LOCAL BUSINESS
Group targets Smucker
Activists with Rainforest Action Network (RAN) on Monday delivered a set of demands to Orrville-based food maker J.M. Smucker Co. about its use of food additive palm oil. Earlier this month, the group announced a campaign to remove oil it said is responsible for rainforest destruction, human rights violations and carbon pollution.
Smucker is one of 20 companies including Kellogg’s, Pepsi, Heinz and Hershey, that were targeted.
In response, Smucker said in a statement: “As a leading manufacturer and marketer of food and beverage products, the J.M. Smucker Co. has long been committed to supporting a supply chain that is always mindful of its economic, environmental, and social impacts.
“As part of our commitment, Smucker began the purchase of sustainable palm oil from Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)-certified sources in 2012 and received RSPO certification in January 2013. Smucker has committed to strive to source 100 percent of our direct palm oil purchases from responsible and certified sustainable sources by 2015.”
TIRE & RUBBER
New Mississippi plant
Japan-based Yokohama Tire Corp. has broken ground for a manufacturing facility in Mississippi. Gov. Phil Bryant, company executives and others gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony Monday in West Point, Miss., where the company will manufacture commercial truck tires.
The governor’s office said the first phase of the project represents a $300 million investment by Yokohama and will create 500 jobs. Future expansions are projected to increase the company’s investment to more than $1 billion and to raise employment from 500 to 2,000 jobs.
In April, state lawmakers approved a total of $130 million in incentives to assist with the project — $70 million was allotted for the initial phase. Mississippi officials say part of the funding was used to purchase the 500-acre site and the rest is being used for site preparation, infrastructure and workforce training.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Finance moves at GM
General Motors agreed to pay $3.2 billion to buy back high-interest preferred stock from a union retiree health-care trust, and the Moody’s ratings agency restored GM’s debt to investment grade. The company said it’s buying 120 million shares at $27 per share from the United Auto Workers retiree health-care trust. GM now pays 9 percent interest on the preferred shares, so the deal essentially refinances that debt to a much lower interest rate.
Chrysler sells stock
Chrysler’s retiree health-care trust is offering $100 million of shares, according to a regulatory filing. The filing didn’t say how many shares will be offered or at what price. The offering size is considered a placeholder amount used to calculate fees and may change. Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of both Fiat and Chrysler, and the United Auto Workers’ healthcare trust, are locked in a dispute over Chrysler’s value. Fiat is seeking to buy the trust’s stake.
RETAIL
Workers’ status changed
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is moving 35,000 part-time workers to full-time status and is elevating another 35,000 to part-time from temporary after struggling to keep shelves stocked with too few employees in the past year. Also, about 55,000 seasonal workers will be hired for the holiday season, up from 50,000 last year, the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer said. The 70,000 workers whose employment statuses are being elevated will keep their new positions after the holiday season ends.
Wonder bread returns
Wonder bread is back almost a year after it vanished from shelves.
Flowers Foods Inc., which bought Wonder from the now-defunct Hostess Brands, said the bread started returning to supermarket shelves Monday. The company, which also makes Tastykake and Nature’s Own bread, snapped up five bread brands after Hostess went out of business late last year. The $355 million deal included Butternut, Home Pride and Merita, which are all returning.
HEADQUARTERS
ADM begins search
Agricultural giant Archer Daniel Midland Co. said after 44 years in Decatur, Ill., it is looking for a new headquarters location. The company would not discuss details. ADM, No. 27 on the Fortune 500 list, said the headquarters would employ about 100. The company would keep 4,400 in Decatur, where it is the largest employer.
Compiled from staff and wire reports.