Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 45

Albuquerque Journal DOW NASDAQ 1 CHANGE OF PACE Microsoft to make its software more Internet-friendly I' ft 8 NYSE BP S1S9.39 39.74 1053.17 4.56 328.77 D5 Ml i Fed Cuts May Curb State's Growtli BARBARA CHAVEZ Si or! II JJ NEW MEXICO'S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 1995 1996 Employment Increase i 4.500 that growth is in wages, he said. Personal income is the amount of income received by all households, including wages, benefits, dividends, welfare, Social Security and other government payments. David W. Berson, chief economist for the Federal National Mortgage Association, predicted that inflation would stay below 3 percent next year. The housing market will be soft, interest rates will drop, government spending will fall and debt-strapped consumers will spend less, he said.

Berson said the Federal Reserve would probably cut interest rates in coming months. If the national economy grows faster than his projected 2.5 percent, it would put pressure on inflation to rise above 3 percent, he said. However, he said, if his forecast is off, "I think it's more likely that it will be weaker than stronger." But Berson discounted the idea of a recession next year. Although consumers will put the brakes on spending because their debts are higher than ever, national unemployment is low, he said. "We have too many people earning a paycheck," he said.

"To get an outright recession, it would take some shock in the economy that we're not seeing right now." The conference was sponsored by Sun-west Bank and UNM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, or BBER. next year," he warned. "This is a sector I would be worried about." But the most vulnerable area of New Mexico's economy next year will be the government sector, McDonald said. He noted some weaknesses in state government finances because of tax cuts and declining revenues, opening up the door to cuts in state and local spending. Determination from Washington to cut federal spending will also wound the state's government-dependent economy, McDonald said.

"We're losing some jobs in the federal sector," he said, pointing to 1,000 positions expected to be eliminated at Los Alamos National Laboratory next year, 700 at Sandia National Laboratories and 1,000 at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis. Although New Mexico's economy has been healthy and unemployment low, wages have not improved as expected, he said. New Mexico last year had $17,025 in per capita income, ranking 48th in the nation. "We are a fast-growing economy," McDonald said, "but we still have a very poor population in terms of per capita income." He forecast that personal income will grow at a lower rate next year than this. In 1995, New Mexico's total personal income shot up 7.6 percent.

Next year, it will grow by about 5.7 percent, he said. But little of Bv Peggy Lee O'Neill Journal Staff Writer New Mexico's economy will grow again i next year, but it will be hampered by federal layoffs, decreased construction and higher unemployment, economists said Thursday. Nearly 300 business executives and economists attended the Economic Outlook Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where they heard local and regional forecasts for 1996. Brian McDonald, director of University of New Mexico's Bureau of Busines and Economic Research, said that New Mexico will continue to outpace the national growth rate next year. Employment in the state should increase by 3 percent, higher than the national forecast of 2.5 percent, but down from 4.5 percent this year, McDonald said.

Trade and service jobs are expected to. grow 4 percent, and manufacturing jobs will increase 3 percent, he predicted. But several factors will dampen growth next year, including the completion of Intel's huge plant expansion in Rio Rancho and expected federal government layoffs. The construction sector may also be weak next year once the new Cottonwood Mall is finished, McDonald said. "We could see a downturn in construction Limited edition .1 i Minding Your Business Garduno's Not Welcomed Dave Garduno has run into opposition on the West Side over a proposal to build a new restaurant across from the long-awaited Cottonwood Mall.

new Garduno's of Mexico restaurant will be south of Alameda on the east side of Coors NW if neighborhood opposition can be overcome. "It's not just the traffic we're worried about," said Bev Bowlin, president of the Bosque del Acres Neighborhood Association. "It's the pollution and ihtrusiveness. He's planning a huge restaurant." The restaurant would be on a bluff that overlooks the neighborhood, "and if they have outdoor dining, they'll be looking right into our homes," Bowlin said. The restaurant proposal goes to a county planning and zoning hearing Dec.

17, where Garduno will ask for a zone change from 0-1, office, to C-l, commercial. John Black, whose real estate firm is listing the 5.5-acre site Garduftos would build on, said Garduno "has bent over backwards to make this new concept an asset to the neighborhood." A sparrow took a wrong turn last month in the vicinity of Montgomery and Wyoming NE and got stuck inside the Albertson's grocery store. And he's still in the store, fat and happy, last seen browsing the cereal aisle. "I think that bird is getting fatter everyday," said Wini Phelps, store director. "We can't get it out." It's against health regulations to have the bird in the store, Phelps said, but store employees haven't been successful so far in trying to shoo him out.

