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July 2008
Chesapeake loses $1.65 billion
Chesapeake Energy Corp., among the biggest natural gas producers in the U.S. and a major player in the East Texas and Northwest Louisiana natural fields, on Thursday reported that losses on energy hedges in a volatile market pushed its second-quarter results into the red, offsetting strong gains on the production side of its business.
For the three months ended June 30, Chesapeake posted a loss of $1.65 billion, or $3.17 a share. The company had net income of $492 million, or $1.01 a share, a year earlier.
Revenue from second-quarter gas sales rose to $2.23 billion from $1.2 billion.
The latest quarter includes a $2.06 billion non-cash mark-to-market loss on energy and interest rate hedges triggered by sharply higher gas and oil prices. The company, which prefers to hedge most of its output, said that as of July 31 it had hedged 82 percent of its third-quarter gas production at $8.90 per thousand cubic feet.
Chesapeake, if it excluded one-time items, earned $479 million, or 89 cents a share in the quarter, up 40 percent from a year ago.
During the second quarter, Chesapeake’s natural-gas production averaged the equivalent of 2.33 billion cubic feet a day, up 25 percent from 1.87 billion in the year-ago period. Gas accounted for 92 percent of the company’s total hydrocarbon output in both periods, with associated oil output making up the rest.
The company is aggressively developing vast natural-gas reserves trapped in shale formations in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Appalachia. The company has been rapidly moving forward with production in the Haynesville Shale formation in the Ark-La-Tex.
The company estimates its proven reserves at the equivalent of 12.2 trillion cubic feet of gas, with 1.3 trillion added in the first six months of the year.
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Trinity shares bounce upward
Shares of Trinity Industries Inc. rose Thursday after the industrial manufacturer reported second-quarter earnings that topped expectations on Wall Street, and it raised its outlook for the year.
Shares rose $3.04, or 98.6 percent, to $38.35 in afternoon trading. The stock has changed hands between $21.91 and $41.15 in the past year.
The Dallas-based company, which makes products such as railroad cars and wind turbines, earned $85.6 million, or $1.06 per share, up 25 percent from $68.7 million, or 85 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. The company has several Longview area plants and employs about 1,300.
Revenue increased by 6 percent to $945.5 million, from $892.6 million a year earlier.
Sales were led by Trinity’s energy equipment group, which reported a 58 percent jump in revenue from a year earlier.
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SWEPCO parent reports 56% jump in earnings
American Electric Power, the parent company of SWEPCO, says its second quarter earnings rose 56 percent from a year ago when it recorded a $79 million charge to pay refunds to customers in Virginia.
Columbus, Ohio-based AEP said Thursday that it made $281 million, or 70 cents per share, for the quarter ended June 30 compared with a profit of $180 million, or 45 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 13 percent to $3.5 billion from $3.1 billion a year ago.
AEP supplies electricity to about 5 million customers in 11 states, including East Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas
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Trinity Industries reports 24 percent jump in earnings
Trinity Industries, Inc.on Wednesday reported net income for the second quarter of 2008 was $85.6 million, or $1.06 per common diluted share compared with net income of $68.7 million, or $0.85 per common diluted share for the same quarter a year ago.
With Longview area operations employing more than 1,300, the company’s second quarter earnings increased 25 percent over the same quarter in 2007.
Revenues for the second quarter of 2008 were $945.5 million compared with revenues of $892.6 million for the same quarter of 2007.
Trinity’s rail division, of which its Longview area operations are a part, shipped approximately 6,580 railcars and received firm orders for approximately 7,430 railcars during the second quarter.
As of June 30, Trinity’s order backlog totaled approximately $2.4 billion, representing approximately 28,680 railcars, compared to a railcar order backlog at June 30, 2007 of approximately $2.8 billion, representing approximately 33,880 railcars.
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Mama Moose returns
Mama Moose, an eatery located at 2718 Gilmer Road, recently reopened with new management and soon-to-be extended hours.
The restaurant was closed for several weeks but reopened July 7 with chef Jeff Tolar and veteran East Texas restaurateur Alan Akana in charge. Starting Monday, Mama Moose will be open for dinner, they said.
Hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tolar brings several years of kitchen experience to the location where quiche, sandwiches, salads, desserts and a daily special will be offered.
Daily specials might include chicken spaghetti, meatloaf, chicken and dumplings and a number of other home-style favorites, they said.
For information, Mama Moose can be reached at (903) 297-7950.
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New bank coming to West Loop 281
The construction work going on at 1720 W. Loop 281 next to the Chick-fil-A at Loop 281 and Gilmer Road is for a new Chase Bank branch.
The branch will have three drive-through lanes, have a building with about 4,200 square feet and has a construction value of about $1.08 million.
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Former Longview retailer files bankruptcy
Mervyns on Wednesday announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware to restructure the company’s debt and re-align its business operations.
The company operated a Longview store at Loop 281 and Judson Road where Burlington Coat Factory Outlet is now located. Mervyns exited the Longview market several years ago in an earlier round of cutbacks.
Mervyns said its 176 stores will remain open and business will continue as the company moves through the bankruptcy process.
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Pilgrim’s shares jump after earnings report
While Pittsburg-based Pilgrim’s Pride announced a quarterly loss of nearly $53 million on Tuesday the news was not as bad as industry analysts predicted.
The news sent the company’s stock climbing by midday. In early afternoon trading, Pilgrim’s shares were trading at $14.31 each, up by about 17.5 percent, or $2.14 a share from Monday’s close of $12.17.
According to wire reports, analysts speculated the U.S. chicken producer has been successful in raising meat prices to partially offset more expensive feed.
The company reported a loss of nearly $53 million versus a year-earlier profit. Minus one-time items, the loss would have been $48.3 million, compared with an average trade forecast for a loss of nearly $92 million.
“They must have been able to get better terms on their contracts or else they are getting more efficient. It is very surprising,” Ann Gilpin, a food industry analyst with Morningstar, said of the smaller-than-expected loss.
In addition to raising prices, Pilgrim’s has reduced chicken production, closed or consolidated plants and laid off workers.
The price of important feeds such as corn and soybean meal spiked this year because of flooding in key crop areas of the U.S. Midwest. In addition, corn has been in demand by livestock producers, exporters and the makers of ethanol.
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LeTourneau inks $74 million contract
Rowan Companies on Tuesday announced today that its wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary, Longview-based LeTourneau Technologies, has entered into a contract with Weatherford Drilling International to construct four new 2,000 horsepower land drilling rigs for $74.4 million.
Construction is expected to start immediately with delivery of the first land rig in the third quarter of 2008. The contract and should be completed by July of 2009, according to Danny McNease, chair, president and CEO of Rowan.
LeTourneau Technologies will assemble the land rigs from its Jebel Ali, Dubai yard, located in the United Arab Emirates.
“We are pleased that Weatherford has involved LTI in the growth of their integrated land drilling business,” McNease said in a prepared statement. “This latest contract helps confirm LTI’s growing global position and commitment to delivering quality equipment on time.”
Rowan is a major provider of international and domestic offshore contract drilling services. The company’s manufacturing division, LeTourneau Technologies, produces equipment for the drilling, mining and timber industries.
LeTourneau has more than 1,100 employees at its Longview plant.
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Alcatel-Lucent executives to step down
Alcatel-Lucent said Tuesday that Chairman Serge Tchuruk and CEO Pat Russo are stepping down.
The Paris-based telecommunications giant has offices worldwide, including a location in Longview where officials said about 185 people are employed. The company employs approximately 2,100 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Bill Miller, director of operations for Alcatel-Lucent in Longview, said the company plans to increase local employment levels to between 200 and 210 in coming months. The local plant produces microwave telecommunications equipment and will be adding production of specialized equipment to strengthen communications signals for satellite radio.
Tchuruk is stepping down on Oct. 1. Russo has agreed to lead the company until a new CEO is appointed.
“The merger phrase is now behind us,” said Tchuruk. “I am proud that Alcatel-Lucent has become a world leader in a technology which is transforming our society.”
Tchuruk said it is time the company acquires a personality of its own, independent from its two predecessors, Alcatel and Lucent.
The executive changes were announced on the same day the telecommunications company reported another quarter of net losses.
For the three months ended June 30, Alcatel-Lucent posted $222 million in net losses, or 16 cents per diluted share, on revenues of $4.1 billion. That compares to a net loss of $336 million, or 20 cents per diluted share, during the second quarter of 2007, on revenues of $4.3 billion.
The company’s total revenue dropped 5.2 percent between the second quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2008.
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U.S. Steel profit doubles
United States Steel says its profit more than doubled in the second quarter, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations, on increased demand and pricing.
The Pittsburgh-based steel company says it earned $668 million, or $5.65 per share, compared with $302 million, or $2.54 per share, in the year-ago period.
U.S. Steel operates the former Lone Star Technologies/Lone Star Steel plant north of Longview, which it acquired in 2007.
The company said revenue increased 60 percent to $6.74 billion from $4.23 billion in the second quarter of last year, setting another company record.
U.S. Steel says substantial price increases across all three of its business segments outpaced increases in raw material costs.
The news sent the company’s stock soaring in Tuesday morning trading. U.S. Steel was trading at $166.63, up 14 percent or more than $21 a share from Monday’s close of $145.33. U.S. Steel has traded between $74.41 and $196.00 a share over the past year.
John Surma, chairman and CEO, said he expects the company’s results to remain favorable.
“We expect another excellent quarter with continued earnings improvement as price increases implemented during the second quarter and early in the third quarter are expected to improve average realized prices for each of our reportable segments,” Surma said in a prepared statement.
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Pilgrim’s notches $52 million quarterly loss
Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation on Tuesday reported a net loss of $52.78 million for the third quarter putting its losses for the past nine months at $193.5 million.
The loss of 75 cents per share compares with a net profit of $64.6 million, or 94 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2007. Pilgrim’s reported its earnings prior to the opening of markets on Tuesday.
The Pittsburg-headquartered company reported net sales of $2.2 billion for the third fiscal quarter ended June 28. For the third quarter of fiscal 2007, the company reported total sales of $2.1 billion.
For the first nine months of the company’s 2007 fiscal year the company posted new earnings of $13.8 million.
“Our financial results in the third quarter of fiscal 2008 reflect the significant headwinds facing our company and industry from high feed costs,” said Clint Rivers, president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement. “We have worked diligently to pass along price increases to our customers to help offset the impact of record-high corn and soybean meal costs.”
Rivers said the company has not been able to keep pace in its product price increases with the extreme price volatility in the grain markets.”
Pilgrim’s Pride said its total feed-ingredient costs in the quarter climbed $266 million, or 41 percent, when compared to the same period a year ago. Based on the actual costs incurred for the first three quarters of the fiscal year and current commodity futures markets for the remaining quarter, the company’s total feed-ingredient costs for fiscal 2008 would be up an estimated $900 million from last fiscal year.
