Pulcra Chemicals to establish U.S. HQ in Rock Hill

Pulcra Chemicals is moving its Charlotte operation to neighboring York County, where it will establish its U.S. headquarters, expand its manufacturing capabilities and add 15 jobs.

Pulcra plans to spend $2.6 million to buy the former IsoChem Colors Inc. plant in Rock Hill. The 58,000-square-foot facility at 474 Bryant Blvd. is in the Airport Industrial Park, adjacent to the Rock Hill-York County Airport.

The company will move from 3304 Westinghouse Blvd. in southwest Charlotte, where it employs 30. It expects to launch manufacturing and warehouse operations in Rock Hill in the second quarter of 2011.
Pulcra markets chemicals used in the fiber, textile and leather industries.

Joe Taylor, secretary of the S.C. Department of Commerce, says the Palmetto State’s focus on being a low-tax destination for business helped to attract Pulcra to Rock Hill. “The company is a great example of South Carolina’s continued success in attracting high-tech industries,” he says.

Pulcra is based in Düsseldorf, Germany, and has operations in 12 countries.

The company was created in 2008 when Cognis GmbH of Manheim, Germany, sold its process chemicals unit to Fashion Chemicals GmbH & Co. KG of Düsseldorf.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

UAW deal = hundreds of Daimler Trucks jobs in the Charlotte region

Buoyed by a new contract with local union workers, Daimler Trucks North America plans to add 540 workers to three truck and parts plants in the region. The new three-year agreement with local units of the UAW will save the company money, says Martin Daum, Daimler Trucks chief executive.

Laid-off employees have already been recalled, and those workers should be back on the job by mid-month, the company says. That will mean the Cleveland truck-assembly plant will add 280 employees, bringing its employment 1,115. Another 150 will return to the Mount Holly truck-assembly plant, boosting employment there to 290.

The smallest number of recalled workers — 110— will report to the Gastonia parts plant. That means employment there will grow to 781.

The local Freightliner plants will employ 2,186 workers after the latest expansions, according to information provided by Daimler Trucks.

The contract talks, which went two weeks past the June 1 expiration of the previous pact, apparently became heated. According to a report in the Portland Business Journal, a sister paper, a UAW representative threatened a walkout, which elicited a warning from Daum. “You walk out, you might never walk back in,” Daum says he told negotiators.

Portland, Ore.-based Daimler Trucks operates truck-assembly operations in Cleveland and Mount Holly and a parts facility in Gastonia. At their busiest, the plants have employed a total of 6,000 workers. Layoffs since 2008 had trimmed the combined Charlotte-area employment to fewer than 1,650 workers.

Robert Van Geons, executive director of RowanWorks, says the recalled workers “will help to stabilize our local economy.”

The new UAW contract will mean lower wages and fewer benefits for the workers, Daum says. The union made sacrifices in exchange for job security, he adds.

Daimler Trucks and UAW officials decline to reveal specifics on salary and benefits cuts. Ricky McDowell, chairman of UAW Local 5285 in Mount Holly, refers inquiries about the recalled workers to the union’s Detroit officials. Michelle Martin, spokeswoman for UAW national, didn’t return calls.

The pressure to cut union wages may not always be the best answer for a community, says David Zonderman, history professor at N.C. State. “Workers are also consumers. They are going to have less money to spend in the community.”

The UAW’s official name is now the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America.
During the Daum interview, he declined to speak about specific plans for 400 acres that Daimler Trucks bought in western York County. “We have no current plans,” he says.

The company moved about 340 administrative jobs to leased space in Fort Mill and bought the land off S.C. Highway 274 in 2008. At the time, Daimler Trucks officials said they planned to build a regional administrative headquarters for the company.

The action prompted some elected county officials to say they expected the company to move all headquarters operations to the York County site from Portland.

Daum took over as Daimler Trucks CEO in Portland in June 2009 from Chris Patterson, who retired. Daum, 49, came from Woerth, Germany, where he was head of operations at a Mercedes-Benz plant

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Convergys Corp. adding more than 200 jobs in Chattanooga

Convergys Corp. is adding more than 200 jobs at its Chattanooga call center.

The Cincinnati-based business services provider is holding a July 10 job fair in Chattanooga to fill the full-time and part-time customer service and sales positions.

A company statement said the new employees will be dealing with an entertainment industry client.

People who are interested can also apply online at http://www.convergys.com/careers.

Convergys currently has about 70,000 employees globally, including about 600 who work at the Chattanooga center that opened in 1997.

Source: WATE.com

East Tennessee boating industry begins slow bounce back

Hundreds of people who worked for boat manufacturing companies in East Tennessee lost their jobs in 2009.

At least seven local boat dealers closed up shop and surviving businesses are still fighting to stay afloat.

