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09.20.2012
It’s been almost three months since the other unions inside the mill agreed to new collective agreements, but the two trades unions at Corner Brook Pulp and Paper are still without new contracts of their own.
On June 22, the day four of the locals represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada agreed to concession-laden contracts, Local 96 and the electricians it represents stood their ground and rejected the same deal offered to them by parent company Kruger Inc.
Just days before that, Lodge 1567 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers also rejected the deal offered to their members, who include millwrights, welders and machinists.
No talks were scheduled during the summer months to accommodate vacations, but representatives from CEP Local 96 did meet with the company earlier this month.
However, no deal was hammered out during those three days of talks from Sept. 5-7.
Gary Healey, the CEP’s national representative at the negotiating table with the Local 96 team, would not comment on how the talks went or if any progress was made. He said Monday there were no further talks scheduled for the moment.
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09.20.2012
New togs and toys will be harder to find this holiday season if thousands of dock workers in the United States walk off the job at month’s end.
Halifax port officials were watching closely Wednesday as labour negotiations aimed at averting a shutdown of major American ports on the East and Gulf coasts resumed.
Federal mediators were to meet with members of the International Longshoremen’s Association and officials of the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents shippers, at an undisclosed location.
“The Port of Halifax has its own collective agreement for labour, so it is not directly affected by the labour actions at U.S. East Coast ports,” said Michele Peveril, senior manager of strategic relations for the port.
Thousands of members of the longshoremen’s association from Maine to Texas will be in a legal strike position after their contract expires Sept. 30, at the beginning of the critical holiday shipping season.
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09.20.2012
In his annual state of the business address to the mailing industry, Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe today emphasized that the Postal Service has a solid business plan to return to long-term financial stability and that nothing will have a bigger impact on the health and future of the mailing industry than resolving legislative issues.
“The Postal Service is moving forward with the parts of our business plan that we can control, and securing comprehensive legislation will allow us to implement the rest of the plan,” said Donahoe. “Our industry is fundamentally strong and has a bright future. Mail remains an incredibly effective and important part of marketing America’s products and services.”
Donahoe spoke during the National Postal Customer Council (PCC) Day, an annual event that brings together thousands of mailers, industry partners and customers nationwide to recognize their contributions to the Postal Service and outline future plans and goals. PCCs are a network of community-based business mailers and representatives of the Postal Service, who meet regularly to share ideas and resources to create a closer working relationship.
Despite concerns about obtaining legislation, Donahoe said the Postal Service is focused on innovating to create new opportunities for growth in the mailing industry. “That means that in an increasingly digital world, we need to continue to find ways of increasing the value of mail for both senders and receivers,” he said.
Donahoe underscored one of the most important aspects of innovation at the Postal Service: the way technology is used through Intelligent Mail™ barcodes to harness data in the Postal Service network. He urged mailers to adopt the new barcode technology as it will provide them with greater visibility into the effectiveness of mail. Donahoe also pointed out that tracking data is only going to become a more powerful marketing tool for mailers in the future.
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09.20.2012
Quad/Graphics, Inc., announced today that its Actable™ interactive print solutions helped Milwaukee Magazine create its first entirely interactive issue. The October “Best of 2012” issue, on newsstands this week, features 146 image recognition and augmented reality experiences that readers can launch on their Actable-enabled smartphones and other mobile tablet devices. Readers will go behind the scenes of a music studio, see a 3D gold watch pop off the page, hear the restaurant critic narrate dining listings, kick extra points on a virtual football field and much more.
The special edition is a joint project by Quad/Graphics and the magazine to demonstrate applications of new interactive print technologies. “Quad/Graphics is leading the charge to be a technology integrator that will help our clients make print even more powerful in today’s multichannel media world,” said Joel Quadracci, Quad/Graphics Chairman, President & CEO. “Our goal with Milwaukee Magazine was to show the many creative ways that interactive print can be used to produce even more engaging and powerful reader experiences in both editorial and advertising, connecting print and mobile in ways that both amaze and inform.”
Editor Cristina Daglas explained the interactive issue to her audience in her Editor’s Letter column and a companion video that launches right on the page when readers hold their mobile devices over her column. “With a dedicated team of Quad/Graphics interactive specialists, we’ve produced an entire issue in augmented reality. Each page is fully loaded with at least one experience.”
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09.20.2012
Vertis Holdings and SGS International announced an agreement under which SGS will further augment its complete, design-to-print packaging solutions with the purchase of additional prepress packaging equipment, data files and certain related assets from Vertis.
Proceeds from the sale of these assets will allow Vertis to strengthen its overall liquidity position and further invest in its core direct marketing, advertising inserts and large-format businesses. Vertis expects to immediately invest in a new EFI GS VUTEk 5000 inkjet printer, which will expand its large-format capacity to better meet clients’ growing demand for these products, as well as new HP and Kodak inkjet heads for its direct marketing business.
Vertis had previously announced its intention to exit the prepress packaging business in order to focus on growing its core businesses.
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09.20.2012
Sappi Fine Paper North America has been nominated for three awards in the fourth annual 2012 Pulp & Paper International (PPI) Awards. The PPI Awards are the only global awards dedicated to recognizing these achievements in various sectors of the pulp and paper industry.
Sappi Fine Paper North America has been declared a finalist for three awards spanning three different categories. The award nominations are a testament to Sappi's continued strong performance in the market, the impact our strategic initiatives have on positioning the company for the future and the valuable tools and resources Sappi provides our customers:
•Executive Leadership: Global CEO of the Year Award – Mark Gardner, CEO and President of Sappi Fine Paper North America is recognized for posting consistently strong financial results, overall strategy and outstanding leadership and vision. His proven industry track record spans a thirty-year career of achievements with the Company, which includes successfully implementing cost-efficiencies, upgrades in renewable energy and innovative capital expansions; most notably the $170M investment in the Cloquet pulp mill to convert from kraft pulp to chemical cellulose.
