Northeast Ohio Business News

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The family owners of struggling Norwalk Furniture Corp. agreed Thursday to continue moving toward sale of the company to two investment firms whose letter of intent expired a week ago before purchase terms were made final.

"IRG Capital Group and Blackbird Capital remain committed to growing this company and positioning it for long-term stability," Jim Gerken, Norwalk's chairman, said in a written statement.

Continue reading "Parties still working on Norwalk Furniture deal" »

It's looking like development on 500-plus acres on the former site of Geauga Lake will not happen anytime soon.

Dick Kinzel, chief executive of Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which owns the land, told analysts Thursday that two bids the company received for parts of the property are not high enough.

"We think the land is worth more," Kinzel said.

Continue reading "Cedar Fair might wait on sale of Geauga Lake land" »

COLUMBUS --The youngest members of the Ohio legislature have proposed a tax credit they hope will reverse the trend of college-educated young people fleeing the Buckeye State for jobs elsewhere.

Under the proposed legislation, college graduates who pledge to live in Ohio would earn a nonrefundable state income tax credit of up to $3,000 per year for up to 10 years. The idea was hatched Wednesday at a Statehouse press conference thrown by Rep. Josh Mandel, a 30-year-old Lyndhurst Republican, and Rep. Jay Goyal, a 27-year-old Mansfield Democrat.

Continue reading "Legislative proposal: pledge to live in Ohio, then get state tax credits up to $30,000 over 10 years" »

COLUMBUS -- Ohio's liquor sales reached an all-time high this fiscal year with more than $697 million spent on liquor.

That's an increase of $25 million, or 3.72 percent, over sales in fiscal year 2007. And the Division of Liquor Control's profits rose to $213 million, $10 million more than last fiscal year, state officials said in a news release.

Continue reading "Ohio liquor sales reach record high" »

Updated 12:05 p.m.

LORDSTOWN -- General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner will visit Thursday afternoon to show off photographs of a new compact car to be built here.

Wagoner also plans to detail the company's multimillion-dollar investment in the plant -- estimated at $317 million by state development officials.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority last month awarded the company more than $82 million in tax credits to guarantee a 30-year future for the massive assembly plant.

It's the largest incentive package approved by the state in at least 15 years and possibly in history. The state also gave the automaker a $2 million grant to buy equipment for Lordstown's retooling.

Continue reading "GM takes wraps off new Lordstown car" »

The J.M. Smucker Co. today announced changes in its executive lineup as it prepares to acquire the Folgers coffee business from Procter & Gamble Co.

The deal, announced in June and expected to close later this year, is expected to add $1.8 billion in annual sales and 1,250 employees to the company. The Orrville maker of jams, jellies and baking goods has said it needed a new organizational structure to handle that kind of growth.

Continue reading "Smucker prepares for Folgers with executive changes" »

Three hospitals in Northeast Ohio stand out for treatment of pneumonia, according to new data released by Medicare.

Hillcrest, Akron General and EMH Regional all had death rates for the illness below the 11.4 percent national average.

And among the 158 Ohio hospitals reporting to Medicare, one -- Fairview Hospital -- had a lower rate than the 11.1 percent national death rate for heart failure.

Continue reading "Medicare releases hospitals' death rates for pneumonia, heart attacks and heart failure" »

Gov. Ted Strickland's effort to negotiate a compromise to keep a controversial sick leave proposal off the November ballot ended Wednesday without a deal.

Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said business leaders and representatives of the Service Employees International Union could not reach a compromise "acceptable to a sufficient portion of the business community."

"The critical mass was not there," Dailey said.

Continue reading "Sick leave talks end without a compromise" »

MENTOR-- Dan Cathy needed to be one with his loyal fans.

For the president of the Chick-fil-A fast-food chain, that meant joining the 100 chicken diehards in tents in the parking lot of the new Mentor Avenue restaurant, which opens Thursday.

Joining customers who had waited since late Tuesday to be first in line here, Cathy, 55, camped out in a Chick-fil-A tent and mingled with patrons at an ice cream party as a disc jockey played.

