Lenon’s main business news

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is set to take the stand in a grand larceny trial Monday, answering questions from prosecutors who say he was bilked out of more than $1 million and from defense lawyers who claim he is using the case to cover up unsavory campaign practices.

On trial is John Haggerty, a political operative who worked on the mayor’s re-election campaigns and is now accused of convincing the mayor and his staff to pay for a $1.1 million poll-monitoring operation that never materialized, then using most of the cash to buy himself a house.

But much of the questioning so far has revolved around Bloomberg, as Haggerty’s lawyers have sought to turn the jury’s focus to the billionaire mayor, painting a picture of a high-rolling candidate surrounded by privileged insiders who skirted ethics rules, threw money at problems and didn’t hesitate to bend the law.

Prosecutors do not accuse the mayor of any wrongdoing, and Bloomberg’s representatives have said his campaign broke no laws and followed standard practices.

The cross-examination of the mayor Monday promises to be tense. Defense lawyers used their opening statements to flatly accuse him of “campaign fraud.” Bloomberg’s spokesman says the tactics are a sign of desperation.

Prosecutors may try to limit what questions Bloomberg must answer. Before the trial, they asked Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Ronald A. Zweibel to bar their adversaries from inquiring about the mayor’s campaign finances. The judge nixed that request but said he might revisit the issue if it arises during the trial.

Haggerty, 42, is a veteran of several prominent New York Republican campaigns. As a volunteer on the 2009 campaign of the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-unaffiliated mayor, Haggerty was the point man on “ballot security,” a term used mainly by Republicans for poll watching with an eye to preventing voter fraud.

He presented Bloomberg campaign aides with a $1.1 million budget that included more than 1,300 paid poll watchers, an office, two-way radios and other expenses, according to prosecution filings and documents aired at the trial. Prosecutors say Haggerty did little of what he promised and used about $750,000 of the money to buy his brother’s share of their late father’s home.

Bloomberg financed the plan with a personal donation to the Independence Party that didn’t have to be reported until after the election. Haggerty’s lawyers argue that Bloomberg was trying to distance himself from a practice that has at times been subjected to court scrutiny as an alleged tool for voter suppression, something that Bloomberg’s aides deny.

Since the mayor’s donation to the party could not legally be earmarked for a specific purpose, it is not evidence that any money was stolen from Bloomberg, the defense argues.

The trial has offered an unusual peek behind the scenes of the mayor’s self-financed campaigns and inside City Hall, as some of his closest aides have answered questions about their relationship with the mayor and how they spend his money. Former Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey said on the stand that he didn’t enjoy his first two years in office.

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The government is demanding that a one-time billionaire awaiting sentencing in New York for insider trading reveal his medical conditions that he argues should win him leniency.

Prosecutors asked a judge in a letter Thursday to unseal the arguments surrounding the medical conditions so the public can know the issue at stake for Raj Rajaratnam (rahj rah-juh-RUHT’-nuhm). The government says in the letter that a defendant waives his right to medical privacy when he makes medical issues the basis for seeking leniency guaranteed fast personal loans.

The 54-year-old Rajaratnam was convicted in May of securities fraud charges after a jury reasoned that he made trades based on inside information provided by friends and business associates. Prosecutors say he earned more than $50 million in profits from his trades. Sentencing is set for Oct. 13.

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In a boost to the region’s moribund auto industry, General Motors will inject $380 million into its Wentzville assembly plant, adding 1,850 jobs and a new pickup line as part of a proposed new labor contract, the United Auto Workers announced Tuesday.

The announcement is part of GM’s commitment to invest a total of $2.5 billion in facilities nationwide and create or retain 6,400 jobs over the life of the four-year contract, according to the UAW.

The union and GM reached an agreement Friday, but did not reveal details of expansion plans until Tuesday. The 48,500 union members working for GM nationwide must still ratify the contract next week.

UAW Local 2250 Chairman Mike Bullock said the contract called initially for the Wentzville plant to add a second production shift of between 400 and 700 people in the first quarter of 2012. Local 2250 represents hourly workers at the Wentzville plant, which produces Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans. About 1,300 people in one production shift currently work at the Wentzville facility.

