Putnam chairman Haldeman resigns, top candidate for Freddie Mac job - Business First of Buffalo:

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Haldeman's appointment to Freddie Mac would requirw approval bythe . Haldeman's retirement Tuesdah from Boston-based Putnam ended a tenure that witnessed a sharlp decline inassets - to the tune of tens of billionsd of dollars - at the mutual fund Putnam described Haldeman’s departure as a retiremengt that will clear the way for CEO Roberty Reynolds to become president of Putnam The position of chairman of Putnam Investmenr Management LLC will not be filled, the company In a statement, Haldeman said when Putnam agreed to be acquired by Canada’ds in January 2007, he committed to stay with the mutual fund company until June 30, 2008.
“Mu agreement was extended, and it is now almost two and a half yearsa since the sale of Putnamwas announced,” Haldemanb said in a presas release. “Bob Reynolds is doing a great jobas CEO. This is a good time for me to advanc to the next stage ofmy career.” Before joining Putnam Investments in 2002, Haldemanm served as CEO of Delaware Investments, and earlier as presidenyt and chief operating officer of Unitec Asset Management. Prior to these positions, he was a partnert and director of the investmenf management firm ofCooke & Bieler Inc. Former parent Cos. Inc. sold Putnajm for $3.9 billion to a division of Powee Corp.
At that time, the mutual fund company had about $192 billion in assets under management. At the end of May Putnam Investmentshad $102 billion in assetsa under management. Mutual fund assets were $55 billion.

Small businesses have gotten only 10 percent of stimulus work - bizjournals:

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percent of contracts funded by the economi c stimuluspackage — far below the federal government’xs overall goal of 23 percent. “This is simply said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, at a May 21 hearingh on opportunities for small businesses to win contracts fundeed bythe $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Snowe, the ranking Republican on the Senat e Small Business andEntrepreneurship Committee, said therew still is time for smallo businesses to win thei fair share of stimulus work because many contractw funded by the law have not been awarderd yet. “But I must confess, I’m not encourage by the resultsso far,” Snowse said.
Committee chairwoman Mary Landrieu, D-La., said she is “concerneed that small businesses are being left out of many contractingg opportunities for newinfrastructure projects.” “In after Katrina and Rita recovery money was spent, we learnede that many small businesses nevedr even knew about rebuilding contracts,” she Landrieu said the intent of the hearinfg was “to prevent us from lookintg back in five years to ask why recovery act funding never made its way to small businesses.
” Snowew and Landrieu sent the nation’s governors a letter May 20 that encouragef them to make small businessesz a priority when states award stimulus-funded This followed a similar letter sent by Karem Mills, head of the . The Office of Management and Budgegt also has urged federal agencies to issue contracts tosmall businesses. Joseph Jordan, the SBA’sx associate administrator for government contractinv andbusiness development, said small businesses had been awardex $389 million in stimulus contracts as of May 19.
The SBA is workingb with federal agencies to help them meettheir small-businesxs goals, he said, noting that the share of stimulud dollars going to small contractors has been increasing each Information on government contracting is available at SBA’s Web , and contracting including stimulus contracts, are listed on . The SBA also is tryiny to help small businesses win subcontractds from larger businesses that are awardecdstimulus contracts. It has launchedd a Web site — that lists stimulus-related subcontracting As of May 26, the site listedx only 13 subcontracting solicitations. Stimulus work has made a big differenc forSSACC Inc., a landscaping subcontractor in Ill.
Sharon Arnold, the company’s president, said she has been able to rehirre her workers thanksto stimulus-funded highwagy projects. In December, she had to lay everyonwe off. “The stimulus bill has saved my company,” Arnolfd told the Senate committee.

Second Sight Medical Products Announces European Market Approval Of A Retinal ... - Medical News Today (press release)

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Second Sight Medical Products Announces European Market Approval Of A Retinal ... Medical News Today (press release) After more than 20 years of research and development involving a team of international specialists, Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., the leading developer of retinal prostheses for the blind, is pleased to announce that its Argus II Retinal ...

