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ยป Wingspan. "Interestingly, our 2012 numbers far surpass 2011, for which the award was given. Our company's total headcount fluctuates according to projects, but overall we continue to grow at a rapid pace." Horne added that he expects Wingspan's employee count will break the 2,000 mark this year, eclipsing 2012's substantial growth. "We are continuing to grow our existing business lines, diversify our services, and pursue new strategic relationships that will drive exceptional growth for the next several years," he said. More than 400 Layoffs Planned for Wingspan Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, based in North Texas, planned to lay off 459 employees at the end of 2012, the company announced in a letter in November 2012 to the Texas Workforce Commission. In a notice issued under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, Wingspan said the layoff "is a direct result of the cancellation of a client contract." Furthermore, the company pledged to "do its best to place employees affected by this layoff who desire to remain with the company in other available positions for which they are qualified." In a statement, Wingspan CEO Steve Horne explained that a client project is coming to an end. He also said layoffs are not expected to affect the company's projected rate of growth or revenue. "Wingspan has numerous new business activities currently underway or in development. We are aggressively re-deploying as many impacted employees into these new opportunities as possible," Horne said. Stewart Title Helps to Honor America's Finest Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is known for changing the lives of everyday Americans and pulling on a heartstring or two. The December 10 airing of the show was no different. In mid-December, the ABC television series honored retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Shilo Harris for his brave work overseas fighting for his country. While in Iraq, Harris was severely injured when an explosive device hit the truck he was in and burned more than 40 percent of his body. Harris has had numerous painful surgeries to help him return to normal, but he still has trouble regulating his body temperature and difficulty breathing. It was hard for him to recover from his injuries when he returned home to the mobile trailer he shared with his wife and children. Something had to be done, and the people at Stewart Title Guaranty Company in Houston, Texas, stepped up to lend a helping hand. Harris' feature on the show came about through Stewart Title Guaranty's philanthropic program, Community of Sharing. The company reached out to its more than 1,900 associates to see if they would be willing to chip in to make this veteran's life more comfortable. The goal was to collect $35,000 to renovate a home equipped with the necessities for Harris' recovery. The Stewart team hosted a fundraiser and raised $42,000 for Harris' home, as well as enough money to pay off the Harris family mortgage and support 10 additional homebuilding projects. In total, the company raised more than $1.1 million. "Stewart Title is proud to have worked side-by-side with our network of independent title agencies, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and HelpingaHero.org to help support our wounded veterans who have given so much to this country," said George Houghton, Stewart's group president of agency operations. "It's always rewarding to help families get into their adapted dream homes," Houghton continued, "and it was especially so in this case as evidenced by the tremendous outpouring of support from our independent agencies who were inspired by our heroes." has been processing CSC's credit information and selling those files nationally since 1988. "We are extremely pleased to announce the signing of the agreement to acquire the CSC credit services assets," said Equifax chairman and CEO Richard Smith. "We have a long working history with CSC and believe the acquisition of these assets will be a catalyst for the long-term growth of our USCIS business unit." Smith anticipates the transaction will generate incremental net operating revenue to Equifax in the range of $115 million to $125 million. The pending transaction is also expected to "be solidly accretive to Equifax's adjusted earnings per share in 2013." A portion of the increased earnings will be used for additional investments in growth initiatives and infrastructure across Equifax's businesses, Smith said. STAT INSIGHT Annual home price increase in Dallas, Arlington, and Ft. Worth, Texas, which ranks them 13th on the list of highest performing major metro markets in November 2012. Source: Clear Capital Utah rank: 39 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate october 2012 2.86% Unemployment Rate 1.62% 5.2% year ago 2.88% 2.24% 6.2% percent point change -0.6% -27.8% -16.1% Top County Equifax to Buy CSC Credit Services In Atlanta, Equifax Inc. announced last month that its subsidiary, Equifax Information Services LLC, has entered into an agreement to purchase certain credit services business assets and operations of CSC Credit Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). The purchase price is $1 billion in cash. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, CSC's credit business provides consumer credit services and related information to banks, mortgage companies, and retail establishments, among others. CSC owns consumer credit files in 15 states covering approximately 20 percent of the country's population. Equifax VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Iron CoUnTy Foreclosure Rate october 2012 3.99% 2.92% year ago 3.80% 3.96% percent point change 5.0% -26.2% Top Core-Based Statistical Area CedAr CITy, UT 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate october 2012 3.99% 2.92% year ago 3.80% 3.96% percent point change 5.0% -26.2% note: The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the October 2012 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary October 2012 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. 155