Category 'Business Leader'
Lessons from America’s worst cities
Oregon Tax News recently analyzed the information behind three different worst city ratings which included;”America’s Shrinking Cities List” (by MSNBC), “America’s Most Miserable City List” (Forbes) and “Worst Job Seeker City List” (US & World Report). The four most common factors of being among America’s worst cities were unemployment, high crime, low education levels and a city’s exposure to the housing crisis fall-out. A more narrower data point not highlighted in this article were worst cities that were impacted by disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
The U.S. News & World Report dubbed Riverside, California, the worst city for job seekers in the country. Currently, Riverside’s unemployment rate is 13.9 percent (March 2011). Experts attribute Riverside’s high unemployment to the city’s real estate boom in the past decade which was among the greatest housing fallout areas in the nation. On the counter side, Texas had a more conservative banking-housing climate before the housing crises, suffered less economical damage and their cities have been creating 30-40% of the new jobs for the entire nation.
In addition, Riverside is one of the least-educated metropolitan areas in the country. Experts determined that the r
Tags: Cities
New E-Book Readers and Tablets Poised for Success in the Summer Market
E-book readers and tablet computers such as the Kindle and iPad have proved to be quite popular in the few short years they have been available on the market. This summer, the magazine Consumer Reports published ratings of several new entrants to the market that may supply considerable sales competition for their established predecessors.
Paul Reynolds, electronics editor for Consumer Reports said, “The days are over when you needed to consider only two names to make the best choice for you: iPad and Kindle.”
New products such as Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and the Nook e-book reader, respectively, scored ratings in the magazine that either nearly equaled or exceeded those of the iPad 2 and Kindle. The Galaxy Tab nearly matched the iPad 2′s screen quality, while the Nook beat the Kindle on the basis of its lighter weight and touch-screen navigation feature.
Another new product mentioned by Consumer Reports combined certain characteristics of e-book readers and tablets.
Tags: Market
Kingsport housing market enjoys best month of the year
KINGSPORT — The Kingsport housing market had its best month of the year in June, accord ing to the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors Trends Report.
But while more homes sold in June (49) than in any other month this year, the $144,457 average price was $23,930 (14.2 percent) less than it was during the same month last year.
Kingsport home prices have been trending upward since March, and last month’s drop follows two straight monthly increases.
Nationwide, home sales fell 0.8 percent last month. Kingsport sales were up 2.1 percent. According to the National Association of Realtors, the sales pace for the first six months of this year is behind last year’s pace, and sales have fallen in four of the past five years. The mid-year Model City trend shows sales down 3 percent and the average price 0.2 percent higher compared to last year. During the first half of 2009, sales were up 12 percent and prices 11.8 percent compared to 2011.
June is normally the best month of the year for pre-owned home sales. This
Tags: Best Month, Housing Market, Kingsport Housing Market, Year
NYC Aims to Take the Tech Sector
New York City may be the Big Apple, but it still lags behind Silicon Valley in terms of the booming technology industry. In an attempt to change that, The New York Times reports that Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to subsidize a major new science and engineering university in the city.
The plan looks to offer effectively free real estate in any of four different locations: the south of Roosevelt Island, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Governors Island and the Farm Colony on Staten Island. In addition, the city would contribute up to $100 million for development.
“During the 1980s and 1990s, Silicon Valley – not New York City – became the world’s capital of technology startups, and that is still true today,” Bloomberg said in a speech. “But if I am right, and if we succeed in this mission, it won’t be true forever.”
Already the city has received 18 submissions from 27 institutions, including Cornell and Stanford Universities.
Tags: Tech, Tech Sector
Tenn. jobless rate inches up to 9.8%
Tennessee’s unemployment rate made another small increase in June to 9.8 percent, up 0.1 percent from May’s revised rate.
The national unemployment rate for June was 9.2 percent, up from the May revised rate of 9.1 percent.
“The decline in employment combined with a slight expansion in the labor force explains the higher unemployment rate,” Commissioner Davis said. “This is the third month in a row in which the unemployment rate has slightly increased.”
According to the household survey conducted by the Labor and Workforce Development department, the number of employed Tennesseans decreased by 3,200 from May to June 2011. The civilian labor force increased by 1,800, and at 3,143,900 is the highest on record.
“The increase in employment levels over the last 12 months is still positive with more than 74 thousand jobs gained,” added Davis. “
Tags: Rate, Rate Inches
Clackamas turns down invasive union measure
The North Clackamas School District deserves a big round of applause. A few months ago it looked like they might make a big mistake that could have costly consequences for local taxpayers. School board member Sam Gillispie, an official with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, was asking his fellow school board members to provide union officials access to district construction sites to interview workers (both union and non-union). The proposal is flawed for a variety of reasons which are outlined here
While news accounts in May suggested the district would adopt the policy in June, a broad coalition of construction contractors pulled together to let the district know that this was a bad idea. Opposition was so strong and universal that Gillispie noted how, “these guys came out of the woodwork.”
Taxpayers should be pleased to know that the district rejected Gillispie’s proposal. When h
Tags: Clackamas, Clackamas Turns
Washington Co. Commissioner apologizes for ‘Jap plant’ comment
Washington County Commissioner Mark Ferguson apologized on Monday for what he called an “inappropriate comment” he made at a June 27 commission meeting.
During a discussion about the merits of purchasing more land in the Washington County Industrial Park, which is already home to Japanese companies Koyo and Nakatetsu, Ferguson made reference to the “Jap plants” in the park.
At the time, the Jonesborough Herald & Tribune printed Ferguson’s comment in its July 5 edition; the Johnson City Press did not report the reference. Both newspapers are owned by Sandusky Newspapers Inc.
Tags: Comment, Washington Co