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Xanodyne Pharmacal Inc. has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Zipsor, a new pain relief treatment. “Zipsor (diclofenac potassium) is a drug with several unique features,” said Gary A. Shangold, chief medical officer of Xanodyne, noting that it is the first non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to be approved based the demonstration of safety and efficacy with the lowest available dose (25 mg.) of any diclofenac potassium product currently being marketed in the United States. It is also the first and only prescription-strength NSAID available in a liquid-filled capsule.

Xanodyne President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Valentino said Zipsor presents an important new therapeutic option for physicians as well as a significant opportunity for Xanodyne, as it is the first approval to come out of Xanodyne’s research and development organization.

Valentino said the company is in the process of completing launch presentations and expects to have Zipsor on the market in the United States within the coming months.

Founded in 2001, Newport-based Xanodyne is an integrated specialty pharmaceutical company that focuses on women’s health care and pain management.

The Independent Pilots Association helped UPS identify savings of some $90 million, which has helped avert pilot layoffs at the airline.

UPS and its pilots’ union, the Independent Pilots Association, have announced an agreement that averts the immediate furlough of 300 UPS pilots.

Earlier this year, following UPS’s review of volume reductions and a stated need to furlough pilots, IPA’s leadership offered to identify ways to cut operational costs. UPS and the IPA subsequently agreed on cost-cutting targets totaling $131 million over the next three years.

Using a variety of voluntary steps, the IPA identified savings totaling approximately $90 million. Although the full three-year goal was not reached by the original June 2 deadline, UPS and the union have agreed there will be no furloughs through April 1, 2010, and that the IPA will continue to work this year to produce additional savings.

Voluntary pilot savings generated later this year could eliminate the proposed layoffs entirely.

The savings identified by the IPA have been produced through voluntary programs such as pilots taking short- and long-term leaves of absence, military leaves, job sharing, reductions in flight pay guarantees, early retirement and sick bank contributions. According to UPS, both groups are confident they can achieve the total savings goal.

Bob Lekites, president of Louisville-based UPS Airlines, said the agreement “shows how a company and its union can work together to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. We applaud our pilots for making the voluntary commitments necessary to help us protect our business.”

Steve Trager, Chairman and CEO of Republic Bank

Louisville-based Republic Bancorp has been listed among the nation’s top banks by the American Bankers Association’s Banking Journal.

The publication’s 17th annual ranking of the nation’s top financial institutions highlights those with assets of $3 billion or more, ranked by return on average total equity (ROAE).

Republic Bank, with assets of $3.9 billion and a ROAE of 12.58 percent, came in at No. 15 on the list, surging from a 2008 placement of 68th. Republic was the only Kentucky financial institution to be included on the list.

In an overview of the analysis, the publication noted: “In a year where the average ROAE for the pool of analyzed institutions was -4.21 percent, the strong performance of this year’s top 25 is all the more extraordinary.”

The publication also noted that “most of 2008’s top performers generated strong earnings through relatively ordinary banking activities – generating low-cost deposits, making quality loans, and focusing on serving one particular segment extremely well (rather than trying to be all things to all people), all while keeping a sharp eye on noninterest expenses.”

Republic Bancorp operates 45 banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana and Florida and is the parent company of Republic Bank & Trust Company. Republic also operates Tax Refund Solutions, a nationwide tax refund loan and check provider.
 

Osteopathic medicine’s overall philosophy tends to attract students who are more interested in primary care, which is the greatest need in rural Kentucky and Central Appalachia.

Pikeville College’s School of Osteopathic Medicine has been ranked as one of the top 20 medical schools in the nation for rural medicine, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 online listing of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”
PCSOM also ranked fourth in the country in the percentage of graduates entering primary care residencies.

“We’re keeping the promise we made when we opened the medical school, to help ease the physician shortage in rural Kentucky and Appalachia,” said Boyd R. Buser, D.O., vice president and dean of PCSOM.

