B US I N ESSB US I N ESSB US I N ESS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 • PAGE A10Editor: Norma Coile / 520-573-4663 / business@azstarnet.com

TUCSON

Grupo wa n ts new bidfor Asa rco ba r red

Sterlite Industries Ltd. o fIndia shouldn’t be allowed to in-c rea se its bid for Tu c so n - ba se dAsarco LLC, l aw ye rs for GrupoMex i co SAB said Tu e sd ay in acourt hea r i n g , B l o o m b e rg Newsre p o r te d .

U. S. B a n k r u p tcy Ju d geR i c h a rd Schmidt in Co r p u sC h r i s t i , Texa s, re co m m e n d e dlast month that Grupo Mex i co bea l l owed to re gain co n t rol of Asa r-co by paying cre d i to rs in full.

S te rl i te ra i sed its offer and onTu e sd ay asked Schmidt to allowi ts new bid to be co n s i d e red by adistrict court that will make thefinal decision about which co m-pa ny wins Asa rco. Both co m pa-nies have until Mo n d ay to sub-mit arg u m e n ts on the iss u e .

The final decision about wh oge ts Asa rco will be made by U. S.District Ju d ge Andrew Hanen inB row n sv i l l e , Texa s. He has sa i dthat he hopes to rule by the endof Nove m b e r.

Grupo Mex i co and Ste rl i tewould both spend more than$ 2 .5 billion to fully re pay cre d i-to rs, but Grupo Mex i co wo u l davoid paying a judgment by Ha-nen awa rding to Asa rco its s ta kein Southern Copper Co r p. ,worth as much as $8 billion, a c-

co rding to court re co rd s.

E x- KGUN news chiefn ow back in same job

Former KGUN News Dire c to rForrest Carr is back at Tu c so n ’sA BC affiliate in the same ca pa c i-ty after a hitch in Albuquerque asn ews dire c tor for KRQ E-T V.

Carr left KGUN in March 2001to be news dire c tor at WFLA-T Vin Ta m pa and then WFTX-TV inFort Mye rs, F l a . , b e fo re going toA l b u q u e rq u e .

Do n ’t expect big change s,Carr sa i d . KGUN was one of theea rly co nve r ts to the “On Yo u rS i d e ” v i ewe r- a dvo ca te sloga nn ow used by many TV sta t i o n sn a t i o nw i d e , Carr sa i d , n o t i n gthat KGUN adopted that themeduring his first run in Tu c so n .

O ro Va l l ey Marke t p l a cege ts ‘g re e n ’ re co g n i t i o n

Vestar Development Co.’sOro Valley Marketplace h a searned the first silver LEED ce r-t i f i cation among Arizona re ta i lp ro je c ts from the U. S. G re e nBuilding Co u n c i l .

The re tail shopping ce n te r, a tTa n gerine and Oracle roa d s,opened in 2008.

L E E D, for Lea d e rship in Ener-gy and Env i ro n m e n tal De s i g n , i sa benchmark for the design,construction and operation ofh i g h - e f f i c i e n cy buildings.

Send News & Notes notices tobusiness@azstarnet.com or by fax to573-4144.

NEWS &

NOTES

Raytheon resumes Excalibur deliveriesBy Tony CapaccioBLOOMBERG NEWS

R aytheon Mi ssile Sys tems re s u m e dd e l iveries last month of the Army ’sm ost acc u ra te artillery shell, e n h a n c-ing the U. S. e f fort to minimize civ i l i a ncasualties and acc i d e n tal milita ryd eaths in Afg h a n i s tan and Ira q.

The sa te l l i te-guided Exca l i b u rshells we re first deployed to the wa rzones in 2007 and demonstra ted ap recision within 20 feet of their ta r-ge t . Two we re fired in a succe ss f u lJu ly 2007 attack against an al-Qa e d al eader who was killed, the Armysa i d .

De l iveries we re halted in Nove m b e r2008 after further testing uncove re d“ u n a cce p ta b ly high” a cc u ra cy pro b-lems stemming from a nav i gation unitt h a t’s now been re p l a ce d .

De l iveries resumed on Au g . 2 1 , a n dR aytheon will re ce ive a payment of$ 7 2 .4 million that had been withheld.The shells cost $46,500 apiece , a n d

the Army plans to buy more than3 0,000 at a cost of at least $1.395 bil-l i o n . Including re sea rch and deve l o p-m e n t , the prog ra m ’s pro je c ted cost is$2.2 billion.

