Cooper Tire steers back to black, by Gary T. Pakulski, Toledo Blade, February 29, 2008
Findlay—Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. reported that it made $120 million last year after two straight money-losing years culminated in 2006 with losses of $79 million. Annual revenues at the once-struggling firm rose 14 percent to a record $2.9 billion.

Energy bill would have consumers pay for efficiency, by John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 29, 2008
Columbus—House Speaker Jon Husted's energy bill would require utilities to develop programs to assist consumers and businesses cut back their power needs. The legislation calls for a gradual ramp-up to a 22 percent reduction by 2025. For example, under energy efficiency programs already in place in seven other states, utilities give rebates to consumers and business that buy high-efficiency air conditioners, appliances and equipment.

Editorial: Husted's rewrite gets Ohio halfway to where its energy policy needs to be, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 29, 2008
House speaker Jon Husted just served up a fine renewable energy bill appetizer. Though it could use a few tweaks, it's a vast improvement over the version without annual benchmarks that was proposed by the governor and passed by the Senate last fall. Now, however, the politically ambitious Husted must move far more quickly to produce the second, more contentious half of his energy rewrite, covering how to set rates for electric utilities.

Manufacturing Alliance asks candidates: "Will You Care?," United Steelworkers via EarthTimes.org, February 28, 2008
Pittsburgh—The United Steelworkers (USW) launched an advertising campaign in Ohio sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) that asks presidential hopefuls if they will take steps to curb manufacturing job losses in the state caused by unfair trade. Full-page ads will run on Sunday and Monday in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Columbus Dispatch and the Youngstown Vindicator.

Honda will cease motorcycle production in United States, AP via Akron Beacon Journal, February 28, 2008
Marysville, Ohio—Honda will cease producing motorcycles in the U.S. in 2009 and move its 450 employees at the motorcycle plant here to its automobile production facility. The company said motorcycle production at the Marysville plant and at the Hamamatsu factory in Japan will be consolidated at a new motorcycle plant in Kumamoto, Japan, in 2009.

Ohio House opens green energy hearings, by John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 28, 2008
Columbus—The first day of hearings on the House Republican leadership's green energy bill was more of a love-in than a critical examination of the bill's effect on electric rates.

Manufactured goods orders plunge, AP via Money.CNN.com, February 27, 2008
Washington—Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged 5.3 percent in January— the largest amount in five months—as manufacturers got caught in the weakness engulfing the rest of the economy.

Google, girls and engineering, by Emily Nishi, Diversity Program Manager, Google Blog, February 23, 2008
Mountainview, Calif.—February 17-23 was National Engineers Week and to mark the occasion, Google offices in New York, Kirkland, Wash., and Mountain View, Calif., hosted several hundred girls from local middle schools and high schools. The girls got to shadow Google engineers, participate in interactive workshops and get an insider's tour of Google offices. The Wall Street Journal's Career Journal featured the event in a 4-minute video. To view it, scroll down to the Career Journal's video side bar (on the right), and click "See all Career Videos."

Home Made: Timken Company leads manufacturing resurgence, by Tim White, WKYC, February 20, 2008
Canton—Far from being dead, manufacturing in Ohio has gone high tech, according to Tim Timken in his interview with Tim White for WKYC's Home Made series. The series profiles the innovative companies in Northeastern Ohio that are leading the industry's evolution. Read the story and view White's video.

Thousands of jobs go unfilled for lack of skilled workers, by Tom Breckenridge, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 26, 2008
Cleveland—Thousands of jobs in this region and across Ohio are going unfilled for lack of skilled workers. Over six months last year, manufacturers in the region posted more than 5,000 job openings, said Judith Crocker, director of education and training for MAGNET. "There's a disconnect between supply and demand," Crocker said. The PD reviews Governor Ted Strickland's proposals for new and continuing state-wide initiatives to address that disconnect.

Babcock & Wilcox wins large contract, Akron Beacon Journal, February 26, 2008
Barberton, Ohio—The Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group won a $150-million contract to design and build anti-pollution scrubbers and other equipment for three Maryland power plants. Shipment is expected to begin this spring, with commissioning planned to start at the end of 2009.

Editorial: Where does the governor stand on electricity restructuring?, Akron Beacon Journal, February 26, 2008
Akron—Governor Strickland opened the debate on a comprehensive energy bill correctly last fall, proposing that the state required a ''hybrid,'' a mix of market and regulatory elements. Of late, Strickland has been sounding more like an old-time regulator.

Commentary: Decline of Isuzu shows value of research and development, by Steven Cole Smith, Orlando Sentinel via Akron Beacon Journal, February 26, 2008
Orlando—In less than a year, the Isuzu brand will be defunct in the U.S. The Orlando Sentinel's automotive columnist says the brand's demise is a case study in how a promising brand can be botched for lack of innovation and investment in new products.

Ohio to add trade offices; India, Australia join state's 11 other sites, by Paul Wilson, Columbus Dispatch, February 25, 2008
Columbus—Ohio is opening trade offices in Australia and India as part of an effort to encourage those countries to invest in the state and buy Ohio products. The move gives Ohio 13 trade offices abroad.

Florida medical firm ViewRay picks Cleveland, pledges jobs, by Mary Vanac, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 25, 2008
Cleveland—Gainesville, Fla.-based ViewRay Inc. will move its headquarters to Cleveland and create 90 new jobs in the next three years. The company is commercializing its patent-pending technology that uses magnetic resonance images (MRI) to guide gamma rays to precisely target cancerous tumors.

Hiring boom at Detroit Three likely next year, by Tim Higgins, Detroit Free Press via Akron Beacon Journal, February 24, 2008
Detroit—The Detroit Three automakers, while undergoing great efforts to eliminate jobs, are perhaps a year away from the largest hiring spree in recent years. Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. will hire about 36,000 hourly and salaried people in Michigan alone over the next four years to replace people who are taking buyouts or retiring, a study from the Center for Automotive Research says.