Silver Spring Networks on Tuesday named John R. Joyce chief financial officer and vice chairman of the company.
Joyce succeeds Warren Jenson, who is now chief operating officer at the Redwood City company.
Joyce spent 30 years at IBM Corp., including as senior vice president and group executive for BM Global Services and as senior vice president and CFO.
Most recently, he spent five years as managing director of Menlo Park-based Silver Lake Partners, a technology investment firm with more than $14 billion in assets under management payday loans.
Joyce is also on the board of Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ).
Click here to read the press release.
Haven Trust Bank Florida, which has struggled through recession, was taken over this afternoon by a South Florida bank in a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. assisted deal.
The FDIC and First Southern Bank of Boca Raton entered into a loss-share transaction on $127.3 million of Ponte Vedra-based Haven Trust’s assets, according to a press release issued by the FDIC. First Southern Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The two-branch Haven Trust will reopen as First Southern Bank Saturday.
The four-year-old Haven Trust was issued a consent order in March to to decrease problem loans and raise capital. The bank had $148.6 million in assets and $133.6 million in total deposits as of the second quarter, according to the FDIC. Haven Trust was also the biggest income loser of 15 locally based community in the second quarter, with a net loss of $13.5 million, according to SNL Financial.
Haven Trust was the 23rd largest bank in Northeast Florida with nearly $157.2 million in area deposits as of June 30, 2009, the latest data available from the FDIC’s market share report.
Haven Trust is the second bank in Northeast Florida to fail since the financial crisis began. In April, First Federal Bank of North Florida was taken over by TD Bank NA. It is also the 126th FDIC-insured bank to fail in the nation this year, and the 24th to fail in Florida.
The unemployment rate for the Wichita metropolitan area was 8.2 percent in August, down from 8.5 percent in July, according to a new report from the Kansas Department of Labor.
The unemployment rate in August 2009 was 9.2 percent.
The department says that out of a civilian labor force of 308,590 in the area, there are 25,219 people who were unemployed in August.
The Wichita metro area includes Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey and Sumner counties.
The Kansas Department of Labor originally reported last month that July’s Wichita metro area unemployment rate was 8.4 percent, but the figure was adjusted upward in the latest report.
Statewide, seasonally adjusted unemployment was at 6.7 percent in August, down from 6.8 percent in July.
But the actual statewide employment rate, not accounting for seasonal adjustments, was 6.6 percent — up from 6.5 percent in July.
The department says Kansas businesses lost 1,100 jobs over the month, a 0.1 percent decrease. Seasonal job losses are common from July to August, but the decrease was less than the average loss of 1,700, the report says.
The full Kansas Department of Labor report will be available here after 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Friday was an up day for most Charlotte-area stocks, including Goodrich Corp. (NYSE:GR), which closed at $71.97, up $1.54, or 2.2 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 13 points to close at 10,608.
Here’s how key public companies in the Charlotte area fared:
•Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE:FDO) closed at $43.46, up 50 cents.
•SPX Corp. (NYSE:SPW) closed at $61.57, up 6 cents.
•Snack maker Lance Inc. (NASDAQ:LNCE) closed at $21.69, up 7 cents.
•Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc. (NYSE:PNY) closed at $28.19, up 40 cents.
•Concord-based Speedway Motorsports Inc. (NYSE:TRK) closed at $15.68, up 20 cents instant payday loan lenders.
•Cato Corp. (NYSE:CATO) closed at $25.08, up 30 cents.
These local stocks lost ground Friday:
•Charlotte-based BofA (NYSE:BAC) closed at $13.40, down 15 cents.
•Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK) closed at $17.51, down 6 cents.
•Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC), parent of Charlotte-based Wachovia Bank, closed at $26.01, down 5 cents.
•Mooresville-based Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE:LOW) closed at $21.02, down 29 cents.
•Nucor Corp. (NYSE:NUE) closed at $38.74, down 21 cents.
The 2010 Minnesota Cup entrepreneurial competition has awarded its grand prize to EarthClean Corp., a Minneapolis-based start-up that makes an environmentally friendly fire retardant.
EarthClean received the Minnesota Cup, along with a $20,000 grand prize, at an awards ceremony Monday evening at the University of Minnesota.
The company has developed a patented gel called TetraKO that firefighters can pump through existing hoses to make water better adhere to surfaces. The company claims the gel is easier to use and more environmentally friendly than the polymer-based foams firefighters presently use to douse out fires fast cash loans. To visit EarthClean's website, click here.
EarthClean had already won $20,000 as the competition's clean tech and renewable energy division winner. To win the grand prize, it beat out four other division winners announced earlier this month. Division finalists were announced in August.
Toys "R" Us said Thursday that it plans to open about 600 temporary stores across the nation, more than six times last year’s count, and hire some 10,000 workers for the holiday season.
