The discussion started before Michael B. Kennedy was born. By last year, his patience had wore thin.
“I serve on a lot of committees, and I felt like I kept having the same conversation. It took hours and hours of repeating the same thing. And every time, I felt like I had to start all over again,” said the architect and president of KAI Design and Build.
Founded by his father, Michael E. Kennedy, 32 years ago, KAI is recognized as one of the leading minority-owned architectural firms in the country. The senior Kennedy serves as chairman and chief executive.
To the younger Kennedy, 34, the exchanges with contractors, government officials, trade unions, developers and fellow designers inevitably returned to the shortage of minority contractors and trade participation on local construction projects.
The problem has vexed St. Louis, publicly at least, since the afternoon of July 14, 1964, when Percy Green and another activist climbed a leg of the yet-to-be-completed Gateway Arch to protest the lack of African Americans working on the landmark.
Nor has the situation shown much sign of improvement. A March study by the Associated General Contractors of St. Louis that pegged the number of minority workers on local construction jobs at approximately seven percent.
African Americans account for 49 percent of St. Louis City residents and 23 percent of those in St. Louis County.
Kennedy didn’t need census data to drive the point home.
He found proof in the overwhelming number of white faces encountered on visits to area construction sites, particularly those outside the city.
The time had come, he concluded, to move the conversation from board rooms and business meetings to a broader audience.
“I thought if I could capture everything that is being said in these meetings on video, and then get that video in (the right) hands, then maybe we can finally move onto some viable solutions,” Kennedy said.
“Building a Better St. Louis” was initially envisioned as a “ten-minute clip.”
But once Kennedy and the production company, headed by Bobby Edwards Media Group, began the interviews, they learned just how much local business and community leaders, both black and white, had to say about minority hiring.
Thirty hours worth to be exact.
Edited to 41 minutes, the film takes unsparing shots at the insularity of white-dominated local trade unions, the shortcomings of public education in St. Louis and the chronic racial divide.
“Anyone who says St. Louis is not a segregated community is someone who has had his head stuck up his you-know-what for too many years,” volunteers Terry Nelson, the outspoken head of the Carpenters’ District Council of Greater St. Louis.
St. Louis City License Collector Mike McMillan offered a more measured analysis: “What we’ve found at every level of business or corporations or government is that if (change) is not pushed from top and implemented all the way down, then women and minorities, who have always been left out of the picture, will continue to be left out of the picture.”
In an interview this week, Kennedy cited additional factors he believes shift the odds against minority contractors and workers. High on the list are the social and economic forces separating the city and outlying suburbs.
He praises adherence to the ordinance stipulating that minorities perform 25 percent of the work on projects within the city. But frets at how the threshold is rarely met on construction sites in the surrounding counties free credit score online.
Kennedy says a fair share of the blame goes to minority contractors and laborers themselves.
Construction, like all businesses, is about relationships.
African American contractors and laborers, Kennedy charges, don’t forge the necessary connections while working side-by-side with non-minorities on city projects.
The upshot, he says, is that construction companies choose to do business with white subcontractors when jobs materialize in St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson and Lincoln counties.
“Building a Better St. Louis” points out that minorities compete for just one percent of the opportunities to participate on area construction jobs.
“It’s not a black and white issue, it’s a cultural issue,” Kennedy says, singling out the “where’d you go to high school?” question. “It’s about the St. Louis cliques. St. Louis is not friendly to outsiders, white or black.”
“Building a Better St. Louis” makes a stab at answering the overarching question of how, or if, minority contractors can ever achieve equity.
It’s a tall order.
Kennedy believes it will occur organically.
He points out that the white males that have dominated the construction trades are retiring. With many of their children exhibiting little interest in continuing the family tradition, the door will swing open for African Americans.
The key, Kennedy says, is getting young minorities interested and prepared to step into the breach.
He sees “Building a Better St. Louis” as prompting a dialogue to move the black community in that direction.
The video was screened this week for a group of contractors and Kennedy ultimately hopes to bring it to a wider audience of government officials, civic groups and – his big goal – an airing on a public broadcasting station.
“This industry lags farther behind any other industry that I’ve seen,” Kennedy says in the video. “The more I talked to people the more I decided other people needed to hear what I was hearing. And that was to listen to the voices of reason.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“… workforce professionals we interviewed said that some employers are reluctant to hire older workers. Because of legal prohibitions against age discrimination, employers are unlikely to explicitly express a lack of interest in hiring older workers; however, one workforce professional told us that local employers had asked her to screen out all applicants over the age of 40.” - U.S. Government Accountability Office on plight of older Americans suffering bouts of long-term unemployment.
