Timken Co. honored as ethical business, Akron Beacon Journal, March 26, 2010
Canton—The New York-based Ethisphere Institute named the Timken Co. as on eof the "World's Most Ethical Companies for 2010." The company's many recycling and environmental projects were among the reasons listed for the award.

W.C. Wood plant to remain open, Findlay Courier, March 26, 2010
Ottawa, Ohio—Whirlpool Corp. Thursday announced the former W.C. Wood factory in Ottawa, which it reopened indefinitely in January with 125 employees, will remain open for the long term with 190 workers.

Severstal CEO: Local plants not expected to restart anytime soon, by Scott MacFarlane, WTOV9 News, March 26, 2010
Washington—Interviewed after a hearing on Capitol Hill, Sergei Kuznetzov, CEO of Severstal North America, said the restart of the idled plants in the Ohio Valley isn't expected to happen anytime soon because the company wants to see steel demand stabilize while keeping costs flexible.

Clean energy technology advocates urge more support at federal level, by Joe Vardon, Toledo Blade, March 26, 2010
Toledo—Published reports released yesterday by two different advocacy groups encouraged U.S. policymakers to beef up federal support for solar and other clean energy technologies.

GE spurs offshore wind-power work, by Paul Glader and Selina Williams, Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2010 (Subscription)
New York—General Electric Co. Thursday disclosed plans to invest $450 million to make offshore wind turbines in Europe, in a bid to dominate the global wind power market. The move raises the stakes in the battle for share of the still nascent offshore wind power industry.

Toyota appoints new quality chief, by Tess Stynes, Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2010 (Subscription)
New York—Steve St. Angelo, executive vice president of Toyota's North American engineering and manufacturing business, will lead a regional quality task force and serve on company President Akio Toyoda's global panel, which will meet for the first time on Tuesday in Japan.

This week's Toyota headlines:

• Toyotas' sudden acceleration blamed for more deaths, by Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times, March 26, 2010
• Toyota stopping output in UK, France for 9 days, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 26, 2010
• Toyota seeks consolidation of acceleration lawsuits, CNN, March 26, 2010
• Michigan attorney general subpoenas Toyota records, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 24, 2010
• Attorneys sharpen tools to sue Toyota, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 24, 2010

This week's earnings reports:

• Omnova Solutions Inc. reports $7.8 million first-quarter profit, by Robert Schoenberger, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 24, 2010

Manufacturer buying former Value City in Carlisle Township, by Michelle Jarboe, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 25, 2010
Elyria, Ohio—Quality Blow Molding, a maker of plastic parts for the automotive, lawn and garden industries, is buying an empty Value City store and 30 acres in Carlisle Township.

Case Western Reserve receives $1.25 million gift, by Shannon Mortland, Crain's Cleveland Business, March 25, 2010
Cleveland—Case Western Reserve University has received a $1.25 million gift to endow its Distinguished Lecture series in the name of Francis Callahan Jr., the chairman emeritus of valve maker Swagelok Co. in Solon.

Top GM executive visits Lordstown, by Don Shilling, Youngstown Vindicator, March 25, 2010
Lordstown, Ohio—Ed Whitacre, GM chairman and chief executive, toured the Lordstown complex Wednesday because “he wanted to come down and see where the money went,” said Dave Green, president of Local 1714 of the United Auto Workers. GM spent $350 million to renovate the complex for the new Chevrolet Cruze.

• GM CEO ‘Excited’ about Lordstown, Cruze, by Dan O'Brien, Youngstown Business Journal, March 26, 2010

Remaking the car, AP via Youngstown Vindicator, March 25, 2010
Shanghai—General Motors and its Chinese partner, SAIC, will showcase the “Electric Networked-Vehicle,” launched Wednesday in their joint pavilion, at the Shanghai Expo that opens May 1 and runs for six months. The EN-V, pronounced “envy,” is GM’s latest effort to burnish its credentials as a future-focused, environmentally friendly company and shed its image as the bastion of the gas guzzling Hummer.

Manufacturers on rebound, by Don Lee, Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau via Akron Beacon Journal, March 25, 2010
Washington—Improbable as it seems, the brightest spot so far in the nation's spotty economic recovery is a sector long considered all but dead: good, old-fashioned manufacturing.

