Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • A4

Nebraska economic indicator still rising economy should see modest growth in coming months, according to the latest Leading Economic Indicator for Nebraska report. The indicator, which predicts economic growth six months in advance, rose by 0.95 percent in September, fueled by a significant drop in first-time unemployment claims in Nebraska. The drop in Nebraska claims follows a national trend. in Nebraska is limited by the same factors that are impacting the national economy, such as uncertainty about domestic economic policy and weaker economic growth University of Nebraska- Lincoln economist Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research in the College of Business Administration, said in a news release. Produced by Department of Economics and the Bureau for Business Research, the Leading Economic Indicator is a composite of six components that predict future economic growth: single-family building permits, airline passenger counts, initial unemployment claims, manufacturing hours, the value of the U.S.

dollar and business expectations gathered from the Survey of Nebraska Business. Along with the decline in unemployment claims, September saw improvement on a seasonally adjusted basis in building permits and airline passenger counts in Nebraska. Manufacturing hours and business expectations declined. Wells Fargo layoffs hit Nebraska Wells Fargo is laying off 44 workers in Nebraska as part of a nationwide reduction in the workforce. A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said the cuts include 43 employees in Omaha and one in Lincoln.

She said the company hopes to find another position for the Lincoln employee. The cuts are part of 925 layoffs of mortgage workers nationwide announced Thursday. Wells Fargo has announced several thousand job cuts in just the past few months as mortgage applications, especially refinances, have fallen because of higher interest rates. The company said last week that its third-quarter mortgage volume was down 42 percent from a year ago. KLKN-TV missing from DirecTV lineup KLKN-TV is gone from DirecTV as the satellite company and the TV parent company, Citadel Communications, continue to negotiate a new carriage agreement.

KLKN, ABC affiliate, pulled its signal at midnight Thursday, saying on its website that deeply regret it when some of our viewers are inconvenienced or otherwise caught in the middle of a business The contract expired Sept. 30, but the two sides agreed to two extensions. However, no deal was reached, prompting exit from the satellite service. ABC programming is available on DirecTV from Kearney affiliate KHGI. Meanwhile, Gray Television reached a new carriage agreement with DISH Network.

That agreement applies to Lincoln CBS affiliate and Omaha NBC affiliate WOWT for viewers in those markets. From staff reports AT A GLA A4 OURNAL TAR Saturday, October 19, 2013 Comments? Questions? Call Richard Piersol, 402-473-7241 www.JournalStar.com/business Tell us about it To give us business news tips, openings, closings or other suggestions, please write us at A ATC Dow Jones Industrials Standard 500 1,744.50 Nasdaq 3,914.28 Russell 2000 1,114.77 More e-cig stores popping up Find out up in The Biz Buzz. JournalStar.com/bizbuzz Futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday: Light sweet crude (per barrel) Delivery Settle Chg. November $100.81 0.14 By MATT OLBERDING Lincoln Journal Star A few lucky invitees will get a first look at the Nebraska Crossing outlet mall a day before it opens to the public. Developer Rod Yates of OTB Destination announced Friday that the mall in Gretna will have a charity fashion show Nov.

14 that will include a performance by Grammy Award-winning rapper Eve. wanted to do something special and over the top to welcome the first Yates said in a news release. many of these brands are new to this market, we thought why not introduce them on the runway and have our close friend, Eve, help us re-launch the experience. We could not select a better person to introduce our fashion aspirations for the Eve, whose given name is Eve Jihan Jeffers, won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Collaboration for the song Me Blow Ya sung with with No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani. Her first three albums sold more than 8 million copies, and she also has appeared in movies and on TV.

She had her own clothing line, Fetish, which shut down in 2009. The fashion show will be called First LOOK and will feature 60 head-to-toe looks from retailers in the mall. It will be held in the space that will become Old Navy, which open until next year. Immediately after the show, guests will be able to explore the center and visit stores to purchase their favorite items from the runway. event attendees will literally be the first people to shop these brands in said Omaha Fashion Week producer Brook Hudson, who is helping produce the show The invitation-only event will begin at 6 p.m.

Members of the public can sign up to receive invitations at www. nexoutlets.com, although signing up does not guarantee a spot. The $112 million, foot mall at the intersection of Interstate 80 and U.S. 6 and 31 opens Nov. 15.

Yates has not said how many of the nearly 60 retail tenants and half a dozen restaurants will be ready on opening day. Reach Matt Olberding at 402-473-2647 or Nebraska Crossing event will feature Grammy-winning rapper. ERIC Journal Star Construction pushes on at the Nebraska Crossing outlet mall in Gretna on Thursday. The mall is scheduled to open Nov. 15.

