Molly Gibson Lodge in town, where you don't need a car because of Aspen2's free public bus system that also takes you to Snowmass Village and the other two resorts. Skiing, shopping, dining, nightlife -- all of it is within walking distance if you stay in town.
Aspen is a historic mining town that is much more than a winter sports mecca -- it also has a long cultural tradition of music, art and political activism. In fact, summer is Aspen's busiest season with nonstop festivals, hiking, biking, camping, river rafting, fly fishing, mountain retreats and public policy forums.
We arrived in February, our first visit in several years. While we didn't see any celebrities on this trip, there were plenty of sleek private jets parked tip to tail at the airport. On the Aspen pedestrian mall, fur coats have been replaced by fleece, which reflects the Aspen Ski Co.'s drive to go green. Aspen and Jackson Hole are the only ski resorts in the nation to receive international certification for their environmentally friendly management practices. Aspen Condo Rentals are probably the best option when trying to get the most bang for your buck.
What makes this area stand apart from other destinations is the variety of terrain at the four mountains. Here's a summary:
Aspen Mountain
Take the town gondola to the 11,212-foot summit and ski or board nearly 3,300 feet straight back down. That's the vertical rush of this mountain, which boasts no beginner runs or bunny hills. Half the mountain is rated intermediate and the other half is advanced and expert, with deep steeps and occasional knee-grinding bumps.
The signature trail is Ruthie's Run, also called "America's downhill" because this is where the world's fastest skiers race in the World Cup competition every November. Unlike much of the rest of the mountain, Ruthie's is usually corduroy groomed so you, too, can fly down like a racer, at least until your legs give out near the bottom.
Snowmass
Everything is big here: more sprawling terrain than the other three mountains combined, more parks and pipes for snowboarders, more activities and programs for kids and more winter offerings that include everything from snowshoeing to hot-air ballooning to paragliding.
The mountain is a cruiser's paradise, with meandering, wide runs up to five miles long. The penultimate Snowmass cruiser is called the Big Burn, named after a wildfire that scorched hundreds of pines decades ago. After taking the lift up to the top at nearly 12,000 feet, we skied in and out of scattered trees to an open slope with panoramic views of the Rockies. There is plenty of room to move and just enough pitch for intermediate skiers and boarders to make sweeping turns without worrying about getting in over their heads.
Buttermilk
The name suggests a warmed-over bunny hill, and indeed Buttermilk for years was a gentle learning hill for kids and beginners. Not anymore. Boarders flock to the parks, pipes and the top-to-bottom advanced terrain in the Tiehack area. The base area still has a popular open glade where ski school instructors teach beginners of all ages to board and ski.
Aspen Highlands
If you want to escape the crowds, come here. Aspen Highlands is similar to Aspen Mountain, with its narrow profile and steep terrain, but it lacks cachet because it's a day use area tucked away in a canyon with minimal amenities. Besides the low-key vibe, the chief attraction is the top-of-the-world views of the Maroon Bells, the twin 14,000-foot peaks to the west whose jagged summits are the most photographed mountains in Colorado. Though the runs are shorter than Snowmass and less steep than Ajax, the views at the top are worth the trip.
Other Colorado Choices
Aspen has stayed a relevant vacation town by evolving along with it's core demographic. Other iconic ski destinations have done the same, like Breckenridge and Vail. Plan a whole Rockies getaway with Ski In Ski Out Lodging in Breckenridge Colorado
Zooming down the steep face of Ajax with the wind in your face on sun-sparkled snow makes for a memorable ski day in the Rockies. What makes for a memorable winter vacation is the wall-to-wall mountain experience of Aspen.
No longer just a playground for the rich, Aspen has evolved into a more accessible and varied destination that seeks to draw regular folks. Now just about anyone can find great Ski Vacation Rentals in Aspen.
In the 1980s, Aspen was the haughty queen of North American ski resorts, with an international brand that catered to Hollywood celebs and jet setters with Euro-style skiing and nightlife. Since then, places such as Whistler, Vail and Park City, Utah, have eclipsed Aspen by luring couples, families and teens with deals, new facilities and expanding winter activities that offer a lot more to do than skiing. No wonder. Aspen Ski Co. stubbornly banned snowboarders from Aspen Mountain for a decade until then-owner Jim Crown lifted the ban in 2001.
Today, all four mountains operated by the ski company -- Aspen, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk -- welcome boarders, with Buttermilk hosting the annual in-your-face extravaganza, the Winter X Games.
Aspen's comeback also has been helped by discounts and promotions. A discounted daily lift ticket that is interchangeable at all four ski areas, for instance, runs about the same price as an $87 ticket to Disneyland.
Still, Aspen is no budget vacation by any stretch. It's more affordable to stay in a condo in nearby Snowmass and cook your own meals than stay in a pricey hotel and eat out every night in town. Either way, though, Aspen is where you want to go at night to sample the bar and club scene.
