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Sunday, March 31, 2013
Paulos: Investing in workers makes cents | The Salt Lake Tribune
I have owned my advertising and PR agency here in Salt Lake City, The Summit Group Communications, for 31 years. Now, that certainly does not make me John D. Rockefeller or Steve Jobs, but I have learned some very important things, like the correlation between the culture of a workplace and its bottom-line success.
When I talk about a company?s culture, I am not talking about its brand ? which is what a company is and provides for its consumers. I am talking about who and what a company is for its most important assets ? its employees.
I have found (and, as it turns out, there is fascinating research to support) that the happier employees are, the better they perform for the company, directly affecting its profits. And, as research conducted by the American Sociological Association shows, diversity in the workplace also has a direct and positive correlation with profit. In fact, it showed that "workplace diversity is among the most important predictors of a business? sales revenue, customer numbers and profitability."
So, how to create a happy and diverse workforce?
First, recruit well. There is incredible talent out there looking for rewarding work. For example, I want my compensation packages to be competitive, opening the company up to as broad a talent pool as possible. And especially as the job market continues to recover, potential employees are scrutinizing potential employers as much as we are evaluating them.
Second, we have to take care of our employees so they want to stay. This means having inclusive policies and procedures ? whether mandated by law or not ? so that everyone is treated fairly and can work in environments free from discrimination and harassment. We have to spell this out and we have to enforce it. No exceptions. Some of history?s most successful individuals were women, people of color, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities and so on. Successful businesses invite and protect everyone.
Creating a happy and diverse workforce also includes investing in programs that make work fun and positive. This is not to say that all companies have to provide a game room the size of Google?s, but a rolling nacho cart every now and again can be quite nice. At TSG, we liken our work to running intervals. We expect our folks to sprint for us, so we make sure to provide them with rest and proverbial Gatorade.
Without progressive benefits, inclusive nondiscrimination policies, institutionalized programs for fun and good health, we all suffer. And although it creates a competitive advantage for me when other companies do not provide the basic protections and benefits to their employees, I very much believe that all workers deserve open and safe workplaces.
Now, I certainly want my company to see continued success, but for me, taking care of my employees is more about doing what I think is right than it is about profit. And while we may not all agree on that, can we all agree to invest in a safe and productive workplace for the people who make sacrifices for us every day?
story continues below
Bill Paulos founded The Summit Group Communications in 1982. Today, its 80 employees do business in 32 states and TSG is the longest running, independently owned advertising and public relations firm in Utah.
Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/56075825-82/employees-company-paulos-bill.html.csp
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Smith leads Louisville to 77-69 victory over Ducks
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Even a nasty cold can't stop Russ Smith.
With his teammates struggling with the virus he gave them and top-seeded Louisville facing its toughest test of the postseason, Russ put on his best show yet. He matched his career high of 31 points and the Cardinals proved they can win close games, too, beating Oregon 77-69 on Friday night.
"Without Russ Smith, we couldn't win," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who improved to 11-0 in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
Louisville (32-5) plays Duke on Sunday, the first time Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski have met in a regional final since Christian Laettner's shot in 1992.
Louisville has been nearly untouchable during its 13-game winning streak, beating opponents by an average of 17 points. And it looked as if this was going to be more of the same when Smith outscored Oregon 9-8 through the first 10 minutes.
But the 12th-seeded Ducks (28-9) made a game of it late.
After Louisville went up 66-48 with 9:01 left, Oregon made six straight field goals to close to 70-64 ? the closest anyone's been to the Cardinals in weeks. But Kevin Ware scored on a layup and Chane Behanan threw down a monstrous dunk to put the game out of reach.
Ware finished with 11, topping his previous career best by one, and Gorgui Dieng had 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
"Russ Smith is a talented young man. They've got a lot of talented players," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "When he got going, we didn't have an answer."
E.J. Singler's 15 points led five Ducks in double figures. But Damyean Dotson had an off night, held without a field goal until five minutes were gone in the second half, and Oregon could never recover from its poor start.
Early foul trouble didn't help, with Johnathan Loyd picking up his third before halftime and Dominic Artis and Carlos Emory playing the last six minutes of the half with two.
"If it wasn't for the beginning, it would have been a completely different game," Loyd said. "We just came out, we weren't ready and we got smacked. If we were playing the way were playing in the second half the whole game, it's a completely different story."
The Cardinals were barely tested in either of their first two games in the NCAA tournament, beating North Carolina A&T by 31 and Colorado State by 26. They set an NCAA tournament record with 20 steals against A&T, outrebounded one of the country's best rebounding teams in Colorado State and left both teams with ugly shooting lines.
But that hacking cough that Smith has had the last few days is making its way around the Louisville team, and it was clear from the start this wasn't going to be another juggernaut performance by the Cardinals.
Peyton Siva spent the last 15:19 of the first half on the bench after picking up his second foul, and Louisville wasn't nearly as stingy on defense as it's been. The Cardinals (13) actually had more turnovers than the Ducks (12), and Oregon is only the third team to shoot 44 percent or better during Louisville's winning streak.
"We've been a great defensive team ? not a good one, a great one ? all season," Pitino said. "Tonight, their quickness was so good, all it did was wear us out defensively. But we had Russ Smith and Kevin really bail us out of some situations that could have gone either way."
After Siva went out, Smith hit a 3 to spark a 14-3 run that put Louisville up 24-8.
"We really dug ourselves a big hole," Singler said. "We tried to figure back as much as possible, but Louisville's a really, really good team. They just played better than us today."
But the Ducks aren't a team that gives in. After losing six of their last 11 regular-season games, the Ducks have been on a tear. They won the Pac-12 tournament, then upset Oklahoma State and Saint Louis last weekend.
After Luke Hancock's 3 capped a 12-2 run that put Louisville up 66-48, the Ducks would make six straight field goals. When Dotson knocked down a jumper with 5:12 remaining, it got Oregon within six, the closest it had been since early in the first half.
Closest anyone had been to Louisville since the Big East tournament, actually.
"We've been in that position before this year," Singler said.
But part of what makes the Cardinals so imposing is their maturity and their options, which seem endless. Instead of panicking, the Cardinals regrouped and regained control, and the Ducks never threatened again.
"I told our guys, 'We don't have it tonight. It's obvious,'" Pitino said. "We're winning with offense and that's great, but we've got to start digging in and getting stops. We did it at the end."
Ware brought a halt to the Oregon run with his layup and then came Behanan's dunk. Smith made a pair of free throws, and the only question was whether the Ducks could get back within single digits before the buzzer.
"(Smith) made big plays," Altman said. "When you let a good team like Louisville be the aggressor, they're tough to beat."
Even with colds.
