Imagine - Wonders never cease

Story first appeared on Kilkeeny People -

A couple of weeks ago my good friend Eddie Hughes, who, with Tony Coy have created the novel but hugely enterprising Kilkenny on Ice in Cillin Hill, encouraged me to visit the establishment with a view to getting a good story for the column.  A pair of inline skates are wonderful for exercise and entertainment.

What the two young entrepreneurs have created in the Kilkenny Mart complex is truly amazing, where entertainment for all ages is paramount, and ongoing from the early AM to the late evenings. Roller Derby Inline Skates are great for summer months to practice your hockey game.  The venue branded Kilkenny on Ice has been documented by my colleague Trevor Spillane some weeks ago in this paper, but my interest, was specifically directed towards the ice rink.

If like me you would be abysmally unaware of the fact that among a wide plethora of sporting disciplines, Kilkenny competes on a national level in the Irish ice hockey championships, I will absolve you from the state of ignorance.  Keep the practice rolling outside with a Rollerblade pair.

Kilkenny certainly does compete in the National Championships, and furthermore there are at least four native Kilkenny players figuring on the Irish international team. Not only that, two Kilkenny men are official coaches to the Irish international teams at all levels.

Can you believe that?

Can only train in Belfast

It is not as if Cillin Hill is a satellite of Kilkenny, positioned inside the Arctic Circle around Lofoten Island!

You are quite aware that Kilkenny’s purpose-built, all embracing cattle mart is located less than a league out the Dublin Road. The Irish ice hockey teams are confined to training in the only ice hockey arena still functioning on the island of Ireland in Belfast (The Odyssey). All games in the championship are played there, as are all all international tournaments confined to Belfast. There were four ice rinks in the country outside of Belfast, all capable of facilitating international competition, but alas, all three, for reasons best known to the business fraternity, were forced to close their doors.

Kilkenny City Storm - oh yeh, that is the name of the Kilkenny Ice Hockey club - was consequently forced to travel to Belfast for competition, or to train with their colleagues on the various Irish international panels. Distance is a dauntingly, expensive element in the club’s functioning.

They have been forced to compromise, and in their searches for a suitable alternative, they found the O’Loughlin Gaels GAA club a willing and generous ally. They now do a considerable amount of their training on roller blades in the vast expanse of the O’Loughlin’s indoor arena.

Where would some sports in Kilkenny be without the generosity and co-operation of the men from the St John’s side of the City? Last month we wrote of the assistance rendered to the basketball people in their pursuance of their sporting discipline.

Back to ice hockey! Why were we in Cillian Hill?

A little bird whispered that the Irish international under-18 team were having a trial against the Kilkenny City Storm as a training preparation for an up-coming tournament in Gdansk. We have covered a broad canvas of sporting activity in these pages over the years, and what was the problem in adding to that portfolio?

None!

An adventure

If it is Kilkenny, we will be there, or as the transport logo might read, if Dunne can’t do it, it can’t be done. Kilkenny man, Michael Cummins is the General Manager of the Irish under-18 international squad. He is only one of the Cummins family associated with ice hockey, but more anon about that.

We opined to Michael that a few short years ago, ice hockey and Kilkenny would seem uneasy, if not estranged bed partners.

“I can see where such observations might gain momentum, but due to the presence of the ice rink in Cillian Hill, and the co-operation of Kilkenny on Ice Company who organise a superb menu of adventures for young and not so young around the months of November through to February, we have found it very beneficial to our players, both Kilkenny players and the under-18 squad to use the rink,” he explained.

“Now the rink is only half the size of the conventional playing rink, but it serves many purposes for us in the sense that we don’t have to travel vast distances to get our training and coaching sessions done,” he added.

Why the Irish team now in Kilkenny?

“Quite simply, we have four of the squad from Kilkenny (Anthony Coy, Darragh Hickey, both Kilkenny City; Oisin Power and Aaron Grehan, both Graignamanagh) and whilst Belfast is the usual location for international training, the present climate up there is worrying, and it was great to be afforded Cillian Hill for the purpose,” was the explanation.

When the ice arena finishes, Kilkenny City Storm play in-line hockey in O’Loughlin’s, which is basically ice hockey on roller blades.

Michael Cummins was an ice hockey addict, who played the game at a competitive level. He inveigled his brother, Paul, the former World kick-boxing champion, to attend one of his games. It was an instantaneous magnetic field of what Paul Cummins was looking for to whet his post kick-boxing days. Michael coached him in the skills of ice hockey and some 10 years ago they both set up the Kilkenny City Storm club right in the heart of the Marble City.

Paul excelled

As he did to become World champion, Paul excelled over a short window of opportunity. He undertook coaching courses under the auspices of the Irish Ice Hockey Association; came back to Kilkenny to coach the club’s junior players and now he is on his way to Vermacki in Finland to further his coaching skills, sponsored by the IIHA.

Michael would be the first to admit that the influx of foreign nationals (Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, Sweden) were a God send. He would readily agree that their expertise and knowledge was of immense value to the embryonic Kilkenny ice babes.

“Such people are still involved, and still doing valuable work at all levels with the senior, juniors and Pee Wee teams,” Michael told us. “It is truly amazing to see some of their children being so naturally adept at the game on our under-age teams. The popularity of the game locally is increasing week by week, and what could be possibly wrong with that statistic?”

Not a lot my friend, not a lot!

Back to the Cummins influence.

Michael was the ice hockey origins of the species. Behind him are his brothers, Paul and Jamie, who also carries a big name as a talented soccer player in the Kilkenny and District League.

Facilities, or the lack thereof, is a very real problem. With the closure of the four or five arenas due to the economic downturn, all the National League games have to be played in Belfast. The clubs use the facilities like Cillian Hill during the Winter/Christmas riposte, but during the Summer the inline game comes into its own.

Looking at the speed and consequent contact one would see where a need for body protection would be prioritised. The goalkeepers certainly put their bodies, and probably their lives, on the line to prevent goals. They look like the Michelin Man with their multi layered body and head protectors.

’Association is generous

The puck (ball used playing) is a blur. The skates create snow storms as the skaters zip all over the place. One would need the eyes of a black mamba to pick up the puck in flight.

Is the game an expensive one to get into?

“The National Association is very generous and helpful when it comes to providing gear for under-age children,” Michael continued. “It has been agreed also that hurling helmets are acceptable for youngsters while they make up their minds up about the game. Later on, when they have found a grá for the game, the up-market gear becomes somewhat expensive, but at that stage a lad’s mind is made up.”

Kilkenny City Storm’s first sojourn into foreign competition came when they visited Gdansk in 2007.

“We had never played on ice before,” Michael told us. “We were about to compete in the National Championship and we used the Poland trip to test our capabilities, our adaptabilities to ice. We had always played inline hockey.

“We certainly exceeded our expectations. We returned home elated. Our next overseas outing took us to Winnipeg in Canada, where we played some local teams. We raised some €15,000 in sponsorship to defray expense, and our performances against some of the local teams was above and beyond our wildest dreams.”

That year the club finished third in the National League. The club has a policy of providing first timers, or try out parties, with the required gear.

As Michael Cummins observed: “We will help people to have a go. See if you enjoy it. Find out if it ticks all or none of the boxes for you. If it is not your bag, then there is no harm done, or on the other tack, we could get some great talent from some of those first timers.”

The club caters for both genders, for people with disabilities, mams and dads.

Imagine - an ice hockey team

As I drove home from Cillin Hill I mused.

Here we are living in the best hurling county in the land, in the heart of some of the best agricultural land around, where the only chance we have of seeing ice is on top of a rainwater barrel, or a duck pond, or in a gin and tonic glass, and we can boast of a Kilkenny team competing in a National Ice Hockey Championship.

Is there any sporting discipline around that this great county cannot master? A Kilkenny ice hockey team?

Wonders will never cease!

AA & Republic Pen New Deal

Story first appeared on USA Today -

American Airlines customers flying regional routes will soon be able to fly on bigger regional jets that include first-class cabins.  Aircraft Management is important in for the immediate needs and demands of professionals.

To do so, AA has reached a deal with regional affiliate Republic Airways to fly 76-seat Embraer E175 jets under for AA under the American Eagle brand.  

It's the latest change for the nation's No. 3 airline, which last week captured the aviation industry's attention by announcing a new logo and paint job for its planes.

As for today's (Jan. 24) news, American's deal with regional carrier Republic Airways calls for Republic subsidiary Republic Airlines to fly 53 Embraer E175s painted in colors of American Eagle.

The jets will go into operation for AA at a rate of two or three aircraft per month starting in mid-2013, according to American. All of the 53 jets in covered in the 12-year pact are expected to be flying by early 2015.

The deal with Republic -- which must still be approved by American's federal bankruptcy court judge -- wouldn't have been possible under the unit's previous contract with pilots. American credited its new contract with pilots -- ratified in December -- for paving the way for the pact with Republic.

