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Feds receive lots of input on Atlantic drilling

Posted on April 1, 2015 by

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CHARLESTON – Thousands of opinions poured in Monday as the deadline approached for commenting on the contentious issue of drilling for oil and gas in the Atlantic Ocean.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was receiving comments through midnight Monday on what should be studied in an environmental impact statement of offshore drilling, which later this decade could include the Atlantic.

The agency earlier held public meetings along the coast. By early afternoon, its website showed almost 15,000 comments had been submitted, with more than 3,700 filed Monday alone.

Supporters said offshore drilling could mean thousands of jobs and new revenue. Opponents warned that spills could endanger fisheries and coastal tourism. Twenty communities in the Carolinas, including Charleston, are on record against drilling, seismic testing or both.

A sampling of the comments from the Carolinas:

Threats to wildlife

Geoffrey Santoliquido of Cary, North Carolina, spends a month each year vacationing on the state’s coast and said drilling causes him “grave concern.” He wrote that the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico “showed how devastating an oil disaster can be” with wetlands destroyed, and birds, sea mammals and turtles killed.

Tourist distination

“Myrtle Beach is a tourist destination and we rely on those tourists to support our community,” noted James Condrey of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “The fact that drilling rigs may eventually reside offshore, out of sight of land, will certainly not deter those tourists from coming to the area.”

More research

“More scientific study is needed to properly evaluate the impact of oil and gas exploration,” commented Michael Bower of Wilmington, North Carolina. He said that should include modeling the Gulf Stream to determine where spilled oil could end up as well as studying the effect of spills on the state’s estuaries.

Tourism and oil don’t mix

Tim Cafferty of the Dare County Tourism Board on the Outer Banks said the board opposes drilling near an exposed area where one in three local jobs depends on tourism.

Jobs and revenue

Hundreds of the comments were form documents submitted by those supporting offshore drilling. They noted that new energy sources from drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and expanding drilling in the Gulf of Mexico could mean 280,000 new jobs and $24 billion for the economy.

Safer food

More energy sources would benefit South Carolina’s farmers, wrote Cathy Novinger, the executive director of the Palmetto Agribusiness Council. Offshore fuel could reduce food costs and “discourage the importing of foods that are not as tightly regulated and therefore not as safe as what we can produce here,” she wrote.

Spills threaten

the seaboard

After Deepwater Horizon “the world learned that there is no such thing as safe offshore oil drilling nor is there a guarantee of easy cleanup when a significant spill occurs,” lawyers for the Southern Environmental Law Center wrote in comments being filed later Monday on behalf of 43 environmental groups from New Jersey to Georgia. They noted that the spill affected 650 miles of shoreline and closed a third of the Gulf to fishing and other activities.

Tagged with: North Carolina

Asheville’s cost of living undermines workers’ pay

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It’s easy to compare hourly wages in different cities and think one town’s workers are better off than another’s.

When a friend in New York City reveals that she makes $19 an hour in a part-time retail job, you, living in Asheville, nearly drop the phone: “You make how much where?”

But it’s not that simple.

An article published last month in Governing magazine examined 191 cities around the country, comparing average hourly wages with each city’s cost of living. The analysis included big cities like New York, Miami and Los Angeles, as well as smaller cities like Asheville. Xpress sifted through the numbers to find out how Asheville compares with the rest of the country.

Governing‘s research was based on the cost of living for each city and the 2014 average hourly earnings for private-sector workers. Earnings were based on figures from the U.S. Department of Labor, and the cost of living was pulled from The Council for Community and Economic Research, which compares the prices of goods and services in specific metro areas with national averages.

To calculate the cost of living, the council averages national prices in several categories, including groceries, housing, utilities and health care.

When factoring in the varying costs from all areas studied, the group derives an overall national average, which is then indexed as 100. Each metropolitan area’s cost of living is then ranked as either above or below that baseline figure.

Asheville comes in at 104.6 on that scale, up from 101.1 in 2010, according to census data, meaning living here is more expensive than the national average, and that disparity is growing. Someone moving to Asheville from Durham (91.7 on the scale), for example, can expect to spend 5.5 percent more on groceries, 38.2 percent more on housing, 21.5 percent more on utilities and 10.5 percent more on health care. (To compare Asheville with other cities around the nation, visit avl.mx/0ui.)

Governing then correlated each city’s cost-of-living score with its average hourly wage, producing a new number that more accurately depicts the reach of an individual’s paycheck in each area studied.

Asheville’s actual average pay rate came in at $21.08 per hour, but when adjusted for our city’s high cost of living, that rate seems more like $20.47. And with hourly pay below the national adjusted average of $22.39, the study suggests Ashevilleans, on average, must spend more of their paychecks on necessities and are therefore less likely to be able to afford nonessential goods and services.

