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News Briefs
Vought reports increasing sales, losses
Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. reported both higher net sales and higher net losses for 2005, the latter in part due to non-recurring costs associated with the construction of its new facility in Charleston.
The plant, a joint venture between Dallas-based Vought and Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica, will assemble fuselage sections for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. It is scheduled to deliver its first fuselage to Boeing in April 2007.
Vought reported net sales of $1.3 billion for the year ending on Dec. 31, 2005, an increase of 7%, compared to $1.21 billion in the same period of 2004.
However, the net loss for 2005 was $229.7 million, compared to a net loss of $155 million for the same period of 2004.
Vought said the larger net loss last year stemmed primarily from increases in disruption costs caused by the consolidation of several existing facilities, revised cost estimates on new and existing programs, increased costs related to pension benefits and the continuing planned investment in the Boeing 787 program.
Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2005 were $360 million, an increase of 9% compared to $330.3 million in the same period a year ago.
The net loss for the fourth quarter of 2005 was $15.6 million, compared to a net loss of $74.9 million for the same period last year. The net loss in the fourth quarter 2005 resulted primarily from costs related to the facility consolidation activity and the non-recurring investment in the Boeing 787 program.
The loss recorded for the fourth quarter of 2004 was the result of a $26 million non-cash impairment charge, costs related to the company’s facility consolidation activity and non-recurring investments in the Boeing 787 program.
Trident Health System buys 20 acres in Berkeley County
Trident Health System has purchased 20 acres of land at Cane Bay Plantation in Berkeley County on which to provide health care to residents of the development and the surrounding area.
The need for health care in that area continues to grow. Trident’s Moncks Corner Medical Center’s Emergency Department and Diagnostic Services served more than 24,000 patients in 2005, compared with more than 4,100 in 1983, when it first opened.
Cane Bay is slated to build roughly 5,000 residential units on 2,000 acres of land formerly owned by MeadWestvaco. Cane Bay’s residential units will include everything from townhouses to larger, more expensive homes.
Water fee reduction available to developers
Charleston Water System and the Lowcountry Housing Trust, a nonprofit clearinghouse for housing funding and advocacy, announced a first-of-its-kind program to encourage developers to build affordable housing in the Lowcountry.
The Affordable Housing Incentive Program reduces and delays impact fees for developers who build lower-priced housing in Charleston Water’s service districts in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties.
Developers and builders could save as much as $1,000 per residential unit, and the delayed payment of impact fees is offered to compel private and public developers to build affordable housing.
Developers may now apply for the program through the LHT, which will then verify that the developer’s plans include housing units to be sold or rented to low and very-low income households.
LHT will provide each successful applicant a Project Certification Letter that entitles the residential housing development to receive the benefits from Charleston Water.
In exchange for the program benefits, each developer must agree to a 10-year deed restriction on the property to keep it affordable.
New traditional community planned near Summerville
A development, located six miles southwest of Summerville at Limehouse Plantation, is being planned by Brentwood Homes Inc. Brentwood is a local homebuilder that has partnered with Dover, Kohl & Partners, a nationally known town-planning firm
The site, off Dorchester Road and U.S. Highway 17A, will host fewer homes than allowed by Dorchester County regulations to create an environmentally sensitive, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use neighborhood based on the same design principles as I’On, a project to which Dover, Kohl & Partners contributed. The total number of homes to be built has not been released.
The plan will apply an approach that produces places that people prefer to live and vacation in, places with the characteristics of Charleston, Savannah and Key West, for example, the developer said. Dover, Kohl & Partners emphasizes complete neighborhoods as the basis of sound communities.
SCSPA issues RFQ for Daniel Island sale
The South Carolina State Ports Authority requested developers interested in buying 1,300 acres of property on Daniel Island in Charleston Harbor to file a Request for Qualifications.
Responses to the RFQ are due by mid-May, which will be followed by a formal Request for Proposals. The selection of a buyer could be finalized by October.
The property sits on the southern tip of the island in the city of Charleston and in Berkeley County, between the Wando and Cooper rivers.