The Dallas Morning News explains:

    "Prior to the pilots' ratification of a new contract in December, American was limited to only 47 regional jets of more than 50 seats to be operated by commuter partners, and the airplanes could have a maximum of 70 seats.

    "The new deal raises the maximum seats to 76 airplanes. In addition, the number of such airplanes can be as high as 65% of American's own mainline fleet of single-aisle airplanes."

The Morning News says AA had 487 single-aisle aircraft in its mainline fleet as of Dec. 31.

As for AA, it says the deal to fly the 76-seat Embraers will help it match the right size plane to market demand on certain routes and diversify its roster of regional carriers.

The move also will allow AA to offer first-class services on the Republic-operated American Eagle flights. Republic's American Eagle-branded Embraers will be configured with 12 first class seats and 64 in coach.

"This is a significant milestone in our company's history," Chuck Schubert, AA's Vice President – Network Planning, says in a release. "Establishing a large regional jet fleet has long been part of our business plan and this agreement is another example of how we are executing on that plan in a way that benefits our business and our customers. We will offer more flights at the right intervals throughout the day in key markets while providing more opportunities for customers to travel in the First Class cabin to key business markets."

American did not immediately say where it intended to deploy the 76-seat E175s, though a pilots union official is quoted by the Morning News as saying he expects them to be "largely deployed" at AA's hub at Chicago O'Hare.

Travel Weekly notes "Republic's Chautauqua Airlines subsidiary currently operates regional jet service for American from Chicago O'Hare with 15 Embraer E-140s, planes that seat 44 passengers."

Evolving role of American Eagle

The move also continues an evolution of how the American Eagle unit meshes with its mainline partner American. Both carriers are units of parent company AMR.

For many years, AMR put only the flights of its American Eagle unit under its American Eagle brand. Flights operated by other, non-owned partners had been dubbed AmericanConnection flights.

Now, however, AMR is branding all of the regional flying within American's route network as American Eagle. That includes flights operated by existing regional partners such SkyWest and Chatauqua as well as the flights soon to be operated by Republic.

Bloomberg News writes it's "part of American's efforts to diversify suppliers of commuter flights beyond its American Eagle unit and to add larger regional jets that are more economical to operate at higher fuel prices. American ... was exploring a spinoff of Eagle when it filed for bankruptcy in November 2011."

Still, AA and parent AMR appeared to have tabled that move as the economy soured in recent years. It's unclear if or when the company might try to resume that effort.

Boon for Jet-maker Embraer

The American-Republic deal also has significant implications to jet-makers.

News of Republic's tie-up with American came with another announcement that Republic will buy 47 new E175s from Embraer -- to be used for the AA regional flights -- as well as an option for 47 more. The total value of the deal could be as much as $4 billion at list prices, according to The Associated Press.

CNBC/Reuters writes "the contract is the latest major order for bigger jets in U.S. regional fleets under renegotiated labor deals. In December, Canadian rival Bombardier booked a deal for up to $3.29 billion in new regional jets for Delta Air Lines."

But Reuters writes the new Republic order "provides welcome relief for the order-starved Brazilian plane maker" Embraer.

Against that backdrop, Reuters writes "the battle for pent-up demand in the U.S. is just getting started, according to Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, the head of Embraer's commercial aviation unit."

"American is still going to buy more of that size plane," Silva told Reuters in a telephone interview.

He also indicated efforts to win sales from several other big U.S. airlines.

"We've got American, United, US Airways and regional operators too. In the next 18 months those campaigns will determine orders for about 250 to 400 planes."  For those that desire a more relaxed and personal flight, there is a Private Jet Management company to assist you.

Embraer's shares jumped on the news while Bombardier's fell.

Technology Companies Praise Work Plan for Immigrant Students

Story first appeared on USA Today

Tech companies are giving mixed reviews to a new proposal that would help advanced-degree students in tech fields stay and work in the U.S. after they complete school.

Technology companies are praising a congressional proposal to provide a path for permanent U.S. residency to immigrants who receive master's degrees or doctorates in technical fields, but they say it would only partly solve their recruiting problems.

Under a blueprint unveiled by a bipartisan group of senators, immigrants who receive master's degrees or doctorates in science, technology, engineering or math from an American university would be awarded a green card, or permanent residency.

Currently, the U.S. places a cap of 85,000 a year on the number of three-year H-1B visas it grants to immigrants with specialized skills.

Green cards are capped at 140,000 a year. And there are separate limits on the number of workers from each country who can get green cards.

The per-country caps hampers the large numbers of high-tech workers from China and India whose quotas are reached first, say executives of Intel and Facebook.

Intel Vice President Peter Cleveland says green cards should be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

He says most of its new hires are foreign graduates of U.S. universities with advanced degrees. He called the Senate proposal "a very positive sign."

But he said the company already has "2,300 employees in a green card lines" who graduated in previous years and would not be affected by the more lenient stance. Employees who don't have their green cards can't be promoted and are constrained from moving to other companies.

"It's good for new graduates but (doesn't help) existing green card holders," he says.

Facebook officials say the proposal would help, but many of its new hires are from foreign universities who would not be affected.

In late 2011, the company was forced to open a new office in Dublin to accommodate nearly 80 new staffers from countries such as China, India and Singapore, says Joel Kaplan, the company's vice president of public policy.

That deprives the U.S. economy of a larger work force, disrupts the closely-knit teams that Facebook fosters and adds a major operating expense.

Even tech start-ups gave the proposal mixed reviews.

Elizabeth Stanton, founder of an online learning start-up in Palo Alto, Calif., says she has been unable to hire a 19-year-old computer science student from India under the H-1B visa program.

Criteria for qualifying for the visa should be loosened, she says.

BlackJet - Changing The Way You Fly

Story first appeared on The Huffington Post

Compared to the endless gauntlet of indignities suffered by everyday commercial airline passengers, people who criss-cross the globe in private jets have it made: driving their cars right up to the plane, not having to take off their shoes during security checks, the ability to bring a small bottle of water on board without sparking an international incident, better food (probably), etc.  Book a Private Charter Jet with JetSelect today!

But there's a slight problem: the astronomical cost of private jets puts that particular luxury out of reach for all but the most one percent-y of one percenters.

Luckily, the Internets have come to the rescue!

Some of the people behind the San Francisco-based town car service Uber have created BlackJet, a jet sharing service that connects people with empty seats in their private jets with people willing to pay to fill said seats.  JetSelect is available now for you to book a Private Jet Charter.

"BlackJet is fairly friction-free...we bring back some of the elegance that has been lost in modern airports," founder Garrett Camp, who also founded both StumbleUpon and Uber, told VentureBeat. "You pull up to the airplane with your car and take off three minutes later. It takes a lot of the stress out of travel.”

"Tens of billions of dollars are wasted every year," he added, noting that one-third of all private jet flights are made with the aircraft almost completely empty. "The average charter plane is in the air one hour a day, while the average commercial plane is in the air 11 hours a day."

BlackJet's ultimate goal is to make hitching a ride on a private plane as easy as hailing a town car using Uber.

Wired explains how the service works:

BlackJet doesn’t own any of the jets but instead helps travelers connect with charter services that fly between the aforementioned cities. Passengers give BlackJet two business days’ notice of when they want to fly. Then the company rounds up other passengers that are interested in the same trip and charters a plane for the group...Flights require some flexibility from travelers on when they want to leave, but the reward of a non-stop, hassle-free flight is worth it.

While BlackJet's mission is to democratize the world of private aviation, its backers are nothing short of A-list: actors Will Smith and Ashton Kutcher, 4-Hour Work Week author Tim Ferris and rapper Jay-Z.

Still, "democratize" is a relative term. A cross-country flight will set you back $3,500, not including the couple of thousand dollars users must pony up for the annual fee. Also, the service is still unavailable to the unwashed masses--personalized invite codes are required to gain access.  With JetSelect, your Private Jet Charter is available today.

BlackJet started when it was spun off of another private jet company, Greenjets, which offered a similar service.

Competitors Private Jet Club and Flightmaker have been offering single seats on private jets for years; however, largely without the same level of star-power.

As All Things D reports, BlackJet will begin taking reservations on November 15 for flights between New York, Los Angeles and South Florida. Naturally, a mobile app is in the works.

New deal penned for large regional jets by American & Republic

Story first appeared on USA Today

American Airlines customers flying regional routes will soon be able to fly on bigger regional jets that include first-class cabins.

To do so, AA has reached a deal with regional affiliate Republic Airways to fly 76-seat Embraer E175 jets under for AA under the American Eagle brand.

It's the latest change for the nation's No. 3 airline, which last week captured the aviation industry's attention by announcing a new logo and paint job for its planes.

As for today's (Jan. 24) news, American's deal with regional carrier Republic Airways calls for Republic subsidiary Republic Airlines to fly 53 Embraer E175s painted in colors of American Eagle.

The jets will go into operation for AA at a rate of two or three aircraft per month starting in mid-2013, according to American. All of the 53 jets in covered in the 12-year pact are expected to be flying by early 2015.

