| Show BUSINESS The Salt !Ale Tribune E2 West Nile breeds YOUR MONEY COHNU titer 'Veto New niche: Vendors Bridgestone to replace tires on Excursions take their Bridgestone the world's largest tire maker will replace 297000 Firestone tires on Ford's vehicles Excursion sport-utilitthe company said The replacements were ordered after five deaths and 20 injuries were linked to Stet! hexbrand tires the National high way Traffic Safety Administration said Bridgestone's BridgestoneFirestone North American Tire 11C unit said the tires "are not performing up to the company's expecta- BY op Russ Byxum Into a cottage industry: the Larvasonic a device that uses pulses of sound to kill mosquito larvae growing in standing water Nyberg started marketing the $4500 gadget which resembles a rubber pickle to mosquito control professionals last year Now he's seeking investors to develop a cheaper model for a new niche: consumers "A lot of it's because of the sensitivity of West Nile virus People are definitely concerned about that" said Nyberg of New Lyme Conn a former Navy submarine officer whose son Michael developed the prototype at age 15 Nyberg is demonstrating his device this week at the American Mosquito Control Association conference where vendors say the threat of West Nile has spawned a mosquito growing market of busters Pressurized spray guns larvacides and traps that lure mosquitos by mimicking a cow's breath are available for consumers seeking more protection than screen doors and citronella "'The virus has been extraordinary for business" said Bill Phillips US sales director for Indiana-baseCurtis Dyna-Fowhich used a West Nile pun to name its An ileator pesticide sprayer "I sold 600 of these last year just to moms and pops" The Anileator's $246 price tag comes The Steeltex Radial AT tires were on 2000 to 2002 and some early 2003 Ford Excursions FireNashville Tenn-basestone said Consumers will receive free replacement tires Bridgestone said may prompt rivals Merck & Co's offer to provide its medicines for free to seniors enrolled in Medicare's new discount-carprogram pressures other drug companies to do the same the US government's top health official said Thursday "That is going to certainly encourage other pharmaceutical companies to do the same" I leaith and I luman Services Secretary Thompson told lawmakers Merck which makes the cholesterol-lowerinlocor pill is making its product more attractive to Medicare patients who are older than 65 and are more likely to need the medicine Thompson said The offer increases the chance that Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc which make competing cholesterol medicines will counter with free offers of their own he said Medicare will list on its Web site the prices patients can pay with the discount card Thompson said The information will be updated once a week e d r i ''' i 4400 VISTA Staffing Solutions Inc based in Salt Lake City has been named the exclusive t provider of temporary physi- clan staffing for the Maine Ilos- i pital Association which in cludes 38 hospitals This is the first time the Maine group has endorsed a temporary physician staffing agency trr 4 AftAi z '''' ' '''' it' N ' tt 1 JP1 t 0 t ' dt - t N 1 t ' In britf 4! A' 7 I L1100:"1 i (' A ( II ' 1: I 4—1: ' I -- d cfj:::dis:t' Pre-Strik- e Wal-Ma- e d 0644 S nrim EN MOK Herb Nyberg poses with Udiaktfint rosillitIforraitalProm g device his son Michael Invented for a school science-fai- r project mosquito-killin- end-al- l is not being product as the l an entoCorson Joe said fully mologist and technical adviser to the Mosquito Control Association Companies that market mosquito gear say consumer products remain a relatively small niche They've seen a boom in sales to professionals as more municipalities beef up their West Nile defenses "People are suddenly funding mosquito control programs again across the country" said Bill German market development manager for Adapco a Florida equipment producer "It's probably grown the market by 25 percent" be-al- orders drop 18 IIE ASSOCIATED for years — came after a revised 16 percent gain registered in December which was better than previously estimated Although economists were forecasting a 14 percent rise in new bookings in January the decline actually appeared to overstate the weakness "Orders are bouncing around like crazy but when you cut through the clutter demand remains pretty good" said Joel Naroff president of Naroff Economic Advisors "The general trend is still decent but there is reason to be cautious as it would be nice to see a more consistent upward trend" PRESS WASHINGTON — Factories saw orders t goods drop by 18 percent in January but much of that reflected huge declines in bookings for commercial and military airplanes The overall figure released by the Commerce Department Thursday obscured gains in other areas as the nation's manufacturers work to keep their recovery moving along The 18 percent decrease in orders for "durable" goods — costly manufactured products expected to last at least three — Bloomberg News Justice Department lawsuit puts on hold Oracle's takeover of People Soft BY CURT ANDERSON nelwriittrd Prem WASHINGTON — The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Thursday to block Oracle Corp's proposed $94 billion hostile takeover of software rival People Soft "We believe this transaction is anticompetitive pure and simple" said R Hewitt Pate assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division The lawsuit contends that the proposed merger between two top business software companies would lead to higher prices less innovation and fewer choices for customers Seven