Protecting Afghan civilians is es-sential to the success of the coun-terinsurgency s t rate g y i n

Temporary-tattoo firm thrivesBy Shelby Hill

FOR THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Te m p o ra ry ta t to os are re m ova b l e , b u tone Tu c son business that makes them isp roving it has staying powe r.

Ta t too Manufacturing Inte r n a t i o n a l, amultimillion-dollar business at 3761 E.Te c h n i cal Drive, has been producing te m-p o ra ry ta t to os since 19 89, but in re ce n tyea rs the business has grown stea d i ly, sa i dS tephen L. To o ke r, C EO and part ow n e r.

“ We ’ve been growing just beca u se ta t-to os are so mainstream now,” To o ke r, 4 9,sa i d . “I mea n , find a pro fe ssional athlete ora movie star or a musician that doesn’th ave a ta t to o. I t’s just so mainstrea m , a n dwe ’ve been riding that wave .”

The co m pa ny manufa c t u res a “l i m i t-l e ss ” ra n ge of custom te m p o ra ry ta t to osfor eve n ts ranging from 50th birthday pa r-ties to promotional items for co m pa n i e ssuch as Subway, To o ker sa i d .

It also makes te m p o ra ry ta t to os for sa l ein re tail sto res including Wa l m a r t, C l a i re ’sand Sa l ly Bea u ty Supply.

One of its most popular lines of te m p o-ra ry ta t to os is called Snuggle Buddies Ta t-to os, which fea t u re adorable animals fro mpenguins to puppies with wide eyes ands m i l e s, To o ker sa i d .

Not all the ta t to os are as swe e t , h oweve r.One line, called Gross Out Ta t to os, i n-cludes fa ke sc ra tc h e s, wa r ts and sca rs.

All the ta t to os are designed, m a n u fa c-t u red and shipped from Tu c so n .

Although its pro d u c ts are made in theUn i ted Sta te s, o n e - t h i rd of TMI’s businessis outside of the co u n t ry. One pa c ka ge of

c u s tom te m p o ra ry ta t to os awaiting ship-ping was bound for Au s t ra l i a , for exa m p l e .

TMI manufa c t u res 6 million te m p o ra ryta t to os daily on two unique ta t to o - p r i n t-ing machines, To o ker sa i d .

The pro ce ss for each te m p o ra ry ta t to o

Pulte acts vs. ‘sabotage’tied to Tucsonan’s firing

By Ed WhiteTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

D ET ROIT — Pulte Ho m e sI n c. , the largest U. S. h o m eb u i l d e r, said Tu e sd ay that itsphones and e-mail acco u n tshad been jammed since a laborunion urged people to pro te s tthe firing of a Tu c son employe e .

P u l te , ba sed in BloomfieldHi l l s, Mi c h . , filed a lawsuit anda s ked a fe d e ral judge to ord e rthe Labore rs ’ I n te r n a t i o n a lUnion of North America to sto pthe ca m paign and ta ke down a

Web site criticizing the co m pa-ny. P u l te said it’s a victim of“ sa b o ta ge .”

Union activ i s ts “h ave inte r-r u p ted Pulte ’s ability to co n-duct day- to - d ay business,t h rea tened its employees andi n te r fe red with its re l a t i o n-s h i ps with the public, i ts cus-to m e rs, p o tential custo m e rsand ve n d o rs,” l aw yer Jo h nBirmingham Jr. said in a co u r tf i l i n g .

The union, ba sed in Wa s h-i n g to n , i ssued a pre pa red sta te-

ment that said the allega t i o n sa re fa l se .

The lawsuit says a Tu c so nc rew leader who wo rked fo rP u l te Building Sys te m s, Ro b e r-to Baltierra , was fired Se p t . 4for misco n d u c t , i n c l u d i n g“ d i s re ga rding co m pa ny sa fe tyr u l e s ” — not for wearing aunion T-shirt or for taking pa r tin union activ i t i e s.

The union doesn’t re p re se n tP u l te employe e s.

B a l t i e r ra could not bereached for comment; a Tu c-

son phone number under thatname has been disco n n e c te d .The union does not have a Tu c-son office .