The deal with Republic -- which must still be approved by American's federal bankruptcy court judge -- wouldn't have been possible under the unit's previous contract with pilots. American credited its new contract with pilots -- ratified in December -- for paving the way for the pact with Republic.


The Dallas Morning News explains:

"Prior to the pilots' ratification of a new contract in December, American was limited to only 47 regional jets of more than 50 seats to be operated by commuter partners, and the airplanes could have a maximum of 70 seats.

"The new deal raises the maximum seats to 76 airplanes. In addition, the number of such airplanes can be as high as 65% of American's own mainline fleet of single-aisle airplanes."


The Morning News says AA had 487 single-aisle aircraft in its mainline fleet as of Dec. 31.

As for AA, it says the deal to fly the 76-seat Embraers will help it match the right size plane to market demand on certain routes and diversify its roster of regional carriers.

The move also will allow AA to offer first-class services on the Republic-operated American Eagle flights. Republic's American Eagle-branded Embraers will be configured with 12 first class seats and 64 in coach.

"This is a significant milestone in our company's history," Chuck Schubert, AA's Vice President – Network Planning, says in a release. "Establishing a large regional jet fleet has long been part of our business plan and this agreement is another example of how we are executing on that plan in a way that benefits our business and our customers. We will offer more flights at the right intervals throughout the day in key markets while providing more opportunities for customers to travel in the First Class cabin to key business markets."

American did not immediately say where it intended to deploy the 76-seat E175s, though a pilots union official is quoted by the Morning News as saying he expects them to be "largely deployed" at AA's hub at Chicago O'Hare.

Travel Weekly notes "Republic's Chautauqua Airlines subsidiary currently operates regional jet service for American from Chicago O'Hare with 15 Embraer E-140s, planes that seat 44 passengers."


Evolving role of American Eagle:

The move also continues an evolution of how the American Eagle unit meshes with its with mainline partner American. Both carriers are units of parent company AMR.

For many years, AMR put only the flights of its American Eagle unit under its American Eagle brand. Flights operated by other, non-owned partners had been dubbed AmericanConnection flights.

Now, however, AMR is branding all of the regional flying within American's route network as American Eagle. That includes flights operated by existing regional partners such SkyWest and Chatauqua as well as the flights soon to be operated by Republic.

Bloomberg News writes it's "part of American's efforts to diversify suppliers of commuter flights beyond its American Eagle unit and to add larger regional jets that are more economical to operate at higher fuel prices. American ... was exploring a spinoff of Eagle when it filed for bankruptcy in November 2011."

Still, AA and parent AMR appeared to have tabled that move as the economy soured in recent years. It's unclear if or when the company might try to resume that effort.


Boon for jet-maker Embraer:

The American-Republic deal also has significant implications to jet-makers.

News of Republic's tie-up with American came with another announcement that Republic will buy 47 new E175s from Embraer -- to be used for the AA regional flights -- as well as an option for 47 more. The total value of the deal could be as much as $4 billion at list prices, according to The Associated Press.

CNBC/Reuters writes "the contract is the latest major order for bigger jets in U.S. regional fleets under renegotiated labor deals. In December, Canadian rival Bombardier booked a deal for up to $3.29 billion in new regional jets for Delta Air Lines."

But Reuters writes the new Republic order "provides welcome relief for the order-starved Brazilian planemaker" Embraer.

Against that backdrop, Reuters writes "the battle for pent-up demand in the U.S. is just getting started, according to Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, the head of Embraer's commercial aviation unit."

"American is still going to buy more of that size plane," Silva told Reuters in a telephone interview.

He also indicated efforts to win sales from several other big U.S. airlines.

"We've got American, United, US Airways and regional operators too. In the next 18 months those campaigns will determine orders for about 250 to 400 planes."

Embraer's shares jumped on the news while Bombardier's fell.

Small Business Health Scare – The Health-Care Law & Crossing the 50-Person Threshold

Story first appeared on The Wall Street Journal

Elizabeth Turley has been in business for a little over two years now.  During that time she has steadily been bringing in new employees to her apparel company, Meesh & Mia Corp. to help keep up with its growth.  However, this year could be different. Instead of increasing her staff, she plans to hire independent contractors for tasks that can be outsourced, such as marketing and product development.

Her reason? Meesh & Mia is on the cusp of having 50 full-time employees. If the company hits that threshold, it will have to provide health coverage that meets government standards or potentially pay a penalty.  A Tacoma Health Care Defense Lawyer is monitoring this situation.

"We are poised this year to more than double or even triple business," says the 58-year-old Ms. Turley, whose Idaho-based company makes "spirit wear," or clothes with licensed college and football-team colors and logos. "And then this happened.... We have to find another way to get there."

Even though the rule doesn't go into effect until early 2014, a business could be subject to the so-called employer mandate if, during 2013, it averages 50 or more full-time equivalent employees, according to recently released regulations from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service.

Employers have the choice to calculate their head counts by averaging the full 12 months of 2013 or a consecutive six-month period during the year. (See sidebar on B4.)

Many small-business owners haven't yet realized that the way they structure their firm in 2013 could determine their status under the law in a year's time.  A Dallas Health Care Subrogation Defense Lawyer has been watching this unfolds.

The government issued the little-noticed regulatory guidance on Dec. 28. Ms. Turley says she wasn't aware of the rules until a Journal reporter informed her.

To avoid the health-care law's penalties, many employers are considering hiring only part-time employees or deliberately curbing growth so that they have no need to hire.

For Ms. Turley, that isn't an option. Meesh & Mia needs more hired help. The best solution, she believes, is to hire independent contractors, who would be able to take on certain tasks without upping her headcount.  Seattle Health Care Defense Lawyer firms are watching as this option progresses across the country.

Typically, independent contractors are less expensive for employers, who don't have to pay taxes on wages or supply benefits, as they would for their employees. Reliance on independent contractors has increased over the years, particularly in the recession, when employers sought less expensive labor.

In December 2012, 6.7% of payroll checks written by small employers went to 1099 workers, or those not considered employees of a company, according to SurePayroll, a Chicago-based payroll firm that caters to 40,000 small employers with an average of seven employees. That's roughly double the 3.5% of payroll checks that went to 1099 workers in December 2007.

The trend is expected to accelerate this year given the framework of the looming health-care law, employment analysts predict.  A Columbus Health Care Lawyer is following these trends.

Ms. Turley knows that hiring independent contractors isn't always ideal. "You have less control over hours they work and how much involvement they have in other parts of the business," she says. "Employees take more pride and ownership [in the company] than contractors."

In the past, in fact, she has hired contractors but later brought them into the fold as full-time employees.

Using independent contractors has long been a sensitive issue because of how they are classified for tax purposes. In late 2011, the IRS vowed to be more vigilant in finding employers who improperly label workers as independent contractors. At the same time it launched an amnesty program for employers to voluntarily reclassify workers in exchange for a reduced payment to cover back taxes.  An Orlando Health Care Lawyer has been reviewing these practices.

"If anything, [audits] will increase more" in light of the health-care law, says Monique Warren, partner at workplace law firm Jackson Lewis LLP in White Plains, N.Y. "Employers have to be real careful about calling someone an independent contractor."

Government auditors would determine whether a worker misclassification triggers the health-care law's employer mandate. That means the stakes are higher for employers, particularly those who have close to 50 full-time employees. They could have to pay back taxes in addition to potential penalties associated with the health-care law, should the revised classification push their employee headcount over the threshold.  San Diego Health Care Defense Lawyer firms are watching these determinations.

"Some businesses may be tempted to classify someone as an independent contractor to avoid the headcount that could subject them to the [employer mandate]," says Edward Lenz, senior counsel at the American Staffing Association, an Alexandria, Va., lobbying group for temporary and contract staffing firms. "If anything, the risks of misclassifications are exacerbated by the [health-care law]."

Adding to the confusion for small firms is that an employer's view of who is an independent contractor may not align with the government's. The guidelines defining independent contractors "aren't black and white," says Ms. Warren. "To some extent, it is deliberately vague. The IRS can't... account for every different situation."

Some considerations include an employer's level of control over a worker, the permanency of the relationship and how the business pays the worker. Because the definition lacks strict parameters, employers can file a form requesting the IRS to make the determination.   A Nashville Health Care Lawyer has been reviewing this definition.

According to Penny C. Wofford, employment law attorney at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. in Greenville, S.C., “This is on the hot list for the Department of Labor and the IRS.  It’s not enough to say a worker should be 1099 status just by their work contract.  That’s just one factor in a test.”

Home Construction Surge – Continuing Forward

Story first appeared on USA Today

Many homebuilders were forced to drastically scale back construction on new homes during the aftermath of the housing bust, to reduce the risk of being left with multiple newly build but as of yet unsold properties.

But an improving housing market has homebuilders feeling more confident about sales, and that's likely to kick the pace of new construction into a higher gear this year.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that builders broke ground on houses and apartments last month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 954,000. That's 12.1% higher than November's annual rate. And it is nearly double the recession low reached in April 2009.

