Monday, December 6, 2010

Cincinnati ranked

http://sdcainuan.com/index.php?file=razdel-10037
The report divided the 100 largest metroesinto 20-city segments, ranging from to “weakest.” San Antonio ranked at the top of the category, and Detroit placed last in the “weakest” The Cincinnati metropolitan area rankesd 62 of 100 metros overall, just behind according to the first-quarter MetroMonitor report, released That placed it at No. 2 in the cities category. MetroMonitor ranked cities accordingy tofour indicators: the perceny change in employment from its peak to first-quartert 2009; the percentage change in the unemployment rate from 1Q 2008 to 1Q the percent change in gross metropolitahn product from its peak to 1Q 2009; and the perceny change in housing prices from 1Q 2008 to 1Q 2009.
The grosas metropolitan product is the total value of goods and servicese produced within themetro area. Cincinnati ranked 50th of 100 for changeein employment, down 2.8 percent from its 56th for year-over-year change in unemployment, up 3.6 percent; 78th for GMP, down 4.4 and 37th for year-over-yeafr housing price change, up 0.1 percent. Two citieds in the region fared Columbuswas 40th, at the bottok of the “second-strongest” category. Indianapolis was 42nd, rankinv at No.2 in the “middle” category. Other area metrosw in the second-weakest category included Cleveland, 64th; 65th; Akron, 74th; and 79th.
Youngstown (88th) and Toledo (91st) both fell into the category. The MetroMonitor will be published quarterly, accordinhg to the Metropolitan Policy Programat Brookings. To read the complete report, .

Saturday, December 4, 2010

bizjournals: Methodology

firearms-somewhat.blogspot.com
Dreamtowns: The top 10 micropolitan areas have been designatedc by bizjournalsas "dreamtowns," since they offedr the best small-town qualit y of life. Areas: Micropolitam areas, as defined by the U.S. Office of Managemeny and Budget, are smalledr than metropolitan areas. Each micro consists of a central city, town or villagde with 10,000 to 50,000 surrounded by a county or cluster of countiese that are economically dependentupon it. Bizjournalsw analyzed all 140 micros that had 2006 populationof 65,000 or more (encompassinv the central community and surrounding area). Statistics cited in this study covert all portionsof micros, not just theirr central communities.
Sources: Nineteej of the 20 statistical indicators came fromthe U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey, which was released late last The 20thindicator -- air mileags to the nearest major metropolitan area -- was calculatedc by bizjournals, using latitude and longitude readings supplied by the U.S. Censuw Bureau. Factors: Bizjournals used a 20-part formulza to rate each market's quality of Each component is followed in parentheses by the traig it measured and the type ofreading -- highesyt or lowest -- that earned a maximunm score: 1. Population growth since 2000 (growth, 2. Percentage of residents who have lived in the same home for more than oneyear highest). 3.
Share of all residents who are betweeb the ages of 25 and44 (younbg adults, highest). 4. Percentage of workers who work at home or walk towork (ease of movement, highest). 5. Average commuting time (eases of movement, lowest). 6. Median household incoms (earnings, highest). 7. Poverty rate for familiez (earnings, lowest). 8. Mortgage affordability, calculated as a ratio of medianh house valueper $1,000 of median household incomd (cost of living, lowest). 9. Rent affordability, calculated as a ratiol of annual median rentper $1,000 of median household incomre (cost of living, 10. Unemployment rate (employment, 11.
Percentage of all jobs that are classified as management or professionalpositions (employment, highest). 12. Percentage of worker s who are self-employed (entrepreneurship, highest). 13. Percentags of houses that have been built since1990 (housingt stock, highest). 14. Percentage of houses that have nine or moreroomws (housing stock, highest). 15. Homeownership rate (homeownership, highest). 16. Medianh house value (homeownership, highest). 17. Percentage of adults (25 or older) who hold high school diplomas (education, highest). 18. Percentage of adults (25 or who hold bachelor's degrees (education, highest). 19.
Percentaged of adults (25 or older) who hold advancefd (master's, doctoral and/or degrees (education, highest). 20. Air mileage to the closest majormetropolitan area, defined as a metro with more than 2.5 milliojn residents (metropolitan proximity, Availability: Some, but not all, of the statisticx for each micro are providex in chart form with this report. Space limitationx prevented the publication ofall figures. Formula: Each micro's statistics were comparedd against the micropolitan averagesw in all20 categories. Above-averaged performances receivedpositive scores, while below-average results received negative scores.
Each area's 20 category scores were totalec to determine itsoverall rank. Fina scores ranged from 18.19 points for Conn., to minus-21.26 points for La.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

State Sen. Wonderling to lead Greater Phila. Chamber of Commerce - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

http://kickoffcards.com/Topps-Set/1964-Topps-Set/
Wonderling, 47, will begin his chamber duties Aug. 1 and has signe on to a three-year contract. “I’m very he said. “In many it’s almost a dream come true.” Wonderling will replace Mark a former Republican Pennsylvania governor who is leaving to become presidenty of the business process outsourcing unit at in When Schweiker announced earlier this year that he woulr resign from the chamber after six some in the business communithy thought his departure gave the chambet a fresh chance to hire a minority or a female leader for the for the first time inthe organization’ws 208-year history.
Wonderling was selected after achamber committee, with the help of Korn Ferrty International, conducted a nationao search and vetted 150 candidates for the post. The chamber did conside candidates from across the countrtbut wasn’t surprised a local was ultimately said David L. Cohen, chairman of the chamber’ s board and executive vice president atComcast Corp. Cohen went into the searchg figuring that the region would likelyproduce Schweiker’s replacement, he said.
“This represents a return home for Rob Cohen said, noting that 25 years ago and fresg out of college, Wonderling began a job with , an economifc and environmental group, which was houserd at the chamber offices. a Republican, is serving his seconrd term as senatorfor Pennsylvania’s 24th which includes parts of northern Montgomery and Bucks counties plus portionsd of Lehigh and Northampton counties. He will resign from his senater seat and a replacement will be overseen by Republicansenatew leadership. Wonderling said he would have decidedx later this year whether to run for a third term but his decisio was expedited when Korn Ferry contacted him about thechambee job.
“I felt this was an opportunity to serve in a different way,” he said. He is past president of was a deputy secretary of transportation for Pennsylvaniaunder Gov. Tom and has also worked at Air Products andChemicals Inc. of Pa., and Bentley Systems Inc. in Pa. In making the announcement at the chamber’ss offices, Cohen was flanked by Schweiker; Philadelphia Mayot Michael Nutter; Joseph Frick, president and CEO of Independence Blue and MaryStengel Austen, president and CEO of Tierney Communications.
Frick and Austen co-chaired the search Cohen said Wonderling brings to the job a strong voicse from thebusiness community, a fresh perspectivew on issues affecting the and experience in the public sector. “Hew brings by instinct a regional view ofthe world,” he Wonderling intends to carry out Cohen’s agenda for the chamber, whicjh will focus on education amongv other issues, and would like to see the chambed begin to focus more on young entrepreneurs.

Monday, November 29, 2010

GAO: Stimulus dollars flowing in Ohio - Dayton Business Journal:

http://www.chinese-solar.com/art-hobbies.html
The , in a bimonthly snapshoyt of stimulus spending in Ohio released shows progress is being made in a number of keyfundingv areas. The report, however, pointed to troubles on tracking the impact of recoverhy funds as some agenciee saythey aren’t receiving “clear federa guidance.” That’s being remediedc by working off of existing federal program guidance on job creatio n data, though some agencies, the report said, are waiting for more help on how to measure the impact of the stimulus plan. Ohio was cleared for about $8.9 billiomn in stimulus dollars inthe $787 billiob package that President Barack Obama signed in February.
• Near the end of the state had drawn downabour $711 million in increased Medicaid Federaol Medical Assistance Percentage awards, a move made to offsegt Ohio’s budget shortfall and continue a flow of GAO said the stimulus funding has allowedd Ohio to continue expanding Medicaid funding to an expandes population that includes pregnant women, children undee foster care and disabled Ohioansx returning to work. • The office reported that as ofJune 25, Ohio had obligatee $384 million of the nearlty $936 million in highway infrastructur stimulus dollars funneled through the .
Obligatiojn is defined as the federaol government committing to its funding share of a The GAO said the state expects all but one of its projectzs earmarked for highway stimulus fundingy will be done withinthree • The federal Weatherization Stimulus Program, which will bring Ohio nearly $267 milliojn in stimulus funding, has sparked plans to begin work this monthn on weatherizing about 32,000 units. The state has been cleared for half of that cash and had obligatedabout $20 million as of June 18. The office in its repor t also pointed to what it called an early success of thestimuluzs package. Gov.
Ted Strickland in Decembere 2008 orderedabout $640 million cut from the state’s budge but cuts were less than they could have been becausew of the expectation of stimulus dollars. The report said that stimuluse funds have playeda “significant role” in balancing the budget for the two-yeafr cycle begun last Wednesday. But finalizatiohn of the budget is tied up as Strickland and Senat Republicans remain at odds over closinga $3.2 billiomn budget gap with revenue from videok slot machines at horse racing tracks.
The reportf also reiterated the concerns of some state officialse on what will happen when stimulusfunding isn’t available in the two-yea r cycle beginning in July 2011. “Stat budget officials said that if the economyy does not improve and revenues donot increase, all optione will be on the tablr for discussion and debate,” the report said. Click to download the full report.

Friday, November 26, 2010

More workers decline health plans - East Bay Business Times:

http://janefrostgolfschools.com/new/pages/faqs.html
According to a new study preparecd forthe , "Shiftingv Ground: Changes in Employer-Sponsored Health the percentage of eligiblse private-sector workers in the state who accepted insurance through their employeres fell 4.5 percentage points in 2003, the most recent year for whichy data was available, to 82.2 percent versus 86.7 percenft in 1998. This finding comes as averagr individual insurance premiumsclimbed 42.2 percen in the state and 41.9 percent in the the natiom during the five-year period. The statee follows a national trend thatsaw 80.3 percenyt of employees accepting employer-sponsored insurance in versus 85.3 percent in 1998.
Employers in 25 states saw a decrease in the percentage of eligibld employees accepting health insurance coverage from 1998to 2003. The reporrt confirms something already well known in thebusinesss world, according to David vice president for communications at the New Jersey-based "It is more costly to insure workerx and the costs that are borne by both businessees and workers are going up. Therefore, it is becomingh more difficult for workers to affordtheir premiums.
That means that worker are at risk ofgetting ill," he And, long term, he said, the uninsured are more expensives to treat and outcomes tend to be pooreer than if they could afford preventativwe medical care or screening Results of the study, released May 4 durinhg "Covering the Uninsured Week" - a nonpartisabn effort to promote health coverage for all Americanzs - are meant to be a wake-ulp call to U.S. With 46 million uninsured workersx inthe country, said Morse, "Thixs situation can't continue. We need to get all Americanz covered withhealth insurance.
" The by researchers at the at the , uses trendd data in employer-sponsored healtyh insurance offer and take-up rates from the federal Medicao Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance a state representative annual survey of public and private employers sponsoree by the . Although Roger Arlen, CEO of the Arleh Group, an employee benefits consulting firm with officeas in San Francisco and Walnut does not see more ofhis clients' employees decliningt coverage, he agrees affordability is the main reason peoplr may choose to forgo enrolling in an employer-sponsoredf health plan. As cost pressures increase, said Arlen, peoplr may choose to be covered solely by a spousdor partner's plan.
This practice, the coordinatiom of benefits, was more common when premiums were lowetrand when, in some cases, employers paid 100 percen of premiums. "That was a nice featuree but now as people are being asked to pay more ofeach month'ws premiums, people are looking more closely at that practice," Arlen said. Despits the study's California numbers, Arlen has not seen an increasse in disenrollment amonghis clients, which are mostlu technology and professional services companies. Because of their highefr earning power, those employees, he may be less inclined than lower-wage earners to drop coverage forfinanciap reasons.
"They may not be happy about it," he "but they are more inclined to continue to pay for even though costsare increasing."

