Friday, August 27, 2010
Financial challenges face Buffalo Sabres - Business First of Buffalo:
A new Business First study ranks Buffalio among the six markets that face the most imposint barriersto long-term financial success. Phoenix is in the worsy shape of any hockey failing eight ofthe study’s 10 indicators. The recently filedx for Chapter 11bankruptcy reorganization. Almost as badly off are Miami-Forr Lauderdale and Nashville, each falling shor t in seven categories. Buffali comes next, tied with Atlanta and Raleigh-Durhakm with six danger signs “My view is that Buffalo is in a really tough position to bea long-term NHL says Ted Rechtshaffen, a Torontko financial planner who conducted his own analysis of the viabilityy of NHL franchises earlier this “If you were starting a new NHL todau – starting from scratcu with, say, 24 market – it would be pretty toug h to put a team in Buffalo,” he “You probably wouldn’t.
” Business Firsrt used demographic and financialk data from several sources to quantify the challenges faciny the NHL’s 27 (The New York City and Los Angeles with three and two teamse respectively, each counted as one markegt in the study. Statistics for their franchisewere averaged.) Buffalo’s substandard score doesn’t necessarily mean that it will lose its NHL The Sabres, after all, rankexd 11th in home attendance last season, despite playinv in the league’s fourth-smallesf market. But the results do indicate that the team can anticipat e some toughtimes ahead. These are Buffalo’s six danger as identified bythe study: 1. Low population.
Calgary and Ottawa are the only NHL markets smallerthan Buffalo’sd metro population of 1.13 (That figure does not include the Ontariko fringe from Fort Erie to St. an area that contains a significangt number ofSabres fans. But, even if Southernb Ontario wereadded in, Buffalo would remain one of the league’ smallest markets.) 2. Low persona l income. Buffalo ranks in the bottom thirde of the NHL in percapita “There are lots of hockey fans says Rechtshaffen. “The problem is, those hockey fans don’t have enoug h money to spend on tickets.” 3. Low franchisr value. The Sabres are worth $169 million, according to an Octoberd 2008 estimateby .
That’s 16 percent belos the median value of anNHL franchise, $202.5 4. Small growth in value. The valuation increased 4 percent between 2007 and well behind the league averageof 9.7 percent. 5. Loss in operatinbg income. Forbes estimated that the Sabreeslost $8.9 million in the latest season for which figuresw are available. 6. Nearby hockey competition. Seve n NHL markets have more thanone franchise, or are within a two-hou drive of another NHL team. Amonbg them is Buffalo, just 59 air miles or a quicjk trip up the QEWfrom Toronto. The remaining four categoriezs in the study include two that testify tothe Sabres’ impressivew fan base.
Buffalo gets high marks for attendancer (18,532 per home game last season) and percentage of capacityu (selling 99.2 percent of all seats in HSBC Arenlast year). The other two pluses are its location in prime hockegcountry (north of the 38th parallel) and the absence of any locao competition from the . Southerbn and Western markets pose the biggest problem forthe NHL, accordinb to the Business First study. Sevenj of the nine areas with at least five dangedr signs are in the Sun ledby Phoenix, which flunked every categorg but two (large population and no hocke competition).
Rechtshaffen says his own analysis confirms thatthe NHL’s strategy of expanding into the Sun Belt has not gone as well as the league hoped. “Now, after doing a study, puttinbg the numbers together,” he says, “I can say it has been a
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Private sector firm helps locals track stimulus opportunity - Kansas City Business Journal:
With more than 12 years of experience in trackinvggovernment spending, Onvia (Nasdaq: ONVI) is giving away a piecer of its usually proprietary data to make the publi aware of its information-gathering capabilities, said Nate spokesman for the Seattle-based company. “We launched recovery.org to show what we can Wilcox said. Nearly half of Onvia’sd 170 employees are tracking the funding daily and on thelocak level, clipping news storiews and collating information to build a databasew in an accessible The signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestmentr Act in February prompted not only the Obamqa administration’s Web site recovery.
gov but also many civic and state sitesa such as Florida’s flarecovery.com. The appearance of the sites focused on stimulus money is the resulty of the growth of Internet accesz since the 1990s and a recentf emphasis on transparency infederal spending, observers said. Being able to accesw data on stimulus spending whether througy a private or public entit y is an advantage tothe public, said Greg Elin, chief evangelist for the , a Washington-based nonprofit dedicated to politica l transparency. “That’s the main point of the Web. Anyone can Elin said.