Construction increased last month for both single-family homes and apartments. And the pace in which builders requested permits to start more homes ticked up to a 4½ year high.

For the year, builders started work on 780,000 homes. That's still roughly half of the annual number of starts consistent with healthier markets. But it is an increase of 28.1% from 2011. And it is the most since 2008 — shortly after the housing market began to collapse in late 2006 and 2007.

Steady hiring, record-low mortgage rates and a tight supply of new and previously occupied homes available for sale have helped boost sales and prices in most markets. That has persuaded builders to start more homes, which adds to economic growth and hiring.

David Williams, a homebuilding analyst with Williams Financial Group, says builders are very closely tied to what's happening in the housing market and they're going to build homes to meet demand, but not go overboard.

"I don't think, at this point, that they're going to overbuild," Williams said, noting that homebuilders are still holding back on building too many spec homes, or properties built before they're sold.

Having some spec homes can help sales, especially when a buyer isn't willing to wait several months for their home to be built. Builders tend to put up more of those homes heading into the spring home-selling season that traditionally begins next month.

Larry Webb, CEO of homebuilder The New Home Co., in Aliso Viejo, Calif., says he is building homes at a faster pace than a year ago, but he sticks to a sell-first, build-second approach.

Overall, Webb is selling and building a minimum of four homes a month, at least double the pace of sales and construction two years ago.

Webb believes the stepped-up pace of home construction will continue this year. But he's holding on to the sell-first approach.

"Based on what we've gone through in the last recession and the way we do business, we think we should primarily build after we sell homes," he said. "We only build after we sell."

The company, which builds homes in California, has 10 open communities and plans to open another 14 this year.

"Normally there's a big drop off between Thanksgiving and Christmas," Webb said. "We saw very solid traffic and we're anticipating a very good first quarter."

Thursday's positive housing report, along with a steep decline in unemployment benefit applications, contributed to a strong day on Wall Street. The Standard & Poor's 500 closed at a five-year high.

"There is no denying that the housing market recovery is solidifying, and we expect construction activity to ramp up to the 1 million annualized threshold by the end of this year," said Michael Dolega, an economist with TD Economics, in a note to clients.

Dolega said the gains in home building helped boost construction hiring in December by 30,000 jobs — the most in 15 months. He predicts the construction industry could add half a million jobs in 2013.

In December, the pace of single-family home construction, which makes up two-thirds of the market, increased 8 percent. While that's well below healthy levels, single-family housing starts are now 75 percent higher than the recession low reached in March 2009.

Apartment construction, which is more volatile, surged 23 percent last month. It is now back to pre-recession levels.

Applications for building permits, a sign of future construction, inched up to a rate of 903,000 — the highest level since July 2008.

"The strong rise in single-family starts is a clear indication of builder confidence in the sales outlook," said Pierre Ellis, an economist at Decision Economics, in a note to clients.

Confidence among homebuilders held steady in January at the highest level in nearly seven years. But builders are feeling slightly less optimistic about their prospects for sales over the next six months, according to a survey released Wednesday.

In November, sales of previously occupied homes rose to their highest level in three years, while new-home sales reached a 2 1/2-year high.

Those factors have helped make homebuilders more confident and spurred new home construction. But homebuilders' are still warily watching the current standoff in Washington between President Obama and Congress over several approaching budget deadlines, including the need to boost the nation's $16.4 trillion borrowing limit.

Though new homes represent less than 20 percent of the housing sales market, they have an outsize impact on the economy.   For each home built, there is approximately $90,000 in tax revenue and an average creation of three jobs lasting for at least a year, data from the homebuilder’s association shows.

The next role for Eva Longoria? Hispanic Activist in Washington

Story first appeared on The Wall Street Journal

When Barack Obama takes the presidential oath of office on Monday, he will be joined on the platform by Supreme Court justices, former presidents—and one of the "Desperate Housewives."

Actress Eva Longoria, the 37-year-old star of the hit television show and twice Maxim magazine's Hottest Woman of the Year, is taking on a challenging new role as a Hispanic activist and power player in Washington, D.C. One of her primary aims is to make the case that "Latinos aren't a drain on the economy or criminals crossing the border," she says. "Most are hardworking people who are America's emerging market."

Ms. Longoria is the most prominent among Latino leaders who are gaining political sway from the 2012 election, in which the Hispanic vote was a critical force in delivering victory to Mr. Obama. A co-chair of his campaign, she stumped for him at rallies across the country and was one of the largest "bundlers," or fundraisers, while hosting star-studded events raising millions of dollars.

Her role reaches beyond fundraising and speechmaking, however, and into policy and strategy. She helped urge Mr. Obama to make a key change in immigration policy last year, and she is teaming with business to explore investments in housing and retail developments in Hispanic communities.

Along the way she has developed a rapport with the president and his advisers. She is now planning meetings this weekend with the capital's elite, including private receptions at the White House and vice president's residence and a bipartisan brunch she is co-hosting at a Georgetown eatery this weekend with Mark McKinnon, a former strategist for George W. Bush and Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain. There, she plans to begin a Republican outreach by meeting with Colin Powell, the former secretary of state, and other attendees including Grover Norquist.

It is part of a broader strategy to build her personal brand within the nation's fastest-growing market. Ms. Longoria is modeling it on Bono's celebrity-to-political-activist transformation, and has hired one of the singer's advisers.

As she rises in prominence, Ms. Longoria is at risk of being seen as an Obama partisan rather than a policy advocate. "Half of my movie tickets and my products are bought by Republicans," says Ms. Longoria, who is also a spokeswoman for cosmetics company L’Oreal Paris and Lays potato chips.

She has had a few missteps along the way. In the heat of the presidential campaign, Ms. Longoria angered some of her Republican fans on Twitter. In October, she re-tweeted, or re-sent, someone else's message describing GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney as "racist/misogynistic" and calling people who would vote for him "stupid."

She tried to delete it, but some of her nearly five million followers saw the message and objected. She followed up with apologies. "Sorry if people were offended by retweet. Obviously not my words or my personal view. I respect all Americans #FreedomOfSpeech," she wrote.

Ms. Longoria "is beginning to understand that she's at that critical point when she must decide whether to fight causes as an American, or a political partisan," says Bobby Turner, chief executive of Canyon Capital Realty Advisers, who is exploring Hispanic-community investments with her. To have the best chance at success, he says, "She will need bipartisan collaboration."

Ms. Longoria says partisanship has gone too far. "The Republicans and Democrats are acting like two different gangs," she says. "There are some great Republicans and some great Democrats."

She may have a tough time proving her bipartisan bona fides to some Republicans. Last spring for instance she criticized Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a prominent GOP Hispanic lawmaker, saying that he was "coming up with some silly stuff" on Latino issues.

Republicans and Democrats alike are chasing the loyalties of Latinos following last year's election, which demonstrated the power of Hispanic Americans. The Hispanic share of the vote reached 10% for the first time, and Mr. Obama won almost three-quarters of that. As a result, both parties have immigration issues near the top of their post-inaugural to-do list.

Many Americans now agree on a wish to overhaul the immigration system. Republicans tend to prefer doing it step-by-step, dealing separately with new immigrants and children of undocumented workers, for example, and then offering illegal immigrants a path toward some kind of legal status down the road. Democrats generally prefer one comprehensive overhaul bill offering a path toward full citizenship for illegal immigrants who have been working here.

Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, at 16%, a proportion expected to grow to 30% over the next four decades. And they are an economic force. Hispanic buying power was estimated at $1.2 trillion last year, according to the Selig Center's annual Multicultural Economy report.

"We've earned a seat at the table," says San Juan-based lawyer Andres Lopez. "Now we're going to make it permanent."

Mr. Lopez has joined Ms. Longoria and other influential political and business figures to form the Futuro Fund, a Hispanic organization that initially raised money for the president's campaign, and now advocates for Latino issues. Its leaders include the twin brothers and rising politicos Julian and Joaquin Castro, the mayor of San Antonio and Texas Congressman. Futuro and other Hispanic groups are exploring founding a Latino think tank in Washington.

In a series of interviews in and around Los Angeles in recent days—at a Latin restaurant she owns, in meetings for her charitable foundation, and on-set as she acted in a potato-chip commercial—Ms. Longoria shifted back and forth from high-wattage performer to nerdy student of politics and policy. Last Sunday offered a particularly vivid example of her attempt to balance the roles.

Sunday morning, Ms. Longoria, who is the executive producer of an NBC show called "Ready for Love," in which matchmakers help three young men find true love, held a casting call to pick the bachelors for the second season. Men in their 20s and 30s were ushered in. Ms. Longoria hugged each one, then got down to business. "What's your type?" she asked. "Whose fault was your last breakup?"

At one point, she dismissed one of the hopefuls as too young for the part. Then, she quipped, "What am I talking about? I just dated a 26-year-old." That was New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez.

