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WASHINGTON BUSINESS
Report finds blurry line between Hill and Wall St.
by Dan Eggen
KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST
Cristina Majano, a Wal-Mart toy-department manager, checks inventory. A new program lets employees earn on-the-job college credits.
Wal-Mart opens college option to workers
Retail giant partners
with online school to offer on-the-job credits
by Ylan Q. Mui
fayetteville, ark. — Here’s
a new way to look at Wal-Mart: institution of higher learning. Under a program announced
Thursday, employees of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club will be able to re- ceive college credit for perform- ing their jobs, including such tasks as loading trucks and ring- ing up purchases. Workers could earn as much as 45 percent of the credits needed for an associate or bachelor’s degree while on the job. The credits are earned through
the Internet-based American Public University, with headquar- ters in Charles Town, W.Va., and administrative offices in Manas- sas. “We want to provide you with more ways and faster ways to suc- ceed with us,” Eduardo Castro- Wright, head of Wal-Mart’s U.S. division, told 4,000 employees during the company’s annual meeting. The program is de- signed to encourage more work- ers to climb the corporate ladder. Although Wal-Mart says about 70 percent of its managers begin as hourly employees, it estimates that about half of its employees
do not hold college degrees. Jaymes Murphy, 24, a salesman from Victoria, Tex., who was at the annual meeting, said he tried for several years to juggle work and school with little success. He would attend class from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then sprint to his job as a cashier at Wal-Mart, working from 3 p.m. to midnight. He even- tually quit school but he still dreams of getting a bachelor’s de- gree in political science or com- munications. “It gets stressful,” he said. The
program would allow him to “not have to worry about sacrificing one or the other.” The credits will be given for
Wal-Mart’s own training as well as on-the-job experience. Many of the courses for which Wal-Mart workers can get credit are busi- ness-related, such as retail ship- ping and receiving, ethics, com- mercial safety and finance funda- mentals. Those credits could be applied to a degree in retail management from APU or may be used to fulfill elective requirements for other majors. Students would need to complete additional courses out- side of their jobs to complete a de- gree. So in classic Wal-Mart fash- ion, the company negotiated a 15 percent tuition reduction on other courses at APU in exchange for handling some administrative and marketing duties. Many colleges allow students to receive credit for work experi-
ence, such as internships. APU of- ficials said they have worked closely with the military to devel- op courses and award credits, but this is the first time they have partnered with a company to cre- ate a comprehensive program. For their work to qualify as credit, full-time employees must be in the job for a year and receive satisfactory reviews, while part- timers must put in three years and get a positive review. About 200,000 workers are eligible for the program, and Wal-Mart said additional positions will be add- ed each quarter. “People will surprise you if you give them opportunities,” said Tom Mars, chief administrative officer at Wal-Mart. “The single biggest competitive advantage we have . . . is our associates.” Daniel Soto of Hardeeville,
S.C., works full time at Wal-Mart as a zone manager supervisor, lending a hand in several depart- ments. He had to give up college to work, but said he could see some of his duties translating to academia, such as the algebraic equations he uses to figure out how much merchandise will fit on a shelf or how much of a prod- uct to order. “I do math all day at Wal-Mart,”
he said. Wal-Mart is the country’s larg-
est private employer with 1.4mil- lion workers, and the partnership will probably provide a signifi- cant boost for APU. The college
was organized in 1991 as the on- line American Military University and has since expanded to enroll nearly 71,000 students during the first quarter, up 42 percent from the previous year. American Public University is one of a growing number of so- called career colleges that operate on a for-profit model, rather than as state institutions or private foundations. APU’s parent com- pany is publicly traded and its re- ported revenue jumped 43 per- cent to $47.3million during the most recent quarter, while profit rose 46 percent to $7.6 million. Mars said the company has re- cently improved opportunities for workers to be promoted. It re- moved a ban on promoting em- ployees to store managers within the same store and created a mentorship program that ties some executive bonuses to how they advance the careers of other workers. Cari Prill, a department man-
ager in Bad Axe, Mich., said the flexibility of Wal-Mart’s program is appealing. She has spent seven years at the company and would probably qualify for the credits. Although she once thought about studying pre-law, now she is in- terested in business management and human resources, especially if her Wal-Mart experience will count toward the degree. “Money and time go hand in
hand,” she said.
