Miami Herald: Business

A consultant who advises communities on how to keep their big employers happy told a conference of economic developers Thursday that a close relationship with executives can keep a company from moving.

Federal safety officials are recommending better communication procedures after reviewing the Northwest Airlines flight that overshot the Minneapolis airport last year by more than 100 miles.

The top executive of American Electric Power received total compensation of $7.1 million in 2009, a 27 percent drop from the previous year, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing.

The Obama administration says it is near an agreement with other nations to cancel the $447 million that Haiti owes to the Inter-American Development Bank.

Palm Inc. on Thursday reported sales figures that showed it's having a difficult time getting consumers to pay attention to its phones in a market dominated by iPhones and BlackBerrys.

WHAT HAPPENED: Jerome York died Thursday of a brain aneurysm at a Pontiac, Mich., hospital. He was 71.

OJ DECLINE: Orange juice futures contracts fell to the lowest point in nearly three weeks as a stronger dollar made them less attractive for traders. The price has fallen about 5 percent since Friday after a government report forecast higher Florida crop production.

Workers at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., known as Nummi, have voted in favor of a proposed severance package for the 4,600 workers about to lose their jobs when the plant closes, according to the United Auto Workers.

The Associated Press has found that PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s CEO received compensation valued at $16.6 million in fiscal 2009. Much of it was restricted stock to comply with government limits on pay and bonuses for companies that took bailout money.

The economic costs of Haiti's Jan. 12 earthquake have shown it to be the most destructive natural disaster for any one country in modern times.<p/> Estimates from the InterAmerican Development Bank put the cost of rebuilding Haiti at anywhere from $8 billion to $14 billion -- at the high end, that's twice the size of Haiti's total economy last year.