2C • SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2011 First Bancorp, the parent company of First Bank, has declared a cash dividend on its common stock of 8 cents per share payable July 25 to shareholdFROM 1C ers of record as of June 30. client care coordinator at Comfort The dividend rate is the same as the Keepers. comparable period of 2010. She has 18 years of First Bancorp has total assets of apexperience in long proximately $3.4 billion. term and community based care. She has worked for Rowan Hospital names two new Regional Medical members to advisory board Center as a Hospice CONCORD — Carolinas Medical case manager, community alternatives Center-NorthEast has added Britt program case manag- Leatherman and Dr. Katherine “KelSTOGNER er and supervisor, ly” Propst as new members to its and nursing supervi- Northern Group Advisory Board. The board advises Carolinas sor for the hospital’s in-home aide HealthCare System regarding the misservice. She will conduct client assessments, sion, quality and service needs of the create and update the client plan of communities served by the Northern care and conduct caregiver training, Group both now and in the future. supervisory visits, client assessments Terms for appointed members are for three years. and quarterly client reviews. Leatherman, who Comfort Keepers, owned by Lori serves as a communiEberly, also has moved to a larger loty leader and profescation at 512 Klumac Rd, Suite 2. sional working within Comfort Keepers provides in-home the financial services services including companionship, industry at ING, has meal preparation, housekeeping, gromore than 18 years of cery shopping, transportation, laundry experience in sales, and more. sales management, For more information, visit operations managewww.comfortkeepers.com. LEATHERMAN ment and executive leadership. He is GCS names vice president chairman of the board for the Northof business development East Foundation. Propst has been Salisbury-based GCS (Global Conemployed by the tact Services) has Cabarrus County named Joe Meehan of School System for the Peoria, Ariz., as vice past 26 years and now president of business serves as assistant sudevelopment. perintendent. She is He will serve as a responsible for aclead sales representacountability, student tive for GCS, accordinformation systems ing to Greg Alcorn, PROPST and technology proCEO. He is responsigrams for the school ble for new business system. She also serves as an adjunct MEEHAN development. Meehan professor at Wingate University where has more than 20 she teaches a doctoral course on orgayears experience in the call center in- nizational change and development. dustry. •••
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First Bancorp sets dividend at 8 cents per share
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ed States. In the report, the Treasury Department noted that China’s currency has risen by 5.1 percent in value against the dollar since last June, when Beijing announced that it would resume allowing its currency to appreciate. The report said the appreciation was a faster 9 percent on an annual basis when taking into account different inflation rates between the two countries. But private economists said that on a trade basis, China’s currency really hasn’t moved much at all given that while it is rising against the dollar, the dollar has been falling against many other currencies. Because of this, they contend that China will likely see its global trade surplus rise significantly this year. Analysts said that Treasury’s refusal to cite China was not unexpected, but the decision will likely add fuel to complaints that Washington needs to take a tougher approach on trade issues with China. “The continued high bilateral trade deficit that the U.S. runs with China and a weak U.S. labor market will keep China’s currency policy on the radar of U.S. politicians for some time to come,” said Eswar Prasad, a China expert at Cornell University. Nicholas Lardy, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington think tank, said that while China’s trade surplus with the United
States and the rest of the world shrank during the global recession, it is likely to rise significantly this year, adding to the pressure on policymakers to do something. Asked for reaction to the report, an official at the Chinese embassy in Washington said that China’s currency, the renminbi, has been rising in value against the dollar and he said that would continue. “China will further push forward the reform of the renminbi exchange rate regime under the principles of independent decision-making, controllability and graduality,” embassy spokesman Wang Baodong said. The Obama administration and the Bush administration have never cited Beijing in the currency report, believing that they can be more successful with arguments that such a move would be in China’s advantage. The new report made the point that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has made, that a stronger Chinese currency would allow Beijing to better control rising inflation pressures in China. The new report was scheduled to be released on April 15, but Geithner announced it would be delayed to give the administration an opportunity to meet with the Chinese for the annual discussions of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which took place this year on May 9-10 in Washington.
Case involving counterfeit Apple products dropped LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles judge has dismissed a case against two brothers who were accused of participating in a smuggling ring that authorities say brought millions of dollars of fake Apple products into the U.S. Los Angeles County district at-
torney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said Friday that prosecutors asked for charges to be dropped against 40-year-old Edward Zahab and his 45-year-old brother, Bahram Zahab. The two LA men were arrested in February and accused of
possession for sale of counterfeit Apple goods worth about $280,000. Gibbons says the charges were dismissed, though the investigation is ongoing. Attorney Mark Hathaway said the brothers run a legitimate electronics business.
