Business Briefs for Oct. 22

VIRGINIA

5 workplace finalists set for HYPE award

VIRGINIA BEACH -- HYPE, the Greater Richmond Chamber's young-professional initiative, has announced the five finalists for the second annual Young Professional Workplace Award.

The finalists are Bon Secours Richmond Health System, CapTech Ventures Inc., Dominion Resources Inc., Genworth Financial Inc. and Madison+Main advertising agency.

The award from HYPE -- Helping Young Professionals Engage -- recognizes Richmond-area businesses that have created the most dynamic work environments for young professionals.

Thirty-five companies were nominated for the award. The finalists will be spotlighted and the winner announced at the YP Workplace Award Celebration on Nov. 12 at the Robinson Theater Community Art Center.

For more details about the event and finalists, visit http://www.HYPErichmond.com.

MeadWestvaco sells software subsidiary

MeadWestvaco Corp. said yesterday that it has sold a small software-development subsidiary, Paxonix, to Persistent Systems Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based software-development services company. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

MeadWestvaco, a Henrico County-based packaging and paper-products company, created Paxonix internally in 2001. The business provides Web-based branding and packaging-process solutions.

MeadWestvaco said Paxonix has continued to grow and the business is best positioned now within a specialized software-services enterprise. MeadWestvaco will continue to use Paxonix and will be a reseller of its software and services.

Maker of submachine guns moving to Beach

A company that makes submachine guns plans to move its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Virginia Beach.

City officials say Transformational Defense Industries Inc. plans to hire 35 employees when it relocates its headquarters to Oceana West Corporate Park. The company already runs a 4,000-square-foot production center in Virginia Beach; it plans to lease an additional 5,000 square feet.

Transformational Defense Industries employs 24 workers in Virginia Beach and five in Washington. It is a subsidiary of Swiss-based Gamma Research and Technologies Holding SA.

THE NATION

Bailed-out companies may cut executive pay

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration plans to order companies that received huge government bailouts last year to sharply cut the compensation of their highest-paid executives, according to a person familiar with the decision.

The seven companies that received the most assistance would have to cut the annual salaries of their 25 highest-paid executives by an average of about 90 percent from last year, the source said.

The seven companies are Bank of America Corp., American International Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., General Motors, GMAC, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial.

Wal-Mart price cuts continue into holidays

NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart, which has ridden low prices to dominate the U.S. retail scene, further stepped up its game in price-cutting yesterday.

The world's largest retailer said it will cut prices this holiday season for a week at a time on thousands of items, from bananas to board games. The first group of cuts took effect yesterday.

"We will not be beaten on price," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and leader of its U.S. business.

Microsoft alliance unites Bing, Twitter

SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft Corp. has picked up a new weapon in its Internet search duel with Google -- full access to Twitter's communications hotbed.

The partnership announced yesterday represents a coup for Microsoft as it tries to spice up its Internet search engine, Bing, in its long-running attempts to lure traffic from Google. A test version of Bing's Twitter feature debuted yesterday.

If the alliance pans out the way Microsoft envisions, Bing will become the best way outside of Twitter's own Web site to find out what people are saying in their "tweets."

Elsewhere

• President Barack Obama unveiled plans yesterday to refocus spending of the government's $700 billion financial bailout away from Wall Street's big financial institutions and toward small businesses on Main Street. Obama said the initiatives would make it easier for smaller community banks to provide credit to small businesses, which have been hard-hit by the financial crisis. The president's plan also includes a request that Congress increase caps for existing Small Business Administration loans.

Oil prices hit new highs for the year yesterday just as the dollar fell to new lows against the euro, showing how much the weak U.S. currency has come to dominate energy markets. Benchmark crude for December delivery rose $2.25 to settle at $81.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices hit $82 at one point. -- Staff and Wire Reports