Business in brief: Free career fair set for Tuesday

Job seekers will have a chance to connect with more than 70 regional businesses expected to attend a new Spokane tradeshow, education and career fair Tuesday, according to event organizer Greater Spokane Inc.

Greater Spokane expects hundreds of high school and college students to attend the Business-to-Business Tradeshow and Career Fair at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, according to the organization.

While the event will highlight careers in construction, manufacturing, aerospace and health care – four industries Greater Spokane has focused on promoting – the lineup of exhibitors is “very much a smattering of different companies,” said Heidi Whitman, Greater Spokane events manager.

Companies with open positions may post them on a “Wall of Jobs.” Some of the first college students who show school identification will receive Starbucks gift cards, Whitman said.

The free event runs noon to 7 p.m. at the fairgrounds, 404 N. Havana St.

DALLAS

Texas generator goes private

TXU Corp., the biggest power generator in Texas, officially passed from public to private ownership Wednesday and got a new name as investors closed the $32 billion buyout.

The new owners are investors led by private-equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and TPG, formerly Texas Pacific Group.

TXU changed its name to Energy Future Holdings Corp.

Donald L. Evans, former U.S. commerce secretary, has been named nonexecutive chairman for Energy Future Holdings and will lead the company’s board of directors.

Critics say the sale will lead to higher prices for consumers to pay off $24.5 billion in new debt that the buyers put on TXU.

Company officials responded Wednesday that they would cut electric rates for consumers by 5 percent on top of a 10 percent reduction last spring. The company also said its Luminant unit would withdraw eight air permit applications that had been filed for coal-fueled generation units that will not be built.