“Looking ahead, there is no question that high feed costs will continue to be a significant concern for our industry,” River said. “Pilgrim’s Pride is part of a broad-based coalition of food companies that is strongly urging the federal government to fix its badly flawed ethanol policy before the food versus fuel debate sends the global economy into a tailspin and leads to even worse food shortages.”
Rivers said the company is doing everything in its control to manage in the extremely difficult operating environment.
“Over the past six months we have made some tough, but necessary, decisions to position our company as a stronger, more efficient competitor,” he said.
Those decisions include: closing a processing plant and seven distribution centers; consolidating a facility in El Dorado, Ark., into six other plants; eliminating approximately 1,700 positions; and reducing chicken production in an effort to better balance supply and demand at appropriate selling prices to cover input costs, Rivers said.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2008, Pilgrim’s eported a net loss from continuing operations of $193.0 million, or $2.85 per share, on net sales of $6.4 billion compared to a net loss from continuing operations of $20.4 million, or 31 cents per share, on comparative net sales of $5.9 billion in the same period last year.
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Pilgrim’s shares plunge on Tyson losses
Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., the nation’s largest chicken producer, dropped more than 9 percent on Monday after rival meat producer Tyson Foods Inc. saw its quarterly profit plunge 90 percent on the rising cost of grain to feed chicken, the Associated Press reported.
Pilgrim’s Pride shares lost $1.28, or 9.5 percent, to $12.17 by the end of the trading day on Monday. Its stock has traded in a range of $11.25 to $41 in the last 52 weeks, and has lost more than half its value since the start of the year.
The company is due to announce its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, before the market opens. It doesn’t expect to turn a profit this quarter. Pilgrim’s Pride has said it might be before the summer of 2009 that it returns to normal operating profit margins.
Soaring prices for corn, grain and other commodities are hindering food producers. And prices for chicken are dropping because of oversupply, though producers like Pilgrim’s Pride are trying to make cuts.
Tyson, which has a big business in chicken and is second in U.S.-market share behind Pilgrim’s Pride, has also said it may take a year for its profit to turn around.
Tyson earned $9 million, or 3 cents per share, in the third quarter, as revenue edged up to $6.8 billion from $6.6 billion.
Stripping out one-time charges, the company lost 1 cent per share, widely missing Wall Street’s average forecast of 12 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.
Grain costs with which to feed chickens rose $140 million in the quarter, and the company anticipates they will surge to $550 million for all of this year.
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GM Shreveport to lose about 760 jobs
The Shreveport General Motors plant, which makes the Hummer H3 SUV, the Chevrolet Canyon and GMC Colorado compact pickup will lose a shift beginning in late September in a move that will cut about 760 jobs, according to an Associated Press report.
The No. 1 U.S. automaker also told hourly workers at eight plants, including Shreveport, that those facilities would be shut down for one week to five weeks between now and the end of the year to cut output further.
Taken together, the actions detailed on Monday will cut 117,000 units of light truck production from GM’s previous plans for the second half and take its total production cut to “just under the 300,000 unit marker,” GM said.
GM’s first-half sales in the U.S. market fell 16 percent and it has been under pressure to cut costs and raise capital. The automaker’s shares, which touched a 54-year low earlier this month, remain down about 55 percent for the year.
GM, which has lost $51 billion over the past three years as it cut jobs and closed plants, has said it is looking to sell its military-derived Hummer brand as it looks to raise up to $4 billion from asset sales by the end of next year.
GM also announced cutting a shift at its Moraine, Ohio, plant where the Chevy Trailblazer and GMC Envoy SUVs are produced. That action is expected to result in the loss of about 1,000 jobs, the company said.
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Longview Dana production to be impacted by latest GM announcement
Longview’s Dana Corp. truck frame plant will be directly impacted by an announcement made Monday morning by General Motors Corp.
GM said that it plans to cut production by another 117,000 vehicles as a result of lower demand for pickup trucks and SUVs with part of the cutbacks impacting the Shreveport GM plant.
GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said Monday that the Detroit-based automaker will achieve the cuts by eliminating one shift each at its Moraine, Ohio, and Shreveport, La., plants. Most of the cuts will affect production of full-size trucks and sport utility vehicles.
Longview’s Dana Corp. plant in Longview Business Park makes frames for the Colorado, Canyon and H3 Hummer brands produced at GM’s Shreveport plant. The local Dana plant has 544 workers on its payroll, according to Mark Anderson, plant manager.
“GM’s announcement will have a direct impact on us,” Anderson said. “Right now we’re not sure what that impact will be.”
Anderson said Longview Dana officials were notified by Shreveport GM representatives the Shreveport plant will go to one shift effective late September.
“They also announced they will have a down week the week of Aug. 25,” Anderson said. That means there will be no production at the plant that week.
Anderson said Dana production for GM normally mirrors what the Shreveport plant does with the idling of production the week of Aug. 25 translating into Dana’s production lines for GM being idle in Longview.
“Until we get orders from GM we really don’t know what’s going to happen,” Anderson said. “Right now we’re working on preliminary production plans on how many production hours we would need if our production for GM drops to 350 frames a day.”
Anderson said the Longview Dana plant has had an average daily production of about 660 truck frames for GM over the past month. In addition to making truck frames for GM’s Shreveport plant, the Longview Dana plant also produces parts for Toyota that are shipped to a California plant.
On the positive side, Anderson said GM still plans to kickoff production for its new H3T Hummer model, which will be produced in Shreveport, beginning Sept. 2. The H3T production will represent the largest truck frame produced at Longview’s Dana facility, he said.
“Our decisions here will be based on what the product mix is at Shreveport,” Anderson said. “Right now things are up in the air.”
Anderson said he and other Longview managers met with Dana’s first shift Monday morning and will meet with the second and third shifts when they report to work.
“We will be giving them more information as we get it from GM,” Anderson said.
Sapienza says the cuts bring GM’s total production cuts to just under the 300,000 units company officials had hoped to cut this year.
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Southside Bank reports record earnings
Tyler-based Southside Bancshares, Inc. on Friday reported record net income of $8.5 million for the three months ended June 30, an increase of $3.9 million, or 86.0 percent when compared to $4.6 million for the same period in 2007.
The company has a main Longview branch on Judson Road with supermarket locations in Longview Super 1 Foods and Kroger grocery stores. Veteran East Texas banker Mike Northcutt heads up the Longview operations.
Net income for the six months ended June 30, increased $5.7 million, or 68.6 percent to $14.1 million from $8.4 million, for the same period in 2007.
The return on average shareholders’ equity for the six months ended June 30, increased to 20.06 percent, compared to 14.70 percent for the same period in 2007. The return on average assets increased to 1.27% percent for the six months ended June 30, 2008, compared to 0.91 percent for the same period in 2007.
“Our unwavering objective remains creating superior long-term returns for our shareholders,” said B. G. Hartley, chairman and CEO of Southside Bancshares in a prepared statement. “To that end, we remain committed to making investments designed to enhance franchise value.”
“Given the global economic uncertainties and chaotic conditions under which some in the financial industry are struggling, we are especially pleased to announce record net income for the second quarter and six months ended June 30,” Hartley said. “The earnings reported today are in large measure the result of strategic investments and decisions initiated, in some cases, years ago.”
He said Southside’s total loans increased $17.0 million, or 1.8 percent, during the first half of 2008. Total deposits, net of brokered deposits, increased $95.5 million, or 6.8 percent, during the first six months of 2008.
“We continue to make progress with respect to our two major acquisitions. Fort Worth National Bank is rapidly integrating into the Southside network,” Hartley said. “During the third quarter we anticipate introducing the Southside name into the Fort Worth National Bank markets.”
He said as the integration continues to progress, the company anticipates further synergies in lending and deposit activities. Southside acquired the Fort Worth bank in the third quarter of 2007.
Southside reported total assets of $2.323 billion as of June 30, up from $1.821 billion on June 30, 2007.
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LeTourneau parent shares upgraded
J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded Rowan Co a provider of contract drilling services and the parent company of Longview-based LeTourneau Technologies, to “neutral” from “underweight” on valuation and said it expects potential positive catalysts for it over the next three months, including potential success on the deep shelf Blackbeard well.
Although it does not expect the sale of LeTourneau, the company’s wholly owned manufacturing unit to create significant economic value, the brokerage said a near-term announcement would likely be viewed favorably. Company officials in March announced plans for Rowan to sell, merge or spin off LeTourneau by the end of 2008.
Rowan representatives told the News-Journal earlier in July they expect a decision on what the company’s preferred method of divesting LeTourneau will be by the end of July.
While J.P. Morgan expects potential success in several of Rowan’s niche assets, it estimates Rowan to generate very little free cash over the next three years given higher capital expenses devoted to jackup construction in a market that the brokerage expects to decline.
Shares of the Houston, Texas-based company closed at $41.31 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. They were up about 2.4 percent in early trading Monday after rising $1.00 a share to $42.23.
Rowan shares have ranged between $30.49 and $47.94 over the past year.
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See what America’s seeing - Longview on TV
Longview and East Texas residents with friends or family in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., area may want to let them know they can get a view of what’s going on in the Longview business world beginning next week.
Longview Economic Development Corp. on Friday said the first television viewings of a 5-minute segment of Greg Gumbel’s “Eye On America” featuring Longview are slated to begin next week in the Minneapolis-St. Paul TV market.
Susan Mazarakes, director of business development for LEDCO, said CNN Headline News segments in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area are scheduled to show the episode at 10:54 a.m. next Wednesday; at 4:54 p.m., Thursday; and at 6:54 p.m. on Aug. 3.
For those who have not viewed the episode yet, try this Internet link:
http://www.longviewusa.com/flash/longviewedcvideo.html
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Sysco Foods hiring 350, nearing completion
John Stroud, executive director of Longview Economic Development Corp., on Friday said the new 364,000-square-foot Sysco Foods distribution facility going up on Texas 149 is nearly completion.
Sysco officials have reported they are well underway in their hiring process to get about 350 workers on board, he said. A grand opening event is planned in October, Stroud said.
The facility, because of its strategic location, will serve customers not only in East Texas, but also in Arkansas and Louisiana.
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Eastman shares slip on third quarter prospects
Even through Eastman Chemical posted a respectable 9.5 percent increase in net quarterly earnings after Thursday’s market close news that company executives expect a tough third quarter sent shares down more than 8 percent Friday morning.
Eastman shares lost $5.66 by late morning, down 8.6 percent from Thursday’s close of $66.38. Over the past year Eastman shares have ranged from a low of $56.31 to a high of $78.29.
Brian Ferguson, chairman and CEO, said in the company’s earnings statement Thursday he expects continued rising cost pressures from energy and raw materials to make a dent in the company’s third quarter earnings.
