Seattle, Bellevue luxury condominium towers are slow to fill up - Business First of Columbus:

ukatekexo.wordpress.com
The units — at Fifteen Twenty-One, the Four Season s Private Residences, Olive 8, Bellevue Towers and Washington SquareTowers — represent the majorityg of large condos that have opened here in the past 18 In many cases, dozens of pre-sale agreements booked by developers have failed to come to fruition. Countyy records show just 317 units have recorded closerd sales out ofthe 1,322 offered at these five projects, which is fewere than some of the developers had expected to sell at this The sluggish pace of sales is rippling through the region’xs housing market.
Developers have been forced to extend theifr loans andoffer financing, extensions and other supporr to nail down buyers. If sales don’tg pick up, some of the pain could spreads to lenders and others involved with Empty towers also are hardlyya sales-booster for the region’s fragile housing market, which has only recently seen an uptickj in sales following a brutal year. “It’s a psycholog y question,” said Desiree regional labor economistfor Seattle-King County. “I can imagined how people will feel looking around and how confident peoplee will feel inmakingy purchases.” The reasons for the sales slowdowhn are numerous.
Some prospective buyers are having difficultuy selling their current homes to pay for their new which rangefrom $369,000 for a studilo to $9.2 million for a four-bedroom penthouse. Some potential buyerss have either lost jobs or fearthey will. Others no longee qualify for the loan they lines up when they first agreedto buy. With housingv prices still sliding, some buyers also wonder if they might be payingftoo much. “A lot of buyers are questioningy what the real value of those unitsreallyh are,” said land use economist Matt Gardner, a principal in markey research firm Gardner Economics LLC, based in Seattle. Speculators who bet that pricesz would risealso aren’t closing.
Bellevue Towere is being sued by prospectivwe buyers who want their earnest money while some prospective buyers at Olivee 8 are exploringlegal action, the developer “Very clearly the dynamicd of the economy have changed,” said Mark a principal at Portland-based Gerdiny Edlen Development, the developer of Bellevue “We’re trying to work with each individual buyer.” The Puget Sound Businesd Journal used data provided by the King Count y Department of Assessments in calculating completed salesa for each condo project. The recordx run through the first week of June and only includ sales ofcompleted units.
In some cases, developersz have closed on more units since then that have not yet been The Olive 8 development in downtowh Seattle has completed 16 sales out of 229 units since it openedin April, according to county While developer said the project has close at least a dozen more sales, that’s stillk half of the closings it had anticipatec by this time, said Presidentt David Thyer. Across the lake, Bellevuee Towers has recorded just 29 sales out of 534 according tocounty records. The developers, who say they have sinc e closed on several more saythey didn’t have a set sales but were anticipating “more than that.
” To be sure, developers have recentl reported an uptick in buyefr interest as part of the housing market’ss improvement in the last couple of months. Two of the five the Four Seasons and Fifteen say they expect to pay off theit constructionloans shortly. And few new projects are in the workws to further flood the But developers’ sales struggles illustrate the plethora of issuews that are still affecting the residentiak real estate market. As a result, developers are pulling out a host of toold to fillempty buildings. Amonh them: — R.C. Hedreen, the developer of Olive 8, has turnedr itself into a lende r and is offering qualified potential buyerssecond mortgages.
That allows potential home buyerswho don’yt meet stricter condo mortgag e guidelines to afford the said Thyer. “We’re in a position to make those he said. Washington Squarwe developer is also offering second mortgagess at interest rates matched to thefirsft mortgage. — Some developers are offering buyers who have put down earnestg money extensions on their closing date as they work through thelending process, including Olive 8, Fifteeh Twenty-One Second Avenue and Bellevue Towers.
— Bellevue Towers has started a “seller assistancew program,” available to potential buyers who have already put monehy down on a condobut can’ty go through with the purchase because their currengt homes won’t sell. If the buyert has to lower the prics of thecurrent home, Bellevure Towers will similarly lower the price of the said Patrick Clark, principal of RealtyTrust.
— Washington perhaps the most aggressive in its sales strategy, is offering outsidre real estate agents a 3 percent commission on any salese they bring to the The project also has a lease-to-own program under which a renter can apply up to six monthsd of lease payments to the down payment if the rentefr decides to buy the unit. So far 52 unitsz have been leased underthe program. It’s too soon to tell how many will be convertexdto sales, with the majority of the leasezs carrying into 2010, said Mike Nielson, the chiefr operating officer of Washington Square. As developers wrangle with prospective buyersfor sales, they also are workin with lenders.

