Free Republic

As college students and recent grads head home for the holidays, first on their minds are friends and family. But the end-of-year downtime is also a good opportunity for career reflection. And while salary should never be the only factor in a career decision, it often ranks high in our consideration set. Careers site Comparably released a list of six entry-level jobs that pay more than $90,000. Entry-level was defined as workers with up to three years’ experience. To create the ranking, Comparably analyzed more than 19,000 anonymous salary reports submitted between March 2016 and October 2017 by employees of...

The U.S. manufacturing sector has weathered a bumpy road over the course of the past two decades – but successfully righting the country's industrial ship would mean an economic windfall of $530 billion, according to a new report from The McKinsey Global Institute. McKinsey put out a lengthy report last week profiling the past several years of U.S. manufacturing malaise – noting that only a few sectors, like "pharmaceuticals, electronics and aerospace" have emerged relatively unscathed. "Some industries staged a modest demand-driven recovery between 2010 and 2015. But growth in overall U.S. manufacturing output has been slowing for two decades,...

First-time jobless claims fell 13,000 to 239,000 last week, the Department of Labor reported Wednesday, more than the 9,000 drop economists expected. With Wednesday's numbers, claims have continued to hover at extremely low levels, despite the fall disruption of the hurricanes that slammed the southeastern U.S. Claims collections in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are still being affected by the storms, the agency said. Low jobless claims are a good sign for the economy. If fewer people are applying for benefits at state agencies, it suggests that layoffs are relatively rare, and job creation high. "Claims remain low, even...

There have been a number of articles reporting that millennials are passing up high-paying jobs in trucking. As someone who comes from a long line of blue collar men — including truckers — I find it a bit odd that millennials aren’t eating up the chance for six-figure income. Two other trucking industry benefits that fall right in line with millennials are flexible hours and the opportunity for travel. There are many trucking jobs that are local and come with the ability to be home every night — perfect for raising a young family. For those with wanderlust, which is...

Mention “tech cities,” and what might comes to mind are Silicon Valley, Chicago, Seattle, New York City, or Austin. But, Dallas-Fort Worth is emerging as a tech market, according to two new reports. “People have thought of Austin as Silicon Prairie for a long time,” said Ali Greenwood, vice president of data center solutions with commercial real estate firm JLL. This is logical, given that Dell, Apple, and Oracle have a presence there as do many technology startups. However, Greenwood said the sheer volume of Fortune 500 companies in DFW has attracted tech and other companies from elsewhere. Because of...

Barre, VT - In late November most farmers are getting the winter cover crop in the ground. But, two farmers are preparing crops as if it were spring. Vermont is well know for agriculture, and in Barre a first of it's kind farm is coming to the state, vertical farming. "It's growing horizontally in layers or in our case vertically, and we go up 16 feet," said Greg Kelly. He and Jake Isham are co founders of Ceres Greens. The two men are taking farming to the next level, growing produce indoors, in vertical tubes. "What this industry is able...

Liberty Mutual Group Inc. plans to spend $14 million on an expansion in Carmel that is expected to create up to 400 high-wage jobs over the next four years, the company announced Tuesday morning. To accommodate the expansion, the Boston-based insurer said it will lease 56,000 square feet in the Parkwood Crossing office complex, adjacent to a building at 350 E. 96th St. where it has existing operations. Liberty Mutual also has an office at 11611 N. Meridian St., which it opened in 2006. Renovations on the new space are expected to begin in 2018 and be completed by spring....

India's Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. is expanding in Auburn Hills and Pontiac with plans to launch an off-road vehicle in the U.S. The plans, which include bringing the company's North American automotive headquarters and off-road vehicle manufacturing to Auburn Hills, are expected to generate a total capital investment of $22.3 million and create 105 jobs. It was awarded an $850,000 performance-based grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced Monday. "The fact that Mahindra has established new operations centers here for the third time in four years is a testament to Michigan's global leadership in automotive...

A global health care company that specializes in medicines and technologies for infusion, transfusion and clinical nutrition, will expand its manufacturing operations and add more than 400 new jobs in Wilson County, Gov. Roy Cooper announced today. The expansion project at Fresenius Kabi will bring more than $100 million in investment to Wilson, where the company already employs more than 100 people, according to Cooper’s announcement. “I’m proud that North Carolina is home to so many strong life sciences companies that make life-saving medicines,” Cooper said in a news release. “This expansion is welcome news for eastern North Carolina and...

Conrad Lucas, the youngest GOP state party chairman in the United States, has announced he’s running for Congress. Lucas, who just turned 36, has served as chairman of West Virginia’s Republican Party since 2012, when he was just 30 years old. He is ready to bring fresh leadership to Washington and help Donald Trump pass his agenda through Congress. Lucas listed his accomplishments as GOP chairman in a phone interview with the Washington Examiner, and explained how he plans to serve the people of West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District....

