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Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it was recalling more than 400,000 older-model vehicles sold in the United States, citing potential steering-related problems in both.

The Japanese automaker said the recall would affect 373,000 Toyota Avalons manufactured between 2000 to 2004. The company said the vehicle’s steering lock bar could break under certain conditions, increasing the risk of a crash.

Toyota (TM) also cited steering issues in its recall of some 39,000 Lexus LX 470 vehicles. The company said that if the vehicle experienced a severe impact to the front wheels, such as striking a pothole, the steering shaft could disengage over time. The recall only affects vehicles from model years 2003 to 2007.

The company said it was not aware of any accidents related to its Lexus LX 470.

The latest recalls came less than two weeks after the company was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury to produce documents related to steering problems in its vehicles.

The company has also been undertaking a massive effort to rebuild its image in the wake of a number of quality and safety problems that came to light earlier this year.

In recent months, the automaker has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide for a variety of safety issues, including possible unintended acceleration and problems with anti-lock brake software.

"Toyota is continuing to work diligently to address safety issues wherever they arise and to strengthen our global quality assurance operations so that Toyota owners can be confident in the safety of their vehicles," Steve St. Angelo, Toyota chief quality officer for North America, said in a statement Thursday.

The company said it would begin to send out notifications in mid-August to owners of the vehicles affected by Thursday’s recall. Drivers will be able to bring their car to a local dealer to have the vehicle fixed at no charge. 

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Solutia Inc. said its second-quarter profit more than tripled from last year’s period, as sales rose more than 26 percent.

For the quarter ended June 30, the company reported net income of $41 million compared to net income of $10 million in last year’s quarter, primarily due to increased sales volumes across all segments, partially offset by higher raw material costs and higher interest expense.

Solutia’s net sales in the recent quarter were $518 million compared to $410 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2009.

During the recent quarter, Solutia bought Novomatrix a Singapore-based maker of window films for the automotive and architectural markets, for $73 million. Solutia also bought the Vista solar product business (now called Vistasolar) from German firm Etimex Holding for $294 million.

The company had said in April that it will stop making a key ingredient for a rubber compound used in making tires, called primary accelerators, in the second half of this year Internet Payday loans. Solutia said Monday that it took a $38 million charge in the second quarter for restructuring costs related to closing that business.

Solutia said it expects steady second-half sales volume with a normal fourth-quarter seasonal slowdown. The company said it expects average selling prices in the second half of the year to be consistent with the second quarter, and full-year revenue growth of from 10 percent to 15 percent versus last year.

St. Louis-based Solutia Inc. (NYSE: SOA), led by Chairman, President and Chief Executive Jeffry Quinn, develops specialty chemicals, fibers, fluids and other performance products.

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Attending school in California and becoming an engineering major can really pay off for college graduates — by thousands of dollars a year.

According to a report released Thursday from salary-tracker PayScale.com, petroleum engineering majors and graduates of Harvey Mudd College are taking home the biggest paychecks.

While mid-career salaries fell 1.5% overall between 2009 and 2010, engineers, scientists and mathematicians continued to rake in the big bucks, as well as students who graduated from Ivy League schools.

"Our society values something practical — that’s why poetry isn’t popping up on the top of the list," said Al Lee, director of quantitative analysis at PayScale. "As in the past, engineering and [similar] fields with a strong math component plus a physical world component remain on the top, with lots of money to be made in these fields."

The data in the report, collected from 999 bachelor degree institutions in the last year, track median starting salaries of employees who graduated in the last five years and median mid-career salaries of graduates with more than 10 years of experience in a given field.

Follow the money: So where are all the lavishly paid engineers bred? According to PayScale.com, it’s Claremont, Calif., where Harvey Mudd alums go on to earn a mid-level salary of around $126,000.

"Harvey Mudd is the nexus of all good places to be in terms of graduate earnings," said Lee. "Not only do engineering majors make good money and this happens to be a specialized school for engineering, but southern California is an area that tends to have some of the highest wage earners in the country."

Meanwhile, Dartmouth College, which claimed the title as the school with the highest paid graduates for the past two years, was knocked down the list to number two — tied with Princeton — with its graduates receiving a starting salary of $54,100 and a mid-career salary of $123,000.

Since a large chunk of Dartmouth students typically head into financial services post-college, many graduates felt a blow to their wallets in the last year as financial companies cut back on pay, said Lee.

Harvard, California Institute of Technology, Colgate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, Duke and Bucknell rounded out the top ten list of schools with the highest-paid mid-career graduates no fax cash advance.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you choose Coker College in South Carolina — the worst-paying school on the list — be prepared for a starting salary of around $28,900 and a mid-level salary of $40,300.

Majors that pay: Topping the list of best-paying degrees this year, petroleum engineers earn a starting salary of $93,000 and a mid-level salary of $157,000.

