The demand for professional translation services has grown in the recent years not only for businesses but also for individuals. Globalization has clearly implied that both large and small business units are trying to reach the worldwide market and are thus expanding through their websites and legal contracts. And these websites and legal contracts are actually written in the national language only, therefore professionals from other countries or provinces find it really difficult to understand them. For such reasons only translation services have seen a major up thrust.
To translate or get anything translated to any foreign language, like French, Italian, or Spanish, is a tedious task that one can only dare to attempt either once or twice. But finally it becomes quite cumbersome and the person thinks to quit. Sensing this issue only, various websites have started offering translation services to their customers. There are websites that offer services such as corporate translating service for documents, reports, brochures, etc.; short translating services for blogs, multilingual FAQs, etc.; and writing and re-writing services. You can also seek professional help for special needs including website translation, DTP or page layout, and preparing multilingual documents.
Breaking into the international markets can lead any company towards increased profitability and growth more rapidly than the domestic market. Translation services can extend great help here as most of the businesses need to present their websites not only in an international language but also in several other languages. The online language translation services can come handy in such cases.
How Everything Gets Into Real Process
It is really important to understand how the companies and the translator work. The companies hire licensed professionals to translate the languages. In case a company is focused to the German market only, it will hire a professional who can interpret the regional language into German and vice versa. When this process of translating the writings is over, the software professionals settle programs according to a locale, handling the localization testing as well. This way, websites get translated and the originality of the format is also retained.
Language has got a great significance in today’s world. This is a medium through which information travels from one place to another. Some companies even outsource the projects of making their own websites and brochures etc. and get them translated as well to extend its products and services to the worldwide markets, by making the information accessible to everyone. This serves as the major reason for most of the companies to hire language professionals for ‘writing their official documents.’ They want the translation to have higher degrees of professionalism for they would be presented to the customers. That’s why there are websites offering hard core services in translating almost every language on earth.
They keep the same professional attitude for translating the material and serve you the way you want as they do understand that your ultimate goal of hiring them is to gain a cutting edge in the competitive market worldwide.
Language is a real significant way of information exchange in global market. If you want to get your writings translated in French, German, Italian, Spanish, etc., or vis a vis, visit and get your work done in no time.
Intel’s senior vice president and general manager of Digital Home Group Eric Kim announced the launch of Intel Atom processor, CE4100, the processor is the Intel processor
family, the latest system-on-Chip (SOC), the series is designed to be content and services brought to TV.
Intel CTO Justin Rattner, senior research fellow pointed out that innovation in the next few years, accelerated to 2015, there will be 15 billion sets of consumer-oriented
devices to provide billions of hours of TV video content, so the need for more advanced organize content, and to demand mode (on demand) to provide content, Intel Labs (Intel
Labs) is committed to promoting technological progress, so that when people need, regardless of where they have encountered are in the desired content.
At the same time, Kim also announced that Intel is working with several firms, such as Adobe Systems (Adobe Systems Inc.; ADBE-US), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Cisco Systems (CSCO-US) and other companies for the next generation of television to provide more advanced content, applications, services
and infrastructure in the short term vision of interactive television can be achieved.
Kim said that TV focuses on the evolution of more processing power, which is the Intel CE 4100 media processor can provide advantages to the core of Intel Atom-based, for
network TV (IPTV) digital set-top boxes, networked media players and Digital television is optimized through the performance and high-resolution graphics capabilities, consumer
electronics manufacturers and software developers who receive the most innovative platform.
With consumer devices provide more and more TV content, graphics and audio decoder for consumer electronics platform also will be important, Kim said Intel is working with Adobe
Systems co-operation, through Adobe’s Flash Player 10, Intel The new CE media processor family on the implementation of the future of consumer electronics devices will be able
to play for the graphics and video optimization.
Rattner also predicted that consumers will soon be able to enjoy high-quality living room at home, 3-D video, and technology officer Howard Postley discussed the Light Peak of
the Intel code-named the new high-speed optical input / output (I / O) technology, which will improve the bandwidth and flexibility, and reduce the personal computer users to
download videos and other digital media, the complexity and cost.
Light Peak is Intel’s development of new high-speed fiber optic cable technology, the use of more detailed than the existing copper cable links to a variety of mainstream
consumer electronics devices, and provide better performance.
Finally, as the current and future digital transmission of TV a huge amount of content, it becomes extremely important personal, CBS Television Network has developed a TV
Widget, the program can help the audience with a more tailored approach to find and link to premium content, Intel believes, CE media processor performance and Widget Channel
software framework is the driving force behind TV Widgets.
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CMMB On the one hand only TD terminals, and are also subject to the profit model is not clear, develop into Miju. This is precisely the analog TV handsets provide a good industrial environment.
