Hitachi Power Tools announced the partnership with Yates Racing, sponsoring the No. 28 entry with driver Travis Kvapil for a total of six races in the remaining NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. The primary sponsorship will debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27th and the race will mark the first time Hitachi Power Tools [...]

More could come as the county discusses budget cuts.
County layoffs:
Building Construction Services: 9
Community Development: 5
Staff will recommend to the County Commission today that they lay off 20 more employees and leave dozens more vacant.

As her family’s new Albemarle County home was being built over the past two years, retired U.S. Air Force Capt. Jennifer Cui sought to incorporate as many environmentally friendly design elements as possible.
Along with her husband and two young children, Cui decided the custom-built house in Earlysville would include bamboo flooring harvested from responsibly managed [...]

Charlottetown, PEI – The $52.23 million QEH redevelopment moves into the Engineer and Architectural design phase. The project will be implemented in two phases with phase 1 being developed over the next eight years and phase 2 extending into 15 years and beyond. Phase 1 will focus on 7 areas of the hospital with construction [...]

Fitch Ratings issues a construction loan servicer rating of ‘Acceptable’ to Wachovia Securities (Wachovia). The rating considers Wachovia’s extensive history of construction loan administration and servicing, its experienced and tenured management and staff, and the strong financial resources provided by its parent, Wachovia Corporation.
In addition to corporate history, staffing, policies and procedures and technology, Fitch [...]

Carlisle Construction Materials acquired Insulfoam, a producer of expanded polystyrene foam for construction applications, on April 18, according to statements from Carlisle Construction.
Insulfoam, formerly a division of Washington state-based Premier Industries, has about 750 employees at 13 facilities around the U.S. Acquisition details were not available at press time.

Construction crews working at a Charlotte hospital have unearthed some grave markers and remains dating back to the 1770s.
The markers and remains were found late last month where Carolinas Medical Center-Mercy is building a new medical office building and parking deck.
After four gravestones were found March 22nd, hospital officials called the Office of State Archeology. [...]

Centex Corp. said it has completed the sale of its commercial construction division for about $362 million.
The sale was made to Balfour Beatty PLC, an international engineering and construction group based in the U.K. Balfour Beatty Chief Executive Officer Ian Tyler said the purchase is part of the company’s long-term growth strategy to build [...]

Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA, Inc. has responded to statements made by the representative of FBI on the possibility of a federal investigation of the company in connection with alleged mortgage fraud. “Beazer Homes has been in contact with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and, at this time, there have been no allegations of any wrongdoing,” the [...]

Architect Rodolfo Machado likes what he sees of the University of Wisconsin’s Chazen Museum of Art.
What he sees in his architectural dreams will determine the shape of the museum’s new expansion.
That structure will double the size of the state’s second-largest art museum. And it may turn what was considered a crown jewel building on the [...]

NiteLites of Charlotte, the Landscape Lighting Professionals, will demonstrate home expansion techniques at the Southern Spring Home and Garden Show, the South’s premier home and garden, indoor and outdoor living exposition. The show, scheduled for February 28 through March 4, will be held at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart, and includes eight distinct areas – a [...]

Tech-friendly features include help figuring everything out
No more waiting all day for the cable guy Need help getting on the Web, troubleshooting TV reception or installing a telephone?
In one of Charlotte’s newest subdivisions, residents need only call the neighborhood “technology concierge.”
Homeowners in Cedar Mill, under construction in west Mecklenburg near the Gaston line, will have [...]