•Company Award: Environmental Strategy of the Year Award – Our company-wide commitment to environmental strategy is recognized for excellence in achieving operational goals, contributing to step change improvements in reducing emissions, waste management, and increased productivity. As an integral and inseparable part of our business, the sustainable practices outlined in our Sustainability Report are exercised across the organization through dedicated employee education, civic responsibility and triple certification programs.
•Environmental Message, Promotional Campaign of the Year: eQ Journal 004:Taking the Guilt out of Paper – eQ is Sappi's industry-leading branded communication platform on sustainability and includes the eQ Microsite, which is designed to elevate readers' environmental knowledge with blog posts, videos and insights into the industry. Our latest issue, eQ Journal 004: Taking the Guilt out of Paper is recognized for debunking the myths and guilt associated with paper by providing evidence in how sustainable forestry results in healthier forests and thriving wildlife.
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09.20.2012
Should marketers of luxury products be doing more print advertising? It couldn't hurt.
Affluent consumers like hard copy, despite their over-indexing for digital-media devices. The new Ipsos MediaCT’s 2012 Mendelsohn Affluent Survey shows that 82% of those with annual household income of $100,000 or more are reading more print pubs.
In particular, affluent women in households that make $100,000 or more annually, and "ultra affluents" (those with household income $250,000 or more) are heavy print consumers, with the highest reach and number of titles and issues read. Ultra affluents consume approximately 25% more print media than last year, reading an average of 23.5 issues across an average of 10 titles, per the study.
And this is happening as affluent consumers have vastly increased their exposure to digital content and platforms. The 2012 Mendelsohn Affluent survey from Ipsos MediaCT found, for example, that 26% of affluent consumers personally own a tablet, and 47% live in a household with a tablet, a threefold increase versus 2011.
More than half now own a smartphone, up from 45% in 2011. The firm found that in 2012, 4.7 million Affluents downloaded a magazine app, nearly doubling from 2.4 million in 2011; seven million downloaded a newspaper app, up from 4.6 million in 2011. Affluents reported using the Internet an average of 37.4 hours weekly -- up 14% from 2011, with the largest growth seen in sites related to social media, entertainment and shopping.
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09.20.2012
Due to the ongoing cost increases for raw materials, energy, wages and transportation the Koehler Paper Group is raising its prices for carbonless paper. The price increases, which have been implemented in Europe and Latin America already in June, are now to be applied in South Africa as well. Prices for reels and sheets will go up by 6% for shipments from mid-November onwards.
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09.20.2012
While the housing market continues its slow recovery, Georgia-Pacific is looking ahead and creating more than 100 new manufacturing jobs in the Palmetto State.
GP will begin hiring immediately to fill management, craft and production jobs as it moves toward ramping up of production of an oriented strand board (OSB) mill in Clarendon County, S.C., in early 2013. Ultimately, the plant will employ approximately 120 people.
Mark Luetters, president of GP wood products, says the timing is right, “given our customers’ increased need for OSB.” The Clarendon plant, constructed in 2011 but not fully operating since, is a world-class facility that will help the company grow with its building products customers as housing slowly recovers.
The Clarendon operation’s sister mill in Allendale County, S.C., also employs about 120 people and started production in 2010. The Clarendon and Allendale facilities became part of GP in a 2010 acquisition. GP spent $30 million to complete construction on the Clarendon facility after purchasing it.
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09.20.2012
Dice Holdings, Inc., a network of niche job sites and career fair producer, has acquired the online media assets from Geeknet, including Slashdot, SourceForge and Freecode, for $20 million in cash.
Dice Holdings plans to use the deal to enhance its career offerings with the content produced via the three sites. "The SourceForge and Slashdot communities will enable our customers to reach millions of engaged tech professionals on a regular basis and significantly extends our company's reach into the global community," says Dice Holdings chairman, president and CEO Scot Melland in a statement.
Slashdot and SourceForge attract about 4 million and 40 million monthly uniques, respectively, and Freecode, an index of Linux, Unix and cross-platform software, attracts about 500,000 unique visitors a month.
Together, the three properties generated 2011 revenues of $20 million. Media bankers DeSilva + Phillips represented Geeknet in the transaction.
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09.20.2012
Oil fell to a six-week low after U.S. stockpiles climbed the most since March, Chinese manufacturing shrank and Japanese exports fell, signaling fuel demand may be slowing among the world’s biggest crude users.
Futures dropped as much as 1.4 percent, falling for a fourth day in their longest losing streak since June. U.S. oil inventories surged 8.5 million barrels last week as Gulf of Mexico production resumed after Hurricane Isaac, Energy Department data showed yesterday. China’s manufacturing may contract an 11th month, according to a purchasing managers index by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. Japan’s overseas sales fell a third month in August, the Finance Ministry said.
“China is still growing at reasonable levels, but the sky- rocketing growth rates seen in the past couple of years looks to be over,” said Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management in Middelfart, who predicts Brent crude will remain at $107 to $108 a barrel next week. “China still has a lot of economic tools left compared to the west, so I expect a soft or orderly landing to have the best odds.”
Oil for October delivery slid as much as $1.32 to $90.66 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest since Aug. 6, and was at $91.07 at 11:03 a.m. London time. The contract, which expires today, slid $3.31 yesterday to $91.98, the lowest close since Aug. 3.
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09.20.2012
A study by the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA) and VisionEdge Marketing, Austin, has found that marketers do not give themselves high grades when it comes to measuring the performance of their marketing programs.
The study, “The Path to Better Marketing Results,” was based on an online survey in July of 405 technology marketers.
When asked how satisfied they are with their ability to measure performance on a scale of one to 10 (with one representing not at all satisfied and 10 representing extremely satisfied), marketers' average score was 5.3.
When asked how their CEOs would grade their performance on measuring marketing, only 25% of marketers gave themselves an “A” grade, while 33% gave themselves a “B”; 33%” gave themselves a “C”; and 9% gave themselves a “D” or lower.
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09.20.2012
Total boxboard production decreased by 0.8 percent compared to August 2011 but increased 2.2 percent from last month. Unbleached Kraft Boxboard production decreased over the same month last year and decreased compared to last month. Total Solid Bleached Boxboard & Liner production increased compared to August 2011 and increased compared to last month. The production of Recycled Boxboard increased compared to August 2011 and increased when compared to last month.
