Ohio treasurer touts program to help small businesses, by Lisa Miller, Mansfield News Journal, February 15, 2008
Mansfield—Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray visited the region yesterday to promote GrowNOW (formerly called the Small Business Linked Deposit Program) to business leaders. Mansfield's Bay Manufacturing took advantage of the program to embark on a $350,000 facilities expansion.

GM, Ford back Chrysler effort to reclaim tools from Plastech, AP via Toledo Blade, February 14, 2008
Detroit—General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. told U.S. Bankruptcy Court here yesterday that they support Chrysler LLC's effort to get some tools back from Plastech Engineered Products Inc. Chrysler asked the court to allow it to sue Plastech for the equipment, despite rules barring lawsuits against companies in bankruptcy.

Local 'glass genius' McMaster honored as a top U.S. inventor, by Gary T. Pakulski, Toledo Blade, February 15, 2008
Toledo—The National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron named the late Harold McMaster of Perrysburg Township as one of 18 inventors to be inducted in May. McMaster received more than 100 patents while at the former Libbey-Owens-Ford Co., Permaglass Inc., Glasstech Inc., and Solar Cells Inc.

Upcoming Event:

Navigating the World of Workforce Information, February 27, 8:30-11:30 am, The Job Center, 1040 E. Tallmadge Ave., Akron. The workshop will also spotlight Ohio's online employment system and show how The Job Center can provide additional services to businesses.

WTO rules against China's auto parts tariffs, Reuters via New York Times, February 14, 2008
Geneva, Switzerland—The United States has won a preliminary ruling in a World Trade Organization case over Chinese tax policies that restrict imports of auto parts, a United States trade official said. The final report in the case is expected to be made public this year. The United States and the European Union filed the case in March 2006 and were later joined by Canada.

Related story: WTO condemns China in dispute over car parts, AP via Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2008 (Subscription)

After 154 years, Oglebay Norton leaving Cleveland, by Allison Grant, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 14, 2008
Cleveland—Oglebay Norton Co, a fixture in Cleveland for 154 years, is closing its headquarters here as it merges into the North American operations of Belgian-owned Carmeuse Group. According to reports, Carmeuse will move about 50 people from Oglebay's Cleveland operations to its Carmeuse Lime & Stone subsidiary in Pittsburgh.

A looming workplace shortage: welders, by Terry Kinney, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 14, 2008
Cincinnati—With the average age of welders in the mid-50s, the welder shortage is changing from a problem to a potential crisis. The Miami-based American Welding Society says the nation could have a shortage of 200,000 trained welders by 2010. OKI Bering Co. in Cincinnati donated $100,000 to develop a jobs site for welders and plans to donate up to $1 million in surplus supplies to welding schools across the country.

GM offers all U.S. union workers buyouts, retirement, by David Bailey, Reuters.com, February 12, 2008
Detroit—General Motors Corp will offer buyouts or early retirements to all 74,000 U.S. hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers in a sweeping deal with the union intended to clear the way for GM to hire lower-cost replacements.

Related story: GM, UAW reach agreement on worker buyout program, by John D. Stoll, Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2008 (Subscription)

Editorial: Power to the finish, Akron Beacon Journal, February 12, 2008
When Ted Strickland put forward in the summer his plan for restructuring the electricity industry in the state, he added a dose of urgency. He noted the looming deadline, Ohio heading for a fully deregulated electricity market in January 2009. March is approaching, and now the legislature must act.

Smucker, Sherwin-Williams, Quicken Loans on Fortune's Top 100 places to work, by Zachary Lewis, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 11, 2008
Cleveland—It's good to work in Northeast Ohio, especially at Smucker, Sherwin-Williams or Quicken Loans. That's according to those companies' workers, who voted their employers onto Fortune magazine's 2008 list of the top 100 places in the United States to work.

Ohio Andersons venture begins making ethanol, Toledo Blade, February 12, 2008
Greenville, Ohio—Ethanol production has begun at a 110 million-gallon processing plant in southwest Ohio that is owned jointly by Marathon Oil Corp. and The Andersons Inc., the third ethanol facility involving the Maumee agribusiness.

Moen to close Elyria plant, by Stephen Szucs, Lorain Chronicle-Telegram, February 12, 2008
Elyria—Moen will close its Elyria manufacturing plant by the end of the year, ending more than a half century’s worth of ties to the city and forcing more than 70 employees to look for new jobs.

Beachwood firm invests in businesses on the brink, by Robert Schoenberger, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 10, 2008
Beachwood, Ohio—Steve Rosen and Bassem Mansour, founders and co-chief executives of Resilience Capital Partners, believe they can find value and make money in factories throughout Northeast Ohio that other startup companies have ignored. Last month, the company announced one of its biggest deals yet -- a $44.2 million deal to buy bankrupt automotive supplier Delphi Corp.'s wheel bearings business and Sandusky plant. The PD interviewed MAGNET VP Bill Barnes for this Sunday business feature.

RPM considers White Motors site for distribution center, by Tom Breckenridge, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 11, 2008
Medina, Ohio—RPM International is eyeing the old White Motors site for a big warehouse and distribution center. The 30-acre site, north of St. Clair Avenue between East 72nd and East 79th street, is near the proposed new site of the Cleveland Port at East 55th St. The site's owner, First Interstate Properties Ltd., is seeking city and county financing to help it develop the site into an industrial park and condominiums

Ohio Dept. of Development creates two new divisions, Business Courier of Cincinnati, February 11, 2008
Columbus—The ODoD announced two former offices were elevated to division status to reflect the state's focus on small business and work-force initiatives. The Office of Workforce Development will become the Workforce and Talent Division; the Office of Small Business Development will become the Entrepreneurship and Small Business Division.

Metals firm to build Sheffield Twp. plant, by Jay Miller, Crain's Cleveland Business, February 11, 2008
Sheffield Township—Houston-based National Bronze & Metals Inc., a producer of brass, bronze and copper alloys, won a $1 million development loan as well as a major tax credit to assist with its plan to build a $19 million plant in Sheffield Township.