From the casting call, Ms. Longoria went to a hotel suite to dress for the Golden Globes, where she was to announce two winners alongside actor Don Cheadle. While a hairstylist blew out her long hair, she texted Trevor Neilson, the political adviser who worked with Bono, to review her Washington schedule for this weekend's inaugural.

She asked him which Republicans would be attending a Sunday brunch at Georgetown's Café Milano that she is co-hosting. "I need to show them that I can work with them," she texted.

Later, in the car on the way to the Golden Globes, she asked Mr. Nielson: Would Mr. Powell, the former secretary of state, be at the event and if so, could she get some time to speak with him privately?

“'It needs to be delivered by you in an emotional manner,' she said to the president.”

Soon, she was out of the car and posing for photographers on the red carpet in her Pucci gown.

In their occasional meetings over the past two years, Ms. Longoria and Mr. Obama have developed a rapport. Last spring, in a private meeting with Hispanic bigwigs, she pressed the president to move unilaterally to protect Latino undocumented youth at risk of deportation. According to Ms. Longoria and two others present, Mr. Obama first blamed Congress for failing to pass the Dream Act, a bill designed to address the problem.

To the surprise of several people present, Ms. Longoria persisted. "But Mr. President, you have to do something," she said. As the conversation continued, she said: "With all due respect, sir, it needs to be delivered by you in an emotional manner."

"What do you mean?" he replied, after suggesting that the executive branch was already working on a plan.

"Show your connection to us," Ms. Longoria said. "You were raised in an environment similar to many Latinos. Talk to us like you're talking to family."

San Antonio businessman Henry Munoz, who sat across from the pair, recalls, "It was a powerful moment. Eva is disarming because she's petite and beautiful, but the president respected her forceful advice."

About two months later, on June 15, Mr. Obama announced a directive in the Rose Garden designed to help illegal immigrants who had been brought to the U.S. as children. They are "Americans in their hearts, their minds and every single way but on paper," he said.

It was at that same spring meeting that Mr. Obama noticed a tattoo on Ms. Longoria's wrist, she recalls, and suggested that she have it removed. She explained that it was the date of her wedding. (She is now divorced.)

"Now, was that a good idea?" she recalls the president saying.

She replied, "Well, I thought so when I got married!"

Ms. Longoria did have the tattoo removed.

Ms. Longoria, born in Corpus Christi, is the fourth daughter of a special-education teacher and Army base worker. As a teen, she worked at a Wendy's burger joint and paid for college by teaching aerobics, piling up credit-card debt and getting loans and grants.

Interested in acting, she moved to Los Angeles where a job as a corporate recruiter allowed her to audition. After three years on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless," Ms. Longoria was drafted by ABC for a new drama, "Desperate Housewives," which first aired in 2004. Her character's sexual escapades shot Ms. Longoria to fame and fortune.

During her eight-season run on "Desperate Housewives," Ms. Longoria increased her support of Hispanic and political causes. She gave to Democratic candidates and made tacos for their volunteers, even as most of her family in Texas remained red-state Republicans.

After Mr. Obama's election in 2008, Ms. Longoria was named to a commission studying a possible Latino-American museum in Washington, D.C. When Mr. Obama, a basketball fan, occasionally saw her, she says, he seemed more interested in whether her husband at the time, NBA star Tony Parker, was around.

Around the time her marriage ended in 2010, Ms. Longoria launched her own production company, perfume line, her Los Angeles restaurant called Beso ("kiss" in Spanish) and a cookbook filled with her Tex-Mex favorites. She also enrolled in a master's program in Chicano studies and political science at Cal State-Northridge, for which she is writing a dissertation. She says she didn't want to be one of "the rich celebrities who don't know what they're talking about."

By 2011, she had become a regular in Washington, including the screening of her documentary "Harvest" on the plight of child farm workers. Also the Futuro group was founded and began working closely with the Obama campaign, which asked Ms. Longoria to get involved. She hosted successful fundraisers in Los Angeles, Miami, New York and elsewhere, at a time when Mr. Obama's business support was dropping.

She was offered a speaking role at the Democratic National Convention. But when the campaign sent her a draft speech, she says, she rejected it as "too much rah-rah and too little substance." She recalls telling the campaign's speechwriter: "I want to show that I came from the lower middle class and why I support the president."

When she took the convention stage, she attacked Mr. Romney for trying to preserve tax rates for the wealthy. "The Eva Longoria who worked at Wendy's flipping burgers—she needed a tax break," she said. "But the Eva Longoria who works on movie sets does not."

The week before the election last November, Ms. Longoria spent two days in southern Florida—home to a particularly powerful Latino electorate—to mobilize volunteers and speak to voters on behalf of the Obama-Biden ticket. While there, she became a visible target for hecklers that showed up at Obama rallies in the days of the campaign. "I got booed, I got beat up," she says, citing one incident where a woman punched her in the arm. When she flew out to Las Vegas for the president's final rally on Nov. 1, she says she was sure Mr. Obama would lose the state.

"How was Florida?" Mr. Obama asked her in Las Vegas, she says.

"I think we're going to win Florida," she replied—"the only time I lied to the president." Ultimately, he won Florida by a whisker.

Ms. Longoria has devoted a chunk of her time the past year to getting her foundation up and running. As an adviser, she retained Global Philanthropy Group, run by Mr. Neilson and his wife, Maggie, who have helped myriad, other stars, including Bono, Richard Branson and Madonna, with their causes.

Ms. Longoria's foundation recently received a $2 million commitment from Howard Buffett, Warren Buffett's son. The fund will make small loans to Latinas in Texas to start their own businesses, according to Ms. Longoria and Mr. Buffett. She got Mr. Buffett's donation, he says, after cooking him an egg breakfast and riding with him on a combine at his farm.

Mr. Turner of Canyon Capital asked Ms. Longoria to speak last fall at his annual seminar on social-impact investing at the Wharton School of Business, and now is negotiating with her to collaborate on for-profit affordable housing and retail outlets in Hispanic communities. Ms. Longoria says she wants to show that Hispanic concerns transcend immigration. "There's not a single Latino platform. It is about the economy, education and health care."

While her various Hollywood commitments prevent her from taking a full-time position in Washington, she says, she declines to rule out politics in the future. Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, says, "Would I like Eva to run for office down here? Hell yes."

Is the Soft-Drink age coming to an end?

Story first appeared on The Wall Street Journal

We are in an age where shoppers are increasingly reaching for water, coffee, and other drinks.  This is creating rapidly growing concern for Coca-Cola Co; PespiCo Inc.; and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group who have all been struggling to reverse the decline in soda consumption in the U.S.

Now they have a bigger worry: soda revenue.

As U.S. consumption steadily slipped over the past eight years, the beverage giants typically were able to raise prices enough to keep soda revenues from America's favorite drink growing. But soda sales at U.S. stores declined in the second half of last year—including during the holidays, when party-goers normally pay up to gulp more.

Now industry analysts wonder if the downturn in sales is here to stay.

"The question from here is if that is the new norm,'' Steve Powers, a beverage analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said of the latest store sales numbers.

Soda companies raised prices aggressively in 2011 after commodity costs surged. Prices were increased a bit in late 2012, but volumes fell even more sharply.

Sugary bubbles have become a lightning rod in the U.S. for consumer health concerns, such as diabetes and obesity. Meanwhile, baby boomers are aging, and soda's traditional target market—youth—is often turning to water, energy drinks and coffee instead.

Soda sales declined 0.6% last year through Dec. 30 to $28.70 billion at U.S. stores tracked by SymphonyIRI Group. In volume terms, sales dropped 1.8%.

The pace of decline got worse later in the year. Sales, in dollar terms, skidded 2.5% in the 12 weeks ended Dec. 30 from a year earlier, and were down 2.8% when counting just December, according to the market-research firm, after soda makers raised prices, further damping demand. By volume, sales fell 3.55% in the 12-week period and 4.9% for December.

The data don't include sales of soda in restaurants, vending machines, and some other venues. Industry insiders say taking those outlets into account, overall soda sales revenue likely rose slightly last year—but barely.

While Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper Snapple have all aggressively expanded their portfolios to include faster-growing products like sports drinks and fruit juices, a prolonged drop in U.S. soda revenues would represent a serious blow. Soda represents nearly 25% of the U.S. beverage market. Its massive scale has also guaranteed profit margins for decades.

About 60% of Coke's revenue in the U.S. is derived from carbonated soft drinks, compared with about a quarter at PepsiCo. More than 70% of sales at Dr. Pepper Snapple, the No. 3 player, are from soda and about 90% of its revenue is from the U.S. Unlike Coke and PepsiCo, though, it hardly sells any cola, which has suffered steep declines.

Coke and PepsiCo together spent about $20 billion in 2010 to acquire their biggest U.S. bottlers, increasing U.S. exposure and thinning profit margins.

Last week, citing falling soda volumes, Bernstein cut its recommendation on Dr. Pepper's stock to hold from buy and trimmed its earnings and share-price estimates for Coke and PepsiCo. Stifel Nicolaus also trimmed its 2013 earnings estimate for Coke.