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New Hampton Inn slated for August opening
Image Hospitality has announced the opening in August 2008 of their new Hampton Inn & Suites hotel located at 3044 North Eastman Road in Longview.
Located beside Hollywood Theatre and the new Longview Towne Crossing Retail Center, the Hampton Inn & Suites features 63 guest rooms, 20 studio suites and eight whirlpool suites. Image Hospitality also owns and operates Hampton Inn in South Longview.
The property’s grand opening and ribbon cutting is scheduled September 25 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., according to Mital Patel, vice president of development for Image Hospitality.
Heading up operations will be CJ Clayton, serving as general manager of the Hampton Inn Longview North; Laura Kay, assistant manager for the north side property; and Cindy Smith serving as director of sales for both Longview Hampton Inns. Shuneda Sterrett is vice president of sales and marketing for Image Hospitality.
For more information check the firm’s Web site at www.imagehospitality.com.
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Eastman earnings, revenues rise
Eastman Chemical Co. on Thursday announced second quarter net earnings of $115 million, up 9.5 percent from the $105 million the company earned in the second quarter 2007.
For the first half of 2008 Eastman posted net earnings of $248 million, up by $66 million from the $182 million it earned in the first two quarters of 2007, representing an increase of 36 percent.
The company reported earnings from continuing operations of $1.48 per diluted share for second quarter 2008 versus $1.19 per diluted share for second quarter 2007, according to Brian Ferguson, chairman and CEO.
“Given the sharp increase in raw material and energy costs during the quarter and the continuing global economic uncertainty, our year-over-year increase in earnings per share is further evidence of the strength and diversity of our portfolio of businesses,” Ferguson said.
Eastman reported revenues of $1.83 billion for the quarter, up 4 percent from the $1.76 billion reported in the second quarter of 2007. Revenues for the first six months of the year were $3.56 billion, up about $160 million from the $3.4 billion reported in the first half of 2007.
James Ray, vice president and general manager of Eastman Chemical Texas Operations, said the Longview plant remains a vital role in the overall company’s profit and revenue picture. “he Longview site continues to play an integral role in the overall company,” Ray said Thursday. “The combination of assets and technologies in Longview is an important part of Eastman’s ability to grow in key markets.”
Ray said a strong sign of that importance is the investment Eastman continues to make locally.
“We are still spending significant capital dollars each year to enhance and maintain existing facilities. We are also making incremental capacity increases in selected product areas,” he said. “Our total 2008 annual capital expenditure is expected to be in excess of $100 million - this is the largest capital budget we’ve had in Longview for 15 years.”
Ray said there are no major expansions planned for Eastman in Longview this year. Ferguson said Eastman’s third quarter should be impacted by both the softening U.S. economy and an anticipated steep rise in expenses.
“We expect a continued significant rise in raw material and energy costs,” Ferguson said. Company officials expect third quarter earnings to be in line with what the company reported in the third quarter of 2007.
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Back to school news business can use
Here is some information related to back to school shopping that Longview and East Texas business operators might be able to use:
Aug. 15, 16 and 17 - Texas sales tax holiday - Texas shoppers get a break from state and local sales taxes. The law exempts most clothing and footwear priced under $100 from sales and use taxes, which could save shoppers about $8 on every $100 they spend.
Aug. 25 - The first day of classes for the following school districts: Longview, Pine Tree, Spring Hill, Hallsville, White Oak, Gilmer and Tatum. It is also the first day of class for Kilgore College, Texas State Technical College-Marshall and Jarvis Christian College.
Aug. 27 - First day of fall semester classes for University of Texas at Tyler - including Longview University Center, Panola College and East Texas Baptist University.
Aug. 28. - First day of fall semester classes at LeTourneau University.
Sept. 3 - First day of classes for Wiley College.
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Of Pickled Frogs and furniture stores downtown
A new addition to the downtown dining scene and night life could be arriving as soon as October.
The Pickled Frog Grub and Pub and owners Paul Hancock and Jud Byrnes have applied to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to operate a bar and restaurant at 112 E. Tyler St. in the former long time home of Texas Furniture.
Eric Ruff with Ruff Realtors, said the ground floor has about 15,000 square feet with another 2,000 square feet of second floor space in the rear. Ruff handled the lease transaction.
Hancock said he and Byrnes have experience in the bar business and have applied for a late night liquor permit which would allow the bar portion of the business to stay open until 2 a.m. Their plans are to have the Tyler Street frontage portion of the Pickled Frog open for lunch, dinner and an early morning breakfast buffet.
“We plan to gut the whole interior,” Hancock said. A floor plan showing a double-sided bar dividing the restaurant in the front from the back half of the facility is posted on the building’s window.
“We plan to use the back half on weekends featuring live entertainment,” he said.
Lunch plans include serving soups, sandwiches and salads with a more extensive dinner menu planned. Plans are to have the breakfast buffet open from 2 to 4:30 a.m., after the bar closes.
Hancock said the opening date depends on the TABC licensing process and how long that takes. He said Oct. 1 is probably the earliest date the Pickled Frog could be open. That tentative date could be pushed back if there are delays in getting the license.
Ruff said the building is still owned by Jim Lockhart, who operated Texas Furniture. Ruff said Lockhart has a sales contract pending on the structure in a transaction separate from the lease agreement with Byrnes and Hancock. Ruff declined to provide details on the sale until it is completed.
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Pilgrim’s shares up 40 percent in recent weeks
Recent cost cutting measures announced by Pilgrim’s Pride have helped boost the price of the company’s stock in recent days.
After reaching a new 52-week low on July 8 of $11.25 per share, company stock closed Wednesday at 15.77, or a jump of more than 40 percent for the Pittsburg-headquartered poultry producer.
Wednesday was a slightly down day for Pilgrim’s stock with shares losing 19 cents or a little more than 1 percent of their value. The company recently announced plans to cut the work force of an Arkansas plant by about 600 workers along with plans to close an El Paso distribution center where about 34 people are employed.
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AEP expands board; adds director
American Electric Power Co. has named John F. Turner, a former U.S. State Department official, a director, boosting its board to 12 members.
AEP is the parent company of Southwestern Electric Power Co., or SWEPCO, which serves Longview and parts of East Texas.
Turner, 66, is a visiting professor at the University of Wyoming and a managing partner of The Triangle X Ranch, a dude ranch.
He served as assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs from 2001 to 2005. Prior to that, he was president and chief executive of The Conservation Fund, a director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a member of the Wyoming Legislature.
Turner also sits on the boards of Ashland Inc., International Paper and Peabody Energy Co.
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Dana shares rebound
Dana Holding Corp., parent company of the Dana truck frame plant in Longview Business Park where more than 500 people are employed, has seen its stock price jump more than 47 percent in recent weeks.
After reaching a 52-week low of 4.80 a share a few weeks ago, Dana was trading at $7.10 per share Wednesday afternoon, representing an increase of $2.30 a share, or 47.9 percent.
The local Dana plant’s production is largely geared toward supplying the General Motors truck plant in Shreveport. GM stock has rebounded in recent days too and was trading at $14.88 a share Wednesday afternoon, regaining $6.07 a share from its 52-week low point reached on July 15 of $8.81 a share.
GM’s jump represents a gain of 68 percent in a little more than a week. But it is still trading far short of it’s high point of the past year of more than $43 a share.
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Minimum wage goes up Thursday
The U.S. Department of Labor reminds employers and employees that the federal minimum wage will increase to $6.55 on Thursday.
With this change, employees who are covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act will be entitled to pay at no less than $6.55 per hour.
This increase is the second of three provided by the enactment of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. A third minimum wage increase to $7.25 an hour will become effective on July 24, 2009. Last year, on July 24, the minimum wage increased to $5.85 an hour.
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Martin Midstream ups dividend
It’s hard to find investments paying more than 9 percent these days. But Kilgore-based Martin Midstream Partners is doing that for holders of its investment units.
In fact, on Tuesday, Martin Midstream announced it was raising its quarterly cash distribution by 2 cents to 74 cents per unit for the quarter ended June 30. That would put the annual distribution at $2.96 per unit representing a return of 9.66 percent.
The August distribution reflects a 12.1 percent increase in the quarterly distribution when compared to a year ago and also reflects an increase of almost 3 percent over the previous quarter’s distribution.
The distribution is payable on August 14, to common and subordinated unit holders of record as of the close of business on August 1, 2008. The August distribution is based on the current operating performance of, and the current general economic, industry and market conditions impacting Martin Midstream.
Midstream Partners is a publicly traded limited partnership with a diverse set of operations focused primarily in the United States Gulf Coast region. The Partnership’s primary business lines include: terminal and storage services for petroleum products and by-products; natural gas gathering and processing and NGL distribution services; marine transportation services for petroleum products and by-products; and sulfur and sulfur-based products processing, manufacturing, marketing and distribution.
Additional information concerning Martin Midstream is available on its Web site at http://www.martinmidstream.com.
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Boren introduces natural gas for cars incentive
Former Longview resident, U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, on Tuesday co-introduced legislation he hopes will increase the use of natural gas vehicles in the United States over the next 10 years.
Boren, D-Muskogee, Okla., serving the 2nd Congressional District of Oklahoma, joined Democratic Caucus Chairman, U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Chicago, Ill., in introducing legislation to provide incentives to consumers to purchase natural gas vehicles, for automakers to manufacture natural gas vehicles in America and service stations to install the infrastructure necessary to fuel natural gas vehicles.
Boren grew up in Longview and is a 1992 graduate of Trinity School of Texas. He is the son of the late Janna L. Robbins and stepson of John Clinton Robbins, who still lives in Longview. He is the son of David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, former governor and U.S. senator from Oklahoma.
“By fully utilizing our nation’s vast natural gas resources, we have a real opportunity to make a positive and sweeping impact on our energy and economic future,” Boren said. “Coming from a producing state, I believe this legislation will spur economic growth and job creation.”
By providing an array of incentives, the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions, or NAT GAS Act, establishes a framework for achieving the goal of increasing the percentage of natural gas vehicles on the road to 10 percent of all vehicles by 2018, he said.
“Most importantly, it will increase the nation’s energy independence while providing hard-working Americans with a cheaper, cleaner alternative to the rising cost of gasoline,” Boren said. There are also provisions that greatly encourage market development so that current and future natural gas vehicle owners have more locations that serve their vehicles.
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Centris receives industry certification
Centris Information Services, a Longview-based provider of call center services, advanced automated call handling applications, on-demand interpreter services and broadcast messaging, has announced it has received its Payment Card Industry Compliance certificate.
“Receiving this certificate ensures our customers, merchants and cardholders our data is protected according to the industry’s highest standards,” Dale Augustyn, director of information technology for Centris, said Tuesday.
In 2004, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was created in a joint effort by major credit card companies; American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover, with each one of the credit card companies having its separate standard detail. In 2005 regulations were standardized and implemented.
