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Three internists have left Monroeville-based Premier Medical Associates to join the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, according to spokesman Paul Wood.

Drs. George Wahal, Andrew Margolis and Kahir Ariff will become UPMC doctors next month, Wood said. The move was in the works before Premier reached agreement July 8 with West Penn Allegheny Health System to accept 30 primary care doctors who were employed by the health system, Wood said.

The West Penn Allegheny-Premier deal followed nine months of negotiations, which will increase Premier’s heft as a medical care provider in the city’s eastern suburbs while helping West Penn Allegheny cut losses associated with its employed physicians’ group. Premier is the biggest independent physicians’ group in the region; UPMC is the dominant hospital network, followed by West Penn Allegheny.

In May, UPMC reported its operating income rose 16 percent year-over-year for the first nine months of 2010. West Penn by contrast, saw an operating loss of $5.2 million between January and March, and announced last month it planned to trim 1,500 jobs and close the emergency room at its hospital in the city's Bloomfield neighborhood.

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Patterson Cos. Inc. chose S.M. Wilson & Co. to build its new $15 million technology center in Effingham, Ill., about 100 miles northeast of St. Louis.

St. Paul, Minn.-based Patterson (Nasdaq: PDCO) is a distributor serving the dental, veterinary and rehabilitation supply markets.

S.M. Wilson said Monday it would immediately begin work on the 96,700-square-foot, three-level facility, which is slated for completion in mid-2011.

The St. Louis-based construction company is providing design/build services for the project, which is being designed to qualify for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The architect on the project is Omaha, Neb.-based DLR Group.

The facility’s main level features a showroom, employee training center, offices, conference rooms and support space fast payday loans. The facilities top floor has additional training centers, offices, conference rooms and support space.

The building’s lower level will host a walk-out cafeteria, IT department, equipment testing labs, fitness facility, locker rooms, mechanical rooms, and shipping and receiving departments.

Patterson’s project includes a 450-space parking lot, an outdoor pond and walking trails around the facility. The project is scheduled for completion in mid-2011.

S.M. Wilson is one of the largest privately held companies in St. Louis with $439.1 million in 2009 revenue.

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Porn sites could soon be swapping their .com for the sexier .xxx.

On Friday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers board of directors approved the new top-level domain — that’s the technical name for the .com, .xxx or .net part of a URL — and sent it on to the next committee.

"It’s been a long time coming, but I’m excited about the fact that .xxx will soon become a reality. This is great news," said Stuart Lawley, chairman of ICM Registry, the nonprofit organization that has been leading the charge to establish the new TLD.

But final approval is still months away. "The board approved the movement forward on .xxx, but .xxx itself has not been approved," said ICANN spokesman Brad White.

Now the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee, an organization of 100 governments, must take up the issue and offer public policy advice on .xxx. Its recommendations, alongside that of the ICANN board, will be considered as part of the approval process, said ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush.

He expects .xxx could become a reality by 2011.

ICANN has jurisdiction over top-level domains because it is the private nonprofit that manages the Internet naming system no teletrack payday loans. Through unique numerical addresses for each site — the IP address — individual websites are able to find and connect.

The long strings of numbers, however, are difficult to remember, so human-friendly domains were created. For example, it is easier to type in CNNMoney.com than it is to recall 157.166.159.230.

ICANN hasn’t wanted to allow every possible top-level domain. In 2007, the body rejected ICM’s original application to create .xxx. But an independent review board, consisting of a panel of experts, ruled that the rejection was wrong.

"We’ve accepted the decision of this panel, which means that the accountability mechanism has worked," Thrush said. "It’s a fantastic example of the accountability mechanism actually working."

ICM Registry said the .xxx domain is beneficial to the public because it sends an obvious signal that the domain contains pornography, which is desired by some and avoided by others.

Also on Friday, ICANN approved top-level domains that use strictly Chinese characters. 

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TOP PROFIT GROWTH

Dollar figures in millions

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The numbers being batted around when it comes to how much the oil spill will ultimately cost BP and the local Gulf of Mexico economies are huge. $3 billion. $14 billion. One politician put it at over $100 billion.