In China Mobile and China Mobile on the CMMB wide co-operation projects have been formally signed, the part of the opportunism of the final result of illegal domestic sales of mobile phone brand GSM mobile phone standard CMMB relevant state departments have suffered heavy fines.
Recently, this reporter visited a number of cell phone stores and found that the previous best-selling Sky CMMB mobile phone has been removed counters, leaving only a small number of analog TV signals mobile phones. “Some time ago manufacturers face severe punishment once, and now can not sell GSM standard CMMB mobile phones, but not any TD’s CMMB mobile phone users to buy, why not do CMMB mobile phone manufacturers have basically had.” Its mobile channel for official told reporters.
Currently, CMMB mobile terminal due to fees and restrictions on the industry chain manufacturers have suffered a “cold treatment.” In this case, the users demand for mobile TV is so that analog mobile TV show under adverse growth. Science and technology according to the Thai King, chairman of cloud Vijay to the “Communications Weekly” (net) at the press disclosed that so far Telegent analog mobile TV chips have accumulated shipments of over 50 million, significantly exceeding the company’s targets, and with the the increase in users, chip shipments are still further increased.
CMMB in bottleneck
From a technical perspective, analog television signals to the band’s profit margins are too low, poor quality, mold rpm (analog signal transduction digital signal) is an unstoppable trend. However, due to analog television has cultivated the habit of watching TV for free, user fees for these reforms are bound to face enormous difficulties.
“In the global markets, there is no one digital mobile TV operators in the case of successful operation. Because the analog signal into a digital signal process, requires a lot of network construction costs, but most operators rely on user fees to recover, but the allow users to shift from the free charges it is very difficult. “Telegent chairman Vijay clouds analyzed the situation when in an interview that the immediate difficulties faced by CMMB short period of time can not be solved. “So in a very long time, analog TV and digital TV will co-exist, but also to some extent, analog mobile TV will be more popular.”
Analog TV mobile phone growth in times of adversity
Market research and consulting firm InStat analog mobile TV released a white paper shows that in the next few years or even longer period of time, the world’s population has more than 85% of people will be able to continue to receive analog TV signals. This is further strengthened, including Thai King, including analog TV mobile phone industry chain manufacturers confidence.
Thai King’s chief executive officer Vijay Cloud said: “and fee-based digital TV mobile phone compared to free wireless receiver for mobile TV success was due to two major driving factors. The first is content, in fact the consumers watch content with their traditional TV viewing on the content of the same; The second is that global coverage, enabling consumers to virtually anywhere in the world watching. “
InStat’s FrankDickson, vice president of research, said: “analog mobile TV has two very basic and very compelling advantages: cost and availability. Analog TV infrastructure already exists, no need to formulate new standards, and the business to consumer who is free of charge. “
According to InStat predicts that in 2009 the worldwide analog mobile TV subscribers will reach 54 million, while in 2013, the worldwide analog mobile TV subscribers will grow six-fold to 3 million people.
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Compressed Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas: Cars, Light Trucks, and Medium/Heavy Duty Trucks
Natural Gas Vehicle technology is widely available and has been available for purchase in most regions of the world for decades. Governments, fleet managers, and private consumers are recognizing the environmental benefits of lower emissions from NGVs. However, lack of refueling infrastructure has caused NGV demand to stagnate in many countries. In regions where NGVs have strong market performance, adoption is largely due to a combination of inexpensive natural gas, a large number of existing refueling stations, and government subsidies of vehicles, fuel, and infrastructure. ( )
Our assessment of the NGV market points to strong growth in regions where the infrastructure is already supported, which include parts of Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. It anticipates growing acceptance of NGVs as governments approve climate change treaties and energy security legislation. These factors will contribute to NGV sales growth of 5.5% annually by 2015, though some regions will see growth stunted by greater political support for other transportation alternatives such as electric vehicles, clean diesels, and biofuels.
This report provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges to NGV light-duty cars, trucks, and medium/heavy duty trucks. The report includes a comprehensive assessment of compressed and liquefied natural gas (CNG/LNG) vehicle technologies, including tanks and engine modifications. It also examines key drivers of market growth by fleet customers as well as private consumers. Detailed forecasts are provided for the global vehicle market, global NGV fleet and private consumer sales, NGV refueling stations, and NGV sales by vehicle segments. Key market players are also profiled.
Key questions addressed:
* What vehicle segments are available as NGVs? * What is the outlook for NGV growth within vehicle segments? * What are the key storage tank and engine technologies used in NGVs? * How many NGV refueling stations are there? * How big are NGV markets and how large are these markets expected to grow? * What are the key drivers of growth in the NGV market? * Who are the key industry players in the NGV market?
Who needs this report?