"Coach has been telling me to fight through it, fight through it, dig in. My teammates as well," Smith said. "We're fighting through it and just doing whatever we can to get a win."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/smith-leads-louisville-77-69-victory-over-ducks-013024595--spt.html
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Business, labor close on deal for immigration bill
FILE - In this May 17, 2012 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Big business and major labor unions appeared ready Friday, March 29, 2013 to end a fight over a new low-skilled worker program that had threatened to upend negotiations on a sweeping immigration bill in the Senate providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants already in the U.S. Schumer, who's been brokering talks between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that negotiators are "very close, closer than we have ever been, and we are very optimistic." He said there were still a few issues remaining. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
FILE - In this May 17, 2012 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Big business and major labor unions appeared ready Friday, March 29, 2013 to end a fight over a new low-skilled worker program that had threatened to upend negotiations on a sweeping immigration bill in the Senate providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants already in the U.S. Schumer, who's been brokering talks between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that negotiators are "very close, closer than we have ever been, and we are very optimistic." He said there were still a few issues remaining. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Several southwest Michigan pastors along with immigrant families and members of the general public take part in a pray-in for immigration reform event outside of Representative Fred Upton's office in downtown Kalamazoo on Friday, March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Matt Gade ) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT
Several southwest Michigan pastors along with immigrant families and members of the general public take part in a pray-in for immigration reform event outside of Representative Fred Upton's office in downtown Kalamazoo on Friday, March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Matt Gade ) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Prospects for a Senate deal on an ambitious rewrite of the nation's immigration laws improved markedly as business and labor appeared ready to set aside their differences over a new low-skilled worker program holding up the agreement.
The AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce had been fighting over wages for tens of thousands of low-skilled workers who would be brought in under the new program to fill jobs in construction, hotels and resorts, nursing homes and restaurants, and other industries. But on Friday, officials from both sides said there was basic agreement on the wage issue, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said a final deal on the low-wage worker dispute was very close.
That likely would clear the way for Schumer and seven other senators in a bipartisan group to unveil legislation the week of April 8 to overhaul the U.S. immigration system ? strengthening the border, cracking down on employers, allowing in tens of thousands of new high- and low-skilled workers and providing a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.
"We're feeling very optimistic on immigration: Aspiring Americans will receive the road map to citizenship they deserve and we can modernize 'future flow' without reducing wages for any local workers, regardless of what papers they carry," AFL-CIO spokesman Jeff Hauser said in a statement. "Future flow" refers to future arrivals of legal immigrants.
Under the emerging agreement between business and labor, a new "W'' visa program would bring tens of thousands of lower-skilled workers a year to the country. The program would be capped at 200,000 a year, but the number of visas would fluctuate, depending on unemployment rates, job openings, employer demand and data collected by a new federal bureau pushed by the labor movement as an objective monitor of the market.
The workers would be able to change jobs and could seek permanent residency. Under current temporary worker programs, personnel can't move from employer to employer and have no path to permanent U.S. residence and citizenship. And currently there's no good way for employers to bring many low-skilled workers to the U.S. An existing visa program for low-wage nonagricultural workers is capped at 66,000 per year and is supposed to apply only to seasonal or temporary jobs.
The Chamber of Commerce said workers would earn actual wages paid to American workers or the prevailing wages for the industry they're working in, whichever is higher. The Labor Department determines prevailing wage based on customary rates in specific localities, so that it varies from city to city.
There was also disagreement about how to deal with certain higher-skilled construction jobs, such as electricians and welders, and it appears those will be excluded from the deal, said Geoff Burr, vice president of federal affairs at Associated Builders and Contractors. Burr said his group opposes such an exclusion because, even though unemployment in the construction industry is high right now, at times when it is low there can be labor shortages in high-skilled trades, and contractors want to be able to bring in foreign workers. But unions pressed for the exclusion, Burr said.
The low-skilled worker issue had loomed for weeks as perhaps the toughest matter to settle in monthslong closed-door talks on immigration among the senators, including Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida. The issue helped sink the last major attempt at immigration overhaul in 2007, when the legislation foundered on the Senate floor after an amendment was added to end a temporary worker program after five years, threatening a key priority of the business community.
The amendment passed by just one vote, 49-48. President Barack Obama, a senator at the time, joined in the narrow majority voting to end the program after five years.
___
Follow Erica Werner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawerner
Associated PressReal Estate Weekly - 3/29/13 | Maryland Daily Record
COPT announces changes to Board of Trustees
Corporate Office Properties Trust, a Columbia-based office real estate investment trust, announced that Jay H. Shidler and Clay W. Hamlin III will step down from their respective positions as chairman and vice chairman of the company?s Board of Trustees, effective at the upcoming shareholders? annual meeting on May 9. They will remain as board members if elected by the shareholders. Shidler has been board chairman of COPT since 1997. He will be succeeded by Thomas F. Brady, a board member since January 2002. Brady was formerly chairman of the board of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. and executive vice president ? corporate strategy at Constellation Energy Group before it was acquired by Exelon Corp.
Baltimore County seeks public input for bike, pedestrian plans
Baltimore County?s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) is seeking community input as they begin to move forward on implementing a number of projects identified in the recently adopted Eastern and Western Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Plans. (The plans are available online at www.baltimorecountymd.gov/bikeped as PDF files.) Members of the public are invited to voice their preferences on which projects to fund first at a citizen input meeting on Tuesday, April 16 at 5 p.m. in the Jefferson Building Hearing Room (Room 104), 105 West Chesapeake Avenue, Towson, MD 21204. The PBAC plans to take a closer look to identify initial projects that will provide county citizens with the greatest benefit at the lowest cost, using state, federal, and private grants. For more information, contact Kathy Schlabach, Baltimore County Department of Planning, at kschlabach@baltimorecountymd.gov or call 410-8873521.
Francesca?s opens women?s boutique at Hunt Valley Towne Centre
Francesca?s, a trendy women?s apparel and gift shop, will open a new boutique on Saturday at Hunt Valley Towne Centre. The new, 1,225-square-foot boutique will be located on the retail center?s ground level, next to Claire?s and Pearl Vision, according to landlord Greenberg Gibbons. Francesca?s offers an eclectic, hand-picked collection of upscale clothing, handbags, jewelry, accessories and other one-of-a-kind treasures.
Renovated apartments open at Charlestown retirement community
Erickson Living, the developer and manager of the Charlestown retirement community in Catonsville, announced the opening of the Edgewood, an apartment building containing 55 renovated apartments ranging from 756 to 1,365 square feet. The Edgewood has 10 different floor plans in a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartment units. Upgraded standard features include granite countertops, lighting and plumbing fixtures and stainless appliances. Many of the apartments feature screened-in porches overlooking a nature trail or courtyard. Refundable entrance deposits for the building start at $217,000, and monthly service packages start at $1,975. A 360-degree tour of three of the floor plans is available online at www.EricksonLiving.com. For information, call 410-737-8830.