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09.20.2012
Adobe Systems Incorporated today reported financial results for its third quarter of fiscal year 2012 ended Aug. 31, 2012.
Adobe achieved revenue in Q3 FY2012 of $1.081 billion, within its targeted range of $1.075 billion to $1.125 billion. During the quarter, the Company drove faster adoption of Creative Cloud subscriptions than originally projected. As Adobe customers migrate from a legacy Creative Suite perpetual licensing model to new Creative Cloud subscriptions, revenue is recognized over time as opposed to at the time of purchase. This overachievement in subscriptions during the third quarter effectively transitioned approximately $29 million more perpetual revenue than expected to Creative Cloud.
In addition, the effect of currency impacted Q3 revenue negatively by approximately $9 million. Adjusting for these amounts in Adobe’s reported results would have enabled the Company to achieve third quarter revenue towards the high-end of its targeted range.
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09.19.2012
Every few odd weeks or months, a story pondering the future of magazines resurfaces, generating an updated round of debate on this form of print media we aren't ready to let go. While recent pieces like David Carr's "Wondering How Far Magazine Will Fall" may dampen the spirits of those still holding out for a print magazine comeback, the land of startup magazines exhibits just enough novelty and success to keep print hope alive.
Crowdfunded focus on locale and niche interests
In the past year, there has been a steady output of crowdfunded journalism projects, many of which are entrepreneurial in spirit and target a niche community. (An assortment of crowdfunding platforms and successful projects were covered in the MediaShift piece, "Crowdfunding Journalistic and Photojournalistic Projects.")
A survey of print magazine projects on two major platforms, Kickstarter and Indiegogo, draws up a few broad project categories. First, there is a focus on local: ThirtyTwo aims to provoke a cultural renaissance in the American Midwest, and Local plans to give a voice to "one, overlooked American town per issue." The second major category is niche interest: Creatives are pushing for magazines on women empowerment, Latino empowerment, and positive body image.
In contrast to the online publishing cycle, which demands constant and regular updates, these print magazine projects embrace the slow and mulled-over nature of the print format. All of the examples mentioned publish bimonthly (every two months), quarterly, or on even less frequent schedules. Most magazine campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo do not reach their funding goal, but for the few that do, how can they turn a successful campaign into an actual magazine, and how -- dare they dream it -- can the new magazine become sustainable?
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09.19.2012
BD White Birch Investment LLC today announced the successful completion of the acquisition of the assets of White Birch Paper Company. The completion of the acquisition represents the successful culmination of a nearly three year restructuring process, resulting in the formation of a newly revitalized and competitive enterprise.
Commenting on the announcement, Peter Brant, Chief Executive Officer of the new White Birch, said, "I am pleased that the conclusion of the restructuring process, together with significant new investment by the Brant Family and the Black Diamond-led investment group, has resulted in a healthier, better capitalized company. The process of turning this company around would not have been possible without the support of our management team, new investors and the strong belief by all of our employees that this is a vital business that is well positioned to succeed in the global paper market for years to come. "
Christopher Brant, President of the new White Birch, added, "Without the contributions of our dedicated employees, our loyal customers and suppliers, our partners at Black Diamond and the support of the Quebec government, the new White Birch's future would not be nearly as bright as it is today. I would like to thank them all for their tremendous efforts throughout this long and arduous process."
Continuing, Christopher Brant said, "As the new White Birch moves forward with our current product portfolio, I am excited about the opportunities we have to develop our operations in new products and modernized platforms. Working together with our superb management team and all of the company's stakeholders, I am optimistic about the future and the long-term viability of the new White Birch."
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09.19.2012
The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index, released Tuesday, showed a drop in spending for the second month in a row.
The Index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.
“After a rebound during the first half of the year, the Index continued downward in August, primarily due to a drop in the price of new homes and a slight decline in the tax rate,” said Carl Steidtmann, Deloitte’s chief economist and author of the monthly Index. “Looking ahead, rising energy prices may further strain the Index heading into fall, as rising gas prices are already beginning to crimp spending.”
The Index, which comprises four components — tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices — fell to 3.13 from a downwardly revised reading of 3.22 the previous month.
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09.19.2012
Allen Press, Inc., printer and publishing services provider, has won coveted awards in 2012 in three prestigious regional and national printing competitions, where excellence in print quality as well as overall impact and degree of difficulty in technique are judged.
PIA MidAmerica, the regional trade group of the Printing and Imaging Association, bestowed the “Best of Category” award for two publications, recognizing each in their category in the company’s division. The winning pieces were Orchids 80:2, a publication of the American Orchid Society, and Catfish Alley, Fall 2011, a publication of The Commercial Dispatch, Columbus, MS. Winning Awards of Excellence were Gastronomica 11:4, from the University of California Press; The Mineralogical Record 42:2, published by The Mineralogical Record, Inc.; Gems and Gemology 47:1, a Gemological Institute of America publication; Arabian Horse Times 2012 Calendar, from Arabian Horse Times, Inc.; and Shadows of Minidoka, paintings and collections of Roger Shimomura, published by the Lawrence Arts Center. Allen Press’ accomplishments were honored at a banquet this spring in Kansas City.
Printing Industries of America awarded the company with two Premier Print Awards. The Mineralogical Record 42:2 was given an Award of Recognition, and Arabian Horse Times 2012 Calendar was given a Certificate of Merit.
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09.19.2012
Forbes will launch its 24th international edition, Forbes México, in November with MBG, a Mexican publisher of sports magazines and books. Forbes México's 40,000 copies will be distributed throughout the country.
Editor is Andrés Tapia, who was previously the deputy director of GQ México and Latin America. CEO is MBG principal Max Linares, who previously served as CEO of Initiative Media and consulted with Sony Pictures Television.
The magazine’s editorial make-up will include local business stories combined with content gleaned from Forbes U.S. The Spanish-language Web site (www.forbes.com.mx) is scheduled launch in tandem with the magazine.