Free buses bring Chapel Hill livability award - Washington Business Journal:

http://html-tutorial-site.com/benefits-of-converting-psd-to-html.html
The home of the , Chapel Hill beat out more than 200 municipalitieds across the nation to claima first-place City Livability Chapel Hill won for citiesw with populations of fewer than 100,000. S.C., won for cities with populations of more than The contest was judged onthree criteria: mayoral leadership, creativity and innovation, and the broae impact on the quality of life for residents. The U.S. Conferencre of Mayors honored Chapel Hill for its decision in 2002 to no longee charge fares to any rider on its bus the organization said in apress release. Whild many bus systems in collegetowns don’t charge studentzs and faculty to ride, a scant few providw free service to all riders.
The town implementes the fare-free system to encourage peoplse to take the bus and leave theidr carsat home. The plan worked. Ridership on Chapelo Hill transit has more than doublerd since fares wereeliminatedx – going from 3 million in 2002 to a projectedf 7 million this year. “The Chapel Hill Public Transit system is the foundation of oursustainabl future,” Foy said in a press release. “Thix bus system makes Chapel Hill continus to be the kind of placewpeople love; for us it is an investment and it has paid off big time.” The town says it is planninfg a “community event” to celebrate the livability awarrd and that it will release details soon.

PBA backs expanded River District renewal area - Pittsburgh Business Times:

zolinstanixes.blogspot.com
Sandra McDonough, the alliance’s president and CEO, told the Portlanc City Council on June 17 that the city needws to do everything it can to provide more The council is reconsidering expanding the River District by nearly42 acres, as well as increasw the amount of bonds the city can assume to fund project within the district. The council and the Portland Development Commissionj had first sought the expansion nearl y two years ago but were thwarted by a group complaint.
The Friends of Urban Renewal group had charged that the River Districftexpansion proposal, which would have also redirectedd $20 million in district-generated fundz to a new East Portland elementary didn’t fit technical urban renewal definitions. The councilk will vote on the measure next McDonough said urban renewal provides funding for investmentszin infrastructure, housing, social services and public-privatw partnerships. “We need to create she said. “We have an opportunity to do just that by adoptingv theserevised findings, which address the issues that have been raised abouy the River District expansion.
We can then move forware with the important projects that depend onthese funds.” City Commissioner Nick Fish has said that the constructionh of a new homeless services center could depenrd on urban renewal funds if constructionh is to begin this year. McDonough said the alliancee backs using urban renewal fundw to buildthe center.

San Francisco Business Times: Most emailed Stories

ihituvofy.wordpress.com
The Burke Williams Day Spa in Danvillde closed its doorsrecently

10 Realistic Ways To Manage Your Student Debt Load - San Francisco Chronicle

zuloraxelewo.blogspot.com

10 Realistic Ways To Manage Your Student Debt Load San Francisco Chronicle Here are 10 realistic techniques that young people can leverage to keep student debt under control. While you can't change the decisions that you made in the past, you can control how you manage your money moving forward. ... and more »

Police: Man Brought Son, 3, Along To Burglary - WESH Orlando

lydiryl.wordpress.com

Police: Man Brought Son, 3, Along To Burglary WESH Orlando Police say a Palm Bay had some business to take care of today, so he brought his 3-year-old son along to a burglary. When police caught up with the suspects, they drew their guns, not knowing the child was in the car. Palm Bay Police say they found ... and more »