Still experts say boating has begun the slow climb back.

There’s no other place Lynn Holmes, of Loudon County, would rather be than on the water, and there are still lots of people joining him.

“It hasn’t slowed down here,” he says. “I think people, instead of going on vacations and spending that money, they just go out on the lake.”

Speaking from the helm of his boat Friday, Holmes says he’s cut back some, but he’s re-charged by time spent on his boat.

“When you watch the sun go down in the afternoon and you’ve got your grill going and you’re grilling a hamburger or steak, piece of chicken and you’re with all your friends and you’re rafted up, it’s just a good, easy time,” Holmes said.

Boat dealers hope that feeling gets people buying again.

Sea Ray of Knoxville owner Pepper Marcum admits it’s been the toughest year she’s seen in nearly three decades.

“We were the first ones to feel it and we’ll be the last to come out of it because, obviously, we are a luxury item,” Marcum said.

There are dozens fewer new boats on the lot, but Marcum says people are still buying. “Used boat sales have been phenomenal. We can’t keep them in. Brokerage boat sales have been great. Our service department has been working non-stop, overtime and we’re very thankful for that.”

One of the largest boat manufacturers is MasterCraft in Vonore.

Last year, 90 percent of its work force was laid off. The factory shut down for months. President and CEO John Dorton says it was rough.

“This time last year, we were all just trying to survive. Most of us had shut our production down. We had let the bulk of our employees go just so we could figure out what was going on in the marketplace. There was some softening in retail demand, but the biggest problem was the issues with wholesale financing. Dealers just could not get credits to buy boats,” Dorton said.

Now banks are slowly starting to make loans again. MasterCraft has added a new boat line, started selling more product abroad, and called 60 percent of its employees back to work.

Boating industry survivors have been forced to change the way they operate. The most obvious difference is that they no longer have large inventories.

“It’s slower for the retailer. It’s slower for the consumer to get their product, but at the end of the day there’s no inventory. There’s no interest. There’s no curtailments. There’s none of that thing in general happening as much as it used to happen,” said MasterCraft Chief of Sales and Marketing Scott Crutchfield.

Pepper Marcum says things have changed at SeaRay, too. “We have tightened our belts. We have paid attention to what is important to the customer and we have stayed on top of customer service.”

Everyone who spoke with 6 News says the lakes of East Tennessee will always beckon boaters.

“Pulling tubes and wake boarding and skiing, it’s just a lot of fun. It’s a lot of family, good, honest fun,” Marcum added.

“The economy, good or bad, we need to get out and play and have a little fun,” said John Dorton. “Boating is one of those few things you can do. You get the whole family confined on 20 to 25 feet of real estate out there in the middle of the lake and everybody’s just having a good time.”

Experts believe the industry is rebuilding slowly and East Tennessee will remain big on boat manufacturing and dealing, although the industry will be less saturated than in years past.

Those in the boating business also learned costly lessons in the last couple years. “We just have to be smarter and do more with less going forward, which is probably a good lesson for American businesses anyhow,” Dorton said.

Experts say it will be at least three years before we see a real bounce back.

You can still get a good deal on a new boat, if you’re willing to buy something that’s already in a dealer’s inventory.

But most people will have to pre-order, and you’ll likely have to wait two months or more to get a boat.

There was also a major trickle down effect with the dive in the boating industry. Not only did thousands of people lose jobs, but businesses that supply products to the marine industry also suffered.

Maryville-based Alloy Fasteners is one that took a big hit. The company makes stainless steel fasteners for several products including decks, fences and spas. But the marine industry has been a multi-million dollar client.

There are hundreds of different kinds of fasteners that go on a boat and losing that business was a blow felt by everyone who works there.

Alloy Fasteners account manager Craig Ippolito says it was scary. “There were days that you know we would come to work and it would be so desolate that you were scared that tomorrow, today was your last day or am I going to have a job next month, how am I going to feed my family.”

Alloy stayed afloat by adding more deck and fencing business, and the re-opening of manufacturing at MasterCraft has also given it a boost.

Source: WATE.com

Wells shutters Wells Fargo Financial, cutting 3,800 jobs

Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday it will shutter Wells Fargo Financial, closing its 638 branches nationwide and eliminating 3,800 positions. (WFC)

Source: Charlotte Business News – Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal

Questions to ask at a job interview

We’ve all been there – the job interview is winding down then you’re asked: “do you have any questions?” Here are some good standard questions you could ask:

Interviewers are always interested in the type of questions that a candidate asks them – it can say a lot about you as a person – so don’t sit there and say nothing.

Not having any questions prepared is actually one of the most off-putting things for a recruiter and could cost you the chance of getting the job.

You’ve been given the opportunity to find out the finer details of the role and, if you’re not sure that this is the job for you, now is the time to find out.

