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Talk of the bay: 100 to lose jobs if home lender calls it quits

By Times Staff
Published September 13, 2007

Challenge Financial Investors Corp., which does business as CFIC Home Mortgage, is closing down, according to employees at the St. Petersburg headquarters who have been told they will be out of job by the end of the year. CFIC claimed at one time to be one of the 10 largest mortgage lenders in the country and employed more than 100 people in St. Petersburg. However, it has been scaling back in the wake of declining demand and legal problems. Georgia revoked its license and North Carolina fined the company $848,000 for failing to supervise employees. Until recently, former Silverado Banking chairman Michael Wise had a prominent role in company operations. No one could be reached for comment at CFIC owner Nations Holding Co. of Prairie Village, Kan.

Beall's asks teens for T-shirt design

Who knows what teens want better than teenagers? That's what Beall's department stores figured in staging a contest to design a spring break T-shirt the Bradenton chain will sell in stores in March and April. Beall's is offering $1,000 to the winning designer, plus $1,000 to their high school art department. Beall's sent contest rules to all Florida school art departments, and they can be found at BeallsFlorida.com. "We'd like to get hundreds of entries," said Gwen Bennett, vice president of advertising. The chain's in-house design team will narrow the field to 10 finalists whose work will be posted for a public vote Oct. 26 through Nov. 22. Finalists who do not win will get $200 each.

JetBlue elevates Chew to president

JetBlue is still trying to put some past storms behind it. Chief operating officer Russ Chew will become president of JetBlue, working with new CEO Dave Barger. The company has realigned top management in the wake of embarrassing problems in February and March when storms left thousands of passengers stranded. JetBlue is the largest carrier in the Tampa-New York market, with a 30 percent share. Before joining JetBlue, Chew worked for the Federal Aviation Administration and American Airlines.

On the Times business blogs

Will an inheritance ruin your child's chances for financial aid? Helen Huntley offers advice on the MoneyTalk blog at blogs.tampabay.com/money.

[Last modified September 12, 2007, 23:19:42]