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09.19.2012
Adobe will attempt to capture more of the publishing market by appealing to small companies and individuals creating content in apps for iPads. The platform, Creative Cloud publishing, now supports a folio feature, allowing content creators to build single pieces of the marketing material, brochure and publication into an iPad app, rather than a dashboard filled with a library of publications.
Marketers point to stand-alone self-publishing as the next phase for branded content. Mascord Living Spaces created a free app allowing consumers to view photography from some of the publisher's favorite homes. It allows viewers to search the latest designs and take a 360-degree spin to get an inside look at design philosophies of Alan Mascord Design Associates, a company that remodels and designs custom homes.
Today, Adobe's publishing tool remains available only for Macs, but Adobe plans to add Windows 8 support for App Builder on its product roadmap. While the design process can occur in a Windows operating system, the platform does not submit the content for publishing. The designer must submit apps on a Mac to the Apple iTunes store. The content is built into an iOS tablet application, rather than made available on the Web. All content is automatically optimized based on the iPad the content is viewed on.
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09.19.2012
HP MagCloud today announced a web-based viewer that enables publishers to bring stunning versions of their publications to life in any modern web browser on both desktop and mobile computers.
Available now, the web viewer creates an immersive experience, bringing the same compelling content customers have come to expect in HP MagCloud’s print publications to an easy-to-navigate digital format with no download required.
Readers can use the web viewer to explore, buy and read thousands of publications online through HP MagCloud. It is the first self-publishing service to offer content owners the choice to distribute a single file as a free or paid digital publication via both iPad app and web viewer, in addition to a professional-quality print option.
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09.19.2012
The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) has announced on September 18th that it is entering into a strategic partnership with The Gold Standard to explore the opportunities for future close collaboration between the two certification schemes. The announcement was made at the Annual Conference of The Gold Standard Foundation in Geneva. The partnership includes the CarbonFix Standard, which will be acquired by The Gold Standard to form their new carbon accounting module for forest carbon projects.
The parties laid down their ambitions and activities in a Memorandum of Understanding, which recognizes the FSC approach to social and environmental safeguards and the Gold Standard approach to carbon certification, respectively. The explored model for future collaboration foresees the Gold Standard build upon the global FSC Principles & Criteria for responsible forest management and will in return enable FSC to rely on The Gold Standard's robust approach to carbon accounting and benefit-sharing when FSC certified forest operations seek carbon finance.
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09.19.2012
Time Inc. is taking an active and aggressive role to combat the consistently dismal sales of the newsstand with a new integrated brand marketing campaign for the gem of its portfolio: PEOPLE magazine.
Nationwide, advertisements will run across broadcast, print, retail, digital and social media platforms in an effort to jump-start and refresh interest in the celebrity weekly. According to the most recent Fas-Fax report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations for the period ending June 30, 2012, PEOPLE sold about 940,000 single copies at retail from January to June of this year, an 18.6 percent decrease when comparing the same period in 2011.
“Certainly Time Inc. has a very important stake in what’s happening at the newsstand, so the whole company, we think, will benefit,” says Karen Kovacs, publisher of PEOPLE. “This is a full path to purchase marketing and advertising campaign so we’re leveraging television and print to reignite the emotional connection that consumers have with the brand.”
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09.19.2012
FedEx Corp. today reported earnings of $1.45 per diluted share for the first quarter ended August 31, compared to $1.46 per share last year.
“As we announced on September 4, weakness in the global economy constrained revenue growth at FedEx Express during our first quarter and affected our earnings,” said Frederick W. Smith, FedEx Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Meanwhile, our FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight segments performed well, with both improving their year-over-year operating margins. We are taking further actions to reduce costs and adjust our networks to match current and anticipated shipment volumes.”
FedEx Corp. reported the following consolidated results for the first quarter:
Revenue of $10.79 billion, up 3% from $10.52 billion the previous year
Operating income of $742 million, up 1% from $737 million last year
Operating margin of 6.9%, down from 7.0% the previous year
Net income of $459 million, down 1% from last year’s $464 million
During the quarter, improved FedEx Freight results and the continued strong performance at FedEx Ground were more than offset by lower demand for priority services at FedEx Express.
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09.19.2012
Direct marketing is about relevance and targeting. But more than half of email marketers (55%) admit that they're unable to perform any customer segmentation and end up blindly blasting the same communication to every email address, according to a study released today by email intelligence provider Return Path.
Lack of necessary data and competitive strategies are the chief causes of this failure, according to George Bilbrey, president of Return Path. “[About] one in five emails doesn't make it into the inbox, and emailers don't know which ones,” he says. “In addition, email teams are often understaffed and don't have the ability to analyze best practices being used by their competitors.”
The New York -based company commissioned The Relevancy Group to survey more than 300 marketing executives and found that 40% of them lack the analytics to determine inbox placement rates. Nearly two thirds say that access to the right data is a challenge for their organizations, and almost a third admit that they don't know how to access the data necessary to perform a proper campaign evaluation.
One persistent problem facing email marketers is inaccurate reporting from large Internet service providers, such as Yahoo, Google, and Comcast. “Things are changing at mailbox providers. Some are filtering emails at the individual user level,” Bilbrey points out. “Say two people are receiving the same newsletter and one always opens it and the other rarely does. The latter person's email might now show up in the junk mail folder and the sender has no way of knowing it.”
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09.19.2012
Do Not Track (DNT) support is well under way at Google and will be available by the end of the year on its Chrome browser. Following suit of browsers Yahoo and Microsoft, Google's latest development is in response to the White House, FTC, and DAA's cry for consumer control and transparency with the use and collection of Internet consumer data.
“We undertook to honor an agreement on DNT that the industry reached with the White House early this year. To that end, we're making this setting visible in our Chromium developer channel, so that it will be available in upcoming versions of Chrome by year's end,” says a Google spokesperson.
“Google is to be commended for joining the other major browsers in endorsing Do Not Track,” says FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz. “That's a major victory for consumers who want and deserve choice about where their personal information is going. Once we see a compromise that provides meaningful limits on collecting consumer data, the Do Not Track option will be all but complete.”
