Business Briefs

On the job

During 2008, S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster's Insurance Fraud Division secured 135 convictions for insurance fraud, a 44 percent increase over 2007, when there were 94 convictions.

Headhunter

Junior Achievement of S.C. is looking to replace Mary Weston Grimball as president and CEO. Grimball, who headed JACSC for four years, resigned effective June 30. Interim CEO is current vice president Stephanie Stuckey, who has been with JACSC for nine years.

End of the year

The fiscal year for the State of S.C. ended Tuesday, June 30. On Monday, June 29, Governor Sanford and the state Budget and Control Board approved applying $120 million from the state's capital reserve fund to cover the last of the state's deficits for the year.

SCANA property

Between Hampton Street and Washington Street and between Huger Street and the State Museum is a property parcel given to the city by SCANA as part of getting SCANA out of its bus operations obligation. SCANA is buying back the property for $4 million, cleaning it up, and presumably eventually selling it for development.

Ports Authority

The S.C. State Ports Authority board has named Jim Newsome as its chief executive. Newsome is currently the president of the American division of Germany- based Hapag- Lloyd, the world's fifth- largest steamship company. Columbia's Bill Stern, the SPA board member who headed the executive search committee, reported recently Newsome will start September 1 with a annual salary of $300,000.

Home sales

According to the S.C. Association of Realtors, 3,704 homes were sold in the state in May, a 16.5 percent increase over homes sold in April, but May 2009 sales are down 21.4 percent from May 2008.

Atlanta grows

According to the Atlanta Regional Commission, the metro Atlanta area can expect 3 million more people and 1.6 million more jobs by 2040. For the decade of the 1990s, Atlanta grew by 120,023 every year on average. For the current decade, growth has run about 121,000 new people every year. Atlanta is the second- fastest growing area in the country, behind only Dallas.

Atlanta goes

TripAdvisor surveyed more than 3,400 U.S. travelers to determine the best and the worst U.S. cities to visit. At the bottom were Detroit and Los Angeles, and third worst was Atlanta. At the top, the most favorite cities were New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston.

Older but better

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world's 65- and- older population is expected to triple by 2050, growing from 516 million to 1.53 billion. In the U.S. the 65- and- older population will expand from 39 million today to 89 million in 2050. Today, 8 percent of the world's population is 65- and- older, and by 2050, that share should come to 16 percent.

Department of Defense

Congress is expected to pass a Defense Department appropriations bill worth $533 billion. As part of the appropriations bill, about $200 million is earmarked for South Carolina, about half for construction and weapons projects and half for research and development.

Good living

Charlotte- area religious broadcaster Inspiration Networks's CEO is building a home on Lake Keowee for about $4 million. CEO David Cerullo is paid more than $1.5 million a year, according to reports in The Charlotte Observer, which makes him the best- paid CEO among religious charities monitored by watchdog groups. Revenues at Inspiration Networks are expected to reach $100 million this year. His $4 million home includes more than 9,000 heated square feet and another 2,000 square feet in its screened porch.

Big- time endowments need a little more time

For the 10 years ended June 30, 2008, Yale University's endowment had an average annual return of 16.3 percent, bringing the total to $22.9 billion. Over the last year, however, the endowment fell 25 percent to $17 billion. Harvard's endowment dropped 30 percent in the past year from $36.9 billion to $25 billion.

Sidewalk café count

Found in Five Points, on Main Street, along Devine Street, in the Vista, and across the river facing State Street, there are more and more sidewalk cafés. Columbia, it appears, is following the French habit of dining outdoors on the curb. In France, however, the number of cafés has dropped from 200,000 in 1960 to 40,000 today.