By Heidi Schwartz, on August 29, 2005, at 6:51 am
This storm, which has dominated news coverage throughout the weekend, is just beginning to make its mark on the states around the Gulf of Mexico. On a national–and possibly international–scale, the storm has pushed gas prices up over $70 a barrel, and the stock market is responding. As oil prices go up, the stock market goes down–at least today.
Rick Wilking of Reuters reports, As Katrina plowed through the Gulf of Mexico, oil companies shut down production from many of the offshore platforms that provide a quarter of U.S. oil and gas production. At least 42% of daily
Continue reading All about Katrina
By Heidi Schwartz, on August 26, 2005, at 9:21 am Although growth in manufacturing employment slowed this month, increasing difficulty in recruiting skilled workers to fill key positions is leading some employers to offer higher starting wages. That according to new numbers from the Leading Indicator of National Employment (LINE™), released today by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations.
In addition, LINE’s recruiting difficulty index—which tracks efforts by manufacturers to recruit highly qualified individuals to fill the positions most critical to a firm’s success—is at its highest level in the 19 months LINE data have been recorded. Currently
Continue reading Manufacturing job creation slows, but salaries for new hires climb
By Heidi Schwartz, on August 26, 2005, at 8:26 am Earlier this year, TFM and Allsteel conducted a survey of facility managers to find out about their attitudes with regard to the sustainability movement. Just this past week, the International Facility Management Association released the results of another survey on this topic.
According to IFMA’s survey, facility management professionals report a continued increase in the use of green building practices. The vast majority, 70% of those responding to the online survey, reported implementing green concepts within their organization’s facility.
Using natural daylight, purchasing recycled office products, water conservation, participation in incentive programs offered by local utilities or state/provincial
Continue reading IFMA survey finds "green" building practices growing
By Anne Vazquez, on August 26, 2005, at 6:46 am Imagine having to patrol your facility with a wet vac every time it rained looking for pools of water. That’s exactly what staff members at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC do in an effort to protect the treasured collections housed in the museum. Strained expansion joints, an aged steam heating system, and other plumbing problems are causing increased and immediate concern. Other maintenance issues add to the fray.
In a recent edition of The New York Times, Lynette Clemetson reported,
Smithsonian officials concede that they are partly to blame for the advanced state of disrepair. Lawrence M. Small,
Continue reading Smithsonian Institute buildings deteriorating rapidly
By Heidi Schwartz, on August 25, 2005, at 8:05 am Yesterday, FacilityBlog mentioned the closure of several military bases around the country; today, more announcements have already been made—the most notable being the closure of Walter Reed Hospital in Washington. The hospital has been treating military personnel along with top executives from around the world for nearly 100 years, but its facilities are in serious need of an overhaul, making it more expensive to improve the hospital than it would be to shift staff to newly constructed digs–also called Walter Reed Hospital–on the grounds of the National Naval Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, MD.
Liz Sodotti of the
Continue reading Base closings, round two
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