LOCAL BUSINESS
Plant gets tax credit
Aurora Plastics of Streetsboro is in line for a state tax credit for an expansion expected to generate 19 full-time jobs.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved the credit, with an estimated value of $91,107, this week. The credit would be paid over five years — if the company creates the jobs, generating $1.5 million in additional annual payroll. The company currently employs about 50 people and has a payroll of $3.4 million a year.
Aurora Plastics, founded in 1997, makes PVC compounds — in powder and pellet form — for the window, fencing, siding, decking and pipe markets, a company spokesman said.
The company has a second production facility in Welcome, N.C.
Aurora Plastics was among 10 companies who received approval Monday for tax credits. Together, the tax credits are to help in creating 349 jobs.
Aurora Plastics was the only Akron-Canton area company on the list.
Selman & Co., in Mayfield Heights received a tax credit, with an estimated value of $99,544, related to an expansion which is expected to create 40 full-time jobs, generating $1.7 million in additional annual payroll. The company’s current annual payroll is $4.95 million. The tax credit is to be paid over five years.
Selman & Co. markets and administers insurance products to associations and groups such as the American Legion and the American Society of Interior Designers.
— Katie Byard
Fundraising forum set
Tom Ahern, considered a top authority on fundraising in the United States, is headlining the 2014 Career Success Institute, sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals-North Central Ohio Chapter.
The half-day event will be March 21 at the Kent State Stark campus. Registration deadline is March 13. Cost, including the breakfast and lunch, is $74 for Association of Fundraising Professionals and $120 for nonmembers. Four or more registrants from the same organization may attend at the member rate.
The event will begin with a 7:45 a.m. continental breakfast and registration. Ahern, who has authored several books on fundraising communications, will present Crafting Your Case for Support and Donor Newsletters That Succeed in various sessions. He will talk about the The Path to Donor Nirvana in his keynote speech. Ahern’s consulting business is headquartered in Rhode Island. Other speakers will discuss large donations, phone pitches, grant-seeking and tax issues with donor relations.
To register and for more information, go online to www.afpncoh.org/csi.htm. More information on the North Central Ohio Chapter is at www.afpncoh.org.
AUTO INDUSTRY
No Volkswagen recall
Safety regulators won’t be pushing for a recall of thousands of Volkswagens that have the same electric fuses as a model that was recalled. Last year VW recalled about 800,000 Tiguan SUVs worldwide from the 2009 through 2011 model years. A fuse can overheat and cause the outside lights to fail. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the same fuses are used in several other VW models. But the agency says engine and fuse box temperatures vary by model. Complaint and warranty repair rates for the Tiguan are four times higher than the Jetta sedan. The agency will monitor other VW models.
Cruze sales increase
The Chevrolet Cruze drove to its best February yet, with sales of the Lordstown-built compact spiking nearly 22 percent, even as U.S. sales across General Motors’ brands slid during another month of harsh winter weather. GM delivered 21,836 units of the Cruze in February, compared with 17,947 during the same month in 2013. Sales for the first two months of the year were up 19 percent, with 38,664 units sold, the company reported. The Cruze maintained its status as GM’s second-best-selling model, trailing only the Chevrolet Silverado pickup, which sold 36,584 units last month.
TECH
Apple executive retires
Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, will retire in September, after 18 years. Luca Maestri, vice president of finance and corporate controller, who started at Apple last spring, will replace Oppenheimer.
Compiled from staff and wire reports