HUMBOLDT, Tenn. (AP) — Tyson Foods Inc. plans to build a new chicken production complex in Tennessee, a $300 million project that is expected to create more than 1,500 jobs when the facility begins operations in late 2019, the company said Monday. The new plant in Humboldt, about 85 miles northeast of Memphis, will produce pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for retail grocery stores nationwide, the Springdale, Arkansas-based company said in a statement before a news conference. The plant will help it meet strong consumer demand for its chicken. The announcement marks the second major economic development project Tyson has...

In 2016, the U.S. economy served as a punching bag for then-candidate Donald Trump. Today, it has become a lifeline for an otherwise embattled presidency. Trump has increasingly grabbed for that line, touting low unemployment, record high stock market values and healthy economic growth rates in speeches and his ubiquitous tweets. Reactions from voters, even some who are otherwise skeptical of the president, show how the economy's strong performance has bolstered Trump's standing. At a recent focus group that Peter Hart, a longtime Democratic pollster, conducted in Wilmington, N.C., for Emory University, even participants who voted for Trump last year...

REDMOND, Ore. - A Salem-based gun manufacturer called Radian Weapons is relocating to Redmond. It makes rifle accessories and AR-15s that are sold all over the world. The company is moving its entire production facility and headquarters to Redmond. For the past six months, Radian Weapons has been working with Redmond city officials to find a building. They settled on the High Desert Industrial Park, a lease-to-own building at 875 NE Kingwood Avenue. Redmond Economic Development Senior Director Jon Stark said Central Oregon was attractive to the company, because it is largely accepting of the gun industry. "Redmond's pretty conservative,...

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — There’s a new way to “order up” in Huntsville! Waitr is an app that lets you order from your favorite Huntsville restaurant, then sends someone to deliver it to you for a flat fee of $5. The flat fee is the same no matter the distance from the restaurant or whether you order one meal or 20....

RANSON, W.Va. — A Denmark-based insulation company plans to build a $150 million plant in Ranson that will generate 150 "new, permanent" jobs, according to a media advisory issued Wednesday. ROXUL Inc., a world leader in noncombustible stone wool insulation products, is expected to share details about the project Thursday during a Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce meeting at Clarion Inn Harpers Ferry-Charles Town, according to the advisory from Charles Ryan Associates. The meeting is from noon to 1:30 p.m. The inn is at 4328 William L. Wilson Freeway, west of Harpers Ferry. Construction of the plant is expected to...

While the debate continues over whether stricter trade rules are needed to boost U.S. jobs, the head of the Mercedes-Benz Vans plant in North Charleston says his company is already helping to fulfill President Donald Trump's campaign promise to put more Americans to work. "I think having this facility here and the fact that we've made the decision to expand in North Charleston is something that is already very good in alignment with what your president wants — to have more things done locally and not in Mexico or some other region," said Michael Balke, president and CEO of the...

ST. CROIX — It was all talk and little to show for it back in June 2016, when The Consortium asked Governor Kenneth Mapp about a timeline for jobs he said would be coming to St. Croix through the ArcLight Partners, LLC agreement, as the firm had partnered with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., also called Sinopec, for the expansion of the Limetree Bay Terminals’ oil storage facility, other oil-related work, and, importantly, some oil refining. These jobs were to be aside from the roughly 500 people currently working at the oil storage facility. “I have no specific date to...

ARLINGTON — Mayor Jeff Williams called it the largest entertainment complex outside of Las Vegas. Alex Tisch, executive vice president of Loews Corporation, said it would be "the biggest destination outside of Orlando." They were talking about Arlington's entertainment district — an area just south of Interstate 30 buttressed by a major league baseball stadium, a young but already iconic NFL stadium, Six Flags over Texas and soon, the first luxury hotel of its type in the city. Williams, Tisch and others were on hand Wednesday to celebrate the official groundbreaking for Live! by Loews, a posh 14-story, 302-room hotel...

Today, the Department of Energy issued a Record of Decision and approved the Presidential permit for the proposed Northern Pass Transmission Line project. The 192-mile above and below ground, alternating and direct current transmission system will deliver up to 1090 megawatts of low-emission, reliable hydropower from Quebec, Canada to Deerfield, New Hampshire while creating jobs, lowering energy costs, and reducing the carbon footprint across New England. Since it was first proposed in 2010, the $1.6 billion Northern Pass project has been subject to multiple layers of federal and state government permitting regulations, a nearly 4,000 page Environmental Impact Statement, and...

NEWBERRY COUNTY, SC (WACH) --- On Thursday, Samsung announced more than 700 job openings for their new facility in Newberry County. This move comes after Caterpillar closed its doors last year, resulting in the loss of nearly 300 jobs. Samsung plant manager Tony Fraley said the $380 million facility will produce premium washing machines and create jobs for more than 1,000 people by the year 2020. "We are growing, we've hired already 350 people here in South Carolina,” Fraley said. The company said they have openings for things like PLC Technicians, AVG technicians, maintenance people, material handlers, and forklift drivers,...