LAS VEGAS -A world leader in innovative workforce solutions, Manpower Inc., has cautioned staffing companies to put people back into employment positions and to not waste the opportunity they have to shape the workforce post-recession. The Chairman and CEO of Manpower, Inc., Jeff Joerres, delivered his keynote address during the American Staffing Association’s Staffing World 2010 on October 14, 2010. His address was titled, “The Future Talent Management and Workforce Solutions.”

Joerres explained that the staffing industry will play a pivotal role as the economy gathers pace because employers are hesitant to commit to hiring permanent employees and will look to staffing companies for solutions. Joerres also said that misplaced workers will look to gravitate toward employment service companies for a variety of reasons and this is a great opportunity to benefit both employers and employees.

In order for the industry to take full advantage of the opportunities presented from the post-recession new normal, the industry must tackle the biggest challenges it faces: commoditization, complexity and legislation.

In regards to commoditization, staffing companies will have to guard against treating people as a product that can be pushed out to meet customer demand. If companies push out workers, their clients will not get the value-added service they wish to receive and worker will feel used and alienated if viewed as just a commodity.

With complexity, the industry has evolved into a more complex and sophisticated business. Companies are no longer looking for emergency, short-term help; rather, they want a full range of solutions to help them win.

Throughout the industry, employment services and human resource companies have to stay on top of the latest employment legislation around the world. By understanding and following current legislation, staffing companies will uphold the integrity of the industry and act in accordance with the issues at hand.

ST. LOUIS -The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy 2010 Educational Conference is taking place in St. Louis, Missouri this week. At the conference, Express Scripts, Inc. will be presenting recent research findings which showcase opportunities to drive down healthcare costs and provide an increased value for health plan sponsors and patients.

George Paz, chairman, president and CEO of Express Scripts, will address the conference attendees at an awards luncheon during the conference. Brian Seiz, vice president of clinical services, will also discuss electronic prescribing and prescription adherence during sessions at the conference.

The research that Express Scripts will be presenting includes three studies which support the use of lower-cost prescription medications for anti-epileptics and anti-depressants.

The first study looked at the occurrence of seizures among patients who were switched between brand and generic anti-epileptic prescriptions.

The other two studies on anti-depressants compare the discontinuation rates and healthcare costs between patients who start brand and generic prescriptions. Both studies found the risks of discontinuation were similar in patients starting either a brand or generic anti-depressant.

The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy 2010 Educational Conference, the largest assembly of pharmacy and healthcare professionals dedicated to the issues of managed care pharmacy, will highlight myriad activities, initiatives, partnerships and breakthroughs which are shaping the future of managed-care pharmacy. More then 2,500 attendees, who are managed healthcare professionals, will attend with an interest in increasing their knowledge of the coordination and management of clinical, pharmaceutical care and pharmacy benefit programs.

Express Scripts is one of the largest pharmacy benefit management companies in North America. Express Scripts prides itself in its leadership of creating better health and value for patients. Express Scripts is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri and distributes a full range of pharmaceutical products through extensive cost-management and patient-care services.

The Federal Reserve had a meeting on September 21st with the minutes from the meeting just released. The minutes indicate that the Federal Reserve is looking for ways to boost inflation expectations. According to the mainstream media, the Federal Reserve would like to publicly declare its intentions of seeing a higher inflation. The Federal Reserve wants to get the word out so Americans can spend more money before their money is worth less.

If the Federal Reserve does not do something soon, then not only will money be worth less soon, but it will actually become worthless. The Federal Reserve needs to raise interest rates dramatically and immediately before there is a huge risk of the current melt-up turning into hyperinflation before 2013.

Many people believe that the word of the Federal Reserve can no longer control the situation at hand. In addition, people believe that the Federal Reserve is saying they want inflation so when a serious inflation does occur, it seems as though they still have the control. It is currently obvious that the Federal Reserve has lost control of inflation with gold up 19 percent and silver up 38 percent since the National Inflation Association meeting on July 28, 2010. A major currency crisis is now underway.

The National Inflation Association, which offers free membership, is an organization dedicated to preparing Americans for hyperinflation. The NIA provides its members with articles about inflation and the economy, news stories, and important charts which are not shown by the mainstream media.

MARYLAND -A leading global solar energy services provider and subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Matierials, SunEdison, recently announced that Bank of America Merrill Lynch as committed to provide financing for the final two phases of SunEdison’s project. The project is a 17.3 megawatt solar farm in Davidson County, North Carolina which has been deployed through solar power purchase agreements between SunEdison and Duke Energy Carolinas.