The School of Osteopathic Medicine was established in 1997 with a mission to provide an osteopathic medical education emphasizing primary care and research and produce graduates committed to serving the health care needs of communities in Eastern Kentucky and other Appalachian regions. Osteopathic medicine (D.O.), like allopathic medicine (M.D.), provides licensed physicians who serve in a variety of settings. Since the first graduates entered practice in 2004, more than 60 new physicians have opened offices within a two-hour drive of Pikeville, with several more located in rural communities in western Kentucky and throughout Appalachia. The vast majority of PCSOM graduates are working in primary care, mostly in medically underserved areas.

Interest in the school continues to grow, according to Buser: PCSOM received a record number of applications for admission to its incoming class, representing a 17 percent increase over the number of applications received in last year’s admissions cycle.

Construction is now under way on Northern Kentucky University’s ultra-high-tech Center for Informatics, which will house some of the most advanced technology in the region.

A relatively new field, informatics is the digital intersection of the arts, sciences and professions, where digital tools are used to develop and apply the theories and technologies of computation, information and communication to new situations and environments.

Among the new facility’s features will be a Computer Assisted Virtual Environment (CAVE) that will be available for businesses to use for product development. While several large corporations have their own CAVEs for research and development, the CAVE located at NKU’s Center for Informatics will be one of the only CAVEs available for public use. The center will also boast a “digitorium” that will be capable of running complex simulations in homeland security, computer security, financial security and other industries. The digitorium can double as a Network Operations Center (NOC) that will allow broad use by a variety of private and government sectors.

Griffin Industries, a Cold Spring, Ky.-based recycling company, has committed $6 million to equip the new informatics center. The gift will be matched by $1 million from Kentucky’s Comprehensive University Excellence Trust Fund, bringing the total impact of the gift to $7 million. The facility, scheduled to open in fall 2011, will be named Griffin Hall.

Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry (left) and Kentucky American Water President Nick Rowe announced American Water’s plans to locate a customer service center in Lexington that will bring around 30 new jobs to the area.

American Water and its subsidiary Kentucky American Water have an-nounced plans to relocate a major customer service dispatch facility to Kentucky American’s offices in Lexington.

The firm’s Field Resource Coordination Center (FRCC) is the scheduling organization that ensures customer-related orders are dispatched efficiently to the front-line field service workforce.  In addition to handling Kentucky American Water related orders, the FRCC also will dispatch orders for American Water’s entire Eastern Division, which encompasses operations in Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. The division employs more than 1,300 people and provides water and wastewater services to more than 3.5 million people.

In addition to the approximately 30 FRCC positions – the majority of which will be filled locally - a number of other American Water Eastern Division leadership positions are being located in Lexington, including the vice president of finance and the director of human resources and their staff personnel. American Water’s Eastern Division is directed by Senior Vice President Nick Rowe, who also serves as president of Kentucky American Water.

GE’s hybrid electric water heater is designed to provide the same amount of hot water as a standard water heater for only half the energy.

General Electric has announced plans to build its new line of energy-efficient, hybrid electric water heaters in Louisville, creating approximately 420 jobs with an average annual salary of $57,440.

The new hybrid water heater will combine energy-saving heat-pump technology with traditional electric heating systems used in most conventional water heaters on the market today, without sacrificing the amount of hot water it can deliver. The new hybrid water heater technology will allow GE to be the first manufacturer to introduce a water heater that will meet the new 2009 Department of Energy “Energy Star” standard for this new category of hot water heaters.
Manufacturing at the Louisville facility is expected to begin by 2011.  The water heaters will be built in China while the Appliance Park manufacturing facility is being built and equipped.

Up to $17 million in incentives from the state and metro government will be made available for the design and construction of the new energy-efficient hybrid electric water heater and for several other investments the company will make at Appliance Park over the next several years, which will total over $69 million. 
Producing the hybrid electric water heater in Louisville was also made possible by a vote by GE’s local IUE-CWA union membership that lowered labor costs to the level GE needed to competitively produce the new water heater. The union and employees approved a wage freeze until the current labor contract ends in 2011 and the implementation of new wage rates for new hires, making the facility more competitive and attractive than other manufacturing locations that were under consideration.

