QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There’s still quite a bit of slack in the labor market; wage gains are positive but have been modest.”
Ryan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities USA Inc., on the August retail inflation report Article, 1D
Windstream gets $12 million VA contract
Windstream Corp. has secured a $12 million contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Little Rock-based company said Tuesday.
Windstream will provide voice, data and Internet services for the department in 11 states in the Northeast, according to a company news release. The company expects to have the services in place by the end of the year.
“As the largest national competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), Windstream was ideally positioned with our network footprint and coverage to deliver both the costs savings anticipated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, but also with an increase in service quality,” said Mike Magliato, vice president and general manager of federal markets at Windstream, in a statement.
The contract has a base-line amount of $12 million, but it can grow to as much as $20 million in the next five years, the release said.
The contract encompasses a region that includes more than 300 VA facilities, including hospitals, clinics, cemeteries and call centers.
Diesel prices drop from 5-month high
Diesel fuel prices nationwide declined slightly to $3.97 per gallon, according to a weekly report from the U.S. Energy Department.
The price ended a two-week run of $3.98 per gallon, which was a five-month high.
Prices in the Gulf Coast region, which includes Arkansas, were at $3.89. It’s a decrease of 1 cent from a week ago, according to the department’s calculations. Diesel costs dipped 13 cents from the same week in 2012.
Retail gasoline prices also saw a dip, and the national per-gallon average was $3.55. In the Gulf Coast region, the price reached $3.30, 35 cents less than the same time period in 2012. Nationally, the price declined 33 cents from this week in 2012.
The average diesel fuel price is calculated by the Energy Department from a sample of about 400 retail diesel outlets in the continental United States. Gas prices are figured from a sample of 800 gas stations nationwide.
Farmers market set to open in west LR
The Promenade at Chenal in west Little Rock will host its first farmers market at the outdoor shopping center Sept. 28.
Farmer’s Market West will be held every Saturday between Sept. 28 and Oct. 26 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., a news release said. The Farmer’s Market will be located in the courtyard next to the J. Crew store at the Promenade at Chenal, 17711 Chenal Parkway in Little Rock.
Four farming groups will sell locally grown and organic produce at the farmers market. They include Little Rock Urban Farming, Barnhill Orchards, Laughing Stock Farm/ Hardin Farms & Market Too, and North Pulaski Farms.
To kick off the first farmers market, the Promenade at Chenal is requesting nonperishable food items, which will be donated to the Arkansas Rice Depot. Shoppers who donate will receive one free produce item, according to the release.
- Jessica Seaman
Judge backs city in eminent-domain suit
SAN FRANCISCO - A judge has dismissed a lawsuit over a Northern California city’s plan to use eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled Monday that the lawsuit was premature, because Richmond had not yet approved the plan.
Wells Fargo & Co., Deutsche Bank AG and The Bank of New York Mellon sued Richmond after city officials began discussing plans to use eminent domain to seize the mortgages and offer them back to homeowners at cheaper rates. The banks want to stop Richmond from seizing the loans.
John Ertman, an attorney for the banks, told the Contra Costa Times that the judge’s ruling only postpones the day that Richmond will have to defend the eminent-domain plan in court.
Safeway adopts plan to stop takeover
NEW YORK - Safeway adopted a plan to prevent a hostile takeover after learning of a significant accumulation of its stock by an unnamed investor.
The announcement Tuesday sent shares of the grocer spiking to a five-year high.
So-called “poison pill” plans allow existing shareholders to acquire more stock at a discounted rate to discourage a takeover by an outside entity.
Safeway’s defensive plan becomes exercisable if a person or group acquires 10 percent or more of the company’s common stock, or an institutional investor acquires 15 percent.
Like other traditional supermarket operators, Safeway is also trying to adapt amid growing competition from retailers that have been expanding their grocery sections.
In its fiscal second quarter, sales at company stores open at least a year rose 1.2 percent. By comparison, same-store sales at rival Kroger Co. rose 3.3 percent in its most recent quarter.
Shares of Safeway Inc., based in Pleasanton, Calif., jumped more than 10 percent to $30.99.
- The Associated Press
Car sales in Europe drop 4.9% in August
PARIS - European car sales fell in August, sending deliveries this year to the lowest since records began in 1990, as record joblessness in the euro region hurt deliveries at Volkswagen, Peugeot Citroen and Fiat.
Registrations dropped 4.9 percent to 686,957 vehicles from 722,458 cars a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said Tuesday in a statement. Eight-month sales declined 5.2 percent to 8.14 million vehicles.
The economy of the 17 countries using the euro emerged from a record six-quarter recession in the three months through June. Aftereffects such as an unemployment rate in the area that held at 12.1 percent in July led industry leaders at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt a week ago, including Peugeot Chief Executive Officer Philippe Varin, to stick to predictions of a sixth consecutive annual car-market contraction in 2013.
Business, Pages 26 on 09/18/2013