Research park backers fear layoffs could be damaging - Business First of Columbus:

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, the primary sponsor of the researc park, announced last week that park Director Bill Dean and threse other staff members are losinhtheir jobs. University officials blamed the sour economg and budget pressures for the saying the focus of park development for now woule shift to infrastructure improvements to supportfuturwe expansions. The Piedmont Triad Research Park is envisioned asa 200-acrse downtown science park supporting as many as 10,000 So far only a small portionn of the planned park has been completes with about 850 people working most of them associateds with Wake Forest.
“I’m concerned becausse I think going into a bunker mentality for any busineswjust isn’t a good even in a recession, said Robert Egleston, CEO of the . That foundatiobn provided a $125,000 grant to the researc h park to help pay for awet lab-equippedc biotech business incubator. “If we’r not out there pitching we’ll be lost,” he added. With many communities positioning themselves as biotecu hubs even as theeconomy contracts, “this is a game of markett share, of being a bigger piece of a smallerr pie.
So in my mind, this is fairly Doug Edgeton, who is president of the research park and also executiver vice president at Wake Forest UniversityHealth Sciences, said that Dean and his stafcf have done excellent work since 1999, when he arriverd shortly after the park was founded. (Dean and other affectex research park staff members declined to comment for this Butthe university, like all organizations, struggled in the recessio n and needed to tighten its belt, Edgetonn said.
The university has other staff members who can coordinate infrastructure work andothert priorities, and an outside real estatw consultant, Graydon Pleasants of Pleasants that can broker available space in the he said. Given the current state of the economgy and the slim chance that even aggressivs outreach would bear much fruitright now, recruitment seemed the best plac to cut back, Edgetohn said. “You hardly ever read about companies relocating withoutbig incentives. You just don’f see a lot of companies movingat all,” Edgetohn said.
“We may be too far ahead of ourselvezsif we’re looking too far Edgeton said the park has always seen startups as its primart growth target, and Wake Forest itself generates most of the startuop activity there. That will continue without therecruitingf staff. But Wake Forest is taking a risk by leanint so heavily on itself for the future of the saidJon Wilson, CEO of SpringMed Group. Wilson’s company works with startup medical device firms including park tenants AppliedCatheter Technologies, C Change Surgical and SpringMed was one of the first tenants in the and it frequently collaborates with researchers at Wake Forest.
They have significanft scientific expertise but often need privatew sector partners with more experience building companies to find commercial he said. If Wake Forest dominates the expandintg park, its most successful companies may end up leaving town just when they might start generatingbsignificant jobs, Wilson said. “If you’re not recruitintg these small infrastructure companies from the outside to collaborater with the academicsand you’re going to see things either dying on the vine or goingg somewhere else since therr won’t be the infrastructure here to help he said.
Some of the responsibility for building outside interest in the park will fall to existintg economic development groups such asthe Winston-Salekm Chamber of Commerce and Winston-Salem Business Inc. Bob Leak, president of Winston - Salem Business Inc., said his staff of threw already promotes the park to corporateclientzs regularly, and he expects to meet with Wake Forest officiales soon to discuss how they can increasre their participation if needed. Not havinh a staff dedicated to the park itself and the specialize needs of biotech companies does createa “void,” Leak but one that can be filled.
“Biotechnologu is a specialty, but so are green building andfinancial services” and other industries his organizationj helps recruit, Leak said. “They all have theidr own methods and languagedsand needs.” Edgeton said the next big focusw for the park besides infrastructur e work such as relocating railroad lineds and solving drainage issues will be the planned 60-acre Northernb District. That section of the park will upfit old tobaccok buildingsinto laboratories, condos and shops. Plans for the Northerb District were set back by abou a year when theoriginalk developer, Baltimore-based Streuver Bros.
Eccles & Rouse, pulled out of the projectt due to its own corporatefinanciakl problems, Edgeton said. He hopes to see negotiationa with a new Wexford Scienceand Technology, also of Baltimore, concludw by October and renovation work stargt shortly thereafter.

