The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • E2

Filename: E2-BUSINE-AJCD0406-AJCD created: Apr 5 2006 Username: SPEED7 AJCD0406 Thursday, Apr 06, 2006 BUSINESS 2 AJCD 2 2 Cyan Magenta Yellow Black AJCD Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Filename: E2-BUSINE-AJCD0406-AJCD created: Apr 5 2006 Username: SPEED7 E2 Thursday, April 6, 2006 4 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ajc.com McTier, a keystone of four foundations, to step aside Daily FROM STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES FOR REPRINT PERMISSION, GO TO AJC.COM/PERMISSIONS BUSINESS premier foundation leader Charles H. McTier is retiring July 1, but not going far. McTier is president of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation and the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation.

The four foundations have a total endowment of more than $5.5 billion, mostly in Coca- Cola shares, and give away more than $200 million a year. Retired SunTrust executive Jimmy Williams, who is chairman of the Woodruff, the Joseph B. Whitehead and the Lettie Pate Evans foundations, said McTier will become a trustee of those three foundations, the spot of the late Joe Jones. And Russ Hardin, 48, vice president of the foundations, will succeed McTier, 67, who has been with the foundations since 1971. Hardin, formerly with King Spalding, joined the foundations in 1988.

has prepared himself wonderfully for the role as McTier said Wednesday. extraordinary intelligence, impeccable character and genuine compassion make him perfect for the job. The best is yet to come for the work of the As president of the foundations, McTier has been a catalyst with just about every civic initiative in recent memory from Centennial Olympic Park, the Chattahoochee Greenway, the public health offerings at Emory University, the Woodruff Arts Center, the ownership of downtown buildings, Central Atlanta Progress and the Georgia Research Alliance, to countless philanthropic organizations. And when the Woodruff Foundation, the largest in the Southeast, makes a grant, it is viewed as a seal of approval that other foundations follow. simply feel better about Pete as a new trustee and with Russ being the new Williams said.

think alike, and nothing is really going to Ellis buys Calif. TV station a bit like going home. Bert Ellis Communications Group has signed an agreement to buy the Anaheim-based KDOC-TV, which serves the Los Angeles market, from Golden Orange Broadcasting for $150 million. Ellis made his fortune in broadcasting selling a holding company of television and radio stations in 1996 for more than $800 million. He then started iXL, a interactive media company that burst along with many other dot-coms in 2001.

The KDOC-TV deal, on which he is partnering with Kelso Co. of New York, is one Ellis has been working on for nearly three years. a full-powered, independent television station with a signal and transmission facility equal to any other station in Los Angeles, the largest television market in the world in terms of said Ellis, who is awaiting a Federal Communications Commission review of the deal. is a major re-entry for Ellis said he has no plans to move to Los Angeles, but he will be spending three days a week there. in billions A couple of top executives will highlight the ings of a study on the economic impact that Georgia Tech has on the economy at a news conference this afternoon.

And the grand total is an annual impact of $3.9 billion. Duane Ackerman, CEO of BellSouth, and David Ratcliffe, CEO of the Southern will discuss the with Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough. Other highlights of the study, which was done by the Huron Consulting Group: Georgia Tech supports, directly and indirectly, about 44,000 jobs in Georgia; More than 50 companies have been started based on technology developed at Georgia Tech since 1990; and Researchers at Georgia Tech received more than $357 million in research grants in the 2005 year. be surprised if Ackerman, Ratcliffe and Clough make the case that the state should increase its support of Georgia Tech and the other research universities as a way to make Georgia more competitive in the high-growth sectors of biotechnology, nanotech nology, logistics and health sciences. VIPs tour Red Carpet If the season for the Masters, then time to roll out the red carpet.

just what Georgia economic development professionals are doing this week. Starting with last dinner at the mansion with Gov. Sonny Perdue and lady Mary Perdue the annual Red Carpet Tour will entertain 46 corporate decision-makers through Saturday. This Red Carpet Tour will visit Atlanta, Augusta and Valdosta. The lure for the Red Carpet Tour has always been the Augusta National Golf Club during the Masters.

This year, the guests will be able to view the and third rounds of the championship. This is the 47th year that business and economic development agencies have been entertaining industrial prospects during the Red Carpet Tour, which is sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. MARKETING State marketing chief to leave Loretta Lepore director of marketing for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, which launched a new marketing campaign for Georgia last year will leave the agency April 14 to look for opportunities in the private sector. Gilda Watters, agency director of small business, will take her place. Greg Torre, director of the video and music division, will take over small business.

