TheState.com: Business

Wine aged in Charleston Harbor recovered

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:34 EDT

A California winery this week recovered four cases of Cabernet Sauvignon that were submerged in Charleston Harbor three months ago in the first phase of an experiment to determine the effect of ocean aging on wine.

Divers recovered four yellow steel cages containing the wine that was put in 60 feet of water back in February by the Mira Winery of St. Helena, Calif.

Jim “Bear” Dyke Jr., the Charleston resident who owns the winery, says the wine will now be sampled and chemically analyzed.

Later this year, he said, more wine will be submerged in the harbor for twice as long as the winery continues to experiment with ocean aging.

Wine has been aged in the ocean before by wineries both in Europe and on the West Coast. Mira wants to do a systematic analysis of the effects of such aging, Dyke said.

Fox show brings messy workplaces to television

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:01 EDT

This time “you’re fired” is more than a Donald Trump catchphrase. Fox is turning the firing of real people from real jobs into prime-time entertainment starting this week.

The network on Thursday began airing “Does Someone Have to Go?” a series where cameras go into small businesses and employees are compelled to rat out underperforming colleagues. At the end, they choose one co-worker to recommend for firing.

“This is the thing they promise to do in retreats but nobody really does it,” said Mike Darnell, executive in charge of alternative programming for Fox.

Darnell and Fox have pushed the boundaries of reality TV since it was first recognized as a genre, from the highs of “American Idol” to the lows of “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?” He said he sees “Does Someone Have to Go?” as a new direction for a programming form dominated by singing and dancing competitions.

It’s a revamped version of a show, then called “Someone’s Gotta Go,” that Fox had been working on with the Endemol production company four years ago. In its initial incarnation, employees were given the power to determine who should be laid off within companies that needed to shrink for economic reasons. The show drew awful advance publicity – one magazine called it a step toward public executions – and never aired.

Home buyers appeal to sellers through notes

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:58 EDT

Some buyers are solving housing woes with prose.

They’re not writing poems or romantic novels — just short notes to sellers, telling them how happy they’d be to buy their homes.

The simple gesture is paying off in today’s market, where inventory is tight and bidding wars are becoming more common.

“Money talks, but a letter gives a human element to an offer,” said Michael Citron, a real estate agent in Broward and Palm Beach counties. “Sellers want to sell to a buyer who they’re comfortable with and can relate to.”

Cynthia Kelley fell in love with a four-bedroom home in Coral Springs, Fla., as soon as she saw the “doggy doors” and the big back yard.

SC business notebook, May 25

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:48 EDT

2,500 SRNS workers returning to full time

AIKEN Employees of the contractor that manages the Savannah River Site are returning to full-time work status. Officials with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions said Thursday that about 2,500 workers would go back to full-time status starting on Monday. The employees at the old nuclear weapons plant had been on furloughs since April due to federal budget cuts. SRNS CEO Dwayne Wilson said in a message to employees that a funding request had been approved, meaning that employees could go back to the schedules they were working at the end of March. The site once produced plutonium and tritium for atomic bombs. Work there is now focused on research and cleanup.

Kahn bankruptcy hearing set

A hearing into the bankruptcy filing of Alan Kahn, one of Columbia biggest real estate developers, has been continued until June 10. Kahn, the developer of Village at Sandhill, filed for bankruptcy protection last month for himself and two of his companies after accumulating more than $50 million in debt during the recent recession. The majority of that money, more than $32 million, is owed to Gibraltar BB4 LLC, according to a debt collection judgment issued in November in Richland County. Gibraltar is a real estate acquisition and investment division of Toll Brothers, a publicly traded home-building giant based in Pennsylvania. Kahn also owes nearly $6 million to TD Bank, which a year ago sued for the balance owed on a loan for a shopping center in Virginia that the bank foreclosed on. The June 10 hearing will be his first meeting with creditors in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Markets post losses for the week

Homeowners to lose flood insurance subsidies

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:55 EDT

Congress has decided it wants the federal flood insurance program to pay for itself, and it has set in motion a multi-year process to make it happen.

Eventually, homeowners will lose the federal subsidies they now might have for their flood insurance and all will be paying actuarial rates in which the cost is determined by the risk.

The first to see the change were owners of secondary residences, whose rates began on Jan. 1 an annual 25 percent increase until they reach the actuarial, or full-risk rate, said Maria Lamm, state coordinator of the S.C. Flood Mitigation Program.