That’s $49,000 more than the next most lucrative majors, aerospace engineering and chemical engineering, which both produce graduates earning a salary of around $108,000.

"Petroleum engineering has been an incredibly profitable sector for the last few years," said Lee. "It’s a very cyclical field and depends largely on the price of oil, and we’re very much on an up cycle right now."

Electrical engineering was the third-highest paying major on the list, with mid-level pay of $104,000 per year, followed by nuclear engineering, applied mathematics, biomedical engineering, physics and computer engineering.

But I don’t want to be an engineer! If science and math aren’t your thing, don’t worry. There are plenty of other majors — many you wouldn’t expect — that will put you on the money-making track.

"People always think they have to be an engineer if they want to make good money down the line, but there are a lot of other majors that will help you find good careers with salaries that anyone would be comfortable living on," said Lee.

A building construction major typically leads to a mid-career salary of more than $94,000, while mid-level government majors earn $87,300 on average. International relations, supply chain management and urban planning also boast average salaries of more than $80,000 a year.

Even majors like film production and zoology can help you land a good-paying job. While film-makers earn a starting salary of only $36,100 and recently-graduated zoology majors tend to make about $34,600, mid-level salaries come in at about $77,800 and $68,800, respectively. 

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Although gasoline prices did not drop by much in Southern California, it was a third-straight week of declines, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch.

According to the Auto Club, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.121 per gallon, which is six-tenths of a cent less than last week, a nickel higher than last month, and 17 cents higher than last year.

On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.185, down two cents from last week, four cents higher than a month ago, and 16 cents above last year.

In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $3 cash advance loan no fax.105, which is four-tenths of a cent lower than last week, five cents higher than last month, and 17 cents more than last year.

"The gas price spread between this year and the same time last year has shrunk from a difference of about $1.10 in January to just four cents per gallon in early June, but now the gap has widened again. Right now, the difference between today’s pump price and the July 2009 price is 15 to 17 cents a gallon," Auto Club Spokesperson Jeffrey Spring said in a statement.

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Alibaba.com’s first U.S. acquisition will be small-business sales software company Vendio Services Inc. of San Mateo.

Terms of the deal, announced Thursday, were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close next month.

Alibaba, the giant Chinese Internet company based in Hangzhou, said the acquisition is part of its $100 million investment plan for AliExpress, a wholesale transaction platform operated by Alibaba.com.

With the deal, Alibaba picks up a company with more than 80,000 small-business customers in the United States that use Vendio software to sell across multiple online marketplaces.

Alibaba.com CEO David Wei called Vendio a “strong strategic fit” for the company.

“We continue to look for synergies and investment opportunities to grow our customer base, acquire additional technology and add new applications that will help our customer base grow and prosper,” Wei said in a press release.

Vendio will become a new business unit within Alibaba.com and will retain its own brand name and operations. Mike Effle, Vendio’s COO, will assume the role of CEO while current CEO, chairman and co-founder Rodrigo Sales becomes a strategic advisor to the company.

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The Federal Reserve is ordering Peoples Bank and Trust Co. to add capital and sort out its troubled commercial real estate loans.

In a written agreement with the bank, revealed Monday, the Fed also told the bank not to pay dividends without Fed permission or interest on its trust preferred securities, a form of long-term debt that allows temporary lapses in interest payments.

Peoples Bank and Trust is based in Troy, Mo., and has seven branches in Lincoln, St. Charles and Pike counties. It has $415 million in assets and lost $2.3 million in the first three months of the year. It holds less than half of one percent of the St. Louis region’s bank deposits. Peoples deposits are protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

In the March quarter, the bank dropped slightly below the level that regulators consider "well capitalized," a red flag in banking. The bank still meets the "adequately capitalized" standard.

Peoples Bank ran into problems with commercial real estate lending. About 4 percent of all the bank’s loans were "non-performing," generally meaning that payments are far past due.

A written agreement with the Fed is considered a serious enforcement action indicating problems at the bank. The Fed told the bank to reduce concentrations in commercial real estate lending and write off loans that federal bank examiners believe can’t be rescued.

"The economic conditions have caused a challenge for many and we are no exception," the bank said in a written statement. "Loan defaults and past due loans have mounted and the bank is moving forward to meet those challenges. The bank believes that it is well on its way to correcting regulatory concerns and returning to its usual profitable position."

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Private-sector employers added jobs for the fourth month in a row in May, according to a survey released Thursday by a payroll processor.

Automatic Data Processing, which processes paychecks for one in every six U.S. employees, said private-sector employers added 55,000 jobs to their payrolls in May, down from a upwardly revised 65,000 increase in April.

The May increase fell short of the 60,000 jobs economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecasted for the report.

