Business news

Spokane’s ReliOn lands hefty pact

Spokane-based fuel cell maker ReliOn announced Thursday that it has landed a $363,781 contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for installation and testing of its products.

The contract came from the Construction Engineering and Research Laboratory which, through its Fuel Cell Demonstration Program, provides funding to companies in order to test new products that would support military needs. This annual contract represents the third time ReliOn has received funding from the program.

ReliOn, formerly Avista Labs, will be installing its one-kilowatt fuel cells at nine sites on three military bases: Fort Lewis Army Base in Washington, Gabreski Air National Guard Base in New York, and Fort Rucker Army Base in Alabama. The fuel cells will provide backup power for aircraft landing and telecommunications systems.

The operations are scheduled to last one year and will be tested daily. The first installation is scheduled for June at Fort Lewis.

ReliOn fuel cells currently are sold as backup power systems in the telecommunications, utility and government sectors.

Jobless numbers show an increase

Washington The number of new people signing up for unemployment benefits rose last week. But even with the increase, claims are still hovering at a level that points to a recovery in the jobs market.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for unemployment insurance increased by a seasonally adjusted 12,000 to 352,000 for the week ending June 5.

Although the increase in filings comes after two straight weeks of declines, the 352,000 level of claims is still well below the 424,000 filed for the same week a year ago, showing that the layoffs picture has improved considerably from last year.

Last year, claims reached a high of 444,000 in the middle of April and have slowly drifted downward.

Economists were expecting claims to fall last week. Filings for last week, however, covered the period including the Memorial Day holiday, a time — as in all holiday weeks — that can present difficulties adjusting the data for seasonal factors, a Labor Department analyst said.

Former Qwest exec named in indictment

Denver A former Qwest executive facing a second trial over an alleged scheme to improperly book nearly $34 million in revenue has been named in a new indictment that narrows the scope of the government’s case.

A federal grand jury has indicted Thomas Hall, a former senior vice president of sales, on three counts of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud.

The charges, disclosed Thursday, supersede a 2003 indictment accusing Hall and three other former Qwest Communications International Inc. executives of 12 counts including conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud.

The case centers on the government’s allegation that Qwest officials improperly booked the revenue as part of a June 2001 deal with the Arizona School Facilities Board to link public schools to the Internet.

Hall is accused of helping create documents that falsely described the transaction.

Mortgage rates continue to climb

Washington Mortgage rates moved higher this week, a trend that is slowing home-mortgage refinancings but isn’t expected to do much to hurt home sales, economists said.

Rates on benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages climbed to 6.30 percent for the week ending June 11, up from 6.28 percent last week, Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant, reported Thursday in its weekly nationwide survey of rates.

Thirty-year mortgage rates hit a low this year of 5.38 percent during the week ending March 18.

Fed survey will focuses on businesses

Washington Alan Greenspan wants small-business owners to take part in a Federal Reserve survey aimed at increasing policy-makers’ understanding of how economic and regulatory changes affect their access to credit.

The Fed said Thursday that it plans to mail a letter to about 12,000 randomly selected small-business owners in which Fed Chairman Greenspan urges owners to participate and assures them their privacy would be protected.

Findings from the latest survey will be published in 2006. The last survey looked at small-business finances in 1998.

Ford OKS settlement on leasing dispute

Lansing, Mich. Thousands of Ford Motor Credit customers could receive $100 each as part of a settlement related to the company’s vehicle leasing practices.

The agreement likely will cost Ford Motor Credit and dealerships more than $6 million, the company said Thursday, although Ford’s estimates differed from some projections provided by attorneys general of the 38 states involved in the deal.

The settlement affects certain Ford customers who ended a lease before its expiration date and subsequently bought the vehicle. The company’s “Red Carpet” leasing program came under scrutiny when investigators found that the customers faced charges that were sometimes higher than the actual balance owed in the lease.

Dealers notified customers of the balance due, which included an additional charge not owed to Ford Motor Credit under the terms of the lease. The dealer would keep the extra charged to customers, who were unaware of the correct figure, Cox’s office said.

Ford Motor Credit will notify 150,000 customers nationwide of the settlement, but estimates that less than 10 percent of them will be eligible for restitution.