North Carolina led the country in the creation of clean energy and clean transportation jobs during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a report from Environmental Entrepreneurs, a nationwide network of business leaders who advocate for policies that benefit both the economy and the environment.
For the entire year, the state was second only to California in clean energy job creation.
Raleigh-based Transite Technology, a developer of transportation management systems, has merged with 3Gtms.
3Gtms, a 6-employee company based in Connecticut, develops transportation software.
Transite employs 10 people in Raleigh. It makes technology that assist carriers, shippers and other transportation companies reduce their supply chain costs.
The combined company will retain the 3Gtms name and be based in Connecticut. But it will maintain an office in Raleigh, where Transite now employs 10 people.
The merged company is also adding four new hires to bring its headcount to 20.
“This is exciting news for Transite customers and for the transportation software market as a whole," said Mitch Weseley, CEO of 3Gtms, in a statement. "We are doubling the size of the company, almost overnight, to meet the growing demand for our products and to drive improvement and innovation throughout the company."
Transite's customers include GE, Pergo and Samsonite, according to the company's website.
Cree shares were up more than 10 percent early Tuesday after the Durham company unveiled a new LED light bulb for the consumer market that retails for $10.
The Durham company hopes the bulbs, which comes with a 10-year limited warranty and are available exclusively at Home Depot, will help LEDs capture a larger share of the consumer market.
“Over the last couple of years we recognized that the consumer is instrumental in the adoption of LED lighting, but we needed to give them a reason to switch," Cree CEO Chuck Swoboda said in a statement.
"We believe this breakthrough LED bulb will, for the first time, give consumers a reason to upgrade the billions of energy-wasting light bulbs.”
Cree's new bulb costs $9.97 for a 40-watt replacement and $12.97 for a 60-watt replacement.
Jim Goodnight, CEO and co-founder of Cary business software firm SAS, was among three North Carolinians to make the latest iteration of Forbes magazine's list of the World's billionaires.
Goodnight, 70, by far the richest person in North Carolina, was ranked 154th with a net worth of $7.7 billion. That was up from an estimated $7.3 billion last year.
SAS co-founder John Sall, 64, was ranked 353rd on the global list with a fortune of $3.8 billion.
The only other North Carolinian to make the list was C.D. "Dick" Spangler, 80, of Charlotte, who ranked 670th with a fortune estimated at $2.2 billion.
The full list can be found here.
The baby in the news for being cured of AIDS was given two drugs sold by ViiV Healthcare and Abbott Laboratories.
ViiV Healthcare is a joint venture formed by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer in 2009 to focus only on HIV medicines. ViiV Healthcare's U.S. headquarters is in Research Triangle Park.
Former Progress Energy CFO Mark Mulhern, one of the casualties of Progress's merger with Duke Energy, has been picked as chief financial officer of a Texas oil and gas exploration company that has diversified into fracking.
Dallas-based Exco Resources announced Mulhern's appointment this morning before the start of market trading. Mulhern had been a member of Exco's board of directors and chaired the company's audit committee.
PowerSecure International shares rose 8 percent Friday after the Wake Forest energy services company announced it had acquired the energy services support business of Lime Energy for about $5.5 million.
The company paid $1.9 million in cash and assumed about $9.9 million in debts and other liabilities related to the unit’s contracts. PowerSecure is acquiring $6.3 million assets and other revenues from the business. The deal closed February 28.
Publicly traded Lime Energy is based in Huntersville. The business unit PowerSecure acquired designs, installs and maintains energy conservation measures in high-rise office buildings, distribution facilities, retail sites and other locations.
PowerSecure takes over about $27 million of projects that the business had previously been awarded.
“We are excited to serve major energy services companies in their delivery of energy efficiency solutions to customers coast-to-coast," said Sidney Hinton, PowerSecure’s CEO, in a statement. "In addition to taking over existing projects, we are also excited about the strong pipeline of potential new projects Lime’s team has developed.”
PowerSecure operates emergency backup diesel generators as alternate power sources for customers. The company reports fourth quarter and full-year financial results on March 7.
The company’s shares closed Friday at $9.11, up 66 cents. The stock is up 17 percent this year.
The corporate parent of First Citizens Bank reported lower net income for the fourth quarter and for all of 2012.
Raleigh-based First Citizens BancShares attributed the decline to adjustments of the value of assets it received when it acquired failed banks that had been taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Those adjustments affected noninterest income.
Net income for the fourth quarter totaled $21.7 million, or $2.15 per share, down from $30.5 million a year earlier. Net income for all of 2012 totaled $134.3 million, down from $195 million.
Net interest income in the fourth quarter rose 8.5 percent to $262.9 million. The provision for loan losses totaled $64.9 million in the fourth quarter, versus $89.3 million a year earlier.
Noninterest income fell 68.4 percent to $33.2 million.
First Citizens has a network of 414 branches and more than $21 billion in assets.
AT&T has named Venessa Harrison to be the new president of AT&T North Carolina.
Harrison, 56, most recently served as Regional Vice President of External Affairs of AT&T North Carolina.
"We know that Venessa will do a great job in her new position," said Gregg Morton, President-AT&T Southeast Region, in a statement. "Her community involvement as well as her role in bringing innovative new technology to our customers will be an asset as we move ahead in North Carolina."
Harrison replaces Cynthia Marshall, who was promoted to a corporate position at the company's Dallas headquarters.
Harrison, a North Carolina native, has been with AT&T and its predecessor companies for 33 years. She began her career in the operator services organization, and has also worked in the network, business and regulatory and external affairs departments.
Harrison holds a Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix. She is married with two children.
Wall Street is shrugging over BioDelivery Sciences International's disclosure that it is restating $14.4 million in revenue it received last year.
Analyst Tim Lugo of William Blair & Co. issued a note Friday reiterating his "outperform" rating on the Raleigh company's stock. And BioDelivery shares were trading at $3.88, up 11 cents, late Friday morning.
Lugo wrote that the restatement has no impact on the company's cash balance -- which he estimates is currently about $60 million -- and that the revenue restatement is of no concern given that BioDelivery is primarily a drug-development company whose future is tied to its ability to bring new products to market.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday, BioDelivery reported that it is restating $14.4 million of the $30 million in fees it received in January 2012 when it licensed its experimental treatment for chronic pain to Endo Pharmaceuticals. The company determined after discussions with SEC staff that $14.4 million of that payment should have been deferred rather than recognized at the time of receipt. As a result, revenue will be restated for the first three quarters of 2012.
BioDelivery noted that the entire $30 million in upfront licensing fees it received in January 2012 and an additional $15 million milestone payment it received from Endo in May "are completely non-refundable and are being used to fund the company's ongoing business."
