09.30
PR Newswire, Sept 14, 2009
Miller’s Court Financed with New Markets, Historic Tax Credits
COLUMBIA, Md., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ — Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon joined Enterprise, gary silverston Seawall Development Company, SunTrust Bank, U.S. Bank and community partners to celebrate the grand opening of Miller’s Court, a new mixed-use apartment building with 40 affordable homes targeted for teachers and office space with reduced rent for Teach for America and other educational nonprofits serving Baltimore City Public Schools. Miller’s Court is a brownfield reclamation development seeking U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification for environmentally sustainable design and development.
“It is an honor to be here today to unveil this beautiful building, which will provide valuable office space and affordable housing for teachers,” said Governor O’Malley. “We have what Education Week magazine says are the best public schools in the nation, our graduation rates are up and more and more of our kids are leaving high school better prepared and ready to go to college or enter the workforce. Every single hardworking teacher in our state is a big part of those achievements. We owe it to them to support them in the important work that they do.”
Originally built at the turn of the 20th century as the H.F. Miller and Sons tin box manufacturing company, Miller’s Court recently underwent a $21.9 million renovation with financing from a $9.4 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. and a $9.5 million allocation from SunTrust Community Capital, LLC. Additional financing was provided by federal and state historic tax credit equity and loans from the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore
09.28
Secured Lender, The, May/Jun 2009 by Jones, Rick
The agriculture industry is a large and fertile source of business for secured lenders. The industry has faced challenges due to changing requirements in the food-supply chain, as well as legal and practical ramifications related to bioterrorism, food safety and product traceability. Also, due to recent market conditions, underlying real estate values of owned property – a traditional source of excellent collateral – has come under siege. Some of the larger traditional agriculture lenders, specifically the large national and regional banks, have anecdotally begun trimming their industry credit. This should create an opportunity for other lenders to increase their market share in this industry.
Lending in the agricultural industry entails a broad range of activity, but it generally falls into three buckets:
1. Ag-related real estate loans
2. Production (or “operating”) loans (loans against a crop’s financial projection)
3
09.28
Market Wire, May, 2009
Early summer is the peak time to plan
outdoor celebrations, and that has party suppliers who advertise in the
Yellow Pages in a festive mood. In June the Yellow Pages Association sees a
spike in references to the “Party Supplies – Renting” heading as consumers
look to book necessities from tables, chairs and tents to frills such as
rides, dunk tanks and inflatables(1).
“Everyone talks about June brides,” said Wayne Walley, editor of Rental
Management magazine. “The warm weather provokes people to hold weddings and
high school and college graduation celebrations at home, and party and
event equipment rental supplies are needed.”
Entrepreneur Jack Barfield is noticing a spike as well — in his revenues.
Barfield rents dunking booths, inflatable party games and snow cone and
cotton candy machines at his Lil’ Jack’s Moonwalk Rentals in La Porte,
Texas — about 40 miles east of Houston. Despite today’s tough economy, his
business continues to grow, nearly doubling from 14 to 25 employees in
recent months.
“A couple of years ago, my AT&T; Real Yellow Pages representative encouraged
me to advertise on YP.COM in addition to the Real Yellow Pages,” Barfield
said. “He also helped upgrade my Web site, with impressive results. In less
than two months, we recorded close to 20,000 new visits… a total that
took us about four years to reach previously. And our traffic continues to
climb, ballooning to nearly 220,000 visits to our home page.”
The local exposure has prompted Barfield to work with AT&T; Real Yellow
Pages to help manage the production of an online video ad on YP.COM that
highlights its new indoor party center. He recently subscribed to AT&T;’s
YPConnect service, which provides exposure on the major search engines. It
also captures statistics about Web site visitors and more effectively turns
those visitors into customers.
“I’m convinced that the more than 200 calls and 100 e-mails I get each day
are a direct result of my Yellow Pages print and Internet advertising,”
Barfield said. “And, with my new video and the YPConnect service, I expect
those totals to get even higher in the weeks and months ahead.”
Larry Small, director of research for the Yellow Pages Association, said:
“Independent party supply rental owners know that the Yellow Pages provides
an impressive return on investment
09.28
Grocer, Oct 27, 2001
Shampoos and conditioners remain highly competitive, driven by intensive promotional activity at point of sale.
The total market was valued at 460m [pounds sterling] in 2000, up 19% since 1996. However, recent trends suggest a slow-down in real terms, due to price-cutting and promotional strategies by major retailers.
Manufacturers have maintained consumer interest in the category through the creation of new niches as a result of innovative brand extensions, rather than major new brand launches.
In terms of distribution, the grocery multiples have maintained their stranglehold of the shampoo market, with a 56% value share. However, they have struggled to increase value sales due to the keen discounting conducted by the major multiples, which regularly run 2-for-1 and 3-for-2 price promotions.