When all the phases are completed, the 17.3MW solar farm should generate over 500 million kilowatt hours of energy over a 20 year period. This is enough energy to power more than 48,000 homes in the United States for one year.

With the financing from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, SunEdison can offer no upfront cost of solar solutions to Duke Energy with predictable long-term pricing. With the solar power purchase agreements, SunEdison will be able to finance, construct, monitor and maintain the solar farm while Duke Energy purchases the produced energy for the next 20 years.

Todd Karas, President of Banc of America Public Capital Corp, said that Bank of America Merrill Lynch is excited to help bring solar power to their home market of North Carolina. He added, “Our financing of this project is a powerful example of Bank of America’s 10-year, $20 billion business initiative focused on addressing climate change.”

The worldwide provider of solar-energy services, SunEdison, develops, installs, finances and operates distributed power plants using proven technologies and delivering fully managed and predictably priced solar energy services. Solar energy services are provided to commercial, government and utility customers.

Nearly half of workers in the United States have indicated that their relationship with their boss has been negatively affected by the economic recession, according to the recent Spherion Staffing Services Snapshot survey. This is a surprising aftershock from the recession and with bosses’ day approaching, not much is to be celebrated. Almost three-quarters of workers have indicated that the recession has weakened their relationship with their boss.

Monster conducted the 2010 Boss Day Survey for Spherion Staffing. In addition, the survey also indicated that more than 34 percent of employees say they are either somewhat or very dissatisfied with the relationship they have with their boss. The two biggest issues found was that bosses offer very little support with career development and there is continued eroded trust caused by the boss.

Bosses are not only falling short in support of career development, but in many cases they are hindering their employees’ progress. Thirty-eight percent of workers said that their boss is uncaring when it comes to their career development and almost a quarter said that the attitude from their boss has changed since the recession. Almost half of employees have also said that their boss often takes credit for their work or have thrown them under to bus in order to save him- or herself.

In regards to trust, many workers believe that their bosses have not been forthright and honest about job security. The study shows that about one in four workers feel as those their boss has been dishonest and more than half feel that their boss does not respect them as an equal professional.

DENVER -The leading worldwide provider of distribution facilities, ProLogis, recently announced that it has come to a definitive agreement with the affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors. The agreement is to sell a North American industrial portfolio which has minority interest in hotel property and interests of its property funds. The total purchase price will be $1.02 billion.

Approximately $600 million is expected to generate more than $1.6 billion of gross proceeds from the combination of this transaction along with year-to-date dispositions and contributions. Blackstone Real Estate Advisors previously announced that its 2010 expectation would be $1.3 to $1.5 billion. All net proceeds will be used in repayment of debt and to fund development activity.

Prologis’ assets that are being sold to Blackstone include a portfolio of nearly 180 industrial properties in North America. It also includes the minority interest in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside and the 20 percent interested in ProLogis North American Property Funds. Subject to customary closing conditions, the sales are expected to close in mid-November of 2010.

ProLogis will have retained preferred equity interest in the entity that is acquiring the PLD Industrial Portfolio which is about $190 million. ProLogis will earn a return at an annual rate of 7 percents for the first three years, 8 percent for the fourth year, and 10 percent thereafter until it is redeemed. At Blackstone’s discretion, partial or full redemption can occur at any time. Around $910 million of the purchase price was assigned to the PLD Industrial Portfolio.

Recently announced, ICV Partners has invested in Mallet & Company. ICV Partners is a private investment firm which is focused on investing in smaller middle market companies. Mallet & Company is a leading manufacturer of oils, ingredients and equipment used in the bakery industry.

The chief executive officer of Mallet & Company, Richard Mallet, is partnering with ICV Partners. Mallet’s father founded the company in 1939. The company manufactures advanced bakery solutions which are critical to the successful operation of commercial bakery lines. Mallet & Company primarily sells its products to large commercial bakeries and is based in Carnegie, Pennsylvania.

There are three key products that are sold by Mallet & Company. Those products include release agents, which are oil formulations used to coat baking pans and coat trays; equipment solutions such as automated oilers and greasers that spray release agents over trays and pans evenly and consistently; and, specialty ingredients such as emulsifiers, shortenings, and icing stabilizers.