My wife and I returned to Aspen last winter on a three-day getaway, skiing Ajax (the locals still call Aspen Mountain by the old nickname) and Snowmass. We stayed at the Molly Gibson Lodge in town, where you don't need a car because of Aspen2's free public bus system that also takes you to Snowmass Village and the other two resorts. Skiing, shopping, dining, nightlife -- all of it is within walking distance if you stay in town.
Aspen is a historic mining town that is much more than a winter sports mecca -- it also has a long cultural tradition of music, art and political activism. In fact, summer is Aspen's busiest season with nonstop festivals, hiking, biking, camping, river rafting, fly fishing, mountain retreats and public policy forums.
We arrived in February, our first visit in several years. While we didn't see any celebrities on this trip, there were plenty of sleek private jets parked tip to tail at the airport. On the Aspen pedestrian mall, fur coats have been replaced by fleece, which reflects the Aspen Ski Co.'s drive to go green. Aspen and Jackson Hole are the only ski resorts in the nation to receive international certification for their environmentally friendly management practices. Aspen Condo Rentals are probably the best option when trying to get the most bang for your buck.
What makes this area stand apart from other destinations is the variety of terrain at the four mountains. Here's a summary:
Aspen Mountain
Take the town gondola to the 11,212-foot summit and ski or board nearly 3,300 feet straight back down. That's the vertical rush of this mountain, which boasts no beginner runs or bunny hills. Half the mountain is rated intermediate and the other half is advanced and expert, with deep steeps and occasional knee-grinding bumps.
The signature trail is Ruthie's Run, also called "America's downhill" because this is where the world's fastest skiers race in the World Cup competition every November. Unlike much of the rest of the mountain, Ruthie's is usually corduroy groomed so you, too, can fly down like a racer, at least until your legs give out near the bottom.
Snowmass
Everything is big here: more sprawling terrain than the other three mountains combined, more parks and pipes for snowboarders, more activities and programs for kids and more winter offerings that include everything from snowshoeing to hot-air ballooning to paragliding.
The mountain is a cruiser's paradise, with meandering, wide runs up to five miles long. The penultimate Snowmass cruiser is called the Big Burn, named after a wildfire that scorched hundreds of pines decades ago. After taking the lift up to the top at nearly 12,000 feet, we skied in and out of scattered trees to an open slope with panoramic views of the Rockies. There is plenty of room to move and just enough pitch for intermediate skiers and boarders to make sweeping turns without worrying about getting in over their heads.
Buttermilk
The name suggests a warmed-over bunny hill, and indeed Buttermilk for years was a gentle learning hill for kids and beginners. Not anymore. Boarders flock to the parks, pipes and the top-to-bottom advanced terrain in the Tiehack area. The base area still has a popular open glade where ski school instructors teach beginners of all ages to board and ski.
Aspen Highlands
If you want to escape the crowds, come here. Aspen Highlands is similar to Aspen Mountain, with its narrow profile and steep terrain, but it lacks cachet because it's a day use area tucked away in a canyon with minimal amenities. Besides the low-key vibe, the chief attraction is the top-of-the-world views of the Maroon Bells, the twin 14,000-foot peaks to the west whose jagged summits are the most photographed mountains in Colorado. Though the runs are shorter than Snowmass and less steep than Ajax, the views at the top are worth the trip.
Other Colorado Choices
Aspen has stayed a relevant vacation town by evolving along with it's core demographic. Other iconic ski destinations have done the same, like Breckenridge and Vail. Plan a whole Rockies getaway with Ski In Ski Out Lodging in Breckenridge Colorado
Monday, November 19, 2012
Convenience Stores Honor Veterans
story first appeared on csnews.com
Sunday marks Veterans Day and convenience store retailers across the country are finding ways to honor those men and women who served our country. Many party story owners have decorated their Walk-in Coolers to honor the event.
Sunday marks Veterans Day and convenience store retailers across the country are finding ways to honor those men and women who served our country. Many party story owners have decorated their Walk-in Coolers to honor the event.
Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz Convenience Restaurants will serve all military veterans a free hot dog lunch on Monday, Nov. 12, to commemorate Veterans Day. Veterans will be served from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at all 430 Sheetz locations throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.
Binghamton, N.Y.-based Mirabito Convenience Stores is showing its support by offering free coffee, any size, to members of the armed services throughout the weekend. Industry sources also report that many party store Beer Cave displays are being dressed up for the promotion. The Mirabito Family of Cos. includes Mirabito Energy Products, Mirabito, Quickway and Convenience Express Stores, Old Road Truck Repair and the Rewards Plus customer loyalty program. Its stores are located in Upstate New York.
Manley's Mighty Marts is also giving away free New England coffee (or hot beverage) to all veterans and military personnel on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Also based in Binghamton, N.Y., the family-owned company operates 23 convenience stores in New York State.