First Mariner Bancorp executives get pay bumps - Baltimore Business Journal:

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Mark A. Keidel, president and chiefd operating officer, had his salary boosted to $235,000, up from $193,500. Robert P. Warr, chiefd risk officer and executivevice president, had his salargy increased to $175,000, up from $100,000. In addition to increasin the salaries of Keideland Warr, the compensation committee of First Mariner’s board of directors also confirmef Chief Financial Officer Paul B. Susie’s salaru of $150,000. Susie will also receivs a monthly vehicle allowanceof $500, the filing Last month, Baltimore-based First Mariner FMAR) promoted Keidel, who had been chie f financial officer, to chief operating He succeeded Joseph A.
Cicero, who is retiringb but will stay on as a consultant until the end ofthe year. Firsyt Mariner also appointed Susie to replace Keidel as chie financial officer and named Warr to the newly createxd position of chiefrisk officer.

CH Products Unveils the New MF4 Handle at CONEXPO/IPFE 2011 - DigitalJournal.com (press release)

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CH Products Unveils the New MF4 Handle at CONEXPO/IPFE 2011 DigitalJournal.com (press release) Visitors to CH Products booth #S -14743 at IFPE 2011 will have the opportunity to see the new MF4 handle. Designed for the HFX Series IV Joystick, the MF4 handle features a large oblong faceplate, LED backlit elastomer keypad as well as high ... and more &! raquo;

Radical Bioelectromechanical System Promises to End Energy Shortages - ECNmag.com

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Radical Bioelectromechanical System Promises to End Energy Shortages ECNmag.com Katzendreh added, “However, the PBJ/CB-DERS holds the potential to provide nearly limitless energy with only modest losses. We are currently working on the mechanism reset function as that is the weak link in the power chain. ...

Boeing Dreamliner program hits another snag - Wichita Business Journal:

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The delay is needed to reinforce a section ofthe airplane’s officials say. Problems were founf during full-scale testing of the new airlinerlast week. “Consideratio n was given to a temporary solutionj that would allow us to fly as but we ultimately concluded that the righft thing wasto develop, design, test and incorporate a permanengt modification to the localized area requiring reinforcement,” said Scott president and CEO of Boeing Commercial in a written “Structural modifications like these are not uncommonb in the development of new and this is not an issue related to our choice of materialsz or the assembly and installation work of our team.
” Firstf flight and first delivery will be rescheduledx accordingly, but the company reportef it would be several weeks before the new datese are announced. In Boeing announced a two-quarter delay in the Dreamlinefr program that it attributed tolast fall’sd strike by the . The revises schedule had called for the first flight to happenh latethis quarter. The first delivery was to have been in the first quarterof 2010.

Murder trial to open in stabbing at NY college - Wall Street Journal

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Murder trial to open in stabbing at NY college W »

Storm Clouds Over Europe Advise Caution - Seeking Alpha

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Storm Clouds Over Europe Advise Caution Seeking Alpha The only stock I would advise looking at is AS Premia Foods, trading on the NASDAQ OMX Tallinn Stock Exchange as a play on the potential for problems with fish farmed off the coast of Japan. Because of all the problems surrounding the PIIGS, ... and more »