Charleston’s WCSC-TV has new owner
Charleston’s WCSC-TV announced it has changed ownership to Lincoln Financial Media. The station’s ownership change from Jefferson-Pilot Communications to Lincoln Financial Media is a result of the merger of Lincoln National Corp., the parent company of the Lincoln Financial Group of companies, and Jefferson-Pilot Corp.
In addition to Charleston’s WCSC-TV, a CBS affiliate, Lincoln Financial Media consists of 18 radio stations, all in Top 40 markets, and television stations in Richmond, Va., and Charlotte, N.C.
In a related change, the former Jefferson-Pilot Sports is now Lincoln Financial Sports, one of the nation’s leading TV production companies. Lincoln Financial Sports syndicates broadcasts of Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference football and basketball, including games featuring the Clemson Tigers and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.
Waiting outside airport terminal now prohibited
No more lining up outside the Charleston International Airport to pick up friends, family or business associates. Vehicles may now only stop in front of the terminal to quickly drop off or pick up passengers. The changes are a result of the completion of the new parking garage at the airport.
Motorists are permitted to pick up and drop off passengers with their luggage at the curbside. The active loading and unloading procedures are necessary to ensure the Charleston County Aviation Authority remains in compliance with all applicable federal security requirements, as well as providing better access and convenience for departing and arriving passengers, according to a release from the aviation authority.
Motorists are asked to park in the parking garage or surface lots, which offers free parking for the first 30 minutes. Valet parking services are provided by Republic Parking Systems for an established rate.
The aviation authority has also added a cell phone waiting area as a free parking option. The waiting area is located on Terminal Loop Road to the right past the terminal building. This is a temporary parking area, at no cost to the user, for the purpose of waiting for a phone call from arriving passengers indicating they are ready to be picked up at curbside. People parking in this area must remain with their vehicle at all times, and any vehicle left unattended will be towed immediately at the operator’s expense.
For additional parking options or a map of the parking areas at the airport, visit http://www.chs-airport.com /.
State Senate panel approves tax incentives for bank expansion
The Charleston banking market may be booming, but a state Senate subcommittee thinks more needs to be done to foster the expansion of financial institutions throughout the state.
The Senate Finance Subcommittee approved tax breaks for banks that are similar to tax incentives other industries already receive.
The legislation would make South Carolina banks eligible for incentives for new jobs, new construction or the establishment of corporate headquarters.
The legislation now heads to the full Senate Finance Committee.
EMA ranks 39th among top U.S. Navy contractors
Lexington Park, Md.-based Eagan McAllister Associates Inc., which has a principal office in North Charleston, has made the Defense Department’s list of Top 50 Navy contractors for 2005.
EMA, which garnered $115.6 million in Navy contracts in 2005, ranked 39th on the list, 10 spots higher than it placed in 2004.
EMA provides technology, engineering, management and logistics services for the Navy and other federal and commercial clients worldwide.
Software industry execs join Blackbaud’s board
Blackbaud Inc., provider of software and related services for nonprofit organizations, announced two technology executives have joined the company’s board of directors.
George Ellis is the former chief financial officer of Sterling Software Inc. and a founder and former CFO of the spin-off company Sterling Commerce Inc. Sterling Software, acquired by Computer Associates International Inc. in 2000, provided a variety of products for applications and systems management, as well as software and services to the U.S. government. Sterling Commerce, now a subsidiary of AT&T, is a provider of multi-enterprise collaboration solutions.
Ellis is on the board of directors of PeopleSupport Inc., and an advisory board member for the law school at Southern Methodist University, the Entrepreneurs Foundation of North Texas and Dallas Social Venture Partners.
He was also the vice president and chief operating officer of the Communities Foundation of Texas.
John McConnell is the former chief executive officer and board chairman of A4 Health Systems. The company, recently acquired by Allscripts, served as a leading provider of practice management and electronic health record solutions for small- and mid-sized physician groups.
McConnell is on the board of directors of Allscripts, the WakeMed Foundation and Med3000, and is an advisory board member for the College of Public Health at the University of North Carolina. Previously, he was a member of the Virginia Tech Foundation board.
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