Check out our gallery of construction photos By MATT OLBERDING Lincoln Journal Star Novartis has clarified why workers at its Lincoln plant qualified for federal assistance. The U.S. Department of Labor certified a petition for Trade Adjustment Assistance for workers at the plant at 10401 U.S. 6, finding that those losing their jobs between June 4, 2012, and July 29, 2015, are eligible for assistance because they are losing their jobs due to foreign competition. That makes them eligible for federal subsidies to help with training for another job, as well as job search and relocation expenses.

Novartis announced in April that it was going to streamline manufacturing at the Lincoln plant to just three brands: Excedrin, Theraflu and veterinary drug Sentinel. That move came after the plant had been shut down since December 2011 because of quality-control problems found during more than one inspection by the Food and Drug Administration. Along with that announcement, the company said it would eliminate 300 jobs in Lincoln over two years. In May, Novartis announced the first round of job cuts, laying off 72 people and eliminating 41 open positions. At about the same time it announced the job cuts in Lincoln, Novartis announced that a manufacturing plant in Nyon, Switzerland, which had been scheduled to close, would remain open.

Like the Lincoln plant, the Nyon plant makes over-the-counter drugs, including some of the drugs that had been made in Lincoln, including Theraflu. When the state Department of Labor filed the Trade Adjustment Assistance petition on behalf of workers in June, it stated workers said they were losing their jobs to a plant in Switzerland. Novartis officials said the two moves were not linked, and a spokeswoman earlier this week reiterated that claim, saying the Nyon plant even have an FDA license to export products to the U.S. Instead, other factories, which spokeswoman Julie Masow did not name, are manufacturing some of the products that had been manufactured in Lincoln we continue to remediate our Lincoln, Nebraska, manufacturing site, Novartis Consumer Health is using a combination of No vartis facilities and third-party manufacturers to bolster supply of certain products to meet consumer and customer Masow said in an email. of these manufacturing facilities are located outside of the United States.

The Novartis Consumer Health manufacturing plant in Nyon, Switzerland, is not one of these Masow said Novartis has provided information requested by the U.S. Department of Labor and will continue to cooperate. Reach Matt Olberding at 402-473-2647 or Novartis explains why workers qualify for trade assistance Outlet all first OO The Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa The World Food Prize Foundation confronted opposition to genetically modified crops as it gathered hundreds of experts and national leaders this week to talk about how to feed a growing global population. By awarding this prize to three biotechnology pioneers, the nonprofit foundation infuriated environmental groups and others opposed to large-scale farming. Two of the recipients hold prominent po sitions at biotech companies Mary-Dell Chilton, founder and researcher at Syn genta Biotechnology, and Robert Fraley, chief technology officer at Monsanto.

The third is Marc Van Montagu, founder and chairman of the Institute of Plant Biotechnology Outreach at Ghent University in Belgium. But their line of work is in keeping with the philosophies of Norman Borlaug, the founder, who was a strong advocate of biotechnology as a way to increase crop production. Van Montagu and Chilton independently developed the technology in the 1980s to stably transfer foreign genes into plants, which led to creating the means to genetically engineer plants. Fraley genetically engineered the first herbicide-resistant soybean in 1996. entering the period that Norman Borlaug worried about.

We are facing the greatest challenge in human history, whether we can sustainably feed the 9 billion people who will be on our planet by foundation President Kenneth Quinn said. Borlaug, the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate awarded for his efforts to fight hunger and boost agricultural production, knew the three recipients and expressed a wish before his death in 2009 that they be honored, Quinn said. The World Food Prize Foundation relies on corporate, private and go vernment contributions. Among its donors are Monsanto and Syngenta Foundation, and the news that scientists working for those companies, announced last summer, drew criticism. than encouraging sustainable farming and self-sufficiency in impoverished communities as a way to alleviate poverty and malnutrition, the World Food Prize has been by a profiteering, biotech, seed-and-chemical monopolist the freakish opposite of former Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower wrote on his web site a week ago.

He joined the Occupy World Food Prize organization to demonstrate in Des Moines against the foundation, discredit the prize and disrupt the activities, which attracts about 1,000 scientists, policy experts, political leaders and business executives each year. Last year, protesters were arrested. In their acceptance of the award, the laureates warned against efforts in some states to label foods made with genetically modified ingredients. Organic labeling already exists, Chilton pointed out, and many companies will not be able to sell GMO products if forced to label. will be the death of the technology in a real sense if we have obligatory Chilton said.

Fraley said Monsanto recognizes that it must do a better job of responding to consumer concerns over the seeds. done a good job of reaching consumers. been so focused on Opponents were active and angry. and factory farms are destroying Iowa, independent family farmers and the planet, but the Occupy World Food Prize week of action shows everyday people are standing up and fighting back, said Larry Ginter, a farmer and a member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, a citizen action group that aligns with the Occupy organization. Quinn said that to provide enough food at a time when drought, floods and other natural disasters are more frequent, the farmers should have a range of practices, seeds and other tools at their disposal.

ood Prize takes on opponents of Os Ev 15,399.65.