The range is so big because two important questions remain unanswered: When will the leak be sealed, and will most of the oil wash ashore? Until those are answered no one will know the pricetag of the damages for sure.

But there have been studies done looking at what’s broadly at stake, and the number is quite large indeed.

The four biggest industries in the Gulf of Mexico are oil, tourism, fishing and shipping, and they account for some $234 billion in economic activity each year, according to a 2007 study done by regional scholars and published by Texas A&M University Press.

Two thirds of that amount is in the United States, with the other third in Mexico.

If the Gulf of Mexico were a country, it would be the 29th largest economy in the world.

Oil and gas

Ironically, the largest chunk of that money is generated by the oil and gas industry, and they may ultimately be the ones that lose the most.

Oil and gas interests generate $124 billion or 53% of the total money, according to Jim Cato, a former economics professor at the University of Florida and one of the authors on the study.

As of Thursday, all new offshore drilling in U.S. waters in the Gulf remained closed following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig last month, which claimed 11 lives and left an uncapped oil well leaking thousands of gallons a day into the water.

Oil production from existing wells has been largely unaffected and drillers have been busying themselves with wells begun before the explosion. But the longer the ban remains intact, the harder the economic bite.

"If the moratorium is continued through June, lost revenue from shallow water drilling is estimated at $135 million," said a letter Friday from ten senators urging a lifting of the ban.

The ban may eventually be lifted, but how much more the oil industry will have to pay for royalties or spill prevention, plus restricted access to new drilling sites, remains to be seen.

Tourism

Tourism is the second largest industry in the Gulf, and it ranks right behind oil. About 46% of the Gulf economy, or over $100 billion a year, is from tourism dollars, according to the A&M report.

With tourism, it’s not necessarily the oil that washes up on the beach that hurts the industry, but how much oil people think will wash up on the beach. And people seem to think it will be bad.

In Florida, state tourism officials recently told CNN they’re getting cancellations as far as three months out.

In Mississippi it’s even worse.

Ken Montana, President of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Tourism Commission, said cancellation rates are running at nearly 50%.

"The perception is that everybody has oil on the beach and we are all closed up," Montana told CNN. "No beaches are closed, period."

Fishing and shipping

Fishermen are perhaps the most directly impacted by the spill. The government has already closed over 20% of federal waters for fishing activities and many of them are out of work.

But commercial fishing and shipping together only account for 1% of the Gulf’s total economic activity.

While the number is small in terms of Gulf cost dollars, it does not factor in the impact a shut down in shipping could have, which could halt grain and other cargo from traveling up and down the Mississippi River.

According to the Port of New Orleans, no disruption in shipping is foreseen. The Coast Guard has set up five washing stations for ships to get scrubbed if they come into contact with the oil, but so far none have been used, said a port spokesman.

What’s at stake

Obviously, the oil spill isn’t going to shut down the Gulf’s entire economic output.

When the spill first happened, researchers at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, who also contributed to the A&M report, estimated the economic damages might be $1.6 billion. That number included $400 million in direct economic costs, and another $1.2 million in services provided by wetlands that might be compromised - things like water filtration and such.

But that number was arrived at when the oil spill was estimated to be 1,000 barrels a day, said David Yoskowitz, chair of socio-economics at Harte.

BP (BP) estimates for the oil leak are now 5,000 barrels a day, and some say it could be 10 times that.

Moreover, both the Harte study and the A&M report only look at the Gulf of Mexico. Yet there are reports that the oil is getting caught up in the so-called loop current, which could bring it up the eastern seaboard.

"If that happens, all bets are off," said Yoskowitz.  

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Main Street’s job hemorrhaging has slowed.

Companies with fewer than 50 workers added a net 1,000 jobs in April, according to a report released Wednesday from payroll processor ADP. But the upswing actually began last month: ADP (ADP, Fortune 500) revised its March data to reflect a gain of 4,000 positions, marking the first month in nearly two years that small companies expanded their payrolls.