* OEM Vehicle Marketing Managers * NGV Conversion/Upfitter Companies * Vehicle Component Suppliers * Storage Tank Manufacturers * Natural Gas Mining Companies * Natural Gas Utilities * Natural Gas Pipeline and/or Shipping Companies * Biogas (Landfill Gas) Producers * Government Environmental Agencies * Government Transportation Agencies * Environmental Transportation Advocacy Groups * Vehicle Trade Associations * Investor Community
To know more and to buy a copy of your report feel free to visit : http://www.bharatbook.com/Market-Research-Reports/Natural-Gas-Vehicles.html
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A career as an energy auditor is becoming an increasingly important one as more and more people are looking to make their homes more energy-efficient. Not only is this important so that people can save money, but it’s also important for the environment because more efficient homes mean less energy waste and less negative impact on the environment, too, including fewer carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.
The career outlook for an Energy Auditor is very good. They make on average $30-$60 thousand a year.
Recently, tax incentives have persuaded more people to jump on board and hire energy auditors. This means that this is a career that is in particular demand right now, and it’s a good one for you to get into if you want to do something that’s going to help the environment and be in a lucrative career besides.
How is an energy auditor pursuing a “green” career?
Because energy auditors help people be more efficient in their energy usage, they in effect impact the environment positively because less energy waste means that fewer fossil fuels are burned. And this helps us, our environment, and our fellow species be healthier and happier, which can mean longer lives for all of us.
What type of education do you need to have in order to be energy auditor?
In general, this isn’t yet a standardized profession, so that different companies and agencies will have different requirements for their employees in regard to the education they need to have. In some cases, a bachelor’s degree in engineering is all you’re going to need. In other areas, you’ll need a graduate degree in an area like engineering to get the job. You may also need to have experience in business management and maybe even a degree in business management itself.
Info Considering a career as an energy auditor
If you’re considering a career as an energy auditor, one of the things you will definitely be involved in is engineering. Beyond that, though, as previously stated, educational requirements vary from company to company. If you have a particular company in mind that you would like to work for as an energy auditor, contact that company and find out what level of education and experience you have to have. Getting experience to become an energy auditor
Beyond a bachelor’s degree in engineering and other requisite additional education, you’ll also need to have some practical experience before you can become an energy auditor. Most often, you’ll start as an adjunct or support to another energy auditor. In this way, you’ll get to learn the responsibilities on the job as you work. In many cases, if the company you want to work for requires that you have advanced degree such as a business degree or other advanced degree specifically related to becoming an energy auditor, you can begin as an apprentice of sorts or support to another energy auditor and continue your education as you work. In addition, many of the degree programs themselves have a certain amount of work-study built into them.
Provisional certification
In some cases, prospective employers may allow candidates who want to be energy auditors but don’t yet have the job experience to take an exam for provisional certification in employment, and then allow them to gain the necessary work experience to be truly qualified. Upon completion of minimum practical experience, the candidate is given full certification. The amount of time this takes varies between jurisdictions, but generally takes between two and six years.
is the #1 green careers website on Google. We have the most comprehensive database of articles on green jobs. Whatever your stage of life, we have you covered. Green careers, green training, and green entrepreneurship articles are only a small part of our exhaustive green career site. There are tremendous upsides to having a green career.
In a power generation facility uninterrupted steam production is vital. It follows logically then that a reliable source of boiler quality feed water is also vitally important. Frequently these days this means the installation and operation of an Industrial Reverse Osmosis (RO) system.
The use of RO in power generation facilities has become increasingly common over the last 15 years, especially in newly built facilities. Reverse Osmosis retrofits to the boiler water pre-treatment systems of large, older power generation facilities are common as well, irrespective of the fuel source.
This article presents 5 operational considerations when purchasing an industrial reverse osmosis system for your Power Generation facility.
Industrial Reverse Osmosis Consideration #1: Focus on the permeate
In Power Generation facilities normally the permeate is the desired water stream. System designs with more than one pass may be needed to ensure that the final product is of the specified purity. Other considerations may include RO redundancy to allow some trains to be removed for cleaning or membrane replacement, boiler makeup demand vs. RO flow rate, the need for an RO water storage tank, both upstream for the RO feed and downstream for the permeate.
Industrial Reverse Osmosis Consideration #2: Sometimes you’ll focus on the reject
If the reject is the desired product, multi-staging may be necessary. In a power plant, wastewater and in some instances cooling tower blow down will be concentrated using multi-staging RO to reduce the total quantity of water that must be treated to final effluent standards.
Industrial Reverse Osmosis Consideration #3: Prevent scaling of the RO membranes by hardness, strontium, or barium
The three most common means of preventing scale build up in Power Generation RO systems are; feeding acid to control pH, installing a softener ahead of the RO system and feeding an antiscalant.