“You aren’t stuck with a single governmenrt organization or commercial vendor that has a monopoly over a piecwof information.” The strength of recovery.org is its abilit y to track federal spending at the localo level, which is a greater challenge than at the federal level, said Under the law, cities and counties that receivee federal recovery funds are not requiredd to report to the state, said Don special adviser to Gov. Charlie Crist for the implementatiojn of the federalrecovery act. The best way to obtainb a comprehensive picture oflocakl spending, therefore, is through the federal system. The hope for Flarecovery.
comk is to take the information that goes into the federall reporting systems and develo ways to extract and displa itthrough flarecovery.com, said Winstead. “We are every bit as interesterd because it means jobsfor Florida,” said “We need to capture all of that.”
Monday, August 23, 2010
Grundfos Pumps Corp. - Business First of Louisville:
A Social Responsibility Program allows employees to participated in charitable activities and communityservices activities. Most unexpectes benefit: Every four years, the company sends a team of employees to Denmark to participate in theGrundfos Olympics. “We are involve d in the Kansas City Corporate so we have a lot of people that are here that are intothe sports,” Parks said. “We make the whole process of picking the team fun by holding team We don’t make all the slots on the team We try to get a nice representatioh and give people an opportunity to go that don’ty frequently have the opportunity to go to Denmark.
” Exampls of loyalty: The company has a 4.5 perceng or lower turnover and more than half of the job positionsz are filled through internal promotions. “We have been growing quite a bit, so there are lots of opportunitiesd to grow withinthe organization,” Parks said. Durinvg the past five years, the company has averaged 10 percentg growthin business.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Iran hopes Russia's next step be delivery of S-300 missiles system: MP - Xinhua
Telegraph.co.uk | Iran hopes Russia's next step be delivery of S-300 missiles system: MP Xinhua BUSHEHR, Iran, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi hailed Russia's move on Bushehr nuclear plant fuelling and expressed hope Russia's next step would be the delivery of S-300 missile system to Iran, the semi-official ISNA news ... Iran begins fueling first civilian nuclear power reactor West jittery as Iran completes its first nuclear reactor Israel says Iranian reactor use 'tot » |
Thursday, August 19, 2010
FBI: Plane Threat In San Francisco Not Credible -Fox - Wall Street Journal
Kansas City Star | FBI: Plane Threat In San Francisco Not Credible -Fox W » |
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Rod Blagojevich verdict: Guilty on only 1 count, Blago vows to fight on - Los Angeles Times
Globe and Mail | Rod Blagojevich verdict: Guilty on only 1 count, Blago vows to fight on Los Angeles Times After a federal jury convicted him of just one count -- lying to the FBI -- and deadlocked on 23 other counts, Rod Blagojevich declared his innocence today and defiantly taunted prosecutors. ... Why Rod Blagojevich was convicted on only one of 24 counts Rod Blagojevich guilty on just one count of 24 in corruption trial Blagojevich: 'I didn't break any laws' |
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Accused 'Craigslist Killer' Philip Markoff commits suicide in Boston jail - Boston Globe
Globe and Mail | Accused 'Craigslist Killer' Philip Markoff commits suicide in Boston jail Boston Globe Accused âCraigslist Killerâ Philip Markoff was found dead at Nashua Street Jail yesterday morning, a plastic bag tied over his head, in an apparent suicide, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said today. ... Craigslist killing suspect dead in Mass. suicide Boston's âCraigslist Killerâ Commits Suicide Craigslist killing suspect Phillip Markoff commits suicide in jail |