Business in brief: KGA launching business talk show
Spokane business veteran Paul Wham will launch a Saturday radio talk show this weekend on KGA-AM radio.
Wham, who’s run and sold three businesses, will have guests and take caller questions during the 8 a.m.-9 a.m. slot each week.
Sponsoring the hour-long show is Spokane-based Sterling Savings Bank.
KGA Operations Manager Cary Rolfe said the station sees a growing audience for local Saturday talk shows.
“We are just looking to give our audience a different perspective on area business news with this show,” Rolfe said.
Charlotte, N.C.
Steelmaker Nucor tries to buy rival
Steel products maker Nucor Corp. offered $1.07 billion in cash Tuesday for Canada’s Harris Steel Group Inc., the latest in a string of acquisitions for the steelmaker and in the quickly consolidating industry.
“Basically we have seen ongoing consolidation over the past several years, and really the expectations are to see that continuing as we go forward,” said Nancy Gravatt, spokeswoman for the American Iron and Steel Institute, a Washington-based trade organization that represents more than 30 U.S. steel companies, including Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor.
Steel companies announced a spate of deals last year, highlighted by Arcelor SA accepting Mittal Steel Co.’s proposal to create a titan with nearly 10 percent of the global market.
The consolidation fervor helped overshadow concerns about weaker demand from the housing and auto sectors, as well as a potential inventory glut and falling prices.
Chelan, Wash.
Judge tosses Wal-Mart permit
Less than a month before Chelan’s new Super Wal-Mart is scheduled to open, a Chelan County Superior Court judge has thrown out the city-issued building permit for the megastore.
Wal-Mart opponents, Defenders of Small Town Chelan, provided a written copy of an order signed by Judge Lesley Allan on Friday. The ruling states the city did not follow its own land-use rules in granting the building permit.
Wal-Mart opponents told the Wenatchee World newspaper that they will likely ask the judge to order that the 162,000-square-foot store be torn down.