Infineon Technologies AG’s former CEO Ulrich Schumacher told a German court he never took or asked for bribes, denying charges he accepted illicit cash payments during his term at the company. Schumacher was testifying on the first day of a trial in Munich on charges he accepted cash from business consultant Udo Schneider from 2000 to 2003 over the sale of sponsorship and service contracts to Europe’s second-largest maker of semiconductors.

The bankrupt Qimonda memory-chip manufacturing plant owes $4.46 million to Henrico County, $1.7 million to the city of Richmond and $1.37 million to VCU’s School of Engineering Foundation.

Bankruptcy can lead to a bargain for some savvy shoppers, including those scoping out the former Qimonda manufacturing plant in eastern Henrico County. Texas Instruments Inc. has filed a bid to buy more than 300 tools and equipment from the bankrupt memory-chip maker for $172.5 million. The Dallas-based Fortune 500 company signed on this week as a stalking horse bidder with Qimonda, which means the Texas Instruments has made an initial bid for the items.

Starting your own business, buying a franchise or forming a nonprofit are challenging tasks. No matter the endeavor, it’s crucial to take some time to prepare and evaluate your goals. Here are a few things to consider: Starting your own busine

• Not surprisingly, a major factor is money, which can be tough to get in this economy.

One is devoting time to a nonprofit. Another bought a franchise. A third started his own business. Months after mass layoffs at Qimonda Richmond, the refugees of the eastern Henrico County memory-chip maker are looking beyond their engineering and manufacturing résumés to find new career paths. The reasons vary.

Few so-called life events prove as disorienting and as disheartening as a layoff. A pink slip delivers a body blow. For many dismissed employees, severance packages and assistance from human resources departments ease the pain. Others are not so fortunate. Government programs try to help. A Friday RT-D First story reported frustrations regarding jobless benefits. According to staff writer Emily Dooley: “A program for thousands of unemployed workers eligible for additional federal benefits has been hampered by complicated regulations, low staffing levels, and processing backlogs at the Virginia Employment Commission and locally operated work-force centers.“

A program for thousands of unemployed workers eligible for additional federal benefits has been hampered by complicated regulations, low staffing levels, and processing backlogs at the Virginia Employment Commission and locally operated work-force centers. Many of the unemployed worked for memory-chip maker Qimonda, which in February announced it was closing its eastern Henrico County plant. The company did not provide severance, failed to issue many final paychecks, and cut health benefits.

As many as 46 employees remaining at Qimonda’s memory-chip plant in eastern Henrico County could receive incentive bonuses totaling of up to $1.24 million. The employees tasked with a variety of jobs, from maintaining tools to defending the company against litigation, will be allowed to receive the bonuses, a judge in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware ruled.

More than 500 former Qimonda employees gathered at a career fair at Virginia Commonwealth University to network and talk with prospective employers about their job offerings.

Hundreds of former Qimonda employees met perspective employers, did some networking and took skill assessment tests as part of a job fair and career open house today. Seminars on managing finances while in career transition, crafting a transition resume and applying for jobs with the federal government also are being offered during the fair, held at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business and School of Engineering at 301 W. Main St.

A former Qimonda employee has filed a class-action lawsuit in Delaware on behalf of more than 2,000 employees who were laid off. The suit seeks $40 million in damages. Lakita Blair, who worked at Qimonda’s plant in eastern Henrico County, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Delaware against Infineon Technologies AG, Infineon Technologies North America Corp. and Qimonda AG.

The Qimonda plant in eastern Henrico County is on the selling block. Qimonda North America Corp. named a team of advisers yesterday to oversee the sale of its semiconductor manufacturing facility.

The gloves come off in Henrico Henrico County is accustomed to flush times, not tough times. Henrico, for as long as anyone can remember, has been synonymous with excellent schools, well-managed government and satisfied residents, give or take occasional grumbling from its eastern precincts. As county governments go, Henrico has been the proverbial well-oiled machine.

Qimonda AG deadline extended An end-of-March deadline for Qimonda AG to find investors has been extended, and liquidation of the memory-chip maker is still a possibility, according to court officials in Munich. The German owner of a bankrupt chip-making operation in Henrico County will ramp down production at its Dresden, Germany, facility while the search for investors continues.

A British man stood beside a busy highway advertising his engineering skills on a sandwich board. Another man in Chicago handed out résumés on a street corner. James R. Kimble, 39, bought an ad in a newspaper to post his résumé. And Kimble got a job.