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Loose changeBy CATHY KEIM, Times wires © St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 2001 FOLLOW WORD, NOT EXAMPLE: AutoWeek magazine reports that General Motors flew 3,500 executives to Walt Disney World to meet with chief executive Rick Wagoner. The topic: cutting costs to boost profits. The cost of the retreat: $35-million. DRIVING DEMAND: The economy may be cooling, but the market for Mercedes-Benzes is hot. A record 95,000 Mercedes were sold in November, and 11-month sales rose 5 percent to a record on strong demand in the United States and Germany. VIEW FROM THE MIDDLE: Midsize manufacturers whose sales range from $25-million to $500-million remain upbeat about this year's economic outlook, according to Fleet Capital Corp. Some 55 percent of 300 chief financial officers surveyed expect the economy to expand this year. BACK TO BASICS: A coming wave of baby boomer retirements will increase the need for traditional skills. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts high demand for secretaries, truck drivers, elementary-school teachers and industrial engineers. GOOD AS GOLD: Most Americans think their golden years will be golden. Seventy-one percent are at least somewhat confident they will be financially secure in retirement, according to a national poll of 1,005 adults by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University. NO PRETENSIONS: Don't look for Wireless Services Corp. in a posh high-rise office. The software company describes itself as "composed of 12 people in Bellevue, Wash., behind a Chinese restaurant and across from a Harley-Davidson dealership."
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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