The union’s Web site saysseven wo rke rs we re fired anddenied pay while wearing or-a n ge union shirts. It has filed acomplaint with the Na t i o n a lLabor Relations Boa rd .

P u l te ’s laws u i t , h oweve r,said it te r m i n a ted only Baltier-ra , not others.

M A M TA P O PAT / A R I ZO N A DA I LY STA R

Vi c tor Meza, p ress manager at Ta ttoo Manufacturing Inte r n a t i o n a l , p o u rs a non-toxic adhes i ve on the back of a strip of te m p o rary ta t-to os. The co m pa ny, sta r ted in Tu cson in 1989, m a n u fa c t u res and sells te m p o rary ta tto os, which are sold all over the wo r l d .

DID YOU KNOWTucson-based Raytheon Missile Sys-

tems is Southern Arizona’s largest em-ployer, with more than 11,500 full-time-equivalent employees at the end of2008, according to the Star 200 sur-vey of major employers.

Honeywell Aerospace ranked 61st inthe Star 200, with 754 employees at itsfacility at 11100 N. Oracle Road, on apatch of Pima County land within OroValley.

U.S. ARMY

Artillerymen ready an Excalibur s h e l l , d esigned to curba cc i d e n tal deaths and civilian ca s u a l t i es. See R AYT H EO N, A 1 1

See PU LT E, A 1 1

At T M I , the production of te m p o rary ta tto os is mechanized to handle the huge pro d u c-tion and meet the growing demand.

See TAT TO OS, A 1 1

Better news on retail sales and manufacturing helped send stocks higherTuesday, as did Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comment that therecession probably is over. Surging materials and industrial companies suchas Alcoa and Caterpillar pulled the Dow Jones industrial average to a gain of 57points, its seventh climb in eight days and another high for the year.

MARKET ROUNDUP

s DOW30 9,713.71 9,580.93 +56.61 9,683.41s NASDAQ 2,106.93 2,086.16 +10.86 2,102.64s S&P 500 1,056.04 1,043.42 +3.29 1,052.63s Russell 2000 605.60 597.45 +4.81 604.84