Google originally announced its intent to support a DNT system back in February; yet, Altimeter Group principal analyst Alan Webber says Google was “dragging its feet” due to the search leader's business model.
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09.19.2012
Federal district judge Denise Cote has preliminarily approved (PDF) the states’ $69 million ebook pricing settlement with Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster.
The settlement covers all the states except Minnesota, and five territories including Washington, D.C.
Consumers will be notified within 30 days if they are eligible for a small payment, but they won’t receive the actual payments until next year. That’s because Judge Cote also approved a “fairness hearing,” to be held on February 8, 2013 in New York. (I’ll attend this hearing.) The hearing will “consider the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy of the Settlements, the dismissal with prejudice of this action to the Defendants, and the entry of final judgment in this action.”
Consumers who oppose the settlement can speak at the hearing if they file a notice with the court by December 19, 2012.
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09.19.2012
Oil rebounded from the lowest close in more than two weeks in New York amid speculation that Japan’s expanded program of monetary easing may bolster fuel demand in the world’s third-biggest crude user.
Futures advanced as much as 0.9 percent after the Bank of Japan (8301) said it will increase its asset-purchase fund to 55 trillion yen ($697 billion) from 45 trillion yen. The BOJ joins the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank in taking steps to stimulate the economy. New-home construction in the U.S. probably rose in August to the highest level in almost four years, showing residential real estate is recovering.
“The BOJ has followed the Fed with another bout of stimulus, increasing its asset-buying program, giving commodities a lift,” said Robert Montefusco, a senior broker at Sucden Financial Ltd. in London.
Oil for October delivery gained as much as 88 cents to $96.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $95.56 at 10:26 a.m. London time. The contract slid $1.33 yesterday to $95.29, the lowest close since Aug. 30, and has dropped 4.2 percent since this month’s intraday high of $100.42 on Sept. 14.
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09.18.2012
Boldly moving into the digital age of direct marketing, Segerdahl Group has undergone a full-scale identity shift. Launched today, the new SG360° is bringing “empirical direct marketing solutions” to the marketplace with cutting-edge services and capabilities, including a proprietary customer analytics model.
“This is not just a name and logo change,” said Rick Joutras, CEO. “We are fundamentally changing the way we approach our business and the things we do every day to help our customers make deeper connections with their customers. As we are witnessing the industry under distress, we are redefining our approach to business and our peoples’ passion and dedication will make it happen.”
Joutras adds, “We couldn’t be more energized to take this momentous step at improving our company’s capabilities, broadening the industry, and helping our clients reach their full sales potential.”
SG360° stands on three foundational pillars: BRANDIRECTions, IMPRESSions and EXPRESSions. This operational trifecta unites traditional expertise with cutting-edge resources and new media savvy, allowing direct marketers to communicate with individual customers on a more personal level than ever before.
Under SG360° BRANDIRECTions, direct marketing solutions are optimized from start to finish through services that include national online testing panels, behavioral segmentation, predictive modeling and lifecycle integration. These proprietary analytics will be present at every phase of the SG360° operation.
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09.18.2012
Ropak Packaging has received a patent for the Diamond Weave Technology incorporated in its latest line of rigid plastic containers. Diamond Weave Technology is designed to achieve significant source reduction, reduction in overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and lower packaging costs.
Diamond Weave Technology is Ropak's next generation of product and is aimed at moving forward its successful retail container market profile. The technology uses an innovative diamond lattice structure on the internal surface of the container to give it added structural strength. When coupled with polypropylene resin, significantly less plastic is required to manufacture the container, while maintaining stack strength performance. This lightweighting results in fewer GHG emissions and less energy use in manufacturing the product, and minimizes the generation of waste.
Ropak launched its Diamond Weave containers in 2008. The idea was conceived in response to their top customers' needs for taking a proven, successful retail package and making it more affordable and more sustainable – while still providing the same robust performance as that of the heavier standard package. In 2010, Ropak received an AmeriStar Award for its innovative technology.
Diamond Weave containers are offered in a variety of shapes – round, square and rectangular – and a range of sizes from 0.6 to 5.3-gallons. Tens of millions of containers have already been successfully commercialized in a variety of markets, in both food and non-food applications.
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09.18.2012
Pactiv LLC has announced plans to expand its Corsicana, Texas operation by building a new, state-of-the-art 150,000 sq. ft. addition to its existing facility. This plant will be the second site within Pactiv’s vast global network to manufacture Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) cups and containers and will bring over 200 new jobs to the community. Groundbreaking is slated for November 2012, with operations commencing mid to late-2013. “The market demand for EPS cups is strong and this will be a great addition to Pactiv’s existing, multi-material offering,” said President and CEO John McGrath. “Our customers will benefit from the opportunity to get a broader assortment of products from us.” Pactiv already operates an EPS cup facility in Bollingbrook, IL. The Corsicana operation will supplement this effort by producing the same high-quality EPS products. About Pactiv LLC Pactiv is the world’s largest producer of food service disposables and food packaging operating 55 manufacturing plants in seven countries.
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09.18.2012
Pactiv LLC today announced the purchase of the stock of International Tray Pads & Packaging, Inc. International Tray Pads is based in Aberdeen, North Carolina and manufacturers a line of absorbent products used in fresh packed point of purchase meat, fish, poultry, and produce. The absorbent products produced by International Tray Pads can be found worldwide in such markets as the United States, Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. “Our acquisition of International Tray Pads further expands our product offering and value proposition in the Supermarket and Processor segments of our business,” said Pactiv CEO and President, John McGrath. “Offering product solutions that combine multiple materials continues to be an area of high focus for Pactiv as it provides our customers with new packaging options.” Pactiv is the world’s largest producer of food packaging disposables and food packaging operating 55 manufacturing plants in seven countries. With over 12,000 employees, Pactiv makes and sells products used in the foodservice, supermarket, and food packaging markets.
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09.18.2012
Mohawk is pleased to announce that its employees have once again reached significant safety milestones.
