Business news in brief

Boeing, SpaceX split NASA rocket funds

Boeing Co. and Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. will split as much as $6.8 billion in federal funding to help the U.S. resume manned missions and end its dependence on Russian rockets.

The contract to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station will pay a maximum of $4.2 billion to Boeing and $2.6 billion to closely held SpaceX, NASA said Tuesday. A third contender, Sierra Nevada Corp., was shut out.

The award caps a competition for the right to build the first U.S. manned craft since NASA retired the shuttle fleet in 2011. The agency now uses Russia's Soyuz rockets to get astronauts to the station, an arrangement that costs about $70 million a seat.

"We are one step closer to launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on American spacecraft and ending the nation's sole reliance on Russia by 2017," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said in a statement. "Turning over low-Earth orbit transportation to private industry will also allow NASA to focus on an even more ambitious mission -- sending humans to Mars."

-- Bloomberg News

Nonprofit sues USDA over poultry rules

A nonprofit watchdog group has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding new inspection rules at poultry plants.

In a complaint, Washington, D.C.-based Food & Water Watch said the rules "will amount to an unprecedented elimination of inspection resources for a secret set of young chicken and turkey slaughterhouses."

Food & Water Watch wants the rules eliminated. The group claims they were finalized without "adequate notice and opportunity for public comment."

The USDA has said the existing system, which has been in place since the 1950s, is outdated and doesn't reflect a modern understanding of disease. The new rule gives industry more responsibility over visual examination of carcasses but allows the USDA to focus on testing for food-borne illnesses, like salmonella.

-- Brian Fanney

UPS to increase seasonal hiring by 73%

NEW YORK -- United Parcel Service Inc. will increase its seasonal hiring by as much as 73 percent compared with 2013 staffing, when a surge in late e-commerce orders left the company unable to meet Christmas deadlines.

The temporary workforce will number as many as 95,000 people to handle the crush of packages from October through January. The positions will include package sorters, loaders, delivery helpers and drivers, the Atlanta-based company said Tuesday in a statement.

This season will be a challenge for UPS to prove that last year's pre-Christmas breakdowns were an anomaly and assure customers that their packages will arrive on time. Last-minute online orders generated about twice as much delivery volume in 2013 as UPS had expected, forcing the company to add 30,000 more workers than planned and increasing fourth-quarter expenses by as much as $150 million.

David Abney, who was promoted in June to chief executive officer, led a review of the company's response to the meltdown, prompting a $100 million plan to expand its parcel facilities and accelerate use of technology to improve delivery operations.

-- The Associated Press

Atlantic City's Trump Plaza casino shuts

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino closed its doors early Tuesday, the fourth Atlantic City casino to go belly-up so far this year.

When it opened May 14, 1984, Donald Trump called it the finest building in Atlantic City, and possibly the nation.

But since then, Trump has left town and cut ties to its casinos. And the Plaza, like many Atlantic City casinos, has seen better days.

A downward spiral that saw it ranked last among the city's casinos ended Tuesday morning as about a half-dozen gamblers who stayed to the end got up from the lone blackjack table in operation or from a few slot machines and walked out beneath the dozens of glittery chandeliers for the last time.

Dealer Ruth Hardrick worked at Trump Plaza for 26 of its 30 years but is now without a job. She's in a large group: About 8,000 Atlantic City casino workers have lost their jobs this year, and another 3,000 could join them if Trump Plaza's parent company makes good on its threat to close the Trump Taj Mahal Casino resort in November.

Atlantic City began the year with 12 casinos. It now has eight.

-- The Associated Press

28 firms earn Governor's Quality Awards

Twenty-eight organizations were presented awards Monday at the 20th annual Governor's Quality Awards ceremony in Little Rock.

Taking top honors for performance excellence were Baldor Electric Co. of Fort Smith, Conway Regional Health System and J.V. Manufacturing Inc. of Springdale.

The Achievement Level Award was presented to DD&F Consulting Group, Little Rock; Mainstream Technologies, Little Rock; National Guard Professional Education Center, North Little Rock; North Arkansas College of Harrison; Saline Memorial Hospital, Benton; and St. Elizabeth's Place, Jonesboro.

Receiving the Commitment Level Award were Northwest Arkansas Community College, Bentonville; M. O. Ramay Junior High School, Fayetteville; and Spring Creek Health and Rehab Center, Cabot.

Receiving the Challenge Level Award were Alcoa Pines Health and Rehabilitation, Benton; Beaver Water District, Lowell; Belle Meade, Paragould; Boston Mountain Rural Health Center Inc., Marshall; Conway Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center; Gosnell Therapy and Living, Blytheville; The Green House Cottages of Southern Hills, Rison; Katherine's Place at Wedington, Fayetteville; Mountain Meadows Health and Rehabilitation, Batesville; ProCare Therapy Services, Sherwood; Professional Nursing Solutions's corporate office, Alexandria, La.; Southern Administrative Services' corporate office, Alexandria, La.; Southern Trace Rehabilitation and Care Center, Bryant; Southridge Village Retirement Center, Heber Springs; Village Springs Health and Rehabilitation, Hot Springs; and Westwood Health and Rehab Inc., Springdale.

-- David Smith

Business on 09/17/2014

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