The Daily Herald from Provo, Utah • 22

BUSINESS D3.0 REPORTER: STEPHEN CHAPEK 344-2556 THE DAILY HERALD (www.HakTheHerald.com) FRIDAY, APRIL. 2003 Business Briefing pg to cofelMa ing expanding their opera- MyFamily.com is a Provo-tions into Utah. based media company that is Explaining the governor's among the largest online sub- country and publishes Ances- saii There area krt of companies out therewith the need to expand and companies with tie cash to supply that growth, he said, "out. they're not ready to spend right now in the current environment The extent to which Utah has been willing to work with its high-tech industry to foster new investment has impressed executives in Silicon Valley John Bruno, a vice-president at Cadence Design By STEPHEN CHAPEK TheDaily.HeHd(lji. As part of his economnWtoleveWthl Winter Games, Gov.

Mike Leavitt traveled March 25 to California on his fifth trade mission to showcase a dozen Utah high-tech companies to venture capitalists in Silicon Valley Several start-up companies from Utah County and northern Utah participated 4n the trade mission to seek venture capital and strength- en: ties wjth, technology com- pames in San Jose, which is home to one of th world's'M highest concentrations of hightech industry. "We have the advantages which has offices in 38 states in North America, has grown its office to 60 employees, mostly local hires. The Sandy office sees to the company's internal corporate services, like accounting, payroll arid purchasing. Bruno reported that Cadence CEO Ray Bingham's expectations for the new Utah office's performance had "been exceeded in every Siebel System, a leading provider of e-business apphV cations, which located its cus-tomer service center in Sandy in 2001, currently employs ao4: plans to eaffeUtahlwod'farato 600by2005. Leavitt said there is at least a 12-to 18-month time lag between approadiing companies to relocate and their reaching a decision to do so.

"It's a constant process' of planting seeds and harvesting the results," he said. "We need to keep the pipeline fulL" try magazine. Money invested in Utah is money well spent," he said, explaining the sales pitch was presented'' to' investors in "I believe Utah is in an amazing place to grow this year and this decade. There is a diver sity of engineering talent in this area." Ken Duncan, CEO of Net-Documents, a software company in Orem that has also received investments from Silicon Valley companies, noted the trade mission was useful in prompting technology companies to do more networking with each other during a sluggish economy. As technology executives attest coordination between government and: private industry is particularly important during a down economy because companies are reluctant to invest "We're facing a challenge with the economy," Gochnour ii Ml I'l rSYUprcfcsscrto i Issd tax association Brigham Young Univer-tsity Marriott School of ff Management professor Gary C.

Cornia has been elected president of the -National Tax Assotiatibn, 3the country's most gious organization of tax professionals. Cornia, who teaches public finance at BYU, is a -former Utah State Tax Commissioner and current n-chairman of the Utah gov- ernor's Tax Review Com-j! mission. Prior to his election, Ji "Cornia was a member of jl the board of directors for Uhe NTA from 1997 to 2001 tend is currently a visiting senior fellow at the Lincoln of Land Policy in Cambridge, Cornia will return to leach at BYU in Septem ber. m. Image Works-Academy i of Hair Design, opened its i doors for business March 8 in Spanish Fork.

The school was started I'm by three business partners, I'i Ramnna Wilann imv 1 Ramona Wilson. Amv of a growing, well-educated and tech-sawy work force, affordable living and great recreational opportunities, Leavitt told a group of interested investors in Silicon Val- ley During the San Jose conference, Leavitt also met with four high-tech companies in California that are consider- Stephen Chapek can be readied at 344-2556 or achapekShercddextmxom. High jobless claims stifle market gains J.FJ rt.tochncflaBr sector, Jen i Utah Division of Busi ness and Economic Development, said, "We're targeting things hi the state that we do 'Well, like aerospace, services and digital media, by trying to grow economic ecosystems to support companies. The technology sector is an increasingly important part of, Utah's overall economy, employing about 51,000 8ae or P8611 of the workforce, Several of the Utah Coun- ty businesses xnat auenaea the conference are already well established and have plenty of funding, but went to strengthen ties with the Silicon Valley business community "I wanted companies in the Bay Area to see what great companies we have in our area, said Tom Stockham, CEO of MyFamily.com. sank to 47.9 in March, from a reading of 53.9 in February.