“This will be a real shot in the arm for Wentzville and the St. Louis area,” Bullock said in a phone interview. “This really is a tribute to the men and women who work at the Wentzville assembly center and produce the best quality product at the best cost.”

The local automotive industry has been devastated in recent years. Closures included the Ford plant in Hazelwood five years ago and Chrysler’s two Fenton plants in 2008 and 2009. Multiple local automobile suppliers that feed those plants with parts also closed. In 2009, GM eliminated a shift at the Wentzville plant, affecting more than 800 workers.

Some were laid off, and some took voluntary transfers to GM facilities elsewhere.

Some of those transferred and laid-off employees could be eligible for rehiring, according to UAW officials. Sixteen former Wentzville GM employees were transferred to GM’s Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan., and 27 laid-off employees remain on Local 2250’s recall list.

GM also will be offering openings to unemployed GM union workers nationally who have recall rights. The number of such workers was unavailable.

Additionally, there are 350 people on a local referral list who could be tapped for the new jobs, Bullock said.

The investment by GM would pay for a 500,000-square-foot addition to the Wentzville’s current 3.7 million-square-foot facility, improvements to its paint department and other upgrades. The new contract also details plans for a midsize pickup to be produced in Wentzville. More than 1,000 workers would start working on that new line in 2013 for a 2014 model pickup, Bullock said.

“We’ve been waiting patiently a long time to hear this news,” said Tom Brune, UAW communications coordinator for Local 2250.

As Joe Gurrieri, 31, of O’Fallon, Mo., used a mechanical arm to swing dash panels into place on a steady stream of Chevy Express vans Tuesday, he said he was hopeful current workers would have more job security. Gurrieri, a 12-year employee, said he had returned to work in November after being laid off. “It’s good to be back, and it’s good to know we’ll be here for a while,” he said.

Some analysts have speculated that GM will shift production of its Chevrolet Colorado or GMC Canyon pickups, which currently are made in Shreveport, La., to Wentzville. The Shreveport assembly facility, which employs more than 900 people, is not owned by GM and had previously been slated to close as part of GM’s emergence from bankruptcy in 2009. A GM spokesman declined to comment on the pending contract or expansion details.

Last week, plant manager John Dansby told the Post-Dispatch that he believed Wentzville had been selected for expansion because of the plant’s emphasis on producing high quality vehicles at low costs.

“We’ve been working really hard at the plant to try to position ourselves to be very competitive,” Dansby said.

Last year, the plant forecast production of 80,000 vehicles and ended the year producing nearly 100,000.

“Our volumes are increasing, and the buying public has done a great job supporting our product,” he said.

TAX BREAKS

To help finance the expansion, Wentzville’s board of aldermen approved last week partial tax abatement for GM if it expands. As part of the deal, GM would make “payments in lieu of taxes” to local school districts, and have 75 percent of its property taxes for the new development abated for 10 years.

Wentzville Mayor Paul Lambi said he was hopeful the new jobs would bring back what was lost when the GM plant downsized in 2009. “There was an unbelievable ripple effect,” Lambi said, describing the closure of nearby restaurants and retailers two years ago. “Every business that relies on retail sales was affected. Bringing back a second shift is extremely good news.”

A couple of miles from the plant, Dan Strantz, owner of Mama’s Grill, also welcomed the news. The diner’s location near the intersection of Highway 40 and Interstate 70 opened about a month and half ago, he said, but his family has been in the restaurant business since 1972. “It’ll be good that there will actually be people with money to go out and spend,” he said.

If the expansion proceeds, GM is likely to pursue state incentives. The automaker has been in talks with Gov. Jay Nixon’s office and Department of Economic Development officials for a year, according to the governor’s spokesman, Sam Murphey. The automaker has not yet applied for any state incentives.

“We are strongly encouraged by the recent steps GM has taken, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with GM throughout this process,” Murphey said in a statement Tuesday.

The UAW outlined investments proposed by GM at several other plants nationwide, including plans to invest $925 million at three Michigan factories that will generate 900 jobs during the life of the contract. GM also plans to invest in plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., which had been idled, and Fort Wayne, Ind., that will generate or preserve a combined 3,700 jobs.

