Rockdale - CITIZEN I Business

Business Headlines
Jason Lange opened Olde Town Fitness in January 1 Comment Last Updated: 11:18 AM 02/25/10 - If you live or work in Olde Town Conyers and just don’t have the time to trek across town to the gym, Olde Town Fitness might be an option for you. (Full Story)
Stress reduction clinic for small businesses to be offered in Covington Be the first to comment Last Updated: 11:19 AM 02/25/10 - Two local companies, Transformational Therapy Services and Solucion Consulting, both of Covington, have teamed up to help small businesses address issues of stress management and business strategy. (Full Story)
IN BRIEF: Kroger raises money for Rock Eagle 4-H Center Cabin Campaign Be the first to comment Last Updated: 11:20 AM 02/25/10 - Now through March 13 Kroger customers can purchase a $1 or $5 paper icon at any Kroger cash register throughout Georgia to benefit the Rock Eagle 4-H Center Cabin Campaign. (Full Story)
Georgia Work Ready success reviewed at Solo Cup Be the first to comment Last Updated: 10:06 AM 02/25/10 - The oversight board of Georgia’s Work Ready Program met at the Conyers Solo Cup facility to review how the program has worked at Solo Cup as they continue to find ways to expand the employment enrichment initiative. (Full Story)
SMITH: When workers are happy, the company performs better Be the first to comment Last Updated: 6:54 PM 01/20/10 - The new realities of this economy have challenged business executives at all levels. Uncertainties about the economic recovery, increasing government involvement, rising health care costs and the motivation of the workforce have placed management in a complicated and tenuous situation. (Full Story)
More Headlines

Some nurses paid more than doctors
Despite the growing shortage of family doctors in the United States, medical centers last year offered higher salaries and incentives to specialist nurses than to primary care doctors, according to an annual survey of physicians' salaries.
Stocks manage gains
Stocks gained Thursday, erasing earlier losses to lift the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to 18-month highs, as investors eyed the day's jobs and trade news and the direction of the U.S. dollar.
Exxon banks on pricey oil projects
Exxon Mobil outlined plans Thursday that rely heavily on oil from tough to reach places, extracting it from the depths of the ocean, the frozen Arctic and the tar sands in Canada's frozen tundra.
Saved GM dealer: 'I don't know what to expect'
The 661 axed auto dealers General Motors is offering to reinstate aren't ready to pop the champagne just yet. They're still waiting to find out about the terms they'll have to meet to regain their franchises.
Motor City bashes GM CEO
GM's chairman and CEO is finding out what it is like to work in a fishbowl
GMAC: The scariest zombie
Now that Citigroup and AIG are rolling in the bucks, GMAC is looking like the most egregious zombie bank of them all.

GM dealer limbo: 'I don't know what to expect'
The 661 axed auto dealers General Motors is offering to reinstate aren't ready to pop the champagne just yet. They're still waiting to find out about the terms they'll have to meet to regain their franchises.
Exxon's growing reliance on expensive oil
Exxon Mobil outlined plans Thursday that rely heavily on oil from tough to reach places, extracting it from the depths of the ocean, the frozen Arctic and the tar sands in Canada's frozen tundra.
Brighter outlook for international airlines
The international airline business is improving, said an industry group Thursday, and while losses are still expected for 2010, they should be half the size previously forecast.
Citi's Pandit aims for $20 billion in profits
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit offered a bold outlook for his troubled firm Thursday, saying he hoped his company would soon be able to deliver profits of approximately $20 billion.
GMAC: The scariest zombie
Now that Citigroup and AIG are rolling in the bucks, GMAC is looking like the most egregious zombie bank of them all.
Treasury missed chances to save on GMAC bailout - panel
The Treasury Department did not adequately consider all options when bailing out troubled finance company GMAC and could have better protected taxpayers' money, according to a report released Thursday.

Exxon's growing reliance on expensive oil
Exxon Mobil outlined plans Thursday that rely heavily on oil from tough to reach places, extracting it from the depths of the ocean, the frozen Arctic and the tar sands in Canada's frozen tundra.
Some nurses paid more than family doctors
Despite the growing shortage of family doctors in the United States, medical centers last year offered higher salaries and incentives to specialist nurses than to primary care doctors, according to an annual survey of physicians' salaries.
Trying to flunk banks out of college
President Obama has been waging a war with banks over who gets to dole out cheap student loans backed by the federal government.
Households recovering from economic freefall
The net worth of American households increased slightly during the final three months of 2009, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.
Financial reform bill coming from Democrats
Senate Democrats on banking panel plan to release and start working on a financial overhaul bill next week, without Republican support.
Why the U.S. can't inflate its way out of debt
It's dawning on people that getting a handle on burgeoning U.S. debt will be a long and hard process.

