LOCAL BUSINESS
FirstEnergy meeting today
FirstEnergy Corp. will have its annual shareholders meeting for the first time outside of its hometown today when it meets in Morgantown, W.Va. The Akron-based company said it wanted to move its annual meeting around to other parts of its territory.
On the proxy for the utility and parent company of Ohio Edison are nine voting items, including four company proposals and five shareholder proposals.
Shapiro to speak
The Springfield Chamber of Commerce will host Ilene Shapiro as its guest speaker during the group’s weekly luncheon at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at Bill White’s Akron Lanes. Shapiro, a member of the Summit County Economic Development Board, will discuss how the economy is having an impact on the county. She will also address the financial assistance being offered to smaller communities within Summit County. The lunch is open to the public, with limited seating. Cost is $15. Call Jerry Michael at 330-696-9351.
Service day at Key
KeyBank said “several” of its area branches will be closed Wednesday afternoon for service work in what the company calls “Neighbors Make the Difference Day.” The bank said more than 7,500 employees nationwide — and more than 2,000 in the region — will participate in community service projects.
ONLINE
Food services merge
Rival online takeout services Seamless North America of New York and GrubHub of Chicago announced plans to combine and create a new company covering more than 20,000 restaurants in 500 cities across the U.S.
Financial terms were not disclosed and it’s unclear what the combined company will be called. GrubHub CEO Matt Maloney will become CEO, while Seamless CEO Jonathan Zabusky will serve as president.
Brian McAndrews, an independent director on the Seamless board, will serve as chairman.
Online takeout ordering services work by contracting with restaurants, mostly in large metropolitan areas, to list themselves on the websites. Diners can search the menus, along with reviews posted by diners, to find the food they want and then order and pay online. In addition to websites, both companies offer smartphone and tablet apps.
GROCERY
Smaller store proposed
A small-scale version of a Giant Eagle Market District gourmet supermarket could be coming to the heart of the Columbus suburb of Bexley, on the site of City Hall. Continental Real Estate Cos. Chairman Frank Kass presented the initial plan for a two-story, 30,000-square-foot supermarket to the Bexley City Council.
“This is a new format for Giant Eagle. It’s smaller than the typical Market District,” Kass said, adding that a Market District outlet in another location, Upper Arlington, covers 112,000 square feet, with a 23,000-square-foot mezzanine.
“This one will be very specialized and will concentrate on prepared foods, wine, fruits, vegetables and meats,” he said.
The $7.5 million project has been in the works for several months. Although still in the early stages, Kass is optimistic that the store could open in March 2015. Giant Eagle confirmed interest in the location but declined to discuss details.
ENERGY
New federal drill rules
Gas drillers using hydraulic fracturing on federal lands would be able to use an industry-sponsored website to disclose the chemicals they use and won’t need to perform cement tests on each well, according to a revised proposal from the Interior Department.
Drillers will be permitted to use a variety of methods to test the integrity of their wells, according to a fact sheet from the Interior Department.
The proposal from the Bureau of Land Management would establish the first national regulations on federal lands for fracking, in which water, chemicals and sand are shot underground to free oil or gas from rock. A draft rule last year was so heavily criticized by companies and Republicans in Congress that the agency, part of the Interior Department, restarted the process.
The rule is being watched closely by the drilling industry because the standards will have a direct impact on production from federal lands and serve as a marker for states about how to regulate the process locally.
The Bureau of Land Management, the largest landowner in the U.S., oversees approximately 700 million subsurface acres of mineral rights, and 56 million acres of Indian estates. Farmers or ranchers own the surface rights on large tracts of federal land.
Compiled from staff and wire reports