Charlotte.com: Business
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• Big hearts and sharp zingers
  Grab your hat, young man. Let me take you on over to Good Fellows.That's how they said it in the old days, when everybody worked downtown. (That's what they called it then.) The city's businessmen strolled over to the Hotel Charlotte's grand ballroom for a lunch of meat, potatoes, pie a la mode -- and lots of smoking. Baskets were passed, and the good fellows dug deep to help the city's needy.This started in 1917. Since then, Charlotte has changed -- a lot. The Good Fellows Club has not. The annual fundraiser is noon today at the Convention Center."Some of the oldest guys don't even buy green bananas anymore," says real estate man Johnny Harris. As one of the co-hosts, Harris keeps up the tradition of good-natured insults. Sharing the podium is Bill White, longtime real-estate leader, and only the fourth president the club has ever had.This isn't a corporate donation, or an automated deduction from your paycheck. This is Charlotte, the world-class city with a small-town heart. The Kens -- BofA's Lewis and Wachovia's Thompson -- have spoken, and Thompson plays "bag man," collecting donations around the room with others. "Boy, do we get on them," says Harris. No one's immune."This will be the first year without John Belk in a long, long time," says Harris. "He always wore the most horrible sweaters every year. Well, they were holiday sweaters from Belk's. We'll have a half-dozen guys in a John Belk sweater in his honor."More than 1,500 of the city's most powerful men will plunge into their pockets, coming up with an expected $250,000 to help the needy.The club is still all men -- but society has changed."The Good Fellows used to make any women who attended sit behind a curtain," says community volunteer and arts patron Patty Norman. "They couldn't eat lunch or anything."That's why Catherine Browning, Norman and other female philanthropists started the Good Friends. Their luncheon is Thursday at the Convention Center. They expect to draw more than 600 and raise around $120,000.Shannon McFayden, Wachovia's sharp HR chief, community volunteer and Realtor Robin Branstrom and WBTV anchor Lenise Ligon will speak -- and are likely to exhibit a bit more dignity than the gentlemen."We get a big kick out of stepping on each other's toes onstage," says White.See www.goodfellowsclub.org and http://goodfriendscharlotte.usSEND US SCOOPS!
  That's Johnny Harris and Robin Branstrom, organizers of the Good Fellows and Good Friends luncheons. Send business news tips to jelder@charlotte observer.com or call 704-358-5032. The InsiderWHO'S THAT WITH JEFF? SEE BELOW. Jeff Elder
• A struggle to find work
  Carol Franks flips her purse strap over her shoulder, opens the door of her 1970 silver Buick Gran Sport, and slips behind the steering wheel.Altogether an unremarkable set of accomplishments.But she does all this -- and more -- with her feet.Franks, 54, was born without arms, among an estimated 2 million Americans living with some form of limb loss."I'm not handicapped," she says. "I just do things differently."Laid off from her secretary job two years ago, the Charlotte woman also is among millions of "disabled" job-seekers struggling to find work.Despite anti-discrimination laws and new private-sector employment initiatives targeting the disabled, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is 44.2 percent, almost 10 times as much as the overall national unemployment rate, U.S. Census Bureau data show. A Cornell University study released in November found even higher unemployment rates among all the nation's 22.3 million disabled workers age 21-64. These people also were twice as likely to live in poverty, the study said.Prejudice and accessibility are to blame, says George Kerford, chairman emeritus of the World Association of Persons with Disabilities in Oklahoma City."Too often people in wheelchairs can't get into some places because employers won't make their buildings accessible," he said. "And, to be honest, the other reason is a lot of people don't want disabled people around."Costs of retrofitting buildings with ramps and other accommodations also have been cited as reasons for not hiring the disabled.Kerford has helped launch a work-at-home program that pairs the disabled with companies such as Mary Kay Inc., Tupperware and the International Entrepreneurs Association, among others.He hopes the fledgling initiative will "change the whole world economy."Tough time finding jobsOver lunch at a busy restaurant across from SouthPark mall last week, Franks picked at her Oriental chicken salad. She cradled a fork between the index digit and big toe on her right foot. She occasionally adjusted her glasses, her arched foot reaching with ease.Born and reared in Mount Gilead about 60 miles east of Charlotte, Franks learned to swim as a small girl. She learned to dress herself before she graduated high school. The rural community nurtured her, she and her family says. Yes, there were times she wished she were more like her pretty little sister, Janice -- the one who had all the dates and went to the prom. And her eyes grow misty when she talks about her father, who never seemed to get over the sense of amazement that she could drive, graduated King's College in Charlotte, and function independently."I just thought I was normal," she said.Franks worked 29 years at Bank of America Corp. in Charlotte. The bank laid her off in 2002 during downsizing. She was about to turn 50 and had just returned from a monthlong illness at the time.The memory rankles the 5-foot-tall office worker and her husband, Mark.The bank eliminated the position as part of a "workforce reduction," says spokeswoman Kelly Sapp. The bank "actively recruits those with disabilities," she adds, noting the company employs 300 or so with cognitive or developmental disabilities, participates in a program to hire wounded veterans and is a longstanding participant in the Special Olympics, among other worker-friendly activities.Franks eventually found work at Griffin Home Health Care in Charlotte. Another downsizing claimed that job when Griffin lost a major client. The office shrunk to 20 employees from 32.She says she prefers to focus on what's next and what she can do."I can type 50 words a minute," she says. "I know that's not fast, but I'm accurate."Bill Griffin says Franks "showed me a real desire and passion for wanting to get the work done. It came from the heart." He had never hired an armless employee.The business made minor adjustments, including using lower filing cabinets. She served as his administrative assistant, typed memos, made copies. "If you can do it," he says, "she can do it."Franks holds no ill will toward Griffin. These days she does most of her job hunting online and doesn't disclose she's armless.She's had four or five in-person interviews this year. None have panned out."I tell them there's nothing I can't do," she says. "I'm fully capable, as over 35 years of employment has proven."That longevity may be a liability."I think with Carol, the main thing is her age," says Joyce Baughn, president of the International Child Amputee Network. I-CAN helps parents and their children cope with limb loss. Franks volunteers with the organization. "She's already proved she can handle a job," Baughn adds, "but right now age discrimination" is a factor.Franks, undeterred, is convinced the right job is out there."I believe I'm here to be an inspiration," she says. "I totally believe there's a reason for being born like this." As many as 4,500 children a year in the United States are born with some form or limb loss. About 58.5 percent of all limb deficiencies in newborns involve the upper limb. The specific causes of congenital limb deficiencies are frequently unknown.SOURCE: Amputee Coalition of AmericaJob resources for the disabled• World Association of Persons with Disabilitieswww.wapd.orgThe association recently launched a service to place those with disabilities with companies that offer work-from-home jobs.• Accessible Employmentwww.AccessibleEmployment.orgLooks like Monster.com. Launched a few weeks ago. You can post your resume and other vitae. Employers can earn tax credits and save health-care costs when they hire disabled employees because many individuals with disabilities are covered by Medicare and Medicaid, the organization says.
• Wall Street pooh-poohs quarter-point rate cut
  The Federal Reserve gave borrowers a rate-cut present for the holidays. Wall Street's response: Bah, humbug!Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and all but one of his colle