"I have this battle with my checkers because they don't want it to get hurt," she said. So now, Phelps is bringing in some experts. "We've called the Audubon Society." UNITED EFFORT: High-powered corporate help is on the way for the United Way of Central New Mexico. BenMontoya, nrociHonf nf Diihlir IOHi I Service Company of I I ew Mexico and -IV VJ chairman of the 1995 MONTOYA: High-powered assistance United Way campaign, is leading the charge. It's not that United Way needs help with fundraismg.

Executive director Lydia Lopez Succi expects to meet this year's $7.9 million Montoya said the companies are offering help on three internal fronts: Philips Semiconductors will send a team to help rewrite job descriptions, fine-tune salary schedules and analyze organizational structure. Sandia National Laboratories will send a team to suggest computer hardware and software improvements so United Way can better track historical giving patterns. PNM will send a team to redesign the phone system. Montoya said he's still searching for an engineering or architectural firm to do an analysis of United Way's Downtown office building and its mechanical systems. WORLDLY WISDOM: Orion International Technologies knew 10 years ago that it wanted to grow beyond Albuquerque and even beyond the United States.

"That's why our name is Orion International," said co-owner Maria Estela de Rios, who is also outgoing chairwoman of the Hispano Chamber of Commerce. Orion, which provides diversified high-j technology engineering services, plans to open an office in Monterrey, Mexico, and in Puerto Rico before the end of the year. -De Rios, who owns the company with fier husband, Miguel de Rios, said the JLoffice in Puerto Rico will mostly do and Monterrey's two-person gtaff will work on getting contracts from customers in Mexico. v. LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS: One last note 5rtn Garduno's: Word from Las Vegas, that there's a four-hour wait for a table it the Garduno's inside the Fiesta Hotel Casino the Maloof -owned joint.

TGarduno's also was recently voted the best Las Vegas by the Las Vegas Review -Journal. Garduno is negotiating for land in Las JT Vegas to build at least one more Restaurant, this one free-standing. Unding Your Business includes contributions from 5She Journal staff, and appears each week on the Friday Business page. Personal Income Increase 1 7.6 3 5.7 Unemployment Increase i 5.9 6.4 Projections Source: UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research SUSAN RODEN JOURNAL AG Issues Warrants In Phone Scam The Associated Press Fraud charges have been lodged in New Mexico against 11 people as part of a nationwide crackdown on telemarketers who victimize the elderly, prosecutors announced Thursday. 1 Warrants were issued in Roosevelt and Curry Counties for 11 former employees of Can-Do Worldwide Marketing said State Attorney General Tom Udall and District Attorney Randall Harris of Clovis.

Udall and Harris said Can-Do allegedly victimized people to the tune of $45 million, of which $450,000 RENO: $40 billion lost to fraud each year 'o belonged to New Mexicans. In one case, an elderly woman was told that the $899 she was asked to send to Can-Do was the prepayment for "taxes" she would owe on the $25,000 prize she was going to win, the Attorney General's Office reported Thursday. In all, charges were lodged against 422 people in 15 states. "It is staggering the amount of money these scam artists can get over the phone," Harris said. "This fraud ring was active in all 50 states.

A person should never, ever, give sensitive personal financial information over the phone to a stranger." -t Can-Do operated in San Diego, from December 1989 and March 1993. "Telephone pitches from illicit Ijdiler room' operations cost Americans $40 billion a year," U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday in Las Vegas, where she announced results of "Operation Senior Sentinel." Udall said about 30 Can-Do executives and other employees have already pleaded guilty during negotiations with federal prosecutors and are cooperating 'with investigators. Six people were charged in Roosevelt County and five in Curry County. executive officer.

Construction of the first plant will begin in June with the second to start in 1998. Both facilities should be complete in 2000. Intel Corp. is also building a $1 billion semiconductor plant in Chandler. It is -'() scheduled to open in early 1997 and will' add 2,000 workers to Intel's local work force of 4,800.

