Greenville’s NuVox sold
Arkansas-based Windstream Corp. has bought NuVox Inc. for a reported $647 million. Windstream issued $187 million in common stock, and the company paid $280 million in cash to close the deal, which also included Windstream’s payment of $180 million of NuVox’s outstanding debt. NuVox employs about 700 people in Greenville working in enhanced voice, data, and security systems.
NAI Avant recognized as industry leader
The Columbia-based commercial real estate company received the prestigious 2010 Eagle Award at the NAI Global International Convention in Las Vegas during the first week of February. NAI Avant was recognized as the top firm in the U.S. secondary markets, having demonstrated the highest levels of achievement. Todd Avant, president of the company, attended the ceremonies in Las Vegas to receive the award. NAI Global is the world’s leading network of commercial real estate firms with more than 5,000 professionals and 325 offices in 45 countries.
Parent of Carolina First Bank sees stock stay down
The South Financial Group (TSFG) of Greenville is still under the gun to raise its stock above one dollar per share and keep it there for at least 10 days prior to June 2. Failing that, TSFG will be potentially subject to a delisting, taken off the Nasdaq Stock Market. At the close of the business day on Monday, February 8, a share of TSFG was worth $0.39.
Carbon neutral campuses
James Barker, president of Clemson University, has established a President’s Commission on Sustainability to create a plan to make the campus carbon neutral. Furman University in Greenville in November announced a similar plan to create a campus-wide culture of conservation, making the Furman physical plant carbon neutral before its bicentennial in 2026. Clemson, Furman, and the University of South Carolina have signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, as have about 650 colleges and universities.
Census jobs and other employment
The Census Bureau should fill about 1.2 million temporary positions nationwide. The effect will be positive from February through May, but then there’s a winding down from June through September. But by the fourth quarter of 2010, private payrolls should be growing by 100,000 jobs a month.
Bus manufacturing
Proterra Inc. formerly announced on Thursday, February 4, it plans to build a 240,000-sq.-ft. bus manufacturing and R&D center at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research, or CU-ICAR. Proterra’s first vehicle, a fuel cell hybrid bus, is in service in Columbia, but it is on loan to the Olympic Village in Vancouver. Proterra plans to hire 1,300 people while it invests $68 million on the site.
Film festival
Actress Blythe Danner will receive the 2010 Beaufort International Film Festival’s “Excellence in Acting Award” on Saturday, February 20, at 7 pm. Author Pat Conroy will receive the “Excellence in Writing Award.” The Awards Gala ceremony is free and will be held in Beaufort at the USCB Performing Arts Center, 801 Carteret Street. For more information, go to www.beaufortfilmfestival.com.
Elgin leads Columbia
The town of Elgin is the 17th local government in South Carolina to post its check register on the Web under a transparency program spearheaded by Comptroller Richard Eckstrom. Other local governments that have begun to post their check registers online include Horry, Charleston, Aiken, Dorchester and Anderson counties; the municipalities of Cayce, Irmo, Turbeville, Myrtle Beach, Surfside, Chesnee, Charleston, Aiken and Georgetown; the Holly Springs Fire-Rescue District and the Berkeley County School District. The City of Columbia has announced intentions to soon begin posting its check registers online.
Husband for Lady Liberty spurs Columbia
Georgia-based National Monument Foundation floated the idea of a male counterpart to New York Harbor’s Statue of Liberty, but he would have to stand alone without her in Charleston Harbor. At a projected cost between $100 million to $150 million — mostly in private funds — to approach the Statue of Liberty’s height of 305 feet from the ground to the tip of its flame, the statue could stand on an island built near Patriot’s Point. Good for Charleston. Now, how ‘bout Columbia, Gem of the Ocean, standing on the border between Columbia and West Columbia, dead center in the Congaree River?
February 12, 2010 | Columbia Star, The (SC)
Author/Byline: John Temple Ligon | Section: Business