NewsFeeds 10.21.09

Despite recession, new bank opens in Powhatan (Times-Dispatch)
New Horizon Bank in Powhatan raised enough money during tough economic times to open for business.

Mohawk to close (Daily Progress)
In from the frigid morning air, employees at Mohawk Industries caught a second cold shock early Monday when officials informed them that they will be without jobs by the end of the year. The carpet-backing plant will close Dec. 18, employees said, leaving 120 without jobs.

Toano company expands, will add 100 jobs (Daily Press)
A fast-growing James City County company that packages and sells surgical trays to hospitals hasn’t let the economy slow its pace. Executives from AVID Medical said Monday that the company recently completed a $7.9 million expansion of its Toano headquarters that doubled the size of its former facility, to about 185,000 square feet.

California accuses bank of raiding pension funds (LA Times)
The state attorney general says a State Street Corp. of Boston cheated CalPERS and a teachers pension agency out of nearly $57 million.

Which Came First: Government Ownership or Catastrophic Losses? (Slate)
By the time the government got there, they had essentially failed. A year ago, the choice facing the bondholders, shareholders, and executives of GM, Chrysler, Citigroup, and, to a lesser degree, Bank of America, wasn’t between accepting government help or accepting the offer of other suitors; it was between Washington, D.C., and liquidation. Like so many retailers, restaurants, industrial companies, and smaller financial institutions that had proved poor stewards of capital, they found the market was no longer willing to provide them with financing.

Crazy Publicity Stunts: Small Biz Lessons (TheStreet.com)
Last week, millions of Americans spent an entire business day captivated by a hot air balloon.  The lesson here may be twofold: 1) make sure your publicity stunt doesn’t require the involvement of the police or National Guard (they don’t like being tricked) and, more importantly, your stunt should make you and/or your product look good… not unbalanced or crazy. Here are ten other stunts that range from brilliant marketing to moral failure (and some that do both).

Top banks cut small business lending by $8 billion (Fortune)
As small business loans continue to dry up, the President readies a new set of initiatives aimed at reversing the trend.