The first 100 in line will each receive 52 coupons for free meals from the chain.

But for some who were waiting, it wasn't about getting free food.

Continue reading "Chick-fil-A president joins fans at new Mentor eatery" »

OHIO AND REGION Scam sent via text to credit union customers Dayton-area rep. taking heat for wife's business Federal money to bring jobs, businesses to Lawrence Co. OSU's Smith urges Time Warner subscribers to switch U.S. AND WORLD Schaeffler agrees to limit Continental AG stake Microsoft enlists Seinfeld for ads Regulators will help borrowers at IndyMac Fed investigated Lehman rumors, report says

ON THE WEB NY TimesNew York Times: Welcome, freshmen. Have an iPod. Des Moines Register: Finding a way to fuel from algae Orlando Sentinel: Corvette changes through the years Washington Post: Few speculators dominate vast oil trading market

Ohio. Just another link on the industrial Rust Belt, you say? A wasteland littered with yesterday's technology?

Bite your tongue.

• R&D award-winning products that changed lives

---

Ohio's 10 winners for 2008

• Multidimensional contact angle measurement device, from NASA Glenn Research Center and the Ohio Aerospace Institute. The technology will find use in life-support systems being developed for future space missions but also could apply to the development of new adhesives and nonfluid devices as well as special sensors.

• Harmonic Focus Curved Shear with Harmonic Blue Hand Piece, from Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc., Cincinnati. Ethicon's Harmonic line includes surgical tools that work on principles of ultrasound, allowing more precise cutting, grasp, blood coagulation and versatility. The device also won an award from BusinessWeek Magazine in the category of best global design of 2008.

• 4x4 Multiple-in, Multiple-out (MIMO) RF Test System, from Keithley Instruments Inc., Cleveland. As electronic monitors and communications devices have become more complex and data-intensive, so has the process of testing how accurately they generate and receive signals. Keithley's MIMO test system shows how precisely the devices operate.

• Environmentally Benign and Reduced Corrosion Runway Deicing Fluid, from Battelle, Columbus; Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton; and other labs. This is a nontoxic and biodegradable fluid that can de-ice and remove snow from aircraft, runways and roads. It also keeps snow from sticking to the de-iced surfaces.

• Simultaneous Non-Contact Precision Imaging of Microstructural and Thickness Variation in Dielectric Materials, from NASA Glenn and other government research centers. The technology paves the way for nondestructive evaluation approaches for pharmaceutical, biomedical, security, material analysis and aerospace use, including damage assessment on spacecraft surfaces.

• Multi-Scale Materials: Integrated Processing Method, from Battelle in collaboration with other labs. Researchers outlined the most efficient conditions for using very tiny structures (nanowires, extremely thin films and micro-droplets) in manufacturing. Chemical qualities, temperature and pressure all play a role in the success of these operations, and this process maps their relationship.

• Velocys-FT: Fisher-Tropsch Fuels using Velocys Microchannel Technology, from Battelle and research partners. This is a technology that greatly reduces the size and cost of second-generation biofuel production facilities, those that make biofuels from nonfood plant material.

• SAT12 Patented Service Hardening Process, from Swagelok Co., Solon. The company developed a process for hardening stainless steel tools far beyond what had been possible with the corrosion-resistant material in the past.

• F-LLX: Flotation-Liquid Liquid Extraction, from Battelle. This is an approach to drain coal mines of their acidic, contaminated water that reduces stream and groundwater pollution and extract potentially valuable minerals from the concentrate.

• Bio-based Powder Coating Technology, from Battelle and various agricultural research partners. The soy-based coating material ships dry so it reduces transportation costs, generates no toxic fumes and cures at low temperatures, saving energy.

-- Frank Bentayou Research and development at enterprises in the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati areas produced 10 of this year's 100 most significant innovations, R&D Magazine says in its September issue.

With 10 of the current crop of award winners emanating from the Buckeye state, Ohio ranked behind only California, with 18.

Continue reading "For the best R&D ideas, look no further than Ohio" »