The owners and management of Cork & Fork, Inc., in conjunction with Peterson Management, Owner/Management Company of Virginia Gateway, take great pleasure in announcing a gala evening of food, wine, music, friendship, and simple pleasures, all to help fund and sustain the outstanding work of the Tigerlily Foundation.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, May 22nd, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m..

The owners and management of Cork & Fork, Inc., in conjunction with Peterson Management, Owner/Management Company of Virginia Gateway, take great pleasure in announcing a gala evening of food, wine, music, friendship, and simple pleasures, all to help fund and sustain the outstanding work of the Tigerlily Foundation.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, May 22nd, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m..

As with most commodities, global trade of wood chips, fell in 2009 because of the international financial crises. Wood chip trade had increased on average five percent per year annually between 2002 and 2008, reaching an all-time high of 31 million oven-dry metric tons (odmt) in 2008. This upward trend was broken last year when trade fell 14% from the previous year, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly.

CMA the leading market data, order management and connectivity provider of Latin American exchange trading establishes FIX connectivity with Grupo Santander over the CMA Trade Hub Global Network.

Through the addition of Santander to the Trade Hub, CMA demonstrates LatAm market leadership of ON-NET financial exchanges and institutions. Trade Hub is a neutral execution, direct market access (DMA), algorithmic and multi-asset trading platform for global participants investing in Latin American securities,
futures and options.

With over 485.000 product offers and more than 1 million registered users, SoloStocks is a great source of business opportunities for manufacturers, distributors, resellers, wholesalers and any other B2B sectors wishing to market their products via the Internet.

A completely new design for its site has been launched with the main objective of enhancing the professional image of SoloStocks, and improving the user experience on the web.

Pulp markets have been remarkably strong during 2009 despite the global financial crisis. From April through December, the softwood market pulp price (NBSK) jumped 45%. Strong pulp markets and a tight wood fiber supply pushed wood fiber costs upward last year.

Pulp markets have been remarkably strong during 2009 despite the global financial crisis. From April through December, the softwood market pulp price (NBSK) jumped 45%. Strong pulp markets and a tight wood fiber supply pushed wood fiber costs upward last year.

Motley Crue’s Vince Neil is planning an extensive South American tour in February 2010. The tour has confirmed stops in Brazil, Argentina and Chile with more countries and dates to be announced soon. The tour is being organized by Gabe Reed Productions who also promoted the opening night of the KISS Alive 35 South America tour in Santiago, Chile on April 3, 2009.

Confirmed South American dates are as follows:

FEB 24 - Santiago, Chile (Venue TBA)
FEB 26 - Buenos Aires, Argentina (El Teatro)
FEB 27 - Sao Paulo, Brazil (Carioca)

ActionCOACH, the world’s number one business coaching company, is looking to open a firm in Henderson, Nevada.

ActionCOACH, a global company with franchises in 26 countries, is headquartered in Las Vegas. On average, four countries per year open an ActionCOACH franchise; so far this year, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil and Netherlands Antilles have opened franchises. ActionCOACH would now like to open a franchise in the Henderson area in the first half of 2010.

The Global Sawlog Price Index (GSPI) in the 2Q/09, increased for the first time since late 2007, reaching $68.87/m3. The Index, which is based on conifer sawlog prices in 19 key regions worldwide from 1995 to present, was still close to its lowest level in five years. Prices were slightly higher in most world regions this quarter mainly because of a weaker US dollar. In the local currencies, log prices adjusted downward in practically all countries with Russia and Western Canada being the only exceptions.

Wood cost is the factor that often determines the competitiveness of a pulp manufacturing plant. This cost typically varies between 40-65% of the total cash cost depending on product grade and the costs of other components such as chemicals, energy and labour.

The total wood fiber consumption by the pulp sector in Japan has slowly increased over the past 15 years, reaching a record of 19.1 million tons in 2008, of which 13 million tons was hardwood fiber. This can be compared to a total consumption of 18.7 million tons in 2005 and 18.4 million tons in 1993. The pulp industry in Japan has always been very dependent on imported wood chips and the country continues to be the dominant importer of wood chips in the Pacific Rim.

Costs of Eucalyptus and pine pulpwood have fallen for five consecutive quarters in Chile and are down by almost 40 percent from their peak in the 1Q/08 (in US dollar terms). The current price level was last seen in 2004. In the 1Q/09, the pulp industry in Chile had the lowest wood fiber costs of all 16 countries tracked by the WRQ.

However, not all pulpmills in the country enjoyed such low fiber costs this past winter. There were reportedly some plants that used as much as 20% sawlogs because of regionally tight pulplog supply.

There is a new theatre company causing quite a stir in the western suburbs of Chicago. Introspect Theatre is one of the first theatre companies in the country to be granted the rights to present the full stage version of Jonathan Larson’s hit musical, RENT. The production hits the stage at 8 pm June 18-27, 2009 at the Bartlett High School Auditorium, 701 Schick Rd., Bartlett, IL 60103. Tickets are $10 and seating is general admission. Reservations can be made through the Box Office 847-754-8409 or purchased online at http://www.introspecttheatre.com .