David Hayes, Centris vice president of finance, said while the company had many of the security standards already in place, going through the self assessment process reinforced the importance of data protection to the company and its customers.
“We take this as a starting point and expect to make continued improvements as time goes on,” Hayes said. “Constant vigilance and continuous improvement is very important to our data security initiatives.”
Centris Information Services is a leading provider of high quality multilingual outsourced contact center services. The company is headquartered in the U.S. with operations in Longview and Monterrey, Mexico. Centris helps companies improve customer satisfaction and increase revenue by creating positive customer experiences that combine high-touch with high-tech, Hayes said.
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Halliburton reports record revenues
Halliburton Co. revenue rose to a record $4.48 billion from $3.73 billion a year ago, the company reported Tuesday.
Halliburton has regional operations serving Northeast Texas and Northwest Louisiana based in Kilgore where more than 500 workers are based.
Halliburton Co. said Tuesday its second-quarter profit fell about 67 percent from a year ago, when the company recorded a nearly $1 billion gain from the separation of former subsidiary KBR Inc., but the oilfield services provider announced record revenues, according to an Associated Press report.
Income from continuing operations met Wall Street forecasts, and the company said it continued to expand its business globally.
Halliburton, which has corporate offices in Houston and Dubai, said earnings for the April-June period were $507 million, or 55 cents a share. That compares with year-ago profit of $1.53 billion, or $1.62 a share, which included a $933 million gain from the KBR separation.
Income from continuing operations totaled $623 million, or 68 cents a share, in the latest quarter — in line with expectations of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Those forecasts typically exclude one-time items.
“I’m very pleased with our results for the second quarter as we continue to show healthy expansion of our business on a worldwide basis,” said Halliburton chairman and chief executive Dave Lesar, who moved his office to Dubai last year to be closer to important markets in the Middle East and Asia.
The strategy appears to be paying off.
Halliburton said revenue outside North America grew 26 percent year-over-year, exceeding its 20 percent growth target. In particular, Eastern Hemisphere revenue rose 23 percent, led by increased business in Norway, Saudi Arabia, Angola and Oman.
North American sales rose 7 percent from a year ago, despite a seasonal slowdown in Canada. In the United States, inflated costs for fuel and materials were a drag on results, the company said.
Last week, Halliburton’s larger competitor, Schlumberger Ltd., said its second-quarter profit jumped nearly 13 percent because of an active world market for oil and natural gas, as producers scramble to take advantage of high commodity prices.
A busy oilfield bodes well for outfits such as Schlumberger and Halliburton, which provide technology, equipment and other services to help oil and gas companies find and tap new sources of fossil fuels.
Indeed, the company said operating income at its drilling and evaluation arm rose 38 percent to $480 million in the most-recent quarter, the beneficiary of increased drilling worldwide.
Looking ahead, Lesar predicted no let up in activity as many North American customers expand their drilling and well-completion budgets.
“This strengthens last quarter’s expectation that the next leg up in this extended cycle is near, and we anticipate the strategies we’ve employed will allow us to continue performing at a high level,” he said.
For the first six months of the year, Halliburton said its net income amounted to $1.09 billion, or $1.20 a share, down from $2.08 billion, or $2.12 a share, in the first half of 2007. Revenue rose to $8.5 billion from $7.2 billion.
Halliburton, once led by Vice President Dick Cheney, split from KBR, the military contractor and engineering company, in April 2007. Halliburton has said the separation allows it to focus solely on its oilfield services work.
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East Texas Starbucks on company closing list
Java junkies across the state will soon have fewer options for fulfilling their caffeine cravings. Starbucks has announced the closing of about 600 of its coffee houses nationwide, and 57 of those are in Texas.
Included on the list are Mount Pleasant and Paris locations. Not on the list are Longview Starbucks.
Dallas and Houston will have the most store closings - nine and eight, respectively.
Elsewhere, four stores will be closed in both Arlington and Plano; three in Fort Worth; two in Austin, Corpus Christi, Frisco and Rosenberg; and one in Brownsville, Brownwood, Desoto, Duncanville, El Paso, Farmers Branch, Garland, Humble, Kingsville, Laredo, Mesquite, Mount Pleasant, Paris, Plainview, Red Oak, Rockport, San Antonio, Victoria, Waco, White Settlement and Wichita Falls.
Closings will begin this month and continue through the first half of next year.
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Quickbooks class starts Tuesday
The Kilgore College Small Business Development Center will host a hands-on QuickBooks course for small business owners and managers on Tuesday and Thursday evenings beginning Tuesday.
Quickbooks for Small Business Owners and Managers will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. July 22, 24, 29 and 31 at Kilgore College-Longview Computer Lab 305 located at 300 South High St.
The instructor will be technology consultant Bill Russell. The fee for each course is $129. Fee includes all lesson materials and hands-on computer lab instruction.
For registration and more information on this and other center training programs, call the SBDC at (903) 757-5857 or (800) 338-7232. To register over the phone by credit card the college at (903) 753-2642. Course schedules are available online at www.kilgore.edu/sbdc.
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Rogers Pope Jr. elected to national trade group
Rogers Pope Jr., president and chief operations officer for Longview-based Texas Bank and Trust, has been elected to the board of directors of the Independent Community Bankers of America.
The Washington, D.C.-based organization says it serves as the “nation’s voice for community banking.” Pope’s duties with ICBA will include serving as a liaison between independent community bankers in a Texas district and the group’s staff and leadership in Washington.
“I am honored to be elected to this position,” Pope said in a prepared statement. “It gives me a chance to work for community banks all across the country.”
The organization represents about 5,000 member community banks.
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Barron’s bullish on Trinity Industries
Shares of Trinity Industries took an upward bounce in Monday morning trading after a Sunday report in Barron’s predicting Trinity shared could rise as high as $48 in coming months.
Trinity has a major presence in the Longview area with more than 1,400 employees at local rail car manufacturing sites. The Barron’s report leaned heavily on Trinity’s entry into the wind energy field as a basis for being so bullish on the company’s stock.
Trinity shares were up 45 cents at $35.75 in mid-Monday morning trading. That is up about 1.3 percent from Friday’s close of $35.30. Company stock has traded between $21.91 and $47.10 over the past year.
Trinity’s wind-energy backlog ballooned 128 percent to nearly $1.6 billion in the first quarter, and as its backlog expands, so will its valuation, Barron’s said in its July 21 edition.
Besides Trinity also makes railcars and barges, and softening rail demand has lowered the company’s shares 27 percent over the past year, but that cyclical business is being increasingly offset by demand for wind power.
At $35, Trinity’s shares trade at 10.8 times 2008 earnings, cheaper than other machinery stocks that trade at 12.1 times earnings, according to Barron’s.
“We believe investors should focus on Trinity’s diversification and wind-energy catalysts,” wrote KeyBanc analyst Steve Barger, who has a $48 price target on the stock.
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Gregg County getting new bank in Kilgore
BankTexas officials have announced they received permission fro the Office of the Controller of the Currency to open what they are calling a “bank store” location at 4405 Texas 42 North in Kilgore.
Troy Robinson, president and CEO of the Quitman-based BankTexas, said the location will offer all of the services of a traditional bank but in a new format that emphasizes customer service.
“We believe that Kilgore is a natural place to open a bank store,” Robinson said in a prepared statement. “Kilgore is a growing and lively community and we think we’ll fit in well.”
Tammy Ritter has been named manager of the Kilgore BankTexas location. Robinson said the bank will be located in a new mixed use commercial development featuring a convenience store, gasoline station and restaurant.
Construction has started and is expected to be completed in August. BankTexas, the former First National Bank of Quitman, has operations in Holly Lake Ranch, Mineola, Tyler and Quitman with new sites set to open this year in Kilgore and Lindale,
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Analysts: Shreveport GM not likely to be closed
Industry analysts on Friday said General Motors Corp. is likely to close more factories as it cuts 300,000 trucks and sport utility vehicles out of its production schedule by the end of next year.
They did not expect the Shreveport truck plant producing the Colorado, Canyon and H3 Hummer models to be among those likely to be closed. Longview’s Dana truck frame production production plant in Longview Business Park uses a large part of its production capacity on frames shipped to the Shreveport GM plant.
GM has already announced the closure of four truck and SUV factories. Most vulnerable in the next round of cuts are some of the plants that make predominantly truck parts, but another assembly plant closure is possible:
ASSEMBLY PLANTS: Analysts say the Pontiac, Mich., pickup truck plant is most vulnerable because it’s only running on one shift now, and that’s not efficient. Remaining pickup plants in Flint, Mich.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Shreveport, La., likely would be spared. After the four closures, Arlington, Texas, would be the lone U.S. SUV plant.
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION PLANTS: Nearly all make both car and truck components. But the Romulus, Mich., engine; Parma, Ohio, transmission; Defiance, Ohio, casting; and Willow Run and Ypsilanti, Mich., transmission factories make mostly truck parts.
PARTS STAMPING PLANTS: GM has seven stand-alone stamping plants, excluding one in Pittsburgh that is slated to close. All make parts for full-size SUVs and trucks, as well as cars.
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Rushing Machine Shop celebrates milestone
White Oak’s Rushing Machine Shop along with owner and founder Leon Rushing celebrated 30 years of serving East Texas on Friday.
The machine shop yard took on a festive atmosphere with inflatables for children, vendors offering freebies and plenty of barbecue served up to a crowd Rushing estimated at about 300.
Rushing Machine is a production shop focused on producing wellhead equipment of the energy industry. Rushing, 67, said he has about 45 employees now after starting out as a one-man operation in 1978.
He plans to ease out of the business and turn things over to Brian Johnson in coming months.
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16,600 jobs added to Longview economy since 2000
The Longview area economy got more good news Friday with figures released from the Texas Workforce Commission indicating the area has added 16,600 jobs since 2000.
The June unemployment rate for the Longview area dropped to 4.2 percent - the lowest this decade for the month of June while the number of people at work reached a record high of 104,300, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
So far this decade, the Longview Metropolitian Statistical Area of Gregg, Rusk and Upshur counties, has added 16,600. The number of people employed has jumped from 87,700 in June 2000 to 104,300 last month, according to Texas Workforce Commission.
The Longview MSA also did considerably better than the state and nation on the unemployment front in June. Texas posted a 4.8 percent unemployment rate while at the national level unemployment stood at 5.7 percent.
The agency reported the Longview MSA has added 3,100 jobs in the past year, going from an employment level of 101,200 in June 2007 to June’s 104,300.
Longview MSA Employment Trends
Month/Year Employment
June 2000 87,747
June 2001 88,970
June 2002 89,023
June 2003 90,558
June 2004 95,402
June 2005 97,942
June 2006 98,582
June 2007 101,240
June 2008 104,300
Source: Texas Workforce Commission; figures are for non-farm employment levels.