Gerrion Grim, 53, of O’Fallon, Mo., has worked at the Wentzville plant for about 18 months. He said he was laid off for a while and returned to work in April. Now, he said, he would like to see job security. “I’m definitely hoping for some longevity,” he said. “I just hope it all goes well.”

Shane Anthony of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

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President Barack Obama said Monday the U.S. Postal Service should be allowed to reduce mail delivery to five-days-a-week to help cut its massive losses.

The Postal Service lost $8.5 billion last year and is facing even more red ink this year as the Internet siphons off large amounts of first-class mail and the weak economy reduces advertising mail.

While the post office has cut more than 100,000 workers in the last few years it needs to cut more, close offices and find other ways to reduce costs to keep operating.

In his economic growth and debt reduction plan unveiled Monday, Obama endorsed the idea of dropping one day of mail delivery _ it is expected to be Saturday _ and urged other changes in postal operations

He agreed that nearly $7 billion the post office has overpaid into the federal retirement system should be refunded to the agency, urged that its payments for advance funding of retiree medical benefits be restructured, and said the post office should be allowed to sell non-postal products and raise postage rates.

Currently the post office cannot raise rates more than the amount of inflation.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the president “has offered helpful recommendations to stabilize the Postal Service’s financial crisis.”

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del personal loan for poor credit., who has proposed a bill including many of the same suggestions, welcomed the president’s statement.

“I have been saying for some time now that Congress and the administration need to come together on a plan that can save the Postal Service and protect the more than seven million jobs that rely on it,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who has his own postal reform bill in the House, responded that “the president’s proposal is not what taxpayers or the Postal Service needs.”

He asserted that Obama’s plan “will certainly cost taxpayers money.” Currently the post office does not receive tax funds for its operations.

Meanwhile, 75 members of Congress led by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Don Young, R-Alaska, called on the independent Postal Regulatory Commission to block the post office’s plans to close as many as 3,700 local offices across the country.

The proposed closures, most in rural locations that do little business, are currently under review.

The letter called for establishment of a new business model for the post office without closing offices and cutting its work force.

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Man Dip has a six-month lease on life.

That’s about how long local grocery stores will give the spicy sausage and cheese dip, a new product from an unknown local entrepreneur, before they decide whether to keep it or dump it. But that’s a lot farther than most other food startups make it in the highly competitive race for grocery shelf space.

If it were up to Dr. Ted Mimlitz, the man behind Man Dip, the concoction he’s been whipping up for 15 years might have remained just a party favorite and inside joke among his circle of friends.

But about four years ago, Andy Wolf, a serial entrepreneur who has brought to market a number of items including a deer sled for hunters, took a bite of Mimlitz’s dip at a school-related event for their children.

“I said right there, ‘Have you ever thought about bringing this out commercially?’” Wolf said. “I pestered him for three months. Then he called me one December night and said, ‘Do you really think we can do this?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’

That confidence belies the difficulty in bringing a product to market from scratch. Lots of folks flirt with the idea of branding and selling their homemade creations. But few people pursue it beyond their daydreams.

Local products face stiff competition from large food manufacturers with established brands, bulk negotiating power and money for extensive product and marketing research. Most local food products that have found success at area grocery stores are affiliated with local restaurants or well-known landmarks such as the Hill. Think Imo’s salad dressing, Zia’s pasta sauce and Fitz’s root beer.

“When people see that on your shelves, there’s that connection right away,” said Rich Wallace, Dierbergs’ director of procurement.

Another local example

Valet parking, celebrity chefs and bacon marmalade will be on the menu at an exclusive dinner party to launch Canada’s first super-premium supermarket brand.

Loblaw Cos. Ltd., the country’s largest grocery chain and long-time leader in private brands, is introducing President’s Choice Black Label, featuring products normally found in specialty gourmet stores.

To give the brand immediate cachet, President’s Choice is launching the line at a dinner party on Thursday, Sept. 22.

Billed as an epicurean adventure, the company has commissioned some of the city’s best-known chefs — Marc Thuet, Bertrand Alépée and Anthony Walsh, as well as pastry chefs Bobette & Belle — to create a tasting menu based on the products.