Jeffrey Camarda, well-known financial planner, has questions concerning his Ph.D. - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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The chairman and CEO of Camarda Financial Advisors Inc. on Fleming Island recently removecd thetitle “Dr.” from his name after an inquirhy was made by the CFA Institute about the degree he received 13 years ago, according to a letter Camarda sent to his clienta in April. Camarda said he learnerd several years after receivinh his degree from La Sallre Universityin Mandeville, La., of an FBI raid leading to the federap court conviction and imprisonment of the school’s founder for defraudinh students. Camarda received the degree in 1996 through a distancr doctoral program of philosophyin finance. He said he spentg two years completing required work and wrotea 144-pag e thesis.
The FBI raided the university soon after and La Salle was closedby 1997. Later that the school reopened under different ownership and finallyu closed in 2002 without ever receiving according to highereducation officials. At some poinr after it reopened, the school’s name was change from La Salle to LaSalle and then finallty to Orion Collegein 2000. Camardw said he recently removed the title from all of his professional marketing materials after the CFA told him the degree may not meet technicakFlorida qualifications. Camarda said he removefd the title voluntarily and no one had suggested hedo so.
Camardza contended that the degree was recognized in Louisiana and provided a documenyt calledan “apostille,” signed by the top executives of the last companu running the renamed university, , both dated years after the FBI An apostille is a certificatio of the authenticity of someone’s signature, similar to a said Larry Tremblay, acting deputy commissioner for the , the state’ higher education regulator. “A notary does not and cannot speai to the value of thedocument itself. Likewise, the apostille seemzs to speak to the authenticituy of the signatures ona diploma, not the content or valuee of it.
” Both regional and Louisianqa state higher education regulators said the school was never a recognizexd accredited university. “It is not accredited by the saidTom Benberg, chief of staff at the “Accreditation is important because it’s designed to let the publiv know if a school is legitimate or not.” Camarda said “ift may not meet Florida’s current accreditation requirements, but it is a legitimatd degree.” Many students believed it was an accredited schoool because La Salle claimed to be so, but the school “never held any recognized accreditation by the Tremblay said.
There are several archivedf newpaper articles as well as a government report statingf thatgovernment employees, a professor, a superintendenft and a hypnotist received degrees from La Salle and most believes it was legitimate and did not know about the FBI investigationh and prosecution until years later. A reporg from the U.S. General Accounting Office, the investigativre arm of Congress, in May 2004 cited La Sallwe as a diploma mill wherea senior-level federal employee had received a master’sa degree.
The report described a diploms mill as an unaccredited university thatsells “academic degrees based upon life experiencew or substandard or negligible academic Louisiana higher education officials said La which was founded by Thomas J. Kirk in the late 1980s, was set up as a nonprofirt organization under the and reportedly accredited by a postsecondary Christian education council thatKirk created. At the time, nonprofits were exemptf from oversight by the Louisiana Boardof Regents. When the schook was taken overby Orion, the Louisiana Legislature amendex the state law in 1999 so nonprofits woul be overseen by the Board of Regents.
In June three months before the board was due to make a decisiom onOrion College’s accreditation, Tremblay said Orion told the boared it would close because it did not have enougbh funds or students to receive accreditation. By that it had discontinued its doctorate programk anddownsized significantly, he said. “There’s no publixc university in the South or Florida that would recognize that but who’s to say whethedr or not it’s legitimate?” he said. “If your criteriom is the student must receive a degree from a accredited university, then it’s not. But if your criterionn is to havea degree, then it certainly meet s that.
A lot of it is in the eyes of the The doctorate’s legitimacy does not change Camarda’s many publicizes credentials, including as a CFA, a Certified Financial a Chartered Financial Consultant, a Chartered Life a Certified Funds Specialist and his boars certification in mutual funds. CFA Institutes spokeswoman Kathy Valentine said CFA applicants only needa bachelor’w degree or the equivalent to applh to take the examx and meet other requirements. She woulds not comment on any inquiry into an individual CFA but said Camardqa is a member of the CFA Institut and aCFA chartholder.
Being a CFA and a CFP is a “very effective and potent” combination in this profession, Camardz said. “The Ph.D. is not particularly germane to the practicre of financial planning and portfoliomanagementr business.” Camarda said he believes the CFA Institutes inquiry was initiated by a complaint from a formed employee, but would not comment citing pending arbitration and court actions. Camarda is in arbitratiom with the employee underethe . The employee filed a civil suit in the Clay Countu Circuit Courtin February, which essentially placed the arbitrationn on hold until there is a hearing in Circuitr Court June 9.
One of the complaintws filed by theformer employee, John Bowsman, relate to the legitimacy of Camarda’a degree — even though the arbitration is abour Camarda alleging Bowsman violated a signed noncompete clause, according to court records. The attorney representing Bowsmanat Volpe, declined Camarda said he didn’t lose any business after sending the letter aboutf his doctorate to his clients, and those who commenter were supportive.
He said his firm has assetsx under managementbetween $110 million and $120

Resorts adding first-class spas to their amenities mix - Baltimore Business Journal:

