Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

Newt Gingrich’s conservative group gave - and then rescinded - a business award to a popular topless club in Texas, the proprietor said Thursday.

Dawn Rizos said she was looking forward to receiving the promised “Entrepreneur of the Year” award at a Washington, D.C., banquet from American Solutions for Winning the Future, which the former U.S. House speaker chairs.

After all, Rizos is the owner of The Lodge, which was named the Best Overall Club in America last year by ED Publications, which sponsors the gentlemen’s club industry’s annual convention and trade show.

But before she had a chance to dine on lobster bisque with Gingrich at the Oct. 7 awards dinner with some 50 other business leaders, the honor was yanked away. The group apparently confused Rizos’ Dallas business, which is legally called DCG Inc., with one by the same name in Virginia.

“I honestly thought that Mr. Gingrich wanted to honor our company because it’s very successful,” Rizos said. “Really, what’s two more people to dinner? How rude!”

She wondered how such a mistake could have occurred and questioned the about-face.

“I just don’t understand why this is so taboo,” she added. “You can see racier things on MTV than what goes on in this club.”

Rick Tyler, a spokesman for Gingrich, declined to comment. Dan Kotman, American Solutions’ press secretary, did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

A fax Rizos received from American Solutions in early September explained that she was being honored for “your success in building your business and recognition of the risks you take to create jobs and stimulate the economy.”

The Lodge, which has about 150 employees, mainly waitresses and kitchen staff, contracts with an additional 570 dancers or entertainers. It awards a college scholarship annually to an entertainer.

In the letter, American Solutions promised Rizos that she’d “dine privately with Newt,” and have his ear on ways to “turn this country around.”

After she confirmed her reservation, she was asked to join Gingrich’s Business Defense and Advisory Council and pay an annual $5,000 fee, which she did. A Sept. 16 letter signed by Gingrich thanked her for her contribution and said he looked forward to presenting her with the award.

But a phone call Tuesday from an event organizer explained that there had been a mistake, and Rizos was no longer welcome. The caller, Michael Johnston of InfoCision Management Corp., said American Solutions meant to honor a company called DCG in Virginia, said Mike Precker, The Lodge’s public relations manager.

Akron, Ohio-based InfoCision, which helps nonprofit groups raise money, did not immediately return voicemail and e-mail messages.

Of several companies in Virginia with DCG in their names, none contacted by The Associated Press said it was being honored by Gingrich’s group. Ken Schrad, a spokesman for Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, found a DCG Inc. operating in the 1990s, but said it had long since disappeared.

American Solutions - the political arm of Gingrich’s lucrative empire as an author, pundit and consultant - plans to reimburse Rizos the $5,000 she paid along with the costs of the airfare she booked to fly to Washington.

A similar incident, according to media reports, occurred with Allison Vivas of the adult entertainment studio Pink Visual, which also was to receive an “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from American Solutions. That, too, was quickly retracted. Vivas’ company did not return a call for comment.

Rizos said she had hoped to share her views with Gingrich in person - she doesn’t like party politics and feels cooperation across party lines is what’s needed to help the nation.

“Newt and I have a lot in common,” she added. “Family values, promoting small businesses and keeping the government out of people’s personal and private lives.”

Texas Instruments is ready to start hiring for its soon-to-be opened chip plant in Richardson. The big return for taxpayers has been a long time coming after state and local politicians gave the company millions in tax breaks.

After TI finished the plant in 2006, it sat empty, as did much of the promised return for taxpayers. Mayor Gary Slagel, of Richardson, said the stalled opening was anticipated due to the market and economy.

TI said it will start the hiring process of 250 workers to make analog chips on larger 12-inch wafers when the plant opens by the end of 2010. The company drove a hard bargain in 2003 to build the plant in Texas rather than elsewhere.

The company insisted on $50 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund to finance research at the University of Texas at Dallas, which Gov. Rick Perry approved.

TI said it still hopes to hire up to 1,000 workers for the plant, but can’t say when.

While optimism is out there more than ever in relation to the plant, some economists question whether semiconductor plants provide big economic boosts anymore. But the state and local governments have placed their bets and think a payoff shouldn’t be too far off.

For months, AT&T has been working on a complete remodeling of its corporate headquarters on Commerce Street downtown.

The renovation is complete, and the company has just unveiled the showstopper that seems sure to become an instant landmark for downtown.

“Golden Boy” or “The Spirit of Communication,” a 24-foot, soaring bronze statue of a winged man clinching lightening bolts with a raised arm, stands in the new lobby.

The statue was sculpted in 1916 by artist Evelyn Beatrice Longman and for decades stood atop AT&T’s New York headquarters.

It has been some time since it has been on public display.

AT&T has said little publicly about the unveiling but at City Hall, it’s taken as a symbol that the company is in downtown Dallas to stay.

California-based Cisco Systems Inc. has chosen Allen as the site of a major new data processing center.

The worldwide Internet and telecommunications firm will build the $184 million facility just west of North Central Expressway on Chelsea Boulevard.

The Allen City Council is scheduled to approve the big business expansion at its meeting Tuesday night.

The 140,000-square-foot data center is planned for future expansion to as large as 350,000 square feet and work on the project is expected to begin later this year.

The City of Allen has agreed to improve roads and other infrastructure to the 34-acre site in Allen Commerce Center, which is just north of the Allen Premium Outlets shopping center.

The city will also vote on providing property tax abatements for the project.

The data center project was brought to Allen with the help of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Cisco already has a large operation in several buildings at 2200 State Highway 190 in Richardson, located just east of North Central Expressway. The high-tech company also has an office in Irving,

AAA-Texas said Tuesday it’s adding 100 full-time positions in Texas.

A spokesman for the organization said some of the jobs are salaried positions, while others are commission-based sales positions.

AAA-Texas hopes to hire 30 employees to sell membership and insurance products in the Dallas-Fort Worth area offices alone.

The company said it also is seeking applications for 75 positions within its Emergency Road Service Call Center.

These positions will generally work at AAA’s Texas headquarters in Irving on either the second shift or on the weekends.

The company also has available positions within its Claims Unit and Policy Management Group and has sales jobs located in Amarillo, El Paso, Houston and San Antonio.

AAA-Texas says all of the openings are full-time jobs with regular medical and dental plans as well as 401(k) and company pension plans. Interested candidates are being directed to the company’s Web site: AAA.com.

From the Dallas Business Journal:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is hoping to make Texas a hot spot for an industry that is always center stage: the entertainment industry.

The governor released a statement Wednesday saying he wants the Texas Legislature to provide $60 million in funding for the Texas Film Incentive Program — an initiative that aims to create incentives that will attract more film development projects to Texas.

“The entertainment industry is an essential part of Texas’ economy, bringing in more than $1.2 billion over the past 10 years, but those numbers are declining,” Gov. Perry said Wednesday. “We want to create a sustainable program that not only attracts individual productions, but develops the skills, infrastructure and culture that will give us a long term competitive edge in the industry.”

As part of the initiative, Perry says workers need the appropriate training to enter entertainment-related fields. He cites recent losses on the project front — namely Texas losing 7,000 crew positions and $500 million in production spending to other states that offered attractive incentives.

Texas lawmakers, Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, and Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, have filed companion bills pushing to boost the state’s film incentive program with a higher level of incentives. Both bills are currently in committee.

Dallas-based Blockbuster Inc.’s shares plunged around 1 p.m. after reports that it had hired legal counsel to explore a possible bankruptcy filing.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP has been hired to evaluate restructuring options for the world’s largest movie-rental chain, according to Bloomberg News.

The wire service quoted a person familiar with the situation.