On Oct. 1, premiums for businesses and for residences that have seen severe repetitive losses will begin to phase upward, and property where there is a lapse in coverage, a change in owners or a new or renewed policy will begin to pay the full-loss rate.

Then, sometime late next year, those whose premiums have been subsidized will begin paying phased-in increases until their payments equal the full-loss rate.

SC business notebook, May 24

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:18 EDT

First Citizens rated tops in Southeast

Columbia’s First Citizens bank was rated highest in the Southeast in customer satisfaction in the latest J.D. Power and Associates survey, the bank said Thursday. The 2013 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study surveyed more than 50,000 retail banking customers evaluating multiple factors, such as product offerings and problem resolution. The bank serves 300,000 households in the Southeast region surveyed, which included South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. The bank rated highest in the areas of financial advice received, in-person service experience, problem prevention and account information clarity.

Mediterranean adding 30 jobs

MOUNT PLEASANT The Mediterranean Shipping Company is adding 30 jobs at its location in Mount Pleasant. The shipping industry giant is investing almost $2 million in the process. The expansion includes new equipment for a data center and the purchase of new property to create a training center for the company’s workers and managers. Mediterranean shipping has had a facility in the state for two decades. Worldwide, the company operates almost 460 container vessels.

Atlanta firm to develop plan for Horizon

Industry puts its mind to video games

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:22 EDT

Fly toy helicopters with your mind. Be a DJ and shift musical tracks based on how you feel. Wiggle robotic cat ears by increasing your state of calm.

Astonishing advances in the ability to harness brain waves have made the fantastic notion of moving and controlling objects with the mind possible. Now neuroscientists are grappling with another challenge: Find a “killer app” that will demonstrate the true potential of tapping into brain waves and ignite the neurotechnology revolution.

Medicine, perhaps? Education? Try video games.

In the past decade, video games have helped push cutting-edge technologies such as sensor-based computing — Nintendo’s Wii — and gesture-based computing — Microsoft’s Kinect — into the mainstream. Neurotech boosters hope video games can do the same for their budding industry.

In a sign of how serious they are about courting the video gaming industry, the two camps staged the NeuroGaming Conference & Expo earlier this month in San Francisco, the first event of its kind, according to organizers.

New home sales up 2.3 percent in April

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:24 EDT

U.S. sales of new homes rose in April and nearly matched the fastest pace in five years, driving the median price to a record high. The gains suggest the housing recovery is strengthening.

New-home sales increased 2.3 percent in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That’s only slightly below January’s pace of 458,000, which was the fastest since July 2008.

Steady job creation and near-record-low mortgage rates are spurring more Americans to buy homes. Sales are still below the 700,000 pace consistent with healthy markets, but they have risen 29 percent over the past year.

The median sales price jumped 8.3 percent in April from March to $271,600. That’s the highest on records going back to 1993. The median sales price is not adjusted for inflation.

Prices are rising quickly because more people are bidding on a limited number of homes.

Design unveiled for new $26M USC alumni building

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:42 EDT

The University of South Carolina alumni association unveiled the design for its new $26.4 million alumni center in the Vista this week.

Work on the 65,000-square-foot building at the corner of Senate and Lincoln Streets should begin by year’s end, alumni association executive director Jack Claypool said. The center is scheduled to open in May 2015.

The center will include 13 meeting rooms and a 10,000-square-foot ballroom that can fit up to 1,000 people. The association is using private donations to pay for the project, Claypool said. The building design is influenced by architecture seen in buildings on the school’s Horseshoe, or quad, and in the surrounding Vista.

The facilities will be available to rent through the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, which is across Lincoln Street from the alumni center. A tunnel will be built under the street, connecting the buildings.

The new center will give the USC association a permanent home for the first time to serve the school’s 260,000 alumni.

Memorial Day road trippin’ in SC

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:47 EDT

Will you be traveling over the holiday weekend? Take our survey at the bottom of the page

With lower gas prices and a steadily improving economy, more South Carolina drivers will hit the road for a long weekend getaway this Memorial Day.

And, as the summer travel season kicks into high gear, it might be time to book that weeklong vacation so many U.S. workers have been putting off over the past decade, according to a University of South Carolina professor.

“We’ve got a trend toward shorter breaks,” said Simon Hudson, a tourism professor at USC.

In conjunction with the U.S. Travel Association, Hudson is researching the benefits of taking longer breaks. “They’re looking basically to prove that travel’s good for you.”

