VIRGINIA

Richmonder in finals for Martha Stewart award

Tabitha Geary, owner and founder of the keepsake-organizing service Tabitha Geary LLC in Richmond, is one of 11 finalists in Martha Stewart's second annual Dreamers Into Doers awards program.

A winner will be chosen Nov. 12 on "The Martha Stewart Show."

GE Healthcare acquires Henrico-based Agility

GE Healthcare has acquired Henrico County-based Agility Healthcare Solutions for an undisclosed amount.

Agility developed AgileTrac, a wireless way to track hospital equipment and patients.

Richmond-based Harbert Venture Partners LLC led Agility's Series A Preferred stock financing in early 2007 with others, as well as subsequent financings. Tom Roberts of HVP served as a board member for Agility.

"GE's acquisition validates Agility's market-leading position in helping hospitals to achieve better patient outcomes through use of more efficient business processes," Roberts said. "This was a great validation of our investment thesis."

Cary Street Partners served as financial adviser to Agility in the transaction.

GE Healthcare, a division of General Electric Co. that serves health-care professionals with medical technologies and services, is based in the United Kingdom.

Dominion blog lets customers talk energy

Energy provider Dominion is launching an Internet blog for customers to share ideas on saving energy. The site, found at www.e-conserve.blogspot.com, allows visitors to share tips and ask Dominion questions on energy conservation.

Some of the recent topics on the blog include preparing a home for the winter and choosing the correct light bulb.

Jennmar to expand facility in Giles County

Jennmar Corporation of East Virginia Inc. will invest $2.65 million to expand its facility in Giles County, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced yesterday.

The company, which provides roof and standing support products for the mining and tunneling industries, will create 50 jobs and retain 23 positions.

Virginia competed with Kentucky and West Virginia for the project. Kaine approved $100,000 from the Governor's Opportunity Fund to assist Giles with the project.

THE NATION

Mortgage rates again drop below 6 percent

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell below 6 percent this week, recording the first decline in three weeks.

Mortgage company Freddie Mac reported yesterday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.94 percent this week, down from 6.10 percent last week. It marked the first decline since rates fell on Sept. 18 to 5.78 percent, a seven-month low.

Mortgage rates have been on a roller coaster, hitting a high for the year of 6.63 percent in late July and then dropping below 6 percent in mid-September.

Jobless claims fall from 7-year mark, stay high

WASHINGTON -- New applications for unemployment benefits dropped last week from a seven-year high, the Labor Department said yesterday, though they remain at elevated levels that indicate recession.

Initial claims for jobless benefits dropped 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 478,000, the department said, the same level that Wall Street economists expected.

The department said Hurricanes Ike and Gustav were responsible for adding about 20,000 claims on a seasonally adjusted basis. That is down from approximately 45,000 the previous week.

The number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment benefits rose to 3.66 million, above analysts' estimates of 3.6 million. That is the highest total in more than five years.

Merck's Gardasil finds audience as new vaccine

Merck & Co.'s cervical-cancer vaccine, Gardasil, was given to a fourth of U.S. teenage girls last year after a $100 million marketing campaign by the drug maker.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported yesterday that 2.5 million girls ages 13 to 17 had gotten the first of three doses of Gardasil. The agency said the rate is good for a new vaccine, though its goal is for more than 90 percent coverage.

Gardasil, approved in June 2006, is the first vaccine to protect against cancer-causing strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, in females ages 9 to 26.

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