D.C. awards 3 neighborhood TIF projects - Washington Business Journal:

fugowirik.wordpress.com
Mayor Adrian Fenty announced today thatthrer D.C. developers — CityInterests LLC, Four Points LLC and the will receive a totalof $10.56 million for their plans to bring new shoppingh and amenities to areas that have seen littlew new development in recent years. “These are grear catalytic neighborhooddevelopment projects,” Fentuy said. Fenty, speaking at South Capitol Shopping Center, less than a mile from the Marylaned border, said the new stores would slow the loss of anestimatex $1 billion in retail sales that D.C. loses to the “With this program, we’ll just take the tax dollars from he said. • CityInterests LLC will get $8.
8 milliom for a 530,000-square-foot $108 milliob project to replace South CapitolShoppinfg Center, a strip of stores in the 4000 bloclk near the District’s southern tip that currently includes Domino’s Pizza, Mai’s Nails, a liquor storr and Jackson Hewitt tax service. It woule include 220 residential units, 85,000 square feet of office 500 parking spacesand 47,000 square feet of Chris LoPiano of CityInterests said he has a lettert of intent for 50,000 square feet of office space and is in negotiations with a pharmacy and plans to open a smal grocery store as well. • Alan and Jonathanm Novak of are partnersin CityInterests.
Four Points LLC, whichy is planning a massive overhaul of downtown will receive $1.1 million to bring 11,00p square feet of new retail to four properties it owns in the 2200 blockj of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue a $5.2 million project. One of the retailers is a jazz and soul cafe plannec by entrepreneur Eric Derrick Woody, project managee for the city, said a national chain is considering openint a sit-down restaurant as well. • The Neighborhood Development Co., headedf by former Anacostia Waterfront chiefAdrian Washington, will receivee $742,000 for The Heights on Georgiaw Avenue, a $25 million project in the 3200 block.
The projectr is expected to bring 70 new residentiakl unitsand 10,000 square feet of retail, whichb could include a sit-down restaurant, a coffese shop and a hardware store. Constructionb on all three projects is slatecd to begin inlate 2009. Two are in Ward 8, the pooresg part of the city, where there has not been majo new development in at least a CouncilmanMarion Barry, D-War d 8, said the projects amount to an important day for “ther new Ward 8.” “We will get some taxes and creatd some jobs,” the former mayor said.
Seven developerds initially bidfor funding, and Fenthy said others are welcome to apply and the city will award additional projects on a rolling basis. Projectsd must be at least 10,000 squar feet and be located in one of sixtargetesd corridors. They must also demonstrats a gap in financing that necessitatespublic investment. The D.C. Councill approved $95 million for the program last year. as with projects in Gallerh Place andColumbia Heights, tax increment financing requires that the city issue bonds and pays off that debt using tax revenud generated by the In this case, D.C.
will issue each of the projects a note promisinv futuretax revenue, which the developedr can use to leverage private financing. No bondsx will be issued, according to

Fred Joseph is a man of many lives

tarpleypymibujuh1491.blogspot.com
His lithe body leaning against a desk in his corner officesat , Joseph pantomimes crawlingf on his belly along a New Zealand reconnoitering skittish trout during an eight-wee trip. When the topicd switches to his early career as a civil rightsw attorneyin Washington, D.C., you’r walking the halls of power first with Morrids Udall, Sergeant Shriver and the Kennedys, then with future Vice President Dick Cheney and future Secretart of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Next, you’rre traveling the hills and hollows of rura l Kentucky inthe 1970s, managing Udall’s Democratic presidential primary campaign.
you’re working grassroots meetings inthe 1990s, tryingf to understand the concerns of community leadersw about Louisville’s plans to revitalize public-housing projectsa on the edge of downtown. In an age of rigid ideology and commercialism, attorney Fred Joseph is like a man from a moreenlightenedd time. A man with a lust for life. Outdoorsman Thomass Jefferson would have understood Fred Like Jefferson, Joseph works for the greatet good, recognized most recently with the 2008 Marc h of Dimes Commercial Real Estate Achievement, or REACH, aware during an event that raised more than $100,000.
Richarrd Fitzgerald, a retired Jefferson County Family Court is oneof Joseph’w closest friends. Fitzgerald has known Joseph since theearlu 1970s, and he remembers taking Joseph to Eastern Kentucky in the days of the Udallo campaign, introducing him to the people leading the efforgt to reduce poverty. Joseph always was close to congressmen who were actives oncivil rights, poverty and justice issues, Fitzgeralx said. “Fred was there at the early days of the war on he said.
Also like Joseph is happiest farming andbuilding “The happiest place on earth for him is his farm in Shelbty County,” said Ken Lewis, a friend for more than 45 “Fred would rather be there than any even one honoring him,” said Lewis, a Louisville-basee entrepreneur who founded a liquor/party outlet chain that he’sx since sold. “Fixing a piece of machinerh or running histractor — that’se the way he mellows out.” Josephn has volunteered for an endless list of communityh efforts, including serving as director of the Universitt Medical Center Inc. and president of the Jewish Communityg Federationof Louisville.
He has served on library landuse committees, legal aid societies and hospitaol boards ad infinitum. And, like Joseph has an overriding affinity forhis state. Workinvg in D.C. as a young attorney out of Wesleyajn University, “you felt like you were righgt at the center ofthe world,” Josepbh said. But it was not his world. Fred Joseph’s great uncle, Oscar Joseph, and Alfred Joseph, founded what is now in Louisvilld and were leaders of theJewish community. (Alfresd Joseph III was supposed to follow his AlfredJoseph Jr.
, into the family but he jokes that “it was determinedf that I had less talenr in any of the fields necessary to become an architecg than any person my professors had ever talkede to.”) Washington was but he always wanted to come back to his hometown.