GE began production of washers, dryers, dishwashers and refrigerators at the Louisville Appliance Park in 1953, and the plant became a GE headquarters in 2004 with the creation of GE Consumer & Industrial.  The plant currently employs 3,495 workers.

Martinrea’s stamping plant in Shelbyville provides doors and hoods for Ford vehicles like the Expedition that are produced in nearby Louisville.

Less than a month after Martinrea International Inc. announced that it would close its Shelbyville stamping plant at the end of July, union workers have approved a new contract that will keep the facility open.

The company’s Shelby County plant supplies parts such as doors and hoods to Ford Motor Co. assembly plants in Louisville.

Dwayne Gilbert, president of United Auto Workers Local 2383, told The (Louisville) Courier-Journal that workers voted in favor of a four-year contract that cuts pay and benefits by 40 percent. The new contract puts hourly wages in the range of $15 to $20, down from $21 to $25 per hour.

In May, the union rejected a similar contract in large part because it included no guarantees that the plant would remain open beyond mid-2010. In recent weeks, though, Martinrea appears to have made inroads in diversifying the plant’s product line. Plant Manager Shawn Adelsberger told The Courier-Journal that the plant will begin producing parts for Volkswagen in 2011 and also expects to secure a contract for another, unidentified client. In addition, the new labor contract calls for Martinrea to invest $5 million in new equipment that will handle orders for companies outside the automotive industry.

MOREHEAD State University has opened a new $16.6 million space science facility that will serve as a research and development facility and for instruction in the university’s space science and astrophysics degree programs.
MSU is among only five institutions in the United States with a bachelor’s degree in space science.

“The new facility will greatly enhance our capacity to develop, test, validate and operate spacecraft systems,” said Dr. Ben Malphrus, professor of space science and director of the center. “The new laboratories and research infrastructure will allow us to engage our students in engineering design efforts for space systems and intimately involve them in astrophysics research.”

Malphrus added that the facility will also support the Kentucky Space program’s goal of creating a cottage aerospace industry in the commonwealth.
Financed primarily with state funds, the two-story, state-of-the-art building encompasses 45,000 s.f. of space that includes a control center for a 21-meter space antenna system, labs, an anechoic chamber that mimics the electromagnetic environment of space, a rooftop antenna test range, space system development laboratory, classrooms, offices and reception area. The center also houses a digital “star theatre,” a 108-seat, multifunction, digital classroom with a full 360-degree projection system and six digital star projectors. The theater will be used as an instructional tool for MSU space science students, visiting K-12 students and the general public.

EQT Corp., an integrated energy company with divisions focused on natural gas production transmission and distribution, has announced plans to expand its regional headquarters in Pikeville. The project will result in the creation of 100 new jobs in the commonwealth with an average annual wage of over $55,000.
EQT is the largest natural gas producer in the Appalachian basin with 3.4 million acres and approximately 13,000 productive wells. 

In 2008, EQT invested more than $762 million in Kentucky natural gas production and transportation, and had an estimated $1.7 billion impact on the eastern Kentucky economy.  In addition to its eastern Kentucky operations, EQT also has natural gas operations in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.  

The company’s expansion plans call for the construction of a new 45,000-s.f. complex in Pike County that is expected to be complete next year.

“EQT will be the first corporation to establish an office in the future energy park, located on U.S. 119 at Scott Fork,” said Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford. “Its location to Pike County will cause other independent firms that contract with EQT to relocate near the energy park, thus creating the opportunity for hundreds of future jobs for the people in our area.”

The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority has approved EQT Corp. for tax benefits up to $2.5 million under the Kentucky Jobs Development Act, an incentive program designed to attract and expand technology and service-related employment in the state.

Presidium Inc., a provider of information technology and student service desk solutions to higher education institutions, is investing more than $8.3 million to expand its operations in Somerset. The expansion is expected to create approximately 200 new full-time jobs.