In addition, Westlake, Ohio-based TravelCenters of America (TA) is offering complimentary meals to truck drivers who are veterans of the U.S. armed services on Sunday at more than 170 participating TA and Petro Stopping Center restaurants, as CSNews Online previously reported. Some convenience store chains are creating custom Beverage Coolers for the promotion. On Nov. 11, any driver who is a veteran and holds a commercial driver's license can receive a free meal of their choice, up to a $15 value, by showing proof of service prior to ordering their meal at Iron Skillet, Country Pride and other full-service restaurants within TA and Petro Stopping Centers.
Binghamton, N.Y.-based Mirabito Convenience Stores is showing its support by offering free coffee, any size, to members of the armed services throughout the weekend. Industry sources also report that many party store Beer Cave displays are being dressed up for the promotion. The Mirabito Family of Cos. includes Mirabito Energy Products, Mirabito, Quickway and Convenience Express Stores, Old Road Truck Repair and the Rewards Plus customer loyalty program. Its stores are located in Upstate New York.
Manley's Mighty Marts is also giving away free New England coffee (or hot beverage) to all veterans and military personnel on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Also based in Binghamton, N.Y., the family-owned company operates 23 convenience stores in New York State.
In addition, Westlake, Ohio-based TravelCenters of America (TA) is offering complimentary meals to truck drivers who are veterans of the U.S. armed services on Sunday at more than 170 participating TA and Petro Stopping Center restaurants, as CSNews Online previously reported. Some convenience store chains are creating custom Beverage Coolers for the promotion. On Nov. 11, any driver who is a veteran and holds a commercial driver's license can receive a free meal of their choice, up to a $15 value, by showing proof of service prior to ordering their meal at Iron Skillet, Country Pride and other full-service restaurants within TA and Petro Stopping Centers.
Bankruptcy for AMF Bowling
story first appeared in Wall Street Journal
AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc., the world's largest operator of bowling alleys, filed for bankruptcy-court protection Tuesday after being squeezed by a cash crunch and failing to find a buyer for its business.
The filing marks AMF's second trip through bankruptcy since 2001. The company, which employs 7,000 people, has struggled with both a heavy debt load and a shift in the sport.
The bowling industry has been in flux for decades. Once largely a blue-collar pastime dominated by leagues, it has shifted to a sport aimed at middle-class players, who seek amenities and attractive facilities and are generally averse to joining the teams that provide bowling alleys with steady income.
Tom Clark, the commissioner of the Professional Bowlers Association, said that even as the number of people bowling at least once a year is at a high of about 70 million, only about two million are competing regularly in leagues.
AMF, which sold off its bowling alleys overseas in a previous restructuring, operates 262 bowling centers in the U.S. Small chains and mom-and-pop operators now dominate the industry, which includes more than 5,000 bowling alleys.
AMF said that it would have upgraded its facilities to cater to today's bowlers, but the economic downturn reduced its revenue, thwarting its plans. The company does have nine bowling centers with lounges and modern décor, a response to competitors like Lucky Strike, a chain of upscale bowling centers with a dress code.
Facing what it called "unmanageable" debt levels, AMF began searching for a buyer last year. After an unsuccessful hunt, it instead began reaching out to creditors to discuss a restructuring.
The deal, which will be subject to bankruptcy-court approval, calls for AMF to exit Chapter 11 under the ownership of its senior lenders, subject to rival bids at a court-overseen auction. Either way, the lenders, which are owed more than $216 million, would see their claims paid in full.
AMF said it expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection within the next five months. Steve Satterwhite, AMF's chief financial officer and chief operating officer, said they'd be recapitalizing their balance sheet and reducing debt.
AMF, which said it hosts more than 20 million bowlers a year, said its financial troubles are tied to the bowling industry's shift to open play from leagues. It also attracted fewer bowlers during the economic downturn, which slashed revenue while the company's fixed costs remained high.
Tuesday's bankruptcy filing came about a week after AMF defaulted on its debt obligations, according to Standard & Poor's.To ensure its uninterrupted operations while it restructures, AMF won court approval Tuesday afternoon to tap $35 million of a $50 million bankruptcy loan from some of its existing senior lenders, a group led by Credit Suisse .
The Mechanicsville, Va., company reported assets and debts that were each in the range of $100 million to $500 million in its bankruptcy petition, which court papers show was filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va.
In 1996, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led a $1.37 billion leveraged buyout of AMF from Richmond, Va., businessman William Goodwin. The firm went public in November 1997 but was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange three years later.
AMF first sought Chapter 11 protection in July 2001 to address declining revenue and its acquisition of 260 additional bowling centers, which the company said it struggled to manage. AMF emerged from bankruptcy protection the following year under the ownership of its secured lenders, though it quickly sought a new owner.
Chicago private-equity firm Code Hennessy & Simmons bought the bowling company in a $670 million deal and presided over what AMF called a "simplify and transform" strategy that involved shedding foreign assets and installing new management. According to the company, its financial results showed improvements between 2005 and 2008.
Steve Johnson, executive director of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America, said the bowling industry has been making a comeback in recent years.