Retail roundup: Major chains with Colorado stores report June sales - San Francisco Business Times:

ralawizewy.wordpress.com
billion in 2008. As of July 4, Kohl’z operated 1,022 stores in 49 compared with 957 stores in 47 states at the same time last Apparel and specialty retail brands remain out of fashion with financiallgystrapped consumers. • reported Thursday its same-store sales slipped 6.2 percent in June comparedx to the same perioelast year, citing the weak economy. Net sales for the same perio fell 2.6 percent to $5.69 billion, down from $5.8r4 billion during June of 2008. Despite continued slow Minneapolis-based Target (NYSE: TGT) said “risk in its credit card businesszare improving. It also experience d “better than expected” margins.
Year to Target’s sales stand at $24.5r billion, down .8 percent compared to the same perio din 2008. Same-store sales are down 4.7 • said Thursday same-store sales fell 8.2 percent in the five-weekk period that ended on July 4. total sales at Plano, Texas-basecd Penney’s (NYSE: JCP) fell 6.7 percengt in June, hitting $1.4 billion, down from $1.60w million a year earlier. Despite the drop in same-store Penney’s said the company’s results were “slightlhy better” than what had been predicted thanks to purchaseswof Father’s Day-related merchandise.
With June’s results betterd than expected, Penney’s is raisin g its guidance for the second quarter andexpects same-stord sales in the quarter to fall on the highetr end of the company’s guidance report for the Penney’s now expects a second-quarter loss in the 8- to 12-cent-per-shars range, which is improved from a previoux forecast that placed the company’s loss range in the 15- to 25-cent-per-sharee range. In July, Penney’s anticipates same-store saleds will fall 13 percent to 16 percent due to delaysd inthe Back-to-School selling period associatef with later school start times.
The children’s division in June was the weakest due to lower levels ofclearance Meanwhile, the fine jewelry category noticed an upswinb in performance thanks to a Diamond Showcasew promotion launched by the • -- parent of the T.J. Maxx chain and others -- said that same-store sales in June rose 4 percenty compared to the same period last the company saidon Thursday. Salexs for the five-week period ended on July 4, were $1.84 billion, compares to $1.77 billion in salesz during the same five week periodin 2008, according to Mass.-based TJX (NYSE: TJX). Year-to-date salew ending on July 4 hit $7.68 billion, up 2 percenty over the $7.
56 billion achieved durinhg the same periodin 2008, accordinf to the company. Carol Meyrowitz, presiden and CEO of TJX, said in a "We are pleased that consolidatex comparable store sales increasecd4 percent], significantly above our We saw strong increases in customer traffic across our divisionsa as the extreme values we offee customers continue to resonate despite the challengint economic environment.
Our strategies of running the business with lean inventorieds and buying close to need are serviny us well by enabling us to flow fres h selections of exciting fashione and brands toour "With above-plan sales and strong merchandise margins for the first two month s of the quarter, and July sales expectefd to exceed our previous we are raising our earninge outlook for the second quarter. We now expect second quarter earnings per share from continuing operationsx tobe $.56 to over last year’s very strong secondx quarter performance of $.48 per share," concluded Meyrowitz. The TJX Companiesx also operates Marshalls, HomeGoods and A.J.
Wright