The companies say their fortunes are far from grim. Soda is posting healthy growth in many parts of the world, providing a boost for Coke and PepsiCo, which draw about 60% and 50% of their revenue from abroad, respectively.

Their newer drinks also are profitable and growing strong, they say. Last year Coke acquired control of coconut water brand Zico and dipped its toes in U.S. dairy for the first time, buying a stake in the maker of Core Power, a workout recovery shake.

Sales of PepsiCo's Naked juice brand rose about 25% last year, and tea and coffee sold through joint ventures with Lipton and Starbucks SBUX +0.57% are posting healthy growth.

"I think we can all be optimistic about the business we're in,'' Sandy Douglas, Coke's global chief customer officer, said last month.

PepsiCo is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing to turn around its U.S. soda business after losing market share to Coke. In 2010, Diet Coke unseated Pepsi as the No. 2 domestic soda by volume, behind Coca-Cola. Investor calls to split PepsiCo's better-performing snack business from its beverage business could return if there is no sign of improvement.

Coke launched new television ads this week to counter consumer concerns about obesity and moves by officials to restrict soda sales. New York City plans to cap portion sizes for soda at many retail establishments in March.

The ads argue that soda shouldn't be singled out for weight gain and encourage Americans to have "fun" burning off calories through dancing and other activities.

The soda companies also are working to develop zero- or low-calorie natural sweeteners that better mimic the taste of full-calorie sodas. But the going has been slow, keeping diet soda's share of the overall soda market at around 30%. One candidate, based on the stevia plant, can leave a bitter aftertaste in some sodas, particularly cola.

Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's chief executive, said her company has made "enormous progress'' the last two years as it experiments with sweeteners and is 90% closer to a breakthrough. "Unfortunately, the last 10% is the toughest part,'' she acknowledged in December at a conference hosted by Beverage Digest, a trade publication.

Last year, PepsiCo rolled out nationally Pepsi Next, an artificially sweetened, mid-calorie version of its flagship cola. More recently it tweaked its artificially sweetened, zero-calorie Diet Pepsi to improve shelf life. Coke began testing naturally sweetened, low-calorie versions of Sprite and Fanta in some U.S. markets last summer. Dr. Pepper Snapple is rolling out artificially sweetened, 10-calorie versions of 7-Up, Sunkist and three other sodas this year after launching a 10-calorie version of Dr. Pepper in 2012.

But such efforts have yet to turn soda's fortunes. Pepsi Next and Dr. Pepper 10 each have less than a 1% market share and Coke's last big diet cola launch, Coke Zero, was in 2005. Some industry observers think soda companies haven't done enough on other fronts to win back drinkers.

"They're so focused on a sweetener event that they've neglected more traditional innovation like flavors and functions,'' said Mark Swartzberg, a beverage analyst at Stifel Nicolaus.

U.S. economy improving according to Fed

Story first appeared on USA Today

Activity is expanding in all 12 Federal Reserve districts, according to the Fed on Wednesday, showing that the nation's economy has proven to be surprisingly resilient for the past six weeks despite the budget standoff in Congress.

The Fed's Beige Book report said the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve bank districts have rebounded from the near-term effects of Super Storm Sandy, and the pace of growth picked up in the Boston, Richmond and Atlanta regions while slowing in St. Louis.

Still, uncertainty among businesses because of the so-called fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts — which was partially resolved early this month — dampened the retail outlook in some areas and prompted some employers to hold off hiring. And the economic slowdown in Europe hampered some manufacturing exports.

Consumer spending increased across the country, but holiday sales were somewhat disappointing in the New York, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco districts.

Government figures released this week show holiday sales rose 2.7% over last year, far less than the 5.5% pace of 2010 and 2011. Sales of clothing, shoes and furniture were brisk in Boston, while online sales were strong in San Francisco. But retail sales were flat in the Richmond area and the fiscal cliff dampened the outlook in Philadelphia, Kansas City and Dallas regions.

Auto sales, however, remain a bright spot, with sales steady or stronger in 10 districts.

Tourism, meanwhile, rebounded in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast following the Super Storm.  And tourism in Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco was bolstered by surging business and international travel.

Manufacturing, however, was mixed, with six districts growing, three contracting and two reporting little or no change. Rising aerospace and chemical production fueled growth in the Boston, San Francisco and Dallas districts. And the resurgent auto and housing sectors helped support manufacturing in Chicago and Philadelphia.

But uncertainty about the fiscal cliff tempered growth in the Richmond area. And steel and auto production slowed in Cleveland.

Overall, however, manufacturers were optimistic about coming months in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Kansas City.

The housing market also continued its comeback, with activity increasing and prices rising in most districts. Low interest rates and affordable prices sparked home sales in Boston. Still, the hotter market is creating some bottlenecks, with Kansas City reporting higher lumber and drywall costs that limited construction.

Commercial space leasing was more tepid, however, with Boston real estate officials reporting a drop in activity due partly to the fiscal cliff and demand for commercial real estate loans softening.

The budget standoff also caused some employers to delay hiring, particularly in Boston, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City and San Francisco. Companies in Chicago that do business with Europe also scaled back hiring plans.  Atlanta and Kansas City businesses have put off adding to their staff due to the new health reform law.

Factory Automation Advancements tied to Robotic Growth in China

Story first appeared on: Automation World.com

According to a current Morgan Stanley China financial release, the robotics market is now being pushed by corporate goals for factory automation.  Demand for robotics in China is relatively small, currently, but rising wage pressures and other factors will push the automotive, electronics and the metal/machine tool industries to automate production, says the report.  Perhaps other forms of streamlining would benefit these firms, such as Task Management Software.

With continuous improvement pressures and China's recent economic slowdown, analysts are becoming more bullish on Chinese manufacturers expanding factory automation investments and, in particular, robotics. Morgan Stanley recently released a Blue Paper, entitled, China - Robotics: Automation for the People and it includes growth factors, industry analysis, and possible scenarios for automation suppliers.

Even with a tepid 2012 for China, Automation World continued to see the trend of robotic suppliers move operations to China.  Robotic automation is seen by many as low-hanging fruit and there reasons why are: 1) Plant managers used to see automation and its associated depreciation equipment costs as a negative; 2) Automotive industries are requiring more standardization; and 3) rising wages and elderly population.  A Charleston Commercial Defense Lawyer is watching these advancing trends.

The reports point out that "robot usage some is 60 percent below the global average, a market of $1.2 billion today could be worth $6 billion by 2020–a five-fold increase." It goes on to suggest that even though China robotics demand today is small at $1.2 billion last year, on a relative basis its share of total automation spend is actually quite high at 27 percent, compared with the global average of close to 4 percent. The reports projects that China’s robot usage effectively catches up with the global average of 55 robots per 10,000 workers (adjusted for GDP/capita), and then the market could easily reach $6 billion. This would still be a long way short of usage in Japan and South Korea at 343 per 10,000 workers.

The report also provides a detailed analysis of four automation suppliers in China: ABB; Fanuc; Yaskawa; and Kuka Robotics. Adept Technology is referenced for its 128 SCARA robots used in a Philips application and, of course, automotive is presented by Kuka and its 330 robots in building the Mercedes A Class sedan. China robotics is still heavily dependent on the automotive industry with 59 percent of demand, relative to electronics at 17 percent.  A Charleston Corporate Defense Lawyer has been monitoring the changing information.

Other key findings include:

• The paper compares the current situation in China with developments in Japan during the 1970s and 1980s. The parallels are both relevant and compelling. In Japan: (i) the nature of the workforce and rising wage pressures are a meaningful factor; (ii) ‘cultural drivers’, in terms of willingness to displace workers and adopt technology are meaningful also; (iii) quality issues become important, as a domestic industry evolves; and (iv) growth rates, as robot penetration occurs, can be quite spectacular during the ‘ramp-up’ phase.

• Machine tools accounts for 11% of the total demand. In Exhibit 38, we have compiled IFR data using 5-year average robot shipments by sector. We have segmented the shipment data into three key industries: automotive, electronics and metals (though note that there are other applications in plastics, chemicals, glass, construction and other industries).

• China could reach 50 robots per 10,000 workers in applications outside of automotive. As Exhibit 67 suggests, this is again not a demanding target and would make its usage ex-auto similar to that of France currently, but still ~65% below the current average for these applications. Robotics are used significantly in assembly functions in advanced electronics but also in many types of industrial machinery and machine tool applications.

• China and South Korea are mirror images in auto and electronics demand. We find this point very interesting, because it tends to suggest the following: (i) that China’s robotics market is still in its infancy, and is disproportionately dependent on the automotive industry; (ii) that in more advanced economies such as South Korea and Japan, robot applications are far more broad-based.

• Automotive industry is nation-wide, not just coastal. The top seven provinces, in terms of vehicles, makes up for 60% of the total production, while the remaining 40% of production is spread throughout the remainder of the country.

Is The Economy Improving?

Story first appeared on usatoday.com.