An index reading below: 50 means activity contracted; a reading above 50 signifies "It is clear that the war is having a negative impact on most sectors of the economy," said Maury Harris, chief economist at UBS Warburg. The institute week that manufacturing activity shrank in March, raising fears the economy may be headed for a new recession vOn Wall Street, the disappointing economic news helped push stocks lower. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 44.68 points to close at 8,240.38. In the jobless claims report the pace of layoffs was worse than economists were i predicting. They were forecasting claims to rise to around 410,000.

Economists say claims above the 400,000 mark generally show an extremely weak job market VThe more stable four-week Moving average of new claims roselast week to42650. The Moving average has been above the 400,000 level for five weeks in a row. a- i Systems, a engineering soft- ware company tnat nosted the San Jose gathering, the close cooperation between tibebuainesa; development divlsiori ahd Utah's high-tech industry as As important as venture capital is to Utah's growing high-tech business an equally important part of the governor's initiative is to convince high-tech firms to move to Utah and bring new jobs with them. O- Two noteworthy successes in this area have been the opening of new offices for Cadence and Siebel Systems," both in Sandy. footing.

It has been a bumpy road to with three months of economic strength followed by three months of weakness. To energize the economy and help job creation, Presi- dent Bush has called on Congress to enact a fresh round of tax cuts. Today's bad news makes it even more important for By JE ANNINE AVERS A Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON The number of American workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits climbed last week to the highest point in nearly a year as businesses trimmed jobs in the muddled wartime economic climate. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for, jobless benefits jumped by a seasonally adjusted 38,000 to 445,000 for the week ending March 29 a level last reached in' the week ending April 13, 2002. "It is the pall of the Iraqi war, higher energy prices and lower stock prices just weighing on the willingness of companies to maintain jobs," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com.

The uncertainty is so high, just-cant think about expanding their businesses at Hob point" A second report offered more unsettling news: Activity in the Service sector normally the engine of job ere-, ation in the United States contracted in March, ending 13 months of growth. The Institute for Supply Management reported that its nonmanuiactiiring index. in Grcsnspan tauglii Up and down: Traders watch the monitors at the New York Stock Exchange after the opening bell Thursday. After early gains, the market lost almost 45 points after the Labor Department reported jobless claims were at their highest point in nearly a year. The partners were interest-ed in starting a school that emphasized "'personal as well as profes- sional development, and i'small class size, according to the publicist for the --business, Allison Moon.

Classes, which last six to Xeight weeks, focus on cbs-'metology, aesthetics, per-4-manent make-up and therapy, In addition to -'hair design. Tuition costs $8,000 for .2,000 hours of training. Enrollment starts again April 15. The school is at 77 E. 1 800 North in Spanish ForL Call 798-0448 for more 1 Construction rates -L'P 41 percent Rates for new construc-tion in the Provo-Orem itarea in February were recently released by McGraw Hill Construction, showing a 41 percent -increase, to more than $52 n-million, of new construc-Ition, from more than $36 million recorded in Febru-ary2002.

Commercial and nonresidential construction in t.Provo-Orem recorded a 36 percent decrease this year t-from the same period last Jyear. v. Residential construction, consisting of one two family houses and j-apartment buildings, saw a 61 percent increase. This led to a 41 percent Coverall increase for I Cumulative totals for "year-to-date construction show a 20 percent increase over last year, with 48 peril cent increase in residential construction and a 49 per-c cent decrease in commer-' Lackluster profits and uncertainties surrounding the war are some of the factors behind the increasing layoffs. Those same factors also are making companies reluctant to invest heavily in capital projects, further restraining the economy.

