MCS Files $20M In Building Permits

Memphis City Schools has filed building permits with the city-county Office of Construction Code Enforcement for two school properties – a $15 million permit for a new school at 1330 Stern Lane and a $4.8 million permit for improvements to White Station High School at 514 S. Perkins Road.

Both projects are part of a $74 million capital improvement project the school board approved in 2008.

The Stern Lane permit was for “steel and masonry building,” according to public records. Attempts to reach city schools executive director of facilities Brian Shipp for details of these projects were unsuccessful by press time.

Indications are that the first permit is for a new K-8 school being built for the recently annexed Berryhill and Countrywood areas of Cordova. School board president Tomeka Hart said the new school is being constructed in response to rapid growth and demand for classrooms in that part of the county.

“The new buildings and permits for the eastern part of the district is a result of the movement of people in Shelby County,” Hart said. “As people leave the inner core of the city and move further out into the suburban parts of the city, that creates room for new buildings and new spaces.”

The improvements to White Station call for a “two-story, 20-classroom addition,” according to the permit. Hart said this project has been a long time coming.

“White Station is one of our most populated, overcrowded schools,” she said. “It’s a school of choice (optional school), so we have great need for space over there. They do wonderful things at that school.”

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

Wright Medical Group Issues Earnings Report

Arlington-based Wright Medical Group Inc. had net sales totaling $120.9 million during the first quarter, a 4 percent increase over net sales of $115.9 million for the same period a year ago.

The orthopedic medical device company’s report said that global sales of its extremity products, such as ankle devices, increased 27 percent, while hip products increased 5 percent and knee products increased 1 percent. Its biologics line experienced a 4 percent dip in sales, however, from the same period a year ago.

Wright executives anticipate net second quarter sales in the range of $120.5 million to $123.5 million, a projected 2 to 4 percent gain.

Law Firm Recognized For Embracing Diversity

Memphis law firm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has been named among the Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity and the Top 100 Law Firms for Women by “MultiCultural Law,” a magazine focused on diversity in the legal profession.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Baker Donelson has been ranked among “MultiCultural Law’s” top firms for diversity and the second consecutive year it has been ranked among the top firms for women.

The Baker Donelson Diversity Scholarship program awards up to three scholarships annually to diverse students who have completed their first year of law school.

Women make up 17 percent of the firm’s board and 20 percent of its shareholders.

Tennessee Urges Employees To Quit Smoking

State employees are facing a $600 surcharge that goes into effect next year for everyone in the employee health system who smokes or is married to a smoker.

State officials hope the surcharge will provide an incentive for employee smokers to quit and save Tennessee an estimated $3,400 per worker annually in lost productivity and smoking-related health claims.

Starting Friday, the state will offer discounts on prescriptions and over-the-counter products such as nicotine gum and patches to help smokers quit before the Jan. 1, 2010, deadline.

Employees will also be allowed to take part in six-week smoking cessation seminars on state time. The state held its first stop-smoking seminar Monday.

Brian Haile, deputy director for the state’s Division of Benefits Administration, which oversees coverage for some 270,000 adults and children covered by state employee health insurance said “having money on the line can give smokers the push they need to quit.”

“It’s been known to triple the effective quit rate if there’s an economic incentive for doing so,” Haile said.

The project’s price tag is not yet known, but Haile estimated it could reach several hundred thousand dollars. The costs will be offset by the smoking surcharge, once the insurance change goes into effect.

Starting in the fall, every employee on the state’s health care plan will be asked to fill out a form identifying themselves as a smoker or a nonsmoker. Anyone caught lying would face civil and legal penalties for perjury and would have to pay up to $300 in damages.

Jim Tucker, executive director of the Tennessee State Employees Association, said the smoking surcharge has not sat well with some of the workers his group represents.

He added that most workers agree something has to be done to reduce health care costs, however, before the state has to impose another double-digit insurance premium hike, as it did a decade ago.

“The health plan (cost) has almost doubled in the last five years,” said Tucker. “It’s been very controversial, just targeting the smokers, when obesity is a much larger health problem for so many people.”

Standard & Poor’s Index Shows Home Prices Decline

Home prices dropped sharply in February, but for the first time in 25 months the decline was not a record, another sign the housing crisis could be bottoming.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed home prices in 20 major cities tumbled by 18.6 percent from February 2008. That was slightly better than January’s 19 percent and the first time since January 2007 the index didn’t set a record.

But the good news was mixed. All 20 cities in the report showed monthly and annual price declines, but half recorded annual records. Prices fell by more than 10 percent in 15 cities, including Las Vegas, San Francisco and Phoenix. In fact, Phoenix home prices have lost more than half their value since peaking in July 2006. Memphis is not part of the index.

Yet nine of the metros – including Dallas, Denver and Boston ­– showed improvement in their yearly losses compared to the month before.

“We will certainly need a few more months of data before we can determine if home prices are finally turning around,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee.

Last week, data for March home sales also offered a conflicting picture of the housing market. Existing home sales fell 3 percent from February to March, while new home sales seemed to have hit bottom.

Prices in the 20-city index have plunged 30.7 percent from their peak in the summer of 2006.