Business news

Foundation established for businesses to donate

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Meridian Merchant Services is launching The Meridian Foundation for Empowered Giving, a private foundation to be headquartered in Augusta that will support small, medium, and large businesses in their efforts to contribute to nonprofit organizations of their choice.

The Meridian Foundation will work as a clearinghouse for both businesses that want to give money and organizations that need funds. The foundation will also provide support and assistance to companies new to philanthropy, but interested in doing more.

Laurie Lockliear was hired as executive director for The Meridian Foundation. Lockliear has more than 20 years of experience working with nonprofits.

Meridian Merchant Services is based out of Savannah, and has provided consultation services for organizations across the U.S., Canada, the Philippines and Japan.

"We believe that businesses want to do more to support worthy causes, but times are tough and every dime counts," said William Black, CEO of Meridian. "We created this foundation to help business owners help the organizations that inspire them."

Porsche plans to unify operations in Atlanta

ATLANTA --- Porsche Cars North America said Thursday it plans to consolidate several of its U.S. operations at a new $100 million complex being planned in the Atlanta area, where it already has headquarters.

The German luxury automaker said the complex, to be built near the new International Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, will include a road course allowing potential customers to take luxury cars for a spin.

Other U.S. operations moving to Atlanta include Porsche Financial Services Inc. and Porsche Business Services Inc., both currently located in Lisle, Ill. A now-shuttered Ford Motor Co. plant sits there now.

Porsche says the complex will include office facilities for a workforce that will eventually number 400 employees, including a technical service and training center. The company has based its North American operations in nearby Sandy Springs for the last 13 years.

In other news

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE applying for unemployment benefits plummeted last week, reversing nearly all the sharp rise reported the previous week. The number of laid-off workers seeking benefits dropped 44,000 to a seasonally adjusted 434,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That is the steepest weekly fall since February 2010.

RETAIL SALES ROSE 0.5 percent in April after a 0.9 percent increase in March, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

GENERAL MOTORS CEO Dan Akerson has invested more of his own money in the company. The company says in a regulatory filing that Akerson bought 30,000 GM shares for $31.33 each. That means he spent $940,000. The purchase increases his personal holdings of GM stock to 50,000 shares.

AMERICANS ARE GROWING more optimistic about the U.S. economy. An Associated Press-GfK poll shows that more than 2 out of 5 people believe the U.S. economy will get better, while a third think it will stay the same and nearly a fourth think it will get worse, a rebound from last month's more pessimistic attitude.