Rita’s Italian Ice opening walk-up counter in Vista

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:22 EDT

A walk-up counter where customers can buy frozen treats is coming to the historic Vista.

Rita’s Italian Ice should be open next month at the corner of Lady and Gadsden streets, said the franchise holder, Brett Hrovat, who also owns a Rita’s in Northeast Richland’s Village at Sandhill.

Hrovat is bringing back an old-fashioned concept from his youth, a walk-up counter in a tiny building vacant for years. He knew of only one other Rita’s walk-up counter in the South – in Hilton Head.

The building, which looks to be about 10-by-20 feet, is associated with one of the few remaining single-family homes in the business district. Hrovat said he has no plans for the vacant house.

Rita’s offers 65 flavors of Italian ice – including a daily sugar-free option – frozen custard, milkshakes and sundaes, according to its website.

Midlands area gas prices, May 23

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:27 EDT

Gas prices in South Carolina have remained fairly stable over the past month. Here’s the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

Columbia

Wednesday: $3.23

Week ago: $3.23

Month ago: $3.24

Grant program offers low-income Columbia residents $3,000 for job training

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:31 EDT

Twenty low-income City of Columbia residents will be awarded grants of up to $3,000 each for job training.

The city’s Work It Up job training program is making the money available to city residents who:

• Live in the 29203 or 29204 ZIP codes in neighborhoods targeted by the city’s Community Development Consolidated Plan

• Have a total household income 80 percent or below the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s area median income – $49,050 for a four-person household

• Are willing to submit to criminal background checks and drug testing

Low gas prices fueling Memorial Day travel along SC coast

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:55 EDT

Prepare for busy roads and beaches this weekend along the Grand Strand as bikers, those celebrating Memorial Day and others just looking to get away flock to the area for the long holiday weekend.

Lodging occupancy along the Grand Strand for the three-day weekend is expected to hit between 81 percent and 83 percent, about even with the Memorial Day holiday last year, making it one of the busiest weekends so far this year, said Taylor Damonte of Coastal Carolina University's Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism, which tracks the local tourism industry.

"We'll have a strong weekend," he said.

Several major events are scheduled along the Grand Strand this weekend, including the Atlantic Beach Bikefest and Memorial Day parades and celebrations. And the weather forecast for the weekend is nearly perfect, with sunny skies, highs in the upper 70s and only a slight chance of a shower Saturday and Monday, according to The Weather Channel.

"The Memorial Day weekend is the kickoff of the summer season. I would look for a good crowd," Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea said. "I think it is going to be a busy, fun weekend."

SC business notebook, May 23

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:22 EDT

Packaging maker to open new facility in Clarendon County

A reusable packaging maker will spend $3.5 million to open a new operating facility in an existing building in Clarendon County, the S.C. Department of Commerce said Wednesday. Advanta Southeast will create about 30 new jobs at the 53,000-square-foot facility as it aims to streamline its manufacturing process and expand its product line for customers such as General Motors, Ford, BMW, Lear and Yamaha. Advanta, which already has a presence in Duncan, expects the new facility to begin operations in June. For jobs, call the SCWorks Manning office at (803) 473-2086.

Regulators inspecting nuclear plant that shut down last week

RALEIGH, N.C. Federal regulators are launching a special inspection of a nuclear power plant outside North Carolina’s capital city that was forced to shut down last week. A Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman said Wednesday that two specialists will study what led up to the shutdown after a problem was uncovered using year-old data. They want to know why a flaw inside the nuclear reactor wasn’t found until Duke Energy employees took a new look at test results from last year. Operators at the plant in southern Wake County found a tiny sign of corrosion and cracking that needs repair, which has begun. Duke Energy representatives did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday.

Previously-owned home sales inched up last month

Bernanke: Stimulus still needed

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:27 EDT

Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to slow its extraordinary stimulus programs.

Reducing the Fed’s efforts to keep borrowing rates low would “carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery,” Bernanke said in testimony to the Joint Economic Committee, a panel that includes members of the House and Senate.

The Fed has been buying $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds since September. That has helped lower long-term interest rates and encouraged more borrowing and spending.

Lawmakers pressed Bernanke to explain when the Fed might start to scale back its purchases. Bernanke said the pace could be reduced over the next few meetings, if the job market shows “real and sustainable progress.” And he wouldn’t rule out curtailing the purchases by Labor Day.

But Bernanke, a Dillon native, said that the Fed could just as quickly reverse course and pick up the pace if the economy falters.

