Norwalk Custom Order Furniture workers vote down union, by Mary Lisa Boose, Norwalk Reflector, April 16, 2009
Norwalk, Ohio—Employees at Norwalk Custom Order Furniture overwhelmingly voted down union representation from the United Steelworkers union.

Economic woes linger in Fed region of Cleveland, Akron Beacon Journal, April 16, 2009
Cleveland—The economy remained weak while showing some signs of improvement and stabilization in Ohio and parts of other states that make up the district covered by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Plan takes shine to Rust Belt; High-tech start-ups prepared to launch, by Gary T. Pakulski, Toledo Blade, April 16, 2009
Toledo—MidWest MicroDevices LLC, at 14th Street and Madison Avenue, is one of eight graduates of a local program that aims to scrape the rust off metro Toledo's Rust Belt economy.

Chinese delegation to visit U.S. to address pipemakers' concerns, Warren Tribune Chronicle, April 16, 2009
Beijing—A Chinese spokesman said China will send a delegation to the United States to discuss charges by U.S. steel pipemakers that its steelmakers are dumping steel pipes on the American market. No date for the visit was announced.

• Steelmakers accuse China of dumping in the U.S., by Robert Guy Matthews, Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2009 (Subscription)

Car sales accelerating, by Jim Mackinnon, Akron Beacon Journal, April 16, 2009
Cleveland—Regional new car and light truck purchases rose 56.8 percent to 13,268 from February's recession-fed number of 8,464 vehicles, according to the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers' Association.Even so, March sales were down 25.5 percent from a year ago.

GMC may have to take exit ramp, by Sharon Terlep, Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2009 (Subscription)
Detroit—General Motors Corp. is under pressure from the government to consider shedding its GMC brand as the company races to transform itself by June 1. GM is already in the process of shedding its Hummer, Saab and Saturn brands.

• Investor group says it may buy GM's Saturn brand, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 15, 2009

Earnings

• Myers Industries shares rise on earnings forecast, by Scott Suttell, Crain's Cleveland Business, April 13, 2009 (Subscription)
• Parker Hannifin sees third-quarter profits drop, lowers guidance, Crain's Cleveland Business, April 16, 2009 (Subscription)
  

Industrial production drops more than expected, by Christopher S. Rugaber, AP via Akron Beacon Journal, April 15, 2009
Washington—Industrial production fell for the fifth straight month in March, the government said today, as companies cut output in order to clear stockpiles of goods. The factory utilization rate dropped to 65.8 percent, the lowest on records dating to 1948.

• Metalforming Association survey shows slight shift toward optimism, by Dan Shingler, Crain's Cleveland Business, April 15, 2009 (Subscription)

Unemployed workers seek training for expected boom in 'green-collar' jobs, by Terence Chea, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 15, 2009
San Jose, Calif.—As the economy sheds jobs, community colleges across the country are reporting a surge of unemployed workers enrolling in courses that offer training for jobs like installing solar panels, repairing wind turbines, and producing biofuels.

Michigan guns for U.S. credits for battery firms, AP via Toledo Blade, April 15, 2009
Lansing, Mich.—Fierce competition for advanced battery projects is sparking a new round of tax breaks in Michigan, which says the incentives for makers of electric and hybrid vehicle batteries will give it a leg up on other states.

• Johnson Controls to make electric-car batteries in Michigan, by Jeff Bennett, Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2009 (Subscription)
• GE invests in car-battery maker, by Alex P. Kellogg, Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2009 (Subscription)

Trelleborg Wheel Systems to shut down plant near Hartville, Canton Repository, April 15, 2009
Suffield Township, Ohio—Officials at Trelleborg Wheel Systems Americas, Inc. have told the state that its facility near Hartville will shut down permanently next month.

Fiat CEO weighing top job at Chrysler, Toledo Blade, April 14, 2009
Detroit—Trade publication Automotive News reports Fiat SpA's chief executive officer may take the top job at Chrysler LLC.

• Fiat CEO to unions: Concessions or no Chrysler deal, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 15, 2009

CWRU adds alternative energy expert, by Shannon Mortland, Crain's Cleveland Business, April 14, 2009 (Subscription)
Cleveland—Case Western Reserve University has appointed Mario Garcia-Sanz , previously a professor at the University in Navarra, Spain, as its first Milton and Tamar Maltz Professor in Energy Innovation.

Plastics firm moving to Bowling Green, Toledo Blade, April 14, 2009
Morenci, Mich.—Palm Plastics Ltd., said it is leasing the former Rexam plant in Bowling Green, Ohio, to supplement plastic injection mold production at its Morenci plant. Production will begin this summer and the company expects to have 105 jobs at the new location by 2011.