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how many were downloads of free books. Selections at the iBookstore were greatly improved this year when Random House Inc., publisher of Stieg Larsson and John Grisham among others, agreed to sell through Apple after resolving differences over pricing. Brian Murray, CEO of HarperCollins Publishers, said iBookstore sales were “a little smaller than expected,” but he praised the iPad as a multimedia breakthrough that enabled publishers to sell epicture books and “enhanced” e-books that include video and sound. “There are certainly areas for improvement, as there are with every book retailer and device,” he said. “But the promise of having another platform where books can be discovered is still true today. The potential is enormous.” A strong No. 2 to Amazon has emerged, but it’s Barnes & Noble, which launched the Nook late in 2009 to skepticism about everything from the name “Nook” to the design. David Pogue in The New York Times had mocked the Nook’s “half-baked software” and called the device “an anesthetized slug.” But Barnes & Noble has worked to improve the Nook and to offer different types, including a touch screen version announced this week. The company promoted the Nook relentlessly through its superstores and now has around 25 percent of e-sales, publishers say. David Young, CEO of the Hachette Book Group, said the Nook’s success had “frankly astounded” him. Random House CEO Markus Dohle acknowledged he was initially “worried a bit” about the Nook, but praised Barnes & Noble for its “extraordinary accomplishment.” Even the American Booksellers Association, the trade group representing independent sellers, was congratulating its longtime rival. “They’ve married the physical location to the e-book device in a way that is profound,” says Len Vlahos, the association’s chief operating officer. BookExpo America is a combination of trade show, seminar, soapbox and family reunion, with agents, authors, booksellers and publishers assembled under the Javits roof
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Friday declined to cite China for manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages against the United States but said the pace of the currency’s rise against the dollar needs to be accelerated. The Treasury Department noted that China has been allowing its currency to rise against the dollar since last June, but it said Beijing needs to make more rapid progress. America’s trade deficit with China hit a record high last year. The department’s finding came in a report it must submit to Congress every six months determining whether other countries are manipulating their currencies. American manufacturers have been pushing for China to be cited. That could result in penalty tariffs on Chinese imports. U.S. manufacturers believe China’s currency is undervalued against the dollar by as much as 40 percent. This makes Chinese goods cheaper in the U.S. market and American products more expensive in China. China’s trade deficit with the United States hit $273 billion last year, the largest deficit the United States has ever had with any country. Critics contend that China is manipulating its currency to keep it undervalued against the dollar as a way of getting unfair trade advantages, an attack that has gained more support at a time of high unemployment in the Unit-
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and in and out of the center’s erratic Wi-Fi. The convention is also a testament to the endless and surprising variety of publishers, where a booth this week for the Lebanese Ministry of Culture stood across the aisle from a display of American Girl products. Among the “buzz” books were the novels “The Art of Fielding” by Chad Harbach and Erin Morgenstern’s “The Night Circus.” Buzz words included “petting zoo,” meaning an in-store selection of e-book devices that customers are allowed to handle; and “showroom,” the latest pitch for the value of a physical, “bricks and mortar” store. Membership in the booksellers association has increased for two straight years after decades of decline, and independents are encouraged by the Nook because they think it demonstrates that oldfashioned bookstores, “showrooms,” remain the best way to promote books. With Borders closing stores and Barnes & Noble committing more space to the Nook, publishers are looking to independents to ensure the tradition of spontaneous discovery, a passer-by spotting a new release in the window or a browser finding an old paperback on a shelf. “Independents are going to be OK, I genuinely feel,” says David Young of Hachette. “We care about the all physical stores, and that includes the chains, because they’re our showrooms. It’s a good term and one at the moment you can’t replicate online.” Independents are not ignoring e-books. Around 250 have signed with Google and its e-book store, which opened last December and which Vlahos of the booksellers association praised as a valuable addition. Synonymous with Internet searching, Google has positioned itself as a bridge between different kinds of devices and retailers, a peacemaker on the e-battlefield. Some publishers and booksellers would like more noise, though. Brian Murray of HarperCollins says he’s disappointed with Google sales, which even Google acknowledges have been small so far. At an information session hosted by Google, booksellers questioned the company’s aversion to advertising. Google’s director of strategic partnerships, Tom Turvey, says that spending “lots and lots” of money on ads was unlikely. But he was confident that sales would increase as readers learn about it.
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