Applications being accepted for Howard County Housing program
Howard County Housing will begin accepting applications for the April enrollment period for the county?s Moderate Income Housing Unit program on Monday. The open enrollment period will end on April 30. The MIHU program is an inclusionary zoning program that requires developers of new housing in certain zoning districts to sell or rent a percentage of the new dwelling units to households of moderate income. The program offers quality new homes at reduced sale prices and rents to income-eligible families. HCH will hold two Buyers and Renters Workshops to explain the program?s eligibility requirements and application process for prospective homebuyers and renters. One workshop will be on April 13 at 10:15 a.m. at Long Reach High School in Columbia, and the second will be on April 24 at 6 p.m. in the Gateway Building in Columbia.
Hot Air Blow Dry Bar opens in Owings Mills
Kate Boyle Taylor, left, and Joy Robinson Singer are the co-owners of the new hair-styling salon.
Valley Village Shoppes in Owings Mills is the setting for an unusual new store: the Hot Air Blow Dry Bar, a new-concept hair boutique that offers premium washing and blow-drying services. Jointly owned by Joy Robinson Singer and Kate Boyle Taylor, the hair salon provides ?quick-fix? hair styling for women, men and children, and is positioned as an alternative for expensive and time-consuming appointments at traditional hair studios. Prices for hair washing and blow-drying are $35 for women and $25 for men and children. Each appointment lasts approximately 45 minutes. Valley Village Shoppes at 9101 Reisterstown Road in northwest Baltimore County is a 48,000-square-foot retail center managed by David S. Brown Enterprises Ltd.
Merritt Properties wins award from ABC?s Baltimore chapter
Merritt Properties LLC?s Schilling Green II office building has won a Green Project of the Year award from the Baltimore Metro chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors. Completed in June 2012, Schilling Green II is a four-story, Class A office building located in Hunt Valley ? the final installment of Merritt?s Schilling Square office park. Merritt is currently pursuing LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the building. The Platinum certification is the highest level of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard conferred by the USGBC.
SECU takes top spot in Md. on list of first-mortgage grantors
SECU, Maryland?s largest state-chartered credit union, has been ranked first in the state and 29th nationally on a list of the Top 300 First Mortgage Granting Credit Unions. The Linthicum-based financial cooperative SECU jumped four places from 2012?s 33rd place ranking on the annual list of mortgage-granting credit unions compiled by the American Credit Union Mortgage Association. According to data compiled by ACUMA, SECU originated $469.5 million in 2,250 fixed and adjustable first mortgages through the third quarter of 2012. SECU also sold $175.7 million in first mortgages over the same period. Outstanding fixed and adjustable first mortgages totaled $969.9 million, while real estate loans sold but serviced by SECU topped $522.6 million. The new ranking came only a few weeks after SECU was named to a list of the 50 largest credit unions in the U.S. compiled by SNL Financial.
Mahan Rykiel wins award for work on Pierce?s Park
Mahan Rykiel Associates, a Baltimore-based landscape architecture, urban design and planning firm, has won an Honor Award from the Maryland and Potomac chapters of the American Society of Landscape Architects for its work in designing Pierce?s Park, a waterfront park that occupies a 1-acre site at Baltimore?s Inner Harbor. The park, located between the Columbus Center and Eastern Avenue, is dedicated to the memory of Baltimore contractor and civic leader Pierce J. Flanigan III, and was built with the help of donated services and $2 million raised by Susan Flanigan, wife of Pierce Flanigan, and her team. Pierce?s Park was built as a sustainable space that includes indigenous trees and native plantings, as well as bio-retention facilities that will educate children about the benefits of capturing runoff. There are sculptures by local artist David Hess, and landscape features that promote play and imagination. Mahan Rykiel will receive the award on May 10 at the ASLA Annual Banquet at Historic Savage Mill.
C&W tapped to lease Longview Executive Park
Liberty Property Trust has retained Cushman & Wakefield as the exclusive listing agent for Longview Executive Park?s three office buildings at 307, 309 and 311 International Circle in Hunt Valley. C&W?s Tim Jackson, Courtenay Jenkins, and Matt Melnick will market the property for lease on behalf of the owner and landlord. The three buildings contain 256,961 square feet of office space, of which 45,200 square feet is currently available for lease. 307 International Circle, a six-story office building, was fully renovated in 2005; 309 and 311 International Circle are single-story office buildings. The business park is located near the Hunt Valley light rail station and Park and Ride, and a half-mile from Interstate 83.
Home2 Suites opens hotel at White Marsh
Home2 Suites by Hilton, an all-suite hotel brand designed for business travelers and extended-stay guests, has opened its third property in Maryland, the Home2 Suites by Hilton Baltimore/White Marsh. The four-story, 108-suite hotel is owned by White Marsh Hospitality I LLC and managed by Baywood Hotels Inc. Located at 10465 Philadelphia Road, the Home2 Suites by Hilton Baltimore/White Marsh is positioned close to Interstate 95 in the White Marsh business district. The property is located minutes from the White Marsh Mall, and close to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the National Aquarium and The Avenue at White Marsh. Amenities include an indoor swimming pool, a combined laundry and fitness area, a free continental breakfast, and an outdoor walking trail. Home2 Suites by Hilton currently operates 17 hotels and has nearly 70 properties in its development pipeline.
Federal Home Loan Bank to award grants
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta announced that it will award $21.3 million in grants to its member financial institutions and their community housing partners through its 2013 Affordable Housing Program. Up to $500,000 will be awarded per project through a competitive application process. Grants can be used to help finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation and development of affordable rental and ownership housing. Potential applicants should work with an FHLBank Atlanta member financial institution to complete the AHP Competitive program application. To view the list of member financial institutions, go to www.fhlbat1.com. The application deadline is April 8.
REIT to acquire Baltimore?s Wexford
Baltimore-based Wexford Science & Technology LLC, a privately held real estate investment and development company, is being acquired by BioMed Realty Trust Inc., a San Diego-based real estate investment trust, for approximately $640 million. Wexford will become a wholly owned subsidiary of BioMed, according to the announcement of the deal. Wexford owns about 1.6 million square feet of space, and is developing an additional 935,000 square feet, in university-affiliated research parks and health care systems. Among Wexford?s holdings are two research buildings and a parking garage at the University of Maryland, Baltimore?s BioPark in the 800 block of West Baltimore Street. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2013.