Exxon's growing reliance on expensive oil
Exxon Mobil outlined plans Thursday that rely heavily on oil from tough to reach places, extracting it from the depths of the ocean, the frozen Arctic and the tar sands in Canada's frozen tundra.
Salvaged GM dealers in limbo
The 661 axed auto dealers General Motors is offering to reinstate aren't ready to pop the champagne just yet. They're still waiting to find out about the terms they'll have to meet to regain their franchises.
Finally! Good news from credit card industry
Recently card holders have seen interest rates increase, new and higher fees. and fewer reward programs.
Some nurses paid more than family doctors
Despite the growing shortage of family doctors in the United States, medical centers last year offered higher salaries and incentives to specialist nurses than to primary care doctors, according to an annual survey of physicians' salaries.
GMAC: The scariest zombie
Now that Citigroup and AIG are rolling in the bucks, GMAC is looking like the most egregious zombie bank of them all.
Citi's Pandit aims for $20 billion in profits
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit offered a bold outlook for his troubled firm Thursday, saying he hoped his company would soon be able to deliver profits of approximately $20 billion.

The wrong way to pick funds
Photographer friends tell me that if you're picking out a point-and-shoot camera you shouldn't focus much on the megapixels. That measure of a camera's resolution is hyped by manufacturers, but most cameras on the market give you all the pixels you'll need.
Mr. Distress is ready to buy
Whether it's steel, textiles, or auto manufacturing, Wilbur Ross has built a lucrative career finding gold in industries left for dead.
Why diversification will work again
Diversification, the notion of spreading your investments among different baskets of assets that don't rise and fall in unison, has long been considered one of the safest and surest moves you can make with your portfolio. After all, if any one basket falls apart, most of your brood should remain intact.
Can Vanguard Wellington keep running?
Vanguard Wellington is a throwback. Before mutual funds became specialized, so-called balanced funds like this -- which invests in both stocks and bonds -- were core holdings you could feel comfortable putting most of your money into.
3 ways to find value in a pricey market
A year ago, when all sorts of investments -- stocks, bonds, commodities -- were being tossed on the scrap heap, dyed-in-the-wool bargain hunters who had the courage to sift through the market's ruins were richly rewarded.
Digging for opportunities in gold
Having lived through bubbles in technology stocks and real estate, many investors have grown nervous lately about gold. Its price quadrupled in the past decade to a record $1,227 an ounce in December, before falling back near $1,100. Hedge fund legend George Soros, for example, recently warned that "the ultimate asset bubble is gold." Others, by contrast, cling to it as the ultimate safe haven in a period of wrenching economic uncertainty.

Living on a freelancer's budget
Chris and Janie Peterson have an enviable life. They own a lovely 3½-bedroom ranch house just outside Minneapolis and have work schedules flexible enough to allow them lots of time with their children, Reece, 10, Cecily, 9, and Georgio, 7.
Financial advice: The yes-man problem
Experts have long counseled against using financial planners who charge commissions, given their incentive to simply sell products that pad their paychecks.
12 ways to cut your taxes
The bright spot of the dreary 2009 economy: savings for everyone.
Hunkering down for rising interest rates
Question: I'm 65, retired and have about 50% of my portfolio in a bond index fund. I'm thinking of switching to a short-term bond fund. Do you think that's a good idea? --Judy, Flowery Branch, Georgia
Money's new More Money blog
The wrong way to pick funds
Photographer friends tell me that if you're picking out a point-and-shoot camera you shouldn't focus much on the megapixels. That measure of a camera's resolution is hyped by manufacturers, but most cameras on the market give you all the pixels you'll need.

Stocks manage gains
Stocks gained Thursday, erasing earlier losses to lift the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to 18-month highs, as investors eyed the day's jobs and trade news and the direction of the U.S. dollar.
Long-term debt prices rise after auction
Long-term U.S. debt prices rose Thursday after a government auction of $13 billion in 30-year bonds.
Oil inches higher
Oil prices eked out gains Thursday, as the risk of an overheated Chinese economy and higher continuing jobless claims stifled traders.
Dollar mixed after jobs, trade data
The dollar slipped against the euro and the pound Thursday but rose against the yen as investors digested mixed U.S. economic news.
Citi, AIG, Fannie and Freddie: The Not Fab 4
Investors had a funny way of commemorating the first anniversary of the market's bottom on Tuesday. They rewarded some of the stocks responsible for most of the problems in the first place.
Airline stocks take off
Airline stocks rallied Wednesday, riding a wave of investor sentiment that 2010 is shaping into a profitable year for the industry, experts say.

GM dealer limbo: 'I don't know what to expect'
The 661 axed auto dealers General Motors is offering to reinstate aren't ready to pop the champagne just yet. They're still waiting to find out about the terms they'll have to meet to regain their franchises.
Recall mania!
The embarrassment suffered by Toyota is likely to have a bracing effect on other automakers causing a potential tsunami of recalls, industry sources say.
Welcome to Detroit, Mr. Whitacre
GM's chairman and CEO is finding out what it is like to work in a fishbowl
Driving the Volt past the limit
Drained of its battery power, the Volt finally reveals how it performs when running on gasoline.
Driving deaths plunge, fewest since 1954
The U.S. Department of Transportation said Thursday that traffic fatalities in 2009 reached their lowest level since 1954.
Forget Toyota. Chrysler's got the most problems.
The car company that is off to the worst start of 2010 isn't Toyota. It's Chrysler Group.

