What's Happening in the News

CallSource® and Starkey Hearing Foundation tackle children’s hearing loss in Super Bowl, mission

CallSource and its non-profit organization, PrideAmerica, teamed up with the Starkey Hearing Foundation in a Super Bowl Hearing Mission on February 3rd at the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel in Miami Beach. 

Starkey CEO, William F. Austin, and CallSource CEO, Jerry Feldman, lead foundation staff, local volunteers, celebrities and sponsors to bring the gift of hearing to more than 130 Miami-Dade and Broward County Public School children.

The children were fitted with free hearing aids and had an opportunity to test their new gift of sound with a concert by American Idol national recording artists, Jordin Sparks and David Archuleta.

NACHC: ARRA investment is making a difference in community health centers

People and communities are healthier thanks to the investment in America’s Health Centers from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or the “economic stimulus.” The law, enacted one year ago this week, provided funds that helped health centers expand care to the growing numbers of jobless and uninsured people who were quickly filling up their waiting rooms. ARRA funds made it possible for health centers to increase capacity in a variety of ways in response to the surge in demand. Whether it was expanding a facility, building a new one, expanding hours of operation or hiring a new dentist or clinician, the ARRA investment in health centers is making a difference.

 “The recession has brought new patients to the doors of health centers in communities all over the country,” said Dan Hawkins, Senior Vice President of Public Policy for the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). “The economic stimulus investment in health centers will make it possible to reach nearly 2.9 million new patients, and already they’ve seen the largest influx of new patients in the history of the program.” Source: National Association of Community Health Centers

Obama administration launches new building energy efficiency effort

The Obama administration has announced a multi-agency initiative designed to spur regional economic growth while making buildings more energy efficient. Seven federal agencies issued a combined Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) of up to $129.7 million over five years to create a regional research center. The center will develop new building efficiency technologies and work with local partners to implement the technologies in area buildings.

DOE is providing up to $22 million for this project in the first year, and as much as $100 million over the next four years. The agencies are working together to leverage funding and resources to promote regional growth through an Energy Regional Innovation Cluster (E-RIC) that is centered on an Energy Innovation Hub. The hub, one of three funded by Congress in fiscal year 2010, is focused on developing new technologies to improve the design of energy-efficient building systems.

The E-RIC will be based at a university, DOE national laboratory, nonprofit organization, or private firm. The entity will partner with local or state government officials, drawing on the expertise of local architects, builders, and manufacturers. In addition to DOE, the agencies participating include the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration and Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology; the Small Business Administration; the National Science Foundation; and the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education. They will work together to leverage this funding with regional sources. DOE said that because buildings account for nearly 40 percent of U.S. energy consumption and carbon emissions, this initiative is designed to provide an array of benefits, which include reducing energy use, lowering utility bills, and decreasing carbon emissions. Source: The Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration News

Apple may put iPhone OS on other devices

Apple is showing its true mobile colors. The company is on the lookout for an engineer who can help get its mobile-phone software onto additional devices. On Feb. 15, Apple (AAPL) posted an ad on its Web site for an engineering manager "to lead a team focused on bring-up of iPhone OS [operating system] on new platforms." Days later, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook called the company "a mobile device company," echoing remarks by Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who in January said "Apple is the largest mobile device company in the world." The posting and remarks underscore Apple's growing reliance on devices that provide Web access and computing features for users on the go. In the three months ended Dec. 26, the iPhone and related products accounted for $5.58 billion, or 36% of total sales, up from 25% of revenue a year earlier. Apple also sells other mobile devices, including the iPod Touch. An adaptation of the operating system used in Macintosh computers, the iPhone OS runs the iPhone, iPod Touch music player, and the forthcoming iPad tablet computer. In the future, analysts say, Apple may put the OS onto Web-connected TV machines and devices that help viewers watch 3D programming. The Cupertino [Calif.]-based company may also consider licensing the iPhone OS to outside cell-phone manufacturers. Apple has shipped more than 75 million devices based on the iPhone OS, which lets users download and run applications such as games and calendars sold at the Apple App Store. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris declined to comment.  Source: Business Week

Businesses turn to social media to improve internet marketing campaigns

Businesses using social media as part of their marketing campaigns are seeing benefits arising from this new-age approach. Usage of social media such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs are now being incorporated into more and more public relations strategies used by many small businesses to attract new customers.

The 2009 Social Media Survey Report produced by Econsultancy and bigmouthmedia showed that 64 per cent of companies surveyed had experimented with social media and 26 per cent are heavily involved. Just 10 per cent of respondents were not using any type of social media at all, despite finding that social media can improve customer engagement according to 73 per cent of respondents.

Israr Sarwar, Operations Director at internet marketing agency Adrac (http://www.adrac.co.uk), said: “The Adrac team realised the potential of social media in the early stages of the concept. Engaging with social target groups during business and product development can allow companies to robustly test and operate new technologies with a constant stream of ideas and feedback.”

“Direct response and brand building campaigns have been successfully executed through the use of this subtle approach to advertising that doesn’t intimidate the user, but acts more as an introduction service.”

The popularity of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook means businesses now have an easy way in to get there brands and products out there while engaging with customers and hopefully attracting new ones. This new way of marketing means everything from virtual tours of shops and live chats with customers are possible. Companies can even ask for suggestions about new products and opinions from the people who they hope will buy them, by starting discussions on social forums. Source: i-Newswire.com

Stimulus-funder silver lining

One of the relatively few bright spots for the industry was the federal stimulus. Thirty-one percent of contractors say they were awarded stimulus-funded projects. Of these, 46 percent say the stimulus helped them retain an average of 24 employees each. Another 15 percent say the stimulus helped them to add an average of 10 new employees per company while 12 percent cited the stimulus as driving new equipment purchases.

Sandherr added that the stimulus is driving up expectations for publicly funded construction activity in 2010. He noted that 62 percent of contractors expect the highway market to improve or remain stable, 61 percent say water and sewer construction will improve or remain stable. Fifty-five percent say work on public buildings will improve or remain stable in 2010.

“The stimulus is finally beginning to have a measurable, but limited, impact on the construction industry,” Sandherr noted. “The full impact of those investments has sadly been tempered by the inability of Congress to put a host of multi-year infrastructure funding plans in place.”

In addition to stimulus-funded projects, contractors also are relatively upbeat about prospects for power and hospital/higher education construction. Fifty-two percent expect demand for power facilities to be at or above last year’s levels, while 57 percent of contractors expect growth or stability in demand for hospital and higher education construction.

“What does all of this mean for the construction industry and more broadly for our economy?” asked Sandherr. “Most obviously, it means the construction industry is in for another difficult year in 2010. Worse, as long as the construction industry remains mired in its own depression, broader economic and employment growth will continue to lag.” Source: achrnews.com