4 Truckload

Lawmakers probe Coralville for use of tax financing funds

Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth was on the hot seat
Thursday as the Iowa House probed the way the city is using tax
increment financing in its increasingly controversial Iowa River
Landing commercial development.

Retail growth in Coralville has skyrocketed since the city began
using TIF in 1998 to develop land that is now Coral Ridge Mall. The
city has borrowed over $200 million in bonds to be repaid by tax
increment financing, Hayworth told the House Government Oversight
Committee.

The city now is using TIF to finance its Iowa River Landing
commercial project, which last fall landed a Von Maur department
store as its retail anchor. The Von Maur deal, heavily subsidized
with TIF, has raised eyebrows and the ire of neighboring Iowa City,
which has a strong possibility of losing its own Von Maur
department store at Sycamore Mall.

By the time youve opened the store, you have a private
developer with about $20 million in improvements and about $10
million worth of skin in the game? asked State Rep. Clel Baudler,
R-Greenfield. So youve lessened their risk by half on that
development.

Tax Increment Financing is a mechanism under Iowa law that
cities and counties can use to finance public improvement projects
and to fund economic, housing and residential development
incentives. It is based on the theory that the improvements will
increase the local government property tax base, and that the
increment or difference between the original tax base and
post-development tax base, can be used to finance the cost of the
improvement.

Local governments must create a special district meeting
criteria for the TIF program. Local governments and schools
continue to receive property taxes based on the original property
tax valuation, while funds from the increment are set aside to pay
back bonds used to finance the improvements

TIF advocates argue that its a fair exchange for other local
taxing bodies such as schools and counties, because the additional
jobs and investment arguably wouldnt have taken place without the
TIF-financed improvements.

Speaking against Coralvilles heavy TIF reliance were a
coalition of 40 businesses that say they are concerned about the
citys TIF use to fund projects that compete with private
developers, and the superintendent of Clear Creek-Amana Community
School District.

We believe the city should be out of the bricks and mortar
business, said Kevin OBrien, a McDonalds franchisee who spoke
for the Citizens for Responsible Growth in Taxation.

A major target of the groups ire was the citys providing a
grant to its private development partner Oliver McMillan to buy the
Von Maur site for $1.4 million, with an agreement that it sell the
land to Von Maur for a token amount. An attorney for the group
argued that it violates the spirit of the states economic
development grant law.

The group said city-owned and TIF-financed Coralville Mariott
Hotel and convention center lost $3.4 million in years ended June
30, 2009 and June 30, 2010.

Coralville has $11,049 in TIF debt per person, the group argued,
and recently received a debt downgrade from the Moodys rating
service because of the significant leveraging of the citys tax
base and tax increment financing districts among other things.

Developer Hunter Parks of The Hunter Companies said a Iowa River
Landing deal to bring Backpocket Brewing is an example of the
groups concerns. He said the city is proposing to finance the
equipment and building for the microbrewery and bottling operating,
although the company has never before done bottling,.

If they dont make it and it comes back to the city, what is
the city going to do with that (building and equipment)? he asked.
Then it becomes competition, he said, for other building owners
and developers.

Clear Creek-Amana School District Superintendent Denise Schares
said she began hearing community concerns weekly about the
constraining effects of Coralvilles TIF use on district revenues
after she became superintendent about two years ago.

TIF use in Johnson County diverted $2,974 per child in property
tax revenue in the most recent year of tax collections, Schares
said. The state makes up the shortfall to 87.5 percent, she said,
but 12.5 percent to make up to 100 percent impacts our local
taxpayers.

Hayworth began the meeting with a presentation highlighting the
citys use of TIF to redevelop industrial brownfields in Iowa River
Landing, to bring over 1,000 jobs to the University of Iowas
Oakdale Research Park, and to facilitate the headquarters of
Integrated DNA Technologies, a leading manufacturer of synthetic
DNA.