Second round of energy grants available
The Maryland Energy Administration announced the second round of funding for its ?Game Changer Competitive Grant Program,? a program created to provide cost-sharing grants for innovative clean energy generation technologies and market strategies in Maryland. This round of funding is focused on geothermal heating and cooling as well as bio-energy projects. Applicants will be evaluated on the merits of their energy production, cost-effectiveness, market potential, project viability, cost share, project performance measurement and verification methodology, and project visibility. Applications are due by April 22. Most grants will range from $25,000 to $250,000. Funding comes from public auctions of carbon credits through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
BDC OKs tax break for Harbor Point
Directors of the Baltimore Development Corp. on Thursday approved a developer?s request for a tax break valued at $107 million to help develop the local headquarters of Exelon Corp. at Harbor Point. The BDC?s board of directors sent the request by Harbor Point developer Michael Beatty for the tax-increment financing, or TIF, on to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the City Council. A BDC spokesperson said details of the TIF were not being made public. Beatty had said earlier he would request $150 million for the TIF. A council committee will hold hearings on the TIF request later this spring.
MacKenzie gets Hunt Valley listings
MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services, of Lutherville, has been selected by Liberty Property Trust as the exclusive listing agent for a significant portion of Liberty?s Hunt Valley portfolio. MacKenzie?s Senior Vice President/Principal Wiam W. Whitty Jr., Vice President F. Joseph Bradley III and Vice President Matthew B. Mueller will represent the $6.9 billion real estate investment trust?s Class A office buildings at the North Park Business Community. The team will provide leasing advisory services for three buildings containing 296,370 square feet of space, located adjacent to the Hunt Valley Towne Centre.
PERSONNEL
Marie Gerwig
Marie Gerwig has been promoted to vice president, senior portfolio manager at Manekin LLC. Gerwig joined the Columbia-based, full-service, commercial real estate firm in 1996. She has more than 23 years of commercial real estate management experience, including operations, budgeting, financial reporting, contracting, construction, project management, leasing and tenant relations. Gerwig currently oversees property managers, administrative staff and maintenance staff in managing the physical property, operations and financial management of a portfolio that includes 2.5 million square feet of Class A office, medical office, flex and retail properties located throughout Central Maryland.
LEASES?
Cushman & Wakefield has been selected to lease space in two office buildings in Glen Burnie. C&W?s Karen Cherry and Matt Melnick are the agents in charge of leasing Empire Towers and Crain Towers. Empire Towers, at 7310 Ritchie Highway, is a 10-story, 146,000-square-foot office building with a variety of suite sizes available up to 13,000 square feet for a full floor user. Sawhney Commercial LLC, which purchased the building in December 2012, is planning major renovations, including new lobby, restrooms and common area finishes, as well as exterior improvements. Crain Towers, at 1600 Crain Highway, is a six-story, 74,000-square-foot medical office building whose current tenants include an on-site pharmacy, radiology office, physical therapists, orthopedists and optometrists. Both buildings are managed by Attman Properties Management Co.
Merritt Properties LLC reported the following recently signed leases:
* Mr. Roofer, a plumbing contractor, leased 3,000 square feet of office and warehouse space at the Beltway Business Community, 3701 Commerce Drive, in Arbutus. Mr. Roofer was represented in lease negotiations by Jos? Santana of the Segall Group.
* Mr. Basement LLC, specialists in basement waterproofing and crawl spaces, leased 6,000 square feet of office and warehouse space at 832 Oregon Ave. in Linthicum. Lindsay Summerfield of Colliers International handled lease negotiations on behalf of the tenant.
* J.A. Lee Cos. Inc., a full-service general construction, electrical and telecommunications company, leased 2,550 square feet of space (1,914 s.f. warehouse, 636 s.f. office) at 152 Blades Lane, Suite P, in Glen Burnie.
* Ward Recycling Inc., a used clothing shipping warehouse, leased 12,500 square feet of warehouse space at 821 Oregon Ave. in Linthicum.
In all four deals described above, Merritt Properties LLC was represented by its in-house leasing team consisting of Jamie Campbell, Liz Tarran-Jones, Vince Bagli and Steve Shaw.
Source: http://thedailyrecord.com/2013/03/29/real-estate-weekly-32913/
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Saturday, March 30, 2013
Authorities: $600M scheme incubated in NC town
LEXINGTON, N.C. (AP) ? In the hardware store on South Main Street, the owner pulled Caron Myers aside to tell her about the best thing to happen in years to this once-thriving furniture and textile town.
Did she hear about the online company ZeekRewards? For a small investment, she could make a fortune. He had invested. So had his grandsons. And so were more and more people in Lexington, including doctors, lawyers and accountants.
Skeptical at first, Myers drove a few blocks to the company's one-story, red-brick office and spotted a line of people circling the building. She was sold, and plunked down several thousand dollars. But months later, Myers, like hundreds of thousands of others, discovered the truth: ZeekRewards was a scam.
"I was duped," Meyer said. "We trusted this man. The community is still in shock."
Authorities say owner Paul Burks was the mastermind of a $600 million Ponzi scheme ? one of the biggest in U.S. history ? that attracted 1 million investors, including nearly 50,000 in North Carolina. Many were recruited by friends and family in Lexington, a quintessential small town where neighbors look out for each other.
But what investors didn't know was that regulators had received nearly a dozen complaints about ZeekRewards and the related site Zeekler.com, but failed to take action for months, leaving the company free to recruit tens of thousands of new victims.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, which closed the operation Aug. 17, said Burks was selling securities without a license. The Ponzi scheme was using money from new investors to pay the earlier ones.
Burks has agreed to pay a $4 million penalty and cooperate with a federal court-appointed receiver trying to recover hundreds of millions of dollars.
Investigators say Burks, a former nursing home magician, siphoned millions for his personal use. But he has not been charged.
In his first public comments, Burks told The Associated Press he couldn't discuss details because of lawsuits by victims trying to recoup money.
"Everything will come out in time," said Burks, 66, standing in the doorway of his home.
Asked if he had anything to say to victims, he shook his head.
"I never told anyone to invest more money than they could afford," Burks snapped. "I didn't tell them to do that. Never."
He said if they lost money, "it's their fault. Not mine. Don't blame me."
But Cal Cunningham, a former prosecutor representing investors in a lawsuit, slammed Burks ? and regulators for taking so long to act.
"It's why we need a full hearing on what happened in a court of law ? whether that be our civil case or a criminal proceeding. A lot of people were hurt," he said.
____
Burks started Zeekler in early 2010 as an online penny auction site. His business experience included nearly four decades in multilevel marketing programs ? such as Amway ? including failed attempts to launch similar businesses of his own.
