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KLC: fourth of Kentuckians in unaffordable housing
Over 1 million Kentuckians are living in unaffordable housing, according to a report by the Kentucky League of Cities (KLC) entitled "My Old Kentucky (Unaffordable) Home: Affordable Housing Needs and Quality of Life."
This report gives an overview of the affordable housing situation in Kentucky, and is designed to help city leaders understand affordable housing issues.
It also addresses the availability of affordable housing and includes data that shows how income levels are not keeping up with rising house values.
The report says that from 2000 to 2004, the median house value in Kentucky increased by 14 percent, but during the same time, median household incomes only rose by five percent. This has caused a widening gap between housing costs and the ability to pay for them.
Fortunately, some future trends and programs show some signs of progress. As the housing market cools, some housing analysts are hopeful that the ratio between incomes and housing prices will return to more affordable levels. In addition, many state and federal leaders are discussing raising the minimum wage because full-time minimum wage earners cannot afford a one- or two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the nation. The purchasing power the current federal minimum wage, $5.15 an hour, is at its lowest point since 1951.
- From a Kentucky League of Cities press release:
JP Morgan's Pil cites reason for gasoline price drop
Anton Pil, Managing Director, Global Head of Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange, JPMorgan, was in town on Oct. 26 for a presentation at Keeneland with a self-explanatory title: "The Well-Prepared Executive: -- Clear commentary and candid observations on the global economy and financial markets along with insights and ideas on key issues in wealth planning for the successful executive."
During the question and answer period that followed, Pil offered an explanation for the recent decline in gasoline prices, noting that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson arrived from Goldman Sachs where he had served as chairman and CEO deeply concerned about the impact of rising energy costs. According to Pil, Goldman soon thereafter dropped gasoline from its commodities index. Gasoline futures then collapsed.
Pil noted that investors contemplating alternative fuels should use caution with Ethanol due to its corrosive nature, complicating shipping. He advised keeping a sharp eye for innovative engineering of a new, highly efficient engine.
Lexmark releases 3Q earnings
Lexmark is continuing to recover after a recent restructuring in the company's business model and corporate organization. In the third quarter of 2006 the company reported gross profits at 32.6 percent when adjusting to take restructuring costs into consideration. In the same period last year Lexmark posted profits of 29.4 percent while bringing in $1.216 billion compared to this year's $1.235 billion.
In the first quarter of 2006 the company changed its approach to bundling printers for free to customers who bought new computers. "Our concern was that those printers were never being installed. And if they were never being installed we were never generating a supplies annuity," Lexmark CFO John Gamble told Business Lexington.
Gamble and Lexmark Vice President for Corporate Communications Tim Fitzpatrick said the company's positive outlook will not change the planned restructuring that led to a number layoffs in Lexington and beyond. That will continue through the end of the year, Fitzpatrick said.
The company is slated to host its annual Analysts Day at the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 9.
Alltech—UK alliance publish first annual report
Alltech, in conjunction with the University of Kentucky, has published the first annual report of the Alltech—University of Kentucky Nutrition Research Alliance at Coldstream Research Farm. The partnership, formed in 2004, has resulted in one Ph.D. dissertation, four scientific journal articles, nine scientific posters, and 25 scientific abstracts in its first full year of operation.
The alliance with the University of Kentucky is part of Alltech's Bioscience Center concept, in which Alltech works closely with local universities to improve its research capacity. Alltech is currently the second largest supporter of graduate degrees in agribusiness in America, behind only the U.S. government.
Operating the research facility is a team comprised of Alltech and University of Kentucky researchers and faculty members. They include, from the University of Kentucky, Dr. Tony Pescatore, Dr. Austin Cantor, Dr. Robert Harmon, and Mike Ford. The team also includes Alltech researchers Dr. James Pierce, Dr. Karl Dawson, Dr. Ted Sefton, and Dr. Tuoying Ao.
Exstream again among fast growth Tech firms
Lexington-based Exstream Software Inc. has ranked 94th among leading software companies and 254th for all companies listed on Deloitte's 2006 Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications and life sciences companies in North America. Rankings are based on percentage revenue growth over five years, from 2001 to 2005. Exstream's revenues grew 600 percent during this period. Additionally, this is the second consecutive year that Exstream has been included among Deloitte's Technology Fast 500.
Exstream, which develops, sells and supports enterprise document creation software for Fortune 1000 companies around the world, is relocating its corporate headquarters to the University of Kentucky's Coldstream Research Campus. The privately held company, headquartered in Lexington since 1998, expects to move 150 Lexington-based employees to Coldstream next year.
Confidence in national economy down, local up
The confidence of the Lexington business community in the national economy has dropped significantly over the past six months. According to Preston-Osborne's latest Business Confidence Index (BCI) conducted recently, economic confidence has tumbled while confidence in the local economy is at its highest since early 2001.
40 local business leaders selected at random from among Commerce Lexington members were asked to rate their level of optimism about the economy of the U.S., Kentucky, Lexington, and their own businesses, using a scale of 1 (not optimistic at all) to 5 (very optimistic.)
Optimism ratings for the country and ratings for the participants' own businesses dropped significantly this period compared to the same poll conducted last winter. The panel rated their optimism for the U.S. at 3.18 this period compared to 3.44 last winter. Optimism regarding their own businesses also dropped from a score of 3.95 last winter to 3.80 this summer. Ironically, ratings for Kentucky rose slightly from 3.35 to 3.43 as those for Lexington's economy gained 10 points from 3.67 to 3.78.
Phil Osborne, CEO of Preston-Osborne, attributes the drop in optimism scores to a number of factors, including fuel prices.
"At the time of the survey, gasoline prices were still threatening $3 per gallon," Osborne said. "Even now with home energy prices suffering from escalating fuel and environmental charges, energy is taking a large bite out of family budgets."
The Business Confidence Index poll has been conducted since December 1995.
Commonwealth Travel, Travel Authority merge
A tentative merger has been reached between Commonwealth Travel Agency located in Lexington, Kentucky and The Travel Authority, headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
The employee owned Travel Authority, which has maintained an office in Lexington, Kentucky for 20 years, is a diversified leisure and corporate travel management company with more than 50 branch locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida.
Commonwealth Travel Agency has been serving the bluegrass area for 30 years providing corporate, leisure and group travel services.
Completion of the merger is scheduled for early December, 2006.
Gatton ranked high for information systems research
The School of Management in the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics is ranked fifth in the nation in an information systems (IS) research productivity measure. According to a recent study published by the Association for Information Systems (AIS), UK is one of the top five along with two of its benchmark universities, the University of Minnesota and UCLA, in the highest output-per-researcher published in leading IS journals during the five-year period from 2001-05.
Among the study's other findings, the Gatton College ranks among the Top 20 institutions worldwide (tied with the Harvard Business School and the University of Southern California) for doctoral programs supplying the most graduates who published in leading IS journals during the same period (2001-05). In addition, Gatton ranks among the Top 20 U.S. doctoral degree-granting universities which have produced the most research in leading IS journals over that same period, even though the college has a small number of IS researchers relative to other Top 20 faculties.
The Decision Science & Information Systems (DSIS) area of the Gatton College provides instruction and research that supports knowledge workers. The work aims to increase the productivity of individuals, groups, and organizations through more efficient and effective decision-making.
The DSIS instruction develops students' abilities to design and use advanced quantitative methods and computer-based information systems to support decision-making. Its faculty members have earned international reputations for breakthrough research into decision-support issues and the management of information technology.