Top 100 in the country In a study conducted by Audit Integrity, Forbes magazine named SCBT Financial Corporation one of the Top 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in the U.S. The list ranks companies that have consistently demonstrated transparent, conservative accounting, solid corporate governance, and responsible leadership. The study by Audit Integrity, an independent financial analytics company based in Los Angeles, evaluates over 8,000 companies nationwide. SCBT Financial Corporation operates 50 financial centers in 16 S.C. counties and Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) in N.C. With assets of $2.8 billion, the company's stock is traded under the symbol SCBT in the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

Top five in the country

U.S. News and World Report has placed Durham, N.C., fifth on the magazine's Best Places to Live 2009 ranking. The top four are Albuquerque, N.M.; Auburn, Ala.; Austin, Texas; and Boise, Idaho.

Going up, again The USC board of trustees recently gave preliminary approval to the $1.08 billion eight- campus budget. State appropriations for fiscal 2010 will make up 16.3 percent of the total system budget, putting state appropriations in fourth place as a source of funding for USC Columbia after federal grants and contracts, auxiliary enterprises, and tuition and fees. In- state students will pay $4,578 for tuition and fees per semester, and nonresident tuition and fees will be $11,866, both up 3.6 percent compared to the previous year.

And again The College of Charleston increased its tuition by 7 percent for both in- state and out- of- state students. The Citadel increased in- state tuition by 3.6 percent, and out- of- state, 7.2 percent.

You'll never walk in alone According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, every employment opening in April has 5.4 job seekers. When the current recession began in December 2007, there were just 1.7 job seekers for every employment opening.

Pew...and the need for clean energy The Pew Charitable Trust recently disclosed that between 1998 and 2007, S.C.'s clean energy economy jobs grew by 36.2 percent. All jobs in S.C. grew just 2.2 percent in the same time period. Nationally, jobs in the clean energy economy grew by 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, and total jobs grew by 3.7 percent.

They found people willing to go The S.C. Department of Commerce is participating in the 48th annual Paris Air Show, June 15- 18. The Paris Air Show at Le Bourget (the in- town airfield where Lindbergh landed at 10:22 pm, May 21, 1927) is the world's longest- established aerospace event. When last held in 2007, there were almost 150,000 trade visitors to see 142 aircraft on display. All told, there were almost 2,000 exhibitors from 42 countries.

Big- time college ball draws big money The University of Texas football schedule pulled in the most money last season with $72.95 million. Second was the University of Georgia at $67.05 million. No. 3 was the University of Florida with $66.1 million. Ohio State made the fourth largest money at $65.16 million. Fifth was Notre Dame, $59.77 million.

Just average According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, employee compensation - pay and benefits - averaged $29.39 for each hour worked in March.

Wait till next year Economist Donald Schunk of Coastal Carolina University in Conway predicts statewide unemployment to hit 15 percent by summer of 2010, as he reported to the state's Board of Economic Advisors, chaired by John S. Rainey. S.C. unemployment is currently 11.5 percent, the third highest in the country.

House get a flat? Energy efficient manufactured home sales in S.C., come July 1, will be eligible for a 100 percent sales tax exemption and a $750 income tax credit. Both credits are in effect until 2019.

Extended Stay files for bankruptcy Spartanburg- based Extended Stay Hotels LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company operates more than 650 hotels in the U.S. and Canada under the names Extended Stay Deluxe, Extended Stay America Efficiency Studios, Homestead Studio Suites, StudioPLUS Deluxe Studios, and Crossland Economy Studios.

Falling value In August 2008, the Atlanta office of architecture and engineering firm Stevens & Wilkinson renewed its lease for 26,700 square feet at the Equitable Building, 100 Peachtree, S&W's home since 1969. San Diego- based Equastone Real Estate Investment Advisors bought Atlanta's Equitable Building for $57 million in 2007. On Tuesday, June 2, the building sold in foreclosure for $29.5 million. Even though it lost almost half it's value in two years, and even though it is only half- occupied, the building is still a distinguished work of architecture by the renowned Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP.