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EDA’s tax credit to Prudential ‘corporate welfare at its worst,’ landlords charge
If Prudential vacates nearly 1 million square feet of office space at the Gateway Complex in Newark in favor of a new building, it could take 10 years for the citys commercial real estate market to recover, Gateways landlords charged yesterday.
The insurance giant has said it is considering its options before its leases there expire in 2014, including constructing a new tower elsewhere in the city or staying at Gateway. In November, the state Economic Development Authority said it would award a $250.8 million Urban Transit Hub tax credit to the company for its proposed $369 million, 600,000-square-foot office tower on land across the street from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
Calling the decision “corporate welfare at its worst,” the owners of Gateway 2, 3 and 4 have filed a lawsuit with the state appellate court, arguing the EDA failed to consider the “devastating financial impact” its decision would have on the city and state, and it approved the award without notice to or consultation with the landlords.
SUPPLIER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE RECEIVES $50,000 GRANT
SUPPLIER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE RECEIVES $50,000 GRANT January 4, 2012
– Foundation for Louisiana has granted the LSU Foundation $50,000 to support the E. J. Ourso College of Business’ Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Initiative. The grant will provide small, women- and minority-owned businesses in 37 rural parishes with resources and information that will enable them to compete for state contracts and increase economic resiliency in rural communities.
LSU is among 22 nonprofit organizations that Foundation for Louisiana has granted awards to totaling $843,000, which were awarded in three areas: small business, housing and policy & advocacy.
“These grants exemplify Foundation for Louisiana’s mission to build resilience in the state’s most vulnerable communities. They also
Bank of America Putting Pressure on Small Businesses
First appeared in the LA Times
Fresh start: Economic reports lift stocks to begin 2012
WASHINGTON — U.S. manufacturers ended 2011 with their best month of growth since the late spring. And the struggling construction industry spent more on projects for the third time in four months.
The data, reported Tuesday, bolstered hopes that the economy is gaining momentum and helped Wall Street start 2012 with a bang.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 180 points, or 1.4 percent, to 12,397, its highest close in more than five months. Broader indexes rose as well.
Factories hired more workers in December, saw the most growth in new orders since April and ramped up production. U.S. builders spent more in November on single-family homes, apartments and remodeling projects.
The strong reports correspond with other positive signs for the economy.
Trib $uit: Go to Zell
Billionaire Sam Zell sued former shareholders of the bankrupt Tribune Co., claiming he should be paid along with other creditors should a court rule the 2007 buyout he engineered was a fraud.
The suit, filed by the Zell-controlled company EGI-TRB, defends the buyout as legitimate while also attempting to preserve Zell’s ability to collect money should a court disagree.
Pronouns The Window To Your Soul
They are the words that you use the most. “I, me, and, that, he, with, the” and so on. Pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions and articles. They are essential. They are the glue that ties sentences together. You need them, but what meaning do they actually transmit? Surely the words that provide meaning to a sentence are the big guns of grammar: the nouns and the verbs. They are the words that actually transmit information from one person to another. It’s nouns and verbs that tell you the object and subject and the action. Indeed, within search, it’s nouns and verbs that considered relevant and other words are routinely discarded. Google thinks that “I”, “me” and “and” just get in the way. They’re a whole list of stop words and by ignoring them, the search engines get more meaningful results more quickly. Google thinks that these function words are irrelevant.
Oren Klaff’s Pitch Anything
The #1 book on business development in the world today is Oren’s Klaff amazing Pitch Anything.
It is hands-down the best book on modern selling and deal-making I have ever read, and I have read a LOT of them.
And it is driving a quiet “turn the tables” revolution on the relationship between buyer and seller.
But don’t just take my word for it. Here are what some of Oren and his method’s thousands of devoted followers say about his revolutionary approach:
“If you’ve ever come out of a meeting, conversation, or sales appointment with a “no”, or “unfavorable” response from your audience or prospect AND didn’t know why, then you may want to check out this book.”
“Oren cuts through old patterns of boring conversation that we all despise and breathes new life into the art of business meetings, presentations and pitches.”
“Oren Klaff has a dazzling ability to clearly describe totally new methods for presenting ideas.”
“Pitch Anything teaches you a series of strategies that you can easily employ to shape your pitch, get it heard and close the deal.”
“Now THIS is the “Art” of the Deal – Trump’s got nothing on Oren Klaff!”
This Wednesday Meet Oren Klaff
I am pleased to invite you to an invitation only, live web workshop with Oren Klaff.
On it, Oren will share with you his ground-breaking STRONG method of pitching, which can be put to use immediately:
Setting the Frame
Telling the Story
Revealing the Intrigue
Offering the Prize
Nailing the Hookpoint
Getting a Decision
Strictly First Come, First Serve
To allow for intimate audience interaction with Oren, we are limiting attendance to the first 35 registrants.
Minnesota jobless rate dips again to 5.9 percent
Minnesotas unemployment rate has taken another big drop, falling to 5.9 percent for November.
The state Department of Employment and Economic Development said Thursday that the Minnesotas seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was a half-percent lower than in October. The rate dropped even though employers cut 13,700 jobs.
Department commissioner Mark Phillips says the mixed results make it hard to draw conclusions about how well the labor market is performing.
Minnesotas state unemployment rate compares favorably to the U.S. unemployment rate of 8.6 percent for November.
The biggest sectors for lost jobs in Minnesota were leisure and hospitality, government and construction. Job gains were seen in education and health services, professional and business services and leisure and hospitality sectors.