Local & State

Midlands

Job fair slated at fort

Fort Jackson will hold a job fair for all veterans, military personnel, military spouses, retirees and Department of Defense employees from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 2, at the post’s Solomon Center. The event is co-hosted by the Army Community Services Employment Readiness and The Army Career and Alumni Program. More than 75 employers will be present. Free child care will be provided for military spouses, but it must be coordinated in advance by calling (803) 751-4862.

Airport wins workplace diversity honor

The Columbia Metropolitan Airport won the Excellence in Workplace Diversity Award in the under-500-employees category from the S.C. Chamber of Commerce. The dollar amount that airport spent in 2012 with small, minority and women-owned businesses increased 383 percent over the same time period in 2011, the chamber said. The airport also has more than 500 such businesses on its master list of potential vendors. TD Bank won in the category for 501-1,500 employees, and the Greenville Hospital System won in the over-1,500-employees category. This is the award’s eighth year. Companies were judged based on criteria such as diversity initiatives, effectiveness and applicability/replicability.

Coast

PGA tourney boosts Charleston hotels

CHARLESTON The local lodging industry carded some good numbers last month. Charleston County hotels swelled with overnight guests in August, thanks to the 2012 PGA Championship on Kiawah Island. The lodging industry saw an overall increase of 7.4 percent in occupancy to 74.7 percent, and sold about 25,600 more room nights last month compared to August 2011, according to the College of Charleston’s Office of Tourism Analysis. The PGA is one of professional golf’s four “major” tournaments. This year’s competition was the first major played in South Carolina, drawing an international field of players and spectators. It ran from Aug. 9 to 12. The preliminary overall economic impact from the PGA was estimated at $193 million for the state. Of the estimated 210,000 fans, 50,000 were from outside of the area, according to a study tournament organizers released before the championship.

Nation & World

Boeing mulling design of new 787

NEW YORK Boeing Co. is getting closer to figuring out what the next version of its new 787 would look like, although it still hasn’t decided for sure whether to build it. The aircraft manufacturer has been delivering the base model of the new 787 for a year now. A slightly longer 787-9 is being built, and accounts for roughly 300 of the 800 orders Boeing has booked. The first one is expected to be delivered in early 2014. But Boeing is also thinking about making a longer version, the 787-10. The plane would have two additional “donuts,” or fuselage sections, officials said. Meanwhile, The Seattle Times reported Friday that the National Transportation Safety Board issued an urgent notice that all GEnx engines on Boeing 747-8 cargo planes should be inspected immediately for signs of cracks like those found recently on three engine midshafts. The planes should be grounded until they are inspected, the NTSB said.

Kristy Eppley Rupon, The (Charleston) Post and Courier and The Associated Press contributed.