You’ll want to make sure you ask about both the role and the company itself. Don’t be shy about it – if there is something that might not work out, it’s better to find out now rather than when it’s too late.

Here’s some typical questions that you might want to ask at the end of your interview:

What would a typical day in this role involve?
Who would I be working with on a day-to-day basis?
How will my performance be measured?
How do you see this role developing over time?
What are the possibilities to progress within the company?
Why did the last person leave the company?
How would you describe the work culture here?
What’s the most important thing I can do in my first few months of employment?
Do you have any concerns about me as a candidate?
When will you be able to let me know by?
You probably won’t want to ask them all as time is precious, but it’s worth bearing them in mind so that when the time comes, you won’t be sitting there in silence. And if you are offered the job, you’ll feel a whole lot more confident about what the role entails and be far better placed to make the right decision.

Source: Express and Star

Job seekers don’t always put their best foot forward

Alicia Anchors learned from an early age to say “yes, ma’am” and “no, sir.”

Job seekers sometimes don’t know the rules of proper etiquette. To those in human resources and job placement locally, when potential employees lack these basic skills, they pay a price, and that price is often the job they’re seeking.

“I spent my summers as a child with my grandparents and great-grandparents, and a lot of the manners I have today came from them,” said the 22-year-old University of North Alabama student from Jasper.

Anchors said good manners are a way of life for her, but not everyone knows the rules of proper etiquette. To those in human resources and job placement locally, when potential employees lack these basic skills, they pay a price, and that price is often the job they’re seeking.

Melissa Medlin, director of career planning and development at UNA, said the decline in manners is a reflection of the more casual attitudes Americans have adopted in the past several decades.

“We’ve drifted away from emphasizing the things that are mannerly,” she said. “We forget even the simple things like not putting your elbow on the table while you eat. I see this in the students I work with. Some have the best manners, while there are others who have none at all.”

This has become evident in the re-emergence of workplace dress codes, Medlin said. People have taken it a step too far and gotten too far away from being professional in dress, she added.

“Being mannerly is also perceived as being formal and stuffy,” she said. “That’s also given good etiquette a bad name.” Medlin said she’s hearing from employers who complain that today’s college graduates lack even the most basic manners.

“We hear all the time that they’d like to hire a student to do a job, but they immediately ask if the student will show up on time,” she said.

In addition to teaching job seekers to be punctual, Medlin said she has had to talk to students about cell phone and social networking etiquette.

“You’d think it goes without saying at a job interview not to answer your cell phone or return a text message, but we’re always having to talk to students about it,” she said. “The same thing goes for Facebook and MySpace. When you post something there, the whole world knows. There’s a fine line between your work self and your home self, and you’ve got to find a balance in that.”

Good manners and a good work ethic are part of what Medlin calls personal pride.

“If you’re not taking the time to put together a good resume and application packet, for instance, or to put a suit on and show up early to the interview, it’s not likely you think highly of the opportunity you’re being offered,” she said. “If there’s a spelling mistake on your resume, that alone can be enough for you to get tossed out of consideration for a job. There could be 50 applicants, so that bit of carelessness cost you a job.”

Anchors knows how important good manners will be in her career. As an early education major at UNA, workplace etiquette is built into the framework of the College of Education curriculum.

“When we get our first job, we know we become the faces of the town where we’re teaching and that we’ll be recognized,” she said. “That’s why we have to be professional in order to get the job.”

She credits time spent with older family members for helping her learn what she calls “forgotten ways.”

“We’ve ignored our elders for so long that we’ve forgotten some of these things,” she said.

Anchors said she’s not afraid to correct her friends, especially when they commit etiquette gaffes.

“I’ve walked away from friends who were too busy texting to talk to me,” she said. “But I’ve also told them about manners and being polite to waiters and waitresses. It’s so obvious they didn’t learn these things at home; maybe no one ever taught them.”

Unfortunately, students wait to learn these basic skills until they’re on the cusp of college graduation.

Each year, Medlin conducts a manners dinner for students to help answer their questions and take them through a typical business lunch so they have a handle on the basics.

“Often, I have freshmen and sophomores who want to come, too,” she said.

Reaching students early is the goal of events such as etiquette camp, offered each year through the Florence City Schools Foundation.

Grace Fox coordinates the camp. She said it’s in direct response to employers who say they are desperate to find employees who know how to behave appropriately on the job and how to be team players. The camp is designed for third- through fifth-graders, but Fox said she hears from parents of high school students who want to get their children into the program.

“These are skills that are as important as academics in today’s work force because it is the number one complaint employers have,” she said.

“Too often, we, as adults assume children know these things, and how can they when parents are just as bad with their manners?”

Source: TimesDaily.com