The rest of Johnson County, as well as Scott County and Linn
County, continued to have retail sales growth during the citys
period of TIF-financed retail projects, Hayworth said. He described
the Coralville Mariott Hotel and Convention Center as a major
success for the community to support its hotel industry by keeping
University of Iowa-related conferences in Iowa. Since it was built,
he said, two additional hotels have been constructed and two more
are planned.

Government Oversight Committee Chair Chris Hagenow, R-Windsor
Heights, told other committee members that he isnt attempting to
drive the inquiry to any particular conclusion. He and other
members asked several pointed questions, howeer.

This (Iowa River Landing) is a a very large public project with
a very long term that isnt completely in focus, Hagenow
concluded. He said there are concerns that TIF-financed funds are
being used to compete with the sectoro and that relocating an
anchor store – these things do not occur in a vacuum.t h

Coralville Mayor Jim Fausett, who was not called on to speak,
said he believes the desire of other development interests to get
Von Maur was driving the opposition to the citys project rather
than concerns about TIF. He said two of the business opponents
present had benefitted from TIF projects themselves.

I feel in my mind that they (Von Maur) were going to leave Iowa
City anyway, Fausett said. I know they were in negotiations with
General Growth (Properties, owner of Coral Ridge Mall) and they had
communications with Iowa City.

State Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, was skeptical after the
meeting.

Im afraid its a little dog and pony show, Jacoby said. Not
all of the facts are getting out there. Is it a discussion of TIF,
or is it a discussion of Von Maur?

The introduction of a TIF reform bill was expected by many
observers later in the week, if not Thursday.

 

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January 27, 2012 9:57 pm

His not hers

By Jim Shi

Cel-Sci volume surges after closing a $5.76M direct financing with …

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Jan 27, 2012 (ACCESSWIRE-TNW via COMTEX) –
Shares of Cel-Sci

/quotes/zigman/151755/quotes/nls/cvm CVM
+0.30%

saw 1234.68% times the normal trading average on Thursday after the firm announced a registered direct offering with an institutional investor that grossed proceeds of approximately $5.76 million for the firm.

Over 9 million shares traded during the day for the biotechnology company whose market cap now stands at $116M.

The sole investor approached the company about purchasing approximately 16M shares of the company at a slight discount from where shares closed the previous day after seeing the recent surge of interest in the company.

According to the filings, the financing featured 75% warrant coverage at a premium higher than where shares have been trading ($0.50) and the terms include 3 year warrants as opposed to the usual 5 year warrants seen in other healthcare investment deals of this size and scope.

Company officials say the investor conducted several deep diligence discussions with the firm that included a tour of CEL-SCI’s state-of-the-art “Cold-Fill” manufacturing facility which was built for tens of millions of dollars outside of Baltimore in 2009 specifically to manufacture the firm’s lead investigational therapy, Multikine® (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection).

“Instead of taking a bigger financing, we felt a smaller financing was in order here,” said Geert Kersten, CEL-SCI’s Chief Executive Officer.. “As we have previously said, given what is happening in the Phase III study, we have decided to expand the clinical sites.”

CEL-SCI’s immunotherapeutic agent being developed as a potential first-line treatment for advanced primary head and neck cancer and attention has been rising in recent weeks after certain doctors involved in treating patients with the drug in those studies reportedly began to observe significant results in certain patients.

In late December, CEL-SCI and one of their partners in the study, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries decided to expand the Phase III study into additional countries where high incidences of head and neck cancer could bring more patients into medical testing facilities. The Multikine Phase III study is currently being run in 8 countries, including the US, on 3 continents.

“The decision to expand comes with substantial expense,” Kersten explains. “But we are very much encouraged by some of the early observations and our team decided that all resources should be put into pushing forward as quickly as possible in order to complete the study and definitively establish Multikine’s clinical effectiveness.”

Observers familiar with the key pivotal trial say that clinical trial enrollment in the U.S. had seen some of the slowest inflow of cases in the world since in head and neck cancer, the number of patients appears lower than most other diseases. In order to expedite enrollment, clinicians decided to target countries where enrollment could occur faster.