Jury Deadlocks in Suit Against Implant Maker SAN ANTONIO A mistrial was declared Thursday after a jury declared itself deadlocked in a multimillion-dollaf lawsuit against a silicone breast implant maker. After three days of deliberation, the jury of six men and six women told the judge, Wednesday that the members were J. deadlocked 9-3 in favor of the defendants. Sharon Ann Gamblim sued 3M and het plastic surgeon for $40 million over silicone implants she received in 1980. She alleged that leaks from her implants caused permanent health problems.

Journal staff and wires DEAN HANSONJOURNAL John Ceruttl, of Albuquerque, poses with his new, limited-edition Corvette. Chevrolet manufactured only about 500 cars of the 1996 Grand Sport Corvettes, which carry sticker prices of $48,000. Ceruttl, whose car Is blue with a white racing stripe, said he has put 1,450 miles on the car since buying it last month. ml 1 Closes Sept. 30 to discontinue operations and to use remaining funds to establish scholarships at three New Mexico universities the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

RIOTECH officials didn't reveal the amount of funds involved but said the graduate-level scholarships will be in environmental fields. "Improving technical education in New Mexico was one of the reasons we started RIOTECH, and it is a tribute to the foundation to end with an investment in the state's future," Sen. Pete Domenici, said. the costs of the internship preparation, including books, other learning materials, and most of the costs associated with the monthlong stay in Japan. The New Mexico U.S.-Japan Center also offers a one-year "Technical Japanese" course for scientists and others who need to monitor and disseminate Japanese scientific and technical documents.

Programs begin Jan. 16. Applications are due Jan. 5. For more information or to apply, call Hisako Yamada at 277-1495.

Microchip Expanding, To Build Two Plants PHOENIX Microchip Technology Inc. announced a $1 billion expansion Wednesday, saying it would create 2,000 jobs over the next foflr years. The project includes construction of two wafer manufacturing plants and a new four-story office building adjacent to its headquarters in Chandler, 17 miles southeast of Phoenix. "After searching worldwide for potential manufacturing sites, Microchip found the best location to be in our own back yard," said Steve Sanghi, the company's chief 'sty 1 tJtrU ft Foundation decade of existence. "RIOTECH has completed the job it started in 1985," said board chairman Don Hossink, "and has helped to spawn many programs and organizations that can now appropriately take the lead in pursuing initiatives started at RIOTECH." Hossink said that organizations oriented toward the private sector, such as Technology Ventures Industry Network and the Waste Management Education Research Consortium, can take up where RIOTECH left off.

RIOTECH's board of directors voted Thermo makes and sells instruments used to detect and measure air pollution, radioactivity and complex chemical compounds. The Boston-based Analytical Technology's division produces lab instruments. It had revenues of about $78 million in fiscal 1994. "This acquisition expands our product offerings in several analytical areas," said Arvin H. Smith, chief executive of Thermo.

"ATI's products and technology have a fine reputation in the industry, and its strong technology base is complemented by a global direct sales and service network." U.S.-Japan Program Seeks Applicants The New Mexico U.S.-Japan Center at the University of New Mexico is seeking professionals in such fields as engineering, science, management and economics who are interested in Japanese industry or government-oriented internships. Participants study the Japanese language for a year in preparation for a one-month program in Japan. The U.S.-Japan Center supports most of State Tech RIOTECH Funds Go to Scholarships Journal Staff Report A nonprofit technology foundation has shut down after 10 years. The Rio Grande Technology Foundation, or RIOTECH, distributed millions of federal dollars to industry, conducted technology transfer workshops and encouraged environmentally safe manufacturing during its IN BRIEF Mesa Invests In British Airline, Leases Craft FARMINGTON Farmington-based Mesa Air Group has invested in a start-up airline based in Birmingham, England. Mesa Air Group said Thursday that it holds a 44 percent interest in Community Express Airlines Ltd.

The English airline began service from East Midlands and Birmingham to London on Nov. 29 with aircraft leased from Mesa Air Group. It is to expand service into Belfast, Northern Ireland, next week. Mesa Air Group, the largest independently owned regional carrier in the United States, said it became involved in the venture to participate in "the significant growth potential of the European regional airline industry." Thermo Buys Division For Lab Instruments Santa Fe-based Thermo Instrument Systems Inc. last week bought a division of Analytical Technology Inc.

for about $34.9 million in cash and $7 million in debt..