Industrial Reverse Osmosis Consideration #4: Prevent microbiological fouling of the membrane
While generally not as damaging as mineral scale, microbiological fouling can significantly reduce the efficiency of a Reverse Osmosis system. Again, preventing fouling is a far more effective strategy than fouling remediation. Microbiological fouling of Reverse Osmosis systems is generally done by controlling the MB content in the RO feed water to a specified maximum using a biocide.
Industrial Reverse Osmosis Parameter #5: Prevent non-microbiological organic fouling of the RO membrane
This is most successfully done by controlling the COD of the RO feed water. If the RO feed water is plant service water and uncontaminated (or does not contain recycled water or waste water) then the COD is almost always color or decaying vegetation. Both can be removed through proper upstream clarification or an anion exchanger.
If the RO feed water contains a recycled or waste component, then the COD can be almost anything. In this case, proper upstream treatment using secondary (biological) treatment of the waste or recycled stream will be needed to reduce the COD to levels such that non-biological organic fouling of RO membranes does not occur.
An in-depth discussion of Reverse Osmosis design considerations for the Power Generation Industry including tables and drawings can be downloaded in the free 11 page Layne Christensen white paper titled Eleven Things to Consider When Purchasing a Reverse Osmosis System for Your Power Generation Facility.
As a leader in the development of Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems, Layne Christensen Company has the technical expertise to design and build reverse osmosis systems for all of your plant water needs.
Beyond RO, Layne Christensen’s Water Treatment Division Research & Development team focuses on refining and expanding the water treatment methods we currently employ so we can meet the most demanding challenges head-on with innovation.
Your concerns about water quality are Layne’s concerns as well. The Water Treatment Division has been resolving water quality problems for over a half century, installing thousands of treatment systems throughout North America. You can reach our technical experts through our website at www.LayneWater.com or by phone 262.246.4646.
A complete list of design considerations is provided in the free ($97 value) Layne Christensen technical paper. Grab your copy of Design Considerations while they are still available. For additional Reverse Osmosis Information visit Article Source:
Structural engineering companies using Revit Structure software can effectively manage their design and documentation with the architect – controlling digital representations from multiple design sources, especially AutoCAD and AutoCAD Architecture software. With the wide acceptance of AutoCAD and over 300,000 users across the world, structural drafters/engineers will find several opportunities to utilize Revit Structure to collaborate with architects using the intelligent building objects (in DWG format)from AutoCAD Architecture.
One critical part of a structural engineer’s job to share design data and information with the rest of design team together with the architect. To fulfill this requirement, Revit Structure provides a variety of collaboration modes such as:
Exporting/Importing standard CAD files (such as DWG, DGN, DXF)
Linking of files to/from AutoCAD Architecture
Linking completely to an existing Revit Architecture building model
The most obvious starting point for any structural engineer is 2D CAD files provided by the architect. Any CAD software/system that supports DWG, DGN, DXF formats can work efficiently with Revit Structure. Revit structure allows engineer to link and import DWG, DGN, DXF files directly into Revit Structure. If the 2D CAD file is linked while being imported, it stays within Revit Structure as a set and can be refreshed if the architect provides an updated version. Imported geometry can be converted directly to generate new structural members. Revit Structure has the ability to export these same 2D CAD formats – not only because this is the format often needed to pass on to the rest of the design team, but also some contractors demand the delivery of digital documentation in these formats. Revit structure can provide DWG deliverables just as AutoCAD software can, creating layered and well-organized DWG files using any industry standard the engineer wants.
Revit Structure and AutoCAD Architecture have remarkably solid integration, allowing additional benefits to structural and architectural firms using these systems together. Usually the structural engineer will begin the design process using the 2D CAD files and if required can also import the AutoCAD architectural model straight into Revit Structure, using the architect’s model for design reference. And for better co-ordination with architects and rest of the team, Revit Structure exports structural members as intelligent building objects resident to AutoCAD Architecture. So a full structural model can be shared directly with the architect using AutoCAD Architecture – allowing the architect to examine structural design inside the architectural model and test for possible clash with architectural components directly inside AutoCAD Architecture.
The use of building information model (BIM) provides structural companies a complete modeling environment for evaluation and documentation – so that structural design and documentation are always coordinated, uniform and all-inclusive. Sharing the structural details of building information model with architects further coordinates the building design and documentation – a wining combination for all stake-holders participating in the building design and construction process.
For any queries related to Revit Structure and AutoCAD BIM related queries email us at info@outsourcestructuraldrafting.com
Visit us at for more information.
