LOCAL BUSINESS
Advertising winners named
Two student members of the Akron Chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF-Akron) will be advancing to the national competition of the ADDY Awards in Phoenix this summer.
The students were among three student and three professional local winners in the 2013 District 5 ADDY Awards competition.
The Student Gold ADDY winners, who will advance to the national awards, are University of Akron students Melissa Turi for her “Cleveland Botanical Garden Identity” and Charlie Bailey for his “Meyers and Associates” work.
Other area district winners were: Silver Addy Awards for 427 Design for “Flite Test Poster,” WhiteSpace Creative for “If These Trees Could Talk Art Poster” and design x nine for “AAF-Akron Event Poster Series.”
Ryan Sprowl and Kimberly Smolkowicz of Kent State University won a Student Silver ADDY Award for “2013 Letter Press Calendar.”
AUTO INDUSTRY
GM, Ford get together
General Motors and Ford are working together to develop a new generation of fuel-efficient automatic transmissions. The companies said their engineers will jointly design nine- and 10-speed transmissions that will go into many of their new cars and trucks.
When transmissions have more gears, engines don’t have to work as hard. The rivals say they’ll save millions of dollars that can be spent on areas that set them apart from other automakers such as quieter rides and nicer interiors.
Neither would estimate exactly how much they’ll save, but each said transmissions cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Dish wants Sprint
Dish Network Corp. is trying to snag U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel away from a Japanese suitor, the latest sign that satellite dishes are losing their relevance in the age of cellphones that play everything from YouTube videos to live TV.
Dish offered $25.5 billion in cash and stock on Monday for Sprint, which Dish says beats an offer from Japan’s Softbank Corp. If the Dish deal goes through, it would create a unique combination of pay-TV and wireless operator.
For years, Dish has been able to grow rapidly by luring cable TV subscribers with better deals. But its subscriber numbers have been flat for the past three years. Unlike TV cables, satellite dishes aren’t good conduits for Internet access. That means that Dish and larger rival DirecTV have been left behind in the rush to connect homes to broadband, while cable has been able to retain customers by offering TV, Internet and phone bundles.
GAMBLING
Plea in poker scheme
An Internet poker company founder accused of operating his business like a Ponzi scheme has pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Raymond Bitar of Glendora, Calif., appeared Monday in a federal court in Manhattan. He’s the founder of Full Tilt Poker. He was sentenced to time served and had to give up his assets as part of his plea deal. Bitar flew from Ireland over the summer to face charges in a prosecution that shut down U.S. operations for the three largest Internet poker companies. Prosecutors had alleged he falsely told poker players their money would be safe. But they said nearly $300 million owed to players worldwide was missing.
TIRE & RUBBER INDUSTRY
Analysts study Bridgestone
Bridgestone Corp., the world’s biggest tire maker, could use 2.6 percent less rubber in the year through December than projected in early 2013 as demand in the U.S. will be slower than forecast, said a Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst.
A decline in raw material costs and the Japanese currency mean the Tokyo-based company with Akron operations will still book a record profit this year even with weaker demand, Hisahiro Yamaoka said. His recommendations on equities returned 15 percent in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Makoto Shiomi, a Bridgestone spokesman, said the tire maker hasn’t changed any of its estimates.
Bridgestone said Feb. 18 it would probably consume a record 1.93 million tons of rubber for tire production globally this year, up 9.7 percent from last year. Yamaoka, who has covered the tire industry for almost six years, said consumption of natural and synthetic rubber could be 50,000 metric tons lower than the company projection. Slower demand from tire makers could accelerate a drop in rubber futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the global benchmark, which entered a bear market this month. The most-active contract tumbled as much as 5.4 percent Monday, the most since July 2012, to $2,654 a metric ton.
Compiled from staff and wire reports