Business Briefs

Perryman: Lawsuit reform stimulates
Economist M. Ray Perryman noted in a recent report that lawsuit reform has been a major boost to Odessa's economy.
Reforms enacted in 1995 in Texas have resulted in $340 million in spending and 1,467 permanent jobs.
Across the state, spending has increased $112.5 billion and 499,000 jobs and $2.6 bill­ion in state tax revenue has been created due to lawsuit reform, Perryman said.
The economist added that 8.5 percent of Texas' economic growth during the past decade is due to lawsuit reform.
ON THE NET: www.tlrfoundation.com

Area manager
Fred Schelby has been named area manager for Kleinfelder's Midland and Albuquerque, N.M., offices.
The Midland office has 12 employees, while the Albuquer­que office has 48.
Schelby had been Klein­felder's program manager and environ­mental group leader in Albuquerque for five years. He's spent the majority of his career working for companies in geotechnical engineering, environmental science and construction materials testing.
Kleinfelder is a construc­tion and engineering consulting service with nearly 50 years of experience.
ON THE NET: www.kleinfelder.com

Spanish sports channel
Some area Spanish-speaking sports fans will have a new choice for television programming.
Grande Communications has added ESPN Deportes to its basic digital cable lineup in seven Texas cities, including Odessa and Midland.
According to a news release, the channel shows more than 1,600 live or original hours of programming annually.
Among the events shown on ESPN Deportes are Major League, winter league and Mexican league baseball. It also features soccer, including Olympic and World Cup qualifying.
Grande viewers can
find ESPN Deportes on Channel 130.
ON THE NET: www.grandecom.com

Big D Companies
Big D Companies was recently named member of the year by the West Texas Safety Training Center.
The center offers instructor and computer-based training, according to its website. Both are designed to get workers thinking about safety on the job as well as getting them compliant with Occupational Safety Hazard Administration rules.
Midland-based Big D Companies was established in 1977 and employs 130 workers. It provides construction services, equipment rental and environmental services to the oil and gas industry in three states.
ON THE NET: www.bigdco.com