Bank of America Corp. wants to sell San Francisco-based First Republic Bank in an effort to shore up BofA’s capital, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing individuals familiar with the situation. The move will be well received by First Republic customers. Some of the bank’s wealthy customers have said they’d like to see the bank [...]
Entries from February 2009
February 25, 2009
Goodwill launches Youth Job Connection
Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont and the city of Charlotte have launched the the 2009 Youth Job Connection. The program is open to Charlotte youth between the ages of 14 and 18. Teens participating in the program can access free job training and placement assistance, including resume writing, customer service and interview skills. The [...]
February 24, 2009
Call centers bring new job connection
HICKORY — In an area long dependent on furniture, textiles and, more recently, cable manufacturing, business recruiters have started building a new and entirely different sector that’s employing hundreds of people: call centers. As employers across the country continue to shed jobs, Hickory in recent months has landed two of the state’s biggest projects — [...]
February 22, 2009
Blount Co. pushes to bring in businesses, despite massive job loss
Blount County’s economy has taken one hit after another recently, including layoffs at Rubbermaid, Alcoa, Clayton Homes and now furloughs at Denso. For the first time in over a decade, the unemployment level in Blount County is higher than the state’s, at 7.9 percent. “We are in challenging times right now,” says the executive vice [...]
February 22, 2009
Local unemployed struggle to get into tight job market
The tight job market is making paying the bills hard for thousands of East Tennesseans who recently lost their jobs. “I’ve been putting in applications daily, weekly. I’ve got three part-time jobs trying to make a full-time salary,” Butch Bauer says. Bauer spent Tuesday afternoon networking at the Jon News Job Fair, hoping to land [...]
February 22, 2009
Fiber manufacturer Toho Tenax cutting 69 jobs in Rockwood
Toho Tenax America Inc., a carbon fiber manufacturer, will cut 69 jobs at its headquarters in Rockwood. The state Department of Labor says the cuts began on January 15 and will continue through April 4. The Department of Labor’s rapid response team will hold a mass employee meeting on February 26 to inform people about [...]
February 22, 2009
Mountain businesses feel pinch as local spending slows, shifts
Economists might look at unemployment numbers or other detailed data to forecast the business climate, but for restaurateur Damien Cavicchi, iced tea told the story. In August 2007, Cavicchi and his wife, Lindsay, opened their dream restaurant, a downtown euro-Italian eatery called Sugo that specialized in homemade pastas, sausages and other delectables. The two had [...]
February 22, 2009
Job prospects weaken in WNC
Ray Denny, chief industrial recruiter for the Economic Development Commission for Asheville-Buncombe County, is making more friends than deals these days. Students at Western Carolina University have more of an incentive than usual to stay in school: With the number of employers doing job recruiting on campus down by about 30 percent, it’s probably easier [...]
February 22, 2009
Raw pet food business goes local
After dozens of dogs and cats died and thousands more became ill from tainted pet food a couple of years ago, many people started paying more attention to what they feed their pets. And that presented Kristi King with an opportunity. King makes and sells all-natural, raw pet foods containing seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients. Green Earth [...]
February 20, 2009
Stimulus money will rev up Charlotte road projects
Charlotte’s first taste of money from the federal economic stimulus package may be in south Mecklenburg, with an $8.3million widening of N.C. 51 from Pineville’s downtown to the S.C. line. As President Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus bill Tuesday, the N.C. Department of Transportation announced it was using $100 million of the money for [...]