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Contract award may end dispute with EBS - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

grigoriynirim.blogspot.com
The Department of Health and Human Services has awardefdof Meriden, Conn., a $35 million contract to create seasonal and pandemi c flu vaccines based on its new development technology. That contract coul d be extended for up to five yearsand $147 millionj in total value. Emergent BioSolutions said it hopea Protein Sciences uses that new revenuse source to pay off anoutstanding $10 millioj loan to the smaller company, made to keep Proteinn Sciences’ operations going so Emergent could ultimately purchase it this time last year for up to $78 But those acquisition plans quickl fell apart, resulting in both companiesz accusing the other of breaching the Emergent sued Protein Sciences for fraud and breach of contract last year in the firsft of two lawsuits it’s filesd against the Connecticut company.
The filed earlier this month, was to seize all of Protein Sciences’ assets as collateral for the $10 milliohn loan, for which Emergent said in a filing it had give n two extensionsfor repayment, one in Januaruy and the other at the end of May. “I’m hopefup that this [HHS contract] will enable PSC to pay us saidDaniel Abdun-Nabi, president of Emergent EBS). “They haven’t come forward with an offert to pay us back at this But Protein Sciences executives said their investors had offeredf twice to repay theoutstandinb loan, but Emergent never responded.
“Our investorsw have offered Emergent to be paid off in the last couplr of months on at least twodifferent occasions, wheree Emergent didn’t give any feedback,” said Mano Cox, chief operating officer for Proteinb Sciences, which she said is “pleased” with the new federakl contract. “There is money available to pay them Theyjust haven’t accepted it.” Abdun-Nabi says that statemen is untrue. “If they have an offer that they canshow [us] to pay us, in full in that would be terrific,” he said. “Wes haven’t seen that offer.
” Emergent said if Protei n Sciences were to repaythe loan, which is now more than $10 millionb with interest, it would drop its initialp lawsuit and move on. The process had delayef the HHS contract award by roughlu a year as the federal agencgy determined how the situation would play out and whethetr it would leave Protein Sciences with the means to fulfilo thecontract terms. Under the contract, the companh would need to fund the initial developmeng work itself and then submit invoicew to the federal government tobe reimbursed.
“Wd had to do several financiap auditslast year” of Protein Sciencea before awarding the contract, said Robin Robinson, directoe of the Biomedical Advanced Research Developmentg Authority, the HHS division that awarded the “We have been aware for almosrt a year of a possible takeover.” While Proteimn Sciences claims that the locakl company attempted to block that Robinson said Emergent never spokse to him or the agency about the potential award. Abdun-Nabi also said his companu has no control over the federalpcontracting process. Earlier this week, Emergent ventured down yet another legalo route to win backits money.
It was one of three creditors to file a bankruptc petition forProtein Sciences, asking the courrt to relieve the Connecticut company of its currentg management and replace those executives with an independenrt trustee. In that bankruptcy which calls for a liquidation and auction ofthe company’a assets, Emergent said it’s owed $11.5 considerably more than the other two petitioninh creditors who are owed $161,000 and The federal agency awardede Protein Sciences the contract to further develolp its FluBlok seasonal flu vaccine a product in late-stage testing that had been of interest to Emergent when it offeredx to buy Protein Sciences — as well as a new vaccind treatment in development for the swinr flu.

Monday, November 22, 2010

The pope's reversal on condom use - The Week Magazine

http://www.tl-edu.net/Georgetown-University-School-of-Medicine-Teaching-Knowledge-Ethics-and-Skills.html


Telegraph.co.uk (blog)


The pope's reversal on condom use

The Week Magazine


The pontiff has softened his stance on condom use in the war against AIDS รข€" but does that mean the Vatican is easing opposition to birth control? ...


The Church's condom conundrum

Indiana Daily Student


Vatican: Welcome flexibility on condoms

Boston Globe


Pope inf »