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office
BY THE NUMBERS
7.3 percent - Missouri’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in April, the lowest in 40 months.
Source: Missouri Department of Economic Development
FINAL WORD
“There has been a lack of progress on this issue, and too many families are struggling right at the time when they should be celebrating the birth of a new family member. Working parents should have the benefit of these programs.” Vicki Shabo, director of work and family programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families on study that found only 11 percent of privately-owned companies provide paid family leave for new parents.
Source: The Chicago Tribune
Claims for unemployment benefits declined last week to the lowest level in a month, easing concern that the U.S. labor market is faltering.
First-time claims dropped by 1,000 to 367,000 in the period ended May 5, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Other reports showed that a gauge of consumer confidence declined to a three-month low, and the trade deficit widened on rising demand for imports from oil to autos.
Claims are returning to levels reached in February and March, indicating a surge last month probably reflected difficulty in adjusting the data for an Easter holiday that came earlier this year than last. Declines in dismissals point to a brighter labor market that would help sustain consumer spending after payroll growth slowed last month.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is widely expected to be kicked out of office in elections Sunday. If he goes, he’ll be in good company: Almost every crisis-hit European country that has held an election since disaster struck in 2009 has thrown out its leader.
Here’s a look at countries where political cadavers litter the landscape.
_ SPAIN: A burst real estate bubble also deflates faith in a Socialist government, which is nonetheless reluctant to admit Spain has problems. Blips of good economic news are seized upon as “green shoots” pointing to recovery. Wrong. Stimulus measures are enacted, then crushing austerity. Unemployment soars. The Socialists of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero are wiped off the map in November 2011 elections; Mariano Rajoy’s conservatives take over.
_ ITALY: Silvio Berlusconi, the long-serving Teflon leader accused of everything from bedding escorts to serial corruption, finally bites the dust in November 2011. He resigns to cheers and jeers as investors lose confidence in his ability to spur economic growth and rein in debt. It’s the end of a political era. Mario Monti, a former European Commissioner, is named to replace him and lead a technical government until elections in 2013.
_ BRITAIN: Gordon Brown leads the Labour Party to defeat in the May 2010 election; Conservative Party leader David Cameron becomes leader of a coalition government. Brown had been finance chief for a decade before succeeding Tony Blair in 2007. Brown had boasted endlessly of ending the cycle of boom and bust _ but as prime minister he presided mostly over bust.
_ IRELAND: Brian Cowen, promoted to prime minister in 2008 after being finance minister, doesn’t even get to run. He resigns as leader of the Fianna Fail Party weeks before the February, 2011 election. It doesn’t help his party, which suffers its worst ever defeat. Cowen was finance minister during Ireland’s banking crisis and the collapse of its housing bubble.
_ GREECE: Greek Socialist leader George Papandreou swept to power in October 2009 over conservative opponents, pledging to spend his way out of a deteriorating economic situation. Two years later, at the height of Greece’s worst financial crisis since World War II, Papandreou’s own deputies force him out after he endangers a hard-won bailout by announcing he would put it to a referendum. He’s replaced by caretaker Prime Minister Lucas Papademos.
_ PORTUGAL: A month after Portugal requests a 78 billion-euro bailout, the center-left Socialist government of Jose Socrates is voted out of power in June, 2011. Portugal’s woes stemmed from a decade of feeble growth as it failed to modernize amid increasing global competition and dug itself deeper into debt.
_ DENMARK: A center-right government in Denmark loses power in September in part due to discontent over austerity measures introduced amid the debt crisis. It is replaced by a center-left coalition.
_ FINLAND: Finland’s government is reconfigured after June elections following a sharp surge in support for nationalists who oppose bailouts for debt-stricken eurozone countries. A conservative-led coalition spanning left and right is formed to keep the nationalist True Finns out of power.
Bucking the Trend:
_ ROMANIA: Romanian President Traian Basescu wins re-election in 2009, the year Romania’s economy shrinks by 7 percent and Romania takes a 20 billion-euro bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Union. Basescu, a former ship captain, prevails because he is seen as a strong leader in a time of crisis.
_ POLAND: This has been a rare European success story: It’s the only European Union country that did not to slip into recession during the global crisis of 2008-2009. Last fall the center-right party of Prime Minister Donald Tusk wins a second straight term in parliamentary elections, making history by becoming the first government since the fall of communism in Poland in 1989 to be re-elected.
_ ALSO: Sweden’s prime minister is re-elected in 2010 and the prime ministers of Latvia and Estonia are re-elected in 2011.