Foreclosures leveling off
The national foreclosure rate fell 2% in February from a month earlier, according to an industry report released Thursday, the latest sign that the pace of foreclosures is slowing.
Green homes face a red light
Lots of people, especially those trying to battle high utility bills, believe in energy-efficient homebuilding.
America's most overvalued cities
Don't say we didn't warn you.
Can't make your mortgage? Get an emergency loan
Erin and Robert Smith had no problem handling the $2,000 monthly payment on their home ... until they lost their jobs.
Rush Limbaugh wants $14 million for his NYC penthouse
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is saying adios to the Big Apple and selling his Fifth Avenue penthouse, asking almost $14 million.
Foreclosures: How bad is your state?

Salvaged GM dealers in limbo
The 661 axed auto dealers General Motors is offering to reinstate aren't ready to pop the champagne just yet. They're still waiting to find out about the terms they'll have to meet to regain their franchises.
Can you learn to be an entrepreneur?
Gregg Fairbrothers wasn't born to business. He grew up in an academic household. "I didn't know a debit from a credit," he admits. Fairbrothers studied earth sciences at Dartmouth in the '70s, got his master's at Rutgers, and eventually moved to Tulsa, where he joined Samson, a gas driller, and earned his chops at the right hand of the company's "hard-nosed founder." He picked up an MBA, but that was "just to get the toolkit," he says. "I learned my business on the job."
Frothy sales for craft beers
Turns out booze isn't recession-proof.
Cult soda maker sold off cheap
Jones Soda, the struggling maker of cult-favorite soft drinks, has agreed to be acquired by rival Reed's at a deep discount in a deal worth just shy of $10 million, the companies said Tuesday.
IdeaPaint all over your office walls
In 2002, a group of Babson College entrepreneurship students ran out of room on their whiteboard. They had spent hours brainstorming new business possibilities, and the sudden space crunch threatened to cramp their creativity.
GM offers 661 dealers a reprive
Shuttered General Motors dealers hoping to get their business back should stay near the phone. General Motors is in the process of calling 661 dealers targeted for shutdown to offer them their franchises back, company executives said Friday afternoon.
Next tech goldmine: Medical records
When Dr. Bradley Block, a family physician in Florida, began to investigate electronic medical record systems for his four-doctor practice, he discovered that many of the largest firms in the field were not particularly interested in his business.

Slowly, Americans are regaining their lost wealth
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans are recovering their shrunken wealth - gradually. Household net worth rose last quarter, mainly because the healing economy boosted stock portfolios. But the gain was slight. And it was less than in the previous two quarters....
Citigroup CEO says bank on path to profitability
NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup Inc. says it's heading back toward sustained profitability after two years that saw the bank lose billions of dollars and be bailed out by the government....
Gov't may seek more authority on vehicle safety
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government vehicle safety regulators may seek greater authority to investigate defects in cars and trucks and are weighing a range of new safety requirements in response to Toyota's recall of more than 8 million vehicles over brake and acceleration problems....
Stocks climb for 3rd day as financial shares rise
NEW YORK (AP) -- A rally in financial stocks Thursday helped the market extend its grind higher to a third day....
Protests mar groundbreaking for NJ Nets' NYC arena
NEW YORK (AP) -- Officials broke ground Thursday on a much-delayed 22-acre development project that will bring the NBA's New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn....
Trade deficit shrinks as auto and oil imports drop
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in January, reflecting a big drop in imports of oil and foreign cars. American exports also fell, a potential blow to hopes that the economic recovery will be aided this year by U.S. sales abroad....
Feds pledge tough review of Comcast-NBC deal
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators are pledging rigorous reviews of Comcast Corp.'s proposed purchase of NBC Universal to ensure that it would not stifle competition or harm consumers....
BP to pay $7 billion for Devon exploration rights
LONDON (AP) -- BP is expanding its dominant oil and gas operations in the Gulf Mexico and dropping anchor off Brazil with a $7 billion deal to buy exploration rights from Devon Energy....
Greece hit by strikes, clashes over austerity plan
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Clashes between riot police and rock-throwing, masked youths broke out during a demonstration Thursday in central Athens by tens of thousands of striking workers protesting austerity measures that the Greek government has said it has no choice but to implement....
SEC head urges Congress to act on derivatives
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government's top securities regulator is calling anew for Congress to impose new oversight on financial derivatives, warning that allowing risky instruments like credit default swaps to continue unfettered could bring new economic damage....

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	Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce
	Covington-Newton Chamber of Commerce
	U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)