After falling into a recession in 2001, the economy has struggled to return to firm Orem movie theater reopens Vcung psople should filiv about finances By JE ANNINE AVERSA Associated Press Writer DAVID KARFThc Associated Prex Congress to act and pass the president's proposal," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, Federal Reserve policy- makers have kept interest rates at very low levels, with the hope that might help cushion the fallout from the ailing job market a turbulent stock market higher energy prices and war worries. years, he has been in the movie business ever since. When Clifton heard the mall theater was vacant, he said he couldn't resist The popcorn butter starting boiling inside him again. Although Clifton will continue to are in Spokane, he has hired full-time manager Mike Grotegut to run the theater, along with 13 other employees. i According to Clifton, the movie theater wiO charge $1 for matinees and $1.50 for shows after 6 pm Students can be admitted for $1 by showing student ID cards, and all shows on Tuesdays will be 50 cents, The snack bar will also have specials like unlimited refills of a large popcorn on Monday nights.

cinema will i show the same Movies 8, a discount theater in Prom Clifton said it wul also show classic movies like "Casablanca on a quarterly basis and midnight movies. In the summer, he would like to start showing 3-D movies andkidtf nwtineesfbrfreeat 9:30 am on weekdays. Kallas said he believes Clifton has a great Chance "of succeeding. "He's an experienced operator," Kallas said. "I think there, is a real demand in this area for this kind of theater." By SCARLETT BARGER ItahVilley Staff For the first time in the last couple of years, Orem will have two movie theaters open again the SCERA Theater and University Mall According to Rob KaHas, University Mall general manager, the mall theater closed about two years ago when its owners, Cineplex Odeon Corp.

and Flitt Theatres went bankrupt However, Don Clifton, of Spokane, agreed two months ago to reopen the showhouse as a discount cinema. It will open today and show fimcjvies to the pub-he today and Saturday starting at noon. According to CuBao, most preparations to open were fin-' ished by the end of last week, He said everything in the the ater is great condition. The idea is to make customers feel like they have entered a $7-a-ticket theater for only $1 or $10, he said The fbuMcreen theater will have stereo sound; dean, com-fbrtable sbowhouses; 6 rea-' sonablv priced snack bar, and several special events, he said, Clifton opened his first movie theater in 1988. With the exception of the last three WASHINGTON Drilling basic financial concepts into young people should not only help them now' but also help them avoid financial pitfalls later inlife that could plague them for years, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Thursday.

"Improving basic financial education at the elementary and secondary school level will provide a foundation of financial literacy that can help prevent younger people from making poor decisions that can take years to overcome," Greenspan said in prepared remarks to the JumpStart Coalition's annual meeting in Washington. The nonprofit group is involved in trying to help young people become more financially fluent Personal bankruptcies hit a record high in 2002, suggesting that many consumers are experienring significant, financial wisea, hp said Greenspan is a longtime champion of improving financial literacy not only among young people, but adults as welL The financial world has become increasingly complex, as the explosion of choices requires people to look more critically at their options before making decisions. "An understanding of how to maintain a checking and savings account at a local finan-vcial institution may have been sufficient 25 years ago "Greenspan said. Today's consumers, however, must be able to differentiate between a wide range of products, services and providers of financial prod-, rial building. New stores to open st Provo mdl ij Provo Towne Centre has welcomed several hew additions to its mix of lOe wd will see more changes in the next month.

Two locally owned busi-I' nesses opened recently, The Chocolate Shoppe and McNaugton's Fine Art Gallery, which features the i Artwork of John McNaughton. The three national I retailers that will be set- fcng up shop at the mall i 'include: Charlotte Russe on 'April 18; Finish Line on May and Buckle, which planning to open 'some-, time in early fall Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan ucts to successfully manage their personal finances," he added. "Certainly, young adults have access to credit at a much earlier age than their parents did. Technology also is playing an increasing larger role in the financial world. In his remarks, Greenspan did not discuss the state of the US.

economy or the future course of interest rates. Greenspan said consumers more generally must be familiar with the role that computers play in virtually every traditional financial transaction, from withdrawing funds to gaining access to credit A sound-financial education is especially important for poor people, inimigrants and others who often, pay super-high rates for. loans and have been hurt by sJbusive, sometimes illegal lending practices. "An informed borrower is simply less vulnerable to fraud and abuse," Greenspan said. 1 3.