To be held in the avant garde art gallery, Neubacher Shor Contemporary, in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood, the guest list includes a who’s who of 40 to 50 food writers, influencers and media.

From the smoky bacon marmalade, to the crumbly eight year old cheddar, to the cherry shiraz fruit jelly, Loblaw hopes the line will also appeal to ordinary consumers with a sense of culinary adventure despite the current challenging economic times.

“We’ve always seen a market for premium items even in tough economic times. A number of specialty stores have come into the market in the last couple of years,” said Ian Gordon, vice-president Loblaw Brands Ltd.

“We look at this is as a bit of affordable indulgence. They may not be able to afford a trip to Italy. But they can experience it,” said Allan Lindsay, Loblaw’s vice-president marketing.

Priced from $1.99 to $24.99, they’re meant to sell for less than in specialty gourmet stores. The bacon marmalade, for example, is priced at $4.99 for a 370 ml jar.

The line is scheduled to begin appearing the first week of October in 140 select Loblaw stores in select neighbourhoods in Ontario and Quebec.

Starting with 200 items, the group will represent a niche product amid Loblaw’s private label line, from its value priced No Name brand to its PC organics specialty segment.

In the stores, the Black Label products will be supported by displays that tell their story, how they were sourced, from whom, and how they might be used to transform an ordinary meal into a masterpiece, Lindsay said.

Reaching back into its past, Loblaw isn’t using the words “Black Label” on its packaging, but rather letting the packaging speak for itself. On a plain black background, the label features high end photos and a few simple descriptive words.

“It goes back to our first successful controlled brand product in a yellow and black package with no name on it. It wasn’t until six years later that we actually put “No Name” on the packaging,” Gordon explained.

While Loblaw is the first to offer a premium in house food product in Canada, British food retailer Tesco has been doing so for some time, said Jeff Doucette, a principal in the consulting firm Sales Is Not Simple.

Adding them to Loblaw’s existing portfolio of private label brands “will have a huge positive halo effect on the brand overall, whether they sell well or not, initially,” Doucette said.

TV food shows and specialty magazines have boosted demand for specialty food products previously unavailable at the supermarket, Doucette noted.

“You get the Food and Drink magazine from the LCBO and it’s asking for something unique like this and it’s an extra stop. Now, I don’t need to go anywhere else to get these things,” he said.

And while many debt-laden consumers are trying to cut their household spending, the brand is positioned as better value for money, he noted.

“Yes, there’s a debt crisis in Greece. But if this truffle aioli whipped dressing is cheaper at Loblaws than at my favourite gourmet store, I don’t have to give up great tasting food, just because I’m a little over-invested in European mutual funds,” he said.

The market for private label food in Canada is $11.4 billion a year, according to the Nielsen company. Loblaw’s share is $8.2 billion.

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A week after the state ended its relationship with SynCare, the embattled Medicaid contractor, the company on Friday laid off its workers and circulated a terse memo threatening to dock their final paychecks under a variety of conditions paydayloans.

The memo struck a certain irony with SynCare workers who had awakened to learn that SynCare

Stocks edged lower in early trading Thursday after the government reported that claims for unemployment rose last week, a sign that layoffs are increasing.

First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to 414,000. Economists had expected a slight fall to 405,000. The prior week’s estimate of new claims was also revised higher.

Thirty minutes after the market opened, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 42 points, or 0.41 percent, to 11,373. The Dow jumped 275 points Wednesday after a German court cleared the way for that country’s participation in the bailout of Greece and other European countries.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 index was down 8, or 0.7 percent, to 1,190. The Nasdaq composite fell 12, or 0.5 percent, to 2,536. The Nasdaq had been up in the first few minutes of trading.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits are a closely-watched figure on Wall Street. Rising claims can add to concerns that the job market is stalled and the U.S. economy is headed for another recession. Applications need to fall below 375,000 to indicate sustainable job growth. Last week the government reported there was zero job growth in the U.S. economy in August.

Not all of the economic news Thursday was negative. American exports of cars, airplanes and other goods reached an all-time high in July, the Commerce Department reported. Economists said the jump in exports suggest future growth in the U.S. economy.

