The tawdry saga of Gov. Rod Blagojevich concluded on schedule this week, when the Illinois State Senate unanimously ousted the helmet-haired governor after a brief trial in which Blagojevich was the most damning witness against himself, courtesy of wiretaps provided by a federal prosecutor. U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's impulsive decision two months ago to publicly reveal Hot Rod's efforts to peddle Ba ...

After yesterday's employment massacre--more than 70,000 job cuts announced across various U.S. industries--the role of economic development and the importance of economic developers, have reached new heights. Before slumping my shoulders in response to the crush of job losses, I was emboldened by news out of North Carolina. EDGE4, a five-year economic development program designed to benefit Raleigh, Wake Co ...

A state-by-state breakdown of unemployment, budget deficit and foreclosure statistics, jointly produced by CNN, Fortune and Money magazines, clearly illustrates which states are getting hit the hardest by the recession. Here are the states that appear to be in the worst shape, economically, according to an aggregate of these indicators: California -- 8.4 percent unemployment, $14 billion deficit, 3.9 percen ...

Valero Energy Corporation, one of the largest oil and gas refiners in North America, has begun its Phase I operation of a 50-megawatt (MW) windfarm located in McKee, TX. Just north of Amarillo, the McKee Windfarm will be constructed in two phases. Initiated in December 2008, energy production from six General Electric (GE) 1.5-MW wind turbines of Phase I has been commissioned for startup.  Phase II will con ...

With its stock price plunging more than 60 percent in the past year, its print advertising sales collapsing, and a reported $1 billion in debt, The New York Times Co. is urgently trying to raise $225 million by offering a sale-leaseback deal on its new 52-story headquarters building in midtown Manhattan. The move to sell a portion of its gleaming new skyscraper, designed by architect Renzo Piano, is the lat ...

Iowa recently announced that IBM will open a new technology service delivery center in Dubuque, IA. It is expected that the $100-million project will create up to 1,300 high-quality jobs. IBM has signed a 10-year lease, with optional extension years, to occupy a historic building in downtown Dubuque. The City of Dubuque, Dubuque Initiatives and IBM plan to upgrade the facility to make it a “green” building. ...

The people who brought us the Great Bank Robbery of 2008 are back at work, and this time they're doing something for which they are uniquely qualified: shoveling tons of pork back to the folks in their home districts. An armada of Brinks trucks, their engines still hot from a breakneck midnight run to deliver $350 billion in ''bailout'' funds to the nation's banks, are being reloaded with cash at the U.S. T ...

The Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority has approved two low-interest loans totaling $1.36 million to fund Philadelphia-area projects, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development said Wednesday. The PIDC Financing Corp. will receive a $680,000 loan to acquire and renovate an existing facility on East Hunting Park Avenue in Philadelphia. The site contains eight buildings total ...

Kuwait's government decided on December 28 to cancel a $17.4 billion joint venture with U.S. petrochemical giant Dow Chemical. The venture, known as K-Dow, was announced with great fanfare in July as the crown jewel of economic development initiatives in Michigan. Michigan, already home to Dow Chemical's headquarters in Midland, had been slated to become the home as well to the new K-Dow Petrochemicals, a p ...

A new year is always a good time for resolutions. Here's a few we'd like to see in 2009: -- Anyone who has borrowed money from Citigroup, GMAC or the two dozen other bankrupt financial entities that have been bailed out with federal funds can deduct the balance of their monthly loan payments from their income tax. -- Bernie must spell his last name phonetically, which would make it Made-off, as in ''made of ...