Still, the tightly monitored protocols and regulators of the study require that everything is done in accordance to the Helsinki Convention standards regardless of location. In addition, doctors at the MD Anderson Cancer Center who are helping to monitor the investigation pay attention to critical details like ensuring that every patient’s radiation levels conform to set standards and are administered correctly. Even the chemotherapy which is being used was purchased by CEL-SCI and is distributed to each center under strict covenants. All of this in order to eliminate variability and ensure that the trials are conducted properly.

As expected, the trial is already the largest head and neck cancer clinical study ever conducted and is also thought to be the first Phase III study in the world in which immunotherapy is given to patients first, i.e. prior to receiving any conventional treatment for cancer, including surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy.

Shares of the company are currently trading 56% under their previous 52 week high of $0.79 and accumulation has been increasing since early January.

Author Barbara Bauer, PhD is a freelance contributor

Copyright 2012 ACCESSWIRE-TNW

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Firms spend more, fire less

WASHINGTON — Businesses are growing more confident in the economy, investing in more equipment and laying off fewer workers.

Government figures on manufacturing and unemployment claims released Thursday raised hopes on the eve of a report on how much the economy grew in the October-December quarter.

Still, 2011 ended up as the worst year on record for new-home sales, a reminder that the economy has a long way to go.

“Business optimism seems to be picking up, which is critical to the growth and competitiveness of the US economy over the long haul,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial.

Orders for manufactured goods expected to last at least three years rose 3 percent last month, the Commerce Department said. And demand for goods that indicate business investment plans hit an all-time high.

A tax break that expired in December for large equipment purchases may have helped boost orders. Still, many economists said most companies are likely buying equipment simply because business is improving.

Manufacturers “have a real need to ramp up their spending on capital improvements … because the economy is growing and industrial capacity has not kept up,” said Carl Riccadonna, an economist at Deutsche Bank.

That growth was evident after Caterpillar said its fourth-quarter profit jumped 60 percent. The world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment also issued 2012 guidance above Wall Street predictions.

And 3M Co., which makes everything from Post-It Notes to Scotch tape, said sales in its industrial and transportation unit rose 14 percent in the fourth-quarter. The increase was driven by parts for cars and planes.

Factories are busier in large part because businesses are ordering more communication equipment, industrial machinery and autos. Economists pay close attention to demand for such core capital goods, which are considered a good proxy for business investment plans.

In December, orders for core capital goods rose to a record $68.9 billion. That’s more than 45 percent higher than the recession low hit in April 2009.

Companies are also laying off fewer workers, which has some economists optimistic about job growth in January.

Weekly unemployment applications rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 377,000. But that followed a week in which they fell to near a four-year low. The longer-term trend is pointing to a healthier job market.

The four-week average has declined to 377,500. When applications fall consistently below 375,000, it tends to signal that hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.

The nation has added at least 100,000 jobs for six straight months. The unemployment rate has declined to 8.5 percent — the lowest rate in almost three years.

Crude Oil Advances as Fed Commits to Low Rates, Durable Goods Orders Gain

Oil rose after the Federal Reserve
announced it plans to keep US interest rates near a record low
through 2014 and a report showed durable goods orders in the
world’s biggest crude-consuming country increased.

Futures advanced 0.3 percent as Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday that policy makers are considering more
bond purchases to boost growth after extending the pledge to
maintain interest rates. Bookings (DGNOCHNG) for goods meant to last at
least three years climbed 3 percent in December, data from the
Commerce Department showed today.

“Between Bernanke and the durable goods orders, people are
starting to feel a little bullish about the economy,” said
Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy amp; Economic Research
in Winchester, Massachusetts. “The durable goods number points
to increasing economic growth and fuel demand.”

Crude oil for March delivery increased 30 cents to $99.70 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest
settlement price since Jan. 19. Prices are up 14 percent in the
past year.