YTD VOL 52-WEEKNAME TICKER CLOSE CHG %CHG %CHG YLD (Thous) HI LO

LO CAL AND WIDELY HELD STO C KS

AMR AMR 7.41 +.47 +6.8 -30.6 ... 17328 13.33 2.40AT&T Inc T 26.70 +.17 +0.6 -6.3 6.1 18904 31.18 20.90Alcoa AA 13.99 +1.05 +8.1 +24.2 .9 48869 28.33 4.97BE Aero BEAV 19.22 -.05 -0.3 +149.9 ... 725 24.70 5.37BkofAm BAC 16.79 -.20 -1.2 +19.2 .2 153123 39.50 2.53BerkH B BRK/B 3,300 +43 +1.3 +2.7 ... 40 4,700 2,241Citigrp C 4.12 -.40 -8.8 -38.6 ... 1264474 23.50 0.97Cnvrgys CVG 11.02 +.07 +0.6 +71.9 ... 982 16.99 4.02CorrectnCp CXW 22.60 +.05 +0.2 +38.1 ... 341 27.30 9.50Costco COST 56.82 -.17 -0.3 +8.2 1.3 3247 71.00 38.17ExxonMbl XOM 69.49 -.51 -0.7 -13.0 2.4 19041 83.64 56.51FMCG FCX 71.32 +.70 +1.0 +191.8 ... 12819 77.34 15.70GenDynam GD 63.13 +.03 ... +9.6 2.4 1513 86.38 35.28GenElec GE 16.00 +.65 +4.2 -1.2 2.5 205939 29.20 5.73GraniteC GVA 33.44 +.54 +1.6 -23.9 1.6 329 50.00 21.20HomeDp HD 27.41 -.10 -0.4 +19.1 3.3 9902 29.70 17.05HonwllIntl HON 39.79 -.18 -0.5 +21.2 3.0 5197 46.99 23.06Intel INTC 19.55 +.19 +1.0 +33.4 2.9 47016 20.65 12.05IBM IBM 119.35 +.47 +0.4 +41.8 1.8 6448 124.00 69.50Intuit INTU 27.78 -.08 -0.3 +16.8 ... 2494 32.00 20.18JPMorgCh JPM 43.19 -.56 -1.3 +38.7 .5 49316 50.63 14.96JohnJn JNJ 60.15 -.19 -0.3 +0.5 3.3 8133 72.69 46.25Kroger KR 20.46 -1.65 -7.5 -22.5 1.8 43212 29.59 19.39Loews L 34.38 +.21 +0.6 +21.7 .7 1768 49.32 17.40Lowes LOW 21.21 -.15 -0.7 -1.4 1.7 17074 27.39 13.00Microsoft MSFT 25.20 +.20 +0.8 +29.6 2.1 43274 27.66 14.87NorthropG NOC 49.51 +.23 +0.5 +9.9 3.5 1736 70.60 33.81ProvidSvc PRSC 11.48 -.37 -3.1 +691.7 ... 110 14.17 0.68QwestCm Q 3.53 -.07 -1.9 -3.0 9.1 27085 4.87 2.05Raytheon RTN 46.09 -.04 -0.1 -9.7 2.7 2677 64.00 33.20Rural/Met RURL 4.04 +.02 +0.5 +125.7 ... 42 5.01 0.50Safeway SWY 19.48 -.72 -3.6 -18.0 2.1 9428 27.25 17.19SearsHldgs SHLD 64.99 +.31 +0.5 +67.2 ... 699 108.75 26.80SwtGas SWX 24.86 +.20 +0.8 -1.4 3.8 171 33.29 17.08Target TGT 47.51 +.09 +0.2 +37.6 1.4 7053 59.55 25.00TeleTech TTEC 16.92 -.39 -2.3 +102.6 ... 245 17.77 6.20TexInst TXN 24.83 +.07 +0.3 +60.0 1.8 11905 25.35 13.38TimeWrn rs TWX 29.25 +.10 +0.3 +31.1 2.6 5966 32.33 15.41UniSrcEn UNS 30.13 +.17 +0.6 +2.6 3.8 161 33.42 20.91UnionPac UNP 63.61 +.83 +1.3 +33.1 1.7 3670 80.05 33.28UPS B UPS 59.29 +.10 +0.2 +7.5 3.0 4574 70.00 37.99WalMart WMT 49.93 -.45 -0.9 -10.9 2.2 26202 63.85 46.25Walgrn WAG 34.06 -.18 -0.5 +38.1 1.6 5934 35.65 21.28WsteMInc WM 30.10 -.56 -1.8 -9.2 3.9 3076 36.16 22.10WellsFargo WFC 28.58 +.66 +2.4 -3.1 .7 49867 44.75 7.80YumBrnds YUM 33.62 +.16 +0.5 +6.7 2.3 6339 40.25 21.50

HIGH LOW CHANGE CLOSE

Easy access to stock quotes•To hear a sto c k p r i ce by p h o n e, call 1-800-555-8355 and re q u est “sto c k q u ote.”•For an online quote looku p, go to w w w . a z s t a r b i z . c o m

COMMODITIESClose Previous % change % YTD

Crude oil (bbl) 70.93 68.86 +3.01 +59.0Copper (lb) 2.83 2.79 +1.49 +102.0Gold (oz) 1005.00 999.90 +0.51 +13.7Silver (oz) 16.98 16.60 +2.27 +50.7

FOREIGN EXCHANGEForeign currency in $US $US in foreign currency

Country Today 6mo ago Today 6mo agoBritain Pound 1.6490 1.3970 .6064 .7158Canada Dollar .9316 .7845 1.0734 1.2747Euro Euro 1.4659 1.2898 .6822 .7753Mexico Peso .075157 .069054 13.3055 14.4815

s ta r ts with the artist.A f ter the artist crea tes and perfe c ts the

ta t to o, the art is scanned into a co m p u ter andp l a ced on a large piece of paper co n ta i n i n ga round 100 spots for te m p o ra ry ta t to os. T h i spaper becomes the printing plate .

Multiple ta t to os are then printed onto a2 8 - by- 4 0 - i n c h p i e ce of ta t too pa p e r.

Nex t , the ta t to os are placed on a machinet h a t s i l k- sc reens the adhesive , and glitte rwhen nece ssa ry, o n to the ta t to o, ba kes it fo ra round 10 se conds at 550 degrees Fa h re n h e i tto seal the adhesive , and finally cove rs thesheet of ta t to os with pro te c t ive laminate pa-p e r.

