The Charleston Gazette - Business

Steel of West Virginia to lay off 53 workers

(The Associated Press) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:40:27 -0500

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- More than 50 Steel of West Virginia workers will be out of work by the end of November. Company President Tim Duke says the layoffs of 53 workers will leave the company with about 300 employees. Duke attributed the layoffs to a w...

Martinsburg aviation company plans to create 300 jobs

ericeyre@wvgazette.com (Eric Eyre) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:50:54 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Martinsburg aviation company plans to hire up to 300 workers during the next five years. Aviation Solutions will repair private planes and U.S. military aircraft damaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, the companys owner said Thursday....

Unemployment rate drops in 44 W.Va. counties

(The Associated Press) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:15:08 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Unemployment rates are down in most West Virginia counties.

Figures released Friday by Workforce West Virginia show unemployment declined in 44 counties in Octob...

Early table games votes already top 1,300

(The Associated Press) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:59:19 -0500

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- More than 1,300 people have already voted on whether to let the Charles Town Races & Slots put table games in its casino. Early voting in Jefferson County began Nov. 13 and continues through Dec. 2. Wendy Evangelisti, an...

PSC approves Hope Gas rate increase

(The Associated Press) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:02:39 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginias Public Service Commission has approved a 5 percent rate increase for Hope Gas Inc. The $8.78 million increase approved Friday is substantially smaller than the $34.4 million increase the utility had requested. ...

Contractor cited in coal miners death

kward@wvgazette.com (Ken Ward Jr.) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:34:51 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State investigators have cited a mine reclamation contractor for alcohol-related violations in the July death of a worker who drowned in a sediment-control pond at the Samples Mine in eastern Kanawha County.Hawkeye Contracting Company ...

TRG to expand Charleston call center, add 240 jobs

(The Associated Press) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:03:17 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- TRG Customer Solutions is expanding its call center in Charleston. TRG plans to hire 240 employees, including supervisors, trainers and quality assurance representatives. Job interviews will be conducted next week from 9 ...

Goldmans CEO apologizes for part in financial crisis

( ) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:03:40 -0500

By Greg Gordon
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Facing a hail of criticism, Goldman Sachs top officer has offered a halting apology for the premier investment banks role in the subprime mortgage crisis that sank the na...

Steelworkers challenge retiree health-care cuts

pjnyden@wvgazette.com (Paul J. Nyden) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:09:02 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The United Steelworkers of America is challenging proposed cuts that Century Aluminum recently announced it would make to health-care benefits for workers who retired from the companys Ravenswood plant. Today, the smelter at the p...

Fayette site could host Scouts Jamboree

ericeyre@wvgazette.com (Eric Eyre) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:11:40 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- After an 18-month search, the Boy Scouts of America will announce Wednesday whether it will make Fayette County the permanent home of its National Jamboree, an event that attracts up to 40,000 Scouts and 200,000 visitors every four yea...

Massey Energy completes purchase of W.Va. reserves

(The Associated Press) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:40:21 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Massey Energy says it has completed its purchase of 15 million tons of northern West Virginia coal reserves. Massey says it purchased the metallurgical and steam coal reserves in Barbour County from bankrupt Kentucky-based oper...

Vonage to pay $3 million in customer-complaint case

(The Associated Press) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:29:30 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Vonage has agreed to pay a total $3 million to West Virginia and 30 other states to settle a multistate investigation of some of its business practices. In a Monday filing with the Securities Exchange Commission, Vonage says it also ag...

Hurricane insurance firm to add 100 jobs

ericeyre@wvgazette.com (Eric Eyre) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:31:01 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Liberty National Life Insurance Co. plans to add 100 employees at its Hurricane office in the coming weeks, the company said Monday.Liberty National is hiring insurance agents, sales staff and customer service agents in response to a g...

State unemployment picture improving

(The Associated Press) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:32:41 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginias employment picture is improving as construction, government and other fields gain jobs. Workforce West Virginia said Monday that the states unemployment rate declined by three-tenths of a percentage point in October ...

ICG settles valley-fill permit lawsuit

(The Associated Press) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:47:20 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- International Coal Group said Monday it has settled a lawsuit filed by two environmental groups challenging a federal water-quality permit for an Appalachian surface mine.The deal struck with the Sierra Club and the Kentucky Waterways ...

State funds research on anti-disease proteins

(The Associated Press) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:02:30 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Morgantown-based company is getting help from the state to develop technology that will help researchers identify disease-specific proteins. The West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust announced Monday that it has completed a $1.7 m...

PSC consumer agency opposes Frontier-Verizon deal

ericeyre@wvgazette.com (Eric Eyre) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:44:00 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginias public utility consumer agency wants the state to reject Frontier Communications plan to purchase more than 600,000 telephone access lines from Verizon. The Public Service Commissions Consumer Advocate Division said...

Attorney General Office goes after Internet payday lenders

aclevenger@wvgazette.com (Andrew Clevenger) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:57:06 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Attorney General Darrell McGraw has asked a judge to block four Web sites from making payday loans to West Virginians over the Internet in a lawsuit filed Monday in Kanawha Circuit Court. The suit seeks a temporary injunction against F...

W.Va. native seeks to bolster Glenville community with laundromat

( ) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500

This is the second in a series of multimedia projects from the West Virginia Uncovered project at West Virginia University. Click...

Lawyers for W.Va. workers comp claimants to be discussed

pjnyden@wvgazette.com (Paul J. Nyden) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Some state lawmakers are questioning why injured workers cant hire lawyers to represent them when BrickStreet and other insurance companies deny them the right to r...

Financial jamboree: Scouting event could pump $50 million into regions economy

ericeyre@wvgazette.com (Eric Eyre) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- Fayette County can expect a multimillion-dollar economic payoff if it lands the Boy Scouts of Americas National Scouting Jamboree. An announcement about Fayette County becoming the permanent home to the Jamboree - an event th...

W.Va. beekeepers hit hard by hive thieves

(The Associated Press) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:51:23 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia beekeeper Mark C. Baker had high hopes for his valuable hives as he readied them for the cross-country journey to Californias almond groves. Instead, bandits stole nearly $10,000 worth of his brood. "Its lik...

Mountain mine jobs under fire

(Edward Peeks) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Mountaintop-removal mining jobs are played up beyond the importance of their number in coal production and downplayed in environmental destruction, runs the growing trend of protests by environmentalists and demonstrators against mount...

Banking weathers storm

business@dailymail.com (George Hohmann) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- "West Virginia has been sucked into the same recession that has swallowed the national economy," George Hammond, associate director of West Virginia Universitys Bureau of Business and Economic Research, said at the state Econ...

Sweet Thunder rolls on

(Edward Peeks) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Wil Haygoods new book titled "Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson," tells the story of the boxers life, the dazzling times of his career before World War II and on through the Cold War without letup on Rob...

Be green and save money

business@dailymail.com (George Hohmann) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Clarksburgs Jim Hunt has co-authored a refreshing little book about projects cities are undertaking to conserve energy and money."There is incredible pressure on local governments to keep tax burdens low," Hunt and co-author ...

Peace through the ballot

(Edward Peeks) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:57:50 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- "Unk, the brothers at the barbershop had a humdinger the other day on the power of the vote from Alabama to Afghanistan," Tris said. "I wish you and other newspeople couldve been there to take part, if only to help strai...

Scouts receive big gift

business@dailymail.com (George Hohmann) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:45:00 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Stephen D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation has reportedly made a $50 million contribution to the Boy Scouts of Americas new National High Adventure Base that will be developed in Fayette and Raleigh counties.Scouting News, a blog at