LOCAL BUSINESS
New leadership director
Colleen Rice has been named executive director of Leadership Medina County.
Rice has been community relations specialist and public information officer at the Medina County Health Department for the last eight years. She replaces Lucy Sondles, who is retiring on July 1 after 15 years.
Rice, a 2008 Leadership Medina County graduate, begins on June 3.
Class on drilling jobs
Stark State College and ShaleNET are sponsoring a three-week class for drilling workers, starting July 8.
Floor Hand Training will be held at the Technology and Test Center, 8252 Frank Ave. NW.
Floor hand workers operate well drilling and service rigs. They assist with connecting and disconnecting pipes and with general maintenance.
The class is designed to get graduates entry-level positions in the oil-natural gas industry.
Potential students must have a physical exam, urine drug test and a criminal background check. Applicants must pay for the tests that may cost about $150. A valid driver’s license is also needed.
Applicants are advised to go online to www.ShaleNET.org and register with Talent Match to begin the process.
Paperwork must be completed by June 28.
Send materials to S. Kathleen Steere, Coordinator Oil and Gas Programs, Stark State College, 6200 Frank Ave. NW, North Canton, Ohio 44720.
Full scholarships are available for Ohio military veterans who want to take the class. They are being offered by America’s Natural Gas Alliance and ShaleNET. For more information, call 330-494-6170, extension 4777.
Bridgestone sues company
A unit of Bridgestone Corp., the world’s biggest tire maker, sued Schrader-Bridgeport International Inc., claiming it’s violating patents for electronically monitoring tires.
Schrader, which makes systems that monitor tire pressure, violated three Bridgestone patents, according to the complaint filed by Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC Friday in federal court in Wilmington, Del.
Schrader calls itself “the leading global manufacturer” of tire-pressure monitoring systems. The closely held company is based in Englewood, Colo. Bridgestone has a technical center and other operations in Akron.
RETAIL
Gas discount hiked
Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle supermarkets, which halved its popular 20-cent-per-gallon discounts on gasoline nearly three years ago, said it is temporarily restoring the 20-cent-per-gallon “fuelperks!” reward in its Toledo market during May. “As the warm weather has finally arrived and customers are planning their outdoor celebrations, we figured this was a great opportunity to take the fuelperks! earnings up to 20 cents,” said spokesman Rob Borella.
The temporary 20-cent discount during May is available in only three markets: Toledo; Erie, Pa., and the Johnstown-Indiana-Altoona market in southwest Pennsylvania.
Penney tallies spending
Ron Johnson’s tenure at J.C. Penney Co. will long be associated with a 25 percent sales plunge. Lost amid the criticism since his departure last month is the $170 million it cost to install Johnson and his top three executives. The sum covers cash payments and restricted stock offerings to the four executives and outgoing Chief Executive Officer Myron Ullman — and doesn’t include salary or incentive pay, according to public filings. Now after less than a year and a half, Johnson and his trio are gone, and some are being paid on the way out, too. Upon his April 17 exit, Chief Operating Officer Michael Kramer pocketed $2.1 million.
“This is a story of how just tossing money at management doesn’t guarantee success,” said Steven Hall, managing director and founder of an executive-compensation consulting firm.
Joey Thomas, a spokesman for J.C. Penney, declined to comment. Johnson recruited executives from across retail, including Target Corp., Apple Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co., to revamp the department store chain. It spent $236 million, including the recruitment of the top four executives, on what it calls management transition costs.
ELECTRONICS
Nook adds apps
Barnes & Noble is teaming up with Google to vastly increase the number of apps available on its Nook HD tablets. The bookstore chain says it will add Google’s Play app store to its 7-inch Nook HD and 9-inch HD+ products in the U.S. and U.K. via a software update. The move expands the number of apps available from the roughly 10,000 the Nook already offered in its own store — such as Angry Birds and Netflix — to 700,000-plus apps and games offered on Google Play. And it comes after a weak holiday sales season for the Nook.
Compiled from staff and wire reports.