In penny auctions, consumers compete to pay pennies on the dollar for name brand products such as iPads. Each bid costs as much as $1, so participating can become expensive and the sites can earn nice profits when multiple users bid against each other.
In January 2011, he incorporated aspects of multilevel marketing into the business when he launched ZeekRewards. The program offered a share of the penny auction's profits to people who invested money, promoted the company on other websites and recruited other participants. Under a complicated formula, investors were issued "profit points" that grew every day.
Investments were capped at $10,000, but people could invest on behalf of their spouses, children or other relatives. Some mortgaged homes to raise their investment.
At first, ZeekRewards complied when investors sought to cash out. And that became the best ad of all: happy investors with their checks in Facebook photos.
People who didn't trust the mail traveled long distances to drop off checks at the cramped office building where security guards allowed only seven inside at a time. Employees collected money and wrote out receipts at the office cluttered with dozens of plastic mail bins stuffed with check-filled envelopes. To withdraw money, investors filed an online request ? or called ? and then had to wait for a check.
By the end of 2011, it seemed like everybody in Lexington was talking about ZeekRewards. Many saw it as a way to make extra cash to pay bills or help family.
"No one was in it to get rich," said Mary Bell, a 75-year-old seamstress from Lexington who scraped together money to invest.
Sarah Chavez wanted extra money for her daughter's frequent hospital visits for leukemia. Her husband worked in a factory, and they invested $7,000.
"It's hard to believe in something like that. But everyone told us it was a sure thing," she said.
Burks mostly kept to himself, and few locals knew anything about the quiet, balding man with thick glasses.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Shreveport, La., native toured nursing homes in the South as a magician with country singer David Houston. Burks moved to Lexington in the early 1990s because his wife was from the area.
In 2000, Burks ran for the state House as a Libertarian, but he collected only 330 votes.
Then he became a local celebrity.
Most afternoons, he ate lunch at the same downtown restaurant with an entourage of managers. Conference calls with investors were posted on YouTube. He produced glossy brochures touting the company.
"In addition to the mind-blowing savings, you can create more wealth than you have ever thought possible with ZeekRewards' geometrically progressive matric compensation plan," the brochure said.
Burks also hired some of the industry's top attorneys and analysts to promote his company.
The publicity paid off. When the Association of Network Marketing Professionals held its annual convention in March 2012, it called ZeekRewards the model of legal compliance.
___
But behind the scenes, there were troubling signs, according to documents, company emails and consumer complaints reviewed by the AP.
In early June, the state of Montana gave ZeekRewards the boot. Montana requires multilevel marketing companies to register. But ZeekRewards didn't submit any paperwork ? even after warnings, said Luke Hamilton, a spokesman for the attorney general's office.
"We started getting a lot of complaints," he said.
In August, a North Carolina employees' credit union warned customers not to invest in ZeekRewards because it was a "fraudulent company."
But regulators received complaints long before then.
In a Nov. 23, 2011, complaint filed with the North Carolina Attorney General's office, Wayne Tidderington of Florida called ZeekRewards an "illegal" Ponzi scheme. He said a relative had invested $8,000 and the company guaranteed a return of 125 percent every 90 days.
The attorney general's office can ask a judge to shut down a business because of deceptive trade practices. But it forwarded Tidderington's complaint to the secretary of state's office because it looked like it might involve securities. The secretary of state's office, however, declined to take action because it didn't believe it had the jurisdiction, spokeswoman Liz Proctor said.
The complaint died.
"I put it all together," Tidderington told the AP. "I gave them the roadmap. I said, 'Here's a snake. Here's the gun. Here's the bullets. Shoot the snake.' But they ignored me."
Over the next seven months, the attorney general's office received nearly a dozen more complaints.
But it wasn't until July 6 that it issued an order giving Burks until the end of the month to turn over all Zeek-related documents. He missed that deadline.
Kevin Anderson, senior deputy attorney general for consumer protection, insisted his agency correctly handled the case, saying his office receives thousands of complaints a year.
"We have to have more concrete evidence than a couple of consumer complaints before we go to court," he said.
The SEC received similar complaints during the same period, but the agency didn't begin its investigation until the summer.
SEC spokeswoman Christine D'Amico declined to comment on the investigation, except to say the agency took action "as soon as we believed we had sufficient evidence to obtain an emergency court order to halt the fraud."
___
Months later, people in Lexington are wondering what's next.
Kenneth Bell, the court-appointed receiver, said ZeekRewards may have taken in $800 million. So far, he's recovered $312 million. Hundreds of millions were paid out to investors. Just how much is missing? He doesn't know.
Myers said the community is still recovering ? but the wounds are deep. People are wondering why investigators didn't act more quickly and why no one, including Burks, has been charged.
"There are thousands and thousands of victims who might not have lost a penny had the government intervened more quickly," she said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/authorities-600m-scheme-incubated-nc-town-135809168.html
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Endangered tigers find refuge in massive new Indian park
The newly protected area ? the size of New York City ? connects several adjacent parks, making it one of the largest contiguous tiger habitats in the world.
A tigress and her cub rest in India's Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary.
Vijay Kumar / WWF-India / LiveScience.com
EnlargeIndia has created a new protected area for tigers within a wildlife reserve in the south of the country.
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The area, part of the Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary, is home to about 25 tigers, according to a release from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a conservation group. This population of tigers rivals the size of some of India's better-known reserves, the statement said.
This will be the 42nd tiger reserve in the country, which is home to the largest population of tigers in the world. The 272-square-mile (705 square kilometers) protected area will help connect several adjacent parks, making it one of the largest continuous tiger habitats in the world, according to the WWF. The area is also home to elephants, leopards, hyenas and vultures.
For more than a decade, WWF-India has worked with local authorities in the state of Tamil Nadu (where the reserve is found) to support projects to counter poaching, improve communications via cellular phones and wireless networks, train forest rangers and monitor tigers, the statement said.
"The tiger is the national animal of India, and WWF congratulates the government for yet another important milestone in its conservation efforts that will make a tremendous contribution to the goal of conserving wild tigers and their natural habitats in the country," said Dipankar Ghose, of WWF-India, in the statement.
Tiger numbers have declined by about 95 percent in the last century across their entire historic range, and experts think there are only about 3,000 left in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Email Douglas Main?or follow him @Douglas_Main. Follow us?@OAPlanet, Facebook?or? Google+. Original article on LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Friday, March 29, 2013
Judge rejects divorce for transgender pregnant man
PHOENIX (AP) ? An Arizona judge on Friday refused to grant a divorce for a transgender Arizona man who gave birth to three children after beginning to change his sex from female.