Brent oil for March settlement rose 98 cents, or 0.9
percent, to end the session at $110.79 a barrel on the London-
based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The Federal Open Market Committee had previously said the
benchmark rate would stay low through mid-2013. Fed officials
also lowered their projections for economic expansion and
inflation for this year and next.

Libyan Recovery

Prices retreated from the day’s highs after equities
retreated and on reports that Libyan oil output is climbing and
that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ exports
are increasing. The Standard amp; Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.6
percent.

“There’s a tension between free money on one hand and
supply on the other,” said Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi
Futures Perspective in New York. “The Fed will loan money at
almost zero percent interest through 2014, which will increase
demand for paper barrels. On the supply side, Libya is pumping
1.3 million barrels a day and OPEC exports are up.”

Libya’s crude production reached 1.3 million barrels a day
as of Jan. 25, the state-run National Oil Corp. said on its
website. Libya is seeking to raise output after disruptions that
began in February during fighting to oust Muammar Qaddafi. The
country pumped 1.59 million barrels a day in January 2011 before
output tumbled to 45,000 barrels in August, according to
Bloomberg News data.

OPEC will export 23.51 million barrels a day in the four
weeks to Feb. 11, up 1.3 percent from 23.2 million shipped in
the period to Jan. 14, Oil Movements, a Halifax, England-based
researcher, said today in an e-mailed report. The figures
exclude Ecuador and Angola.

Oil in New York has traded in a $6.34 range for the past
month with futures trading from $97.40 to $103.74.

Testing Range

“Earlier this week we wanted to test the bottom end of the
range,” said Gene McGillian, an analyst and broker at Tradition
Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “After Bernanke made his
statement yesterday, the shorts got cold feet. Now we’re back in
the middle of the range and are looking for a catalyst to launch
another assault at the upper end.”

US durable goods orders were forecast to climb 2 percent
last month, based on the median of estimates by 78 economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News. Another report showed jobless claims
increased last week.

“Negative economic sentiment in the US has receded,”
McGillian said.

Debt Talks

Talks on a debt swap to avert a Greek default resumed today
as international policy makers argue over the mounting cost of
the rescue. European finance ministers have insisted bondholders
take bigger losses on their Greek debt.

Oil prices have moved over the last two years on the latest
developments in the European debt crisis and the projected
impact it would have on energy demand.

“The European outlook is still pretty grim,” said Kyle Cooper, director of research with IAF Advisors in Houston.
“We’ll probably trudge along between $90 and $105 until we are
sure what’s happening in Europe.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country is
open to talks on its nuclear program and accused the West of
seeking “pretexts” to dodge negotiations, the state-run Fars
news agency reported. The European Union announced Jan. 23 that
it will ban oil from Iran starting on July 1.

Sanctions against Iran’s oil industry may prompt the
Persian Gulf country to close the Strait of Hormuz, Vice
President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said on Dec. 27. The seaway is a
chokepoint for about a fifth of globally traded oil.

Iranian Threat

“Iran continues to loom out there, making it almost
impossible to go home short overnight because you never know
what they’re going to do,” Cooper said. “They probably
couldn’t shut the Strait of Hormuz for more than 24 to 48 hours
but that would be enough to cause a huge price spike.”

Oil volume in electronic trading on the Nymex was 475,686
contracts as of 4:07 pm in New York. Volume totaled 636,717
yesterday, 7.2 percent above below the three-month average. Open
interest was 1.35 million contracts.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Mark Shenk in New York at
mshenk1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at
dstets@bloomberg.net

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Imperial Leisure To Release Sophomore Album In March

Get ready for Imperial Leisures next outrageous cava-drenched skank-a-thon across the UK in March and April. The tour will celebrate the release of Imperial Leisures latest fan-funded album Death To The One Trick Pony – a happy fusion of ska, punk, and hip hop featuring their cheeky lyrics and trademark high octane sound.