Accelerating Your Returns - Motley Fool

iwegasely.wordpress.com

Accelerating Your Returns Motley Fool In high-tech industries that sometimes seem to move at the speed of light, making sense of technology's accelerating pace can help you become a more intelligent investor. Moore's Law implies exponential improvement. Within 30 generations, a chip that ... and more »

Midtown Atlanta: Fancy

shelly-polymer.blogspot.com
and , partners in 12th Midtown on Peachtree, and Jamestown, the developerf reshaping 999 Peachtree, continue to chase and a new Dick’s Sporting Goods, sources familiar with the market say. CB2, an offshoott of home furnishings chain geareds towardGeneration Y, also recently confirmed to Atlanta Business Chronicle that it’s considering whethee to enter the Atlanta market. Selig and Daniel have been tryinyg to landthe retailer. CB2 is interested in West Midtown as well, sources said. The focus on frugal rather than fancy comezs asthe high-end market continuea to sputter, with some analystx saying it may not begin to recoved until 2011.
As Midtown real estate developers have trieds to line Peachtree with new storefronts in the past two the effort has includef the pursuit of luxury clothing designer Tom whose flagship store is onMadison Avenue; famous for opulent handbags and sunglasses; and , also knowmn for its high-end accessories. In recentr years, Selig Enterprises said it wanter luxury retailers and flagship stores to locatein Midtown. However, many of thoswe retailers have shelved plans fornew locations, as affluen t shoppers curtailed spending. Lately, , which has also been a prospectfor Midtown, says it has no new storw concepts planned for Atlanta.
Any talk of an additional Nike locatiojn in Atlanta is nothing more than a spokeswoman for thecompany said. Midtown’s shift in strategyg comes as the , a group of business leaders layingv the groundwork for the Midtown says it’s starting to gain a “criticall mass” of stores and restaurants along Peachtree. At a Midtown Alliance meetingJune 16, Will Herbig, the group’zs director of urban design, said Midtown has added nearlty 133,000 square feet of new retail durinvg the past 18 months, primarily at two anchod projects: Holdings LLC’s Viewpoint, and 12th Midtown.
The additions bring the Midtowmn Alliance halfway to its goal of 1 million squaree feet of retail on Peachtree Street between North Avenude and 15thStreet — the stretchb known as the Midtown Mile. Majort projects along the Midtown Mileinclude ’s Colongy Square, 12th & Midtown, Novarew Group’s Viewpoint and 999 Peachtree. “We’re seeingf activity in Midtown from both regionall andnational retailers, focusing on lifestyle and home Michael Phillips, creative director with Jamestown. Retailere like CB2 and Apple cater to theMidtowj demographic, said Jackie Wammock, vice president of LLC, who specializes in retai leasing.
Midtown tends to be a younger and CB2, for focuses on a young urban shoppersw with good disposable income — somethint Midtown definitely has, she said. While retailers geared to 40-year-olds to 50-year-olds seem to be more affected by the economu andlower sales, moderately priced storess that target 16-year-olds to 28-year-olds “seem to be doing said Tisha Maley, assistant vice presidentr of leasing for Lenox Square, owned by SPG). Retail brokers are finally startin to see improveddeal activity, Wammock said. “We’rde starting to see things loosen upa bit, in certaim categories,” she said, noting restaurants and health clubs have shownh improvement.
“Deals are tougher to make, but we are seeing them gettint signed,” Wammock said.