From February to May, the report has shown a monthly average increase of 39,000 jobs, in line with a slow recovery economists are seeing from other surveys. Friday’s government jobs report is also expected to show modest job growth, after economists account for a large boost from temporary census hires, said Tim Quinlan, an economist with Wells Fargo Securities.

"It is a very slow recovery, but a recovery nonetheless," he said. "We’re growing jobs at a fast enough pace to keep unemployment rate where it is, or slightly lower, but we’re not looking at a quick, snapback recovery that many people were hoping for."

According to ADP, the service sector reported an increase of 78,000 jobs, its fifth consecutive monthly gain, while manufacturing payrolls grew by 15,000 jobs. Those gains were offset by losses in the goods-producing sector, which declined by 23,000 jobs.

Construction and financial services jobs showed big monthly declines, as they have for more than two years.

ADP breaks out job trends across categories for small, medium and large businesses — all three of which showed job growth in May.

The ADP report follows on the heels of a separate jobs number released Wednesday by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

According to Challenger, planned job cuts inched 1.3% higher in May, driven by shrinking government payrolls, but the pace of downsizing continued to slow. Employers announced plans to cut 38,810 jobs in May, up from April’s four-year low of 38,326.

Many economists view the Challenger and ADP reports as a preview of things to come from the government’s national unemployment number due on Friday. Economists are forecasting the government’s report to show employers added 500,000 jobs in May after expanding payrolls by 290,000 jobs the month before.

Unlike the ADP report, that number also includes government census hires, not just jobs created by private employers.

The national unemployment rate, based on a separate survey, is forecast to ease slightly to 9.8% from 9.9%. 

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RehabCare Group Inc. said Kevin Gross, senior vice president of hospital operations, plans to resign effective June 4.

Gross has accepted the position of president of the Oklahoma division of Ardent Health Services, a role he held prior to his tenures at Universal Health Services and RehabCare.

He has led RehabCare’s hospital division since July 2008.

Brock Hardaway, president and chief operating officer of Triumph HealthCare, which RehabCare recently bought for $570 million, has been promoted to RehabCare executive vice president, assuming leadership of the hospital division and reporting directly to RehabCare President and Chief Executive John Short.

Hardaway joined Triumph in 2005 and was appointed to manage the combined company’s long-term acute care hospital portfolio following RehabCare’s acquisition of Triumph in November 2009. He will oversee division operations from Triumph headquarters in Houston.

St. Louis-based RehabCare (NYSE: RHB) is the fourth-largest, post-acute hospital operator and the third-largest, long-term acute care hospital provider in the nation, with 28 long-term acute care hospitals and six inpatient rehabilitation facilities in 13 states. The company has more than 18,000 employees and reported $869.4 million in 2009 operating revenue.

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So now what do we do? How do we create a more entrepreneurial climate in St. Louis, and ensure the companies of the future grow here?

The short answer, the easy answer, is money, in the form of bank loans, seed funds, venture capital. But money is tight these days, and it has a tendency to follow results, not fertilize new ground. So here are a few other ideas — most already in play on a small scale — that St. Louis can build on to make its economic garden bloom.

Lower the barriers to entry — Most startups operate on a drum-tight budget. And any hurdle to opening the doors makes that budget even tighter.

Yet many entrepreneurs say they face a maze of paperwork, inspections, licenses and approvals. This takes precious time and money.

"Business assistance centers," like the one run by the city of St. Louis, try to help smooth the road for would-be business owners. More publicity for programs like these, and less paperwork in general, would be big step in the right direction.

Pull in the same direction — St. Louis has scads of people working on this problem. There are incubators and counseling programs and angel networks and mentor teams. Most do good work. But sometimes, they do the same work.

"It’s difficult sometimes for business support organizations to work together," said Eddie Davis, director of the Center for the Advancement of African-American Roundtable. "This impedes our growth."

And despite all these efforts, everyone has stories of small-business owners who don’t know the resources available to them. A more streamlined effort to steer people in the best direction would make the most of all of this.

Maybe it’s a regional clearinghouse. Maybe it’s (horrors!) a committee. Maybe it’s as simple as stronger informal networks among the many groups working on this. But more cooperation would go a long way.

Cash on the barrel — Yes, the kind of money needed to fuel lots of startups is probably too much to hope for. But small, well-targeted loan funds can make a difference. Like St. Louis County’s new Boost loan program.

Funded with a $5 million line of credit from PNC Bank, the Boost program is designed to help small businesses struggling to get bank loans, by offering funds with lower eligibility requirements, and county backing payday loans. Since January, the county has received more than 30 serious applications and will soon issue its first loans.

Small partnerships like this could augment bank lending and provide more support to startups at a relatively low cost.

Leverage our universities — Two years ago, a group of investors launched the Billiken Angel Network, a fund designed to provide seed capital to entrepreneurs with a tie to St. Louis University — students, alumni, faculty. They leverage their own money, plus $1 million in funding from SLU, to help fund startups, many of them here in St. Louis.