The managing Director at ICV Partners, Ira Moreland, stated that “Our goal is to leverage their technological edge to grow the business and expand throughout North America and beyond. Mallet has a history of customer focused product innovation and a robust product development pipeline. ”

ICV Partners continue to show their successful through the acquisition of family owned businesses such as Entertainment Cruises and Marshall Retail Group. ICV has also acquired another commercial bakery company, Sterling Foods, which is the leading manufacturer of extended shelf life snack food and bakery products sold to the military.

A self managed real estate investment trust, Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. (HTA), recently announced that it has entered into a $200 million unsecured credit agreement. The administrative agent of this deal is JP Morgan Chase, N.A. and the syndication agents are Wells Fargo, N.A. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. The credit agreement is for an unsecured revolving credit facility with an initial term of 12 months with two and three month extension options.

The maximum principal amount can be increased by an additional $200 million after subject to financing being provided by the existing lenders or new lenders according to the terms of the credit agreement.

This agreement is reflective of HTA’s strong financial fundamentals and secure, stable growth. This credit agreement will allow HTA to have greater flexibility to expand its portfolio and to meet its needs in regards to its working capital. Since the beginning of 2010, HTA has acquired over $344 million in healthcare related and medical office assets including a 1.5 million square foot leasable area.

Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. is a publicly registered and non-traded real estate investment trust. HTA was formed in 2006 and since then has made nearly 70 geographically diverse acquisitions which have been valued at close to $1.8 billion. These acquisitions include 208 buildings and two other real estate assets. Currently, HTA’s portfolio includes 189 medical office buildings, 6 hospitals, 9 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities and 4 other office buildings in 24 states.

Six outstanding properties in Kauai, Hawaii were successfully sold at a live, on-site auction by Concierge Auctions, a New York City based luxury real estate auction firm. Five of the properties are located in a private, gated subdivision in Mali’e Wai and the sixth property is located on the exclusive Kauapea Road and is known as the Villa at Secret Beach. The buyers of these properties were represented by Russell Tucker of Turtle Cove Realty and Tiffany Spencer and Neal Norman of Koa Properties.

George Graham, CEO of Concierge Auctions, said that he was happy to have such a wonderful partnership with Koa Properties and he is very thankful for their completed sales they have had over the past six months. Graham reiterated that their relationship with Koa Properties is evident in the fact that both of the sellers were repeat clients who have been quite happy with the team oriented mentality, skill and enthusiasm of the Concierge team. Graham also said, “Buyers, sellers and agents who have experienced our performance first-hand have come to know our platform as an efficient tool to achieve market value for the most premier properties within a predetermined time-frame.”

Concierge Auctions had an extensive worldwide marketing campaign which resulted in over 90 showings of the properties and 19 bidders from the United States and Canada. The campaign lasted five weeks with aggressive sales efforts, broker outreach and public relations. All of this hard work resulted in nearly 2,000 visits to the auction’s websites from people in over 20 countries and 44 U.S. states led by California, Hawaii, Colorado and New York.

Currently, Concierge Auctions is taking applications from luxury sellers nationwide. The innovative auction platform used by the company offers a 60-day disposition solution from engagement to closing.

A lot on East College Street in downtown Oberlin, Ohio had been abandoned and vacant since the 1960s and has now been turned into a green mixed-used development. This development was made possible by the developer Sustainable Community Associate, Inc. and by a $5 million Net Markets Tax Credit allocation provided by Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. and a $9.75 million New Markets Credit allocation from MBS Urban Initiatives.

A subsidiary of U.S. Bank, U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, provided the critical equity investment in both of the tax credit allocations. This development is the first main real estate investment in downtown Oberlin in more than 40 years.

This Oberlin development site features 32 residential units with 11 apartments which are reserved for people earning up to 60 percent of the area median income and 19 of the units are for sale. Four for sale commercial unites and more than 18,000 square feet of office and retail rental are also available with the development. In addition, this development is expected to create 30 jobs due to the new employment opportunities in the commercial space.

The Enterprise Community Loan Fund provided financing of $675,000 for pre-development and acquisition. The other sources of financing included funding from a local philanthropist and a HUD Special Project Grant. Oberlin College and other local organizations supported the project developer and helped to secure $1.4 million in tax increment financing. The tax increment financing will help to fund infrastructure improvements.

Lorain County has experienced growth in personal income and population despite the fact that the Cleveland Metropolitan area has seen a population decline over the past five years. Oberlin’s historic downtown district includes Oberlin College, Allen Art Museum, and the world class Oberlin Conservatory of Music.