1616-31 Various Miami Beach T__ _ _____ . _
www HERALD COM
BUSINESS BRIEFS U.S. ECONOMY
,„....
• COMPANY RANKINGS Nation
Two Florida companies
named to Fortune's listdeficit
SI The U.S.trade
unexpectedly grew to
From Herald Wire Services b
Two South Florida companies have been named to the list $60.3.3 illion in November,
the best ever, o
of"100 Best Companies to Work For"by Fortune magazine. demand soil as
On the 2005 list,JM Family Enterprises is No.25 and Baptist consumer goods pushed
Health is No.3L imports to a record.
Baptist Health,headquartered in Coral Gables,is South
Florida's largest private employer with 11,000 people.Baptist From Herald Wire Services
ingHealth
for more
include three on-s aansd e infants)
nfchildcareand an centers(car-
an all-time high of$60 3 bila .
ing for more than 300 toddlers lion in November as Ameri-
scholarship and tuition reimbursement program. canoappetites for foreign oil
Diversified automotive company JM Facey Enterprises, and imported ood reached
cited by Fortune for having unusual benefits,is the top rank- record level .
ing automotive company on the annual list of companies that The Commerce Depart f
rate high with employees.Some of JM Family's benefits ment reported Wednesday ccafeterias the shortfall between what
include on-site medical centers;a childcare facility; sells abroad i
s
open for breakfast,lunch and take-home dinners;on-site the United Stateincreasad
salon services,dry cleaning and fitness centers. and what it imports
Other Florida companies that made the list to appear in 7.7 percent from the previous
Fortune's Jan.24 issue include Publix Super Markets of Lake- record—the October deficit 1
of$56 billion.The imbalance
land and Baptist Healthcare of Pensacola Fortune ranks the with China for
companies based on its evaluation of the policies and culture more than a quarter accounted ftor
of each company,and the opinions of the company's own total mordeficit.
\V/ That was a surprise given
employees.. that oil prices had come
•SPHERION •ROYAL PALM
down during the month.Ana-
HOTEL COUNTERSUES lysts said it served to under-
CEO ACCUSED score the seriousness of the
IN LIABILITIES SCHEME ITS LENDER country's trade situation.
Spherion Chief
Two days after being hit "We now have the Grand
Executive Royy KrauseFN)Krauis with a foreclosure suit,the Canyon of trade deficits,"
accused of having a hand in Royal Palm hotel counter- said Joel Naroff, head of a
a scheme that saddled its sued its lender,accusing the
U.K.subsidiary's liabilities Nnolam York-basede agreement
of
on a Netherlands company .
and costing the South Beach
that later faend resort at least$5 million in
In an amended lawsuit lost revenue. �'`r :, �,re1�-'
filed in Manhattan federal Lawyers for owner R. .. \^ '
court,GlidePath Holding Donahue Peebles accused �' ie�
B.V.alleges Krause,who North Fork Bank of pursu- ' t i t ;`i'
was Spherion's chief furanar.� II*° &
cial officer at the time,was ing a public campaign ♦' k
against the Royal Palm,cost- ryliJ
involved in structuring a g g the hotel business and `�� �"
secret$1 million payment to fPeebles to corn- ► ;�
a GlidePath official who was prompting ',
also an undisclosed director mand a lower price for thei 0• ,
hotel than if he had not been N: ,. t
of Spherion's U.K subsid- ,A--,,.,
fending off the lender.Pee- .r,tel N.1�'' bles is scheduled to sell the f ► y
The payment was a . � �reward for unloading mil- Royal Palm for$128 million ' ` 6 .aha' li,
lions of dollars of the sub- to the Falors Cos.of Chicago �sidiary's liabilities on Glide- sometime in the next three Path,according to the suit. Weks.A North Fork did not �— r 1 T
"Spherion believes these spokeswomany'
claims are baseless,and we respond to a request for
comment. €
plan to defend this matter w
'said Spherion t�
vigorously,' .CREDIT RATING 74 -
cnnkvcman Kin Naval