LOCAL BUSINESS
Finding hidden jobs
The hidden job market — job openings that are not advertised or sometimes not crystallized yet in the minds of employers — will be the topic of a free workshop from 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 3 at the Hudson Library & Historical Society.
Diane Reiff, a career coach and business consultant with human resources experience, will give the talk, Mining the Hidden Job Market.
To register, go to http://miningthe hiddenjobmarket.eventbrite.com. For more information, call the library’s reference desk, 330-653-6658, ext. 1010.
The library is at 96 Library St. in the First & Main shopping complex.
SBA nominations sought
The district office for the U.S. Small Business Administration is accepting preliminary nominations for the 2012 Small Business Person of the Year Award.
Eligible are those who own and operate an enterprise, or “bear principal responsibility for operating a company” and meet SBA size standards, according to the SBA’s Cleveland District Office, which covers the Greater Akron area.
For more information on nominations, visit to the “What’s New” section of www.sba.gov/about-offices-content/2/3137 or call Patricia Welsh at 216-522-4172.
Special dividend set
National Interstate Corp. (Nasdaq: NATL), a specialty insurance company based in Richfield, announced a quarterly dividend of 10 cents a share as well as an additional one-time special dividend of $2.00 per share. The combined dividend amount of $2.10 per share will be payable Dec. 10 to shareholders of record Nov. 26.
Dave Michelson, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement: “We are pleased ... to return a portion of our excess capital to our shareholders. ... Since our last acquisition in 2010, National Interstate’s profitability has resulted in accumulated capital that exceeds our near-term needs. We continue to maintain adequate and increasing capital to fund our organic and acquisition growth strategies.”
TIRE & RUBBER
Pirelli sees slowdown
Italy-based Pirelli, Europe’s third-largest tire maker, cut its 2012 revenue target and raised its debt forecast because of the region’s economic slowdown, as third-quarter profit missed analyst estimates.
The company lowered its forecast for 2012 revenue by $318 million to $7.8 billion as it forecast debt to rise to more than $1.5 billion from a previous target of less than $1.4 billion, according to a statement on Monday.
Third-quarter net income fell 7.3 percent to $110 million, missing an average estimate of $130 million in a Bloomberg News survey of six analysts.
“As a consequence of the speedier exit from the standard segment and the slowdown of the European macro-economic scenario, the overall volume target has been lowered,” the company said in the statement.
The Milan-based company also said it expects to post an operating profit this year of about $1.02 billion, from a previous goal of “at least” $1.02 billion. Pirelli gave its previous targets in July, when it released its first-half figures.
FOOD
Hostess plants close
Hostess Brands Inc., the maker of Wonder bread and Twinkies, began permanently closing plants after it couldn’t get enough members of its striking bakery workers’ union to cross the picket lines to keep them open. “Very few” Hostess workers from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union are crossing the picket line in a strike begun last Friday, said Ray Scannell, the union’s research and education director. Hostess announced Monday that bakeries in Seattle, St. Louis and Cincinnati will be closed as a result of the strike. In 2010, Hostess shut down an Akron plant that had been in operation since at least the 1920s, laying off 100 employees. Hostess had acquired the plant when it purchased the former Continental Baking Co.
RETAIL
Best Buy names CFO
Struggling consumer electronics chain Best Buy said a former Williams-Sonoma executive will become its new chief financial officer beginning Dec. 10. It’s the latest executive move for the Minneapolis company since turnaround expert Hubert Joly joined as CEO in August.
Best Buy is trying to reverse a decline in its business due to a weak global economy and tough competition from online stores and discounters. Sharon McCollam, 50, had been chief operating officer and chief financial officer at the home goods retailer before retiring. She also takes the title of chief administrative officer at Best Buy.
Compiled from staff and wire reports