Lenders preparing Chrysler counteroffer, AP via Warren Tribune Chronicle, April 14, 2009
Detroit—Chrysler LLC banks and other lenders, in negotiations over the future of the company, will soon make a counteroffer to an offer from the government and Chrysler that likely will include an equity stake in the automaker. The government has given Chrysler until April 30 to sign a partnership deal with Fiat Group SpA or face liquidation.

Lorain looks off shore at wind farm, WCPN, April 14, 2009
Lorain, Ohio—Startup company St. George’s Renewable Energies in Wakeman, Ohio, hopes to win state approval to build a 13-turbine wind farm on Lake Erie. The company has applied for a $10 million grant from the state Air Quality Authority, and this week got further backing of the Lorain government.

ArcelorMittal’s Cleveland plant reopening depends on auto industry recovery, by Dan Shingler, Crain's Cleveland Business, April 13, 2009 (Subscription)
Cleveland—Steel industry experts say ArcelorMittal's Cleveland plant, which is closing in May, will have to wait for dozens of other steel plants to begin functioning at full capacity before it will reopen.

Sherwin-Williams closing Northwest Ohio plant, Toledo Blade, April 13, 2009
Deshler (Henry County), Ohio—Sherwin-Williams informed 126 employees at its paint roller and tray-making facility here that it will close permanently in the near future because of the economy.

Lima firm a powerhouse in coatings industry, Lima News, April 13, 2009
Lima, Ohio—One of Lima's best-kept secrets is the 400,000 square feet of factory and office space behind the Waffle House belonging to MetoKote Corp. The company is the world's leader in protective coating applications with 32 plants in North America and Eastern Europe and more than 1,400 employees.

New ads intensify fight on union bill, by Brody Mullins, Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2009 (Subscription)
Washington—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching a $1 million television advertising campaign that takes a new line of attack against the Employee Free Choice Act.

• Opinion: Be wary of free choice act ramifications, by Marc J. Bloch, Crains' Cleveland Business, April 13, 2009 (Subscription)

U.S. takes a gamble with test of carbon caps on car makers, by Stephen Power, Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2009 (Subscription)
Washington—The Obama administration is preparing to test whether capping greenhouse gas emissions will push the economy into higher gear, or deeper into a rut. The likely subject of the experiment is the ailing auto industry.

Local crane maker raising its name with comedian Leno, by Larry Ringler, Warren Tribune Chronicle, April 12, 2009
Austintown, Ohio—Comedian Jay Leno plans to spotlight Kundel Industries' SnapTrac crane system on his Web site, www.jaylenosgarage.com. According to the company's executives, Leno's chief concern that the crane was "made in America."

Sandusky manufacturer LEWCO rolls through recession, literally, by Richard Payerchin, Lorain Morning Journal, April 12, 2009
Sandusky, Ohio—Business is rolling along for LEWCO Inc., the maker of commercial and industrial conveyors that help hundreds of companies move their products around. Despite the overall economy, the 110-employee company last year posted an 11.2 percent increase in sales volume.

Hospital embraces lean strategies of manufacturing, by Cheryl Powell, Akron Beacon Journal, April 12, 2009
Akron—Akron Children's Hospital avoided spending $3.6 million on an expansion by applying Lean manufacturing principles to its sterile instrument processing procedures.

Made in Stark: Metallurgy for the world at Solmet Technologies, by G. Patrick Kelley, Canton Repository, April 12, 2009
Canton Township, Ohio—Solmet Technologies does metallurgy for most of the alloy steel producers in this part of the world, but a bigger part of the business is custom forging.

Treasury tells GM to prepare for possible bankruptcy, by Micheline Maynard and Michael J. de la Merced, New York Times, April 12, 2009
Detroit— The Treasury department is directing General Motors to lay the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing by a June 1 deadline, despite GM’s public contention that it could still reorganize outside court.

Alliance Castings to lay off 394 workers in June, Akron Beacon Journal, April 11, 2009
Akron—Railroad parts maker Alliance Castings Co. will lay off as many as 394 hourly and salaried employees in June for more than six months.

Ohio can't cry in its beer, by Rick Armon, Akron Beacon Journal, April 11, 2009
Washington—The beer industry directly and indirectly contributes $7.7 billion and 43,000 jobs a year to the Ohio economy, according to an updated study released this week by the Beer Institute and National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Amid job losses, Ohio grows more productive, by Frank Bentayou, Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 11, 2009
Cleveland—Economists and industry experts disagree on whether Ohio workers enjoy the fruits of steadily increasing productivity in the state's manufacturing sector.

Massey, Cliffs idle West Virginia coal mines, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 11, 2009
Uneeda, W. Va.—Massey Energy and Cliffs Natural Resources are cutting coal production and laying off almost 600 employees in West Virginia because of market conditions.