Tom Clark, the commissioner of the Professional Bowlers Association, said that even as the number of people bowling at least once a year is at a high of about 70 million, only about two million are competing regularly in leagues.
AMF, which sold off its bowling alleys overseas in a previous restructuring, operates 262 bowling centers in the U.S. Small chains and mom-and-pop operators now dominate the industry, which includes more than 5,000 bowling alleys.
AMF said that it would have upgraded its facilities to cater to today's bowlers, but the economic downturn reduced its revenue, thwarting its plans. The company does have nine bowling centers with lounges and modern décor, a response to competitors like Lucky Strike, a chain of upscale bowling centers with a dress code.
Facing what it called "unmanageable" debt levels, AMF began searching for a buyer last year. After an unsuccessful hunt, it instead began reaching out to creditors to discuss a restructuring.
The deal, which will be subject to bankruptcy-court approval, calls for AMF to exit Chapter 11 under the ownership of its senior lenders, subject to rival bids at a court-overseen auction. Either way, the lenders, which are owed more than $216 million, would see their claims paid in full.
AMF said it expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection within the next five months. Steve Satterwhite, AMF's chief financial officer and chief operating officer, said they'd be recapitalizing their balance sheet and reducing debt.
AMF, which said it hosts more than 20 million bowlers a year, said its financial troubles are tied to the bowling industry's shift to open play from leagues. It also attracted fewer bowlers during the economic downturn, which slashed revenue while the company's fixed costs remained high.
Tuesday's bankruptcy filing came about a week after AMF defaulted on its debt obligations, according to Standard & Poor's.To ensure its uninterrupted operations while it restructures, AMF won court approval Tuesday afternoon to tap $35 million of a $50 million bankruptcy loan from some of its existing senior lenders, a group led by Credit Suisse .
The Mechanicsville, Va., company reported assets and debts that were each in the range of $100 million to $500 million in its bankruptcy petition, which court papers show was filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va.
In 1996, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led a $1.37 billion leveraged buyout of AMF from Richmond, Va., businessman William Goodwin. The firm went public in November 1997 but was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange three years later.
AMF first sought Chapter 11 protection in July 2001 to address declining revenue and its acquisition of 260 additional bowling centers, which the company said it struggled to manage. AMF emerged from bankruptcy protection the following year under the ownership of its secured lenders, though it quickly sought a new owner.
Chicago private-equity firm Code Hennessy & Simmons bought the bowling company in a $670 million deal and presided over what AMF called a "simplify and transform" strategy that involved shedding foreign assets and installing new management. According to the company, its financial results showed improvements between 2005 and 2008.
Steve Johnson, executive director of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America, said the bowling industry has been making a comeback in recent years.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Denver Post Selling Colorado Rockies Interest
story originally appeared on mercurynews.com
DENVER -- The Denver Post is actively marketing its minority ownership stake in the Colorado Rockies, according to Digital First Media, which operates Denver Post owner MediaNews Group.
The paper is seeking to sell the stake in the baseball team as it pursues a digital strategy focused on content creation and advertising sales on multiple platforms, according to Digital First Media chief executive John Paton.
The Post holds a 7.3 percent stake in the Rockies, which is majority owned by brothers Dick and Charlie Monfort.
In March, Forbes magazine valued the franchise at $464 million, up 12 percent from the previous year.
Ed Moss, CEO of the Denver Post and Executive Vice President of Digital first Media said that there has been a recent increase in market value of Major League Baseball teams, and they would sell the interest if they could receive the right value. Otherwise, he says, they can just old onto their interest in the Colorado Rockies.
New York-based Digital First Media took over management of MediaNews Group in the fall of 2011. The Bay Area News Group is among the other MediaNews Group newspapers managed by DFM.
Park Lane, a sports-focused investment bank based in Los Angeles, and Katten Muchin Roseman LLP, a sports law group, will field offers for the Post's ownership position in the Rockies.
DENVER -- The Denver Post is actively marketing its minority ownership stake in the Colorado Rockies, according to Digital First Media, which operates Denver Post owner MediaNews Group.
The paper is seeking to sell the stake in the baseball team as it pursues a digital strategy focused on content creation and advertising sales on multiple platforms, according to Digital First Media chief executive John Paton.
The Post holds a 7.3 percent stake in the Rockies, which is majority owned by brothers Dick and Charlie Monfort.
In March, Forbes magazine valued the franchise at $464 million, up 12 percent from the previous year.
Ed Moss, CEO of the Denver Post and Executive Vice President of Digital first Media said that there has been a recent increase in market value of Major League Baseball teams, and they would sell the interest if they could receive the right value. Otherwise, he says, they can just old onto their interest in the Colorado Rockies.
New York-based Digital First Media took over management of MediaNews Group in the fall of 2011. The Bay Area News Group is among the other MediaNews Group newspapers managed by DFM.
