Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 14, 1994 TAG: 9412140146
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WASHINGTON - The Agriculture Department on Tuesday made China eligible for the first time to buy U.S. farm goods using credit backed by the U.S. government, which authorized $100 million worth of borrowing.
The allocation for the budget year that began in October includes $20 million for cotton, $15 million for wheat, $10 million for vegetable oils, $10 million for wood products. Smaller amounts were allocated for protein meals, oilseeds, hops and feed grains.
The program is the largest U.S. agricultural export promotion program, guaranteeing repayment of private, short-term credit for up to three years. The program also can be risky, with credits in the past going to the former Soviet Union and Iraq.
- Associated Press
Loeb says U.S. needs `think' jobs
NORFOLK - America must develop stronger intellectual skills and fewer jobs based on physical labor to compete in the global marketplace, says Marshall Loeb, Fortune magazine's editor-at-large.
``We're entering an economy where `think' work is more important, where brain work is more important than brawn,'' Loeb said. ``High-paid jobs that counted more on muscle than mind power are really declining rapidly.''
Loeb made the comments at a luncheon sponsored by Old Dominion University College of Business and Public Administration and the Economics Club of Hampton Roads.
``The best investment the people in Norfolk can make is to uplift the quality of education,'' Loeb said.
- Associated Press
Tobacco firms may face lawsuit
NEW ORLEANS - A woman whose husband died of lung cancer and three current smokers will ask a federal judge today to let them represent millions of others in a suit against tobacco companies.
The group will ask for class-action status in their lawsuit claiming cigarettes are addicting and that tobacco companies manipulated nicotine in them to keep people hooked.
The tobacco industry is fighting the request for class-action status, saying addiction can only be determined on an individual basis.
- Associated Press
Sterile Concepts declares dividend
Sterile Concepts Holdings Inc., a Richmond provider of surgical procedure trays and former unit of Carilion Health System of Roanoke, declared its initial dividend of 4 cents per share, payable about Jan. 10 to shareholders on Dec. 30.
by CNB