The announcements represented the second shake-up at at the department in a year. In April 2005, Charlie Gatlin, the former deputy commissioner for economic development, became the chief of staff, while Janis Cannon, deputy tourism commissioner, and Carlos Martel, deputy commissioner of international trade, left the department. AUTOMOTIVE Volkswagen sales up in March Frankfurt, Germany German automaker Volkswagen AG said Wednesday that sales of its VW-branded cars were up 16 percent in March on demand for its Golf and Passat models. The Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker, largest, said for the quarter, worldwide sales of its VW vehicles were up 15.7 percent, with 795,000 sold. For March, more than 330,000 Volkswagens were sold worldwide.

The increase was helped by new models and distribution VW brand board member Michael Kern said in a statement. He said sales would likely increase through the year with the launch of its new Eos model. FINANCE Savings program at of A a success Charlotte Bank of America the savings program is proving popular with consumers. Since its launch six months ago, it has drawn 2 million participants who have accumulated some $60 million in savings, the bank said Wednesday. The way the works is that the amount consumers spend on their Bank of America debit cards is rounded up to the nearest whole dollar, and the difference is transferred from their checking account into an interest-earning saving account each evening.

The bank, based in Charlotte, will match 100 percent of the amount saved in the 90 days and 5 percent thereafter, up to $250 a year. The matching funds are credited annually. like it because so simple for said Diane Morais, a deposits and debit products executive at the bank. require customers to dramatically change their Morais likens the program to electronic change the equivalent of a glass jar that people throw NAMES IN BUSINESS MARIA SAPORTA SILVIA IZQUIERDO Associated Press Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno told a conference Wednesday that decades of efforts reduced poverty in the Caribbean and Latin America. Development bank struggles to aid poor ASSOCIATED PRESS Belo Horizonte, Brazil Latin American governments and lenders must do more to ease the deep divide between rich and poor because few of an expanding economy are trickling down to the poor, delegates at a key economic forum said Wednesday.

Luis Alberto Moreno, the new president of the Inter-American Development Bank, said decades of efforts to attack the grinding poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean have been ineffective despite steady overall economic growth in the region. He promised a stronger push by the largest development bank to deal with the problem as the IDB ended its annual meeting in this southeastern Brazilian city. persistence of profound inequality is the main Moreno said, adding that it intensifying the impatience and frustration of the most Sebastian Paust of economic cooperation and development ministry warned that America has to quickly the magic to growth that the poor. there is a risk that the extreme social imbalances will become ticking bombs of social unrest with incalculable destructive po he said. While 2005 saw high economic growth and record for big companies doing business in the region, about 213 million Latin Americans and Caribbean citizens still live on less than $1 a day, said Gert Meinecke, deputy head for Asia and Latin America with Foreign Ministry.

Moreno said he wants to issue more loans to the private sector, and also plans to continue the focus on big infrastructure projects, despite criticism by Indian rights groups and environmental advocates that they funnel to big business while doing little for the poor and causing ecological damage. their spare change into at home. It comes at a time when consumers saving much. According to government the savings rate was a negative 0.5 percent in February and the rate has been negative or at zero for 11 consecutive months. LEGAL Ciba Vision sues over lens patent Novartis Ciba Vision unit, the second-largest maker of contact lenses, sued to block Johnson Johnson from selling a new line of Acuvue lenses that Ciba says violates its patents.

Ciba claims the Acuvue Oasys With Hydraclear Plus would infringe its patent for extended-wear contact lenses, according to the lawsuit April 3 in federal court in Jacksonville. Johnson Johnson, the biggest lens maker, markets the Acu vue Oasys lenses to people with and eyes. Johnson Vistakon unit began selling Acuvue Oasys lenses in August, after a U.S. judge in Jacksonville denied a request by Ciba to keep the lenses off the market while another suit was pending. That case involved patents not at the center of the most recent suit.

are aware of the lawsuit and are reviewing the Vistakon spokesman Gary Esterow said in an e-mail. Ciba, which makes the Focus Night and Day lenses, and Johnson Johnson also are involved in patent litigation concerning the Acuvue and Acuvue Advanced lenses. Vis takon is based in Jacksonville. Ciba is based in Atlanta and is the eye care division of Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis. FBI defends contract with ChoicePoint FBI Director Robert Mueller III defended on Wednesday the decision to award a $12 million contract to a consumer data collection company that recently paid a record for a security breach.

