Business & Economy

Several environmental groups have filed a challenge to the proposed merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy. The merger between the two North Carolina-based companies would create the country's largest utility. Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Gudrun Thompson says that makes Duke and Progress responsible for leading the way in developing clean energy resources.

Work crews are making changes to freeways in R-T-P as they build the new Triangle Expressway. The short segment of the Durham Freeway south of I-40 closed for good this week. That section of Highway 147 provided a quick connection to T-W Alexander Drive in south Durham. It will eventually be part of the Triangle Expressway, a toll road running along the west side of Raleigh from Morrisville to Holly Springs. D-O-T spokeswoman Holly Allen says drivers going south on the Durham Freeway should take a detour via I-40.

Former U-N-C President Erskine Bowles will speak on campus tomorrow about the deficit and taxes. He may also chat about his cool new appointment.

Marketing executives say they’re hiring and they’re increasing social media budgets.

Chief Marketing Officers questioned for the bi-annual C-M-O Survey, say they plan on spending about 10-percent of their budgets on social media.  That’s an increase of three-percent.  Christine Moorman is a professor at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and director of The C-M-O Survey.  She says the increase shows companies are trying to figure out how to integrate social media with the rest of their strategy.

The city of Greensboro is taking a lesson from Atlanta on how to help spur job growth in its community. 

Deborah Hooper is president of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.  And she says the feed-back has been positive since announcing the new initiative – "One Job For Greensboro.”  The idea is for all 16-thousand employers in the city to add at least one full-time worker to their rolls in the next year.