Knoxville, Tenn., closer in size to Asheville than Durham, has an even lower cost of living: 87.1. And with about the same actual average pay ($21.02 to Asheville’s $21.08), Knoxville’s wage increases to $24.05 when adjusted, meaning the average Knoxvillean can buy more for his dollar than his Asheville counterpart.

In fact, Asheville barely escaped inclusion in the list of 20 studied cities with the lowest adjusted wages. Flagstaff, Ariz., ($14.31 an hour) ranked No. 1 on that list; and Tyler, Texas, was No. 20 at $20.34 — a mere 13 cents below Asheville’s figure.

The study found that Southern residents, on average, are far more cost-burdened than people in most other regions of the country, except for the Pacific Coast (due to unavailable data for many cities and notably low wages in Honolulu and Southern California).

“Workers in the southern United States have historically earned lower wages than the rest of the country, a fact some argue is merely a result of lower living expenses,” the Governing article states. “But even after adjusting for the costs of living, average earnings in most Southern metro areas lag behind the rest of the country.”

And it’s not just the South.

Regardless of location, cities with tourism-based economies typically create lower-paying jobs, even though their costs of living often exceed the national average. And where visitors are willing to pay high prices for vacation rentals, developers respond by building costlier housing on limited land. This is especially troubling in a town like Asheville, where, in the midst of a population boom, suitable places to build are becoming rare.

“There are a lot of different factors that play a large role in what the costs of living are,” says Vicki Meath, executive director of local nonprofit Just Economics. “In Asheville … the formula we use is based on the cost of housing. That is really what’s driving a higher cost of living for our area, [more so] than a lot of other parts of the state.

“One of the reasons Just Economics exists is because the cost of housing is so inconsistent with the wages in our area,” she continues. “The cost of housing is growing exponentially, at a rate that I feel is really somewhat scary. So if we’re [hoping] to have a sustainable economy, we’re going to have to rein that in a little bit.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector are some of the lowest-paying positions available. An abundance of them drags down an area’s average hourly wage, even as the demand for real estate and rentals drives up housing prices — and thus the cost of living.

But Stephanie Pace Brown, executive director of the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau, says tourism often gets an undeserved bad rap. “The data doesn’t tell the whole story,” she says. “Tourism opens doors for other kinds of economic development. … [It] doesn’t preclude people from building wealth [when] values go up, but it does create more barriers to entry.”

In 2012, tourism directly poured $1.5 billion into Buncombe County’s economy while supporting nearly 23,000 jobs — or 14.2 percent of all employment in the Asheville area. And hotel employees here earn 17 percent more on average than the statewide figure — surpassing their counterparts in Charlotte and Durham. Of all workers in Buncombe County making less than $12, only 5 percent work in a hotel.

According to the most recent census findings, 43.3 percent of Ashevilleans have a bachelor’s degree or higher — compared with North Carolina’s 27. 3 percent. And it’s often heard around town that the waiter serving your table may have a master’s in computer science, since local jobs for recent graduates are either scarce, highly competitive or both.

But that’s not tourism’s fault, Brown explains. Take away tourism and, given Asheville’s current population, the number of employable individuals would far outweigh the number of available jobs, she says. Tourism provides entry-level jobs and more mobility to advance than in many other industries. “Just because there is a job waiting tables does not mean the other [more skilled] job would exist if tourism did not. Tourism doesn’t displace other jobs,” says Brown. And without it, “We would have a customer base of 200,000 instead of 9 million.”

That said, however, the Convention and Visitors Bureau often compares Asheville’s tourism statistics with those of Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C., two Southern cities similar to Asheville in both size and mass appeal. But despite those cities’ comparable tourist pull, both fare a little better than Asheville when it comes to paying a living wage. Savannah (91.8) and Charleston (100.7) have slightly lower cost-of-living indices, and their adjusted average hourly wages ($22.72 and $22.48, respectively) top Asheville’s $20.47 and make the cut above the $22.39 national average.

“I certainly think we’re making progress in some aspects, but we need to put some serious attention toward housing — keeping housing affordable and keeping wages in line with the cost of housing,” says Meath. “Asheville is a desirable place to live … [and] our local economy is dependent on a bunch of different factors. We can’t talk about these issues in a silo. We have to talk about them together.”

Tagged with: Asheville

Wyndham Hotel Group to Migrate Central Reservations to Sabre Platform

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PARSIPPANY, N.J. and SOUTHLAKE, Texas, March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — At its Global Conference in Las Vegas today, Wyndham Hotel Group announced to thousands of franchisees that the company has entered into a global CRS services agreement to migrate its central reservations systems to Sabre Corporation’s industry-leading SynXis Central Reservations solution.