The ink used is ve ge ta b l e - ba se d , and thea d h e s ive is non-tox i c, To o ker sa i d .

“The adhesive , you can lite ra l ly sta r tscooping it in your mouth and it wo u l d n ’t doa ny t h i n g ,” he sa i d . “ ’C a u se it goes on skin, i thas to be rea l ly, rea l ly chemica l - f re e .”

TMI owns the only two of these machinesin the wo rl d , To o ker sa i d .

The sheets of ta t to os are then ta ken to an-other ro o m , wh e re they are cut in sta c ks of200 with two guillotine-like machines.

In that ro o m , the custom ta t to os are pa c k-a ged and shipped.

The te m p o ra ry ta t to os bound for re ta i ls to res are sent to a town south of Noga l e s,So n o ra , wh e re they are pa c ka ged and thenb rought back to Tu c son for shipping, To o ke rsa i d .

The co m pa ny calls itself the wo rl d ’sl a rgest te m p o ra ry- ta t too manufa c t u re r.

Debbie Co o pwo o d, T M I ’s chief financialo f f i ce r, said that beca u se of co m pa ny offi-c i a l s ’ k n owl e d ge of the industry, t h ey are

confident that label is co r re c t .TMI employs 82 people and is co n tained in

one building, but it’s still keeping up with therest of the wo rl d .

“ We ’re competing ve ry effe c t ive ly aga i n s tChina and other places just beca u se we ’vegot a rea l ly cool pro ce ss,” To o ker sa i d .

The co m pa ny wo rks with more than6 0,000 custo m - ta t too custo m e rs as well asco m panies such as Disney and Mattel Inc.

TMI also had a lice n se with Ed Hardys to res for four yea rs to pro d u ce te m p o ra ryta t to os of their logos, he sa i d .

It also makes wa te rcolor paint sheets,sc ra tc h - l o t te ry type ca rds and ta t too books.

Chuck E. C h e e se ’s o rd e red about 10 mil-lion wa te rcolor paint sheets for one of its

p r i ze s, To o ker sa i d .TMI also manufa c t u res ta t to os for Mat-

te l ’s Ta t too Barb i e , he sa i d . “ T h a t’s howm a i n s t ream ta t to os have become — (you ca n )put them on your Barb i e .”

TMI is a finalist for the Wells Fa rgo Co p p e rCactus Awa rd for the Tu c son business withthe highest grow t h .

“ We ’re getting a lot of publicity,” To o ke rsa i d . “I think it’s beca u se we ’re still grow i n gin a crummy economic env i ronment andwe ’re a domestic U. S. m a n u fa c t u re r. And ourp roduct is just co o l .”

Shelby Hill is a University of Arizona journalism studentwho is an apprentice at the Star. Contact her at 573-4181or at starapprentice@azstarnet.com

ARIZONA DAILY STAR / We d n es d ay, Se p tember 16, 2 0 09 BUSINESS • A11

Pay credit-card billsin full each month,avoid interest hassle

C re d i t - ca rd use rs withm o n ey smarts and dis-cipline can pro te c t

t h e m se lves better than anylegislation ca n .

Initial provisions of theC redit Card Acco u n ta b i l i ty,Re s p o n s i b i l i ty and Disc l os u reAc t , pa ssed by Co n g re ss inM ay, went into effect in Au-g u s t . T h e se provisions giveca rd h o l d e rs longer notice oni n te re s t - ra te hikes and theright to opt out as long as theys top making charges and payoff the ba l a n ce within fiveyea rs under existing ra te s.C a rd h o l d e rs also get an ex t raweek between the time theyget their bills and the pay m e n tdue date .

All go o d , of co u rse , but ca rdu se rs who pay their bills in fulln ever have to wo r ry about in-te rest ra te s. If you arra n ge topay your cre d i t - ca rd sta te m e n ta u to m a t i ca l ly from yo u rchecking acco u n t , as I do anda dvo ca te , your pay m e n ts willbe on time.

Other aspects of the bill, i n-cluding restrictions on ra te in-c rea se s, go into effect in Fe b r u-a ry. But aga i n , t h e re is no im-pact on those who pay theirbills in full.

Under the changes alrea dy ine f fe c t , m o n t h ly sta te m e n tsh ave to be mailed at least 21d ays befo re payment is due.P rev i o u s ly it was 14 days.

