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Kara Homes' bankruptcy filing could hurt a number of banks and make lenders more cautious about lending to builders as the real estate market slumps. The Chapter 11 filing last week by the East Brunswick-based home builder shows a surprising number of lenders facing large amounts of potential losses, analyst Albert Savastano wrote in a research report Monday. .
» Young Brothers Ltd./Hawaiian Tug & Barge has promoted Vicente "Vic" Salas Angoco Jr. to senior vice president from vice president and general manager. He will be responsible for the maritime operations and safety, risk and environmental management for both companies. Angoco will be instrumental in guiding and leading needed changes to bring about an enhanced focus on customers, operations and personnel. » Queen's Medical Center has announced the following new hires and promotions: Blyth Hirata has been promoted to nurse manager for labor and delivery. She most recently served as clinical nurse IV and permanent charge nurse. Dr. Luigi Terminella has returned to Queen's as a full-time medical intensivist in the medical intensive care unit. He previously served as a Queen's hospitalist and intensivist from 1993 to 2003, then participated in a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at University of Texas Medical Branch.
San Diego State University received nearly $50 million in philanthropic gifts during the 2005-2006 fiscal year, it reported today. This brings the university's 10-year total to more than $400 million in philanthropic support, nearly twice as much as was raised in the previous 99-year history of the university. "It's rewarding to see the San Diego community value the university's contributions to the region so highly and continue to invest in our talented students and faculty," said SDSU President Stephen L. Weber. "This generous support will help us to educate and inspire the future leaders of the region and the state." San Diego State reported $49.8 million in new gifts, pledge payments and new philanthropic pledges for the 2005-2006 fiscal year. Highlights included: Doug and Betsy Manchester gave $5 million to the university, the largest gift from an alumni couple in the university's history. Of the Manchesters' gift, $3.5 million will be used for presidential initiatives and undergraduate teaching support, while the remaining $1.5 million will be given to SDSU's intercollegiate golf program. In recognition of the Manchesters' long record of service and support of SDSU, the university permanently changed the name of Centennial Hall to Manchester Hall.
Lack of skilled workers is the biggest risk to the growth prospects of one of Australia's largest construction companies, the John Holland Group, forcing it to start projects later than it otherwise would have. But this is being offset by significant increases in productivity under new regulations governing the building industry and from changes to workplace laws, company executives say. With boom conditions in Western Australia and strong conditions in other parts of the country, the problem is not in finding projects, it is in finding people, says group managing director David Stewart. "We can go and buy as much equipment as we want, we can buy construction materials from all over the world, we don't have any shortage of clients in the current market, but we haven't got enough quality people," Mr Stewart said yesterday.
BY MOLLY NANCE As the end of the year approaches, the construction industry will see a smooth transition into 2007, a prediction based on the 31st annual CIT Construction Industry Forecast. CIT Construction offers financial products and services to contractors, equipment dealers, equipment-rental companies and other construction-related clients. The firm is a unit of CIT Group Inc., a New York City-based commercial and consumer finance company, with $68 billion in managed assets. Its annual report is a national culmination of industry insiders predictions for a relatively positive future for the next year, including an upswing in the commercial real estate market. The 900 contractors and equipment distributors that were surveyed measured their perceptions of next years progress from what is called an Optimism Quotient, or OQ.
Three workers were injured and one died when a truss collapsed at a construction site in Milford, Monday afternoon. The workers were putting up wooden trusses on an addition being made to the South Hill Church on S. Hill Road. One truss fell creating a domino affect collapsing several trusses. The four men were trapped for about 45 minutes while Milford police and firefighters worked to rescue them. Two workers were in critical condition and two were in serious condition when they were transported to Huron Valley, Beaumont and Providence Hospitals with head, neck and back injuries. .
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