muiy@washpost.com
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Even for Washington, the re- volving door between govern- ment and Wall Street spins at a dizzying pace. More than 1,400 former members of Congress, Capitol Hill staffers or federal em- ployees registered as lobbyists on behalf of the financial services sector since the start of 2009, ac- cording to an exhaustive new study issued Thursday. The analysis by two nonparti- san groups, Public Citizen and the Center for Responsive Politics, found that the “small army” of fi- nancial lobbyists included at least 73 former lawmakers and 148 ex- staffers connected to the House or Senate banking committees. More than 40 former Treasury Depart- ment employees also ply their trade as lobbyists for Wall Street firms, the study found. Some of the biggest names highlighted in the study include former Senate majority leaders Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.); former House ma- jority leaders Richard K. Armey (R-Texas) and Richard A. Gep- hardt (D-Mo.); and former House speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Ex-Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) has the largest number of financial- services clients of any former law- maker, representing 13 compa- nies and groups, including De- loitte, Ernst & Young and the Real
Estate Roundtable, the report shows. The revolving door is evi- dent in almost every major issue that comes before Congress, from regulation of the coal industry to the auto industry to the health- care sector. But the sheer scale of the overlap within the financial sector is remarkable: For every sitting member of Congress, the study shows, there are three for- mer colleagues or government staffers lobbying for banks. David Arkush, director of Pub- lic Citizen’s Congress Watch divi- sion, said “Wall Street hires for- mer members of Congress and their staff for a reason,” especially at a time when lawmakers are de- bating a historic overhaul of the way Wall Street does business. “These people are influential be- cause they have personal relation- ships with current members and staff,” Arkush said. “It’s hard to say no to your friends, but that’s what Congress needs to do.” “Companies pay a premium for lobbyists who’ve spun through the revolving door because it can be a small price to pay relative to the huge payoff if they can shape legislation,” said Sheila Krum- holz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. “These lobbyists tap insider knowledge and personal relation- ships, knowing that their old friends and former co-workers won’t want to let them down.”
eggend@washpost.com
LOCAL DIGEST
EARNINGS
Profit, revenue rise at McLean’s SAIC
Science Applications Interna- tional Corp.’s first-quarter profit rose its expenses declined. The defense contractor in McLean earned $125 million (32 cents per share) in the quarter, compared with $116 million (29 cents) in the comparable period a year ear- lier. Revenue inched up 1 percent, to $2.69 billion, from $2.65 bil- lion last year.
ALSO IN BUSINESS
Martek Biosciences profit rises:
Martek Biosciences, which sells
infant formula and dietary sup- plements, said its second-quarter net income rose 14 percent on sales boosted by its recent acqui- sition of Amerifit Brands. The Columbia company earned $12.6 million (37 cents per share) for the quarter ended April 30, up from $11 million (33 cents) in the comparable period a year earlier. Excluding charges, the company said it would have earned 45 cents per share. Revenue climbed 34 percent, to $124 million from $92.4 million.
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FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2010
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Daily
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$21.50 14.6
Hanmi Financial Pinnacle Ent
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Helmerich & Payne $40.87 7.3 TeleTech Holdings Magnetek Inc Quicksilver Res
$13.56 7.2 $1.50
7.1
Chesapeake Energy $24.86 6.6 Abercrombie & Fitch $37.58 Eclipsys
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Coldwater Creek Parexel Intl
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$5.02 –15.5
Daily
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ColumbiaBankingSys $21.46 –4.0 Diamond Foods Inc Buckle Inc Rowan Cos
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Note: Bank prime is from 10 major banks. Federal Funds rate is the market rate, which can vary from the federal target rate. LIBOR is the London Interbank Offered Rate. Consumer rates are from Bankrate. All figures as of
$34.50 –3.8 $23.79 –3.6 $38.66 –3.6 $65.33 –3.5 $14.48 –3.1 $14.07 –3.0 $8.33 –3.0 $10.39 –3.0 $11.78 –2.9
Treasury Performance Over Past Three Months
$800
$1.3945 $17.93
$9.5500 $0.1399
day
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