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The agreement makes Sabre the exclusive global central reservation system provider for the world’s largest hotel company and makes Wyndham Hotel Group the first global company to leverage the overall Sabre SynXis Enterprise Platform. As part of its strategy to bring industry-leading technology to its global portfolio of franchisees and hotel operators, this arrangement significantly expands upon the strategic property management services agreement forged in 2014 designed to migrate 4,500 properties within the Wyndham family of hotel brands to Sabre’s industry-leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) property management system, the SynXis Property Manager. The first hotel to participate under a successful pilot is the Days Inn Raleigh Downtown in Raleigh, N.C.

This next phase of the partnership will further leverage Sabre’s SynXis Enterprise Platform to power central reservations for all of Wyndham Hotel Group’s branded properties.

“As one of the most important value propositions we can provide to our franchisees and owners, Wyndham is absolute in its commitment to deliver the best technology and revenue generation platforms to help our hotels grow their businesses,” said Geoff Ballotti, president and chief executive officer of Wyndham Hotel Group. “By leveraging the entire Sabre SynXis Enterprise Platform, hotels within the Wyndham family of hotel brands will be able to more effectively manage their pricing and inventory, enjoy connectivity to an unmatched number of global distribution partners, utilize a broad array of currency and language capabilities and have access to a fully integrated customer profile and history that is tied into our new Wyndham Rewards program. For our economy and midscale brands, this creates a strong competitive advantage by allowing them to deliver superior service and a memorable brand experience to their guests.”

Wyndham Hotel Group is scheduled to begin the process in late 2015 of migrating over an 18- to 24-month period the more than 7,600 hotel properties operated under one of Wyndham Hotel Group’s brands to the web-based SynXis CR, providing them with unlimited global access and exposure to travelers around the world. Among its offerings, SynXis CR provides distribution of rates and inventory through all online and offline distribution channels; connectivity to global distribution systems, online travel agents, website and mobile booking engines; and seamless integration of critical property, revenue management, loyalty and content systems, providing holistic views of hotel guests and revenue. Sabre’s central reservation system is powered by the SynXis Enterprise Platform, an open architecture platform that integrates critical hospitality systems to optimize distribution, operations, retailing and guest experience.

“Wyndham Hotel Group’s commitment to leveraging the most advanced technology solutions from Sabre for its franchisees will help drive profitability and maximize yield,” said Tom Klein, Sabre president and chief executive officer. “Through our continued innovation and investment, Sabre has built an unrivaled and scalable platform of hospitality solutions that will help Wyndham Hotel Group deliver a world-class guest experience across its branded hotels.”

About Sabre Corporation

Sabre^® Corporation is a leading technology provider to the global travel and tourism industry. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel properties to manage critical operations, including passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, which processes more than $110 billion of estimated travel spend annually by connecting travel buyers and suppliers. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre operates offices in approximately 60 countries around the world.

About Wyndham Hotel Group

Wyndham Hotel Group is the world’s largest hotel company based on number of hotels and is one of three hospitality business units of Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN). As both a leading hotel brand franchisor and hotel management services provider, the company’s global portfolio consists of approximately 7,650 properties and 661,000 rooms in 70 countries under the following brands: Dolce Hotels and Resorts® (acquired February 2015), Wyndham Grand® Hotels and Resorts, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®, Wyndham Garden® Hotels, TRYP by Wyndham®, Wingate by Wyndham®, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham®, Microtel Inn Suites by Wyndham®, Ramada®, Baymont Inn Suites®, Days Inn®, Super 8®, Howard Johnson®, Travelodge® and Knights Inn®. Wyndham Rewards, the company’s guest loyalty program offers more than 38 million members the opportunity to earn and redeem points at thousands of hotels across the world. For more information, visit, www.wyndhamworldwide.com.

CONTACT:
Rob Myers
Wyndham Hotel Group
(973) 753-6590
rob.myers@wyn.com

Heidi Castle
Sabre Corporation
(682) 605-4290
heidi.castle@sabre.com

www.wyndhamworldwide.com

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To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wyndham-hotel-group-to-migrate-central-reservations-to-sabre-platform-300058854.html

SOURCE Sabre Corporation

Tagged with: Raleigh

Service King Announces Fourth Orlando Location

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RICHARDSON, Texas, March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Service King Collision Repair Centers, an industry leading multi-state operator of high-quality collision repair services, today announced continued growth in Orlando with the acquisition of Duston and Roberts Collision Center.

The announcement comes as the two collision repair providers officially finalized the partnership, March 27.