Park Lane, a sports-focused investment bank based in Los Angeles, and Katten Muchin Roseman LLP, a sports law group, will field offers for the Post's ownership position in the Rockies.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Manufacturing Jobs lost to Federal Prisoners
story first appeared on Associate Press
On the outside, Unicor, with its big oaks and magnolia trees, looks like it could be part of a landscaped industrial park. Step a little closer and it's clear the apparel shop lies in the middle of a medium-security federal prison in east Alabama.
The factory and those like it that employ convicted felons are at the heart of a simmering debate about whether prisons should be siphoning away jobs — at much lower wages — that could be filled by those who need them during the nation's toughest period of unemployment in decades.
Congressional Republicans, a handful of Democrats and private-industry critics want to clamp down on Unicor, the trade name for Federal Prison Industries.
Almost 13,000 inmates working in federal lockups around the country for a few dollars a day make everything from military uniforms to office furniture to electrical parts that are sold exclusively to federal agencies. With annual revenues that reached $900 million last year, Unicor is the federal government's 36th-largest vendor.
Corrections officials say the program teaches prisoners invaluable job skills and personal discipline that help cut down on their return to prison. Inmates who work in the program are 24 percent less likely to commit more crimes than other prisoners after being released, they say.
Philip J. Sibal, senior deputy assistant director of Federal Prison Industries, told a congressional committee earlier this year that althought Unicor operates as a business, the benefit is inmates who are trained in marketable job skills so that they can return to the community as productive members of society.
But Misti Keeton's eyes welled with tears at the thought of losing her job to a convict. She sews military apparel in the west Alabama town of Fayette at American Power Source. The company is laying off about 50 workers at her plant and another one in Columbus, Miss., after losing a contract to make Air Force exercise garb to Unicor.
Critics of the program say Unicor undercuts private companies because of lower operating costs and laws that require federal agencies to use inmate-produced products when able.
Inmates in the Talladega prison factory are paid by the pieces of clothing they complete and average around $150 a month, which goes into an account at the prison. At American Power Source, workers make $9.25 an hour average, or about $1,480 a month based on a 40-hour week.
Federal prisoners, though, haven't taken huge numbers of jobs away from private industry. Private groups supporting limits on Unicor's operation have documented only 300 or so layoffs directly linked to private companies losing work to federal prisoners, all at four textile plants in Alabama and Tennessee.
And, though Unicor doesn't have to pay benefits like many private employers, Talladega plant manager Robert Bynum said the factories face a challenge other businesses don't: Making quality products with convicted felons, many of whom don't know how to work. He says many have never had a job.
Correctional officers are stationed all around the prison, but not inside the factory unless needed.
The tension between private jobs and rehabilitating prisoners has hounded the prison industry program since it began under President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression in 1934, when the national unemployment rate was 22 percent.
Back then, the American Federation of Labor opposed creating a prison-based manufacturing network, arguing it would suck jobs away from the private sector at a time when working people needed every job they could get. The arguments today against Unicor are similar as the nation tries to escape lingering high unemployment following the worst recession since before World War II.
Federal agencies are now required to purchase items when possible from Unicor. However, Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., is the primary sponsor of legislation to change that.
Among other things, the proposal that has drawn bipartisan support would subject prison factories to direct competition with private business by removing a requirement that makes Unicor the "mandatory source" for some products for government agencies.
The House passed such legislation in 2003 and 2006 before it stalled in the Senate both times; this year's version got stuck in the committee that held the hearing where Sibal spoke in June.
John M. Palatiello of the Business Coalition for Fair Competition, which supports the bill, says there is still a good opportunity to get something done.
But with Unicor plants at 66 prisons nationwide, critics say prisoners are doing work that law-abiding citizens could be performing. The operation isn't nearly as big as just a few years ago because the sluggish economy and tight budgets have reduced government orders, forcing the Bureau of Prisons to close or downsize 43 Unicor factories nationwide.
James Hamm isn't following the Unicor debate closely, but he knows all about prison factories: He's serving 38 years for bank robbery at the Talladega Federal Correctional Institution, which houses 1,050 prisoners. Hamm is among the 210 inmates who produce military apparel in a 30,000-square-foot factory at the prison.
Hamm, 34, has used prison wages to pay his court-ordered fine of $1,200, and he earned the high school equivalency degree that was required as part of his participation in Unicor. He said the prison job has taught him about hard work and responsibility — things he didn't know anything about on the outside.
About 130 miles away on the other side of Alabama, Keeton does the same thing at American Power Source.
Keeton sympathizes with the need to rehabilitate prisoners in a way few others might — she's a former inmate herself. Keeton served time at a state prison on drug-related charges but is now laboring in the same building where her mother worked for 27 years for a different apparel maker.
On the outside, Unicor, with its big oaks and magnolia trees, looks like it could be part of a landscaped industrial park. Step a little closer and it's clear the apparel shop lies in the middle of a medium-security federal prison in east Alabama.
The factory and those like it that employ convicted felons are at the heart of a simmering debate about whether prisons should be siphoning away jobs — at much lower wages — that could be filled by those who need them during the nation's toughest period of unemployment in decades.