Longview MSA June Unemployment rates
Year Rate
2000 5.6%
2001 5.7%
2002 7.5%
2003 7.8%
2004 6.2%
2005 5.2%
2006 5.1%
2007 4.4%
2008 4.2%
Source: Texas Workforce Commission
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New LaQuinta gets new neighbor
Site work going on directly west of the new LaQuinta Inn and Suites on Hawkins Parkway is for a new location for BancorpSouth.
RLM is the general contractor for the structure going up at 904 Hawkins Parkway. Troy Moore, president of the H.G. Moseley Parkway branch of BancorpSouth, said the new branch will look a whole lot like the existing one in size and appearance.
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GM rally should be good news for Longview’s Dana
Shares of U.S. automakers soared Wednesday as investors took comfort in GM’s announcement that it was slashing its work force and production and suspending its dividend in an effort to stay afloat in an increasingly difficult market.
That should be good news for the long run for the Longview Dana truck frame plant and its 540 workers. The plant produces frames going to GM’s Shreveport assembly plant.
Shares of GM surged $1.56, or 15.9 percent, to $11.40 in afternoon trading. Ford shares gained 76 cents, or 16.3 percent, to $5.41.
Dana shares jumped 7.5 percent Wednesday, closing at $6.56, up from Tuesday’ close of $6.16.
GM announced it was cutting white-collar job costs in the U.S. and Canada by more than 20 percent, shedding thousands more factory jobs by cutting truck production even further, and suspending its $1 per share annual dividend for the first time in 86 years.
The moves come during a desperate time for GM as it struggles with a weak economy, record-high gas prices and an unprecedented shift in demand away from its traditionally popular trucks and sport utility vehicles.
GM shares have lost nearly two-thirds of their value since the start of the year and have declined more than 75 percent from a 52-week high of $43.20 in October.
GM said it hopes the latest cuts save $15 billion through 2009. It said if its latest predictions hold true, it should have enough cash to sustain itself at least through 2010.
Immediately after Tuesday’s news, GM shares plunged to $8.81, their lowest level since June 23, 1954, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago. The price is adjusted for splits and other changes. But the shares rebounded later in the day and closed at $9.84, up nearly 5 percent.
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Wall Street responds favorably to Pilgrim’s cuts
The Wall Street crowd evidently viewed favorably Tuesday’s announcement by Pittsburg-headquartered Pilgrim’s Pride it was taking more steps to cut costs.
Pilgrim’s Pride stock jumped 7 percent in trading Wednesday and closed at $15.59. That was up by $1.02 per share from Tuesday’s close and represents the first time the company’s stock edged above the $15 a share mark in nearly a month.
Pilgrim’s stock was riding a rapid downward trajectory since May 28 when it closed at $26.85. Shares bottomed out at $11.25 on July 8 and have been inching mainly upward since then.
The company, hard hit by record high prices for chicken feed, announced production cuts of 5 percent in June. On Tuesday, Pilgrim’s announced it was cutting its work force at an El Dorado plant by 600 jobs and closing an El Paso distribution center where another 34 people worked.
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American Airilnes parent loses $1.45 billion in quarter
The parent of American Airlines swung to a big loss in the second quarter as high fuel prices swamped an increase in revenue and led the nation’s largest carrier to write down the value of its jets, according to wire reports Wednesday.
Still, the results reported Wednesday were not as bad as Wall Street had feared.
AMR Corp. said that for the three months ending June 30, it lost $1.45 billion, or $5.77 per share, compared to a profit of $317 million, or $1.08 per share, a year ago.
American is the parent company of American Eagle, which provides service to East Texas Regional Airport and Tyler Pounds Field. American Eagle earlier announced curtailment of East Texas flights beginning in September.
When flights to and from East Texas Regional are reduced from three daily to two on Sept. 3, American Eagle is scheduled to begin jet service with 50-seat Embraer EMB-145 regional jets. Local arrivals are due at 10:25 a.m. and 4:25 p.m. with local departures scheduled at 10:50 a.m. and 4:50 p.m., officials said.
Excluding special charges to write down the value of its fleet, AMR said it would have lost $284 million, or $1.13 per share.
Analysts, who typically exclude charges from their forecasts, expected AMR to lose $1.40 per share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.
Revenue rose 5.1 percent, to $6.18 billion. Analysts expected $6.14 billion.
Fuel costs spiked 47.4 percent, to $2.42 billion — an increase of about $780 million from a year ago.
A gallon of jet fuel went from $2.09 a year ago to $3.19, and would have been even higher if the company hadn’t bought some of its fuel in advance at lower prices. AMR expects to pay $3.81 per gallon in the third quarter.
Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey called the second-quarter results disappointing, but he said the Fort Worth-based company was taking steps to manage through a tough stretch.
AMR, which also owns the American Eagle airline, is cutting about 6,800 jobs and reducing its U.S. flying sharply to bring down costs while raising fares and special fees to boost revenue. Analysts, however, expect the company to keep losing money at least through 2010.
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Exco partners sought for East Texas drilling
Exco Resources - the company that finalized its purchase of Kilgore’s Geo-Vest of Texas on Tuesday for $252 million - on Wednesday announced that it has engaged Goldman, Sachs & Co. to explore possible joint venture opportunities with various interested parties to enhance exploitation and development of its East Texas/North Louisiana and Appalachia operating areas.
Exco’s natural gas reserves in East Texas/North Louisiana include more than 2.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcfe) of proved, probable and possible reserves, of which 1.1 Tcfe is proved. Exco’s East Texas/North Louisiana interests also include 292,000 net acres, 255 million cubic feet per day of net production and more than 3,000 undrilled Cotton Valley, Hosston and other conventional locations.
EXCO’s acreage includes more than 115,000 net acres which are prospects for drilling in the Bossier/Haynesville shale. Based on 80-acre spacing, this shale acreage could contain over 1,400 drilling locations with substantial unbooked reserve potential.
Exco’s proved, probable and possible reserves in Appalachia exceed 1.1 Tcfe of reserves of which 0.6 Tcfe is proved. Exco’s Appalachia region includes 1.1 million net acres, 60 million cubic feet per day of shallow production, over 8,100 shallow drilling locations and nearly 400,000 net acres of Marcellus shale potential of which 117,000 net acres are also prospective for the Huron shale.
The company said based on 80-acre spacing, the shale acreage could contain 6,400 drilling locations with substantial unbooked potential.
Exco also has substantial midstream assets in East Texas/North Louisiana which currently gather and transport in excess of 500 Mmcf/d of natural gas.
The possible joint venture transactions could include a sale of up to 50 percent of Exco’s reserves, production, acreage and other interests in either or both areas, with a joint development program to be conducted with the potential partner or partners.
A separate joint venture is contemplated for the East Texas/North Louisiana midstream assets. Exco anticipates using cash proceeds from any such transaction to reduce debt, help fund the exploitation and development of its shale potential and for other general corporate purposes, officials said.
Exco said there is no assurance that this joint venture process will result in Exco changing its current business plan, pursuing a particular joint venture or other transaction or completing any such transaction.
Exco officials said they do not expect to update the market with any further information on the joint venture process unless and until its board of directors has approved a specific transaction or otherwise deems disclosure appropriate.
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Hayneville shale wells drilled in Panola, Rusk counties
Goodrich Petroleum announced on Wednesday it has recently drilled and logged two additional vertical Haynesville Shale wells on its 100 percent-owned acreage in the Minden field of Rusk and Panola Counties.
The Billy Sealey No.7, which is located in the eastern portion of the Minden field, encountered approximately 165 feet of Haynesville Shale and the T. Swiley No.5, located in the northwestern portion of the Minden field, has been drilled to total depth and encountered excellent gas shows over an approximate 170 feet interval of the Haynesville Shale with complete open-hole logs expected soon.
As previously announced, the company currently plans to begin horizontal drilling for the Haynesville Shale on its East Texas acreage position in the fourth quarter of this year.
Goodrich has continued to increase its net ownership of Haynesville Shale rights in East Texas and currently estimates approximately 38,500 net acres for the Haynesville Shale in the Minden and Beckville field areas in Panola and Rusk Counties.
Goodrich Petroleum Corp also announced on Wednesday the closing of its previously announced joint venture to develop the Haynesville Shale in Northwest Louisiana with Chesapeake Energy in Caddo and DeSoto Parishes, La.
The company sold approximately 10,200 net acres and retains a 50 percent working interest in the acreage for the Haynesville Shale and 100 percent of its rights through the base of the Cotton Valley sand section.
Upon closing, Goodrich received approximately $173 million. With the completion of this transaction the company has a total of approximately 22,000 net acres in north Louisiana which are believed to be prospective for the Haynesville formation.
The recently added net acreage increases the company’s total net exposure in the Haynesville Shale play in Northwest Louisiana and East Texas, excluding the company’s acreage in the Angelina River Trend, to approximately 60,500 net acres.
Gil Goodrich, Goodrich’s vice chairman and chief executive officer said company officials are confident the transaction will create substantial value for Goodrich Petroleum and its shareholders.
“We look forward to initiating our joint development activities and expect to spud our initial joint horizontal well in the next 30-60 days,” Goodrich said. “The two additional wells we have recently drilled in the Minden field of East Texas provide important incremental data points for the Haynesville Shale in the Minden field and we believe further substantiates the reserve potential for the Haynesville on our 100 percent owned East Texas acreage.”
Goodrich said the approximately $365 million the company received from the Chesapeake transaction and the equity offering have dramatically strengthened its balance sheet and positioned us to further expand our development activities in the second half of this year and into 2009.
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LeTourneau Technologies inks $90 million contract
Houston-based Rowan Companies, Inc. announced Wednesday morning that its wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary, LeTourneau Technologies, Inc., has entered into a $90 million contract to provide major components for nine new 1500 horsepower land drilling rigs.
The contract is with Nomac Drilling, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, and is valued at approximately $90 million. LeTourneau Technologies is based in Longview.
Each of the rigs will feature AC drive technology and incorporate key LeTourneau Technologies drilling equipment, including the mud pumps and drawworks. Delivery of the components is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2008 and be completed by mid 2009.
Rowan Companies, Inc. is a major provider of international and domestic offshore contract drilling services. The company’s manufacturing division, LeTourneau Technologies, produces equipment for the drilling, mining and timber industries.
The company’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the common stock trading symbol of RDC.
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Litter survey set Thursday and Friday
Longview’s third annual litter index will be conducted by Keep Longview Beautiful volunteers on Thursday and Friday.
As a Keep America Beautiful city, a litter index of the community is required once a year. The survey tool is provided by KAB and has been used in over 560 affiliate cities nationwide.
“The litter index is our chance to re-assess the presence of litter in our community,” said KLB President Dwayne Archer. “That information is immensely helpful when determining the types of community improvement programs needed to address current conditions and achieve long-term sustainable results.’