For Pennsylvanians with natural gas wells on their land, chances are they won’t know if a safety violation occurs on their property.
That’s because the state agency charged with regulating the wells — the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) — does not have to notify landowners if a violation is discovered. Even if landowners inquire about safety violations, DEP records are often too technical for the average person and incomplete.
While some landowners would like more transparency around safety issues, as a group they are not pushing for stronger regulations. Landowners, who are paid royalties by the companies that drill on their property, generally want the drilling to proceed.
Violations: In February, CNNMoney spoke with four families in Lycoming County, Pa., about violations issued against natural gas wells on or near their property.
The families have a total of 26 natural gas wells among them. They’ve received royalties from the wells, ranging from the low hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last few years.
How fracking works
Yet none said they had ever been notified by the DEP or any of the well operators that wells near their homes had been cited for what DEP’s website said were 62 safety violations over four years.
"We had no idea that there were any violations," said Dan Bower, who lives next door to his mother, Jane, and her five wells.
"We should have been contacted or something," echoed Neil Barto, another well owner.
DEP says that in cases in which violations pose risk to human health, they "certainly notify landowners."
The violations range from simple things such as improper signage to serious infractions such as subpar cementing — which according to DEP can allow gas to seep out of a well and in some cases "has the potential to cause a fire or explosion."
While the violations are posted online, the digital records are short on specifics — most importantly whether a violation poses a health risk.
A time consuming process: If landowners want to inquire about all violations on their property, DEP says they should do an in-person file review of the state regulator’s documents relating to each well.
The agency declined multiple interview requests, but assured CNNMoney that an in-person review would contain records of any communication with landowners about violations. CNNMoney conducted a file review in late March.
The process required a visit to the regional DEP office, which had to be scheduled weeks in advance.
But even then, the details discovered were largely in legal and technical language.
In approximately 1,000 pages of documents for the 26 permitted wells, there was only one record of any communication DEP had with a landowner about a violation.
A letter was sent to indicate that a spill of fluid used for drilling on Jane Bower’s property had been cleaned up, but the recipient’s name was redacted.
Both Jane and Dan say they never received such a letter, even though DEP fined Chief Oil and Gas, the operator of the well at the time, $2,100 for the five barrel spill. There were no details of this spill on the DEP website.
The file review revealed there was also a spill of 294 gallons of ‘frac fluid’ at the same Bower well. The fluid is what is used in hydraulic fracturing, a process where water, sand and a small amount of chemicals, are injected into shale deep underground to fracture the rock and release gas.
There was no mention of this spill in DEP’s online records, and the paper records did not clearly indicate whether the ground water was tested after the spill.
It is not clear from the physical records whether these spills, or any other violations reviewed, ever posed a threat to human health.
Obama tightens oil and gas drilling regulations
The well operator at the time, Chief, said it did not.
But David Yoxtheimer, a hydrogeologist at Penn State’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research, said there’s not enough information to say for certain.
He said that if the Bower spills had gotten into surface or ground water then they "could have a water quality impact of low to moderate severity," but that such a risk would depend on site-specific factors not available in the files.
Landowner apathy: Despite the violations, it’s not clear that the landowners are doing all in their power to check for violations on their property.
Neither the Bowers nor the Bartos have a computer to check for violations, and neither plans on changing that.
"I sure as hell am not gonna buy one to check DEP," Neil Barto said.
All four families continue to support the drilling and note it has been a boon to the local economy. The Bartos, who have six wells on their property, say they have made about $150,000 in royalties off of the wells on their property in the last three years.
Plus, increased regulation is not a priority for them. That’s a fairly common viewpoint among landowners.
"In our experience, landowner groups have been focused on advancing expanded drilling to maximize royalty payment opportunities, and have generally been opposed to increased regulation," said Kate Sinding at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
And that, says the NRDC, could be delaying further regulation for the industry, or taking pressure off regulators to report violations more clearly.
"Advocacy for those kinds of protections would undoubtedly carry more weight were they to come from landowners themselves, as opposed to the environmental community," Sinding said.
– with additional reporting by CNN’s Poppy Harlow
Spain’s central bank says the country is now in a technical recession as the economy contracted 0.4 percent in the first quarter of the year.
The drop, published in a Bank of Spain report Monday, follows a 0.3 percent quarterly decline in the fourth quarter. A technical recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.
The Bank of Spain figure comes as no surprise, however. The government has said the economy is shrinking and forecasts it will contract 1.7 percent this year.