“We’re proud to extend our services in the Orlando area with the addition of our fourth Service King location,” said Scott Ward, Service King Regional Vice President. “The Duston and Roberts Collision Center team has built an excellent organization and reputation. We look forward to the benefits this partnership brings our Orlando customers and insurance partners.”

Service King is one the fastest growing and most trusted collision repair providers in the country, now with 236 locations in 21 states. With the addition of its fourth Orlando location, the company continues to bolster its presence in the Southeast. Earlier this week, Service King announced the acquisition of Matthews Township Collision Center in Charlotte, N.C – the company’s second location in the area.

Duston and Roberts Collision Center first opened in 1987 under the leadership of current owner Farrell Duncan. The company has grown from a staff of three employees to the current 18,000 square foot collision repair center and a full-time staff of 18.

Duston and Roberts currently repairs about 150 vehicles per month.

“We are looking forward to the partnership with Service King,” said Duncan. “We hope to continue growing and serving West Orange County and the greater Orlando area with the same quality service that our customers have grown to expect.”

Service King Collision Repair Centers provides all customers a written lifetime warranty valid at any of its locations nationwide. For more information and to view a full list of Service King locations, visit www.serviceking.com.

About Service King Collision Repair Centers

Service King is one of the largest multi-location operators of collision repair facilities, dedicated to offering customers an overall superior service experience. Founded in 1976 in Dallas, Texas; Service King is a leader in the collision repair industry, currently serving customers at 236 locations across 21 states. For more information about Service King, visit www.ServiceKing.com. Follow Service King’s news on Facebook, Twitter and the company’s official blog, The Service Advisor.

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Appalachian State offers counseling after 9 student deaths this year

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Appalachian State University has broadened its counseling services as part of an aggressive campaign to address the deaths of nine enrolled students since September.

Two full-time and two part-time professional counselors have been added this year, and two more part-time counselors will be hired soon, the university said Friday.

Counseling center hours have been expanded, and students have been reminded that therapists are on call around-the-clock for those in crisis.

For the picturesque campus of 18,000 that hugs a mountainside in Boone, this school year has been one of serial mourning.

Three deaths, including that of a recent dropout, have been ruled suicides. Another was from an overdose of oxymorphone, the state medical examiner said Friday. Four enrolled students died in auto accidents, and the cause of death is pending in two other cases.

App State says the ninth enrolled student, who died off campus during this spring semester, has not been identified at the request of next of kin. Police say foul play is not suspected in any of the cases.

Although the number seems high for a population in the prime of their lives, it is only slightly ahead of total deaths in the previous two years, according to the Office of Student Development. In the 2012-13 academic year, there were eight student deaths; in 2013-14, there were seven, university spokeswoman Jane Nicholson said Friday.

But the year began with a high-profile case that put Appalachian State in the media spotlight and raised sensitivity to succeeding cases. Anna Marie Smith, an 18-year-old freshman from High Point with a history of depression, disappeared three weeks into the fall semester, triggering a massive hunt that went on for 11 days through the western highlands before her body was found in woods just off campus with a suicide note.

While the search was going on, another student told police that she had been abducted and brutally raped while walking near Appalachian’s football stadium. That report intensified media attention, though university police later determined the rape report was a hoax.

For Americans in the 15-24 age range, accidents are the leading cause of death, followed by homicide then suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

November suicides

In a statement, ASU Chancellor Sheri Everts said that more than 1,000 students, parents, faculty and staff have received in-person and online suicide prevention training this year through the university.

“Loss of a family member, a friend, a classmate or a community member you didn’t know is a personal journey, one that can be very difficult,” she said in a message shared with parents and alumni Friday. “There are some circumstances you will not know; please understand that the professionals who are in contact with affected families are diligently working to provide them with the answers they need.”

Three in the App State community, including the dropout, died within a two-week span in November.

Kristin Freeman, 23, who had dropped out and was attending community college, was found hanging by a scarf from a closet door in her off-campus bedroom.

Five days later, the body of Jeremy Sprinkle, 18, was found in a locked dormitory bathroom, dead of asphyxiation from a strap tied to a handrail. Sprinkle had a history of depression and had attempted suicide a year earlier, the medical examiner said.

Five days after that, Grayson Huffman, 22, was found dead in his apartment. On Friday, the medical examiner ruled that Huffman died of a drug overdose after a night of drinking with friends, who said he had seemed to be in an altered mental state. His body was found kneeling next to his bed; a razor and white powder were found on the glass of a framed picture nearby.

“At Appalachian, we will not choose to define these students by a number, or by a cause of death,” said Everts, who is in her first year leading the university. “We have learned about unique contributions each person brought to our community, and the legacies they leave are all as individual as they were. Each person should be remembered for the contributions they made in life.”