The contract with ChoicePoint based in Alpharetta, was criticized by Sen. Patrick Leahy who called the company poster child for lax identity Mueller, testifying at a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing, said the agreement with ChoicePoint was for software will help analysts do their job. not a data ChoicePoint announced the contract Monday. The company revealed last year that thieves had accessed its massive database of consumer information. ChoicePoint agreed in January to pay $15 million, including a $10 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges related to allegations the security and record-handling procedures violated privacy rights.

MANUFACTURING Top G-P executive to lead Bowater Dave Paterson will leave his post as executive vice president of building products at to take the helm of Bowater, the biggest U.S. newsprint maker. Paterson, 51, starts as president and chief executive of Greenville, S.C.-based Bowater on May 1. He spent 19 years with was bought by privately held Koch Industries in late December. Though more than a dozen top execs left at the time, Paterson was named to the new leadership team following the takeover.

At Bowater, Paterson succeeds Arnold Nemirow, 63, who is retiring but will remain non-executive chairman until later this year. Acuity Brands swings to Atlanta-based Acuity Brands, from higher sales, price increases and cost cutting, Tuesday reported cal second-quarter net income of $14.5 million, or 32 cents a share, which included a charge against earnings of 5 cents a share for stock-based compensation. Sales rose 8.8 percent to $549.6 million. In the year-earlier period, the maker of lighting equipment and specialty chemicals reported a net loss of $8.4 million, or 20 cents a share, which included a charge of 26 cents a share for streamlining operations. The company also disclosed that it received a grand jury subpoena last month related to an ongoing Justice Department probe for its handling of wastewater and hazardous waste at a plant in Atlanta.

The company previously had received grand jury subpoenas in 2003 and 2005. In the second quarter, a former employee pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to violate the Federal Clean Water Act. on the facts available to the company at this time, the company believes that misconduct by that former employee was not directed by or known to senior management and that criminal prosecution is Acuity Brands said in a with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Oxford Industries to close four plants Atlanta-based Oxford Industries, posting higher third-quarter sales and Wednesday said it will close four manufacturing plants in the Dominican Republic and Honduras and consolidate related support functions in the United States. The move shaved third-quarter earnings by 6 cents a share and will lower earnings in the current quarter by 4 cents a share.

As it was, third-quarter net income rose 4 percent to $14.6 million, or 82 cents a share, from $14 million, or 80 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected 84 cents a share, excluding costs related to the plant closures. Sales rose 2 percent to $356 million. Looking ahead, Oxford Industries raised its fourth-quarter outlook to $1.22 to $1.27 a share from $1.21 to $1.26 a share. It said the repatriation of overseas will boost fourth-quarter results by 16 cents a share.

That will more than offset lower at its Ben Sherman segment and the costs of streamlining the menswear division. For the full year, Oxford Industries estimates it will earn $3.44 to $3.49 a share. It previously forecast $3.42 to $3.52 a share. The company continues to project full-year sales of $1.38 billion to $1.4 billion. MEDIA Time Warner pay $16 million Time Warner Inc.

said Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Parsons received total compensation of $16 million for 2005, down from the $16.2 million he got for the previous year. According to a proxy statement, Parsons got a 2005 bonus of $7.5 million, down from $8 million; a salary of $1.5 million, unchanged from 2004; restricted stock awards valued at $3.2 million, down from $3.4 million; and option grants valued at $3.3 million, up from $3 million. Cox Radio exec to retire in May Cox Radio said Wednesday that Executive Vice President Dick Ferguson plans to retire as of the end of May. Ferguson has been with Atlanta-based Cox since 1997. He joined the company when Cox Radio acquired NewCity Communications, where he was president and CEO.

Cox said Ferguson, 60, also is not standing for re-election to the board of directors. Ferguson will continue to serve as a consultant to the company. Cox Radio is, like The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a unit of Cox Enterprises. TRANSPORTATION Air controllers, FAA at impasse Contract talks between the government and the air controllers union broke off Wednesday, and the Federal Aviation Administration declared an impasse. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said the two sides exchanged their offers but were too far apart on the issue of compensation.

have simply concluded that the gap between us is too large to continue these Blakey said. Now that impasse has been declared, Congress has 60 calendar days to intercede, according to federal law. If lawmakers act, the FAA would impose its last, best contract offer. The union believes the dispute should be settled by a federal panel, not Congress. More than 600 controllers work at FAA control centers in the Atlanta area, including 400 at Atlanta Center in Hampton, 160 at Atlanta Approach in Peachtree City and about 40 in the tower at International Airport..