AMERICAN NOTES

PINK FLAMINGOS VICTIMS OF TERRORISM

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE, FITCHBURG, MA - Thirty-nine plastic pink
flamingos hung on a line in one of the large, drafty and now-idle
manufacturing rooms at Union Products Inc. A few dozen unfinished ones
stuck their heads out of cardboard boxes, waiting for their pink noses
to be painted black. But those hoping to buy a piece of history will
have to move to the back of the waiting line.

"We've been getting orders like you wouldn't believe," said Keith N.
Marshall, the company's chief financial officer. "We have a few left,
but they're primarily spoken for."

Wednesday was the scheduled final day of Union Products, the original
manufacturer of the plastic pink flamingo. Facing rising prices for
materials and energy, the company's lender ordered its liquidation
earlier this year and production stopped in June. . .

Several local parties, including Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella, had expressed
interest in buying the flamingo mold. But Union Products wants to sell
all the assets in one package. That will probably be completed in the
coming days, Marshall said. . .

Marshall said Wednesday that Union Products' business, which relied on
consumer sales, started to tumble during the Christmas season following
Sept. 11. "The following Christmas there were product build-ups from the
previous season," he continued. "Oil prices started to skyrocket right
after that."

Union Products' lender reduced the company's credit line in 2005, making
it harder for the firm to maintain its production rate and prepare for
this year's lawn-and-garden season, according to Marshall.

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_4590977

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TEEN LEAGUE COMMISSIONER FIRES COACH FOR NOT FOLLOWING HIS ORDERS ON HOW
TO PLAY HIS KID

TIMOTHY DWYER, WASHINGTON POST - The South County Raptors, a scrappy
football team made up of 12- to 14-year-old boys from southern Fairfax
County, were supposed to meet the Herndon Hornets today in the first
round of the county playoffs. Instead, the Raptors are at home, their
season over with no possibility of a championship after a league
commissioner fired the head coach and the assistant coach this week.
Their offense? They moved the commissioner's son from defense to offense
for the final game of the season last Saturday, an overtime win that put
the Raptors in the postseason.

"Scott does not sit out on defense - ever," the commissioner, Dan
Hinkle, had warned the head coach, James Owens, in an e-mail sent before
the season began about how he should play Hinkle's son, 12. On defense,
the father said, "he goes in and stays in. That includes all practices,
scrimmages and games. This entire league exists so he can play defense
on the best team in his weight class. . . . He is my son, I own the
league, and he plays every snap on defense."

The sudden end to the season, which began with preseason practice in the
wickedly hot days of late August, has crushed the 19 boys on the team.
The parents are just as upset. Meetings have been held. E-mails have
flown all week as the parents tried to get Hinkle to reconsider. "Every
time I think about this, I get sick to my stomach," Owens said. "These
kids worked hard to get this far. These kids were unbelievably excited
about making the playoffs."

http://tinyurl.com/vr9ol

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WOMAN-OWNED FIRMS GROWING AT TWICE THE RATE OF COMPANIES OVERALL

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT - Over the past nine years, the number of
woman-owned firms grew at twice the rate of companies overall, according
to a recent analysis of the latest census data by the Center for Women's
Business Research. . . The number of companies whose ownership is at
least 51 percent female now stands at 7.7 million, up from 5.4 million
in 1997. Firms owned by women now account for some 30 percent of the
nation's 25.8 million companies.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/smallbizscene/061106/womanowned_firms_
show_rapid_gr.htm?s_cid=rss:site1


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