Finding solace together

On Thursday night, a campus meeting to discuss the year’s deaths attracted more than 200 people.

J.J. Brown, dean of students, told the gathering that alumni have been contacting him.

“They know from their experiences that life is full of challenges, and many of them faced significant challenges while a student as well. As alumni, they benefited from faculty and staff who mentored them through difficult times … At times they had to dig deep, and learn how to be resilient in navigating life’s road of potholes and barricades,” he said.

Carson Rich, the student government president, also spoke, saying it was important for members of the ASU community to face up to the situation and continue talking about it.

“I promise you, as strange as this may sound, something good is going to come from this,” Rich said. “We are being forged on an anvil of adversity for a purpose we may not understand for a good while, but I guarantee it was not for nothing.”

Tagged with: Boone NC

Top of the Hill owner lobbies for chance to sell his liquor

Posted on March 31, 2015 by

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The bar owner says his bill would promote the N.C. distillery industries.

Of the 17 alcohol control states, only four do not allow distilleries to sell their product to tour visitors. Scott Maitland wants to change that.

Maitland, owner of Top of the Hill distillery on Franklin Street, is working to rally support for House Bill 107, which would allow distilleries to sell their product to visitors on the premises.

The bill only allows for one bottle per customer, per year.

It has not been easy, Maitland said. Recently, he has been pushing to just get the bill on the floor, but he does not know if it will happen.

“I don’t know. I think so. I hope so,” he said.

The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, which regulates both the ABC boards and the distilleries of North Carolina, does not have a position for or against the bill, spokeswoman Agnes Stevens said.

But Stevens noted that even a small change can have larger impacts.

“The concept of the three-tier system is established over the last 70 years, so changes can be bigger than they look,” she said.

The three-tier system creates distinct roles for manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. The system has been in place since prohibition, Stevens said.

Maitland said this change can only be for the good. He said he thinks of the bill not as a way to sell more liquor but as a way to promote it.

“All I can sell is my own product,” he said. “It’s not like people would use distilleries as liquor stores. The goal of this is not to sell liquor; the goal of this is to do the best marketing you can.”

Maitland said he thinks the perception some have that the bill would support and boost underage drinking is unfounded.

Lt. Josh Mecimore, spokesman for the Chapel Hill Police Department, said the department will not speculate, but will deal with enforcing a new policy when the time comes.

“The state’s voters elect their representatives to make their decisions,” he said. “We don’t really have a dog in that fight because that’s a legislative decision, not an enforcement decision.”

The North Carolina Distiller’s Association sees the bill as a way to not only help distilleries but promote tourism and agriculture. They estimate a 101 percent increase in the number of North Carolina agricultural products bought by local distilleries and a 413 percent increase in tours for visitors across the state.

Maitland said one of the reasons he started a distillery was to use all North Carolina ingredients, which is pretty rare for breweries.

Maitland said he does not want to change the current ABC system. Because they are regulated by the same entity, Maitland said North Carolina distilleries and ABC boards are actually cousins. But Maitland is concerned that his small business cannot compete with the big companies. In passing the bill, more people will look for the products of North Carolina distilleries at ABC stores, he said.

“This bill seeks to strengthen, not weaken, the ABC system,” he said. “I have always felt that the best thing I can do is get my product in your hands. Why? Because my product’s great. If I get it in your hands, I win.”

city@dailytarheel.com

Tagged with: North Carolina

U-verse® with AT&T GigaPower(SM) Launches Today in Cupertino

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CUPERTINO, Calif., March 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Imagine downloading 25 songs in less than one second, or before you can even crank up the volume. Imagine loading your favorite HD movie in less than 36 seconds, a fraction of the time it takes to pick which movie to watch.

It’s now a reality for qualifying residents and small businesses with today’s launch of U-verse with ATT* GigaPower in parts of Cupertino, Calif.** U-verse with ATT GigaPower delivers the speed you need to power all of your devices and connect you to the content that matters most.

The ATT GigaPower network provides consumers access to the fastest Internet available in Cupertino, featuring speeds up to 1 gigabit per second.*** Ultra-fast Internet improves the customer experience for consumers and small businesses using the network to connect to the cloud, videoconferencing, online gaming or for other services.

U-verse with ATT GigaPower customers are also getting faster Wi-Fi speeds. They’ll receive an upgraded residential gateway that takes advantage of the latest in Wi-Fi technology. The new gateway lets you connect even more devices with faster speeds from nearly anywhere in your home or business.

ATT GigaPower customers will continue to have access to award-winning TV services. For example, they can watch and record up to five HD programs at the same time. ATT GigaPower subscribers will also be able to record and store more of their favorite shows–up to 900 hours of SD or 330 hours of HD programming. Customers can access the ATT U-verse app on more than 30 smartphones and tablets to watch more than 230 live TV channels in their home, and up to 130 live TV channels while on the go – that’s more live TV channels on the go than cable. Customers can also stream video on-demand, schedule DVR recordings and more from the U-verse app.