Richard Bose is structural draftsman at OSD – an India based Structural Engineering firm offering full services such as Structural BIM, Structural drafting, Shop drawings and Structural design services at affordable rates. Email us at info@outsourcestructuraldrafting.com
To start a franchise, you have standard initial costs and further ongoing costs. You need to pay first the set up fee. This is sometimes referred to as the initial franchise fee. This fee covers the costs of the franchisor to help get you started in the business, train you, provide initial marketing material and assist you at launch. This initial fee might also cover the cost of specialist equipment, or if it is an internet franchise, the website.
Often the franchisor will initially allow you to pay a small deposit to secure your territory followed by the final payment once you are ready to sign the franchise agreement. This deposit will count towards your initial fee and will be deducted from it when you finally make the payment for the remainder.
After you have bought the franchise, this is when the other large costs start. Your main costs will be for premises, wages, any equipment you need and stock to get started. If you are setting a retail business, your principal costs will be for rental or purchase of premises followed closely by rates. Your franchisor will often assist you in selecting the ideal premises in which to operate their business.
Staff costs can be very high, or low, depending on which franchise you buy. A fast food franchise like McDonalds needs people on hand to prepare the food, keep premises tidy, serve the customers and maintain the equipment. However, with other franchises you might be able to operate the business yourself. An example of this would be if you bought into an internet franchise where your main purpose is to sell advertising space on your web based business directory.
You might have to outlay a substantial sum of money to buy all the initial equipment you need for the franchise. Often the banks will assist you and allow you to either lease the equipment or provide you with a loan so that you can pay for it over a number of years.
You may find that your stock is sold to you on advantageous payment terms, meaning that some of the burden of holding stock and replenishing it will be taken care of by your customers if it is a cash business. The burden on you increases greatly if you have to offer credit to your customers.
Once your business starts trading then you face ongoing costs like royalty payments. There is no one way to calculate royalties. Some franchisors will charge you a percentage of your turnover ranging from 8% to 15% and demand royalty payments annually. Others might insist that you pay a smaller fixed sum monthly with a final sum due at the end of the year once your accounts are completed.
Finally you might also have to pay a marketing levy or advertising fee. This is to cover the costs of national or local advertising that the franchisor does on your behalf. This is usually calculated as a percentage of your turnover and can be as small as 1% or as large as 5% and anywhere in between.
You should know what all the costs are roughly going to be before you commit fully to any franchise model. Read the small print of the contract so that there are no unpleasant shocks when you start trading. Make sure you take specialist advice so that you fully understand the franchise agreement that you are about to commit to.
It looks like another banner year for the triple net leasing market, with demand far exceeding supply in most areas of the country. Thanks largely to the baby boomer population seeking out new types of retirement investments, demand continues to be high, and the demand, for the most part, comes from people who are in the midst of 1031 tax deferred exchanges. And even in light of interest rates trending upwards, cap rates tend to remain low with prices holding steady. Shopping Center Business recently spoke with several companies that are active in the triple net market to find out more about these trends and what we can expect for 2006. Demographic Shift The main reason for the current state of the triple net market is the significant demographic shift of baby boomers moving into their retirement years. According to Bruce McDonald, president of Net Lease Capital Advisors, there are about 75 million baby boomers, the oldest of which are just hitting the age of 60, so there are a lot of older Americans who have built up substantial wealth in real estate portfolios. Their ability to go into the net lease market allows them to avoid paying capital gains tax and move from management-intensive real estate to passive real estate that provides a stable income. “There are a lot of people who have built their portfolios out of single-family, duplexes or triplexes, and they are getting too old to bother with that and now have a yin for a management-free investment that produces a regular cash flow,” says Ralph Bunje, president of Reverse Exchange Services, Inc. “The traditional triple net model for these investors was a single-tenant property, such as a Burger King or post office because it fit their criteria. Now, as a result of this demographic shift, there has been the creation of the TIC [tenant in common] industry.” In addition to a management-free investment, a lot of these retirees are looking for “safer” investments as opposed to the traditional stock market approach. “There are a lot of people who had perhaps previously invested in the stock market or other investment opportunities and feel more comfortable getting into the triple net market now,” says Leith Swanson, president of Prime Net Realty Advisors, Inc. “There are a lot of very wealthy investors — individuals and entities — that are in the market and, at the same time, there has been a shortage of quality investment-grade net lease properties available for that pool of investors to buy. So what you’ve ended up with in the last couple of years is a huge pool of investors that are investing because of 1031 requirements or simply because they’re in the market and they are doing a dozen deals a year.” Though most agree that triple net investing is becoming more and more popular, one person we talked to thinks the stock market still has some appeal. “I think the media has been successful in helping create the perception of the real estate bubble out there,” says Keith Sturm, principal with Upland Real Estate Group. “I don’t think there is a bubble, but certainly clients have been a bit more hesitant about real estate just based upon what they hear on TV. With that, I’m noticing that the stock market has become sexy again. People have very short term memories and have forgotten how their 401Ks turned into 101Ks over the last stock market ‘crash.’ Those memories have been fading, and people are thinking about jumping back in.” Gaining Interest Interest rates on triple net investments may be rising, but cap rates so far have not necessarily followed, according to several people we talked to, and pricing still remains steady. “The demand continues to be strong because folks are simply looking for non-management properties and net lease seems to fit the bill,” says Jay Bastian, senior vice president of acquisitions for Commercial Net Lease Realty. “If treasuries stay where they are or trend lower, I think cap rates will probably maintain their current levels, but obviously treasuries are a driver of cap rates in some respects. Everyone talks about increasing interest rates, but I don’t see the demand sliding because of it; it’s just going to change pricing on deals.” “It’s still an incredible seller’s marketplace,” notes James Dwoskin, president of ICA Realty. “Sellers are still holding tight to prices that were originally put in place at a lower interest rate environment, but there doesn’t seem to have been any movement in the cap rates on the highest credit deals. On the lesser credit deals, there’s always been more flexibility and play in the pricing.” According to William H. Winn, president of Passco Companies, LLC, supply is still constrained and there is more demand by buyers. “However,” he says, “the movement of the interest rate has changed the market somewhat. Rising interest rates have, and will continue, to put downward pressure on yields, and as the trend continues, demand will be reduced on the buyer’s side.” Winn continues: “If sellers do not lower their price expectations, the result will be less transaction volume because buyers and sellers will not be able to agree on purchase price.” McDonald says he has yet to see a change in pricing. “Everyone would think that the cap rates will track interest rates,” he notes. “If interest rates continue to go up, there may be a change in pricing at some point, but so far it’s early. There’s usually a delay anyway, but I think in this market, there’s likely to be a longer delay between the interest rates and the cap rates.” Jonathan Hipp, president of , takes a similar view. “There’s a lot of activity with tax-motivated buyers and plenty of fresh equity that’s not tied to an exchange,” says Hipp. “Although interest rates have gone up, cap rates have not correspondingly seemed to move in conjunction with the interest rates, so there are some pretty aggressive cap rates compared to what the debt is.” According to Sturm, the lower-priced, quality properties are holding their cap rates, and in the category of non-investment-grade properties that are in the $1.5 to $5 million range, there’s real pressure to increase cap rates. “The trend I’m seeing now is there’s incredible pressure on cap rates, based upon interest rates rising, that is causing a little bit of a slow down in the market until cap rates can adjust to interest rates,” says Sturm. 2006 Market So what effect will the demographic shift and rising interest rates have long term? The great risk is that people are buying at a market high, according to Bunje, but how long that will last is the burning question. “The demographic shift will probably continue to push for this type of investment for the next 10 years, at least,” he says. “But the question is, will these investments be popular and will the demand be there if the housing market should fall apart? If housing values go down, the whole focus is going to have to be on long term interest rates. So you just watch the 10-year Treasury rate and that will tell you what happens in that marketplace.” There are several forces that are going to cause cap rates to ease in 2006, says Barry Silver, senior partner with Silver Willis Investment Real Estate. “For the first time in my experience, investors are not willing to accept such small returns and they’ve turned to the TIC market,” he notes. “And they are being sold a higher current return without giving a tremendous amount of thought to the ramifications of what’s going to happen when the debt adjusts up to the interest rates that they’ll be seeing in 5 or 10 years.” Swanson says cap rates for net lease properties are going to be higher in 2006. “We may not see a fourth quarter that will look as good as the third quarter results are looking. But cap rates historically have lagged behind movements in interest rates, and though cap rates have continued to drift lower in September, October and November, interest rates have been fairly stable overall. But there are some inflationary pressures, and we’ll see an increase in cap rates possibly late next year.” “An average cap rate for a long term triple net property is between 8 and 10 percent,” adds Bunje. “Many of them are selling at 5 and 6 percent today, and that’s largely because of low interest rates. If interest rates go up, then cap rates go up, and as cap rates go up, investors who invested will lose their money because the cap rates will change.” While competition remains fierce, it may be a tougher market in 2006, according to Paul Domb, asset manager for United Trust Fund. “As interest rates increase, the primary players — the large REITs and the CNLs — will continue to do business, and I think a lot of the Johnny-come-lately’s will not be able to compete and will find a very tough market.” Hot Property What, where and how 1031 investments are being made. With the success of triple net leasing and 1031 exchanges, what types of investments make the most sense these days? Shopping Center Business recently talked to James Dwoskin, president of ICA Realty; Paul Domb, asset manager for United Trust Fund; Ben Simon, partner with The Simon Companies; Leith Swanson, president of Prime Net Realty Advisors, Inc.; Bruce McDonald, president of Net Lease Capital Advisors; Jonathan Hipp, president ofSusan H. Fishman ; Keith Sturm, principal with Upland Real Estate Group, Inc.; Michael Shephardson, executive vice president of Trustreet Properties; and Dan McCabe, president of Investment Exchange Group to find out more about the types of properties and investments that are at the top of the list for today’s investor. SCB: What types of properties are hot for 1031s right now? Domb: From our perspective, one type of property is no better than the other, and we do everything — office, retail, industrial, bank branches, pawn shops, 7-11s, you name it — all single tenant. Simon: On the seller side, it’s the Eckerd’s and CVS’s that are popping out of the ground. If you can get with a builder that’s doing those, then you might be able to get your arms around a newer product. McDonald: All properties are sought after for 1031. I think that what typically separates it is the size of the 