LOCAL BUSINESS
FirstEnergy to sell 11 plants
FirstEnergy Corp. is making a small splash by selling off some of its hydroelectric power stations.
The Akron utility said Wednesday it intends to sell 11 hydroelectric stations in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia to Harbor Hydro Holdings. Terms were not disclosed; a sales agreement was reached Aug. 23, FirstEnergy said.
If the deal meets regulatory and other conditions, the sale is expected to close by the end of the year.
The plants put out a combined 527 megawatts of power, less than 3 percent of FirstEnergy’s overall electrical output, the utility said. FirstEnergy said 60 percent of its electricity is produced via coal; 20 percent nuclear; 11 percent hydro and other renewables, and 9 percent gas/oil.
The hydro power stations employ 35 people, all of whom are expected to be retained, FirstEnergy said. Harbor Hydro Holdings is a subsidiary of LV Power Equity Partners II.
Signet declares dividend
Signet Jewelers Ltd., the parent of Sterling Inc. in Akron, declared a dividend of 15 cents a share, payable Nov. 26 to shareholders of record Nov. 1.
New Big Lots store in Akron
A new Big Lots will open in Akron in November to replace an existing store. The store at 1400 S. Arlington St. will be relocating to a site being built in South Plaza on East Waterloo Road.
That store is expected to open Nov. 1. It is one of about nine stores in the Akron-Canton region.
Restaurant sued in Orrville
The U.S. government is suing Orrville restaurant Senor Pancho’s, saying it owes more than $272,000 in wages to workers.
The lawsuit was filed against Arriaga Inc., according to a news release from the U.S. Department of labor. The suit seeks to recover $272,343 in unpaid wages for 34 employees. The lawsuit alleges violations of overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping rules. The suit said worker wages were less than the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour for some workweeks.
The government said it also discovered violations at a Senor Pancho’s location in Shelby but that restaurant is now under new ownership.
Kaiser Permanente renamed
Kaiser Permanente Ohio is soon getting a new name: HealthSpan.
Catholic Health Partners announced on Wednesday that it plans to change the name of Kaiser Permanente in the region when a deal to acquire the Northeast Ohio insurance plan and an affiliated physician practice is complete.
The Cincinnati health system already operates an insurance program for self-insured businesses under the HealthSpan name.
The deal still is pending approval from the Ohio Department of Insurance.
Catholic Health Partners also is finalizing another deal to acquire a minority ownership stake in Summa Health System.
WALL STREET
Dow Jones rises 96 points
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 96.91 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 14,930.87 and the Nasdaq composite rose 36.43 points, or 1 percent, to 3,649.04. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 13.31 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,653.08. A trade group said Tuesday that U.S. factories increased production last month at the fastest pace since June 2011, propelled by a sharp rise in new orders.
Separate reports out Monday showed stronger manufacturing in Europe and China. General Motors climbed $1.71, or 5 percent, to $35.85, one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 index. Ford rose 57 cents, or 3 percent, to $16.91. The Nasdaq market reported that its system for disseminating prices had a brief outage, from 11:35 a.m. to 11:41 a.m., but said trading was not affected.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Car sales jump in August
New-car sales jumped 17 percent to 1.5 million in August, their highest level in more than six years. Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Honda, Chrysler and General Motors all posted double-digit gains over August 2012.
The full-year sales pace rose above 16 million for the first time since November 2007, the month before the Great Recession officially started. Exuberant automakers said sales will likely remain at that pace for the rest of this year.
“I think it’s here to stay,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM’s chief economist.
U.S. car and truck sales totaled 16 million in 2007, then plummeted during the recession. They bottomed out at 10.4 million in 2009 and have been rising ever since. Mohatarem said he expects the year to end with sales closer to 15.8 million vehicles, which is higher than GM’s official forecast of 15.5 million.
Compiled from staff and wire reports