Asian stock markets fell Thursday after a weak Spanish bond auction inflamed concerns about the European debt crisis and hopes faded for more help for the U.S. economy from the Federal Reserve.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1 percent to 9,717.93, after hitting its lowest intraday point since March 8 at 9,692.70.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 1.5 percent to 20,489.01 and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8 percent to 2,002.69. Falling commodity prices dragged Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 down 0.9 percent to 4,296.80.
The debt crisis in Europe flared anew Wednesday after a disappointing auction of government debt in Spain signaled investor confidence in the country’s finances is weakening. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 125 points, and the price of gold plunged to its lowest level since January.
That compounded worries that arose Tuesday, when minutes released from the March meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee gave no hint of a third round of bond purchases, dubbed quantitative easing III or QE3, to support the U.S. economy.
The Fed has already carried out two rounds of bond-buying, most recently in August 2010, to drive down long-term interest rates easy pay day loans. Low bond yields generally encourage investors to shift money to buying stocks.
Analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said in an email that “markets remained under pressure with a further digestion of the Fed’s minutes which shows no hints for QE3.”
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 1 percent at 13,074.75. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished down 1 percent at 1,398.96. The Nasdaq composite index lost 1.5 percent to 3,068.09.
Benchmark oil for May delivery was up 48 cents to $101.95 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.54 to finish at $101.47 a barrel in New York on Wednesday. It had not closed below $102 per barrel since Feb. 15.
In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.3152 from $1.3139 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar fell to 82.22 yen from 82.58 yen.
U.S. stocks drifted lower but rebounded in later trading Thursday to end at nearly breakeven.
A string of weak economic reports — including jobless claims that fell below expectations — failed to inspire investors to move off the sidelines.
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed in the red for the third straight day, while the Dow broke a two-day losing streak.
The Dow Jones industrial average () added 20 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 () dropped 2 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq () was down 10 points, or 0.3%.
Even with a few days of losses, all three indexes are up more than 10% in 2012. But investors are continuing to seek economic reports that beat expectations in order to justify that run up.
On Thursday the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits only narrowly missed economists’ forecasts, but that still pushed stocks mostly lower.
U.S. economy to outpace Europe
"There’s a general sense in the market that we’re at lofty levels, so investors get worried when disappointments pop up," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank.
The week has been filled with a string of disappointing economic numbers on durable goods orders, consumer confidence and home prices. Ongoing concerns about a growth slowdown in China have added pressure on world markets.
"I think, overall, the market has had a good run, and investors are trimming some exposure," said Paul Powers, head of U.S. equity trading at Raymond James.
Most large financial stocks dropped more than 1% Thursday, including Bank of America (, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (, Fortune 500), Citigroup (, Fortune 500), Morgan Stanley (, Fortune 500) and Goldman Sachs (, Fortune 500).
While stocks are suffering, the initial public offering market has been buoyant and is on track for a record week with 10 companies set to debut.
Still, it was a mixed bags for the three companies that started trading Thursday. Millennial Media’s () shares nearly doubled, but T-shirt maker Cafe Press () ended the day roughly flat after an initial surge. Both companies priced above their initial trading range. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals () ended the day down roughly 14% after it started trading.
Stocks closed in the red Wednesday amid worries about slowing growth overseas and in the U.S.
Economy: First-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended March 24 fell to 359,000 — a four-year low — from 364,000 the previous week. But that was still higher than the 350,000 forecasted.
U.S. gross domestic product — the broadest reading of economic growth –increased at an annual rate of 3% in the fourth quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That was the third revision, and was in line with analysts’ estimates.
Companies: Best Buy’s (, Fortune 500) stock dropped after the company narrowly missed expectations and said it would close 50 stores.
Sears Holdings’ (, Fortune 500) stock rose but closed lower on reports that the retailer was shopping its Lands’ End brand for $2 billion.
Like a bear in a China shop
Red Hat’s () stock jumped after the software maker reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations and a stock buyback of $133 million.
Research in Motion () shares dropped after hours as the BlackBerry maker missed expectations on revenues and earnings. The company said it’s considering strategic alternatives, and one director left its board.
World markets: European stocks closed down. Britain’s FTSE 100 () was off 1.2%, the DAX () in Germany lost 1.8% and France’s CAC 40 () was down 1.4%.
Asian markets ended lower. The Shanghai Composite () declined 1.4%, the Hang Seng () in Hong Kong dropped 1.3% and Japan’s Nikkei () lost 0.7%.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar lost ground against the Japanese yen, but strengthened against the euro and the British pound.