“ Do n ’t look at this as an ex-t ra week to wait and pay yo u rb i l l ,” Bill Hard e kopf adv i se sw i se ly. He is CEO of Low-C a rd s.com (w w w. L ow C a rd s.co m ) , a useful Web site wh e reco n s u m e rs can co m pa re fea-t u res of more than 1,000 ca rd s.“ Keep your regular pay m e n tschedule and be appre c i a t ivefor the ex t ra cushion to makes u re your issuer re ce ives it ont i m e .”

O r, as my wife , G e o rg i n a ,and I have done for yea rs, s i g nup to have your monthly billpaid auto m a t i ca l ly on the dued a te through electronic tra n s-fer from your checking ac-co u n t .

Au tomatic pay m e n ts havewo rked pa r t i c u l a rly well for usb e ca u se we travel fre q u e n t ly.I nSe p tember 2004,while fo rce dto eva c u a te our home for 17 daysduring two hurrica n e s,we did-

n ’t have to wo r ry about ourc re d i t - ca rd bills getting pa i d .

All ca rds I’ve had offer thisa u tomatic payment option.

Of co u rse , when signing upyou must make sure to alwayskeep enough money in yo u rbank account to pay the bill —wh i c h , in itse l f, is a form ofd i sc i p l i n e .

If you are saddled with a ba l-a n ce and are paying inte re s t ,the new law at least gives yo um o re time to do so m e t h i n gabout it. I ss u e rs must give 45d ays ’ n o t i ce instead of 15 daysb e fo re a ra te increa se . T h i sg ives ca rd h o l d e rs a chance topay off the ba l a n ce or shopa round for another ca rd .

“The ex t ra month of notifica-tion is good for co n s u m e rs,but itis still our re s p o n s i b i l i ty to noticet h e se change s,”H a rd e kopf sa i d .“ Pay attention to your bill in-se r ts,e-mail notifications or theplain wh i te envelopes in yo u rm a i l ,”which is how most iss u e rswill notify yo u .

Your best bet wh e n eve ryo u ’re paying inte rest on ac redit ca rd is to cut out non-e ssential ex p e n ses and re so lveto pay off your ba l a n ce — wh i c hcan be as much a matter of dis-cipline as of financial mea n s.

“ L e t’s say I make $10 anhour and I buy a leather ja c ke tfor $400. T h e re fo re , I justspent 40 hours of my life fo rthat leather ja c ke t ,” sa i dMichael Mi h a l i k , author of“ Debt Is Slave ry and 9 OtherT h i n gs I Wish My Dad HadTaught Me About Mo n ey,” abook due out in Oc tober fro mMist Publishing.

“If I think of the price of thel eather ja c ket to be 40 hours ofmy life instead of $400, I ’dd e f i n i te ly think tw i ce aboutthe purc h a se .”

Send questions or comments toHumberto Cruz at AskHumberto@aol.com or c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225Kenmore Ave., Buffalo, NY 14207.Personal replies are not provided.

Opinion by

HUMBERTOCRUZ

THE SAVINGS GAME

Afghanistan, according toGen. Stanley McChrystal,commander of American andNATO forces there. The Ex-calibur is one tool for attain-ing that goal, a spokesmansaid.

An unguided 155 mm shellcan miss its ta rget by as muchas 900 fe e t . The Excalibur has a50-pound wa rh ea d . The Armywa n ted a weapon with a muchsmaller wa rh ead than the 200-pound charge on its only pre c i-s i o n - g u i d e d , g ro u n d - ba se dmobile ro c ket sys te m , o f f i c i a l ssa i d .

Tracing pro b l e mR aytheon shipped about 36 0

E xca l i b u rs befo re delive r i e swe re halted after co n t i n u e dtesting in the U. S. identified an“ u n a cce p ta b ly high” fa i l u rera te , the se rv i ce sa i d .

The Army said the pro b l e mwas due to design limitations inn av i gation units that we reunique to the ba tch of shellste s te d .

The unit was pro d u ced byHo n ey well International Inc.’sa e ros pa ce unit. R ay t h e o nc h a n ged subco n t ra c to rs, a n di t’s now being pro d u ced byC h e s h i re , Co n n . - ba sed At-lantic Inertial Sys tems Inc.The co m pa ny is owned by J. F.Lehman & Co. , a priva te equi-ty investment firm that fo c u s-es on inve s t m e n ts in aero-

s pa ce , d e fe n se and marinese c to rs.

