With the U.S. economy on life support -- in the form of regular transfusions of cash from the FED -- and jobs disappearing in epidemic proportions, this may seem an odd time to talk about a red-hot employment sector. Well, it appears that there is one type of worker who is in short supply in almost every major enterprise in America: highly educated people with superior technical skills. You know the type we ...

The word recession has been emblazoned in the psyche of most Americans over the past few months. The term has become ubiquitous (although most people probably don't know the true definition), and you can't escape it these days. It seems that all this talk of recession has forced employers to cut 80,000 jobs in March, the highest job loss in five years, according to an AP article. An array of industries, inc ...

For years now—probably since after the 9/11 attacks, understandably—I've noticed the media paying a lot of attention to the troubles of the airline industry. People's fear of flying, the popularity of e-tickets, and the trimming of airline's costs (from eliminating meal service to reducing baggage limits) are just a few issues that have dominated headlines. More recently, articles discussing the soaring cos ...

Apparently the emerging ethanol industry is wreaking havoc on the chicken industry. So, you might ask: what does an alternative energy fuel source have to do with chickens? The answer is *insert drum roll here* ... a lot ... so much so that the world's largest poultry processor, Pilgrim's Pride Corp., is blaming the ethanol industry and recently passed legislation supporting it for what the company's presid ...

A couple days ago, the Pentagon announced that EADS won a $36 billion ($100 billion growth potential) contract to build U.S. Air Force refueling tankers in Mobile, AL, ending a more than two-year bidding battle. But the real controversy, which raises issues of nationalism, globalization, homeland security, etc., is just beginning. Let me get you up to speed. Business Facilities began covering this story at ...

Saw this article in The New York Times today; it's about how New Jersey's brownfield redevelopment incentives didn't do much during the 1990s, but now that there's hardly any greenfield space left in the state, developers are giving them a shot. I think it's kind of unfortunate that the easiest way for a developer to earn back their 75% of cleanup cost is by putting retail on the site. I live in New Jersey, ...

Everyone knows about wind turbines and how they are increasingly popping up around the world as another enviro-friendly way to create energy. But did you know that scientists are currently developing and testing a new turbine that you will never see, but that can create limitless, constant energy? That is because the turbine will be bound to the ocean floor with its blades whirling about 40 feet below the s ...

A recent article entitled "America for Sale" caught my attention this morning. Why? Just a few days ago, I was writing an article about Virginia's new initiative, VITAL (Virginia International Trade Alliance), which essentially creates a network of companies committed to luring foreign investments into the commonwealth and marketing it globally. And this is a goal of numerous states, of course--branding, tr ...

Not bloody likely. According to an annual report, titled "Doing Business," put out by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in late 2007, Pakistan is perceived as a better place for doing business in South East Asia than India in many respects. In fact, Pakistan ranked 76 among 178 economies worldwide, while India held the 120th spot. However, after the assassination in Pakistan of opposition leader B ...

Lest we be forget that the Internet is based on wires and antennas, consider this news item (Reuters via NYTimes): A breakdown in an international undersea cable network disrupted Internet links to Egypt, India and Gulf Arab countries on Wednesday, and Egypt said it could take several days for its services to return to normal. It was not immediately possible to gauge the impact of the disruption on financia ...