SPORTS
May 21, 2012 | David Gambacorta
There are many things in life that are truly difficult — losing a job, raising a child, dealing with Comcast customer service — but disliking the upstart professional baseball team from the nation's capital is not among them. Even so, if the Nats are to become a true rival to the Phillies, we figured it would be helpful to provide a head start on some good clean hate, a handy reference guide of reasons to despise the unbearable lameness of the Nats — and their ardently indifferent fan base.
NEWS
March 13, 2012 | By Jane M. Von Bergen, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Improving employees' skills will also improve the bottom line, workforce training experts say. But how, actually, can that be measured? In a report Tuesday, the nonprofit Job Opportunity Investment Networt tried to do exactly that, going beyond back-of-the-envelope calculations to prove that the approach it advocates is effective. JOIN director Jennie Sparandara said the point of the study was to show that multi-company industry-sector partnerships are a cost-effective investment of tax or foundation dollars benefiting businesses, employees, and society as a whole through increased tax revenue and decreased demand for public services, such as welfare.
BUSINESS
February 8, 2012 | By Linda Loyd, Inquirer Staff Writer
Alaska Airlines, popular in the Pacific Northwest and known for customer service, will begin daily nonstop flights between Seattle and Philadelphia, starting June 11. The Seattle-based carrier is the second airline in the last month to announce it is coming to Philadelphia International Airport. Virgin America Inc. said in January it would begin nonstop daily flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco from Philadelphia beginning in April. "We are very excited to bring Philadelphia an airline that has distinguished itself among travelers and industry experts," said Philadelphia airport chief executive officer Mark Gale.
BUSINESS
January 15, 2012 | By Candice Choi, Associated Press
Consumers are demanding better service in unprecedented ways. In the last several months, public outrage has helped beat back efforts by Bank of America Corp., Netflix Inc., and Verizon Communications Inc. to raise fees or significantly alter services. The victories come at a time when money is tight all around and consumers are tapping into social media to air their frustrations with like-minded individuals. "In the past, people would be angry, but they'd be all over the country talking to their neighbors," said Kit Yarrow, a professor of consumer psychology at Golden Gate University.
BUSINESS
January 9, 2012 | By Maria Panaritis and Sandy Bauers, Inquirer Staff Writers
Before there was Wegmans, there was Genuardi's Family Markets. And that's where the tragedy of what was once one of the region's most revered supermarket chains begins and ends. Few in the supermarket industry were surprised when Giant Food Stores L.L.C. announced Thursday that it was buying and converting 16 of the region's 27 Genuardi's locations - or that California-based Safeway Inc. was looking to unload eight others to prospective buyers, shut down three more, and leave Philadelphia entirely.
NEWS
January 4, 2012 | By Francesca Serritella, For the Inquirer
Whoever coined the phrase "and many happy returns" never tried online shopping. Is there such a thing as a happy return? If I were happy with the item, I'd keep it. Nobody has intimacy issues with a great gift. But this is a story about giving gifts, not giving them back. I love choosing gifts for people, but this year I was under deadline and on a budget, so online shopping seemed like the way to go. My mom asked for dog sweaters. You could've guessed that, right?
NEWS
October 5, 2011 | BY CATHERINE LUCEY, luceyc@phillynews.com 215-854-4172
IS 3-1-1 living up to expectations? City Controller Alan Butkovitz yesterday released an audit of the city's 3-1-1 non-emergency line questioning whether residents are getting their money's worth. Among criticisms in the report: that 3-1-1 does not provide round-the-clock service, that it has not reduced the call load to the city's emergency 9-1-1 line and that it is difficult to track most 3-1-1 calls to see if service is being provided. "It's a fledgling call center at best," Butkovitz said during a news conference to unveil the audit, conducted by consulting firm WithumSmith+Brown, PC. The Nutter administration, which has touted 3-1-1 as a key accomplishment of the mayor's first term, said the report fails to acknowlege the full scope of the service, which they say gets high marks from users.
NEWS
October 4, 2011 | BY CATHERINE LUCEY, luceyc@phillynews.com215-854-4172
Is 3-1-1 living up to expectations? City Controller Alan Butkovitz on Tuesday released an audit of the city's 3-1-1 nonemergency line questioning whether Philadelphia residents are getting their money's worth. Among criticisms in the report: that 3-1-1 does not provide round-the-clock service, that it has not reduced the call load to the city's emergency 9-1-1 line and that it is difficult to track most 3-1-1 calls to see if service is being provided. "It's a fledgling call center at best," Butkovitz said during a news conference to unveil the audit, conducted by consulting firm WithumSmith+Brown, PC. The Nutter administration, which has touted 3-1-1 as a key accomplishment of the mayor's first term, said the report fails to acknowlege the full scope of the service, which they say gets high marks from users.
BUSINESS
September 24, 2011 | By Linda Loyd, Inquirer Staff Writer
It's part of getting passengers, and their bags, on and off planes more efficiently. About 900 US Airways Group flights come and go at Philadelphia International Airport each day, and those planes are serviced by ground equipment, like baggage tugs and catering trucks. To improve getting bags to and from planes, and with less down time for equipment maintenance, US Airways on Friday opened a $22 million ground-service equipment shop at the west end of the airport in Tinicum Township.