But even as the pink slips have slowed, they’ve left behind a massive jobs shortfall. Small companies have shed 3 million workers since the recession began, by ADP’s count.

In a speech Tuesday before the Business Council, a group of CEOs from major companies, President Obama emphasized the need to rebuild the country’s decimated employee rolls.

"Last year, the economy was in freefall. Today, the economy is growing again," Obama said. "Now, by no stretch of the imagination can we declare victory. Not until the millions of our neighbors who are looking for work can find work. … Spurring job creation and economic expansion continues to be our number-one domestic priority."

But many small business owners say they’re still sitting tight and holding off on new hires. The economy’s still-tentative recovery — witness Thursday’s sharp stock-market selloff — has companies treading cautiously.

Jim Houser, co-owner of Hawthorne Auto Clinic in Portland, Ore., has kept headcount steady at the auto body shop he opened 27 years ago. One longtime employee retired, and an intern was brought on in his place as a full-time worker.

"I have not felt the need to lay anybody off," Houser says — but he isn’t hiring, either.

Like many business owners, he’s felt the downturn’s effects. Customers facing expensive repairs put them off more frequently. On the flip side, drivers are invested in keeping their vehicles running: "There was a time up until 2008 that if the repair was going to be expensive, they would just go buy another car," he says. "There has been much less of that, so that has been an advantage."

Houser has plans for how his business can grow when the economy strengthens. He’d like to make the equipment and staff investments to install larger batteries in hybrid cars, making them even more fuel efficient.

But the installation is expensive, and Houser won’t spend the money to upgrade until he’s more optimistic about the stability of the economy instant payday loan no telecheck. That’s a common tactic right now: Recent small business surveys show that few owners are currently making capital investments.

"If people start loosening up with their money on maintenance or these conversions, these upgrades, then I will hire someone," he says. "But I am being very cautious. I don’t want to make a big investment that I can’t fulfill, that I can’t get the returns I hope."

A thousand miles south, in Los Angeles, online marketing company Tesla Consulting opened its doors in October 2008 — just as the economy really headed off the cliff. Eli Gladden and his two co-founders used a credit card to fund their new firm, which grew fast enough that they’ve found themselves in the market for new employees. In September, they added a marketing assistant to their staff, and in February, they made their first executive hire, bringing on a business development officer.

Still, Gladden is proceeding slowly.

"A lot of companies that were in our space and didn’t succeed grew so quickly that they weren’t in a position to handle a downturn," he says. "No one really ever thought about building a business that could scale back down. We are being really careful about bringing in new people, because we want to build a stable company that can weather storms if it has to."

Itty-bitty companies hire fastest: A separate employment survey, conducted by payroll software provider Intuit, concluded that America’s tiniest businesses are already rebounding.

Using data from around 55,000 small businesses that use Intuit’s Online Payroll system, Intuit estimated that companies with 20 or fewer workers added 66,000 new jobs in April. Since June 2009, they’ve upped their payroll by 300,000 new positions, Intuit (INTU) says.

That estimate is wildly different from ADP’s, but both surveys point to signs that for the job market, the worst is past.

And Gladden points to one silver lining to the carnage of the past two years: Companies can scoop up talented, eager workers.

"There are all these people we have worked with that are available," he says. "If we need somebody, we know we can go out and get somebody who is going to add value right away." 

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Construction is to begin in May on a boutique hotel that Lawrence Group and St. Louis University plan for the vacant Interiors Unlimited building on Olive Street just north of the SLU campus.

The 51-room Hotel Ignacio will be named after St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order that runs SLU. The hotel, located at 3407 Olive, will open early next year, Steve Smith, president of Lawrence Group said Wednesday.

Peter Pierotti, director of real estate at SLU, said the lobby area will have rotating displays of art from university collections. The artwork will help connect the hotel and the Grand Center arts district, Smith said.

They declined to divulge the project’s cost. SLU does not publicize the cost of projects built without private donations, a university spokesman said. The project has historic preservation tax credits and $5 million in federal New Markets Tax Credits, Smith said.