Consumers in eligible areas can choose from a variety of plans. ATT offers single, double and triple play bundles, so customers can select a combination of services to fit their needs. The packages below include waivers of equipment, installation and activation fees.

U-verse High Speed Internet Premier: Internet speeds up to 1Gbps starting as low as $110 a month, or speeds at 300Mbps as low as $80 a month, with a one year price guarantee.****
U-verse High Speed Internet Premier + TV: Internet speeds up to 1Gbps and qualifying TV service starting as low as $150 a month, or speeds at 300Mbps and qualifying TV service as low as $120 a month, with a one year price guarantee.
U-verse High Speed Internet Premier + TV + Voice: Internet speeds up to 1Gbps with qualifying TV service and Unlimited U-verse Voice starting as low as $180 a month, or speeds at 300Mbps with qualifying TV service and Unlimited U-verse Voice as low as $150 a month, with a two year price guarantee.

“ATT has been bringing the latest, most advanced technology to our customers for well over a century, and today we continue that tradition by launching U-verse with ATT GigaPower – the fastest high-speed Internet available – in Cupertino,” said Ken McNeely, President of ATT California. “Cupertino has fostered an environment where innovation can thrive, and we are proud that they are the first city in California to get the ultra-fast speeds on the ATT GigaPower network. This investment will help empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and creative thinkers in Cupertino and across the Valley.”

“We are proud to be the first city on the west coast to launch the ATT GigaPower network, bringing the speed of fiber to homes and businesses,” said Cupertino Mayor Rod Sinks. “People come to Cupertino from around the world, and want to connect with families and culture in their home countries, as well as with work colleagues and customers worldwide. We place high value on education and access to information, and GigaPower enables more and improved services, from remote learning to telemedicine to entertainment. “

The success of the first ATT GigaPower market in Austin led to a major expansion beginning in 2014. ATT is considering expanding its all-fiber network to up to 100 cities and municipalities across 25 markets. U-verse with ATT GigaPower is currently available to many consumers and small businesses across parts of the Austin, Cupertino, Dallas, Fort Worth, Kansas City, Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem markets. ATT has already announced plans to deliver ATT GigaPower in parts of 10 additional markets – Atlanta; Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C.; Chicago; Houston; Jacksonville, Fla.; Miami; Nashville, Tenn.; St. Louis and San Antonio.

Frost Sullivan recently recognized ATT for its leadership in high-speed Internet services, awarding the company the 2015 North American Competitive Strategy and Innovation Leadership of the Year Award for Broadband. The analyst firm praised ATT for its “aggressive pursuit of higher bandwidth access” for customers through its ATT GigaPower network initiative.

Additionally, ATT has committed that upon approval of its proposed acquisition of DIRECTV, the company will expand the ATT GigaPower network to an additional 2 million customer locations. All of these 2 million locations are over and above what the company announced in 2014.

ATT has invested in California communications networks, people and local communities for 137 years. Between 2012 through 2014, ATT invested $475 million in its best-in-class wireless and wired networks in San Jose, driving a wide range of upgrades to enhance reliability, coverage, speed and performance for residents and business customers. ATT employs more than 34,000 people across the state.

For more information, or to check availability, please visit att.com/gigapower.

* ATT products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of ATT Inc. under the ATT brand and not by ATT Inc.
** Initial availability limited to select areas. May not be available in your area.
*** Internet speed claims represent maximum network service capability speeds. Actual customer speeds may vary and are not guaranteed. Actual speeds vary based on factors including site traffic, content provider server capacity, internal network management factors, customer device capabilities and use of other U-verse services. Max speeds may not be realized if 2 or more HD shows viewed at same time. For more info, go to www.att.com/speed101
**** U-verse with ATT GigaPower Premier offer is available with agreement from customer to participate in ATT Internet Preferences. ATT may use Web browsing information, like the search terms entered and the Web pages visited, to provide customers with relevant offers and ads tailored to their interests.

About ATT
ATT Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – ATT operating companies – are the providers of ATT services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the network with the nation’s strongest LTE signal as well as the nation’s most reliable LTE network, ATT is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, ATT also offers the best global wireless coverage, based on offering voice and LTE data roaming in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier, and offering more world capable wireless smartphones and tablets than any other U.S. based carrier. It also offers advanced TV service with the ATT U-verse® brand. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.

Additional information about ATT Inc. and the products and services provided by ATT subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/aboutus or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.