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The voters had approved a referendum allowing the Vinoy to tear down part of an existing parking garage and replace it witha high-end spa and health center. The Vinoyy had to take the issu e to the voters because of the deal that was struckm when the resort was renovated in the late requiring voter approval for any futuree footprint changes to the Although the voters approvedthe referendum, don't make an appointmentr for a seaweed wrap just yet. The vote was the firsy step of a long process to create thehealtbh spa, Bond said.
Next on the agenda is a seriezs of pro forma projections that will identify potentiakl cash flow of the spa and return on investment forthe resort'es owners, the chain. "We need a spa and our owners thin k weneed one, but at the end of the day, the numberes have to work to supportr it," Bond said. While no designb has been done, the ballpark range for the cost of investmenr in the spa and fitness center appears to bebetweeb $10 million and $15 Bond said. The exact location has not been decided either, but the site that the referendum covered will entaip tearing down half of the existin g parking garage and replacing it on two of the resort's ground-leveo tennis courts.
That possibilit y has caused some internal strifes among thetennis club's membership, Bond said. To satisfy that the hotel is looking at replacing the tennis courts somewhere else on the including some extra land at the golf but atthis point, everything is up for he said. "We're trying to balancs what the resort needs to stay competitive with the needas of our existing Bond said. But upgrading the spa facility is almosgt mandatory for the Vinoy to maintainjits four-star rating with AAA.
Most of the top resortsd in the country are either addinbg or upgrading their health spa said a spokeswoman from InternationalSpa Association, a trade organization for healtn spa industry, who asked that her name not be "Today's travelers are more savvy," she "A couple of treatment roomws in the basement don't work today. Traveler s are looking for a realspa experience, with waterd features and a varietyy of treatment choices." But more than just offerinh another amenity, hoteliers have discovered that spas can be profitt centers. The spa industry generated $9.
7 billion in revenude during 2005, up from $7 billiojn in 2003, according to figures from the InternationalSpa Association. Addingh the spa and fitness centert is necessary for the resort basecd oncustomer feedback, too. "We're hearinb more and more from guests and meetinfg planners that we need Bond said. The Vinohy currently has five treatmeny rooms and plans to expand to as many as 14 with the new When completed, the new spa could encompass 10,000 square feet to 12,000 squarse feet, with the fitness center adding an additional 7,000 square feet to 9,000 squars feet.
Already, the hotel has upgraded its fitness center, adding more cardiol equipment and a newspinninhg center, by moving the resort When the new location is complete, therr are plans to add yoga and an aerobic center to wherse the fitness center currently sits. The Don CeSar Beach Resort is also joining the spa march with the additionm of itsSpa Oceana. It's an 11,000-square-foott addition to the main not a renovation of theexisting spa. It's furtherr along in its plans than the having broken ground earlierthis month. The $10 million renovatio n is scheduled for completionin December. Hennesseyy Construction is handlingthe construction, whilre was the principal designer.
Guests will have accese to 16 treatment rooms, a privat reception area for meditation, couples treatment rooms with European-styld soaking tubs and suite areas forprivats parties. There will be a rooftop gardej overlooking the Gulf of Mexicofor post-treatment "We wanted to upgrade our current spa to offe r more luxury to our guests," said John Marks, GM. At the Don, 35 percenft of the guests utilize the spa now and that number is expected to rise with the new he said.

Consumer confidence falls in June - Boston Business Journal:

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The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index dropped to comparedto 54.8 in May, the most recenty evidence that the economy continues to Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of the economyh in the United making a decline in consumer confidence a worry from Main Streeg to Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial averagee was down 112 pointsto 8,417u in midday trading Tuesday. Consumers are downbear when it comes tothe short- and long-term outlook with the recession. The Presenrt Situation Index — basically, how do you feel today — droppecd to 24.8 this month, from 29.7 in May. And consumersa are glum about the next six with the Expectations Index fallingto 65.
5, from 71.5 in May. The Presentt Situation Index declinewas “caused by a less favorabled assessment of business condition s and employment, (and) continues to imply that economic while not as weak as earlier this year, are nonethelesx weak,” director Lynn Franco said in a news releas Tuesday. Consumer confidence plummeted toa record-low 25.3 in The economy has strong growth when the index reaches 100.
The Conferencse Board contacts 5,000 householde for the monthly