Adjoining the five-story Interiors Unlimited building is Triumph Grill, which is in a structure owned by Smith.

He said the two buildings will be connected to allow the restaurant to provide the hotel’s food service.

Built in 1905 as the Morgens laundry, the Interiors Unlimited building has been vacant for years. SLU bought it and other properties in the vicinity several years ago when it considered building an arena in Grand Center.

Instead, the project eventually became Chaifetz Arena, which opened in 2008 on SLU’s southeast corner.

Hotel Ignacio will feature the usual amenities, including a business center and spa. The parking area on the building’s east side will be landscaped as part of a new main entrance. Guest parking will be on a university-owned lot just north of the hotel.

"We don’t have to create any more asphalt," Smith said.

Pierotti said the hotel will invigorate an area near the SLU campus.

"We want to get people in the street, enliven the street," he said.

As part of the deal, Lawrence will get a stake in the hotel.

Already under way a block from the hotel site is work on another project by SLU and Lawrence Group. Two buildings in the 3300 block of Locust are being renovated as 25 apartments and street-level store space.

The apartments, scheduled to open this fall, will be marketed to SLU students as well as the public.

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Falls Church security contractor DynCorp International Inc. has agreed to be acquired by private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP for $1.5 billion.

Terms of the proposed transaction call for Cerberus to pay $17.55 in cash for each share of DynCorp International common stock, approximately $988 million in cash based on the approximately 56.29 million shares of stock outstanding. Assumption of debt would make up the balance of the purchase price.

The cash price of $17.55 for DynCorp shares (NYSE: DCP) is a 49 premium to its closing price Friday of $11.75 per share. DynCorp went public in May 2006 at $15 a share. The stock reached its peak in Jan. 2008 when it traded at $27.58.

As a security contractor, DynCorp has been active player in U.S. security missions around the globe, especially Iraq. In its latest profit report, DynCorp earned $20.3 million, or 36 cents per share, on revenue of $915 billion.

The acquisition by Cerberus has been approved by DynCorp’s board of directors and recommended to shareholders, but is contingent on approved by a DynCorp shareholder vote.

DynCorp has the opportunity to get more from a sale. The acquisition agreement gives DynCorp 28 days to solicit alternative proposals from third parties and the company said Monday it intended to consider any such proposals. But at least one big block of owners think the Cerberus offer is good enough to take. Affiliates of Veritas Capital FundManagement LLC, which hold nearly 35 percent of DynCorp International shares, have agreed to vote in favor of the transaction.

Assuming the deal is approved by shareholders and government regulators, both firms expect the transaction to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2010. After that, DynCorp would become a private company wholly-owned by Cerberus.

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Employment dropped in nearly all of the 334 largest U.S. counties from September 2008 to September 2009, and Kansas City-area counties didn’t escape the declines.

Clay County took the greatest local hit, with employment falling 5.7 percent, or 86,600 jobs, according to figures the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Thursday. Johnson County trailed close behind, with employment diving 5.6 percent, or 299,400 jobs. Jackson County experienced a decline of 4.4 percent, or 353,100 jobs. Wyandotte County saw a drop of 2.7 percent, or 78,800 jobs, which was the 35th-best showing in the nation.

See the complete report here.

None of the drops were as severe as in Elkhart County, Ind., where employment fell 14.5 percent during the period, mostly because of manufacturing job losses.

The greatest gain came in Yakima County, Wash., where employment rose 1.7 percent.

The nation’s average weekly wage slid 0.1 percent during the third quarter of 2009, the first year-to-year drop in three quarters and one of only five drops since 1978. Average financial activities wages fell 2.3 percent; average manufacturing wages fell 0.2 percent. Wage changes ranged from a 6.6 percent gain in Bell County, Texas, to a 13.2 percent loss in Rutherford, Tenn.

Here’s how the Kansas City-area counties stacked up in terms of average weekly wage and the percent change year to year:

• Clay County, $785, up 2.7 percent

• Jackson County, $858, up 0.7 percent

• Johnson County, $858, down 0.9 percent

• Wyandotte County, $812, down 2.2 percent

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