LOCAL BUSINESS
Carter opens Georgia store
Carter Lumber announced the opening of the company’s first store in the Atlanta market. The company said it purchased the Athens Building Supply location in Winder, Ga.
Carter, based in Kent, said Athens Building Supply has been “a staple” in the Athens market for more than 30 years. The store opened Tuesday under the Carter Lumber name.
“Carter Lumber is not chasing trends or building permits, but rather developing markets with opportunities inside or very near our successful footprint,” said Carter Lumber President Jeff Donley in a news release.
The number of employees at the new store and terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Ohio aerospace promoted
One of the largest chambers of commerce in the U.S. is backing Ohio legislation aimed at helping the state more aggressively promote its aerospace industry.
Greater Cleveland Partnership senior vice president Carol Caruso told state lawmakers her group endorses proposed legislation creating a state-level Aerospace and Technology Study Committee of lawmakers and business and military leaders.
Caruso said aerospace still drives the economy of a state that produced astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong and aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright.
NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland employs more than 3,200 through its $650 million annual budget. Caruso said Ohio also is the top supplier to both Boeing and Airbus and employs 17 percent of the entire U.S. aerospace and aviation workforce.
CSU gets $10 million gift
Cleveland State University will rename its engineering school in recognition of a $10 million gift. The donation announced comes from Parker Hannifin Corp. chairman, CEO and president Donald Washkewicz, his wife, Pamela, and the Parker Hannifin Foundation.
Cleveland State’s Fenn College of Engineering will be renamed the Washkewicz College of Engineering. The gift ties for the largest in Cleveland State history and is the biggest ever for the engineering program. The money will be used for scholarships and to renovate the building housing the engineering school.
Donald Washkewicz is a 1972 graduate of Cleveland State’s mechanical engineering program.
Parker Hannifin has operations in Akron, Wadsworth and Ravenna.
ACQUISITION
Senior properties bought
A unit of Fortress Investment Group LLC agreed to buy 52 senior-housing properties across the U.S. from Holiday Acquisition Holdings LLC for $1.01 billion.
Newcastle Investment Corp. will pay for the properties, which comprise 5,885 units, with about $300 million of equity and fund the rest of the purchase with non-recourse mortgage debt, the Fortress affiliate said. Newcastle plans to enter into two master leases with Holiday affiliates, with the deal expected to close in December.
AUTO INDUSTRY
New Mustang to premiere
Ford said it will reveal an all-new version of its Mustang sports car on Dec. 5. This will be the sixth generation of the iconic pony car, which saw its last full redesign in 2005.
The Mustang will debut in six cities on four continents. Events will be held in New York, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Shanghai and Sydney in addition to Ford’s hometown of Dearborn, Mich. That echoes its debut in 1964, when the original Mustang was unveiled in New York and 11 European cities.
FAST FOOD
McRib’s fate in limbo
McDonald’s, which has been struggling to keep up with new menu items, says the McRib won’t be available nationally this year. The fast-food chain says it’s leaving it up to local franchise groups to decide whether to offer the pork sandwich, which comes with pickles, onions and barbecue sauce.
That’s a change from the past three years when McDonald’s put the McRib on the national menu as a way to boost sales in the back half of the year. Now the company is going back to the days when the sandwich was a regional offering.
Compiled from staff and wire reports