© 2015 ATT Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. ATT, the ATT logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of ATT Intellectual Property and/or ATT affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains financial estimates and other forward- looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in ATT’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ATT disclaims any obligation to update or revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.

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SOURCE ATT Inc.

EDENS Welcomes Anthropologie at Atherton Mill

Posted on March 31, 2015 by

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Anthropologie is officially bringing its brand of fashion and home decor to the South End, when their newest location opens at Atherton Mill this fall.

The history of the building and the surrounding area, as well as its location a mile from Charlotte’s Central Business District, makes it the perfect choice for the unique and eclectic retailer. Anthropologie began 20 years ago, offering an offbeat mix of fashion and home decor, and now has more than 185 stores across the U.S., United Kingdom and Canada.

The announcement comes after years of planning for the retail center, which has long been the emotional and community hub of the area. “I think a few years from now, we’ll look back at this as the start of Atherton Mill as a retail hub,” says Lyle Darnall, Managing Director at EDENS. “This addition to the center was carefully planned and is the first of multiple, soon to be announced steps that will solidify Atherton as the retail focal point of the South End and Dilworth communities for years to come.”

Because of that expected growth, community organizations are excited about the project as well. “The addition of this highly sought after and unique national brand to our celebrated South End shopping district will better serve the people who live, work and play here,” said Michael Smith, President CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners. “Anthropologie’s location at Atherton Mill will be in the heart of this urban neighborhood, within walking distance for thousands of residents and connected to a strong group of restaurants, retailers, our Blue Line light rail system, several Charlotte B-cycle stations and the Rail Trail. We welcome this retailer to South End.”

About EDENS:
EDENS develops, owns and operates community shopping centers in primary markets across the country. Focusing on innovative development and redevelopment together with key acquisitions in urban areas, the company has built an institutional-quality portfolio of 136 retail centers. EDENS has regional headquarters in Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston and Columbia, SC. For additional information about the company and its retail real estate portfolio, please visit www.edens.com.

SOURCE EDENS

BOEM has recieved thousands of comments on whether to open the Atlantic to …

Posted on March 31, 2015 by

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CHARLESTON, S.C. — Thousands of opinions poured in Monday as the deadline approached for commenting on the contentious issue of drilling for oil and gas in the Atlantic Ocean.

The agency earlier held public meetings along the coast. By early afternoon, its website showed almost 15,000 comments had been submitted, with more than 3,700 filed Monday alone.

A sampling of the comments from the Carolinas:

THREATS TO WILDLIFE

TOURISM AND DRILLING CAN COEXIST

MORE RESEARCH

TOURISM AND OIL DON’T MIX

Tim Cafferty of the Dare County Tourism Board on the Outer Banks said the board opposes drilling near an exposed area where one in three local jobs depends on tourism.

JOBS AND REVENUE

SAFER FOOD

SPILLS THREATEN THE SEABOARD

Tagged with: North Carolina

The Next Hot Trend in Economic Development: Craft Beer

Posted on March 31, 2015 by

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The Brewers Association, a trade association representing small and independent American craft brewers, recently released the 2014 data on the United States craft beer industry. For the first-time ever, the craft segment reached double-digit volume share of the marketplace, 11% to be exact.

Based upon the 2014 data, craft brewers produced 22.2 million barrels of beer, experienced an 18% rise in volume, and a witnessed a 22% increase in retail dollar value. The retail dollar value was estimated at $19.6 billion representing 19.3% market share.

In addition, as of the writing of this article, there are now 3,464 total breweries in the United States and 3,418 of those fit within the definition of craft. This represents a net 19% increase year over year from 2013. More importantly, craft breweries now employ 115,469 individuals, up 4.3% from 2013.

In a press release issued by the Brewers Association, Bart Watson, the organizations chief economist, said: “With the total beer market up only 0.5% in 2014, craft brewers are key in keeping the overall industry innovative and growing. This steady growth shows that craft brewing is part of a profound shift in American beer culture, a shift that will help craft brewers achieve their ambitious goal of 20% market share by 2020.”

Watson also went on to say: “Small and independent brewers are deepening their connection to local beer lovers while continuing to create excitement and attract even more appreciators.”

While this production and consumer related data is indicative of greater market adoption by consumers, the growth of the craft beer segment is also starting to be embraced by state and local economic development organizations. Craft breweries are a unique economic development value proposition because this industry creates an intersection point for manufacturing and tourism, something that cannot be said for very many, if any, other industries.

A few years ago, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Oskar Blues began looking for east coast expansion opportunities. Roanoke, Virginia made a serious run at Sierra Nevada putting together an economic development package valued at around $13 million in incentives. Likewise, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania made a similar run at New Belgium.

