Business FYI: Chesapeake Building Office in West Virginia
Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced plans Wednesday to build its Eastern Regional Headquarters in Charleston, W.Va.
The office will serve as home to Chesapeake’s operations in the Appalachian Basin, where the company has the largest leasehold, is the most active driller and is the largest natural gas producer.
Appalachian Basin operations are focused on West Virginia but stretch from central Alabama north to the Finger Lakes region of southern New York.
Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake is the nation’s largest independent producer of natural gas.
The company plans to move into the new headquarters in late 2009.
The price of the building was not disclosed.
Russian airline buying four Boeing 737s
Russian airline Atlant-Soyuz is buying four Boeing 737-700 passenger jets, the companies announced Thursday at the International Aviation and Space Show outside Moscow.
The catalog price of the order is $249 million.
The sale was listed as unidentified by Boeing Co. last year and is accounted for in the Chicago-based airplane manufacturer’s 2006 order totals.
Atlant-Soyuz is the flag carrier of the Moscow city government, which owns a controlling stake in the airline. It operates scheduled flights within Russia and charter flights to destinations in Europe, Egypt and elsewhere in North Africa.
“The key factors in our purchase decision were the 737-700′s superior range — enhanced further for Atlant-Soyuz with efficiency-enhancing blended winglets — and its industry-leading dispatch reliability,” Valery Menitsky, chairman of Atlant-Soyuz, was quoted as saying in a news release.
The airline already flies two Boeing-737s that it leases. The rest of its fleet consists of Russian aircraft.
Home ownership workshop planned Saturday
The Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League will host a free workshop on home ownership Saturday.
The “Get the Facts” workshop promises to provide information and advice about all aspects of home ownership, including the costs and credit requirements for buying a home, Urban League officials said.
The workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rudisill Regional Library, 1520 N. Hartford Ave.
The Urban League plans to host more “Get the Facts” workshops at local libraries through November.
More information is available by calling 584-0001, extension 312.
Krispy Kreme franchisee files bankruptcy
Great Circle Family Foods LLC, once Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc.’s largest franchisee, has filed for Chapter 11 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana, Calif.
The Fullerton, Calif.-based doughnut shop operator listed General Electric Capital Business Asset Funding Corp. as its largest secured creditor, with a $7.5 million claim.
Despite selling off a number of shops and “significantly” cutting debt, Great Circle said it continues to have “an unmanageable amount” of debt which it’s unable to pay.
The company and its units own and operate nine Krispy Kreme stores, and manage three others, all in Southern California.
Founded in 1998, Great Circle became Krispy Kreme’s largest franchisee under an aggressive development plan that called for it to open 42 Krispy Kreme stores over six years. At its peak in 2004, Great Circle had sales of $64 million. The company said it expects sales for 2007 to total about $17 million.
Great Circle said that overexpansion, Krispy Kreme’s lack of marketing, increases in costs of goods purchased from Krispy Kreme, consumer dietary changes and the absence of a “credible” coffee program were among the factors leading to its downfall.
Originally published by Bloomberg, AP and Staff Reports.
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