Gas from grassAlliant Energy is looking at some unexpected sources for electricity and gas, and it is building two hybrid generating plants to take advantage of sustainable fuels. John OÔÇÖHanlon speaks to the man responsible for creating a whole new market. You have to envy Bill Johnson.

A┬ápeople businessAker Construction may be part of a multibillion-dollar global conglomerate, but as Keith Regan learns from two top executives, treating employees like part of a family is a key component in its success. Aker Construction Inc. is the union construction arm of Aker Solutions, which provides a full range of construction, maintenance and renovation services to the North American industrial sector.

Reinventing the service industryKeith Regan reports on how focused training, respect for workers and a focus on operational excellence has Air Serv poised to shake up the entire service economy. Since launching in 2002, Air Serv has been providing a host of services to airlines across the United States and the United Kingdom, taking over cabin cleaning, skycap services, shuttle bus operations and passenger wheelchair services as airlines look to focus their own resources elsewhere.

Holy molyThis junior mining company is plowing ahead with the first major new molybdenum mine in almost 30 years. With steadily accelerating global demand for alloying elements to make steel, and a worldwide shortage of molybdenum (moly), Vancouver, British Columbia-based Adanac Molybdenum is constructing an open pit mine in northern British Columbia at Ruby Creek, near the town of Atlin, about 75 miles southeast of Whitehorse, Yukon.

Farm to forkThomas R. Cutler outlines the traceability solutions we need to deal with the increasing incidence of food contamination. The most susceptible to food-borne illness are the very young, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems. Most people who eat food tainted with E.

People developmentIn part four of his series on managing and leading people, Jon Minerich, Principal, Oliver Wight Americas, Inc., shows how companies with simple technologies often outperform competitors who have the latest and best technologies. The differentiator, he says, is the skill and ability of the workforce.  IntroductionThree of the top ten key factors that drive company performance, according to a poll of business executives, are:1. Attracting and developing talented employees.2. Creating a performance-oriented workforce.3.

In 2000 Modern Group was declared one of the best employers to work for by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. John OÔÇÖ Hanlon gets a taste of how Modern continues to grow in tough times from president and CEO Dave Griffith. Just occasionally, ethical employment and service principles come together with an acute market awareness to form a great business. If you have the former without the latter, youÔÇÖll never create value; the other way around and the model lacks sustainability.

McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas has chosen Kone to supply elevators, escalators and autowalks for its airport expansion.  ┬á KoneÔÇÖs EcoSystem MR elevators, ECO3000 transit escalators and Kone autowalks will be installed in McCarranÔÇÖs new Terminal 3 in a contract worth $45 million.┬á┬á Kone Inc. is a Finnish-owned company with its Americas headquarters in Lisle, Illinois. "We are thrilled to be a part of this expansion for the McCarran International Airport,ÔÇØ said Vance Tang, Kone EVP and Area Director for the Americas.

The US Federal Reserve has released an extra $180 billion in a coordinated move to increase available funds in global financial markets.  The money is being distributed via temporary foreign currency swap arrangements (ÔÇ£swap linesÔÇØ) to five other central banksÔÇöthe Bank of England, the European Central Bank, and the central banks of Switzerland, Canada and JapanÔÇöwho will issue the funds to commercial banks in their own countries.┬á┬á The coordinated move comes after four days of almost unprecedented turmoil in the global financial industry, and is additional to fu

The US Federal Reserve has announced an $85 billion rescue package for AIG, the country's largest insurance company, to save it from bankruptcy and avoid plunging the financial markets into deeper crisis.  ┬á The rescue follows the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank in the US, in which the Fed did not intervene, causing share prices to plummet all over the world. ┬á┬á The Fed's move is viewed by some as the most radical intervention in private business in its history, and has helped fuel a tentative rally on global stock markets.