1031 buyer in terms of how much money they have to reinvest. On a typical bell curve, there are just a lot more 1031 people who have smaller dollars — $1 million to $5 million — to invest. You have a large volume of smaller retail properties, such as drugstores and fast food restaurants. If you put it in a larger perspective, retail has the most transactions, but it’s not as high because industrial and office tend to be larger deals. Hipp: It used to be mainly retail, but now there is a lot more office and industrial. But I’d still say retail because it’s the most produced product out there — like a 7,000 square-foot Advance Auto or a 3,000 square-foot video store. The most sought-after property is any pure triple net property with reasonable or good credit behind it and rental increases. More than ever, I’m seeing buyers who have to buy something other than what they had hoped for and at yields lower than they had expected. Sturm: The single-tenant net lease, good-credit, well located properties are what’s really selling most today. We do a lot of retail, and it’s what we classify as the minimal management properties. The best-selling ones we see currently are passive real estate investments, where the owner just gets a check on a daily basis. McCabe: There are a wide variety of sought-after properties for 1031s. I’ve seen everything from large industrial complexes that are broken down and the typical semi-regional shopping center to gas and oil interests and multi-tenant office buildings. It almost depends on what the originator can find. I’m seeing a significant number of multi-tenant product, i.e. office buildings, medical facilities. There are too many inexperienced dollars chasing too few good deals. SCB: How hard is it to find properties? Dwoskin: The better properties are very hard to find. There are a lot of lesser credit, specialty type buildings, things like net-leased franchisee restaurant properties — those are always readily available. The harder things to come by are leased properties that are significant assets, such as warehouse distribution facilities, office buildings or well located retail facilities that are leased to investment-grade credit tenants. Over the last several years, most of the high-credit big-box users, like Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Home Depot and Lowe’s, have decided that they no longer want to be tenants if they can avoid it and want to own all of their properties. So those deals are evaporating; there are very few, if any, in the marketplace. So what’s left of the investment-grade credit deals is coveted, and people will pay more for them. Hipp: Properties are not hard to find; it’s hard to find something that makes sense. It still continues to be a market where, if you see something you like, you’ve got to go after it. Shephardson: We’re very niche-focused and work in two primary sectors – 90 percent of our business is in the restaurant arena and the other 10 percent is just general retail that includes drugstores, banks and convenience and gas stations. We’ve found that because we’ve been in the business for so long and know so many restaurant operators, and because we have a very strong acquisition business in our origination efforts, we don’t have any challenge finding product. SCB: Where are people looking for property? Domb: To the 1031 investor, private ownership is a big factor, so local properties would be key. Credit and the type of real estate are secondary or tertiary considerations. The 1031 investor is hard-pressed to find quality investments. Swanson: We typically deal with clients in the $7 million to $10 million range and above, and the area doesn’t seem to matter, although obviously they’re not buying a lot of property in Louisiana and Mississippi. The driving catalyst behind the growth in the net lease market is the fact that the investor can move across state lines and not be relegated to his own backyard. McDonald: The product is spread across the country; there are certain areas for different product types. Florida and the whole Southeast are big growth areas and so are the western states. Office and industrial headquarter building deals are being done all over — they tend to be in the distribution hubs, such as Memphis or New Jersey. SCB: Are TIC structures still on the rise? Swanson: TIC structures offer the individual investor who doesn’t have $3 million to $7 million an opportunity to jump in, so that’s really propelled the market growth that we’re seeing. McDonald: They are certainly on the rise. In 2001, they did about $160 million in equity and in this year, they’re expecting to do $4 billion of equity — and that’s just on the securities side. So there is obviously a huge demand, and that ties into the fact that the majority of 1031 buyers have less equity and TICs allow them to have somewhat of a passive investment. So it’s clearly a product that there is substantial demand for. Hipp: They are becoming a very popular vehicle and much more publicized and well known. There are a lot of people out there with $200,000 to $300,000, and it’s hard to buy something without taking on a lot of leverage. They would much prefer to partner with a group of others to buy a more quality asset and let somebody else worry about the management. Hipp: The TIC market is certainly becoming more popular, and I think they serve a purpose. But when people start buying properties with interest-only loans so they can cash flow, I think it’s a double-edged sword because when that loan comes due in 5 years, they’re going to be out to the market looking for debt in a different interest-rate environment. I’m not sure they realize exactly what they’re buying. Sturm: We think the TIC structure is really the future for passive real estate investments. The baby boomer generation as a demographic group just turned 59 and a half, and it’s not long until their 401K plans are going to be available to them to start pulling down money on a tax-deferred basis. But what we’re finding is that the quality TIC properties that are investment-grade are able to attract very good financing right now. We’re able to get long term fixed financing in the 5 to 6 percent range, while the 1031 or net lease properties we’re talking about have been financed in the 6 to 7 percent range. Shephardson: TICs have wonderful application in the larger 1031 arena where you are selling a pool of assets or you’re going to sell one large asset at $10 million to $20 million and you want to syndicate it amongst many buyers. So the only thing that’s holding the TIC market back is the potential ruling on whether it’s a real estate product or a securities product. We expect that we’ll be doing TICs sometime in the not too distant future because it expands the buyer’s universe.