As of Thursday, August 30, 2012, Mohawk’s Saybrook, Ohio, converting center and warehouse operation has achieved over eight years without a lost time injury. This means that employees at this facility have not had an injury that resulted in days away from work since August of 2004.
“Mohawk’s Saybrook facility also received two awards at the Pulp and Paper Safety Association’s (PPSA) Annual Awards Banquet this past June,” according to Ed Corlew, Manager of Health, Safety and Security. “The first, ‘NO OSHA Recordables,’ was for completing a full calendar year without experiencing an OSHA Recordable Injury and the second, ‘Best One Year Safety Record,’ for having the best record within the paper converting group. Now they’ve achieved another significant accomplishment.”
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09.18.2012
Departures, the 23-year-old American Express Publishing Corp. magazine going to the company's ultra-affluent Centurian and Platinum Card members, will have a 900,000 rate base in 2013. That is +2.9% from the current 875,000 and +7.1% from the 840,000 guarantee that was in place when Steve DeLuca became publisher in June 2010.
"A robust circulation is one of the truest measures of a publication's vitality, writes DeLuca in his letter to advertisers. "With a total circulation of 1,111,424 for the six-month period ending June 2012 [BPA Publisher's Statement], Departures [continues to deliver] a healthy bonus."
Also healthy are Departures' advertising pages, with 2012's +3.3% differential (through July/August) atop year-end 2011's +45%. That earned DeLuca min's 2012 Sales Team Leader of the Year honors in June.
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09.18.2012
It was a good final quarter and a good year online for The Neiman Marcus Group Inc.
In 2013 Neiman Marcus expects to launch a full-scale e-commerce site in China as a follow-up to its investment in Glamour Sales Holding Ltd, a private sales company based in Hong Kong.
For the 2012 fiscal year ended July 28, Neiman Marcus, No. 41 in the 2012 Internet Retailer Top 500, reported:
•Online sales grew year over year 16.1% to $878.8 million from $757.1 million.
•Total sales increased 8.8% to $4.35 billion from $4.00 billion in fiscal 2011. That means e-commerce accounted for nearly 35% of the retailer’s growth during the 12-month period.
•Specialty retail sales grew year over year 6.8% to $3.47 billion from $3.25 billion. Neiman Marcus didn’t breakout comparable-store sales
•Net income for the year increased 343.4% to $140.1 million from $31.6 million.
The web accounted for 20.2% of total sales compared with 18.9% in fiscal 2011.
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09.18.2012
While Apple's App store and Newsstand have been a boon for some publishers, others have found it tough to stand out from the crowd. Nomad Editions, the digital-only publisher of enthusiast titles for tablets and smartphones, is shutting down its last three titles—Uncorked, Snooth Wine Buyer's Guide and Hemmings Classic Wheels. Discoverability, it seems, is not enough to pin a business model on.
The shutdowns, first reported by Adweek, come as Nomad CEO Mark Edmiston says the company was unable to scale its subscriber base. "This whole thing has to do with discoverability, when we started out we felt like if we'd build them they'd come," he says.
Edmiston has said all along that the company's model allowed it to start and stop titles until one stuck. The apps were something of an eat-what-you-kill model for editors, who, along with contributors, made their salaries through a revenue share. The apps were independently produced by the editors, with Nomad providing the infrastructure and promotion.
Among some of the titles the company had cycled through were BodySmart (healthy living), U+ME (social networking), Wide Screen (movies), Wave Lines (surfing) and Real Eats (food and recipes)—Edmiston hired former Bon Appétit editor Barbara Fairchild to run the latter title.
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09.18.2012
Catalyst Paper announced today that it has begun a sale process for its Snowflake mill and associated assets in accordance with the US Court-approved sale and investor solicitation procedures (SISP).
The Snowflake facility is located in the foothills of the White Mountains in northeastern Arizona. The assets for sale under the sale process include the equipment and other assets associated with the paper mill, approximately 19,000 acres of land and The Apache Railway Company.
The steps and timeline for soliciting bids to purchase the Snowflake mill and associated assets will be implemented as follows:(a) an initial offering summary and confidentiality agreement will be distributed to known potential bidders on September 17, 2012;(b) potential bidders are to submit certain information and an executed confidentiality agreement not later than 5:00 p.m. (Vancouver time) on October 1, 2012;(c) qualified bidders will be determined within three business days after such potential bidders have delivered their materials;(d) qualified bidders are to submit a non-binding indication of interest not later than 5:00 p.m. (Vancouver time) on November 1, 2012 (the Phase 1 Bid Deadline);e) the non-binding indication of interest will be assessed within three business days after the Phase 1 Bid Deadline; (f) once the non-binding indication of interest has been determined to likely be consummated, the bidder will submit a purchase bid or investment bid not later than 5:00 p.m. (Vancouver time) 30 calendar days from being advised by Catalyst to do so (the Phase 2 Bid Deadline); (g) the purchase bid or investment bid will be assessed within the three business days following the Phase 2 Bid Deadline; and (h) in the event that Catalyst determines there is more than one qualified purchase bid or investment bid, an auction will be conducted on a date and at a time and location to be advised by Catalyst to such qualified bidders.
Potential bidders who have questions about the recapitalization may contact Nancy Turner of Perella Weinberg Partners, the financial advisor for Catalyst Paper, at 415-671-4550.
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09.18.2012
Oil fell after the biggest decline in two months yesterday amid speculation that a slowing U.S. economy may curb fuel demand.
Futures dropped as much as 0.7 percent in New York, extending yesterday’s 2.4 percent slip. Crude tumbled more than $3 in less than a minute yesterday as October options were about to expire. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index, known as the Empire State Index, fell to a three-year low. The government reiterated that it is considering ways to prevent oil prices from curbing economic growth.
“Markets had been lifted by stimulus euphoria and were brought down by a very disappointing Empire State report,” Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodity analyst at SEB AB, said by phone from Oslo. “The market remains bearish today.”
Oil for October delivery fell as much as 64 cents to $95.98 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $96.29 at 11:11 a.m. London time.