To determine what sites to survey, a map of Longview was divided into six equal sections, and 10 locations per section were randomly selected for measurement. The locations include a mix of residential, commercial, industrial and rural areas. The volunteers will be re-scoring the exact locations used in the last two litter indexes.
Keep Longview Beautiful has been a non-profit organization since 1979, with a mission is to engage the Longview community to take greater responsibility for improving their environment.
For more information please visit www.keeplongviewbeautiful.com.
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News sends Pilgrim’s stock upward
News Tuesday from Pilgrim’s Pride that it is cutting 634 employees and consolidating some operations sent the company’s stock up about 4.4 percent.
Pilgrim’s stock closed at $14.57 Tuesday, up 62 cents from Monday’s close of $13.95. The company has been hard hit by record high feed prices and lost more than than $100 million in the first quarter.
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Geo-vest sold to Exco for $252 million
Kilgore-based energy company Geo-Vest of Texas on Tuesday became part of Exco Resources in a deal valued at $252 million in a signing ceremony finalized at the East Texas Oil Museum.
Carlos “Scooter” Griffin Jr., president of Geo-Vest, said the sale of producing oil and natural gas properties is in the best interest of East Texas residents and area taxing entities. He said the vast resources of Dallas-based Exco Resources means leases and production of Geo-Vest will continue well into the future.
The signing ceremony was held before a standing room only crowd in a meeting room at the oil museum attended by family, investors, friends, community leaders and Exco company officials.
According to Hal Hickey, chief operations officer for Exco, the company estimates the deal includes more than 500 additional drilling locations in the Cotton Valley and Travis Peak formations, of which 92 are proved.
Exco Resources acquired about 11,000 acres of producing oil and natural gas properties and other assets in Gregg, Rusk, and Upshur Counties, Hickey said. He said the sales prices was subject to customary post-closing purchase price adjustments.
EXCO’s estimate of net proved reserves acquired is 109 billion cubic feet and estimated total net reserves exceed 370 billion cubic feet not including untested production potential of natural gas formation referred to as the Bossier/Haynesville shale play, Hickey said.
The assets include producing properties with more than 15 million cubic feet per day of net production from 83 producing wells. Also included in the assets is a 50 mile gathering system with compressors, a dehydration unit and a refrigeration plant.
“EXCO will operate the field and estimates a capital budget of $20 million to drill nine wells during the remainder of 2008,” Hickey said. He said company-wide, Exco plans to spend $923 million in four regions with more than half that, $461 million, being spent in the East Texas-North Louisiana area.
“Of that, about $335 million is for drilling 159 new wells and implementing 25 various exploitation projects,” Hickey said. Exco went public with a $680 million stock offering in 2006 and now has a market capitalization of about $3.8 billion, he said.
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Pilgrim’s to cut 600 Arkansas jobs
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. on Tuesday announced plans to cut about 600 jobs at an El Dorado, Ark. plant and close an El Paso distribution center.
The Pittsburg-headquartered company said it will consolidate the tray-pack chicken business from its El Dorado, Ark., processing plant into six other case-ready facilities. Following the transition, which is expected to be completed within 60 days, the El Dorado facility will operate as a supply plant, officials said.
Approximately 600 of the 1,215 positions at the El Dorado plant will be eliminated by Sept. 19. Most of the positions eliminated will be hourly jobs in chicken processing.
Contract growers and employees in live operations will not be affected. Pilgrim’s Pride will provide transition programs to employees whose positions are eliminated to assist them in securing new employment, filing for unemployment and other applicable benefits.
“Since March, we have been conducting a thorough review of all our production facilities to ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible in response to the unprecedented challenges facing our company and our industry,” said Clint Rivers, Pilgrim’s Pride president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement.
“We are confident that the changes announced today, which conclude the formal review of our operations, will help position Pilgrim’s Pride as a stronger competitor. He said the consolidation will make the company more efficient.
“As a supply plant, our El Dorado facility will be able to take full advantage of its efficient live-production cost structure to help us deliver even better value to our customers,” Rivers said.
In April, Pilgrim’s Pride acknowledged that the El Dorado plant was among those being reviewed for possible closure or consolidation. Over the past several months, the company had been working with elected officials and the union representing members at the plant to improve its financial performance.
However, union members recently rejected proposed benefits changes that would have made the plant more competitive.
Separately, the company also announced plans to close its distribution center in El Paso within the next 60 days. That facility employs approximately 34 people. Following the closing, Pilgrim’s Pride will operate a total of six distribution centers in Texas, Arizona and Utah.
“While the decision to close or consolidate locations is always difficult, we believe the actions we are announcing today are absolutely necessary for our business and our company,” said Rivers.
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Angel Network to benefit from Saturday event
The East Texas Angel Network will receive a portion of proceeds from Party with a Purpose on Saturday hosted by Planet Beach.
The Angel Network is a charitable organization founded by country singer Neal McCoy and wife Melinda that benefits children of East Texas living with terminal or life-threatening illness. The event will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Planet Beach located in the MarketPlace Shopping Center at 103 W. Loop 281. For information call (903) 663-2010.
The celebration is in recognition of the businesses’ grand reopening. Included will be a $1,000 raffle, live music, food and drinks, various gift certificates, hotel stay giveaways and membership discounts.
Numerous children’s entertainment will also be present including balloon animals, a dunk booth and meet and greet with the Longview Fire Department.
Planet Beach offers spa and UV therapy services for residents looking to save time and money. The new Contempo Spa services provide affordable day spa results in minutes, and all services are machine automated to provide the utmost privacy for customers. The Longview location offers various levels of UV Therapy and Contempo Spa services.
Some unique features include: Hydro-Derma Fusion Technology; Mystic Spray Tan Innovation Series; and HydroMassage This massage technology massages the full length of the body with the ability to concentrate on specific high-tension areas, representatives said.
The massage force can be adjusted to suit the sensitivity of the client, with a consistency that cannot be duplicated by manual massage or other massage devices. Water temperatures can be adjusted from approximately 90°F to 104°F using the electronic thermostat, they said.
“We are excited to celebrate our re-grand opening and benefit the East Texas Angel Network,” said Brandi Akin, spa director. “This is a great way for Planet Beach to give back to the community while also pampering our customers.”
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Neiman reports slight revenue drop
Neiman Marcus Inc. reported June comparable revenues in the company’s specialty group, which includes Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores, decreased 2.8 percent.
The company has a national distribution center located in Longview Business Park.
For the five-week period ending June 28, comparable revenues were $396 million, down from $406 million, or down 2.4 percent. Total revenues were down 1.1 percent at $401 million.
Neiman Marcus reported growth trends were the strongest in the Southeast and New York City. Women’s evening apparel, designer handbags and beauty were the strongest performing categories, the company reported.
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Longview among nation’s top places to do business
Longview on Monday was named the No. 13 best city in the nation to do business, according to a ranking by Inc.com and NewGeography.com.
Out of 335 metro areas, Longview was one of five Texas cities to rank in the top 20 nationally. The listing is annually prepared by INC.com and NewGeography.com.
The Inc.com Best Cities list focuses on short- and long-term job growth, according to the online edition of Inc. magazine. Longview jumped from No. 97 on the same list in 2007.
Midland ranked No. 1; Odessa No. 4, Austin/Round Rock, No. 19 and McAllen/Edinburg/Mission ranked No. 20 to round out Texas cities in the ranking’s top 20.
NewGeography.com is published by Delore Zimmerman, president Praxis Strategy Group, a Grand Forks-based community strategy and analysis company. It tells readers precisely not just where jobs are being created - a sure sign of economic vitality - but where the momentum is shifting.
“Lists like the Inc.com inventory provide valuable information to leaders in cities that make the list - and especially those who don’t, or who are categorized differently than they hoped,” said Zimmerman. “It permits them to gauge their local economy’s performance against hundreds of others across the nation.”
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Geo-Vest deal to be inked Tuesday
Kilgore-based Geo-Vest of Texas Inc. is being acquired by Dallas-headquartered natural resource company Exco Resources Inc..
With Carlos “Scooter” Griffin Jr., as president, Geo-Vest operates about 100 East Texas area producing wells, according to a company spokeswoman.
Exco Resources, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, has made a number of acquisitions in recent years. Among those was the 2007 purchase of another firm with a big East Texas presence, New Waskom Gathering System. That Exco acquisition was booked at about $56 million and provided the company with about 230 miles of gathering system pipeline in East Texas along with an enhanced presence in North Louisiana.
Geo-Vest is scheduled to close on the buyout by Exco at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Kilgore’s East Texas Oil Museum.
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Credit rating for Pilgrim’s downgraded
Moody’s Investors Service on Friday cut its credit ratings on chicken producer Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., citing far higher animal feed costs, according to the Associated Press.
The nation’s largest chicken producer is headquartered in Pittsburg.
Moody’s said it downgraded the company’s corporate family and probability of default ratings to “B1,” from “Ba3.” Both ratings are considered speculative grade.
The ratings service said the ratings outlook is stable.
Moody’s said the cuts reflect its expectation that margins, cash flow and credit metrics will “significantly erode” in fiscal 2008 because of high feed grain prices.
Animal feed has become far more expensive in the past year due to skyrocketing prices for corn, a key ingredient. The higher costs have taken a bite out of profits at meat producers and led some to cut back on production.
Then, in June, the price of corn jumped even higher due to Midwest floods that led to concerns about crop damage and tighter supplies.
Moody’s said before that price run-up, Pilgrim’s Pride had already expected its 2008 feed costs would rise by more than $800 million over the prior year. Even though the company decided to reduce its production to try to boost retail chicken prices and offset the costs, Moody’s said that effort was “unlikely to prevent a material reduction in near term operating profitability and cash flow.”
Pilgrim’s Pride shares opened up 1.9 percent Monday, trading at $14.48, up 27 cents from Friday’s close of $14.19.
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Pilgrim’s Pride rebounds in market
Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock took flight Thursday, jumping as much as 18 percent in value during the day.
Pilgrim’s share closed Thursday at $14.56 Thursday and were trading in the $14.44 range early Friday. The company’s stock reached as high as $15.32 Thursday, representing an increase of 18.5 percent.
The jump came after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported data indicating the industry is taking more steps to cut production which officials said should result in higher chicken prices and more profitability.
The company has been hard hit in recent months with record high prices for chicken feed.
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CNBC study: Texas - tops for business
Texas is America’ Top State for Business according to the results of a CNBC study that scored each state on 40 different measures of competitiveness.
Gov. Rick Perry joined CNBC’s “Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo” in Washington, D.C., Wednesday afternoon for the announcement.
“We live in a world that moves faster than at any time in history,” Perry said. “Knowledge and capital are rapidly being deployed to parts of the world where the right combination of talent, technology, business climate, infrastructure and markets converge. I believe Texas is that place, now more than ever.”