Are dogs and cats immune to salmonella contamination? The answer is no! Your family pets are just as susceptible to contracting salmonellosis as human beings. Pets can also be carriers of salmonella increasing the risk of cross contamination between pets and human beings. In the light of the recent peanut butter product recall, companies that offer organic pet products and have GMP-certified manufacturing units are finding themselves in higher demand.
The recent scandal and scare of contaminated peanut butter products have driven consumers to think twice about the products they purchase and the manufacturing practices employed by companies. Can they be trusted? How can a consumer ensure that the product purchased is safe for consumption for the entire family, including the family pet? Many consumers now feel safer choosing products that are organic-certified and are produced by a GMP-certified company. This ensures high standards of quality control and quality assurance.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration, the recent salmonella contamination originated from a plant in Georgia that produces peanut products in mass production to sell in bulk to various distributors. As a result, more than hundreds of companies have recalled their products from the shelves. The FDA reported that the Georgia-based manufacturing plant was “not compliant with current good manufacturing practices required by the FDA”. They also reported lack of quality control measures in cleaning procedures and failure on the company’s part to take action for mitigating contamination in their facility.
The contamination has led to serious cases of salmonella infections. All-out efforts are being taken to contain the infection by public awareness and recalling products that can trace their peanut-related ingredient to the Georgia-based plant in question. A number of Pet products containing peanut paste from this plant have also been recalled.
Organic Pet Products—A Quality Choice With a broad spectrum of choices for organic pet products, more consumers are turning to organic pet products which, they feel, can be fully trusted for safety and health.
A broad category of organic pet products include:
Organic Dog Food / Cat Food
Organic Pet Treats
Grain-Free Pet Foods
Dry Pet Foods
Canned Pet Foods
Low Fat Pet Foods
Senior Pet Foods
Puppy Treats
Organic Gourmet Foods
Organic Grooming and Hygiene for Pets
Organic Pet Flea Treatments…
… and more!
There’s an endless variety of options for . The trend towards Organic products, even in organic pet foods is continually on the rise.
Premium Organic Pet Product Manufacturing If you are pet product manufacturer using a contract manufacturer to produce your products, the recent peanut butter product recall should raise a red flag. Is your contract manufacturer following strict GMPs? Are raw materials being inspected for quality before being taken into the facility for production? Are there quality control measures in place in every stage of production? No one wants a lawsuit to deal with and the price to pay is irrecoverable in terms of loss of reputation and other legal hassles.
If you find manufacturing facilities questionable, you may want to consider shifting your business to an organic, GMP-certified contract manufacturer for your . Placing your manufacturing needs with a GMP-certified contract manufacturer leaves you free to focus on expanding and enhancing your business.
Rising Demand for Organic Pet Products Organic pet products have shown a steady rise in demand over the last decade.
According to Global Industry Analysts, Inc. the attitudes of pet owners are changing. A growing number of pet owners consider their household pets as a part of the family and entitled to equal benefits with other members of the family. More pet owners are concerned with health and nutrition for their pets. This has led to the pet food sector being the fastest rising in the food industry. Pet owners are looking specifically for preservative-free organic, natural products that offer high quality nutrition and health for their pets.
More consumers realize they have more control over health and nutrition issues for their pets by choosing products that are organic and produced by a reliable company. Good health and nutrition are worth the price.
Nutricap Labs is a full service providing vitamin supplement manufacturing service. We primarily manufacture nutritional tablets, , capsules, powders, liquids and creams, but we also offer label and packaging design services and order fulfillment services to our customers.