LOCAL BUSINESS
Labor deal at Veyance
A tentative agreement to avert a strike has been reached between the United Steelworkers and Veyance Technologies, the union announced. Veyance, based in Fairlawn, is the former engineered products unit of Goodyear.
The deal would be for four years and would replace a five-year contract that expired at the end of July, according to R.J. Hufnagel, a spokesman for the United Steelworkers in Pittsburgh.
“The previous contract covered five years but was opened in 2009 to give the company some economic relief during the recession,” Hufnagel said. “The workers are currently operating under the old agreement until the new agreement is ratified, which will take place once information has been disseminated to members and they can hold votes.”
Hufnagel said informational meetings are being held, with voting to be completed by Sunday. The proposed deal covers more than 1,000 Veyance employees at four facilities — St. Marys and Marysville in Ohio, plus Lincoln, Neb., and Sun Prairie, Wis.
Union members had voted to authorize a strike if an agreement could not be reached.
Restaurant auction today
A Triplett Boulevard building that formerly housed a White House Chicken restaurant across from Derby Downs and the Airdock in Akron will be up for auction at 10:30 a.m. today.
The property at 1941 Triplett, including a building that is roughly 4,000 square feet, has been appraised at $215,640 for tax purposes, according to Summit County records. Delinquent taxes on the property total more than $8,000.
The auction is an absolute, meaning the highest bidder wins.
The restaurant, which closed last year, was operated by property owner Angela Pronio, and was one of several White House Chicken franchises in the area.
The original White House Chicken has been operating more than 60 years in Barberton.
Kiko Auctioneers is handling the auction.
Timken in Mars project
The safely landed Mars rover Curiosity will be conducting scientific experiments to analyze rock and soil samples that will depend in part on tiny bearings from Canton manufacturer Timken Co.
The center hub of a “carousel system” on Curiosity that carries special sensor and analytical equipment rotates on Timken bearings. In addition, a vacuum pump, which is the size of a “D” cell battery and supports the analytical equipment, uses two miniature Timken bearings with an outer diameter of 0.25 inch.
Timken said its plant in Keene, N.H., worked with NASA and made the miniature precision bearings.
MANAGEMENT
New U.S. head at Nestle
Nestle SA, the world’s largest food company, named its U.K. head Paul Grimwood as chairman and chief executive of its U.S. operations, replacing Brad Alford, who is to retire in October after 32 years. Nestle has a Prepared Foods Division based in Solon.
Grimwood has led Nestle’s U.K. and Ireland business since 2009 and prior to that ran the company’s U.K. confectionery business for three years. Nestle generated $27.5 billion in revenue in the Americas region last year. Growth in North America was helped by sales of DiGiorno pizza and Haagen-Dazs ice cream. New products such as Maggi Juicy Roasting cooking aids also helped the Swiss company counter weakening consumer sentiment in the region.
RETAIL
Best Buy offer made
Best Buy’s co-founder is looking to make a buy of his own, offering to take the electronics seller private only months after leaving as the company’s chairman following a scandal involving its chief executive. Best Buy said it would consider the offer but called it “highly conditional.” Analysts are skeptical that co-founder and former Chairman Richard Schulze’s opening offer of $24 to $26 per share would get a deal done and that it could be tricky to line up investment firms to help pay for it.
It’s the latest twist in the Minneapolis company’s struggles to stay relevant as more and more people buy electronics online. Over the past year it has announced a major restructuring plan and fired its chief executive. Best Buy is trying to avoid the fate of rival Circuit City, which went bankrupt in 2009.
The offer values the company at as much as $8.84 billion. Schulze already has 20.1 percent of the stock in the company, so paying for the rest of shares would mean coming up with about $6.9 billion. Former Chief Executive Brad Anderson and former President and Chief Operating Officer Allen Lenzmeier have expressed interest, according to the letter. J.D. Wilson, who was senior vice president of enterprise capabilities, also has spoken to Schulze.
Compiled from staff and wire reports