River Park Leisure Centre could be replaced says city council

RIVER Park leisure centre could be bulldozed and rebuilt under radical plans to improve leisure facilities in Winchester, it has
emerged.

The idea was revealed when Winchester City Council unveiled major building plans for the next three years.

The council’s cabinet earmarked £500,000 for repairs to River Park Leisure Centre, as part of a £53m programme of general budget spending at a meeting last week.

But councillors said they would consult officers over the next year on whether to build a new centre that would cost millions of pounds.

Cllr Keith Wood, portfolio holder for finance and estates, said: “We are looking at River Park Leisure Centre now.

“We have not come to a view yet, but we have asked officers to look more closely as to what River Park needs doing, and to consider how long that would keep the centre going, or whether it would be
more sensible to build a new leisure centre all together, and what partners we could attract to do that.”

The council scrapped plans to spend £4m repairing the centre in November due to financial constraints, but Cllr Wood said the issue would not be ignored.

“We are determined to keep leisure facilities in Winchester,” he said.

The news comes just weeks after calls to close the centre’s swimming pool.

Lib Dem councillor Margot Power said the pool was not available to those living outside the city due to the cost of getting there, and questioned the council’s continued support for the pool.

But Cllr Wood and council leader Cllr George Beckett backed the need for public swimming facilities in Winchester.

River Park was opened in 1974 and was subject to major repairs in 1987, after a fire gutted the swimming pool.

Meanwhile, the council is proposing to boost high speed Broadband throughout the district with help from government funding, the meeting heard.

Cllr Wood said: “Broadband is a very worthwhile thing and it means we can use a government grant and play our part.

“Broadband in the district is a real problem in some areas and anything we can do to help this is a good thing.”

But Cllr Kelsie Learney, leader of the opposing Lib Dems, warned the Conservative cabinet about funding such a plan.

She said: “We cannot continue going forward funding IT by selling assets or using increasingly scarce reserves.”

Cllr Beckett agreed the council would have to be careful about spending money on technology that could become outdated quickly, but said sharing the costs with other authorities would reduce
financial risk.

Other projects receiving money include a £23m fund for housing repairs, new street lighting in North Walls, and improved heating in Abbey House.

The plans will go to full council next month at the annual budget meeting.

The Quiet Driver of Economic Growth: Exports

The estimates of the nations economic performance last year, released Friday, highlight a striking trend: Exports have never been more important.

Foreign buyers purchased more than $2 trillion in goods and services, the first time exports have topped that threshold. And those exports accounted for almost 14 percent of gross domestic product, the largest share since at least 1929.

