B2 January 3, 2009 - January 9, 2009, The Washington Afro-American
Business Briefs
Washington Post’s
buy the Miami TV station in
Poll: Quarter of
for the near future. additional credit, whether Haika Enterprises will also
TV Deal Called Off
July, just four months after through encouraging bank give Unique Gems, a local
NBC put it on the market.
Small Business
Lessening credit, however,
is only a contributing factor lending or government loan company, cloths, artifacts and
Post-Newsweek Stations, Owners Fear to small-business owners’ guarantees, are not likely to be baskets. For Unique Gems, the
A previously announced
a Washington Post Co. problems. The poll shows of much help to small-business deal represents a gross of more
deal between the NBC
Recession
subsidiary, would operate that poor sales are primarily owners.” than $100,000 in 2009.
Universal-owned WTVJ TV
WTJV as an affiliate. The to blame. About 45 percent Dennis continued, “ Those
station and the Washington
One in four small-business
company currently owns and of those polled cited slowing businesses who report they
Post Co., which would allow
owners fear their livelihoods M&T Bank to
operates WPLF, the ABC or lost sales as the biggest can’t get credit are typically
the Post to buy the station,
may not survive the crippling
affiliate in Miami. problem, followed by unable to absorb more debt.”
Buy Provident
has fizzled, a report in the
recession, according to a
The Federal Trade 23 percent who cited the A better solution, Dennis said,
Washington Business Journal
recent story by the Washington
Bankshares in
Commission sanctioned the unpredictable current of is a six-month holiday on
stated.
Business Journal.
deal in October, leaving the business conditions. payroll taxes, allowing small
$401M Deal
“Given the current
The data, which was
FCC as the other regulatory “The fundamental small- businesses to spend more cash.
economic environment, and
gathered through a poll
blockade the companies needed business problem is the poor
Provident Bankshares Corp.,
the delay in receiving the
conducted by the National
to clear. The financial terms of economy, abetted by the drop
the largest independent bank
necessary regulatory approval,
Federation of Independent Tez Mo Inks
the sale were not released. in real estate values and the
in Baltimore, said Dec. 26 it
the deal has been terminated,”
Business Research Foundation,
The Washington Post Co., nation’s financial turmoil,” said
Nigeria Deal
will be acquired by M&T Bank
a statement released by both
also found another 16 percent
said it will not reconsider William Dennis, director of the
Corp. in a stock deal worth
media firms on Wednesday
said the economic downturn
the deal once the economy NFIB poll. “Efforts to provide
According to a report by the
$401 million.
said.
has stifled business prospects
improves.
Washington Business Journal,
The Buffalo, N.Y.-based
The transaction, which
The media powerhouse
the African Trade Office, which
M&T will obtain 143 Provident
was scheduled to close this
currently owns major stations
ROBERT E. PARILLA
assists Prince George’s County
branches and 198 ATMS, most
month, did not receive Federal
in several markets, including
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
businesses in growing trade
of which are in Maryland
Communications Commission
Detroit’s WDIV, San Antonio’s
opportunities, facilitated the
and Virginia, the Washington
approval.
KSAT and Jacksonville’s MONTGOMERY COLLGE
first import and export deals
Business Journal reported.
The Post said it would
WJXT, an independent station.
as a result of its International
The sale price is based on
SATURDAY MORNING CHILDREN’S SERIES
Economic Summit.
M&T’s Dec. 16 stock closing
JANUARY 10, 2009
A local company will
price, $61.18, and should close
provide U.S. magazine and
late in the second quarter 2009.
AT 11 A.M.
other publications to Nigeria,
M&T will gain $43.6 billion
Come, listen to the Bluesman!
and a Tanzanian company will
in deposits and $4.3 billion in
He’s only got an hour, so you’d
give clothes, handcrafts and
loans from the deal, making
better hurry! His old fingers are
other artifacts to an American
M&T the second-largest deposit
beginning to fail him, but he’s
retailer.
share in Maryland, behind Bank
still got a song in his heart and
The two-day summit, which
of America. The arrangement
lots of stories to tell. Some
took place in Greenbelt, Md.,
will triple the bank’s presence
stories are true to life, others
matched U.S. companies with
in Virginia.
are likely tall tales, but every last
one is rooted in the music that
African traders and companies,
M&T, a newcomer to the
the Bluesman has been playing
as well as visiting delegations
mid-Atlantic region in April
his whole life. Take a journey from Geneva and London.
of 2003, has continued to
with the Bluesman as he traces Tez Mo Enterprises, a
expand aggressively as it filled
the blues from its early
recent graduate of the African
800 jobs, opened, renovated
beginnings in southern American
Trade Office’s program for
or relocated 30 branches and
fields to its global impact on
companies looking to forge
added 34 new ATMS in the past
music today.
business partnerships in Africa,
year.
FOR AGES 7 & UP!
developed a partnership with
Both companies’ boards
T
a Nigerian subscription Web
of directors have approved
ICKETS ARE $7 AND $6
BOX OFFICE: 240-567-5301
site, Magazine Affair Online, to
the deal, which still requires
provide publications to Nigerian
regulator approval. If approved,
MONDAY-FRIDAY, 10AM-6PM · VISA/MASTERCARD/DISCOVER
subscribers and retailers.
Provident shareholders will
51 MANNAKEE ST., ROCKVILLE, MD 20850·WWW.MONTGOMERYCOLLEGE.EDU/PAC
receive 0.1716 shares of M&T
stock in exchange for each
share they own of Provident.
Local Job Growth
May Slow in 2009
A report by the Washington
Post showed that the
Washington, D.C.-area is
expected to end the year with as
many as 36,000 more jobs than
last year, despite an increasing
unemployment rate. This makes
the District and surrounding
areas among a handful of large
metropolitan areas with positive
numbers.
Analysts, however, are
predicting a less promising
outlook for the next year, saying
a wave of layoffs expected in
upcoming months may bring the
six-year span of job growth to
an end.
The region lost about
12,000 jobs in sectors including
financial services, construction
and retail between October
2007 and October 2008, the
most recent governmental
data available. However,
the losses were negated by a
net creation of about 36,000
positions in the federal and local
governments, health services
and contracting. Only Houston
and Dallas performed better
than Washington, gaining about
50,000 jobs each.
“Only four regions had
positive job growth,” said John
McClain, senior fellow at the
Center for Regional Analysis at
the George Mason University.
The other large metropolitan
areas “ have had net losses in
jobs,” he said.
The District has the highest
unemployment rate of the three
area jurisdictions at 7.4 percent.
Maryland’s rate is 4.9 percent
and Virginia’s, 4.2 percent.
With layoffs by employers
such as Arlington-based FBR
Capital Markets and District-
based Carlyle Group, some
analysts said the net gain in jobs
may decrease to 25,000 by the
end of the year.
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