Haircare is an important category within non-food, and a number of key retailers have made efforts to develop more premium business by stocking a wider range of brands, including designer ranges.
Opportunities for growth are limited, given the high penetration level, especially for shampoo which was recorded at 97% for women and 95% for men. The percentages were lower for conditioners — 73% and 34% — and may present some scope for growth.
Manufacturers are promoting regime shampoo and conditioner usage, and segmenting their product ranges so consumers can choose different variants for different usage occasions.
SOURCE OF PURCHASE FOR SHAMPOOS AND CONDITIONERS, FEB 2001 Base: 1,006 adults aged 15 Supermarkets 66% Boots 28% Other chemist 17% Department store 4% Hair salon 4% The Body Shop 3% Doorstop rep 1% Convenience store 2% Mail order 1% Other high street specialist 1% Marks and Spencer * Other 3% Don't buy 8% * less than 1% Source: BMRB/Mintel
09.28
Market Wire, December, 2008
The five vacuums in the new Miele S7 upright vacuum
cleaner series now available online from Best Vacuum combine innovative and
practical features with the performance and reliability expected from a
Miele vacuum.
With a powerful and quiet 1200-watt motor, three on-board accessories and
adjustable suction control, telescopic wand and hose reach up to 15 feet
and 55-foot total cleaning radius, the Miele S7 are suitable for any
cleaning surface, from deep pile carpets to hard floors, from upholstery to
curtains.
The Miele S7’s unique swivel neck and 360° caster wheels let it maneuver
quickly and easily, even around the tightest corners. It also lies
virtually flat against the floor, to get under furniture to clean those
previously inaccessible spaces.
Among the other features of all S7 vacuums, are a separate motor for the
brush roller, carpet-to-bare floor switch are on the handle and Miele’s
Active HEPA filter that captures and retains tiny, lung-damaging particles
while absorbing odors. On-board accessories, stored neatly in the back of
the vacuum, include crevice nozzle, upholstery nozzle and dusting brush.
All five Miele S7 vacuums have a big 5.45 qt. capacity and use the new
Miele Hyclean dustbag. The Hyclean dustbag provides additional filtration
and features a self-closing collar that automatically seals the bag when
the dust compartment lid is opened.
In addition to the standard Miele Jazz , Miele Salsa and Miele Calypso models, there are two deluxe S7 uprights,
the Miele
Bolero and Miele Tango vacuum cleaners.
The two deluxe models feature a maintenance-free LED headlight that makes
even the darkest corners easy to see, electronic suction control with LED
indicator, automatic setting that takes adjusts suction power to best suit
the type of flooring or carpet being cleaned, and a silence setting that
combines the lowest noise output with the ideal power level for optimum
cleaning results for even quieter use.
All five Miele S7 upright vacuums cleaners are available from Best Vacuum,
online at BestVacuum.com
or from its storefront in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, 2646 N. Lincoln Avenue,
Chicago, IL 60614
09.27
Weather and Forecasting, Feb 2009 by Pettegrew, Brian P, Market, Patrick S, Wolf, Raymond A, Holle, Ronald L, Demetriades, Nicholas W S
ABSTRACT
Between 2100 UTC 11 February 2003 and 0200 UTC 12 February 2003, a line of thunderstorms passed swiftly through parts of eastern Iowa and into north-central Illinois. Although this storm somewhat resembled a warm season, line-type mesoscale convective system, it was unique in that the thunderstorm winds exceeded the severe criterion (50 kt; 25.7 m s^sup -1^) during a snowburst. While the parent snowband deposited only 4 cm of snow, it did so in a short period and created a treacherous driving situation because of the ensuing near-whiteout conditions caused by strong winds that reached the National Weather Service severe criteria, as the line moved across central Illinois. Such storms in the cold season rarely occur and are largely undocumented; the present work seeks to fill this void in the existing literature.
While this system superficially resembled a more traditional warm season squall line, deeper inspection revealed a precipitation band that failed to conform to that paradigm. Radar analysis failed to resolve any of the necessary warm season signatures, as maximum reflectivities of only 40-45 dBZ reached no higher than 3.7 km above ground level. The result was low-topped convection in a highly sheared environment. Moreover, winds in excess of 50 kt (25.7 m s^sup -1^) occurred earlier in the day without thunderstorm activity, upstream of the eventual severe thundersnow location. Perhaps of greatest importance is the fact that the winds in excess of the severe criterion were more the result of boundary layer mixing, and largely coincident with the parent convective line. This event was a case of forced convection, dynamically linked to its parent cold front via persistent frontogenesis and the convective instability associated with it; winds sufficient for a severe thunderstorm warning, while influenced by convection, resulted from high momentum mixing downward through a dry-adiabatic layer.
