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In 1968, Virginia Slims celebrated with “You’ve come a long way, baby.†Over 40 years later, we are still debating if we have bridged the gender gap. Recently, Bloomberg News Anchor Lori Rothman asked me about gender quotas and if I thought they would be successful in the United States.
As 41 million people tuned into the 82nd Academy Awards, a segment of viewers wondered whether history would be made that star-studded night. Lee Daniels, who helmed Precious, the brutally honest film about an emotionally scarred, sexually abused black teenager, was among the nominees for best director—a win would have made him the first African American to capture the coveted prize. When the envelope was opened, however, Kathryn Bigelow would achieve a milestone as the first woman to receive the honor for directing The Hurt Locker. (Geoffrey Fletcher, who wrote the film adaptation for Precious, would become the first African American to win an Oscar in the screenwriting category.)
Thompson hospitality was in crisis mode. Founded a few months earlier in 1992 when CEO Warren M. Thompson negotiated a leveraged buyout of 31 Big Boy restaurants from Marriott Corp., the fledgling company was neck-deep in debt. Herndon, Virginia-based Thompson Hospitality Corp. (No. 12 on the BE industrial/service companies list with $321 million in revenues) acquired the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia restaurants for $13.1 million. THC also raised $1.9 million in capital from about 25 investors, and Thompson anted up about $100,000 of his own cash to convert the locations into Shoney’s restaurants. But the transaction wasn’t going according to plan.
Spring comes to the Detroit metropolitan area later than most parts of the country and even though it’s almost May, a palpable chill remains in the air. Just as the region begins to thaw out from a long, cold winter, at least one if its longtime residents is emerging from a deep freeze of its own. For Southfield, Michigan-based Avis Ford Inc. (No. 14 on the be auto dealers list with $86.5 million in sales), the worst is over. In fact, in the first quarter the dealership sold 645 vehicles, the best quarter in more than five years. And with Ford vehicles gaining in market share combined with a relatively steady stream of work going through Avis’ 42 service stalls and body shop, Chairman and CEO Walter E. Douglas Sr. is cautiously optimistic about the prospects for 2010.
Whether you’re relocating to another state or moving into your dream home, you should be aware of moving scams. I should know; I’ve experienced my own moving mishap. When I was preparing to move into a new place not long after graduating from college, I blindly picked movers out of a phone book. Big mistake. I was hit with hidden fees on the day of the move. I was moving to a walk-up apartment building, so when I spoke to the moving company over the phone they mentioned an additional fee of $50 per flight. But once we got to my new digs, one mover said flatly, “You know we charge $100 per flight, right?†He claimed the prices recently changed. I was very young and very naïve--and much too shocked to protest-- so I ran to the nearest ATM. My final price was $400 more than the original estimate. They held my personal belongings hostage until I came back with the cash.
