IT at Quintiles voted 50th best

DURHAM -- Quintiles' IT department has been ranked 50th in the 2009 InformationWeek 500 in its first time on the list.

That's on top of having been named the 16th Best Place to Work in IT by ComputerWorld magazine back in May, as well as placing as a finalist in Computer Weekly's "Best Places to Work in IT" rankings.

This is the 21st year InformationWeek has listed an annual 500 listing of the country's most innovative users of information technology.

"We feel very honored to be included in the InformationWeek 500," said Quintiles Chief Information Officer Bill Deam. "To have made the top 50 in our first year on the list says a lot about the talented people in Quintiles IT who have truly delivered on our promise to the company and our customers.

Raleigh-Cary area fares well for U.S.

RALEIGH -- The Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area fared much better in the past year than most other major metropolitan areas in the country, according to a report by the Brookings Institution released Tuesday.

The Raleigh-Cary MSA includes Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties.

The report ranks the country's 100 largest metro areas -- which does not include the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA -- for their economic performance, with several MSAs, including Charlotte, showing signs of recovery from the recession and posting small economic increases in the second quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter.

Raleigh-Cary ranked 7th in the change in gross metropolitan product from the third quarter of 2008, posting a decline of 1.2 percent. The area also posted a 0.3 percent increase in the GMP over one quarter and was ranked 5th in the country in that category.

Another positive sign for the area was the change in housing prices over the past year. Raleigh-Cary posted a 1.1 percent increase and was ranked 34th. The area was ranked lower for employment, coming in at 53rd on change in employment from the peak (first quarter of 2008).

The five top MSAs in the country were: Austin, Texas; Baton Rouge, La.; Columbia, S.C.; Dallas, Texas; and Des Moines, Iowa.

The five weakest were: Boise City, Idaho; Bradenton, Fla.; Cape Coral, Fla.; Dayton, Ohio; and Detroit, Mich.

RTI wins grant to research injuries

DURHAM -- RTI International has won a five-year, $3.7 million contract to research ways to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses from the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety.

RTI, a nonprofit research organization in Durham's Research Triangle Park, will provide NIOSH with analytical and technical support, conduct research and analysis and evaluate existing programs.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2007 more than 4 million workers were injured or became sick as a result of their work and more than 5,500 people died as a result of work-related injuries, according to RTI.

Perdue appoints Sullivan to board

RALEIGH -- Gov. Beverly Perdue has appointed Richard Sullivan of Raleigh to the N.C. Economic Development Board.

Sullivan is the director of Marketing for Lovell Mitchell and Barth, a Bellevue, Wash.-based law firm.

Sullivan is also on the board of advisors for Washington, D.C.-based Union Dime, an investment firm, and Boland Advisory Services, a commercial real estate services company.

The Economic Development Board advises the secretary of the Department of Commerce and the governor on economic policy, industrial recruitment and expansion, trade policy, and travel and tourism. The board has 37 members, each serving a four-year term. The governor appoints 23 members.

Obama speaks at AFL-CIO rally

PITTSBURGH -- Shoring up a key part of his political base, President Obama turned to blue-collar crowds Tuesday to rally support for health care overhaul and claim credit for policies that have "stopped our economic free fall."

He found a receptive audience at the AFL-CIO convention, where delegates to the nation's largest labor federation were passing a resolution calling for changes to health care that include a government-run plan to compete with private insurance companies.

"Few have fought for this cause harder, and few have championed it longer than you, our brothers and sisters in organized labor," Obama told more than a thousand cheering union members.

-- From staff, wire reports