Posted on July - 01 - 2011
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital remains one of the nation’s top places for academics to work, according to a ranking released Friday by The Scientist magazine.
St. Jude retains its No. 2 ranking from last year, eclipsed only by The J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle rounds out the top three U.S. institutions for 2011.
Internationally, the top three institutions were the Weizmann Institute of Science, INRA in Versailles, France, and the University of Queensland based in Brisbane, Australia, earned third-place accolades.
Top-ranked institutions not only offered a productive research environment, but also offered a fun, casual atmosphere, the magazine said.
Cargill grows in the Depot
Cargill Inc. has leased 206,565 square feet in the Memphis Depot Business Park, according to CoStar Group, a real estate informationpany.
Cargill leased the space at 1996 Behnke Ave.
Read full post…
Posted on July - 01 - 2011
The Memphis market figures prominently in FedEx Corp. testing of different electric vehicle types and mass replacement of conventional vehicles with clean diesel Sprinter vans.
Two conventional pickup and delivery trucks are being converted to all-electric powertrains and will be put in service by FedEx Express in Memphis later this summer.
FedEx said this week its express delivery unit also is buying 92 Sprinters, featuring lower-emission BlueTEC clean diesel technology, for high-mileage routes in Tennessee. They’re part of a 4,000-Sprinter purchase nationally, representing replacement of a tenth of the fleet.
The two conventional-to-electric conversions are among 24 new all-electric vehicles that will more than double the electric fleet to 43 vehicles. O
Read full post…
Posted on July - 01 - 2011
NEW YORK – US STOCKS jumped sharply higher on Friday, closing out the best week in two years and starting the second half on a solid positive note.
In thin trade ahead of the long July 4 holiday weekend, the Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 168.43 points (1.36 per cent) to 12,582.77.
The broader S&P 500 gained 19.03 (1.44 percent) to 1,339.67, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 42.51 points (1.53 per cent) at 2,816.03.
All 30 Dow blue chips were up, led by a 2.8 per cent climb by Alcoa and a 2.2 per cent jump by JP Morgan Chase.
On the Nasdaq, Apple added 2.2 per cent and Yahoo 2.8 per cent.
The markets got a boost from the release of the ISM purchasing managers index for the manufacturing sector for June, which climbed 1.8 per cent from May, much better than economists had forecast. — AFP
Posted on July - 01 - 2011
IRS has changed its rules concerning the filing of tax liens against taxpayers, which IRS reports to the credit reporting agencies. Tax liens dramatically reduce credit scores. It has been difficult to get the tax liens off one’s credit reports even when the lien is paid.
IRS said it changes will help people with tax debts get a fresh start. One of the biggest changes is that people who pay their tax debt in full or enter into a direct debit installment agreement can ask to have the tax lien withdrawn. Once that is done, the taxpayer may ask the credit bureaus to remove the record of the lien from his or her credit report.
Naturally, IRS has a form, Form 12277 Application for Withdrawal of Filed Form 668(y) Notice of Tax Lien for this purpose. Once the taxpayer files this form and IRS approves, IRS will send the taxpayer a Form 10916(c), Withdrawal of Filed Notice of Federal Tax Lien.
Formerly, the tax lien would remain on the person’s credit reports even though it was paid in full.
Read full post…
Posted on June - 30 - 2011
Media complex the Sharp Project was officially launched last night.
The 200,000 sq ft venue, on the site of the former Sharp electronics warehouse in Newton Heath, Manchester, is home to 30 firms and also houses film and music studios.
Small companies can benefit from rents as low as £50 a week to locate there but there is also space for larger businesses, as well as a ‘campus’ where people can join as members and use the facilities to work.
Tenants range from law firms to animators.
The £16.5m warehouse revamp was funded by Manchester c ity council, the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund.
Speaking at the launch last night, council leader Sir Richard Leese said: “My first experience of this building was a walk around it when it was an empty, derelict warehouse. I have to say it was a pretty miserable-looking place.
“This was originally meant to be a joint venture but then something called the credit crunch occurred and the only viable way of continuing was if the city council took it on its own. We did an
Read full post…
Posted on June - 30 - 2011
Say the word “governance” and what springs to mind?
For a lot of people, the first thing is “bureaucracy”. Some central body to define a thick manual full of policies. Endless reviews and compliance checks. Long-winded approval processes.
The next thing they think about is finding ways to bypass all the controls so they can actually get some work done.
It doesn’t have to be that way…
Governance is about making good decisions, ones that balance the priorities and demands of multiple different stakeholders. Tangling everyone up in red tape rarely meets anyone’s needs.
The red tape simply emerges because it’s a tough balancing act and we make poor trade-offs.
One of the classic problems of governance is balancing the benefits of central versus devolved oversight. Central oversight makes it easier to ensure that policies are interpreted and applied in a consistent way across the organisation.
It provides a single point for managing quality and standards. It can help optim
Read full post…