Roanoke and Philadelphia both lost these craft brewery expansion opportunities as Sierra Nevada and New Belgium decided to locate in Asheville, North Carolina following the lead of Oskar Blues. By landing all three of these craft brewery expansion projects, Asheville firmly staked its claim as a viable and sustainable craft brewery cluster, leading to significant financial investment in manufacturing assets and attracting countless tourists to the area.

Not long after Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Oskar Blues invested meaningful capital in the Asheville economy and started hiring new employees, other states and cities began to take notice. From Arizona to Virginia, from parts of California to South Carolina, and a number of other states in between, state legislatures began modernizing beer laws in a way to encourage further development of existing craft brewery ecosystems as well as to attract expansion projects.

In 2014, Stone Brewing Company, a San Diego, California based craft brewery, issued a request for proposals for a $75 million and nearly 300-job east coast expansion project. The site selection process spanned 20 states and took nearly a year to complete. In the end, Richmond, Virginia prevailed and will eventually be the home for the east coast operations of Stone Brewing Company.

Not wanting to lose another craft brewery expansion project like it had in Roanoke with Sierra Nevada, the state and economic development organizations in Virginia sought to accomplish two objectives in trying to lure Stone Brewing Company to Richmond: (1) make fundamental changes to franchise, distribution, and three tier laws in order to make the craft beer segment more competitive relative to other states, and (2) put together a financial incentive package that would assist Stone Brewing Company in the development of its east coast project. The authorization of taprooms was the most critical component of this effort.

Virginia accomplished both of these objectives and ultimately landed Stone Brewing Company. When it is all said and done, Stone Brewing Company will invest $74 million in Richmond and create 288 jobs in the first three years. The company expects to generate $100 million in revenue by the end of year four and eventually reach $100 million in revenue on an annual basis at the Richmond location.

In order to incentivize this development, the City of Richmond is issuing $23 million in bonds for the manufacturing facility, $8 million in bonds for the restaurant and beer garden, and providing $2,000,000 in city grant funds. In furtherance of this effort, the State of Virginia is contributing $5,000,000 from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund and an additional $250,000 from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund. The Stone Brewing Company facility is expected to come online in 2016.

In October 2014, representatives from Green Flash Brewing Company, another San Diego craft brewery, joined state and local officials in at a groundbreaking and ribbon cutting in Virginia Beach. By the spring 2016, Virginia Beach will be the home to a 100,000-barrel-a-year Green Flash production facility, a 4,000-square-foot tasting room, and one-acre beer garden. The Green Flash project constitutes a $20 million investment and will create at least 40 new jobs for the area.

Most recently, there are rumors swirling that Ballast Point Brewing Company, yet another San Diego based craft brewery, is considering an expansion project in Richmond. Speculation is beginning to brew (pun intended) whether the interest is due exclusively to the economic development incentives Stone Brewing Company received for its project or whether the interest is due to the market demand and the existing ecosystem. My guess is both.

This naturally begs the question: why are states like North Carolina and Virginia crafting policy to incentivize investment in craft breweries? Well, I believe there are three critical reasons for this, two of which I have already mentioned: this is a manufacturing industry and there is a tourism component to it. The third reason I believe states and regions are starting to focus on the craft beer industry is because these businesses help create place.

First, fundamentally craft breweries are manufacturers, a highly coveted target of economic developers. The development, construction, and operation of a craft brewery generally involves significant financial outlays and creates meaningful jobs, two of the most critical end means for economic developers. With the explosive production growth in the craft beer industry and rising demand, more opportunities exist to export these products outside of the borders of a state bringing in new dollars to local communities, another critical objective of economic development.

Second, tourism surrounding craft beer is intensifying in the United States. Places like Asheville, North Carolina and Bend, Oregon have developed niche tourism opportunities around craft beer clusters. This sort of tourism activity has a positive ripple effect with local hotels, restaurants, and retailers as people explore highly unique and local craft beer experiences.

The local component is the final leg of this economic development stool. Craft breweries often locate in higher density areas, adaptively reusing once blighted buildings and become chief placemaking agents of local communities. As people move into denser core cities and communities, a premium is placed on place, that being the intersection of live, work, play, and quality of life experiences. Craft breweries play an instrumental role in placemaking efforts.

My prognostication about economic development and the craft beer industry is I believe you will begin to see more of it. I believe you will begin to see states further amend dated regulatory laws to create more ideal business environments for existing craft breweries while also incentivizing expansion projects. I think you will see the craft beer segment continue to grow as the demand for highly localized, flavorful, and innovative beers increases with each passing year.

Will the craft beer bubble burst? Sure, but I do not think its going to happen anytime soon; so, get out there and support your local breweries and become an advocate for this creative economy industry.

Tagged with: Asheville