Congressional Republicans, a handful of Democrats and private-industry critics want to clamp down on Unicor, the trade name for Federal Prison Industries.
Almost 13,000 inmates working in federal lockups around the country for a few dollars a day make everything from military uniforms to office furniture to electrical parts that are sold exclusively to federal agencies. With annual revenues that reached $900 million last year, Unicor is the federal government's 36th-largest vendor.
Corrections officials say the program teaches prisoners invaluable job skills and personal discipline that help cut down on their return to prison. Inmates who work in the program are 24 percent less likely to commit more crimes than other prisoners after being released, they say.
Philip J. Sibal, senior deputy assistant director of Federal Prison Industries, told a congressional committee earlier this year that althought Unicor operates as a business, the benefit is inmates who are trained in marketable job skills so that they can return to the community as productive members of society.
But Misti Keeton's eyes welled with tears at the thought of losing her job to a convict. She sews military apparel in the west Alabama town of Fayette at American Power Source. The company is laying off about 50 workers at her plant and another one in Columbus, Miss., after losing a contract to make Air Force exercise garb to Unicor.
Critics of the program say Unicor undercuts private companies because of lower operating costs and laws that require federal agencies to use inmate-produced products when able.
Inmates in the Talladega prison factory are paid by the pieces of clothing they complete and average around $150 a month, which goes into an account at the prison. At American Power Source, workers make $9.25 an hour average, or about $1,480 a month based on a 40-hour week.
Federal prisoners, though, haven't taken huge numbers of jobs away from private industry. Private groups supporting limits on Unicor's operation have documented only 300 or so layoffs directly linked to private companies losing work to federal prisoners, all at four textile plants in Alabama and Tennessee.
And, though Unicor doesn't have to pay benefits like many private employers, Talladega plant manager Robert Bynum said the factories face a challenge other businesses don't: Making quality products with convicted felons, many of whom don't know how to work. He says many have never had a job.
Correctional officers are stationed all around the prison, but not inside the factory unless needed.
The tension between private jobs and rehabilitating prisoners has hounded the prison industry program since it began under President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression in 1934, when the national unemployment rate was 22 percent.
Back then, the American Federation of Labor opposed creating a prison-based manufacturing network, arguing it would suck jobs away from the private sector at a time when working people needed every job they could get. The arguments today against Unicor are similar as the nation tries to escape lingering high unemployment following the worst recession since before World War II.
Federal agencies are now required to purchase items when possible from Unicor. However, Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., is the primary sponsor of legislation to change that.
Among other things, the proposal that has drawn bipartisan support would subject prison factories to direct competition with private business by removing a requirement that makes Unicor the "mandatory source" for some products for government agencies.
The House passed such legislation in 2003 and 2006 before it stalled in the Senate both times; this year's version got stuck in the committee that held the hearing where Sibal spoke in June.
John M. Palatiello of the Business Coalition for Fair Competition, which supports the bill, says there is still a good opportunity to get something done.
But with Unicor plants at 66 prisons nationwide, critics say prisoners are doing work that law-abiding citizens could be performing. The operation isn't nearly as big as just a few years ago because the sluggish economy and tight budgets have reduced government orders, forcing the Bureau of Prisons to close or downsize 43 Unicor factories nationwide.
James Hamm isn't following the Unicor debate closely, but he knows all about prison factories: He's serving 38 years for bank robbery at the Talladega Federal Correctional Institution, which houses 1,050 prisoners. Hamm is among the 210 inmates who produce military apparel in a 30,000-square-foot factory at the prison.
Hamm, 34, has used prison wages to pay his court-ordered fine of $1,200, and he earned the high school equivalency degree that was required as part of his participation in Unicor. He said the prison job has taught him about hard work and responsibility — things he didn't know anything about on the outside.
About 130 miles away on the other side of Alabama, Keeton does the same thing at American Power Source.
Keeton sympathizes with the need to rehabilitate prisoners in a way few others might — she's a former inmate herself. Keeton served time at a state prison on drug-related charges but is now laboring in the same building where her mother worked for 27 years for a different apparel maker.
Friday, November 2, 2012
For-Profit Colleges in Financial Trouble
story first appeared in The Wall Street Journal
As consumers wise up about education spending, for-profit colleges are getting schooled.
Institutions such as Apollo Group Inc.'s University of Phoenix, DeVry Inc. and Washington Post Co.'s Kaplan—who only a few years ago reported double-digit student gains on a regular basis and posted hundreds of millions in profits—now are hemorrhaging students.
The storm was supposed to have passed for for-profit colleges when proposed regulations restricting access to federal student aid were watered down, and then overturned earlier this year. But some schools are still hurting, and it looks like the pain won't let up any time soon. Successful schools are often invested in new technology fields, offering concentrations in things like Wind Turbine Repair and Solar Panel maintenance.
