Over the past four years, Washington state has not made progress toward getting more students to earn degrees in high demand fields, mostly because of the recession, according to a new report from the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board. Employers all over the state are begging for more college graduates in certain fields, and those needs haven’t really changed, despite an ambitious plan researched by the higher education board in 2007 and issued in 2008.
“The same challenges we’ve tried to address in the past decade or so aren’t getting any better,” Don Bennett, executive director of the HEC Board, said Tuesday. “We’re not ramping up in the areas that we’ve identified previously.”
Anyone who watches the Legislature knows that is a bit of an understatement. State dollars flowing toward higher education have shrunk every year since the recession started and this year’s Legislature is planning for another year of cuts. This might not seem like a good time for strategic planning, but anytime is a good time to plan, Bennett said.
Intel earnings rise despite product flaw
Intel’s earnings rose 29 percent as strong spending by businesses on new computers helped the company overcome a serious product design error and the effects of the deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan. An extra week in the quarter also helped. Net income was $3.16 billion, or 56 cents per share, higher than the 46 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet expected. A year ago, Intel earned $2.44 billion, or 43 cents per share. Revenue was $12.8 billion, up 25 percent from $10.3 billion a year ago.
Google developing charging-site map
Electric vehicle owners looking for somewhere to charge up soon will need little more than Google. The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday that a new partnership will draw on Google Maps to create an online network of all the charging stations in the country and will serve as a primary data source for GPS and mapping services to track electric vehicle charging locations. The effort includes 80 partners.
Continued rebates boost GM car sales
General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson said he doesn’t regret the company’s decision to increase spending on rebates and other deals earlier this year even though it has contributed to the company’s tumbling stock price. GM surprised the industry — and Wall Street — when it raised discounts by $400 per vehicle in January and February. Most automakers didn’t raise them because demand for new vehicles has been rising in line with supply. “I feel pretty good about that. I think we’re in pretty good shape,” Akerson said at an automotive conference Tuesday in New York. Akerson said the increased incentives helped GM sell 100,000 more cars in the first quarter than it did in the same period last year. It also caught GM’s competition off-guard.
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