Oil for May delivery slipped $2.63 to $102.78 a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery rose $2.20 to $1,660.40 an ounce.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, sending yields down to 2.16% from 2.20% late Wednesday.
TORONTO
Sales at U.S. retailers probably increased in January by the most in four months, spurred by the biggest gain in auto purchases since 2009, economists said before a report this week.
The projected 0.8 percent gain in retail receipts would follow a 0.1 percent advance in December, according to the median forecast of 65 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before Commerce Department figures on Feb. 14. Industrial production jumped and the cost of living increased in January, other data may show.
The drop in unemployment to a three-year low is evidence of an improving job market that
U.S. stocks ended mixed Thursday as investors digested a cautious economic outlook from the chairman of the Federal Reserve one day before a key report on the job market.
The Dow Jones industrial average () fell 11 points, or 0.1%, to end at 12,705. The S&P 500 () rose 1 points, or 0.1%, to 1,324. The Nasdaq () rose 11 points, or 0.4%, to 2,860.
"It’s a quiet day," said Paul Zemsky, head of multi-asset strategies at ING Investment Management. "The market is taking a pause before payrolls."
On Friday, the government is expected to report the U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs in January, according to economists surveyed by CNNMoney.
That would mark a sharp slowdown in hiring versus December, when 200,000 jobs were created. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 8.6%.
Speaking before Congress Thursday, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy has shown some signs of improvement recently, but described the pace of the recovery as "frustratingly slow."
The sluggish recovery leaves the economy "vulnerable to shocks," including the debt crisis in Europe, the central bank chief added.
The comments raised speculation that the Fed is willing to take additional steps to support the economy if conditions deteriorate, said Doug Roberts, chief market strategist for Channel Capital Research.
"He’s saying that if things get worse, I’m available and we’re going to ease," said Roberts. "Clearly, he’s telling the market that if you decide to bet against me you’re going to get killed."
The Fed has purchased billions of dollars worth of Treasury bonds and other assets under its quantitative easing program. Some analysts say the Fed could hold a third round of asset purchases this year, depending on how the recovery progresses.
Europe: Where things stand
Meanwhile, investors remain on the lookout for an official agreement on a debt-reduction plan and second bailout for Greece. The deal is expected to come by the end of the week, though deadlines have been missed in the past.
U.S. stocks rose Wednesday, but closed off the highs of the day, on a combination of improved economic data and easing concerns about Europe’s debt crisis.
Economy: Initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 28 totaled 367,000, according to the government. They were expected to total 375,000, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.
Data released Thursday morning from outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows planned job cuts surged 28% in January to 53,486 — marking the highest total since 116,000 job cuts were announced in September.
The Challenger report follows data Wednesday from payroll processor ADP saying that the private sector added 170,000 jobs in January, down sharply from 292,000 in December.
Companies: Retailers reported better-than-expected same-store sales in January, according to data from sales-tracker Thomson Reuters.
Abercrombie & Fitch’s () stock fell 13% after the clothing retailer reported weak same-store sales for the latest quarter and lowered its earnings guidance.
Zynga () shares rallied 17% following Facebook’s IPO filing. Zynga’s gaming apps and advertising contributed about 12% of Facebook revenue last year.
Facebook IPO: Morgan Stanley is big winner
Sony () shares fell 6% after the company reported disappointing earnings and revenue.
Unilever () shares slumped 3.5% after the maker of Lipton teas, Dove soaps and other consumer products said it had difficulty passing higher raw material costs on to consumers last year, and announced a gloomy outlook for 2012.
Qualcomm (, Fortune 500), a company that sells chips used in cell phones, boosted its forecast for its 2012 performance. Shares rose 2%.
Viacom (, Fortune 500) shares fell after the media giant reported better-than-expected earnings in its fiscal first quarter, but cited ratings weakness and softness in the U.S. television advertising market. Its film division swung to an operating loss in the quarter.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters () shares jumped 24% after the company reported its first-quarter revenue soared 102% compared to a year earlier, boosted by K-Cup sales.
World markets: European stocks closed modestly higher. Britain’s The DAX () in Germany added 0.6% and France’s CAC 40 () gained 0.3%. The FTSE 100 () in London ended little changed.
Asian markets ended higher. The Shanghai Composite () climbed 2%, the Hang Seng () in Hong Kong added 2% and Japan’s Nikkei () rose 0.8%.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and the British pound, but fell versus the Japanese yen.
Oil for March delivery slipped $1.25 cents to end at $96.36 a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery added $9.80 to $1,759.30 an ounce.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 1.85%.
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