They are facing increased competition from nonprofit and state schools and growing skepticism about the value of a high-cost education. Just last week, industry bellwether Apollo said it would close nearly half of its brick-and-mortar locations to save on overhead.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. After years of government scrutiny and bad press about recruiting practices and questionable academic quality, schools worked to improve their reputations by tightening admissions standards, beefing up student support services and pouring money into rebranding. They received a slight reprieve this summer when a federal judge struck down a series of regulations that could have restricted schools' access to the federal student aid that supplies most of their revenue.
But the hoped-for recovery has failed to materialize as students rethink college entirely, and nonprofit schools muscle in to compete for market share.
Now, some analysts say pockets of the industry may never recover, with school closures and further losses all but certain.
Under the old model, schools boosted enrollment by getting students—generally working adults seeking a quick career jump-start—in the door, often with little regard for whether they eventually earned a degree.
As consumers wise up about education spending, for-profit colleges are getting schooled.
Institutions such as Apollo Group Inc.'s University of Phoenix, DeVry Inc. and Washington Post Co.'s Kaplan—who only a few years ago reported double-digit student gains on a regular basis and posted hundreds of millions in profits—now are hemorrhaging students.
The storm was supposed to have passed for for-profit colleges when proposed regulations restricting access to federal student aid were watered down, and then overturned earlier this year. But some schools are still hurting, and it looks like the pain won't let up any time soon. Successful schools are often invested in new technology fields, offering concentrations in things like Wind Turbine Repair and Solar Panel maintenance.
They are facing increased competition from nonprofit and state schools and growing skepticism about the value of a high-cost education. Just last week, industry bellwether Apollo said it would close nearly half of its brick-and-mortar locations to save on overhead.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. After years of government scrutiny and bad press about recruiting practices and questionable academic quality, schools worked to improve their reputations by tightening admissions standards, beefing up student support services and pouring money into rebranding. They received a slight reprieve this summer when a federal judge struck down a series of regulations that could have restricted schools' access to the federal student aid that supplies most of their revenue.
But the hoped-for recovery has failed to materialize as students rethink college entirely, and nonprofit schools muscle in to compete for market share.
Now, some analysts say pockets of the industry may never recover, with school closures and further losses all but certain.
Under the old model, schools boosted enrollment by getting students—generally working adults seeking a quick career jump-start—in the door, often with little regard for whether they eventually earned a degree.
Kevin Kinser, an associate professor of higher education policy at the State University of New York at Albany said that colleges could be very profitable as a business, even if not as an educational institution.
No longer. Apollo said last week that enrollment fell by nearly 14% to 328,400 in the fiscal quarter ended Aug. 31. Student counts have dropped by nearly a third since their May 2010 peak of 476,500. The school says the money saved from closing classrooms will be rededicated to its online programs.The school blames its dwindling enrollment in part on increased competition from more traditional education providers, as well as the fact that many potential students don't move beyond University of Phoenix's free "orientation," a trial period of instruction before tuition is due, spokesman Mark Brenner says.
The economy has also put pressure on schools, which normally benefit from economic downturns as adults seek to bolster their résumés with new skills and degrees. This time around, the weak job market coupled with rising college costs has made many prospective students leery of investing in school without guaranteed returns.
The U.S. Department of Education recently reported the first drop in college enrollment in more than a decade—albeit one of less than 0.2%—based on data for students enrolled in fall 2011. But for-profit colleges saw enrollment fall by 2.8%.
Meanwhile, as states seek to reduce government spending, legislators see financial aid that ends up at for-profit schools as an easy target for cuts. In California, lawmakers this summer decreed that students at 154 schools—nearly all of them for-profit colleges—will no longer be eligible for the state's need-based Cal Grants, citing the schools' low graduation rates and students' heavy debt burdens.
To boost graduation rates and keep student-loan defaults in check, Apollo and peers are now competing for higher-quality students who have a better shot of graduating. But nonprofit schools are successfully courting the same market segment, with more students turning to online degree programs at schools including University of Maryland University College, Southern New Hampshire University and Liberty University, which don't have the reputational baggage for-profit schools do.
That leaves for-profit colleges fighting for an even smaller sliver of a shrinking pie.
Piper Jaffray analyst Peter Appert says nonprofit institutions have been slow to make a meaningful shift online, but now that they have, students are paying attention and there is a "sea change" in the market.
Enrollment in the online arm of Southern New Hampshire University, which has a ground campus in Manchester, N.H., more than doubled from last October, now hitting 16,700. University of Maryland University College, meanwhile, saw enrollment in its online programs increase by 5% in the last year, to 97,001 students.
Not all for-profit colleges are struggling. Some specialized and niche schools are still posting gains. Grand Canyon Education Inc., a Christian school with a traditional campus in Arizona and online operations, has seen enrollment soar by 60% since 2009, hitting 44,435 as of June 30. And American Public Education Inc., which targets people in the military and public safety, increased course registrations by 45% to 92,900 in that time. Michigan child abuse defense attorney programs are holding steady.