CNBC’s ranking adds to the growing list of accomplishments and accolades for Texas’ business climate. The Lone Star State is now home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state in the nation, and was recently named the “Best State to Do Business” by CEO Magazine for the third year in a row.
In the past five years, Texas has created 1.2 million net new jobs. In the last year alone, more than half of all jobs created in the United States were in Texas.
“There is simply no better place to live, work, grow a business and raise a family than the great State of Texas,” Perry said. “We have the best business climate in the country and remain globally competitive thanks to our reasonable regulations, low taxes, fair legal environment, educated workforce and an unparalleled quality of life.”
CNBC scored each state using publicly available data to determine the rankings. States received points based on ten broad categories including: cost of doing business, workforce, economy, education, quality of life, technology and innovation, transportation, cost of living, business friendliness, and access to capital. Texas’ strongest showings were in economy, technology and innovation, transportation and cost of living.
The complete study is available on http://www.cnbc.com/id/25350187/site/14081545/
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Leadership Longview registration deadline nears
Leadership Longview is accepting applications for the new year with the deadline set for Friday, July 25.
Leadership Longview, graduating its first class in 1982, is a community based program that serves as a catalyst for progressive and effective leadership in the community. The eight month program begins in September and concludes in April.
Tuition for the program is $750 for Longview Partnership members and $850 for nonmembers. Applications are available online at www.longviewchamber.com; or by contacting Mary Whitton at (903) 237-4003.
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Brookwood Village inks new tenant
John Ferrell with Ferrell Management, announced the leasing of space in his Brookwood Village Shopping Center to Metro PCS.
The store is owned and operated by Dallas-based Digital Millennium Wireless, an authorized dealer for Metro PCS. The location offers wireless cell phones and accessories and opened early this month.
Digital Millennium through Metro PCS offers unlimited wireless services for a flat rate, according to Sean Mobh, general manager. He said the company operates nine Dallas area locations with four targeted in East Texas.
Besides the Brookwood Village store, the company is opening on S. Mobberly Avenue and plans to soon open two Tyler stores, Mobh said.
Metro PCS in Brookwood Village is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. For more information the store can be reached at (903) 553-0903.
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Market bullish on U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corp. shares jumped Wednesday after analysts said high spot-steel prices and an ability to control iron and coal costs make the company one of the strongest in the sector, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. Steel has a major East Texas presence after acquiring the former Lone Star Steel/Lone Star Technologies in the summer of 2007.
UBS Investment Research analyst Timna Tanners said in a client note that U.S. Steel is her top choice among North American steel makers.
She cited higher expected sheet-steel prices and higher contract prices pass through into next year, plus the company’s strong position as a supplier of pipe for oil and gas companies.
“Low imports, robust global demand, and high freight can support prices to 2009, in our view. We will monitor U.S. demand weakness but see limited imports and rising export helping offset (weak U.S. demand).”
Deutsche Bank analysts David S. Martin, who has a “Buy” rating on the shares, raised his price target on U.S. Steel’s shares to $240 from $220.
“We maintain a positive outlook on steel prices and we think (U.S. Steel) is poised to show significant and ‘above average’ earnings gains in 2008 and 2009 via its integrated business model,” he said.
“We believe many of (U.S. Steel’s) 2007 operating issues, which are a major concern among investors, are behind it and we believe that financial expectations remain low for the company.”
Shares rose $7.72 or 7 percent, to $158.17 in Wednesday trading.
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New East Texas tourism site launched
Mary Ramos, executive director of the East Texas Tourism Association, and her crew have launched a new regional tourism Web site to help visitors, potential visitors and residents who want to explore in their own backyard an idea of what’s available.
Ramos, who took over the association and related businesses from Kathy Rosser and the Rosser family a few months ago, said the site has been in the planning stages for several months.
“We hope you’ll agree that it was worth the wait,” Ramos said. “Our goal was to make it easy for you to plan a business or family trip by researching all the beautiful, entertaining, educational, relaxing places to see in Texas.”
Ramos said several features have been added to help make the site more user friendly. The list of locations and searches have been expanded with more details on each page.
“There are a lot of fun things to do in our own big backyard,” Ramos said.
The site can be accessed at: www.easttexasguide.com.
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Longview ranks No. 2 in state job growth
Longview’s economic indicators continue to out pace the country and most of Texas as it relates to the employment growth rate, according to information released by The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University this week.
In the center’s June 2008 Monthly Review of the Texas Economy Longview ranked second in the state in job growth with a growth rate 3.3 percent compared to the state average of 2.4 percent.
Odessa topped the list with a 3.7 percent job growth.
“Longview has a lot to be proud of,” said Kelly Hall, president of the Longview Partnership. “Over the past couple of years we’ve seen three school bonds pass, the city’s CIP (capital improvement plan bond) package pass, continued growth and a stable economy.”
Longview’s unemployment rate continues to be below the state average of 4.3 percent with a 3.8 percent unemployment rate in May.
Longview has the 10th lowest unemployment rate in Texas out of more than 25 metro areas in Texas, state officials reported.
The non-agricultural employment in the Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area increased by 300 jobs in May. The area includes Gregg, Rusk and Upshur counties. The growth was spread evenly across three industries, each of which grew by 100 jobs.
These industries included leisure and hospitality, local government and other services. All other industries in the Longview area held steady in May. The Longview area has experienced 3,100 jobs gained over the past year, according to Texas Workforce Commission figures.
Professional and business service jobs exhibited the largest increase in employment over the past year, adding 800 jobs at a 10.3 percent annual growth rate.
Nearby Tyler was in a four-way tied for 18th place on the state listing of MSA job growth with a 1.4 percent increase from May 2007 to May. Only Lubbock with 1.2 percent and Beaumont-Port Arthur, with a 0.1 percent increase, were lower.
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Dana stock surges upward
Shares of Dana Holding Corp. surged on Tuesday after a JPMorgan analyst started coverage of the auto parts maker with an “Overweight” rating, saying it has a strong management team and balance sheet following its bankruptcy reorganization, according to Associated Press.
Dana operates a truck frame plant in Longview Business Park where about 540 people are employed.
Shares rose 82 cents, or 16.57 percent, to $5.77 in midday trading. The stock has traded between $4.80 and $13.30 in the last 52 weeks.
Himanshu Patel said Dana’s largely new management team and board of directors is likely to aggressively seek improvements in the company’s wide portfolio of assets.
“In addition to being well regarded, we think the new management team/board are largely agnostic about the eventual revenue make up of Dana and are likely to pursue opportunistic (sales, spin-offs or partnerships) of some or all assets to realize shareholder value,” Patel wrote in a note to investors.
In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, Patel said, with about $1.3 billion in cash and $1.4 billion in debt - enough to weather the current economic weakness. He also said the company is well-exposed to the growing off-highway vehicle market.
The Toledo, Ohio-based company sought bankruptcy protection in May 2006, which it exited Jan. 31.
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Eastman CFO stepping down; changes announced
KINGSPORT, Tenn. - Eastman Chemical Company today announced the retirement of two executives and several resulting senior management appointments that demonstrate the company’s depth of management expertise. These new appointees will play key roles as the company executes its strategy that is expected to result in a doubling of its earnings per share over the next five years.
Richard A. Lorraine, 62, announced he will step down as senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective Sept.1, 2008. Lorraine will remain with the company until the end of the year performing in various roles and special projects.
“During his tenure with the company, Eastman has benefited enormously from Rich’s leadership, broad business experience and his strong disciplined approach to finance,” said Brian Ferguson, chairman and chief executive officer. “He was instrumental in the process of making difficult decisions and implementing many of the strategic actions we have taken over the last five years. His many contributions will have a lasting impact on the company.”
Gregory O. Nelson, 56, also announced his retirement as executive vice president and polymers business group head, effective Aug. 1, 2008.
“During the years I have known Greg, I have always admired the integrity he has consistently demonstrated, and for which he is widely known and respected,” said Ferguson. “As a member of our senior leadership team, he most recently has led the polymers business group in a significant transformation focused on improving business results. He will be missed both personally and professionally.”
“The appointments we’re announcing as a result of these retirements demonstrate the depth and breadth of our leadership. Each of the people being appointed has the skills and experience to assume very important assignments that are essential to us delivering on our plans for growth.”
Eastman announced the following appointments, effective Aug. 1, 2008, unless otherwise noted:
* Curtis E. Espeland, 44, will succeed Lorraine as senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective Sept. 1, 2008. Espeland is currently vice president, finance and chief accounting officer.
* Mark J. Costa, 42, will assume Nelson's position and become executive vice president, responsible for the polymers business group, as well as marketing. Costa is currently senior vice president, corporate strategy and marketing.
* Ronald C. Lindsay, 49, has been named senior vice president, corporate strategy and regional leadership. In this role, Lindsay will be responsible for the company's industrial gasification initiatives. Lindsay is currently senior vice president and chief technology officer.
* Norris P. Sneed, 52, has been appointed senior vice president and chief administrative officer, with responsibilities for human resources, communications and public affairs and information technology, effective Sept. 1, 2008. Sneed is currently senior vice president, human resources, communications and public affairs.
* Gregory W. Nelson, 45, will assume the position of senior vice president and chief technology officer. Nelson is currently vice president, corporate technology.
* Scott V. King, 39, will replace Espeland as chief accounting officer effective Sept. 1, 2008, in addition to continuing in his current position of vice president and controller.
James P. Rogers continues as president, Eastman Chemical Company, and chemicals and fibers business group head; Theresa K. Lee will continue as senior vice president, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary.
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New Judson Road digs for At Home Healthcare
At Home Healthcare recently moved their Longview branch offices from Bill Owens Parkway to 1412 Judson Road in Triple Creek Center.
The Longview location is a branch office of the Tyler-based At Home Healthcare. The Judson Road structure most recently was home to Franklin Bank which moved to a new facility on Loop 281 a few months ago.
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Stock prices dip for Pilgrim’s, Dana
Two companies with a big East Texas presence - Pilgrim’s Pride and Dana Holding Corp., - experienced yet another down day on the stock market Monday.
Pilgrim’s, with corporate headquarters in Pittsburg, reached a new 52-week low point during the day before closing at $11.42 a share. That was down 62 cents a share or 5.15 percent from last Thursday’s post holiday close of $12.04.
Pilgrim’s previous low point in the past year was $11.91 a share.
Dana, the automotive supplier with a truck frame plant in Longview Business Park where about 540 workers are employed, also reached a new low point for the past 52 weeks. After trading Monday between $4.80 and $5.22 a share, Dana closed at $4.95, down by 5 cents or 1 percent from its previous low of the past year of $5.00 a share.
