Mac's on Main goes green Barry Walker, Main Street restaurateur, recycles his deep- fat fryer's grease through a Mercedes diesel engine converted to run on used vegetable oil. His No. 10 cans, emptied of peaches, are sold as scrap steel to be melted down at mini- mill companies like Charlotte- based Nucor.

A little good news for the country For the month of December, sales of previously owned homes rose 6.5 percent to 4.74 million, up from 4.45 million in November. Still, prices continued to drop. Across the country, the median sales price fell to $175,400, down 15.3 percent from $207,000 a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.

And some really bad news Macy's Inc. plans to cut 7,000 jobs in a corporate- wide restructuring. Starbucks is closing another 300 stores and slashling 6,700 jobs.

Honey! I shrunk the GDP! The nation's economy shrunk by 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. It was the largest quarterly drop in gross domestic product since the 1982 recession.

Post goes hydrogen The Army Corps of Engineers recently agreed to deploy ten fuel cell backup power units at Fort Jackson. Logan Energy of Roswell, Ga., will procure the fuel cell equipment from the Advanced Technology Institute. Total budget through installation is $500,000. The post plans to showcase the project during the National Hydrogen Association Conference in Columbia in late March.

Foodies The second annual Food for Thought conference is scheduled for Greenville, April 28- 30. Participating will be Mike McCurry, White House press secretary for President Bill Clinton, and Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea, the highest ranking restaurant in Chicago. Keynote speakers will be Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. Registration is $2,000. Go to foodforthoughtgreenville. com.

S.C. Chamber releases 2009 legislative agenda The S.C. Chamber of Commerce's Competitiveness Agenda includes tax reform, addressing energy needs and healthcare costs, restructuring state government, workforce development needs, promoting economic development, and addressing infrastructure needs. Also, the State Chamber is moving on Congress to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. For the full agenda, visit www.scchamber.net.

Wages The average 2008 wage among Charleston Digital Corridor knowledge- based companies was $76,144, down from $83,256 in 2007. The overall average wage for S.C. for 2007, the last number available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, was $35,540.

Real money The S.C. share of the proposed federal stimulus package for infrastructure upgrade might run from $500 million to $600 million, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Bridge Bridge to Life Ltd. is a development- stage biotechnology company formed to advance the science of organ preservation. It is also set to develop, manufacture, and sell medical technologies. Bridge to Life Ltd. will locate its new global headquarters facility in Richland County with an investment of $45 million. New high- paying jobs are expected to total 70.

Publishing Morris Publishing, an affiliate of Morris Communications

of Augusta, runs 13 daily newspapers, including the Athens

Banner- Herald, the Augusta Chronicle, and the Savannah

Morning News. It also has some nondaily newspapers, city magazines, and free community publications across the country. Morris Publishing has worked out an arrangement with its lenders that gives it an extra 30 days without default to cover an interest payment of $9.7 million.

Where does that leave Columbia? According to a Technology Association of Georgia survey of 156 venture capital firms in 24 states, Atlanta's entrepreneurial culture is seen from the outside as "two boats and a Cadillac." The put- down expression means local entrepreneurs tend to make enough money to enjoy a pleasant lifestyle, but they don't have the motivation for achieving big- time success.

Regional trend? Hope not. Research Triangle Park advertising agency Rockett, Burkhead & Winslow Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The firm recently laid off 15 employees. RBW's gross revenue in 2008 was $38 million, up from $36 million in 2007.

We do chicken right Chick- fil- A reported its 2008 system- wide sales of $2,962,253,976, a 12.17 percent increase over 2007.