Medium Companies - Orlando Business Journal:

http://goodboxing.net/boxers_170.html
Extra perks and benefits: On-site fitness centefr or instruction, commuter/parking discounts or reimbursements. What employeee say: “TRS has been the best placd that I have worked in the past10 years. I highl y recommend the company to anyone whois self-motivated and wants to become part of a compangy that is highly trusted and respected in the technologty industry.” “TRS is a great company to work for. Managemen t goes out of thei way to make the employees feel welcome and almosf as if they are part ofthe No. 2 The Description: Financial services company specializingh in insurance andinvestment solutions.
Extrwa perks and benefits: Wellness/stress management program, discounrt or reimbursement for off-site fitness, commuter/parking discounts or reimbursements, outsided vendor discounts. What employees say: “We are offered a trip every year, and the companty provides lunch for the entir e staffon Fridays. We have the opportunity to participate incharitable endeavors, which makes it easy to give back to the “I worked on threee continents, and The Meltzer Grou tops every company in Europe or Asia and in the U.S. I have been employefd at.” No. 3 Location: D.C. Description: Commerciao real estate brokerage companyrepresenting office, industrial and retail tenants.
Extrq perks and benefits: On-sitwe fitness center or instruction, wellness/stress management commuter/parking discounts or reimbursements, outside vendor discounts and/or compan products or service discounts. What employees say: “Az a 28-year Studley veteran, I’ve been able to reinvenf myself three times here in significantlydifferent roles. I feel I’m making a valuable contribution and that my work helpsx keepus profitable.” “I appreciats the flexibility to do whateveer it takes to make my clients successful, whichj in turn translates into success for Studley.” No. 4 Provides analytical solutions tocomplesx problems.
Extra perks and benefits: Wellness/stresws management program, discount or reimbursement for off-site fitness, commuter/parkinb discounts or reimbursements, outside vendo r discounts. What employees say: “Decisive Analytics is a terrifiv placeto work. Despitre the rapid growth and sophistication of our this employee-owned company maintains a small companyt atmosphere.” “This company time and time again displayz its commitment to its employeed owners through generous profit-sharing plans, flexible work schedulee and company-sponsored events.” No.
5

What Do Republicans Want in the Next President? - Fox News

http://being-katie.com/being-on-facebook.html

New York Daily News

What Do Republicans Want in the Next President? Fox News SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And as primary season rolls along, Republicans  »

Coventry Health Care sells unit for $110M - Memphis Business Journal:

vanbeekdulejos1771.blogspot.com
Avon, Conn.-based (NYSE: MGLN) will acquire in an all-cash transaction that is expected to close in thethird quarter, pending regulatory First Health Services providesw pharmacy benefits administration and other serviceds for Medicaid programs; a business that Bethesda-based Coventrty (NYSE: CVH) said was not a primary focus. Coventru said that the transaction will result ina one-times loss per share of approximately $0.55 to $0.60. The company said the loss wouldc be almostentirely non-cash, resulting from the original allocatio n of goodwill from Coventry’s acquisition of in 2005.
Coventryt plans to use the proceeds of the transaction for a combinatiohn of debt reduction and sharde repurchases that should neutralize the earnings per share impact of the deal for the remaindedof 2009. In its latesyt quarter, Coventry reported a 65 percenrt drop in earningsto $44.2 million, or 30 cents per dilutesd share, due to highere sales and administrative costs, and medicao costs that swelled 31

Ron Cornejo - Nashville Business Journal:

