The CEO of Cary-based Global Knowledge says the acquisition of Canada's largest corporate training firm is a strong addition even though the business had financial problems.

Last week Global Knowledge completed the previously announced acquisition of the assets of Nexient Learning, which has 220 employees and generated $55.2 million in revenue last year. Nexient's ambitious expansion was fueled by debt that led it to file for the Canadian equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but the business has consistently generated positive cash flow from operations, said Global Knowledge CEO Brian Branson.

That's crucial because Global Knowledge acquired Nexient's assets, not its debts, said Branson.

"It was a rare opportunity, as I see it, for Global Knowledge to acquire the clear market leader in Canada in IT [information technology] and business skills and leadership training," Branson said.

North Carolina car dealers submitted $78.6 million in rebate claims under the federal government's Cash for Clunkers program.

Nationally, the vehicle trade-in program spurred 690,114 claims worth $2.88 billion, the Department of Transportation reported today.

The program, which ended Tuesday, offered buyers discounts of up to $4,500 to trade in older cars and trucks for more fuel-efficient models.

The program boosted auto sales, providing a rare bright spot for car makers and dealers. But some dealers complained of delays in receiving reimbursements and stopped participating early.

The management changes that Consonus Technologies announced this week were part of a long-established succession plan, according to executives at the Cary-based company.

The plan to hand over the reins of the privately held data-management company to a new management
team was put in place after Strategic Technologies of Cary merged in January 2007 with Salt Lake City-based Consonus Acquisition Corp. and took the smaller company's name, said CEO Mike Shook.

Consonus announced this week that Shook and his younger brother, Will, an executive vice president, are stepping down Oct. 1. The brothers co-founded the business in 1988.

Duke University Health System plans to expand its medical empire.

Duke announced this morning it is building a new Cancer Center and Duke Medicine Paviliion at its main Durham campus. The two facilities will cost more than $700 million and add about 850,000 square feet to the campus.

The seven-story Cancer Center will be next to the current Morris Cancer Clinic and is expected to open in 2012. The eight-story pavilion is expected to be ready in 2013.

Medical expansions continue to fuel the local economy during the recession, with new projects proposed or underway in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Clayton, Hillsborough and elsewhere.

The latest Duke project will create about 1,500 jobs during construction and 1,000 jobs when finished, university officials estimate.

Duke has recently finished renovations at Duke Raleigh and Durham
Regional hospitals, and opened clinics in Brier Creek, Morrisville,
Knightdale and North Raleigh.

Affiliated Computer Services plans to hire 465 people to expand its Raleigh customer-care center.

It's the second time this year ACS has added jobs at the Raleigh center. In April, the company announced it was hiring about 240 workers.

Of the new hires, 125 positions will be permanent and full-time. The other 340 jobs will be temporary for a contract that runs through April. Most of the jobs will pay "above minimum wage" and there are a few management positions that pay more, said ACS spokesman Chris Gilligan.

A solar energy farm in Person County, which officially opened today near Roxboro, will be one of the state's most publicly visible renewable energy facilities.

Progress Energy is buying the electricity generated by the 5-acre facility, enough to power about 60 homes, as part of a 20-year contract. The solar power plant began generating electricity eight days ago.

The 650-kilowatt facility, operated by Carolina Solar Energy of Durham, is not the state's largest. Progress Energy has signed a contract for a facility in Laurinburg that will be nearly four times bigger.

But the complex of angled photovoltaic panels at the Person County Business and Industrial Center is visible to passersby on Route 501. And this week, Carolina Solar Energy will launch a public web site that will provide real-time readouts showing how much energy the solar farm is generating, how much power it has generated to date, and how much carbon dioxide it's reducing by offsetting power from Progress Energy's coal-burning power plants.

The propane industry wants to sell the public on propane-powered vehicles with a display and test drives at the State Fairgrounds.

The Propane Education & Research Council today is letting the public try out a pickup truck, school bus, platform truck and lawnmower -- all fueled with propane.

The public display will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the State Fairgrounds' Exposition Center, accessible by Gate 11 off Blue Ridge Road.

First coffee, now beer.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Starbucks has started charging more for some coffee drinks in a few markets, including the Raleigh area, before increasing prices everywhere.

This morning, the newspaper notes that Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors plan to raise prices in most markets. The two companies account for about 80 percent of U.S. beer sales.

The companies also raised prices about the same time last year. The latest move could create an opportunity for smaller rivals and local brewers to win customers.

Despite declining beer sales, prices continue to rise faster than other consumer goods. In July, the price of beer and other malt beverages for consumption at home rose 4.6 percent from a year earlier, according to Labor Department data.

Military might was on display in Roxboro this morning.

Force Protection, which makes vehicles tough enough to withstand a roadside bomb, was showing the vehicles off at the official dedication of its recently opened training facility.

The facility, which has been in the works since 2007, opened about three months ago and now has 20 employees. Each week, they've been teaching about 60 U.S. and Canadian military personnel how to drive and maintain their $500,000 Cougar trucks and the $1 million Buffalo.

The corporate parent of Cooperative Bank, the 24-branch Wilmington-based bank that failed in June, has filed for bankruptcy.

Holding company Cooperative Bankshares filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy code last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

In June the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of Cooperative Bank and immediately cut a deal in which First Bank of Troy, N.C., took over the bank's branches and $774 million in deposits. It was the second North Carolina bank to fail this year.