Rising auto sales could rescue Michigan, Big Three, by Mark Guarino, Christian Science Monitor, March 25, 2010
Detroit—At last, auto sales of American-made vehicles are rising – and with them hopes that Detroit and southeast Michigan can start to dig out of the deep economic hole that swallowed the region in 2008.

Roger Lindgren, V&M Star chief to retire, Warren Tribune Chronicle, March 25, 2010
Boardman, Ohio—Roger Lindgren, who led V&M Star through difficult negotiations to secure a $650 million investment for a new pipe mill in Youngstown, announced his retirement this afternoon at the Regional Chamber annual meeting.

• Lindgren to Retire April 15 from V&M, Youngstown Business Journal, March 26, 2010

Smucker to cut 40 percent of Orrville production workers as new plant comes online, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 24, 2010
Orrville, Ohio—The J. M. Smucker Co. said today that it will invest $220 million over the next three years in its coffee and fruit spreads businesses and will build a new, $150-million state-of-the-art plant in Orrville to replace its 60-year-old production facility. Construction is expected to start this fall, with production to start in the summer of 2012.

• Smucker to close plants, by Nathan Becker, Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2010 (Subscription)
• Smuckers unit Folgers Coffee plans $70 million expansion, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 24, 2010
• J.M. Smucker plans big capital spending push, will close four plants, by Mark Dodosh, Crain's Cleveland Business, March 24, 2010

China got 6,700 Toledo area jobs, by Gary T. Pakulski, Toledo Blade, March 24, 2010
Toledo—The 5th congressional district led Ohio in manufacturing job losses attributed to America's trade deficit, primarily with China, according to a new study by think tank Economic Policy Institute. Full text of the report, "Unfair China Trade Costs Local Jobs," by Robert E. Scott is available at the EPI web site. The research was supported by a grant from the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a union-supported group.

• U.S.-China trade is win-win game, by Zhong Shan, Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2010 (Subscription)
  New York—Wherein the vice minister of commerce of the People's Republic of China contends there is little connection between the trade balance and the value of the renminbi.
• Report claims competition from China costs tons of NE Ohio jobs, by Jay Miller, Crain's Cleveland Business, March 24, 2010
• Job losses to China disputed, by Rick Jackson, WVIZ Ideastream, March 24, 2010

Northeast Ohio wins bulk of Third Frontier awards for advanced materials projects, by Olivera Perkins, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 24, 2010
Cleveland—Companies in Northeast Ohio were awarded more than two-thirds of the $5.7 million in funding the Ohio Third Frontier Commission announced Wednesday for industries making materials that outperform their conventional counterparts in toughness and other qualities.

• 4 advanced energy projects in area receive additional grants, by Paula Schleis, Akron Beacon Journal, March 25, 2010
• Third Frontier Commission awards $4.3 million to five NE Ohio tech companies, by Chuck Soder, Crain's Cleveland Business, March 25, 2010

State program to help minority and urban businesses, by Marcia Pledger, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 24, 2010
Cleveland—At Corporate College East this afternoon, Gov. Ted Strickland will announce a program Thursday to help 100 minority and urban-based businesses. The initiative will begin in 21 counties of Northeast Ohio. If the program is considered successful after about 18 months, it will expand throughout the state.

• Urban-businesses incubator launches, by Paula Schleis, Akron Beacon Journal, March 26, 2010

Ohio officials oppose tighter clean-air standards, AP via Akron Beacon Journal, March 24, 2010
Columbus—Ohio officials say stricter clean air standards proposed by the Obama administration would be too expensive, especially in light of the current economy.

• AK Steel CEO: New EPA regulations could hurt recovery, by Jessica Heffner, Hamilton Journal News, March 26, 2010

Glover tries to save Hugo Boss jobs in Ohio, AP via Youngstown Vindicator, March 24, 2010
Brooklyn, Ohio—Workers at the Hugo Boss plant in Brooklyn, Ohio, cheered as the star of the “Lethal Weapon” action movies toured the operation Tuesday.

Durable goods orders up 0.5 percent in February, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 24, 2010
Washington—Orders for big-ticket manufactured goods rose for a third consecutive month in February, bolstered by strong demand for commercial aircraft and machinery.