Startup surge at bazaar: Berlin Film Festival Preview 2012

While some parts of the pic biz are consolidating, the film sales arena is quietly expanding, and with the role of the sales agent becoming an increasingly complex one — many are getting involved in financing and production at ground level — the new shingles are capitalizing on opportunities in the marketplace. This year, buyers in Berlin will see many familiar faces on the sales side, but under new banners. Lisa Wilson, former exec at Graham Kings GK Films and affiliate Parlay Films, recently ankled the company to launch her own startup sales outfit, the Solution Entertainment Group, which she and fellow Brit Myles Nestel, a film financier, will be bowing at the European Film Market. The shingle will present a slate of pics including Writers, written and helmed by newcomer Joshua Boone and produced by Informant Media and Judy Cairo (Crazy Heart, Hysteria), and Hector and the Search for Happiness, directed by Peter Chelsom. Likewise, former Hyde Park Intl. prexy Mimi Steinbauer ankled Ashok Amritrajs outfit back in September for her own international sales company. Steinbauer will unveil her venture, Radiant Films, at the Berlinale with titles such as Tom Shadyac doc I Am and Lullaby on the slate. International sales stalwart Brian OShea, former topper of Affinity Intl. who put together pics such as Drive and Rabbit Hole, resurfaced just before AFM in November with his new venture the Exchange. Company saw a robust market in Santa Monica, where it co-repped Juno Temple thriller Magic, Magic with 6 Sales and sold Vera Farmigas directorial debut Higher Ground. OShea will also descend upon the Berlinale this year with fresh titles for buyers. The fallout from the world economic crunch a few years ago meant that less product was available but what was getting made was better quality — a boon for experienced international sales agents. Weve been able to get really good product very quickly because of all of our experience and history and knowing how to handle product, says OShea, who recruited former After Dark Films exec Laura Ivey and Indie Film Depot exec Giovanna Trischitta. I feel like the market is very much in flux right now, he says. But theres no question that our focus is theatrical films that play to a worldwide marketplace as thats easier to sell and generates more cash for distributors. He describes the business as one that aligns producers with the right information allowing them to bring financing to the table. Our mantra is to never change the way or focus of information, he says. The landscape is changing so quickly and we understand this. Eventually, says OShea, the company will start to put financing into pictures. And while the Exchange, which will focus primarily on US pics, has been self-financed entirely by OShea, other outfits are relying on more capital. Wilson, who has more than four decades of experience in the biz having headed international sales at Nu Image and Hyde Park Intl., aligned herself with former investment banker Myles Nestel, who has plowed more than $1 billion into 75 film and TV projects including Machete and Machine Gun Preacher. This fusion of sales and capital was key, says Wilson. There are certain sales agents who are aligned with producers who are high-net worth individuals but on the other side of the coin, many good producers dont have access to money, she says. So in that sense, its important. Nestel agrees, saying as a financier, he realized that what is fundamental in the market when a company has capital is to control the sales process and have your own sales function within the company in terms of distribution and sales. He adds that aligning with Wilson was hand in glove. In this competitive environment you have to be able to show your competitive advantage, Nestel says. Our ability to bring capital to the table is very important. The Solution is in the process of raising a large fund in Wall Street. Steinbauer, who prior to Hyde Park Intl. worked as a sales consultant on pics such as The Hurt Locker and headed up international sales at Franchise Pictures, says her decision to launch Radiant Films is due to the fact that she wants to be able to choose the titles she works on. I wanted to be a little bit more in control of the product and how buyers are supported in terms of distribution, she says. It was important to be able to put them altogether. Backed by a private equity source, the banner will start as a traditional sales agent and then, with some financing in place, eventually be able to plug financing into pics. I think theres a lot of opportunity out there now, says Steinbauer. There is a lot of good theatrical product out there and Im seeing wonderful scripts. While it is a competitive and challenging time in the sales arena, if you have the basis and the experience, there is a huge opportunity to be starting a new company, especially considering the new roles that sales companies play these days. EOne is also ramping up its sales and financing activities: In November, the company moved its main sales headquarters to the UK and tapped industry vet Sally Caplan managing director of the London-based international sales division. In Berlin, Caplan and her team will be taking the opportunity to explain what sorts of things will be changing in the future for the company. On the international side, we will be looking for bigger, broader and more mainstream pictures going forward, says Caplan, who adds that the division will still be involved with Canadian and specialist pics, for which its Toronto-based operation is well known. I love film and being involved in the business, says Caplan, whos worked in all facets of the biz at outfits such as PolyGram, Momentum Pictures and Icon. Its great that now weve got deeper pockets to be able to bring films together and make them happen.

Return to the Berlin Preview gt;gt;

Click here for more international news on Variety.com.

Marguerite Oliver, Ann Arbor community leader and owner of Pastabilities, dies …

When Marguerite Bertoni Oliver played Hearts, one of her favorite pastimes, she always shot the moon, said her son, Scott Oliver.

Her shooting the moon was very reflective of how she lived life, he said. She really wanted you to go for it. And she always did.

Even though she lived her whole life in Ann Arbor, she didnt feel the bounds of it. She always believed you could do whatever you desired.

Marguerite Oliver, 82, an influential leader within the Ann Arbor community, died Monday in Massachusetts from old age and dementia. She moved to Massachusetts in 2010, following the death of her husband, William.