DURHAM -- This year's third scheduled auction of the Old Bull building in the American Tobacco Campus has been canceled.
The auction, which was scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, was canceled after settlement of the lien, according to Downtown Durham Inc. President Bill Kalkhof.
The auction originally came about because of an unresolved lien with Acme Plumbing & Heating Co., a plumbing contractor on Foster Street in downtown.
Kalkhof had revealed earlier that the Old Bull property, which has dozens of apartments, has accrued $16 million in debt from unpaid liens, interest and attorneys fees.
CFO survey finds execs hopeful
DURHAM -- Chief financial officers worldwide expect business conditions to improve in 2010, but U.S. CFOs say their companies will continue reducing their work forces in the coming months, according to a quarterly survey conducted by Duke University and CFO Magazine.
In another sign of a weak recovery to come, nearly half of companies that recently cut capital spending, employment and training said these cuts have permanently hurt their company's long-term growth prospects, according to Duke, and tight credit markets also continue to constrain economic growth, especially for small firms.
The survey also found that CFO optimism has improved from recession lows, but remains below long-run averages, and U.S. optimism lags behind the rest of the world.
U.S. companies expect to reduce domestic work force by 1.6 percent in 2010, while the number of outsourced jobs will increase. Two-thirds of companies say their employment will not return to pre-recession levels until 2011 or later.
Business conditions will improve somewhat in 2010, with earnings expected to rise 7.4 percent. Small increases are planned in capital spending, research and development, and marketing, an improvement from negative projections last quarter. The survey also found that companies have begun to stockpile cash.
Cree's LED lights in Smithsonian
DURHAM -- Cree Inc.'s LED lights have been installed in the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in the "Moving Beyond Earth" exhibit, the Durham-based light maker announced Tuesday.
The company's LR24 luminaires will replace mercury vapor work lights in the exhibit.
The "Moving Beyond Earth" exhibition explores the achievements and challenges of human spaceflight in the U.S. during the space shuttle and space station era and includes a 12-foot tall space shuttle model and parts of the Hubble Space Telescope.
-- From staff reports