Maricopa County Family Court Judge Douglas Gerlach ruled that Arizona's ban on same-sex marriages prevents Thomas Beatie's 9-year union from being recognized as valid.
Thomas Beatie was born a woman and later underwent a double-mastectomy, and began testosterone hormone therapy and psychological treatment to become a man, but he retained female reproductive organs and gave birth to three children.
Gerlach said he had no jurisdiction to approve a divorce because there's insufficient evidence that Beatie was a man when he married Nancy Beatie in Hawaii. He said the Beaties never provided records to fully explain what Thomas Beatie actually had done and not done to become a man.
"The decision here is not based on the conclusion that this case involves a same-sex marriage merely because one of the parties is a transsexual male, but instead, the decision is compelled by the fact that the parties failed to prove that (Thomas Beatie) was a transsexual male when they were issued their marriage license," he wrote in Friday's ruling.
A spokesman for Beatie, Ryan Gordon, said the judge's comments came as a shock and that Beatie plans to appeal the ruling. He said Beatie legally was married as a man and never was required to disclose that he retained female reproductive organs when applying for and being granted a new birth certificate in Hawaii as a man. He said Beatie halted testosterone treatments so that he could give birth to his children.
"It's unfortunate that the judge out here doesn't recognize marriage in another state," Gordon said.
Beatie is eager to end his marriage, but the couple's divorce plans stalled last summer when Gerlach said he was unable to find legal authority defining a man as someone who can give birth.
Gerlach's ruling didn't address whether Arizona law allows a person who was born female to marry another female after undergoing a sex change operation.
A separate ruling issued Friday by Gerlach sets guidelines on how the Beaties will co-parent their three children and grants them joint authority in making legal decisions. Thomas Beatie is required to pay nearly $240 a month to Nancy Beatie for child support, but she won't get alimony because the marriage was declared invalid.
Nancy Beatie's attorney, David Higgins, praised Gerlach for the thoroughness of the decision on the marriage, although it wasn't the one she had hoped for.
"He still sees a same-sex marriage, but he gave us all the rulings that we're asking for as far as the children," Higgins said.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights, which isn't involved in the Beatie divorce case, has said courts have declared marriages involving a transgender person invalid in a handful of cases across the country, but that those cases had different factual and legal issues than those in the Beatie case.
Thomas Beatie, known as "The Pregnant Man," was born Tracy Lehuanani Lagondino in Oahu, Hawaii. He began testosterone treatments in 1997 and underwent double mastectomy and chest reconstruction surgery in 2002. He changed his Hawaii driver's license to say he was a man and had a Hawaiian court approve his name change to Thomas.
Gerlach's ruling noted that Thomas Beatie halted the testosterone treatments and that he didn't provide documentation for any additional non-surgical efforts.
Thomas Beatie married his partner Nancy in early 2003 in Honolulu and became pregnant because Nancy was unable to have children. Thomas Beatie conceived with donated sperm and gave birth to children who are now 4, 3 and 2 years old. The couple eventually moved to Arizona.
Beatie has garnered a range of media attention, making the rounds on talk shows such as Larry King and Oprah Winfrey and winning a spot on Barbara Walters' list of "10 Most Fascinating People" in 2008, alongside President Barack Obama, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh and swimmer Michael Phelps. He also published a book, "Labor Of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy," the cover displaying an image of a shirtless Thomas sporting facial hair and holding a hand over his bare pregnant belly.
___
Fonseca reported from Flagstaff, Ariz. Associated Press Writer Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-rejects-divorce-transgender-pregnant-man-162832151.html
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NEC looking to hawk mobile division to PC partner Lenovo, says Bloomberg
Though we don't get to see its smartphone wares too often stateside or in Europe, NEC has always said its mobile division was a big part of its business. Now it looks to be trying to fob that arm off to PC venture partner Lenovo, according to unnamed Bloomberg sources. The Japanese company is also said to be eying potential domestic buyers, and Reuters recently reported that it's selling retail subsidiary NEC Mobiling to the tune of $850 million. The move is said to be in the works to bolster profitability after two straight years of smartphone operation losses and 10,000 layoffs, but as always, such unattributed material needs to be digested with beaucoup salt.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Lenovo
Source: Reuters
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/PVZ13UhfhW0/
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Animal rights groups sue FDA over egg labeling concerns
(Reuters) - Animal rights advocates on Thursday sued U.S. regulators to correct what they say is misleading labeling on cartons of eggs that come from caged hens.
The lawsuit comes more than seven years after animal rights groups started petitioning the federal government to take action, with no success. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California, alleges that claims made in unregulated egg labeling falsely portray a higher standard of animal treatment to consumers than actually exists, and that various government agencies, led by the Food and Drug Administration, have failed to address the plaintiffs' petitions on the matter, as required by law.
The lawsuit asks that egg producers nationwide be required to clearly label egg cartons with egg production methods, including the identification of "Eggs from Caged Hens," said Megan Backus, a spokeswoman for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit group that is one of the plaintiffs.
FDA officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting By Carey Gillam; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/animal-rights-groups-sue-fda-over-egg-labeling-223257905.html
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Anti-spam group at epicenter of one of worst cyberassaults in history
Some Internet users are finding themselves collateral damage in a war between one of the world's leading anti-spam groups and a Dutch Web hosting company in what is being called one of the Internet's biggest attacks.
The distributed denial-of-service assault, which started March 15, is resulting in slower Internet speeds and difficulty in accessing websites for some in Europe, and to a lesser degree, the U.S., although most users are not affected. Access to Facebook, Twitter and other social networks in the U.S. appears to be normal despite the ongoing turmoil.
"This the largest DDoS attack we've seen," Matthew Prince, CEO and founder of CloudFlare told NBC News Wednesday. CloudFlare is a website performance company that is working with the victimized anti-spam organization, Spamhaus. The attack, he said, "is significantly larger in volume than large attacks we've seen against U.S. financial institutions or organizations like WikiLeaks."
Steve Linford of Spamhaus told the BBC that the scale of the attack is "unprecedented," peaking at 300 gigabits per second. Normally, he said, "when there are attacks against major banks, we're talking about 50 gigabits per second."
Johannes Ulrich of the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center, a U.S. security research organization, told NBC News the attack is indeed "one of the larger DDoS attacks the Internet has seen so far."
However, he said, "I don't think the impact is being felt by average Internet users, unless (they're) in specific locations that are more impacted by the attack."
The New York Times said that "millions of ordinary Internet users have experienced delays in services like Netflix or could not reach a particular website for a short time." (NBC News has contacted Netflix for comment and will update this story when we hear back.)
Distributed denial-of-service attacks happen when a website is inundated with traffic meant to delay or disrupt its performance, and are a common tool of hackers.