Dana’s Longview plant supplies frames for the Shreveport General Motors plant and a California Toyota factory. GM shares also reached a new low point in recent history - dipping to $9.92 each before closing at $10.24.
General Motors stock has traded at a previous low of $9.96 a share up to a high of $43.20 in the past year prior to Monday.
Pilgrim’s Pride and the chicken industry has been hard hit by record prices for feed like corn while the automotive industry is restructuring from gas-guzzlers to smaller cars and trucks in light of record high gasoline prices.
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Gerard Cace named TRA president
Gerard Cace has taken over as president of the Texas Restaurant Association for the organization’s 2008-2009 year, organization officials announced Monday.
Cace owns and operates Longview’s Johnny Cace’s Seafood and Steakhouse restaurant along with his wife Cathy. He will be joined in the TRA’s top leadership by another East Texas restaurant operator, Bob Westbrook, who operates CiCi’s Pizza franchises in Longview and Tyler, who will serve as a vice president.
Other officers include Mark Maguire, Maguire’ Restaurant Concepts, Dallas, as president-elect; Lisa Perini, Perini Ranch Steakhouse, Buffalo Gap as another vice-president; and Russell Ybarra, Gringos Mexican Kitchen, Houston, as the newly elected secretary-treasurer.
The Texas Restaurant Association represents the state’s $33 billion restaurant industry, which is comprised of 55,000 plus locations and a workforce of over 985,000 employees.
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Jet service implementation advanced to September
American Eagle Airlines plans to cutback on the number of flights to Longview and Tyler airports and begin jet service has been moved up from November to Sept. 3, according to spokeswoman Andrea Huguely. In late September the company announced plans to cutback the number of flights in and out of East Texas Regional Airport to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport from three arrivals and departures daily to two flights each way. “Sometimes we need to tinker a little with our long range plans,” Huguely said Monday afternoon. “We had the jets available and have advanced our schedule changes in several markets, including Longview and Tyler.” Tyler Pounds Field will have three flights daily instead of the five now serving the airport, she said. At both airports 34-seat turbo prop aircraft will be replaced with 50-seat Embraer EMB-145 regional jets, Huguely said.
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Longview Towne Crossing gets new tenant
Citi Financial Services has inked a contract for retail space at Longview Towne Crossing.
The firm should be moving into space directly north of Verizon Wireless in the out building of the retail development fronting Hawkins Parkway and North Eastman Road. Verizon, with the corner spot, will be flanked on the east side by Spots Clips, a new sports-theme barber shop and Citi.
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Jefferson gets tourism boost in book
Jefferson is prominently featured in the U.S. and Canada edition of the book, “1,000 Places to Visit Before you Die,” according to Juanita Wakefield Chitwood, who works in promoting tourism in that community.
Also mentioned is Caddo Lake and Jefferson’s Excelsior Hotel along with the town’s Candlelight Home Tours and annual historic pilgrimage.
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More retirement living
Site work going on at the northeast corner of the intersection of North Eastman Road and Hollybrook Drive is for an addition to Colonial Village Retirement Center.
Representatives of Reich Builders, who are doing the construction, said the site directly south of the existing Colonial Village complex will house eight duplex structures or 16 new housing units.
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PUC grants SWEPCO request for Turk plant
The Public Utility Commission of Texas on Friday morning granted a request by Southwestern Electric Power Co. to move forward with plans to build a new power plant in Southwest Arkansas and allow Texas customers to help pay for the plant, according to Terry Hadley, PUC spokesman.
The three member commission voted 2-1 in favor of SWEPCO’s application seeking a permit for convenience and necessity. The John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant has an estimated price tag of $1.52 billion.
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East Texas stores involved in beef recall
East Texas Kroger stores are involved in a 20-state voluntary recall of ground beef which may be contaminated with E. coli, the company reported.
Fourth of July picnic tables are getting a careful look as familiar hamburgers are feared to be among the tainted ingredients in separate food safety scares.
On Wednesday, The Kroger Co. expanded its voluntary recall of some ground beef products to its stores in more than 20 states, including those in East Texas, saying the meat may be contaminated with E. coli.
Among East Texas Kroger stores are those in Longview, Henderson and Marshall where store workers have put up signs alerting customers to the recall, officials said.
The nation’s biggest traditional grocer also urged customers to check the ground beef in their refrigerators and freezers to determine whether it is covered by the recall, according to the Associated Press.
Kroger’s recall stems from meat obtained from one of Kroger’s suppliers, Nebraska Beef Ltd., that has been linked to illnesses reported in Michigan and Ohio between May 31 and June 8 caused by E. coli bacteria.
Nebraska Beef has recalled from wholesalers and other processing companies nearly 532,000 pounds of ground beef produced on five dates between May 16 and June 24. Kroger said Wednesday that as a precaution it removed from stores all ground beef supplied by Nebraska Beef marked with sell by dates of May 21 or later.
“Ground beef in stores today comes from other suppliers not involved in the recall,” Kroger spokeswoman Meghan Glynn said Wednesday.
The Cincinnati-based company initiated a recall June 25 for Kroger stores in Michigan and in central and northern Ohio.
In some stores, the recall includes products in Styrofoam tray packages wrapped in clear cellophane or purchased from an in-store service counter. It does not include ground beef sold in 1-, 3-, or 5-pound sealed tubes or frozen ground beef patties sold in the frozen food section of its stores.
Kroger is notifying customers about the expanded recall by placing signs in stores in meat departments. It also is using its register receipt notification system.
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Keep Longview Beautiful recognized
In the business of helping maintain the city’s attractiveness, Keep Longview Beautiful has been recognized as a Gold Star Affiliate and Sustained Excellence Award winner at the annual Keep Texas Beautiful Conference in Irving, June 24-27.
Keep Texas Beautiful affiliates may receive Good Standing, Silver Star or Gold Star recognition. To become a Gold Star affiliate, Keep Longview Beautiful met all requirements for Good Standing, sent a letter of support from Mayor Dean, submitted a Governor’s Community Achievement Award application and responded to essay questions, officials said.
The Longview organization received a Sustained Excellence Award for scoring 90 or above on the Governor’s Community Achievement Award application for three consecutive years. Recipients of this award are recognized for their ongoing commitment to making Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation.
This award distinguishes Longview for its outstanding achievements in protecting and enhancing the local environment, exemplifying its efforts as the standard of environmental excellence for communities nationwide.
For more information visit www.keeplongviewbeautiful.com.
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Starbucks closing 600 stores
Seattle-headquartered Starbucks on Tuesday announced it was closing 600 company operated stores but did not indicate if Longview locations would be included.
But in a sign that those days are over, Starbucks Corp. announced Tuesday it will close 600 company-operated stores in the next year as the faltering U.S. economy hastened the pain caused by the company’s own rapid expansion.
Starbucks shares, which have been falling steadily for nearly two years, jumped 72 cents, or 4.6 percent, in extended trading after the announcement. They had lost 12 cents to close Tuesday at $15.62.
Seattle-based Starbucks did not say which stores will be closed, only that they are spread throughout the country. But it did say 70 percent of those slated for closure had opened after the start of 2006, according to the Associated Press.
There are two company operated locations in Longview. One of those, at North Eastman Road and Hawkins Parkway, opened only a few weeks ago. The other free-standing Longview Starbucks is in the French Quarter at Loop 281 and McCann Road.
To put it another way, Starbucks is closing 19 percent of all U.S. company-operated stores that opened in the last two years, Chief Financial Officer Pete Bocian said during a conference call.
About 12,000 workers, or 7 percent of Starbucks’ global work force, will be affected by the closings, which are expected to take place between late July and the middle of 2009, spokeswoman Valerie O’Neil said.
O’Neil said most employees will be moved to nearby stores, but she did not know exactly how many jobs will be lost. Starbucks estimated $8 million in severance costs.
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Longview Regional parent buys hospital
Hospital operator Community Health Systems Inc. said Monday that a subsidiary has bought the remaining 35 percent interest in Affinity Health Systems LLC., which indirectly owns and operates Trinity Medical Center of Birmingham, Ala.
Community Health Systems is the parent company of Longview Regional Medical Center.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The Alabama hospital has been operated as a joint venture between a Community Health affiliate as the 65 percent owner and Baptist Health System Inc. since 2005, the company said.
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Lean manufacturing session hosted by LEDCO
Longview Economic Development Corp. will present a session highlighting the benefits of lean manufacturing techniques from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 10.
Richard Andrews, a recently retired industry executive, will talk about how to get started, cost, how long it takes to implement and what a factory might look like after implementation of lean principles.
The session will be held in the LEDCO board room, 410 N. Center St. Andrews has more than 10 years experience of implementing lean techniques and of seeing the results.
The program is free but those planning to attend are asked to reserve space by contacting the LEDCO offices at (903) 753-7878 or by e-mail at: kathy@longviewusa.com, no later than Thursday.
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EFC Valve and Controls sold; Dean to stay involved
Jay and Jane Dean of Longview on Tuesday said they have reached an agreement to sell their Dean & Associates limited partnership doing business as EFC Valve & Controls in White Oak to a group of investors. The sale is to Luther King Capital Management of Fort Worth, Jay Dean said. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Dean, who is mayor of Longview, said he will continue to manage the business as chief executive officer and will be chairman of the board a new entity, a limited partnership, EFC Valve & Controls. “This is really a good opportunity for our family and our employees,” Dean said. “Our main officers stay in tact and we’ll be able to follow through with aggressive growth plans.” He said the Dean family will continue to own a large share of stock in the new partnership.
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Broadcast deal in progress
London Broadcasting Co., the parent company of the Longview-Tyler CBS television affiliate, announced Tuesday the company has signed an agreement to acquire 11 broadcast properties in four television markets from Drewry Communications.
The deal includes the ABC affiliate in the Waco-Temple-Bryan market; the CBS station in Amarillo; the ABC affiliate in Lawton, Okla. and Wichita Falls market; and the NBC affiliate in Odessa-Midland. Also included are Telemundo affiliates in each of those markets along with a Spanish language radio station in Odessa-Midland, according to Terry E. London, company president.
London Broadcasting was formed in 2007 and acquired CBS-19 in February.
London said the purchase will give the company a presence in five of the state’s 15 mid-sized markets with a potential reach of 1 million television households. The transaction is subject to Federal Communications Commission approval and is expected to be finalized by Dec. 31, he said.
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Mall gets new security chief
Longview Mall has announced the appointment of William Boudreaux as security director.
Boudreaux is employed with IPC, the contracted security provider for Longview Mall. He will oversee the day to day security of the mall and the public safety of its shoppers and retailers, according to Frankie Parson, mall manager.
A native of East Texas, Boudreaux returns to this area after completing eight years of service in the U.S. Navy. He and his family reside in White Oak.
“We are very pleased to have William join the Longview Mall management team,” Parson said. “He brings a superior level of expertise and experience to this position.”