1. Introduction
On the evening of 11 February 2003, a line of severe thunderstorms moved swiftly through southeast Iowa (IA) and northwest and central Illinois (IL) with winds in excess of 50 kt (25.7 m s^sup -1^) and brief heavy snowfall. On radar, the line appeared similar in form to a small squall line. The convective line developed ahead of a strong synoptic-scale cold front as it pushed through the area. The National Weather Service in Lincoln, Illinois (ILX), issued severe thunderstorm warnings for several counties in central Illinois due to the strong winds, which also aided in creating near whiteout conditions during the brief heavy snowfall. The first severe thunderstorm warning was issued at 0002 UTC 12 February 2003 for Marshall County, Illinois; within an hour, the front and convection had passed leaving wind damage, a covering of snow, and an unusual phenomenon referred to as snowrollers [an artifact of snow moisture, winds, and topography that result in cylindrical snow formations; Tarn (1982)] in the Peoria, Illinois (PIA), area.
Surface weather observations at PIA substantiated the passage of the cold front (Table 1) but failed to capture the true severity of this system. Along with damage reports of downed trees and utility poles (see the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publication Storm Data), spotter and observer reports of measured/estimated wind gusts included
1) 2345 UTC 11 February 2003, Galesburg, IL; 53-kt (27.2 m s^sup -1^) wind gust;
2) 0032 UTC 12 February 2003, Roanoke, IL; 54-kt (27.8 m s^sup -1^) wind gust; and
3) 0041 UTC 12 February 2003, Tremont, IL; 51-kt (26.2 m s^sup -1^) wind gust.
Unique cases such as this one, which do not clearly fall into common operational paradigms, present somewhat of a challenge to forecasters regarding how best to communicate the weather hazard. At the National Weather Service, two responses that would be considered for such an event include a severe thunderstorm warning (SVR) and a high- wind warning (HWW). Typically, the SVR is issued for thunderstorms likely to produce hail of 0.75-in. diameter or greater and/or surface wind gusts of 58 miles per hour (mph; 25.7 m s^sup -1^) or greater. HWWs are usually issued for expected surface wind gusts of 58 mph (25.7 m s^sup -1^) or higher (in most parts of the country) online marketing due to synoptic-scale pressure gradients, terrain-forced winds such as mountain waves, or mesoscale winds associated with a wake low behind a squall line. We will explore the nature of the best response in section 7 of this paper.
Therefore, the case studied here is one of a convective line with few of the accepted characteristics of a typical squall line in the warm season. Additionally, winds occurred during thunderstorm activity sufficient to require the issuance of a severe thunderstorm warning, even though the origin of those strong winds was due only in part to the convective circulation
09.26
Investors Chronicle – magazine and web content, May, 2007
In this week’s extract from his investment diary, Bernard Jones is cut to the quick Bernard Jones
Tuesday 27 March: Tanfield results
5pm. Completely overlooked Tanfield results this morning in my excitement about meeting Astrid this weekend. The milk-float maker has certainly caught the zero-emission wave, with retailers like Marks and Spencer and delivery firms queuing up to take its vehicles. However, despite doubled turnover and a bulging order book, I feel the shares are looking a little pricey now, at 105p – that’s a historic PE ratio of over 100 plastic surgery reno and 16 times 2008’s forecasts results
09.25
Investment Adviser, November, 2008
Byline: Hugo Greenhalgh internet marketing
At the time of writing the FTSE 100 is down by just a little more than 2.5 per cent, dragging the level of the index to below 4,000 once more. It would be easy, however, to dismiss this intraday move with a seasoned shrug: the market volatility experienced over the past 12 months has been unprecedented. Battle weary investors have rushed into cash and gilts and only a few hardy contrarians – Warren Buffett among them – are still buying.
At the time of writing the FTSE 100 is down by just a little …
09.21
Specialty Coffee Retailer, June, 2007 by Niksic, Melissa
Milk? Soy? How about a little UHT?
Milk isn’t just from cows anymore. These days, there are many different milk product options that extend far beyond the dairy case. Non-dairy alternatives such as soy milk, almond milk and rice milk have been around for some time, while newer products like hemp milk and milk concentrates are gaining popularity.
As consumer trends shift, retailers are wise to follow suit
09.21
Sunday Mirror, Aug 30, 2009 by CATHERINE HOOD
Dear Dr Cath, MY wife is giving me a hard time because three weeks ago I started to get warts on my hands. She’s convinced I’m having an affair and says you get warts from having sex. I haven’t been cheating but she won’t believe me.
Dear reader, YOU can reassure your wife that she’s wrong about an affair