The nation's economy proved surprisingly resilient the past six weeks despite the budget standoff in Congress, with activity expanding in all 12 Federal Reserve districts, the Fed said Wednesday.

The Fed's Beige Book report said the New York and Philadelphia Federral Reserve bank districts have rebounded from the near-term effects of Superstorm Sandy, and the pace of growth picked up in the Boston, Richmond and Atlanta regions while slowing in St. Louis.

Still, uncertainty among businesses because of the so-called fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts — which was partially resolved early this month — dampened the retail outlook in some areas and prompted some employers to hold off hiring. And the economic slowdown in Europe hampered some manufacturing exports.

ANALYSIS: Fed takes a firmer tone on progress

Consumer spending increased across the country, but holiday sales were somewhat disappointing in the New York, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco districts.

Government figures released this week show holiday sales rose 2.7% over last year, far less than the 5.5% pace of 2010 and 2011. Sales of clothing, shoes and furniture were brisk in Boston, while online sales were strong in San Francisco. But retail sales were flat in the Richmond area and the fiscal cliff dampened the outlook in Philadelphia, Kansas City and Dallas regions.

Auto sales, however, remain a bright spot, with sales steady or stronger in 10 districts.

Tourism, meanwhile, rebounded in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast following the superstorm. And tourism in Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco was bolstered by surging business and international travel.

Manufacturing, however, was mixed, with six districts growing, three contracting and two reporting little or no change. Rising aerospace and chemical production fueled growth in the Boston, San Francisco and Dallas districts. And the resurgent auto and housing sectors helped support manufacturing in Chicago and Philadelphia.

But uncertainty about the fiscal cliff tempered growth in the Richmond area. And steel and auto production slowed in Cleveland.

Overall, however, manufacturers were optimistic about coming months in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Kansas City.

The housing market also continued its comeback, with activity increasing and prices rising in most districts. Low interest rates and affordable prices sparked home sales in Boston. Still, the hotter market is creating some bottlenecks, with Kansas City reporting higher lumber and drywall costs that limited construction.

Commercial space leasing was more tepid, however, with Boston real estate officials reporting a drop in activity due partly to the fiscal cliff and demand for commercial real estate loans softening.

The budget standoff also caused some employers to delay hiring, particularly in Boston, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City and San Francisco. Companies in Chicago that do business with Europe also scaled back hiring plans. And the new health reform law prompted businesses in Atlanta and Kansas City to put off adding staff.

Hurricane-Flooded Cars Lure Unwitting Buyers

originally appeared in The New York Times:

At the far end of an enormous hangar, used cars rolled up one by one to the auction block. They had been buffed to a shine, but some carried telltale signs of damage. Puckered leather seats, a hint of mildew, headlights beaded with condensation. Just over two months ago, they had filled with seawater during Hurricane Sandy.

One buyer at the Manheim car auction last Wednesday, kept his hands in his pockets. He was looking for totaled vehicles to export to Nigeria, where they would be fixed up and resold; but these, he said, were too far gone. Saltwater destroys cars, he explained, and even when rebuilt they can be unsafe. I never buy the flooded ones, he said. One resource is Lemon Law Attorney Milwaukee Wisconsin which provides expert service.

But all around him, other buyers showed no such compunction. The flooded cars sold briskly, for prices like $2,600, $5,300, $3,000. Some were to be dismantled into salvageable parts, like wheels and fenders; some were to be melted down for their rubber and steel. And yet, while all have titles branding them flood cars, not all were destined for the scrap heap.

Many were headed to out-of-state resale markets where, because of inconsistencies in state laws, buyers will have no inkling that the vehicles were so damaged by floodwater that insurance companies deemed them a total loss. Another resource is to use a Grand Rapids Car Accident Lawyer which can deliver excellent representation.

People masquerade those things as perfectly good vehicles without any hint that they had been flooded or exposed to water, according to a representative of the National Insurance Crime Bureau, an industry-financed nonprofit organization that investigates insurance fraud and vehicle theft. There is a market for these vehicles, even though we might never want to see them on the road again.

Though this practice provoked outrage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other major storms, dealers and industry experts said the brisk trade in flood-damaged cars since Hurricane Sandy had highlighted how legislative efforts at the state and federal levels have failed to stem the resale market.

The Insurance Crime Bureau said over 230,000 cars were damaged by the hurricane, predominantly by the ocean water that surged into seaside communities, filling engines and interiors with sand and corrosive saline.

In Broad Channel, Queens, scores of dead cars sat at crazy angles for weeks after the storm all along Cross Bay Boulevard, a reminder of the brute strength of the waves. In areas like Lower Manhattan and Hoboken, N.J., car owners returned to expensive parking garages to find their cars floating in the soup of sewage and river water that had poured into the underground lots. Even the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service lost cars, according to line items in Congress’s hurricane-relief package.

One woman had watched in shock as water poured into her garage on Cherry Street in Lower Manhattan during the storm; her 2011 Prius sank underneath. By the time the water was pumped out nearly a week later, the car was a total loss. It still had water inside it when I opened the door, in the glove compartment and the cup holders, she said.

She was fortunate: she had total-loss insurance. A few weeks ago, her 2012 Prius arrived. But for the destroyed car, like the 150,000 other New York cars that were flooded, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, the odyssey had just begun.

Once the cars are declared a total loss, specialized firms swoop in on behalf of insurance companies to tow away, spruce up and resell the cars. One of those companies, Insurance Auto Auctions, which estimates that it is handling about 40 percent of the region’s storm-damaged cars heading to the salvage market, employs people to study weather forecasts and predict where the next disaster will be.

For the hurricane, the company dispatched 400 tow trucks to the area and leased huge holding facilities even before the storm hit. One of those was an airport in Calverton, on Long Island, where the runways were leased at a rate of $2.7 million for the year, according to the town supervisor of nearby Riverhead. Since the storm, about 18,000 cars have packed the tarmac end to end, he said. When you sit there and look at these cars with their children’s seats in them and the briefcases and the uneaten lunches — it’s just surreal, he said.

Cars that had sustained storm damage can arrive at auction branded improperly, or have their titles fudged after they leave. In most states, cars destroyed by flooding are required to have their titles marked, or branded, to indicate that fact. But clearing that scarlet letter can be as easy as re-registering for a title in another state that does not require the flood brand carry-over, a process known as “title washing.” Unscrupulous dealers pile their purchases on flatbeds and head straight for those states, like Colorado and Vermont.

The prospect of title-washed cars from Hurricane Sandy entering the market raised alerts thousands of miles from New York. Officials warned consumers in Georgia, North Carolina and Illinois, where the secretary of state’s office is scrutinizing all new title applications for cars coming in from states affected by the storm. A foreign market for these cars is also booming, unfettered by American regulations.

Federal legislation that would require total-loss status to be affixed permanently to a car’s title was introduced in Congress before and after Hurricane Katrina, but was never passed. In 2009, the Justice Department rolled out the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, a database fed by insurers and states. It contains reports on the movement of cars sold at salvage auctions but is limited by sporadic reporting and incomplete data.

These shortcomings have provoked certain groups to warn about a deluge of unsafe cars hitting the market in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, including the National Automobile Dealers Association, which represents car dealers; and companies that sell reports on vehicle histories, like CarFax. Watchdog groups say insurance companies sometimes contribute to the problem by underplaying at auction the damage to a car. In 2005, the State Farm insurance company reached an agreement with the attorneys general of 49 states and the District of Columbia for failing to properly title cars, reimbursing over 30,000 affected consumers. A spokeswoman for State Farm, said the company was complying with the laws in each state affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The explosion of car sales over the Internet, where vehicles can be sold person to person and bypass official channels, has made the problem harder to resolve.

One New York resident never bothered to buy replacement insurance for the 1996 Nissan Altima he had used to ferry his two dachshunds around his Belle Harbor neighborhood in Queens. After it was soaked, he sold it for $250 to a junk-car buyer who had left a flier under the windshield wiper. Such uninsured cars are even more susceptible to ending up back on the road with no indication of their soggy history — they are often rebuilt, reinspected and retitled, without their true affliction ever being reported.

Not all owners are ready to discard their waterlogged cars, to be rolled out potentially into a commerce of deception. Though her insurance company deemed her 1969 Land Rover a total loss, one woman took the vehicle, which was steeped in water in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to a mechanic for a second opinion.

But just last week, she gave in, and her beloved car, which she calls “Landy,” was towed to a salvage auction. It’s hard to wrap your head around it, she said. And what happens to all that stuff? Where does it go?

Homelessness Increases in Wyoming, Product of Economic Boom

originally appeared in The New York Times:

After losing everything last year to Southern California’s soured economy, A woman and her family packed up three boxes and a diaper bag and caught a Greyhound bus to Wyoming, their best chance at a fresh start.

They were drawn to Wyoming, where she has family, by the promise of plentiful jobs and a booming energy sector, and a thin hope of rebuilding their futures on the High Plains. But like a growing number of people here, they ended up on the underside of the boom.