“ T h e re is no indica t i o n ” t h a trounds deployed in Iraq orA fg h a n i s tan have this pro b l e m ,A r my spokesman Maj. J i m m i eC u m m i n gs said in an e-mail.

The Army is rev i ew i n gR aytheon Mi ssile Sys te m s ’q u a l i ty co n t rols “as a preve n-t ive mea s u re ” in order “ to makes u re no future issues arise ,”C u m m i n gs sa i d . No “ a b n o r-m a l i t i e s ” h ave been uncove re dso fa r, he sa i d .

R ay t h e o n ’s rev i ewR aytheon Mi ssile Sys te m s

s p o kesman John Pa t te rso n , i nan e-mailed sta te m e n t , sa i d ,“ We continue to examine ourdesign in sea rch of more ro b u s tco m p o n e n ts.”

The new nav i gation unit“has proven to meet sys tem re-q u i re m e n ts while providing ano p p o r t u n i ty for increa se dove rall sys tem re l i a b i l i ty,” h esa i d .

Ho n ey well spoke swo m a nK a ren Cra b t re e , when aske dabout the test problems andre p l a ce m e n t , said the co m pa-ny ’s guidance te c h n o l og i e s“h ave a proven re co rd spa n-ning more than half a ce n t u ryin milita ry and spa ce pro-g ra m s.”

“ We are lea d e rs in guidedweapon te c h n o l ogies for allb ranches of the milita ry,” s h esa i d . “ We continue to wo rkwith Raytheon and other primeco n t ra c to rs on many adva n ce dp rog ra m s.”

RAYTHEONCo n t i n u ed from Pa ge A10

In fa c t , P u l te co n tends in thesuit that “it was Baltierra , n o tP u l te , who called the otherc rew members and told themt h ey we re te r m i n a te d .”

The union’s ca m paign in-cluded a flier stating “ ‘Re h i rethe Tu sco n Seve n !’ ” says thel aws u i t , which misspelled thec i ty ’s name in that re fe re n ce .

P u l te ’s national custo m e r-relations manage r, Ro b e r tSc h m i t to u , said he has re ce ive dat least 750 e-mails and morethan 100 vo i ce mails that re fe rto the wo rke rs.

One caller said: “ Do n ’t makeme have to come down thereand have to find out who you isand what your problem is,” a c-co rding to Sc h m i t to u ’s affi-d av i t .

Among others ta rge ted bythe union’s e-mail ca m pa i g nwas Pulte ’s Arizona pre s i d e n t ,John Chadw i c k , the suit

c l a i m s.The union’s written state-

ment denying the lawsuit’s al-legations says: “This is reallyabout working people tryingto join together to improvetheir lives and sharing a senseof unity. Pulte workers and(the union) want Pulte to be asuccessful and profitablecompany, but a responsiblecompany also.” It was issuedby union spokeswoman DawnPage.

In Au g u s t , P u l te share h o l d-e rs approved a $1.53 billionta ke over of Ce n tex Co r p. , c re-ating the nation’s largest homeb u i l d e r.

P u l te is now positioned tosell homes in 29 sta tes andWa s h i n g to n , D.C . , u n d e rb rands including Del We b b, D i-Vos ta , and Fox & Ja co bs. P u l tea l so gained large tra c ts of landin Texa s, North Carolina andSouth Caro l i n a .

The Arizona Daily Star and The DetroitNews contributed to this report.

Copper’s economic impact grew last yearARIZONA DAILY STAR

Even as the re ce ssion to o khold and copper prices slumpedat the end of last yea r, the Ari-zona copper industry se tre co rds for economic impa c tand job creation in 2008, a c-co rding to a re cent study pre-pa red for the Arizona Mi n i n gA sso c i a t i o n .

The sta te ’s copper pro d u ce rshad a direct e conomic impact ofabout $3.9 billion last yea r, up 18p e rcent from 2007, says the re-port by the We s tern Eco n o m i cA n a lysis Ce n ter in Mara n a .

As those copper dollars rip-pled through the sta te ’s eco n o-my, t h ey crea ted a combined di-rect and indirect economic im-pact of nea rly $10.4 billion, t h es t u dy says.

Mea nwh i l e , A r i zona co p p e r-i n d u s t ry employment grew toan ave ra ge of 11,200 over theco u rse of 2008, the re p o r ts h owe d .

