Perez named top TVA VP
Ricardo “Ric” Perez has been named senior vice president of shared services at the Tennessee Valley Authority, responsible for the utility’s supply chain and facilities, information technology, TVA police, natural resources and real property services.
Perez, who most recently served as TVA’s senior vice president for nuclear operations support, joined TVA after retiring in 2012 after working 30 years at Westinghouse Electric Co., including three years as president and chief operating officer.
“Ric is recognized throughout the industry as a strong leader with extensive experience over a broad range of management areas,” TVA President Bill Johnson said.
At Westinghouse, Perez headed most of the company’s 14,000 employees in the company’s global facilities, delivery resources and major product areas. In his operational leadership roles, he made significant improvements in industrial safety, operational exposure and quality performance.
Perez holds a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Florida and a master’s in engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the American Nuclear Society, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the University of Florida Nuclear Engineering Advisory Council.
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Tax collections up 3.1 percent
Tennessee state revenue collections for November were up 3.1 percent over a year ago but still $6.1 million less than what was forecast by the state.
The Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration said Thursday that the state collected $823.7 million in taxes last month, including a healthy 7.28 percent gain in sales tax revenues. But franchise and excise tax collections continue to lag projections.
“We continue to believe that this fiscal year will reflect moderate growth, somewhat better than recent years,” Finance and Administration Commissioner Larry Martin said. “Sales tax revenues are showing significant improvement over this time last year, but it remains to be seen if this growth pattern is sustainable. November collections represent spending that occurred in October, so we won’t see after-Thanksgiving retail sales numbers until next month.”
Martin said franchise and excise taxes “remain volatile and have been less than what we budgeted for the past two months, and that concerns us.”
Gasoline and motor fuel collections were $5.3 million less than the budgeted estimate of $74 million.
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Georgia Hispanics spend $8.5 billion
Hispanic households in Georgia have an estimated annual spending power of $8.5 billion, according to a study by the Partnership for a New American Economy released Thursday. The study found that foreign-born Hispanics in the Peach State contributed $5.2 billion in spending power.
In 2013, Hispanic households paid an estimated $1 billion in Georgia state and local taxes and $1.9 billion in federal taxes, including $1.4 billion to Social Security and $300 million to the Medicare’s core trust fund.
The Partnership for a New American study said that immigrants draw down less in Social Security benefits than they put in to the trust fund each year.
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Holiday shopping boost U.S. sales
U.S. retail sales perked up in November, as cheaper gas and an improving job market fueled a promising start to the holiday shopping season.
Retail sales rose a seasonally-adjusted 0.7 percent, the most in eight months, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Falling gasoline prices dented gas stations receipts by 0.8 percent, but that appears to have freed up money that consumers took elsewhere.
Excluding gas stations, sales climbed a healthy 0.9 percent. Spending on motor vehicles accelerated 1.7 percent, while purchases at clothiers, online retailers, electronics stores and department stores all expanded. Non-store retailers, which include online and mail-order outlets, rose 1 percent.
The figures indicate that consumers have pumped up their holiday shopping, despite initial signs within the retail industry that Black Friday was weak this year. To extract more dollars, stores are plying shoppers with big discounts and other enticements — a trend that will likely continue into the season’s finale.
Over the past 12 months, retail sales are up 5.1 percent.
“In the months ahead, we expect consumers keep spending the extra income gained from the strong job market and the collapse in energy prices,” said Laura Rosner, an analyst at the bank BNP Paribas.
Average national gas prices have slid to $2.64 a gallon, down nearly 30 cent, or 9.8 percent, over the past month, according to the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge.
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Net worth slips in third quarter
Americans’ net worth slipped in the July-September quarter as shrinking stock portfolios overwhelmed a solid gain in home values.
U.S. household wealth declined 0.2 percent in the third quarter to $81.3 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. Americans’ stock and mutual fund portfolios shrank $700 billion. The value of their homes increased $245 billion.
The slight drop comes after Americans’ wealth rose to a record in the April-June quarter. A booming stock market and a rebound in home values have enabled the nation’s net worth to rebound from the Great Recession and reach new highs.
Yet other data shows that those gains have mostly benefited wealthier households, while leaving middle-class wealth largely unchanged. Still, last quarter’s increase in home values could help boost spending in the months ahead. Rising home prices can make people feel more financially secure and more willing to spend. This “wealth effect” could boost growth.
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Mortgage rates edge higher
Average U.S. long-term mortgage rates edged higher this week after four weeks of declines, but they remained at historically low levels that could entice potential homebuyers.
Mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday that the nationwide average for a 30-year mortgage rose to 3.93 percent this week from 3.89 percent last week. It is now at its lowest level since June 2013.
Rates are about a half-point lower than at the beginning of the year, when the benchmark 30-year rate stood at 4.53 percent.
The average for a 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, increased to 3.20 percent this week from 3.10 percent last week.
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Sea World CEO to step down
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. said Thursday that its CEO is stepping down as head of the company and named its chairman as interim leader.
Attendance at its theme parks has been weak since the recession and has dropped in three of the past four quarters. SeaWorld has also been battling negative publicity since the release of “Blackfish” last year, a documentary that suggested its treatment of animals may have led to the death of trainers.
SeaWorld has been trying to combat the decline with a turnaround effort. It said Thursday that it will eliminate an unspecified number of jobs as part of previously announced cost cuts, which are expected to save $50 million annually. The company would not say how many jobs it planned to cut.
Jim Atchison has served as CEO and president since 2009. He will become vice chairman and will be nominated to the board of its independent nonprofit conservation fund. Chairman David D’Alessandro will take over as interim CEO Jan. 15 and serve until a permanent replacement is found.