LOCAL BUSINESS
Goodyear exec departs
Damon Audia, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. senior vice president, business development, will be handling the tire maker’s investor relations temporarily.
Gregory A. Fritz, who previously headed that Goodyear unit, has left to pursue other opportunities, the Akron company said Friday.
Audia, who joined Goodyear in 2004 and was promoted to his current job last year, will assume responsibilities for investor relations until the company hires a new head for the department. Audia will continue to report to Darren R. Wells, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Goodyear director honored
Stephanie Streeter, chief executive officer of Libbey Inc. in Toledo and a board member at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., won a “Golden Stevie Award” in the Executive of the Year category of the 11th American Business Awards program. The event was June 17 at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park Hotel.
Streeter was nominated for executive of the year after joining glass tableware maker Libbey in August 2011.
Entrepreneur forum set
Would-be business owners and others can learn about the Akron Urban League’s Ice House entrepreneur program at a free community breakfast from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Wednesday . The breakfast will be in Ballroom A of the Akron Urban League, 440 Vernon Odom Blvd. Those planning to attend should register by emailing Lisa Stayer at stayer@knightfoundation.org.
The Akron Urban League received a $60,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support the 16-week program that draws from a book called Who Owns The Ice House, which explores what mindset makes for successful entrepreneurs.
The title of the book is a reference to “Uncle Cleve,” a black man in the 1950s segregated South who found success owning an ice house. Uncle Cleve’s nephew Clifton Taulbert co-authored the book with Gary Schoeniger.
The 16-week course, which begins in August, includes classroom presentations, online lessons and video interviews with successful entrepreneurs.
For more information, call 234-542-4149.
Intellectual property meeting
Attendees can learn about types of intellectual property and how to protect their creative work at a free workshop from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Main Akron-Summit County Library, 60 S. High St., in downtown Akron. The class will meet in Meeting Room 1 on the High Street level. Parking is available in the deck adjacent to the library. To register, contact the library’s Science and Technology Division at 330-643-9075.
Mentoring program set
Application deadline is July 1 for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program beginning Sept. 12 at Cuyahoga Community College. The national initiative — with seven sites, including Cleveland — provides free business education and mentoring. Participants in the Cleveland program can attend full-day classes and several shorter clinics over several months at Cuyahoga Community College. They study a business and management curriculum developed by Babson College of Massachusetts, a top-ranked school for entrepreneurship education. Participants in earlier rounds of the program at Cuyahoga Community College have included those from the Akron area. To learn more about the program and to apply, go to www.tri-c.edu/workforce/GoldmanSachs or email 10ksb@tri-c.edu or call 216-987-3220.
Trade mission to Nigeria
Area companies can learn about an upcoming trade mission to Nigeria sponsored by the U.S. Commercial Service and the Nigeria-USA Chamber of Commerce. The event — billed as the US-Nigeria Pre-Trade Mission Summit — will run from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday at Cleveland State University.
To register, call 216-687-4750.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Price war fear?
Automakers are scrutinizing Nissan’s move to cut prices on its cars and trucks in the U.S. as a test of whether the auto industry can avoid a price war, the head of Hyundai’s U.S. unit said.
Nissan’s competitors are eager to see if the carmaker will hold to its pledge to reduce incentives after cutting the prices of seven of its top-selling models, said John Krafcik, chief executive officer of Hyundai Motor America. The No. 2 Japanese automaker’s U.S. sales surged 25 percent in May, triple the industrywide gain. Hyundai is forecasting its slowest U.S. sales growth in five years after a 13-year streak in which it combined with affiliate Kia Motors Corp. in gaining U.S. market share.
Compiled from staff and wire reports