Fired for refusing flu shot, SC hospital employee eligible for unemployment

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:23 EDT

A hospital employee who was fired after she refused to get a flu shot is eligible for unemployment benefits, according to a ruling Wednesday by the South Carolina Court of Appeals.

AnMed Health in Anderson fired Pamela Crowe in 2010 after she refused to get the flu shot required of hospital employees.

Crowe’s 19-year-old daughter Nicole became ill after getting a flu shot in 2001. Her symptoms, including numbness in the chest and trouble breathing, were first diagnosed as Guillain-Barre syndrome and later as multiple sclerosis, according to court documents.

The daughter’s neurologist said the condition could have been related to the flu shot. The daughter died in 2007 from complications related to medicine she took for her condition.

Crowe’s primary care physician told her there could be some genetic basis for the rare flu shot reaction. AnMed’s flu shot policy, based on guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, allowed for exceptions for employees with severe egg allergies, severe allergies to any component of the vaccine, a past severe reaction to vaccines or a history of Guillain-Barre. AnMed fired Crowe, saying she didn’t meet those exemptions.

Duke offers to pay half for Sassafras Mountain observation tower

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:57 EDT

Duke Energy is offering to pay about half the cost of an observation tower atop South Carolina’s highest peak under a proposal to relicense dams for two mountain lakes.

The company says it will spend $500,000 toward construction of the estimated $1 million tower project on Sassafras Mountain – a 3,500-foot peak along the North Carolina border – if an agreement can be struck with environmental and other interest groups this year.

Sassafras Mountain is the state’s highest point, but an overgrowth of trees makes it difficult for visitors to see the surrounding peaks and valleys of the southern Appalachians. The SC Department of Natural Resources is raising funds to build a tower so the public can get a 360-degree view of the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.

Duke’s offer is part of the energy giant’s effort to obtain a new 30- to 50-year license for dams on lakes Jocassee and Keowee. Both lakes were created decades ago to generate power, but they also have become recreational waterways and tourist attractions.

As part of the negotiations to relicense the dams, Duke has offered to protect thousands of acres of land and improve recreation sites along the Pickens and Oconee county lakes in exchange for support by interest groups. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have to approve the license, a process that can be lengthy if interest groups aren’t happy with how power companies plan to operate dams in the future.

Will Charleston concert-booking agency fill void left by 5PP?

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:48 EDT

As Bryson Jennings performed at the Five After Five concert Thursday, some in the audience talked about the demise of the Five Points venue where Jennings, a country singer, had become a fixture.

A night earlier, The State mentioned on Twitter that 5 Points Pub, the shopping and entertainment district’s only dedicated music venue, had closed. After years of closings and ownership and name changes that confused bargoers, it wasn’t shocking to hear that the venue had abruptly shut down, forcing promoters to jockey shows.

Only this time there isn’t an immediate party interested in rebooting the Devine Street space. But there soon might be a venue to fill the void left by the club, only it probably won’t be in Five Points.

Trae Judy of Music Farm Productions confirmed a rumor that the concert-booking agency that owns Charleston’s Music Farm was looking to open a Columbia venue.

“We’re definitely looking and I feel like we’re getting close,” he said.

SC business notebook, May 22

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:02 EDT

Law firms merging in S.C.

Adams and Reese LLP is entering the South Carolina market by merging with 33-year-old Columbia law firm Ellis Lawhorne on June 1, the companies said Tuesday. Adams and Reese has more than 340 attorney and advisers in 16 offices in seven Southeastern states and Washington, D.C., including its newest 23 attorneys in Columbia. Charles P. Adams Jr. is Adams and Reese’s managing partner. Ellis Lawhorne managing shareholder William P. McElveen Jr. will serve as a Transactions Practice Group leader in the merged firm. Robert P. Bethea Jr. will serve as the partner in charge of the Adams and Reese Columbia office. Adams and Reese chose to expand to Columbia because it is a strong growth area, with its business climate ranking 14th out of the Top 40 strongest U.S. metro economies as ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, the firm said in a release. For Ellis and Lawhorne, the merger allows the firm to provide its clients more resources and a wider range of expertise, the firm said.

Dimon to retain top jobs at JPMorgan Chase

TAMPA, Fla. Shareholders at JPMorgan Chase will let Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO, keep both his jobs. At the bank’s annual meeting, 32 percent of shareholders voted for a measure that would have required the bank to split the roles. Had the measure succeeded, Dimon would have had to relinquish the role of chairman.

Complaints about Facebook fuel teen Twitter boom