But in this case, Spamhaus is accusing a company, Dutch-based Web host Cyberbunker, of being behind the attacks, along with "criminal gangs" from Eastern Europe and Russia, according to a Spamhaus statement made to the BBC. (NBC News has contacted both Spamhaus and Cyberbunker, and will update this story if we hear back.)
Spamhaus, a nonprofit volunteer organization with offices in London and Geneva, hunts for spammers on the Internet and publishes a list of servers that spammers use, so that email system administrators can filter out that spam.
The group is "directly or indirectly responsible for filtering as much as 80 percent of daily spam messages," Prince of CloudFlare wrote in a recent blog post. And, in a post Wednesday, he said that the "challenge with attacks at this scale is they risk overwhelming the systems that link together the Internet itself."
Cyberbunker, which uses a former NATO bunker as its base of operations, says on its site that it has more than 100,000 dedicated servers, and is proud of "hosting services to controversial clients who are harassed by governments and other organizations." (Cyberbunker says on its site it does not host any content or services related to terrorism or child pornography, however.)
"We value freedom of speech, and have always stood for privacy and the protection of our clients," the company says on its site, which also features a photo of controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in its home page slideshow.
At the time of publication, the Spamhaus website was up and running, while Cyberbunker's was down, or at least very slow to load.
"Attacks of this type are growing in terms of quantity as well as scale," security firm Kaspersky Lab noted in The Telegraph. "Among the reasons for this growth is the development of the Internet itself (network capacity and computing power) and past failures in investigating and prosecuting individuals behind past attacks."
Whether the current attack will continue or worse remains to be seen. Ullrich, of the Internet Storm Center, said "there is not really much the average Internet user can do, other than making sure their own PC is not infected by malware and used to participate in the attack."
Check out Technology, GadgetBox, TODAY Tech and In-Game on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.
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The Types of Teen Acne | Tips on Food Fitness Life Love
Acne is a skin problem. It affects almost all teenagers (except a few lucky ones if there are any). The skin condition is a result of hormone action on oil glands of skin; also known as sebaceous glands. The sebaceous glands are responsible for producing an oily substance known as sebum. It surfaces on the skin through the pore (small opening). The combination of cells and oil facilitates bacteria to thrive in the follicle openings. This tends to clog the pores and promotes development of pimples (acne).
Teen Acne or Pimples Category:
Comedones
These are non-inflammatory papules and usually referred to as blackheads (open papules) or whiteheads (closed papules).
Pustules
These are also inflamed lesions and usually filled with pus. Sometimes, these may appear red at the base.
Papules
These are actually inflamed lesions and tender to the touch. These may appear as very small, pink bumps on the skin.
Cysts
These are a little dangerous version of teen acne as they usually result in pus-filled lesions. Since they
stay deep under the skin, the patient may suffer from scarring of skin and pain.
Nodules
These are solid lesions. The appearance is similar to that of a large, painful lesion. These are deep rooted within skin.
The Most Vulnerable Areas for Teen Acne
Usually, teen acne attacks the face. But sometimes, other areas of the body such as back, neck, chest, and shoulders are also affected.
Health Risks of Teen Acne
Acne does not produce any serious health risks to teenagers.
So what are the risks?
Severe acne can usually result in permanent scarring. Since the skin appears blemished, flushed, scarred, and filled with pus or reddened pimples, the patient may suffer from significant physical and psychological consequences. Most teenagers having acne suffer from a poor self-image, anxiety, and social inhibition.
Why Do Some Teenagers Don?t Get Acne???!!!
It is not clear why some are lucky to stay away from acne. There are some teenagers who don?t suffer from severe acne while others tend to develop scars, blemishes, pus filled cysts. The exact cause of acne is not known. However, androgens (male sex hormones) are usually responsible for this problem. These hormones experience a significant rise in both boys and girls during puberty.
Androgens enlarge sebaceous glands and produce more sebum. The hormones can even increase because of hormonal changes associated with pregnancy. Sometimes abrupt starting or stopping birth control pills can also trigger these changes. Genetics may also cause acne. The tendency may be inherited from parents.
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Tags: acne home remedies, acne marks, acne pimples, acne remedies, causes of pimples, cure pimples, get rid of acne, home remedies for acne, home remedy for pimples, how to control acne, how to remove acne, natural acne treatment, pimples cure, pimples skin care, remedies for acne, types of acneSource: http://www.foodfitnesslifelove.com/beauty/the-types-of-teen-acne/
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Slickdeals' best in tech for March 27th: 32GB Nexus 7 and Vizio CT15-A1 Ultrabook
Looking to save some coin on your tech purchases? Of course you are! In this round-up, we'll run down a list of the freshest frugal buys, hand-picked with the help of the folks at Slickdeals. You'll want to act fast, though, as many of these offerings won't stick around long.
3D HDTVs, laptops, displays and tablets all catch price cuts on today's list. A 32GB Nexus 7 and Vizio's 15-inch ultrabook may nab top billing, but there's plenty to scope out on the other side of the break. Be careful, though, because those pesky rebate forms have crept up once again.
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, Laptops, Tablets
Source: Slickdeals
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/27/slickdeals-best-in-tech-for-march-27th/
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Thursday, March 28, 2013
Full-time Health Management Information Specialist Lead at US ...
Location: Pretoria
Publish Date: 28-03-2013
Expiry Date: 2013-03-31
Description:
Job Title: Health Management Information Specialist Lead
REF: VA 12-103
Recruiter: American Embassy Updated on: 2013-03-27 00:00:00
AA/EE: Not Applicable Contract Permanent
Location: Pretoria Available: Immediately
Category: Health & Fitness Offer: Basic Salary: R385,720 ? R540,006 per annum; Cash Benefits: R105,489 ? R118,347 per annum
Introduction
The U.S. Embassy in Pretoria is seeking an individual for the position of Health Management Information Specialist Lead in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
ALL ORDINARILY RESIDENT APPLICANTS WHO ARE NOT SOUTH AFRICAN CITIZENS MUST HAVE THE REQUIRED WORK AND/OR PERMANENT RESIDENCY PERMITS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION.
Minimum Requirements
Qualifications Required:
NOTE: ALL APPLICANTS MUST ADDRESS EACH SELECTION CRITERION DETAILED BELOW WITH SPECIFIC AND COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION SUPPORTING EACH ITEM.
Items 1- 5 are ALL REQUIRED
1. Education: Master?s Degree in computer science, informatics, biostatistics, or related discipline is required.
2. Experience: A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible work experience in clinical or public health programs, including a minimum of 3 years experience which includes responsibility for design, development and/or management of large health or medical information database systems is required.
