Chamber does some legislative score settling

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce last week released its 2009 Legislative Scorecard to let its membership know how their elected officials voted in the last session when it came to key economy-related issues.

The lobbying group's scoring system gives member of the General Assembly a grade up to 100 for votes on matters of importance to businesses. This past session, the most pressing issues of the day included unemployment credits, health care and port restructuring.

Among those nailing perfect scores in the chamber's eyes were Republican senators Larry Grooms from Bonneau and Paul Campbell from Goose Creek, and Republican representatives Jenny Horne from Summerville and Joseph Daning from Goose Creek.

Raymond Cleary, a Murrells Inlet Republican whose district reaches into Charleston County, was the lowest-scoring local senator at 67. Robert Brown, D-Hollywood, was the lowest-scoring local representative at 50. Senate leader Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, earned a 90, and House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, scored an 86.

The chamber said it will base its "Competitiveness Agenda" for the 2010 legislative session on the feedback it gathers from nine grassroots membership meetings to be held around the state this fall.

Repackaged

Zestra Laboratories Inc., founded as a local company, has started anew with a new package design and a new base of operations. Semprae Laboratories bought the company, which developed an oil for heightening a woman's sexual pleasure, and moved its small staff from North Charleston to New Jersey. Zestra had filed for bankruptcy last summer, owing roughly $4.2 million to various creditors.

According to a recent report on the company in Forbes magazine, the new owners organized a slew of focus groups that led to some changes to the product. They started running targeted ads on female-oriented television networks, a change from the pricey prime time spots that Zestra bought.

The packaging was changed to looks more effeminate, and the price of the product has increased too.

Founder Martin Crosby remains as a consultant with the new owners. Former Zestra CEO and investor Younis Zubchevich, who sued the company for defamation after he was fired, has started another venture that produces an energy powder made for diabetics.

Cruise blues?

A cruise news Web site recently reported that Regent Seven Seas Cruises was forced to cancel some fall voyages because of a maritime mix-up with locally based Detyens Shipyards. Tim Rubacky, spokesman for Regent's parent company Prestige Cruise Holdings, disagreed with that characterization, saying that's not exactly what happened.

Yes, Rubacky said, the ship will head to Bremerhaven, Germany, later this year for a $30 million refurbishment originally scheduled to take place at a Detyens dry dock in North Charleston early next year. And yes, the company did cancel several voyages and offered refunds to customers, he said.

But he said "both sides were amicable" about the rescheduling.

"There was much ado about nothing," Rubacky said.

Detyens did not respond to requests for comment last week.

Site selection

South Carolina Electric & Gas's Web site, sceg.com, has been named one of the top three utility Web sites in the U.S., according to E Source, a utility industry benchmarking group. The site placed first in the Southern region among all utilities while it came in third among all 100 U.S. and Canadian utilities that E Source studied.

SCE&G's Web site allows customers to report and check the status of power outages online from their personal digital assistant or Internet-ready cell phone, perform an online home energy audit, or complete a 24-month bill analysis that provides customers detailed charts on how much energy they are using with ideas on how to save energy and money.

Also, the utility recently launched a blog with all kinds of useful info for energy users on a different subject each week. Moncks Corner-based state-owned utility Santee Cooper was not among those E Source assessed.

Best boss

Not to be confused with the health care products giant, the local Johnson & Johnson insurance wholesaler ranks sixth among best small companies to work for in America. So say the Society for Human Resource Management and the Great Place to Work Institute, Inc., two organizations that rank the top 25 small and the top 25 medium-sized employers each year.

Employee opinion surveys and a leadership team assessment determine the results.

The family-owned company was founded in 1930 and serves the independent agency distribution system in the Eastern United States.

President Francis G. Johnson called the ranking "a great honor to the entire team and especially our brother's memory, Robert C. Johnson Jr.," the company's late CEO who died in February.