Monday, Apr. 06, 2009

In case you missed it ...

Recent news from around the Midlands:

ACCOUNTING

Hunter Howard, former S.C. Chamber of Commerce president, joined the Columbia accounting firm Scott McElveen: He become a partner for corporate advisory services. He will advise companies on mergers, acquisitions, ownership changes and other restructuring.

AUTOS

The number of state-issued auto dealer licenses fall by 13 percent: The state Department of Motor Vehicles reported that the number of licenses issued to new and used car and truck dealers dropped to 3,163 in 2008, down from 3,651 in 2007. Membership in the dealers’ Columbia-based trade association for new car and truck dealers has dropped by 10 stores to 316, down from 326 in 2007.

BANKS

First Citizens won’t participate in the federal bailout loan program: The Columbia bank was approved for a $50 million loan through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, but decided cost of compliance with the loan conditions far outweighed the advantages.

Synovus Financial Corp. will consolidate its call center operations in Sumter County: The move will create 100 new jobs and bring a $1.7 million investment to the area. Synovus is the parent of Columbia-based The National Bank of South Carolina. The call center will serve Synovus customers throughout the Southeast.

Jim Leventis will retire in May as chairman of Lexington-based First Community Corp.: Parent of First Community Bank said Columbia attorney Mitchell Willoughby will succeed Leventis, who helped found the bank in 1995. Leventis was named chairman emeritus and will remain on the board. Willoughby, a retired S.C. Army National Guard general, has been on the bank’s board since 1995.

DEVELOPMENT

Crane Co. will consolidate its North American vending operations into its Dixie-Narco facility in Williston, a move that could add up to 1,000 workers over the next five years: Hiring is expected to begin within the next year, while the company invests about $20 million into the operation, according to a statement. The 500-employee Barnwell County plant makes soft-drink machines and will get snack- and coffee-machine work from a Crane plant outside St. Louis.

Sun Printing opens a $6 million printing facility in West Columbia that’s expected to add up to 50 jobs by year’s end: The Orangeburg-based printer employs 23 in the Columbia area. The 26-year-old company has expanded into a 20,000-square-foot printing facility on Dreher Road that can do work more quickly and give customers real-time information on printing jobs. The facility replaces Sun Printing’s Color Quick location on Orchard Road in Columbia and can do some of the printing work done in Orangeburg.

Trane will spend $10 million to expand its manufacturing operations in Columbia: The facility on Killian Road makes coils for commercial air-conditioning systems. The plant employs 395. No additional hiring is planned.

EDUCATION

USC’s Moore School of Business adding two programs: The first program, the Master of International Business, is a one-year graduate program offered by the University of South Carolina’s Moore School, College of Arts and Sciences and School of Law. The second program, the International Business and Chinese Enterprise, is a collaborative effort with the Chinese University of Hong Kong for undergraduates. The new master’s programs start in the fall.

ENERGY

SCANA chief executive William Timmerman earned nearly $1.9 million in salary, bonuses and other compensation last year, up 4.7 percent from 2007: But the head of S.C.’s only Fortune 500 company is in line to get $4.6 million in his stock awards after SCANA lowered performance thresholds, in part because of the recession. That’s nearly triple from 2007 and 15 times more than 2006.

Nuclear plant critics head to court: Friends of the Earth and The Sierra Club said they would appeal the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board’s February rejection of their opposition to SCE&G’s $9.8 billion plan to expand the Jenkinsville nuclear plant. Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth it is appealing a decision by state regulators allowing SCE&G to add the two reactors. The environmental group said the utility failed to divulge all details of how the project will impact the environment.

MEDICAL

A deal that could clear the way for Lexington Medical Center to perform heart surgeries and Providence Hospital to expand announced. Providence agreed to give up one of its four open-heart surgery units to Lexington Medical. In return, Lexington Medical would pay Providence $15 million and drop a lawsuit it filed to block expansion at Providence’s Northeast campus. The deal is unprecedented in Midlands health care. The settlement ends an almost five-year-long dispute that cost both hospitals millions in legal expenses.

REAL ESTATE

MLS disputes government claims in antitrust suit: A lawsuit against the Midlands’ only database of homes for sale should be dismissed because the federal government can name no one harmed, according to court filings. Columbia-area Consolidated Multiple Listing Service also says it has addressed other issues raised by the federal government by changing its rules. A trial could start as soon as this month.

An Irmo real estate agent is suing the group that controls the only database of Midlands homes for sale: Jackie Black, an agent with Coldwell Banker United, Realtors, alleges she and fellow agents were overcharged fees that they paid for access to the listings, according to a court filing. The Consolidated Multiple Listing Service asked to dismiss the lawsuit, saying Black is not entitled to a refund of any of the fees she paid.

Columbia’s first foreclosure bus tour begins: “With the market the way it’s been, there’s just been negative news across the board,” said organizer Lisa Davey with Keller Williams Realty. “This is a way to put a positive spin on things.” The first tour was through Northeast Richland. The next ones are Lexington and Irmo on April 26 and Forest Acres, Shandon and downtown on May 17.

An estimated 25,000 people showed up over four days at the Carolina Coliseum to get help reducing their mortgage rates: The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America-sponsored event drew people from across the country.

Home sales continued to falter in Columbia: Sales slid 26 percent in February from a year earlier. Median home prices in the Midlands sank 10.5 percent to $128,000 compared to February 2007. Sales statewide fell 35 percent in February.

RETAIL

Bi-Lo, which has the second-most number of Midlands’ stores, filed for bankruptcy protection: The Mauldin-based grocery chain said it filed to deal with an upcoming debt payment and expects to reach “mutually acceptable resolutions with all of its constituencies and to exit bankruptcy as expeditiously as possible.” The company said its stores will remain open and operations will continue without interruption.

TIMBER

American Timberlands Fund I, LP of Columbia bought 143,000 acres of property in the Southeast from International Paper in a deal valued at $275 million: International Paper will sell about 114,000 acres to the partnership for $220 million and will swap 29,000 acres, worth $55 million, in exchange for a 20 percent interest in American Timberlands.

TRANSPORTATION

Magazine says travelers using Columbia’s airport pay one of the highest average fares in the country: Forbes said Columbia Metropolitan Airport was the third most expensive airport for commercial airline passengers last year. In an article headlined “America’s Rip-Off Airports,” Forbes calculated that the average fare per mile at Columbia costs 39 cents. The airport said it does not control fares.

ETC.

Jack Sterling was sentenced to five years in prison after a jury convicted the former HomeGold chairman of securities fraud: About 12,000 people lost an estimated $278 million when Lexington-based HomeGold and it subsidiary, Carolina Investors of Pickens, went under in 2003. Sterling, a Greenville businessman, has posted $100,000 bail and will remain free pending a possible appeal.

Former Columbia executive Robert Zuelsdorf is scheduled to be sentenced this month after pleading guilty to 205 counts of possessing child pornography in Florida: Former head of engineering and consulting firm Wilbur Smith Associates for five years until his abrupt retirement in 2004 faces up to 70 years in prison.

The federal government has sued a Columbia area tax preparer on accusations he filed returns claiming $13 million in fraudulent refunds last year: Some of Winston Able’s clients have been assessed $5,000 penalties for filing frivolous documents with returns, the government’s complaint said. The Justice Department said it wants to stop Able, who lives in Blythewood, from preparing any more federal tax returns. Able said he never sent customers’ documents to the IRS.

The State Media Co. lays off 11 percent of its work force: The publisher of The State also announced wage reductions after letting go 38 employees. The company blamed a weakening advertising market.

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