states joined the Justice Department in filing the lawsuit Oracle has indicated it intends to fight the Justice Department's decision in court while continuing its efforts to acquire People Soft which has rejected Its advances Earlier this month Oracle upped its offer by 33 percent in an attempt to put more pressure on People Soft shareholders Oracle executives had hoped that Pate would reject a Justice Department staff recommendation that the deal be scuttled and clear the path for the Redwood Shores Calif-basecompany to make its case directly to People-Sof- t shareholders at a meeting scheduled March 25 Jim Finn an Oracle spokesman called the Justice Department decision "inconsistent with the overwhelming evidence of intense competition in the markets we serve" But Pate said that Oracle PeopleSoft and one other firm SAP are the only companies d that compete with each other to develop and sell enterprise human resource management and financial services software for large businesses government and nonprofit organizations The firms frequently engage in bidding wars to win these big contracts that helps ensure that customers benefit from the fruits of competition Pate said "Blocking these deals protects competition that benefits major businesses as well as government agencies that depend on competition to get the best value for taxpayers' dollars" he said Oracle in 2003 earned some $9 billion in revenue including $2 billion from its enterprise software applications People Soft had $2 billion in revenue in 2003 all of it from enterprise software Shares of Peoplesoft fell 34 cents to close at $2179 ) si Cm proposed Sigurd power plant 1 1 :i - 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Geo its business travel needs The travel agency will direct more than $125000 worth of business for Orbit in January Prosecutors claim Albert Earl Carter of Provo told potential clients they could double their money and avoid taxes through his investment programs Instead they said investors lost about $3 million and still remained obligated to the Internal Revenue Service And Carter himself will pay with more than four years behind bars and almost $2 million in restitution under a sentence handed down Thursday by US District Court Judge Tena Campbell She also ordered Carter to pay any back taxes owed "These frauds are devastating to so many people" the Judge said before imposing a term and ordering $1962372 in restitution Carter had pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion for his role in a Ponzi scheme in which new funds were used to 11 fk Ea Con man sent to jail for Ponzi scheme the answer ' v 1- Vio Morris Murdock Business Travel has been hired by Orbit Irrigation Systems to manage In other economic news rates on benchmark mortgages held steady low this week while rates at a seven-montfor other types of mortgages were mixed fixed-ratThe average rate on was 558 percent unchanged mortgages from the previous week which had marked the lowest rate since 552 percent for the week ending July 11 Freddie Mac the mortgage giant reported Thursday The Labor Department also said new claims for unemployment benefits last week rose by 6000 to 350000 highlighting the uneven recovery taking place in the Jobs market MAT Open house scheduled for Tee Zest" Restaurant a soup and sandwich shop at 9284 S 700 East in Sandy will hold its grand opening March 4 at noon To celebrate owner Linh I lo will treat every customer to free lunch the larvasonic a Tam Durable-good- s Vee Nominations for the "Woman Business Owner of the 1 Year Award" are being accepted by the Salt Lake Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners Any woman who has owned her business in Utah for two or more years is eligible Nomination forms may be found at http: wwwnawbosicorg The deadline is March 30 ' ' Na 0 1 Vendors say more Americans are taking mosquito control into their own hands because many communities still lack professional spraying and monitoring programs Wellmark International an Illinois-baselarvacide producer last year began mosselling $10 bottles of its stores quito larva chemical at Since 1998 American BloPhysics has produced more than 400000 of its Mosquito Magnets which suck up the bugs like a vacuum cleaner after luring them with carbon dioxide and a chemical that mimics a cow's breath Ilowever consumers should be wary said Lyle Petersen a West Nile expert with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lie said many products cropping up at retail stores and on the Internet don't work Some of the best methods of minimizing mosquito bites don't cost anything "The most effective thing people can do is to get rid of standing water on their property" said Petersen acting director of disease division the CDC's vector-bornInstalling screen doors and wearing bug repellents containing DEET are also cheap but effective he said "Anybody who's going to tout their mom-andpo- Merck's offer to seniors -"'-'-w---- ' West Nile first reported in the United States in 1999 is spread to humans by mosquitos It infected 9175 Americans last year causing severe brain disease in 2733 and killing 230 Ga — Herb Nyberg turned his son's school science fair project tions" r virus" SAVANNAH UTAH BUSINESS gadgets bug-billin- g from its triple spray nozzles that break pesticides into microscopic particles that linger in the air technology mostly used by professionals Phillips said Ad brochures for the sprayer launched last year clearly take aim at consumers: "Protect your family against the West Nile products to customers as vims is spread to humans through mosquito bites mom-and-p- Friday February 27 2004 III |