3. Language: English level IV (fluent) reading/writing/speaking is required.
4. Knowledge: ? Expert knowledge and experience in managing information systems incorporating patient clinical and treatment data elements, patient confidentiality issues, security issues, and compatibility issues related to large health database systems is required. ? Detailed knowledge of the host government health care system and structures, including familiarity with NDOH policies, program priorities and regulations is required. ? Good working knowledge of team management techniques to plan, organize and direct multi-disciplinary project teams and activities is required. ? Good working knowledge of overall administrative requirements, budgeting and fiscal management in support of contracts/cooperative agreements/grants/purchase requisitions is required.
5. Skills and Abilities: ? Excellent oral and written communications skills to develop and maintain effective, sustainable working relationships with national and international health partners are required. ? Ability to lead results-driven project teams and workgroups is required. ? Ability to analyze, understand and discuss new program design, management and implementation approaches is required. ? Ability to exercise considerable ingenuity and tact in applying guidelines to unique and different settings is required. ? Advanced numerical skills are required. ? Computer skills and the ability to use office software packages, including word processing, spreadsheets, and statistical packages are required.
Job Specification
Basic Function of Position:
The incumbent is a key technical advisor to the Chief of Epidemiology and Strategic Information Branch, CDC Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA) South Africa (Pretoria), and provides support to the President?s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) by providing advanced consultation, technical assistance and advice to senior Department of Health (DOH) officials, collaborating partners and CDC management in the design, development, coordination and evaluation of health management information systems (HMIS) for the management of individual patient data for clinical care and treatment of multiple diagnoses and diseases. The incumbent provides leadership, technical guidance and scientific quality enhancement for HMIS projects and activities, including systems requirements, analysis, design specifications, development, pilot testing, implementation, security, integration/standardization and evaluation at the national and provincial levels in South Africa. Job holder is the senior program advisor and program contact to the South Africa Department of Health (DOH), external partners and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the implementation of HMIS program activities and projects. Incumbent serves as the technical advisor for multiple projects with collaborating partners for the pilot testing, implementation, training, and evaluation of health management systems at the national and provincial levels in South Africa. The job holder serves as a primary contributor to the planning, development, and review of the HMIS components of the annual Country Operational Plan (COP) for South Africa. The incumbent represents CDC/South Africa on HMIS issues at technical, policy and strategic planning meetings, including meetings with collaborators and donor agencies.
Basic Salary: R385,720 ? R540,006 per annum
Cash Benefits: R105,489 ? R118,347 per annum
Non-cash benefits include medical, pension and others where applicable
To Apply:
http://americanembassy.pnet.co.za/index.php?s=advert_view&g=3893&x=1555342&i=452&pop=1
Deadline: 9th April 2013
Walmart tests in-store lockers for online orders
SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) ? Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will be testing this summer an option for consumers to be able to order product on its website and then have it kept in a physical locker at the store so they can pick it up without having to wait in line or talk to a store clerk.
The test, which will be conducted in about a dozen stories in an undisclosed market, is part of the world's largest retailer's overall strategy to offer increasingly demanding web-savvy shoppers the ability to shop any way they want. The company is also expanding its offerings online and improving a new "scan and go" shopping app so customers can immediately download coupons personalized to them.
Officials disclosed the moves Tuesday at a media event at its company's global e-commerce offices in San Bruno, Calif., located in Silicon Valley.
The six-story offices, which house more than 1,000 employees ranging from engineers to merchandisers, includes (at)WalmartLabs, where many of the shopping innovations are coming from. It was formerly a webs analytics company called Kosmix which the discounter purchased in 2011 and then renamed (at)WalmartLabs.
The offices are different from the staid, sprawling corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. Clearly, it looks like an Internet startup. On the floor housing employees at (at)WalmartLabs, some workers are playing ping pong and pool. On another floor, web analysts watch oversized screens of Walmart.com and Samsclub.com to track any technology problems with the site.
The company conducts so-called "hack days" twice a year where most of the staff are allowed to pursue prototypes of their own liking. At the end of the day, they must show their work.
"We are tenacious about building the best-in-class e-commerce. We're developing a density of talent that understands competition at Internet speed," said Neil Ashe, who joined the discounter as president and CEO of the company's global e-commerce division in January 2012. He had been president of CBS Interactive where he oversaw such online properties as cbs.com and CNET.com.
Wal-Mart used the one-day event to showcase how the discounter is meeting the challenges to fight off online rivals like eBay Inc. and amazon.com, which have been luring shoppers to the Web with their vast offerings of products and low prices. But the discounter is also following its own customers. More than half of its shoppers have smartphones and one third of its online traffic now comes from smartphones. For the holiday shopping season, that percentage figure was up to 40 percent.
Over the past year, Wal-Mart has been launching a number of initiatives that merge its online business with the power of its 4,000 stores. That's all with the purpose of meeting the company's overall mission of "saving people money so they can live better." That includes same-day delivery in five markets, and an app that allows shoppers to scan their purchases with an Apple device while in the aisle and then pay at a self-checkout terminal. In 10 months, it also rebuilt its search engine from scratch, and the improved search tool has resulted in an increase of the number of browsers to buyers on walmart.com by 20 percent.
Wal-Mart doesn't break down its e-commerce sales for the U.S., but officials reiterated Tuesday that it expects global e-commerce sales to hit $9 billion this year. That's still a small fraction of the company's overall sales of $443.8 billion in the latest year ended Jan. 31. But the company is fast expanding its global presence which include nine other countries outside the U.S. It's also making big improvements to its ranking among shoppers. For example, in Brazil, walmart.com is now the most popular retail website in terms of traffic, up from being ranked No. 8 last year. And the company is creating a global platform so that lessons in Brazil can be quickly adopted in other countries.
As for Wal-Mart.com's U.S. business, which sells more than 2 million items ? including products it sells through other retailers like ebags.com ? the company plans to expand the number of items. It didn't disclose by how much.
With the test of the new lockers, Wal-Mart is catering to shoppers who want to be left alone when they buy. Joel Anderson, president and CEO of walmart.com's U.S. division, says that 75 percent of its shoppers want to buy interrupted.
The new tests with lockers work like this: once shoppers buy the product online, they're emailed a password. They then can go to the store to pick up the items that are stored in the locker. Anderson says that lockers will vary in size, and the company is still figuring out where to locate them.
The service is an evolution of another shopping option called "site to store" launched in 2007 where shoppers can order online and then pick up the items at a special counter within two weeks. The company has also been testing an option where shoppers can pick up their purchases they bought online at select FedEx locations.
"The customer is in charge," Anderson. "The customer wants to control their own environment."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wal-mart-tests-store-lockers-online-orders-194504956--finance.html
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