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Show SXPITIFEr PI PHP PITT TPTP HSH TS e ORES THOME ee BUSINESS NEWS & NOTES People on the Move || DailySHerald SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2006 "BUSINESS EDITOR | Grace Leong - 344-2910 - gleong@heraldextra.com v Local Industry CEDO names new small business incubator board members — The Commission for Economic Developmentin Orem on Friday named its new Small Business Incubator 2006 board members. AngelinvestorRick Farr was appointed Incubator Chairman for 2006, while Jon Allen of Capital Community Bank will serve as vice-chairman. Other boardmembers include: John Pilmer of PilmerPR; Carl Belliston of QuicKutz;Kyle Bowen Love of Direct Controls; Tim Larsen of Squire & Co. PC; Ben Peterson of Spark Networks; Gary Rhoads of Brigham Young University, Peter Robinson of Utah Valley State College; and Kent Thomas of CFOSolutions. “The incubatorprovides basic services and mentoringthat assists Orem start-up businesses in gaining the traction necessary to grow, create jobs and insure that the economyremains vibrant well into the future,”said Brad Whittaker, CEDO’s executive director. Current CEDO small business clients include Caring Parent Designs, Composite Revolutions, Custom Business Solutions, Home View Technologies, Inspire Media, Net Ventures, Red Timer,Relevant Code Inc., and Sign Babies. PAGE 6 Vv — Final 10,863.58 —58.36 2,262.58 -18.98 Vv v S&P500 Gold Silver Final Per ounce Per ounce 6.81 -$5.00 -$0.114 1,264.03 $567.40 EXCHANGING THE DOLLAR Yen $9,730 1.2022 LT aenace Mexican peso 10.4770 10.4720 uestar’s tariff proposal questioned Critics say company aims to protectits revenues ra. her than encourage conservation Grace Leong | | tie i. Euro DAILY HERALD proposal by OuestarGas to changethe wayit bills its ,000-plus customers in Utah, whichit claims will encourage moreconservation, will be getting thoroughscrutiny during the next few months. On Friday, the Committee of Consumer Services was given moretimeto hire experts to analyze the implications of Questar’s request for an adjustment, or conservationtariff,to changethe wayit collects and accountsforits fixed costs, or costs of maintaining its gas disteiution system. hearing on the matteris sched before the Utah Pub- IHC mediaofficer named president of Utah County Chapterof PR Society — Janet Frank, media managerfor Intermountain Healthcare, was appointed president of the Utah County Chapterof the Public Relations Society of America for 2006. Frank replaces outgoing president John Pilmer of PilmerPR, who will continue serving on the boardofdirectors as past-president. Dan Davis, an associate with The Walton Group,will serve as secretary, and Grant Madsen, media relations manager for BYU, will be treasurer. Other board membersincludeJulie Howard, public relations consultant for Intermountain Healthcare;Bill Weidner, manager of public relations for NuSkin;Val Hale,assistant vice president for External Affairs at UVSC; Susan Richards, director of corporate communications at Altiris; and Bryant Larsen, regional director for external affairs at Intermountain Healthcare. Ad hoc membersofthe board are Noelle Bates, vice president of corporate communications at LogoWorks, and Steve Jensen, senior public relations manager for NetSuite Inc. lic Service Commission on June 26-28. Questar officials maintain the new rate structure will help the utility to encourage customerstouse less gas without causing the company’s revenues to suffer. That in turn, will enable the utility to immediately pass on savings of $10.2 million to its customers, andpotentially $19 million in additional savings throughits conservation programs. Consumer Services,criticized Questar’s proposal as an attempt to protect its revenues sales and its non-gas distribution ex] revenues would havethe effect of protecting QuéStar’s revenue See QUESTAR, D5 NATIONAL BRIEFING LoveSac company files for bankruptcy SALT LAKECITY — RebelBillionaire Shawn Nelson's foamfurniture company LoveSacCorp.has filed for Chapter 11 bankTuptcy, seeking protection from creditors. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath on Wednesday ordered the consolidation of cases of LoveSac Corp. andthree ofits subsidiaries andaffiliates. Thirty of the largest unsecured claims for goods and services total $3.2 million. Kennecott adds $1B to parent company’s profits SALT LAKECITY — Stronger demand andprices for minerals led London-based RioTinto, the multinational mining company that owns Kennecott Utah Copper Corp., to a $5.2billion profit in 2005, the company announced. The Utah subsidiary accounted for morethan $1 billion of Rio Tinto’s profits, Kennecott President and Chief Executive Bill Champion said Friday. “Financial performanceforlast year was exceptional, driven primarily by record high metal prices, which werelargely influenced by continuing strong economic growth in China and its demand for raw materials,” Championsaid in a statement. Bankrupt Delta seeks approvalto replace auditor ATLANTA— Delta Air LinesInc., the nation’s third-largest carrier, said Fridayitis replacingits independent auditor with another firm,a decision thatis subject to bankruptcy court approval. The Atlanta-based companysaidits decision to replace Deloitte & Touche LLP with Ernst & Young LLP for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31 followed a competitive bid process and was not caused by any disagreementwith Deloitte & Touche over accounting matters. The company’s audit committee selected Ernst & Young because ofits experiencewithairlines and companiesinvolved in reorganization proceedings, Delta said. Delta, whichfiled for bankruptcy protection in New York on Sept. 14, said Deloitte & Touche will still complete the audit of the airline's financialstatementsforlast year. Delta's fourth-quarter and year-end 2005results are scheduled to be released on Feb. 14 STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST Yesterday's performance of selected publicly traded companies r sym COMPANY UST CHANGE SYM COMPANY LAST CHANGE AA ALCOAINC 3058 0.07 MSFT MurosohComporaton 2754-014 ABS ALBERTSONS INC 249% 020 MU -MIKRONTECHNOLOGY 1489 0.06 ABX —-BARRICK GOLD CP 2960 081 MYGN Myriad Genetics, ne 23-001 AEP AMERELECTRICPOWCO 3610 0.07 NATRE Nature's Sunshine 1782 +002 ANG AMERINTLGROUPINC 6535 0.12. NETM —NetManage, inc. 554 +007 AMO ADVMIKRODEVICES «3954-148 NOV. Nowell in 953 002 ANGN Arngen Inc 7462 0.04 NUS NUSKINENTING 1937 +012 BAC BK OF AMERICA CP 43.09 035 NWN NORTHWESTNATGAS 35.48. 40.16 Bu ALCP. 3956 ON PG POBECP %9 008 BIS BELLSOUTH CP 2949 +065 PRE PFITERINC 2528 050 BN —-BANTA CORP 4970 +001 Q QWESTCOMMINTLINC 6.00 008 © GTGROUP INC 4506 012 ROPPF ROYALOUTCHPETECO 638432 0.00 (BAG CRESTED CORP 284 009 SCOX —5COGroup, inc. (The) 4275 0035 CMCSK Comcast Corporaton «2707 +007 SHLD Sears Holdings Corporation 119.44 1.66 VK CHEVRON CORP S750 101 SH SMMMINTLINC 13 0390 DiS WALT DISNEY-DISNEYC 25.01 0.09 SKYW SkyWest Inc 2% 025 DNEX Dionex Corporation 5187 092 SNTO Sento Corporation 839 038 ERKY UM Ercsson, 3545 038 SM SCOTTISH PWRADS “on o7 EMR —-ENTERGY.CP 901 +002 STA STPAULTRAVELERSCO 4479 051 FC FRANKLIN COVEY CO 710 013 STR QUESTARCP M65 09 GOW GOLDENWESTFINCP 945.019 SWET Sw Transportation Co, inc. 2307 037 GE GENELECTRC CO RBS 005 SY SYBASEINC nS5 031 WA HKAING 471% 108 T ATBTING 2679 4027 WRB HRBLOCKINC 2391 +008 IGT TARGETCR 4% 027 WiC Sches, ine %27 0.4 UDR UNTEDDOMINRLTYTR 2532 025 YOM —INTLBUSINESS MACH «7997-126 UNH UNITEDHEALTHGROUP $962 +026 INTC INTEL CORP 2074-03601 | USB US BANCORP. Bn On JL dete Airways Corporation 11.75 015 USEG US. Energy Comp. 560 008 XP PENNEY) CCOHOLDIN, 56.05 0.01 USNA USANA Health Sciences inc. 3924 4031 IWN NORDSTROM INC 4220 +007 UTMO Utah Medical Products inc. 33.10 +0574 KRON Kronos incoxporatied 390 015 V2 VERZONCOMMUN 3161 +007 LEE LEE ENTERPRISES Mol 015 WEN WENOYSINTLINC $817 022 UB LONGVIEWFIBRECO —-19.00 +00) WIC WELLSFARGOBCONEW 6104 026 W_LUCENTTECHINC 266 0.00 | WMT WALMART STORES 68 On (UV SOUTHWEST AIRUNES 16.43 0.09 | WHI SCHIFF NUTRIT INTL 485 000 MCK MCKESSON CORP S382 +063 X UNITEDSTATESSTEEL $792 +057 MER MILCO.CMN STK 7393 +044 MEL XCEL ENERGY INC 1896 +001 MITY —MITY Ertenperes ix. 1893 +010 DON Dons Rancorporation PR 0m MSI Merit Medical Systems Inc 1416 0.01 Workers check soil compaction on wastenearthe 1 le(2) disposal center at Envirocare in Clyde, in March 2004. SLC waste disposal company changes nameto EnergySolutions THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SALT LAKE CITY — The radioactive- and hazardouswaste disposal firm Envirocare of Utah is broadening its mission with the acquisition of BNG America,the U.S. arm of a British waste company. Envirocare marked the purchase by cl its name on Friday to EnergySolutions, whichtakes in another operation it bought in October, Sci- entech’s Decontamination and Decommissioning Division. Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions now has more than 1,000 workersin 14 states. “With the acquisition of BNG America, EnergySolutions will havethe depth and breadth of experienceto pursue a broader set of business opportunities across the nuclear fuel cycle, including operations, decontamination, decommissi and waste minimization and disposition,” Steve Creamer, chief executive of EnergySolutions,said in a statement. His announcement ofthe acquisition of Arlington, Va.based BNG America from British Nuclear Fuels did not disclose the purchase price, but The Times of London reported the price was $90 million. BNG is involved in a U.S. Department of Energy project totest technologies for reprocessing or recycling of spent nuclear fuel, based at the DOE site at Savannah River,S.C. Creamersaid EnergySolutions wantsto “help make recycling of spent fuel a reality in the United States.” ‘Since 1991, BNG America has managed projects at DOE sites, national laboratories, nuclear fuelplants,utilities and industrial sites across the coun- try, the company’s Web site said. It also said BNG America helps operate Western Zirconium west of Ogden, which makes coatingsfor fuel rods. Western Zirconium in 2001 received the Utah Legislature's permission to ship low-level radioactive waste to Envirocare. Scientech’s Decontamination and Decommissioning Division manages the decommissioning ofsites nationwide for government agencies, education facilities commercial projects, according to Envirocare. a variety of services ranging See ENVIROCARE, D5 Unemploymentrate drops to record four-year low Unemployment shareachat Jeannine Aversa THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS ‘ eae tn so a WASHINGTON — Job seekam | | ** emawsasowoy ™ Moninty net change © pen cto an importantingredioverall economy's wageincreases But — if sustained — would be ers and workers mayfinally be getting morebargaining power as employers boost hiring and cutbiggerppaychecks. est snapshot of the job ‘oarTae the unemploy- troubling to investors and econgmists who fret about inflation. | ‘The sharp rise in wages is a two-sided sword,” said economist Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. “On 4.7 percent, its lowest level since July 2001. The Labor Department also reported Friday that employees’ average hourly earn- finally sti to increase, and that bodes well for spending. On the other hand, labor costs are on the rise and that i for most workers last year, rose to $16.41 in January, up 3.3 percent in the last 12 months, “That's a healthy pickup. The pendulum, which beenfully in favor of employers,is swingbackin favor of Srey MarkZandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. “Employees are starting to gain aR ee teen eral Reserve Chairman Ben nankewill probably raise n i ae: _est rates on March 28, sts said. Some economistst that _will be the last rate increases in the Fed'sentwo-year long credit tightening campaign. Othwa hotieafedsneve be more to come. Wage growthis good for workers and for consumer as the jobs report fanned fears that the Fed might need to raise ment rate sinking in January to ings, which had trailed inflation traction.” WWWHHERALDEXTRA.COM — CALL 375-5103 TO SUBSCRIBE rates morethis year than inves58. pointsto close at 10,793.62. Friday’s report showed that payrolls grew by 193,000 in Janas well as for each of the months going back to August turned out the one hand, workers’income is bane _tentially higher inflation.” On Wall Street, ‘stocks fell Mea ment report Re widespread last month. Businesses are feeling better about the economy but good weather ee economists SCsieiont manufacturing, healthcare, financial activities “There's no question we're getting back to better days for See JOBS, DS te) |