The retailer said it began opening the Toys "R" Us Express locations in June. About 300 of the "pop-up" stores have already opened in malls and shopping centers nation wide, Toys "R" Us said in a press release. Last year, the company opened 90 Express stores.
To staff the new locations, most of which will close in January, the company plans to hire an estimated 10,000 associates. The temporary positions would be in addition to the seasonal hiring Toys "R" Us does every year at its permanent locations.
"We are pleased that this significant expansion of our Toys"R"Us Express initiative also creates thousands of new jobs beyond our usual seasonal workforce build," chief executive Jerry Storch said in a statement.
The company said it will look for opportunities to keep certain temporary stores open after the holiday guaranteed personal loan approval. It converted four Express stores into permanent locations last year.
The announcement came as Toys "R" Us looks to become more competitive with big-box stores Target (TGT, Fortune 500) and Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) ahead of the all-important holiday sales period, when retailers make the bulk of their profits.
Toys "R" Us, which operates 1,560 stores in the United States and 510 overseas, announced plans in late May to raise $800 million in stock through an initial public offering, which has yet to occur.
The Wayne, N.J.-based retailer has been privately held since 2006, when investors KKR Group, Bain Capital and Vornado Realty Trust took over the company in a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout.
Arizona Public Service Co. and the Phoenix Suns are teaming up on $50,000 grants for teachers and energy exploration.
The grants, to be doled out to kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers in $2,500 increments, are intended for projects that include energy exploration using science, technology, engineering and math.
Grant applications will be accepted online through Oct. 15.
For more: http://www.aps.com/main/community/dev/CommDev_8.html.
The nation’s top automakers reported disappointing sales Wednesday, resulting in the worst August for industrywide auto sales in 27 years.
According to sales tracker Autodata, U.S. new vehicle sales fell just short of 1 million vehicles, a drop of 21% from a year ago, which included Cash for Clunkers. That federal program created a sugar rush of sales by dangling an incentive of up to $4,500 in cash for buyers who traded in older gas guzzlers for more efficient models.
Industry sales also fell 5% from July levels. August sales typically outpace July, as deals become available on older models ahead of the fall introduction of new model year cars. August sales would equate to an annual sales pace of about 11.5 million vehicles.
"Car buying is far from repaired, and consumers hesitate before they make a big ticket purchase," said Jesse Toprak, an analyst with the auto pricing Web site Truecar.com. "It shows that the recovery is going to be much slower and more painful than expected."
This year was the weakest August sales total since the 993,100 sold in 1983. Analysts had been forecasting a weak month, with expected sales of about 1.03 million. Most of the major automakers fell short of estimates. The soft demand for autos is seen by economists as another sign of growing weakness among nervous consumers.
GM sales toppled 25% from a year ago, partly because of comparisons to the Cash for Clunkers program of last summer. The federal program created a sugar rush of sales by dangling an incentive of up to $4,500 in cash for buyers who traded in older gas guzzlers for more efficient models.
But it wasn’t all Clunkers. August’s sales also dropped 7% from July and fell short of forecasts from sales trackers Edmunds.com and TrueCar.
GM officials echoed that they are seeing a tougher environment for car sales.
"We are realistic. We do think that consumers will continue to be cautious in their spending," said Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales.
GM did not get as much of a lift from Cash for Clunkers as some of its rivals. But its sales comparisons were hurt by the nearly 40,000 vehicles it sold a year ago at four brands it has since discontinued or sold — Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab. Sales at its four continuing brands — Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac — fell only 11% from a year ago.
Ford (F, Fortune 500) reported an 11% drop from year-ago sales levels and a 5% decline from July. It also missed forecasts from Edmunds and TrueCar.
Most of the decline in sales were concentrated in its Focus compact sedan and its Escape small SUV, which were the company’s best two sellers in the Cash for Clunkers program a year ago.
Ford announced that it made a slight trim in its fourth quarter production target, to 570,000 vehicles from 574,000 a year ago — a sign that Ford’s strong sales gains may be starting to level off in the face of softening demand for automobiles.
"Sales were weaker than expected. Right now auto sales seem to be moving horizontally," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service.
Japanese automaker Toyota Motor (TM), which had been the biggest winner in Cash for Clunkers sales a year ago, suffered the hardest hit to sales among the largest automakers — sales plunged 34% from a year ago, and 12% from July.
"This month’s [Toyota] results are even worse than expected," said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst with Edmunds. "Toyota still is suffering a hangover from its numerous recalls this year. It is taking a long time for Toyota to get back to ‘business as usual.’"
Sales at Honda Motor (HMC) plunged 33% from a year ago, and 3% from July falling short of forecasts. Nissan sales tumbled 27% from a year ago and 7% from July.
Chrysler Group, which includes the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands, was the only one to report a modest gain in August sales, posting a 7% gain compared to both a year ago and July. But the year-over-year bar wasn’t terribly high, as Chrysler got the smallest sales lift of any major automaker from the Clunkers program.
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