Unable to scrape together enough money for an apartment, her family, who once rented a four-bedroom house north of Los Angeles, bounced from motel rooms to friends’ couches. They ended up in a single room at a shelter run by a local nonprofit organization.

We lost everything, she said, her husband works for an oil services company. We needed somewhere to go.

There is a surprising downside to Wyoming’s economic resilience and its 5.1 percent unemployment rate: a sharp rise in homelessness.

As another winter settles in, many people who moved here fleeing foreclosures and chasing jobs in the oil, gas and coal industries now find themselves without a place to live. Apartments are scarce and expensive, and the economy, while strong, is not growing at the swift pace of drilling towns in western North Dakota, where cashiers can earn $20 an hour and fast-food workers can be paid thousand-dollar signing bonuses.

As homeless rates held steady nationwide last year, federal data show that Wyoming’s homeless population soared by 67 percent, to 1,813 people from 1,083 in 2011. Advocates attribute the surge in part to a more aggressive attempt to count the state’s homeless.

As in any other place in the country, many homeless people in Wyoming have lived on the streets for years or suffer from mental illness or drug and alcohol addictions. But social service workers say they have seen a growing number of economic migrants from Florida and Michigan, Wisconsin and California, with nowhere to settle.

They’d pack up their pit bulls, their children and they’d move to Wyoming with nothing, just the clothes on their backs, according to a housing counselor with Interfaith of Natrona County, a nonprofit group. They keep saying, ‘I’ve never been in this situation before.’

When jobs elude them or a trip to the hospital eats away at their money, some of these new arrivals and returnees visit social service groups to find a way out of town: enough money to fix their car or catch a bus back home. But caseworkers said most were determined to stay and came seeking housing.

Around Casper, population 56,000, robust growth in oil and gas drilling has helped cut unemployment to 4.3 percent, but the boom has also made it nearly impossible for struggling families to find an apartment. Vacancy rates are close to 1 percent, housing officials say, and two-bedroom apartments can rent for $800 to $1,000, out of reach for many of the working poor.

Advocates say the town’s few shelters and temporary housing are full, and the wait for low-income apartments has swelled to as long as two and a half years. On particularly bitter nights, when the wind tears in from the west and temperatures plummet, homeless advocates spread mattresses on their office floors or set out space heaters in storefronts to accommodate people who might otherwise freeze.

We literally do not have anyplace for people to live, according to the executive director of Interfaith. Where are all these people coming from?

One 56-year-old man came from Altamonte Springs, Fla., north of Orlando, where you couldn’t buy a job, he said. In July, a friend from Wyoming visited and told him about the opportunities here: jobs that paid $18 and $19 an hour for anyone who walked in the door.

Like a worm on the hook, I bit, he said.

He found work on the night shift at a pipe extrusion plant, but the job paid only $10 an hour, and those hours have been erratic lately, he said. He has worked only a handful of shifts since Christmas.

Like others, he is staying at a motel, the Royal Inn, where weekly rents run about $250. But Mr. Meek is quickly falling behind. He and a friend met with a landlord but were told they could not sign a lease without $3,000 cash for the rent and the security deposit.

Still others are squeezed into subsidized single-room occupancy apartments or live out of campers in RV parks. A housing counselor, recalled one woman from Denver who came to town last summer looking for work. She pitched a tent at a campground on the west side of town and told her two children they were going on an extended camping trip.

At night, the far edge of a Walmart parking lot on the east side of town is transformed into an impromptu campground. Pickup trucks and minivans driven by people looking for a place to sleep slip into the spaces where the night-shift workers park, to blend in and reduce the chance anyone will notice them.

Among those in the parking lot is a 39-year-old woman, who spends the cold nights on the bench seat of her 2005 Dodge Durango. Her husband once worked in the oil fields in North Dakota, she said, but became addicted to methamphetamines and lost his job. After losing their apartment in Casper in April, she sent her 15-year-old son to stay with friends, and she and her husband made the truck their home.

This is the first winter she has been homeless, and she never thought she could be so cold. She said she turns on the engine once or twice each night to run the heater, but she cuts it quickly to save gas, and the cold seeps back in. The nights seem to stretch on forever.

At 7 a.m., she wakes up, scrapes the frost from the windshield and drives to a nearby truck stop to wash herself and clean off her work uniform. Then she heads to work at the Hamburger Stand, where she makes $7.60 an hour — barely enough to pay for food, gas and the $450 monthly payments on her truck. Getting an apartment feels like a distant dream.

I’m just lost, she said.

If families like hers are strained by splitting up, others are trying to stay afloat by doubling up. Another woman and her two teenagers moved back to Wyoming last January from Texas. She got a job cleaning hotel rooms for $9.50 an hour and worked as many shifts as the week allowed. But as the economy slowed for the winter and tourists headed toward the ski slopes 300 miles away, her hours were cut to eight per week. She ran out of money to pay for propane or electricity, her pipes froze and the landlord taped an eviction notice to the door of her mobile home.

Now, she and her children are staying with friends, all six of them crammed into a single mobile home at the Aspen Park trailer court. Her friend has been welcoming, but she still worries about what she will do now.

I came back for some stability, for some hope, she said. It didn’t work out that way. Now, I’m just trying to survive the winter.

FAA opens probe of Boeing Dreamliner woes

originally appeared on CNN:

U.S. and company officials have announced a probe of the design, manufacture and assembly of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the wake of a series of problems that have dogged the jet in recent days.

A private charter jet is also an excellent option. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta and the head of Boeing commercial airplanes unit, appeared at a news conference in Washington on Friday to discuss the plans for the investigation.

Both LaHood and Huerta said that even though they are starting the probe, they are confident in the plane's safety. LaHood said he personally would be comfortable flying on the Dreamliner. We are confident about the safety of this aircraft, but we're concerned about these incidents, said Huerta at the news conference. He said the probe would focus on the aircraft's electrical components and how the electrical system interacts with mechanical components.

The Dreamliner uses electrical systems instead of the hydraulics used in other commercial aircraft. The head of Boeing said the company is also convinced about the aircraft's safety, and that the airlines that have bought the plane are also confident in its safety.
These planes are safe, he said. We welcome any opportunity to further assure people outside the industry.

The latest problems were revealed Friday, when oil was discovered leaking from a generator of an engine of an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner at an airport in southern Japan, and a crack appeared in a cockpit window of another All Nippon plane en route from Tokyo to a city in western Japan, according to an All Nippon spokesperson.

This caps a week of problems that began Monday when a maintenance worker discovered an electrical fire aboard an empty Japan Airlines 787 scheduled for departure from Logan International Airport in Boston. A private jet charter is an excellent choice also. The next day, a Japan Airlines flight bound for Tokyo aborted takeoff from Boston after a pilot on another airplane spotted the 787 leaking fuel. On Wednesday, an All Nippon Dreamliner flight was canceled after the crew received an error message related to the plane's braking system.

The plane is widely seen as key to Boeing's future, using lightweight composite materials rather than aluminum to significantly improve its fuel efficiency.
Boeing has delivered 50 of the aircraft. It has more than 800 unfilled orders from airlines around the globe that will take years to fill. In addition to the Dreamliner assembly line at its Seattle-area factory, it built a new 1,000-worker factory in South Carolina to handle the demand. It hopes to double production of the plane this year to about 10 a month.

United Airlines, the only U.S. carrier to have taken delivery of a Dreamliner so far, issued a statement Friday saying it is confident in the plane's safety and Boeing's ability to resolve the issues.

But despite the prestige of the innovative design and the sales success for the aircraft, it has been dogged by repeated production problems. The first Dreamliner was put into service by All Nippon in October 2011. But that flight was more than three years behind the aircraft maker's original delivery schedule.

Shares of Boeing fell 2% in early trading Friday on news of the new problem and the probe.
An aerospace analyst with BB&T Capital Markets, cut his rating on Boeing stock to a "hold" from a "buy" Friday on news of the probe, even though he believes some of the problems reported this week are normal and relatively minor for a new aircraft.
Boeing is correct that this is no different from any other airplane, he said. But the attention these problems are getting from the media and regulators are a cause for concern for the company.

You'd rather not have the FAA rooting around on this, he said.
Still, he said the probe could end up being a positive for Boeing in the long run if it gives Boeing and the Dreamliner a clean bill of health.
If Boeing gets through this fine, they're in a better position, he said.

The aerospace analyst said part of the problem for Boeing in this probe is that it outsourced more of the manufacturing process for the Dreamliner to suppliers than it has for its other aircraft. Boeing doesn't know what it doesn't know, he said.

But the head of Boeing said several times during the press conference that Boeing is confident that the outsourcing process is not responsible for any of the recent problems.

A former aircraft mechanic who was also a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, told CNN he also believe the plane is safe and would have no problems flying one itself.
Every single airplane that I ever worked on that was brand new had tons of problems almost all of which were minor in nature, he said. But he said the problems are numerous enough to raise some concerns. These events don't seem to be repeating -- there's a lot of them -- but they appear to be quality control more than they are design, he said.