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09.18.2012
Stora Enso has signed an agreement to establish a joint venture called Bulleh Shah Packaging (Private) Limited with Packages Ltd. of Pakistan. Stora Enso’s initial shareholding will be 35% with a commitment to increase the shareholding at the agreed value to 50% at a later stage subject to certain conditions being met. The joint venture will include the operations of the Kasur mill and Karachi plant currently owned by Packages Ltd.
The joint venture will to a large extent provide packaging products to key local and international customers in the fast-growing Pakistani market. The joint venture will employ about 950 people and its sales are forecast to be USD 130 million (EUR 99 million) in 2012.
The agreed value for 100% of the joint-venture company is approximately USD 108 million (EUR 83 million) on a cash and debt free basis. The total consideration can be up to USD 125 million (EUR 96 million), including an additional maximum performance compensation based on the financial results of the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2013. As part of the agreement, both parties are committed to a substantial USD 135 million (EUR 103 million) investment programme during 2013 and 2014 to develop the business further. The joint venture is EPS accretive and will over time after the new investments exceed Stora Enso’s ROCE target of 13%.
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09.18.2012
Sonoco today announced that it has been selected as sector leader in the U.S. Container & Packaging category of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for 2012-2013. DJSI World is comprised of the top 10 percent best-in-class economic, environmental and social performers among the world's 2,500 largest companies in 58 different sectors.
"Sonoco strives to be an industry leader in sustainability, so it's gratifying that we have been selected as our industry's leader for the second year in a row," said Harris E. DeLoach Jr., chairman and chief executive officer. "One of the ways in which we measure our sustainability efforts is through the annual review and listing of DJSI World. Sonoco has been listed on the index for four consecutive years, which we believe confirms that we are on the right track in the way we develop products for our customers and in adopting sustainable business practices."
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09.18.2012
MeadWestvaco Corporation, a global leader in packaging and packaging solutions, has been featured in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP), Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for 2012. This index highlights companies scoring in the top ten percent of the S&P 500 based on commitment to climate change disclosures and understanding of the impact of climate change-related issues. MWV scored 93 out of 100, one of only 5 companies in the materials sector to score this high and the only company in the containers and packaging category to earn a place on the index. The average score for the S&P 500 was 70.
MWV is driven to find sustainable solutions for its business and has made a commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 25 percent by 2015 (versus a 2010 baseline); currently, MWV is on target to achieve this goal. The company is installing a new, state-of-the-art biomass boiler that will burn renewable biomass, such as tree bark, wood residues and waste water residuals at its Covington paperboard facility. The new boiler will replace a coal-fired boiler and further reduce the company’s carbon footprint, cutting plant emissions by ~30 percent.
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09.17.2012
QuadWinkowski, one of Central Europe’s largest commercial printers and a subsidiary of U.S.-based printer Quad/Graphics, announced today that it has rebranded itself to Quad/Graphics. Concurrently, Winkowski Logistics will change its name to Quad Logistics Europe.
The rebranding creates uniformity across Quad/Graphics’ global print-production platform, which consists of more than 50 plants in nine counties on three continents. It also reflects the company’s world-class production and distribution capabilities, and service expertise in Europe.
“Transitioning QuadWinkowski to Quad/Graphics is an important step in strengthening our brand worldwide,” said Joel Quadracci, Chairman, President & CEO of Quad/Graphics. “We are a global company with a consistent approach to manufacturing, distribution and customer service across all our locations. QuadWinkowski has long shared our approach to timely, high-quality manufacturing and customer service as well as our appetite for innovation, and now it shares our company’s name.”
In recent years, Quad/Graphics has made significant investments in its people and platform in Poland to strengthen and expand its offering, and position itself as a leading European printer and employer. The company operates numerous sheetfed and web offset presses in a variety of cutoff lengths, complemented by a wide range of finishing equipment, giving customers maximum flexibility. Quad/Graphics is rapidly developing its media solutions offering in Europe, which will give customers the ability to drive enhanced digital experiences from print.
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09.17.2012
Pantin, France-based Sequana, which owns Arjowiggins and Antalis, announced plans to close three Arjowiggins paper mills: Dalum Papir A/S mill in Denmark (graphic papers), the Ivybridge mill in the UK (papers used for security documents, creative papers) and the Witcel mill in Argentina (creative papers).
Arjowiggins produces technical and creative papers, and Antalis is a business-to-business distributor of paper and packaging products.
About 430 employees will be affected by the closures.
"This strategy aims to consolidate the Group's positions by enhancing its production model to bring capacity into line with demand and reduce its cost structure, and by pursuing its development in emerging economies and in growth markets on the distribution side of the business," Sequana said in a statement.
The company said the particularly tough conditions the paper industry since 2008 have accelerated the fall in demand for graphic papers, with the market contracting by approximately 6% every year.
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09.17.2012
Walgreens announced plans to close more than half of the stores it is acquiring in its deal with USA Drug.
The company — which said in July it would purchase the mid-South drug store chain for approximately $438 million — confirmed it would close approximately 76 stores across the region. USA Drug operates 144 stores under the USA Drug, Super D Drug, May's Drug, Med-X and Drug Warehouse banners.
"Although we have not completed the purchase of the USA Drug chain, we are taking steps in anticipation of the completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur in mid-September," Walgreens spokesman Jim Graham said. "After careful planning and market analysis, on Monday we began to notify employees of our intent to close [the stores]. Our decisions about store closures are based on a number of considerations, including size of the market and proximity to other Walgreens and USA Drug stores and affiliates. We expect to close the stores by November."
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09.17.2012
Reader's Digest has announced that it will increase its annual frequency from 10 to 12 issues in 2013. RD published monthly from its 1922 launch until 2010, when the downsizing was part of parent Reader's Digest Association's emergence from a six-month Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that February.
This also counters nearly a year of divestiture and cost-cutting. In October 2011, RDA sold 2005 launch Every Day with Rachael Ray to Meredith Corp. (price not disclosed). Then, in January 2012, it sold Allrecipes.com to Meredith for $175 million followed by the Weekly Reader to Scholastic in February (Scholastic then ended its independent publication and combined WR into Current Events and Scholastic News/Weekly Reader).
