The decline was due solely to a significant drop in telecommunications job cuts. Telecom employers announced just 15,862 job cuts in the quarter, down 81 percent compared with the first quarter of 2002.

The other segments of the technology sector (electronics, computers and e-commerce) all experienced increased job cuts. Electronics firms saw job cuts double to 26,270 from 13,062 a year ago. Computer makers (29 percent) and e-commerce firms (28 percent) saw job cuts increase.

There are some signs that a high-tech rebound may not be too far in the future, according to Challenger. Fourth quarter GDP numbers showed that spending on technology equipment and software increased 5 percent, marking the third consecutive quarterly increase, after six straight quarters of decline.

Some of the areas that could see job creation include information security, business-information management, Web services, wireless technology, remote connectivity, customer relationship management, privacy and disaster-recovery planning.

Reversing Course: Public Firms Go Private

It was the rage of the 1990s — private companies going public and offering huge initial public offerings (IPOs). Today, turnabout is fair play.

With a lethargic stock market and new stringent regulations for public companies set forth by the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation last year, the amount of public companies going private has increased 26 percent compared with a year earlier.

The Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, signed by President Bush last July, is aimed at enhancing government's ability to root out and punish corporate malfeasance.

Going private provides advantages by eliminating some of the pressures associated with being a public entity, such as reducing the pressure to maintain growth. By going private, a company also regains confidentiality because the company no longer has to disclose compensation and financial details to the public, and control is put solely in the hands of the new owners.

"Many of the recent regulatory changes benefit shareholders by making executives and directors more accountable," said Edward Nusbaum, CEO of Grant Thornton. "While this is great from a shareholder's perspective, companies that are publicly traded may now face additional burdens. Most of these regulatory reform provisions are focused squarely on public companies, while their private company counterparts do not share these same requirements."

Add Security To Corporate Governance, Group Urges

The Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of 150 U.S. companies, is calling on corporate boards of directors to make security a priority and to bring it under board review.

Maintaining that America's security is inexorably linked to its economic growth, the roundtable said it is more vital than ever that corporate boards review management's security plans and procedures.

"Providing for the security of employees, facilities, customers and communities is a fundamental function of business in this post-9/11 era," said C. Michael Armstrong, chairman of Comcast Corp. and the Business Roundtable.

Correction

An incorrect contact name was given for the Greensboro Economic Development Partnership in the April “Atlas & Guide.” The correct information is:

Greensboro Economic Development Partnership

342 N. Elm St.

Greensboro, NC 27401

888-693-6939, fax 336-230-1867

W. Andrew Burke

How to Contact Us

The editorial staff of Expansion Management magazine has done some relocating of its own during the past several months. We’re settled now, so we thought this would be a good time to update our readers on how to contact us.

Leawood, Kan., Editorial Office

Bill King, Chief Editor

12120 State Line Road, Suite 317

Leawood, KS 66209

(913) 338-1503

Fax: (913) 338-1508

BillKing@penton.com

Cleveland Editorial Office

1300 East Ninth St.

Cleveland, OH 44114

Ken Krizner, Managing Editor

(216) 931-9578

Fax: (216) 931-9866

kkrizner@penton.com

Michael Keating, Research Editor

(216) 931-9657

Fax: (216) 931-9866

mkeating@penton.com