The company currently employs 250 Kentuckians.

Founded in 2003, Presidium enables academic institutions, software providers and publishers to bring service desk solutions to organizations to help meet their goals. The company currently supports more than 600 institutions in higher education, K-12 and corporate e-learning, as well as numerous education IT companies and academic publishers.

Presidium plans to expand its existing Somerset campus by 10,000 s.f. and will lease another 26,000-s.f. facility as part of the expansion.  

The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority has granted preliminary approval to Presidium for tax benefits up to $4,185,000 under the Kentucky Jobs Development Act, an incentive program designed to attract and expand technology and service-related employment in the state.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program has awarded a $1 million grant and loan package to South Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. to construct a new network operations building at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset.

The network operations center (NOC) will improve and secure broadband services to the Valley Oak Technology Park and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and will ensure adequate data storage and service is available to regional businesses and data-dependent institutions.

“To deliver high speed Internet services for tomorrow’s jobs, you need a top-notch broadband backbone. The NOC is a critical piece to building that long-term architecture,” said U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers of Kentucky’s 5th District.

“This federal investment creates immediate jobs while laying the groundwork for new businesses, online job training and Web casting, and new high-tech careers. We no longer compete for jobs in neighboring counties but around the world, and the Internet provides an invaluable tool toward marketing our region’s rich manufacturing skills, technology services, and future capabilities.”

The project is expected to create five permanent full-time jobs and save 12 existing jobs over a three-year period.

The Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has announced that Kentucky banks are ranked eighth in the nation in terms of return on average assets (ROAA), which is a primary measure of profitability.

ROAA is an indicator of how profitable a bank is relative to its total assets and demonstrates how effectively management uses assets to generate earnings. Historically, a ROAA of approximately 1.0 percent is considered the benchmark goal for most banks. 

In the First Quarter Banking Profile issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), the annualized ROAA for the 199 financial institutions headquartered in Kentucky equaled 0.9 percent in first quarter of 2009. Only seven states achieved a higher ROAA: North Dakota (1.48), Colorado (1.44), Hawaii (1.38), Montana (1.25), Oklahoma (1.17), West Virginia (1.02) and New York (0.99). The average ROAA across the nation, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, was approximately .22 percent, and many states have a very low or negative ROAA.

“A bank’s return on assets is a key indicator for the banking industry,” said DFI Commissioner Charles Vice. “Kentucky banks continue to do well, especially compared to other states in the nation and contiguous states.”

Safetran Systems Corp., a global leader in the production of railroad signal, communication and relay equipment, has announced plans to invest $2.8 million to expand its Marion facility, creating approximately 150 new jobs over the next few months.

The Louisville-based company is enlarging an existing 11,000-s.f. facility that sits on 24 acres in Marion. The facility, which opened in 2002, currently employs approximately 50 full-time employees and 25 temporary workers.

“One of the main reasons Safetran chose to expand in Marion is because of the hard-working, dedicated employees they have found here,” said Crittenden County Judge Executive Fred Brown, noting that 150 jobs for Marion – which has been experiencing unemployment rates of over 10 percent – is like 10,000 jobs for a larger city. “It’s a major announcement.”

The company has received preliminary approval from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority for tax benefits up to $2.28 million under the Kentucky Rural Economic Development Act.

Kentucky has launched a new statewide discount drug card program called the Kentucky Rx Card that is available to all Kentucky residents and accepted at more than 50,000 pharmacy locations across the country.

The program, which is free to all residents of the commonwealth, provides savings of up to 75 percent on prescription drugs, with an average savings of 30 percent. The program has no restrictions to membership, income or age and there are no applications to complete.

While the program was primarily established to help uninsured residents of Kentucky, those with insurance can also use the card to get a discount on non-formulary medications not covered by insurance.

The program is being made possible and funded through the support of pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies.

Kentucky residents can download a free card, search drug pricing, and locate participating pharmacies at kentuckyrxcard.com.