This region has a lot of universities. And they create a lot of ideas. Pooling investors around their ties to other local institutions, from Columbia to Rolla to Edwardsville, is a low-cost way to spark more companies that are born, and will stay, in St. Louis.

Pool Midwestern venture capital — Most of the Midwest — not just St. Louis — lags when it comes to creating high-powered, innovative startups. This is despite research universities that are among the nation’s best, and that win more than their share of federal grants, R&D funding and patents.

"But it’s not getting translated into new businesses," said John Austin, who heads the Great Lakes Economic Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

He co-authored a recent report detailing how the Midwest ships much of its venture capital to the coasts. Investing closer to home, he contends, would be profitable for all involved. More Midwest-specific funds, like the Clayton-based Mid America Healthcare Investors Network, would provide opportunity, and profit, in the region.

"We need more entrepreneurial investors," said Frank Samuel, the study’s other author.

The big steps — more state seed funding, a flood of venture capital — will help, if and when they arrive. But small steps now can help prepare the ground for entrepreneurship to bloom.

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This is a weekly roundup of promotions, appointments and employee accomplishments in the Birmingham metro area. For more People on the Move, check out the Birmingham Business Journal’s print edition each week. Send announcements to ccrawford@bizjournals.com.

FINANCIAL

J. Samuel Henderson III, president of Jefferson and Shelby counties for Southern States Bank, was named Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International. Henderson is active in the Shades Valley Rotary Club. He joined Southern States Bank in October 2008.

LEGAL

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC named Kevin R. Garrison its Birmingham Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. Garrison works with the Homeless Experience Legal Protection program and is part of a team of attorneys representing individuals wrongfully incarcerated by small towns in the metro Birmingham area because they could not afford to pay fines for minor infractions such as traffic violations and petty misdemeanors. He concentrates his practice in construction litigation.

MANUFACTURING

Bob Holt, vice president of sales and marketing for ThyssenKrupp Steel USA LLC, will deliver the keynote address at the 2010 University of Alabama Spring Sales Banquet April 23 at NorthRiver Yacht Club. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Holt, a veteran of the steel industry, was appointed to his current position in October 2007. He is responsible for the commercial activities in the carbon steel segment of TK's new $4.2 billion carbon and stainless flats processing facilities, currently under construction in Calvert, 30 miles north of Mobile.

MEDIA

Thomas E. Jackson was honored for more than 22 years of service to the Alabama Educational Television Commission by Alabama Public Television at a dinner March 24. Jackson, who is leaving the commission, was appointed to the position in 1987. Jackson is the founder and president of Market Technologies, a Birmingham-based company that provides medical diagnostic equipment across the Southeast.

Niki Noto, a recent graduate of University of Alabama, won a challenge in Atlanta Falcons Reality Inside Reporter Competition, which could lead to a chance to be a personality on AtlantaFalcons.com through the 2010 football season, beginning with the NFL Draft.

NONPROFITS

Members of the Nature Conservancy of Alabama’s Board of Trustees recently met at the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology in Huntsville. Members are Steve Graham and Rick Horsley of Birmingham; Dr. Ed Colvin of Birmingham, Jim Wadsworth of Clanton, Donald Sweeney of Birmingham; Steve Northcutt and David Donaldson of Birmingham and Elizabeth Downing of Mobile.

U.S. Marshal Marty Keeley is scheduled to be guest speaker for the Homewood Chamber of Commerce’s April 20 luncheon at the Homewood Public Library Auditorium. Keeley was appointed to the position in 2002. He began his career in law enforcement in 1969 at the Mountain Brook Police Department. In 1987, he was promoted to the rank of chief of police. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a law degree.

REAL ESTATE

Dennis Key of Jasper was recognized as the Appraisal Institute’s April Volunteer of Distinction for Region IX, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Key has been a member of the Appraisal Institute for 20 years and involved in the real estate valuation profession for more than 30 years. He currently teaches appraisal courses at Auburn University of behalf of the Alabama State Revenue Department and serves as an appraiser mentor to new appraisers in the days before state licensing. He has been president of his own firm, Key Co. Inc., since 1979.

UNIVERSITIES

University of Alabama at Birmingham professor of history Colin J. Davis has been selected to receive the 2010 Caroline P. and Charles W. Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction. Davis, who works in the UAB Department of History and Anthropology, specializes in comparative labor history and U.S. labor history. He has been a member of the UAB faculty since 1991. He will present his lecture “Trans-Atlantic Maritime History: Food For Thought” during a reception April 19 at The Club.

Urban education expert Steve Perry, author of “Man Up! Nobody is Coming to Save Us” and “Raggedy Schools: The Untold Truth,” is scheduled to speak at the University of Alabama at Birmingham from 7 to 9 p.m. April 27 at the Alys Stephens Center.

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