But another dark cloud looms: The Education Department says it is considering its legal and regulatory options in the wake of the July court decision striking down parts of the so-called "gainful employment" rule, which aimed to evaluate programs on how well they prepare students for employment, though industry insiders say it is unlikely much will happen in Washington until after the election.
Still, many institutions are under close watch. ITT Educational Services Inc. and Corinthian Colleges Inc. have both notified investors of a broad inquiry by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, while Universal Technical Institute Inc.and Bridgepoint Education Inc. have disclosed U.S. Department of Justice investigations into how schools incentivize staffers to land new students.
Robert Danford fits the profile of the typical for-profit customer. When the 24-year-old was looking for a program in graphic design this fall, he considered Career Education Corp.'s Collins College, where he had briefly studied a few years earlier. But he says the sales pitch and high cost—he says he took out $12,000 in loans for his first stint there—soured him on the school.
A Career Education spokesman says the school's admissions officers are trained on integrity and not to promise outcomes or access to financial aid when working with prospective students.
Mr. Danford enrolled instead in the nonprofit Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Ariz., where he is paying a few hundred dollars per credit hour and takes courses part-time while working at a nearby Office Max. He says he intends to earn an associate degree and hopes to enroll in a bachelor's degree program down the line
No longer. Apollo said last week that enrollment fell by nearly 14% to 328,400 in the fiscal quarter ended Aug. 31. Student counts have dropped by nearly a third since their May 2010 peak of 476,500. The school says the money saved from closing classrooms will be rededicated to its online programs.The school blames its dwindling enrollment in part on increased competition from more traditional education providers, as well as the fact that many potential students don't move beyond University of Phoenix's free "orientation," a trial period of instruction before tuition is due, spokesman Mark Brenner says.
The economy has also put pressure on schools, which normally benefit from economic downturns as adults seek to bolster their résumés with new skills and degrees. This time around, the weak job market coupled with rising college costs has made many prospective students leery of investing in school without guaranteed returns.
The U.S. Department of Education recently reported the first drop in college enrollment in more than a decade—albeit one of less than 0.2%—based on data for students enrolled in fall 2011. But for-profit colleges saw enrollment fall by 2.8%.
Meanwhile, as states seek to reduce government spending, legislators see financial aid that ends up at for-profit schools as an easy target for cuts. In California, lawmakers this summer decreed that students at 154 schools—nearly all of them for-profit colleges—will no longer be eligible for the state's need-based Cal Grants, citing the schools' low graduation rates and students' heavy debt burdens.
To boost graduation rates and keep student-loan defaults in check, Apollo and peers are now competing for higher-quality students who have a better shot of graduating. But nonprofit schools are successfully courting the same market segment, with more students turning to online degree programs at schools including University of Maryland University College, Southern New Hampshire University and Liberty University, which don't have the reputational baggage for-profit schools do.
That leaves for-profit colleges fighting for an even smaller sliver of a shrinking pie.
Piper Jaffray analyst Peter Appert says nonprofit institutions have been slow to make a meaningful shift online, but now that they have, students are paying attention and there is a "sea change" in the market.
Enrollment in the online arm of Southern New Hampshire University, which has a ground campus in Manchester, N.H., more than doubled from last October, now hitting 16,700. University of Maryland University College, meanwhile, saw enrollment in its online programs increase by 5% in the last year, to 97,001 students.
Not all for-profit colleges are struggling. Some specialized and niche schools are still posting gains. Grand Canyon Education Inc., a Christian school with a traditional campus in Arizona and online operations, has seen enrollment soar by 60% since 2009, hitting 44,435 as of June 30. And American Public Education Inc., which targets people in the military and public safety, increased course registrations by 45% to 92,900 in that time. Michigan child abuse defense attorney programs are holding steady.
But another dark cloud looms: The Education Department says it is considering its legal and regulatory options in the wake of the July court decision striking down parts of the so-called "gainful employment" rule, which aimed to evaluate programs on how well they prepare students for employment, though industry insiders say it is unlikely much will happen in Washington until after the election.
Still, many institutions are under close watch. ITT Educational Services Inc. and Corinthian Colleges Inc. have both notified investors of a broad inquiry by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, while Universal Technical Institute Inc.and Bridgepoint Education Inc. have disclosed U.S. Department of Justice investigations into how schools incentivize staffers to land new students.
Robert Danford fits the profile of the typical for-profit customer. When the 24-year-old was looking for a program in graphic design this fall, he considered Career Education Corp.'s Collins College, where he had briefly studied a few years earlier. But he says the sales pitch and high cost—he says he took out $12,000 in loans for his first stint there—soured him on the school.
A Career Education spokesman says the school's admissions officers are trained on integrity and not to promise outcomes or access to financial aid when working with prospective students.
Mr. Danford enrolled instead in the nonprofit Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Ariz., where he is paying a few hundred dollars per credit hour and takes courses part-time while working at a nearby Office Max. He says he intends to earn an associate degree and hopes to enroll in a bachelor's degree program down the line
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