He re ’s a closer look at some ofthe key industry indica to rs :

PULTECo n t i n u ed from Pa ge A10

BY THE NUMBERSDespite falling metal prices, the state’s copper industry saw increases in employment and production in 2008

A R I ZO NA’S COPPER I N DUST RY

$3.86 b i l l i o n

Est i m a ted direct sta tewide i m pact in 20 0 8

$10.39 billionCombined direct and

i n d i rect impa c t

$1.12 billionD i rect impact

in Pima Co u n ty

$2.84 billionSa l es to copper indust ry

by other A r i zona businesses

16%I n c rea se in sa l es from 20 07

$165.7 millionD i rect ta x and fee pay m e n ts

to sta te and local gove r n m e n ts

20%I n c rea se in ta xes

and fe es from 20 07

JO BS AND INCO M E

1 1 ,2 0 0D i rect copper indust ry

j o bs in 20 0 8

9%I n c rea se in direct jobs

f rom 20 07

2 8 ,70 0Pea k copper indust ry

e m p l oyment in A r i zo n a , in 1974

$857 millionTotal direct personal

i n come pay m e n ts

$1,335Ave ra ge copper

i n d u st ry we e k l y ea r n i n gs,20 0 8

P RO DUCT I O N

949,354Tons of copper

and other minera l s

$6.9 billionValue of pro d u c t i o n

13%I n c rea se in va l u e

f rom 20 07

SOURCE: Western Economic Analysis Center

B l o c kb u ster may closeup to 960 US sto res

B l o c k b u s ter Inc. m ay close asm a ny as 960 sto res by the end ofn ext yea r, shedding more dea dweight as the struggling videore n tal chain tries to reve rse itsl osses and fend off ra p i d ly grow-ing rivals Netflix Inc. and Re d-b ox .

The cuts outlined in docu-m e n ts filed Tu e sd ay would leaveB l o c k b u s ter with about 20 per-cent fewer U. S. s to re s.

B l o c k b u s ter hasn’t yet co n-c l u s ive ly decided to close all thes to res mentioned in the prev i-o u s ly confidential documents,Chief Exe c u t ive James Keye ssaid in an inte rv i ew Tu e sd ay.

Keyes described the clos u re sas something that Blockbuster isconsidering as it se ts up moreDV D - re n tal kios ks in the sto re sof other merc h a n ts. I t’s a co n-cept that has been popularize dby Co i n s tar Inc.’s Re d b ox .

B l o c k b u s ter has 26 sto res inPima Co u n ty, said Randy Har-g rove, a co m pa ny spoke s m a n .He said he could not say wh i c h , i f

a ny, of those sto res are ca n d i-d a tes for clos u re .

“In marke ts like (Pima Co u n-ty) , i t’s going to be business asu s u a l ,” H a rg rove sa i d .

A list of sto res with a pote n t i a lfor clos u re has not been madep u b l i c, he sa i d . B l o c k b u s ter willexamine each underperfo r m i n gs to re to determine if there is anyp oss i b i l i ty to keep it open, h esa i d . Each of the co m pa ny ’ss to res has about seven to 10 em-p l oye e s, H a rg rove sa i d .

Adobe Systems to buyO m n i tu re for $1 . 8 B

Adobe Sys tems Inc. sa i dTu e sd ay that it will buy Omni-t u re Inc. , a Web analytic so f t-wa re co m pa ny, for about $1.8b i l l i o n , g iving the maker of co n-te n t - c reation so f twa re a way tolet marke te rs mea s u re the effe c-t ive n e ss of such co n te n t .

Sa n Jose, Calif.-basedAdobe, which makes Flash, Ac-robat and Photoshop software,said it will buy Omniture for$21.50 per share in cash, a pre-mium of 24 percent over Omni-ture’s closing stock price Tues-day. Omniture shares jumpednearly 26 percent in extendedtrading.

Wire and staff reports

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

MAMTA POPAT / ARIZONA DAILY STAR

M a rcy More n o, an illust ra tor at T M I, wo r ks on Disney-themed te m p o rary ta tto os. The co m-pa ny is a finalist for the Wells Fa rgo Copper Cactus Awa rd due to its rapid grow t h .

TATTOOSCo n t i n u ed from Pa ge A10