GOODYEAR
Senior vice president resigns
Arthur de Bok, 51, senior vice president, sales and marketing excellence, for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in Brussels, will leave the Akron tire maker effective March 15. Goodyear announced his departure in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
De Bok is leaving to “pursue a new opportunity,” a Goodyear spokesman said. The company will begin a search for his successor. De Bok previously was president of Goodyear’s Europe, Middle East and Africa, or EMEA, business unit. He joined Goodyear in 2002 as vice president, sales and marketing for consumer tires in Europe.
Goodyear in October announced major senior executive changes. Among the changes was naming Darren Wells, then executive vice president and chief financial officer, to president of the EMEA unit.
REGIONAL BUSINESS
Steel decision near
A decision by a Vallourec Star sister company to build an $81.5 million steel-pipe threading plant in Youngstown is coming soon, said city Finance Director David Bozanich.
“We’ll hear in the next 10 days on whether” the company, VAM USA LLC “is going through with the project,” Bozanich said to City Council members. “We’re pretty close to finishing negotiations,” Bozanich told the Youngstown Vindicator. Council approved legislation to give VAM a $369,000 grant. The company would use the money for a retention pond to prevent flooding for that business and others nearby, and for water and wastewater infrastructure, Bozanich said.
REAL ESTATE
Mortgage rates fall
Mortgage rates for 30-year loans fell for the first time in four weeks, decreasing borrowing costs for home buyers as the recovery in prices stretched into 2014. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.28 percent this week, down from 4.37 percent, mortgage financer Freddie Mac said. The average 15-year rate slipped to 3.32 percent from 3.39 percent.
MOTORCYCLES
Harley dealership expands
The owners of Rubber City Harley Davidson in Cuyahoga Falls have opened their fourth Ohio Harley dealership, this time in Cleveland. The newly named Rock ’N Roll City Harley-Davidson has opened at 14550 Lorain Ave. at the site of the previous dealership, Harley-Davidson Sales Co. Owners Mike and Franscene Davis say they are planning to develop a new location for their new Cleveland dealership. The couple also owns Adventure Harley-Davidson in Dover and Mad River Harley-Davidson in Sandusky. The Davises purchased the former Liberty Harley Davidson dealership in Akron and renamed and moved it to Cuyahoga Falls.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Honda transfers production
Honda will transfer production of its entry-level luxury compact, the Acura ILX sedan, to its Marysville plant from Indiana by the end of the year to better meet consumer demand and future production needs. Honda’s plant in Marysville employs about 4,400 workers and can produce up to 440,000 cars a year, said spokesman Ron Lietzke.
Compiled from staff and wire reports