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Xerox Capital has new take on holiday bonus

By TIMES WIRES
Published December 2, 2006

Happy holidays, valued employees, now here's your pink slip. Xerox Capital Services LLC is closing its office in St. Petersburg's Carillon Office Park, leaving 290 people without jobs. The company, a joint venture of Xerox Corp. and GE Capital Solutions, said the billing, collections and other back office work handled in St. Petersburg will be transferred to Chicago and Dallas. But GE Capital, the employer of record, doesn't want to be remembered as a grinch this holiday season. It is providing career counseling and outplacement services, as well as extended benefits, to employees affected by the move.

Cardinal may shed drug unit

The 600-plus workers at Cardinal Health's St. Petersburg operations could have new bosses in their future. Cardinal said it wants to sell its drugmaking and packaging businesses, which include the former R.P. Sherer operations in the Gateway Area, acquired in 1998. Cardinal, which has its headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, doesn't have a buyer yet, but analysts were speculating that a sale, which includes more than 30 plants worldwide, could bring more than $2-billion. The St. Petersburg unit makes soft gel capsules for medications.

Fare war claims Allegiant route

St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport's newest airline won't hesitate to pull the plug on markets where it can't make a buck. Allegiant Air said Friday it will stop flying to Newburgh, N.Y., after Jan. 11. The Las Vegas-based discounter doesn't even start trips between the local airport and Newburgh until Dec. 13. But the arrival of AirTran and JetBlue at the New York Hudson Valley International Airport sparked a fare war to Florida. "We'll let them battle it out,' said Allegiant spokeswoman Tyri Squyres. Travelers with tickets after Jan. 11 will be rebooked on other airlines, she said.

[Last modified December 2, 2006, 00:11:52]