Investors are waiting for two-closely watched speeches Thursday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will give a speech in the afternoon detailing his outlook for the U.S. economy. President Barack Obama will appear before Congress tonight and lay out his jobs plan.

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Dressed in an electric-blue vest and a white hat, Carlos Santana stopped by Brown Shoe Co.’s Clayton headquarters this afternoon where a small fashion show was held in his honor to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his shoe brand.

So your first question might be: Um, Carlos Santana has a women’s shoe line? Yes, indeed he does.

He may have been wearing sporty white shoes (with no socks), but his women’s line is full of vibrant colors — yellows and oranges and pinks — and eye-popping designs (think leopard print). And many of them have quite high heels, platforms, and wedges.

Brown Shoe, which also designs a line of shoes for Fergie, launched the legendary musician’s shoe brand 10 years ago. And in the years since, the brand has sold 8 million pairs of shoes and tallied up $400 million in retail sales, according to company officials.

A small percentage of the sales go to the Milago Foundation, a charity that Santana founded with his ex-wife in 1998 that gives grants to groups around the world working with children. To date, the shoe brand has donated about $2.5 million to the foundation.

Rick Gelber, the brand’s general manager, recalled that Brown Shoe launched Santana’s show line soon after his hit album, “Supernatural,” came out. The shoes are carried in Macy’s as well as many independent boutiques and online.

“He has transcended the celebrity brand and just become a brand,” Gelber said. “We established a niche that was high-fashion dress shoes and that now has evolved into a whole lifestyle brand.”

During the fashion show of shoes from his upcoming fall and spring collections, Santana held the hand of his wife, Cindy Blackman, who he married last year. He bopped along to the music, which he knew well because, of course, it was his own.

Afterwards, he thanked Brown Shoe employees for their work and passion. He said he wants to take Blackman to Porto Allegre in Brazil, where many of his shoes are made. He visited some of those factories several years ago when he was on tour there.

“When we went there, the floor was so pristine and clean,” he said proudly.

You hear a lot of horror stories about sweatshops, he said. “But it was completely the opposite.”

With so much fear in the world today, he said he wants to make women happy with his shoes.

“When you turn to joy, somehow fear becomes like fog in San Francisco where you can’t see your nose at 6 o’clock in the morning,” he said. “But by 12 o’clock, the sky is blue.”

There’s nothing more attractive in a woman than confidence, he said.

“When I see ladies walk with confidence in these shoes, it’s almost like they turn into an actress,” he said.

He compared it to the transformation that Michael Jackson made when he was on stage. Once he crossed onto the stage, he channeled the likes of James Brown to Marcel Marceau to Fred Astaire, Santana said.

“When you wake up in the morning, it’s OK to enter into character if you don’t like who are right now — if you’re not comfortable in your own skin,” he said. “You need to enter into — it’s not faking it — but entering into character.”

Santana stuck around for a bit to take pictures with employees and to sign some guitairs, too. He performs tonight at the Fox.

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Europe’s largest retailer Carrefour SA Wednesday posted an unexpected net loss in the first half and abandoned its growth target for the year amid the economic slowdown.

The French retailer reported a net loss of euro249 million ($359 million) in the first six months of the year, compared with a profit of euro97 million a year earlier.

Carrefour said it expects its operating profit to decline this year, reversing a target the retailer set in March when it said an ongoing and expensive “transformation plan” would raise profits this year.

The company’s share price slumped on the Paris stock exchange as investors took fright at the suddenly worsened outlook for the giant retailer, which which operates chains of grocery stores and hypermarkets across Europe as well as in Latin America and Asia.

By mid-morning Carrefour shares were down 4 percent at euro17.88.

As it did last year, Carrefour booked what it calls “significant one-off charges” again in the first half. They amounted to euro884 million in the first half, over half of which went to writing down the value of Carrefour’s Italian assets.

Worringly for Carrefour, after years of failed attempts to turn-around profitability in its core French market, earnings fell 40 percent in the first half. The company blamed a reorganization of its processes and systems which caused large inventory shortages, as well as rising raw commodity costs and sharpened price competition among retailers fighting to draw in increasingly budget-minded consumers.

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