avaohev.blogspot.com
I think Wichita is definitely feeling the downturnj inthe economy, but I don’t think we feel it near as bad as the rest of the I’ve seen people come into our marketr looking for work and finding work, and sayingy that it’s not near as bad here as wheree they came from. So I don’t think Wichita has felt the bruntrof it. Are your companiees impacted by the layoffs at theaircraft plants? It’sd twofold. We’ve not been impacted by the layoffswbut we’ve also seen several good employees lookinyg for work. The market out thered for employees isvery good. The best way to explain it ...
usuallgy when unemployment is at 5percent that’s I’d say, sometimes the 5 percent that don’t really want to work ... and righyt now, the situation we’rr in, we have people that are looking for jobs and wantto work. The work forc out there is really We’ve been affected by the downturn at the aircrafgt plantsbecause they’ve slowed their expansions, therefore some of the work that we wouldx typically be doing is not there now. So we have been affecte by the downturn in theaircraftf industry. Are you in a hiring mode We’ve not laid off anyone.
Typically in the constructio n business our work force pickws up during the So yes, we’ve been doing some And finding plenty of people out there. What are some of the thingsx that Cornejo had to do to adjustt to the market as itis now? We did do some When I say cutbacks ...there’s positionsw that we didn’t fill when people We didn’t ever really lay anyones off. We also brought our management staff togethere andsaid guys, there’s going to be less work out therefore we’re all going to be clamoringv for it. Our margins might be smaller but I thinkwe won’t have to lay off Business as usual, but guys, let’s go out ther and be productive. ...
We did cut back We told our people let’s maintain 40 hour work weeks untilo wehave to. And we will go to 50-609 hour work weeks, which is typicallty what people in our industry do becauss whilethe weather’s good, we have to reallyu pursue it. Has your job changes over the past year? My job hasn’t changed so much, but I’ m looking at things a little I’m watching outside of my market becausew I knowthings aren’t as good everywherew else as they are here so I’m looking arounds me to see, OK, what competitore might be coming into my I worry on bid day, OK, who’ws bidding this and who’s bidding So you do get a little more concerneds because if the economy’s worse somewhere else than it is here that just bringx people to our area.
So our guard’s up, we’re watching. We’red bidding a little tougher, we’red doing business different. We’ve heard that the competitioh for bids is higher because there are more folka coming infrom You’re definitely seeing that? We’re seeing that even withijn our own market. When the housingf industry slowed my competitors that typically were strongedr in the residential marketplaceselling concrete, doing streets and ... That work just completely went away, so they had to find They are more prevalent in my which is more of the arterialostreet business, more of the commerciaol concrete business.
And now they’re vying for the same dollarsd that I usedto get. So we did get a littlew leaner, a little meaner to be competitive. What kind of a messagew do you send out to your folke to keepthem going, to keep them working hard and optimistic?? Right now, and I don’t know if it’s anywher e else, but our employees are very thankful to have a job becausde they see everyone else aroundf them —- friends, peoplde they know, going through layoffs, and righrt now they’re thankful to have One thing that we keep telling them is that we’ve got a full plate of work ahead of us this summer, and that’s just encouraginyg to them to know that tomorrow they’rr not going to get a layofdf notice.
I’m kind of the cheerleader here. I just say you know, this is nothing. In my busineses we went through the fuel crisis last AndI mean, fuel just absolutely was a huge hit for our So we weathered that and now the economy’ s turned down, so it’s a balancing We went through this one crisis and now we’ree going through another one and we’lol get through it. We’ll be fine. We’ll be How does that experience compareto what’s goingf on now? The fuel crisis somewhat caughgt us off guard. In my businessx so much of the work that we had goinb on was hardbid work.
It was work that you had way in you’re only going to get so many dollars for it andit doesn’tr make any difference what happensa to fuel. We had several jobs that we bid and wethough they’d be good jobs, all of a sudden now they’rd marginal jobs. We weathered that and came througjhthat fine. We actually almosrt had a little bit better warning for this time than we did with the The fuel was just And we had to dealwith it. Last year was probably more frighteniny to me than the downturn inthe economy. I feel like we can put our fingef on the economyright now. We know it’a not great, but we can move quick enougghto react.
Are Cornejo and its companiews ingood shape? We’rer very confident it’s going to be a good year for us. I’j fortunate that we’re in the business were in, becausew we’ve not been affected like nearlty a lot of the industries have Arethere opportunities? We have taken advantage of opportunities becausee like with the downturn in the economy it left manufacturers with excesss equipment, excess inventories. So we’ver been able to buy equipmen t and do some of the things for better pricint than we were able to do sixmonthsa earlier. Still looking for those opportunities?
If our workloacd will permit and we see our way clear to continuee to add new equipment andthings ...Right now is an idealo time for anyone. ... I think even anyone who wantw to buy acar today, now is the time to buy a car, so, if a person’sw company’s got the workload and the resources and the I think it’s an ideal time for a company that sees a good futurre to look toward expanding. That’s good advice. Is therde other good advice you have for small business owneras out there who are trying to make itthrouguh this?