In July, RDA sold almost all of its Lifestyle and Entertainment Direct business to Mosaic Media Investment Partners. And last month, RDA CEO (since September 2011) Robert Guth ousted Reader's Digest North America president Dan Lagani, with Guth assuming most of Lagani's responsibilities.
Not exactly lead-ins to a frequency boost. However, Guth cites the “tremendous enthusiasm for the Reader’s Digest digital editions” as the impetus behind the return the print edtion's return to being a monthly. He reports that the RD tablet and e-reader editions—which are distributed via mobile apps, the iPad, Kindle, Kindle Fire, Nook, Sony Reader and Zinio—are on pace to exceed 200,000 subscribers by year-end.
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09.17.2012
With Plegacol, Mayr-Melnhof Packaging has acquired a further leading Colombian folding carton producer located in Santiago de Cali. The company generates annual sales of approximately EUR 15 million.
Upon official authorization of this transaction operations of Plegacol and Gráficas Los Andes S.A., Cali, the largest Colombian folding carton manufacturer, in which MM Packaging already holds a 20 % shareholding and an option right to 100 %, will be concentrated to form a new Colombian market leader in folding cartons. This entity will generate sales of about EUR 30 million with around 400 employees and convert approximately 16,000 tons of cartonboard p.a.
For MM Packaging the acquisition of Plegacol constitutes already a third step into Latin America subsequent to the acquisition of the Chilean market leader Marinetti in 2010 and an interest in Gráficas Los Andes S.A earlier this year. „Our goal is to follow our customers into future markets and to create a Latin American network of highly efficient folding carton plants, which we will develop according to best practice of the MM Group“, outlines CEO Wilhelm Hoermanseder the long term strategy.
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09.17.2012
Contending that forcing small web-only retailers to collect sales tax “is unfair, unwise and will undermine innovation,” the newly formed We R Here coalition formally launched this week as a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group for small merchants opposed to laws requiring them to collect sales tax.
The group’s formation comes at a time when there are multiple bills in Congress designed to overturn existing federal law that says states can only mandate sales tax collection by businesses with an in-state physical presence, such as stores or distribution centers. Those bills are supported by large retail chains and Amazon.com Inc., who contend that all types of retailers should have to collect sales tax to create a “level playing field” among merchants. States—there are 45 plus the District of Columbia that have a state sales tax—also support the legislation as a way to recover what the University of Tennessee estimates will be a shortfall of $23 billion this year in tax revenue because of tax uncollected on web and catalog sales.
The We R Here coalition, whose supporters include eBay Inc., has compiled a membership of nearly 1,000 retailers since forming a month ago, Phil Bond, the group’s executive director, said in a webcast Wednesday announcing the coalition. “We want to make policy makers know we are here,” Bond said, and “make sure they are aware of the critical role small web-enabled retailers play in today’s modern economy.”
He added: “It is not the job of small businesses to collect taxes for state and local governments where they don’t live, don’t have a business presence, and don’t receive government services.” Bond is a former undersecretary for technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce and a former president of TechAmerica, an advocacy group for technology industries.
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09.17.2012
Oil traded near a four-month high before reports that may show economic growth in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude user, is gaining strength.
Futures were little changed in New York after surging as high as $100.42 a barrel on Sept. 14 as the Federal Reserve pledged to start buying U.S. mortgage securities in a third round of quantitative easing. New home construction and sales of previously owned houses rose in August, economists said before U.S. data due Sept. 19. Current crude prices aren’t a threat to the world economy, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran’s governor to OPEC, was cited as saying on the Oil Ministry’s news website.
“The recovery in the U.S. was already in progress but will be accelerated by QE3,” said Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Jefferies Bache Ltd. in London, who predicts Brent crude will advance to $120 a barrel this month.
Oil for October delivery was at $98.80 a barrel, down 20 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 11 a.m. London time.
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09.17.2012
WSJ. magazine will increase its frequency starting next year. The magazine, which is part of WSJ Weekend, will publish 11 issues in 2013, up from 10 this year. The frequency will grow to 12 issues starting in 2014.
WSJ., which debuted as a quarterly publication in September 2008, has a global circulation of more than 1.6 million.
Since its launch, the publication has added 143 advertisers to The Wall Street Journal, including fashion, financial, real estate and technology companies.
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09.17.2012
In connection with the planned restart of the Port Hawkesbury paper mill, Pacific West Commercial Corporation (“PWCC”) and Nova Scotia Power Inc. (“NSPI”) have been informed by the Canada Revenue Agency that it will be unable at this time to provide the requested advance income tax ruling, which is a condition to the completion of the transaction.
PWCC has an agreement in principle with the Government of the Province of Nova Scotia regarding ways to mitigate the impact of not having the tax ruling, so that the mill can be restarted on a sound financial basis, and without NSPI becoming a shareholder. The restart will require amendments to the existing UARB approval to reflect the absence of a tax ruling, but PWCC will not be seeking any concessions with respect to the otherwise approved tariff. PWCC recognizes the importance of the mill restart to employees, customers and all other stakeholders and expects that all required approvals will be in place for a successful restart of production before the end of September. The process for ramping up to restart is continuing as planned, with 150 people on site. A further public announcement will be issued as soon as all outstanding matters are finalized.
PennWell acquires Elsevier Public Safety Group
PennWell Corporation has acquired the Elsevier Public Safety Group, which includes JEMS (Journal of Emergency Medical Services) magazine, its website, JEMS.com, its show, EMS Today Conference & Exposition, and its newsletter, EMS Insider. The acquisition also includes FireRescue magazine, FirefighterNation.com, FireEMSblogs.com, Law Officer magazine, LawOfficer.com and the publishing contract for APCO’s Public Safety Communications magazine.
The Elsevier Public Safety Group's staff and management, including Vice President and Publisher Jeff Berend, will join PennWell and report to Lyle Hoyt, senior vice president and group publisher of PennWell's Fire and Dental Groups. Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
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