Ohio Supreme Court delivers victory for business, by Reginald Fields, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 23, 2010
Columbus—In two separate but related decisions, the court ruled that a 2005 state law restricting lawsuits workers injured on the job can bring against their employers is constitutional.

• Ohio Supreme Court rules on worker suits, by Bill Cohen, WCPN Ideastream, March 23, 2010 (audio report)

Third Frontier campaign ramping up, by Bill Rice, WCPN Ideastream, March 22, 2010
Cleveland—Legislators and business advocates in Northeast Ohio are ramping up the campaign for Issue One, which, if approved by voters, would extend Ohio's commitment to high tech research and business development.

Chrysler to build all-electric version of Fiat 500 for U.S. market, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 22, 2010
Detroit—Engineers at Chrysler's Auburn Hills, Mich., technical center are still developing the 500's electric battery and motor system, and they're shooting to get more than 100 miles on a single charge from a home outlet.

• Chrysler's Fiat 500 electrified for 2012, by Tom Krisher, AP via Akron Beacon Journal, March 23, 2010

Ohio Power Siting Board has approved the state's first large wind farms, by John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 22, 2010
Columbus—State regulators have approved construction of the first large wind turbine farms in Ohio, including one by Cleveland-based JW Great Lakes Wind. That project is in Hardin County, east of Lima, and would include up to 27 wind turbines with a total capacity of 48 megawatts. The three approved projects will have a total generating capacity of nearly 500 megawatts.

EPA to issue stricter drinking water standards, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 22, 2010
Washington—EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency is developing stricter regulations for four chemical compounds: tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, acrylamide and epichlorohydrin. All four compounds can cause cancer.

BMW to supply engines to police car builder, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 22, 2010
Washington—Carbon Motors Corp., a new Indiana-based company planning to produce fuel-efficient police cruisers says it has chosen BMW AG to supply its engines.

Small manufacturers pay a steep price in FirstEnergy rate restructuring, by John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 22, 2010
Cleveland—Small manufacturers, small office building owners and apartment developers say the FirstEnergy Corp.'s changes in commercial rates have been devastating. John Vaught, chief executive officer of Tri-Cast Ltd., an Akron metal casting foundry said he is talking to economic development officials in Tennessee, who are promising low power prices.

PepsiCo to cut sodium, sugar, fat in products, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 22, 2010
New York—PepsiCo Inc. plans to triple sales of its healthier brands over the next decade, including Tropicana, Dole, Quaker and Tazo teas. The company described a number of goals to an investor meeting, including plans to cut sodium in each serving of its key brands by one-fourth in five years. It also set two goals for the next 10 years: to cut the average added sugar per serving in drinks by 25 percent and saturated fat per serving by 15 percent.

• PepsiCo develops 'designer salt' to chip away at sodium intake, by Betsy McKay, Wall Street Journal, March 22, 2010 (Subscription)

Tool firms seek U.S. aid, by Kris Maher, Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2010 (Subscription)
New York—Representatives of U.S. metal-stampers and tool-and-die concerns will meet Tuesday with the Obama administration's manufacturing czar to press for a program financed by the Troubled Asset Relief Program to ease lending guidelines.

Tire conference is Sept. 20-21, Akron Beacon Journal, March 20, 2010
Akron—The 29th Conference on Tire Science and Technology is scheduled for Sept. 20-21 at the DoubleTree hotel, formerly a Sheraton, in Fairlawn.

Nissan says customers likely to lease batteries, Bloomberg News via Akron Beacon Journal, March 20, 2010
New York—Nissan Motor Co., seeking to lead the emerging market for electric autos, said it expects most customers will lease rather than buy battery packs for the vehicles.

Inspirational product maker withstands economic storm, by Paula Scheis, Akron Beacon Journal, March 19, 2010
Dalton, Ohio—The sprawling factory along U.S. Route 30 offers daily tours and gives second-floor shoppers a bird's-eye view of the production operation, where a largely Mennonite and Amish work force hand-makes and assembles a variety of wood products emblazoned with lithographs or laser-cut motivational quotes.

TCP of Aurora gets EPA honor, Akron Beacon Journal, March 19, 2010
Aurora, Ohio—TCP Inc. for the second year in a row was awarded the ''Energy Star Partner of the Year'' for lighting product manufacturers by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.