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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Abandoned Louisiana Paper Mill Sells For $10 Million
May 4, 2010 4:08 am | CommentsST. FRANCISVILLE, La. (AP) — The purchase of the Renew Paper mill near St. Francisville is official, but no decision has been made on restarting the plant, a plant official says. The $10 million sale was approved last month by a federal bankruptcy judge in Baton Rouge. West Feliciana Acquisition LLC, which is in bankruptcy reorganization, sold the 455,000-square-foot mill and 610 acres to Amzak Capital Management LLC of Florida.
Missouri Deboning Plant Stays Open, 500 Jobs Saved
May 4, 2010 4:03 am | CommentsNEOSHO, Mo. (AP) — Twin Rivers Foods says it will keep its plant in Neosho open, saving almost 500 jobs in the southwest Missouri town. The Fayetteville, Ark.-based company had told the state in February that it would close the chicken deboning plant on April 9 and lay off about 485 workers.
Apple Sells 1 Million iPads, Outpaces iPhone Sales
May 3, 2010 4:47 am | CommentsCUPERTINO, Calif., (AP) — Apple Inc. said Monday that is has sold 1 million of its new iPad tablet computers in the month after its launch, meaning it's been selling more than twice as fast as the iPhone did when it was new. Apple said it reached the milestone on Friday, when the new 3G model of the iPad was delivered to its first buyers.
Feds Investigate Meatpackers For Antitrust Violations
May 3, 2010 4:37 am | by Nate Jenkins, Associated Press Writer | CommentsLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The federal government is conducting its first investigation into whether the handful of large meatpackers that slaughter most of the nation's cattle are illegally or unfairly driving down cattle prices, according to an official representing independent beef producers nationwide.
Boeing's St. Louis Machinists Authorize Strike
May 3, 2010 4:33 am | CommentsST. LOUIS (AP) — Machinists at Boeing's St. Louis defense systems plant have authorized a strike if a contract is not accepted before the current agreement expires next month. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 said in a statement that the strike authorization vote was supported by 99 percent of the workers who attended a meeting on Sunday.
Outsourcing From Indiana Doubles From Previous Recessions
May 3, 2010 4:28 am | CommentsINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Burial casket jobs in Richmond and computer assembly services in Carmel have shifted to Mexico. Auto stamping work once done in Howe has moved to Canada and India. Client performance analysis done in South Bend is now being handled in China. The number of Indiana plants, warehouses and offices sending jobs abroad since the recession began in December 2007 has more than doubled that of past economic downturns, U.
Fleet Maintainers Moonlighting As Fire Truck Manufacturers
May 3, 2010 4:26 am | by Holly Setter | CommentsMIDLAND, Mich. (AP) — The garage at Circle K Service in Midland maintains the fleet of vehicles at nearby Dow Chemical Co., but a group of mechanics there has an unusual side job: building fire trucks. "We do what they call component manufacturing," said Rodney Kloha, executive vice president of Circle K Service, 4300 James Savage.
Manufacturing Expands At Six-Year High In April
May 3, 2010 4:24 am | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — The manufacturing sector likely expanded in April at the fastest pace in nearly six years, analysts say. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expect the index from the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, rose to 60 in April from 59.
Turbine Maker Gets $7 Million In State, Federal Grants
April 30, 2010 4:53 am | CommentsHOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — The state and federal governments are providing $7 million to help a western Michigan company develop wind-energy products. Energetx Composites of Holland makes turbines. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. this week said it's giving $3.5 million and the U.S. Energy Department will match it.
Tomato Exec Faces More Felonies For Antitrust Violations
April 30, 2010 4:33 am | by Paul Elias, Associated Press Writer | CommentsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal authorities investigating an alleged tomato price-fixing plot involving some of the nation's biggest food chains broadened their case against the former owner of a California company Thursday with five more felony counts. The new charges, which add to seven counts pending from an earlier indictment, allege that Frederick Scott Salyer violated antitrust laws by fixing prices or rigging bids for the sale of tomato products to McCain Foods USA Inc.
Massey Offers $3 Million To Families Of Killed Coal Miners
April 30, 2010 4:31 am | by Tim Huber, AP Business Writer | CommentsCHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Massey Energy Co. is offering $3 million to each of the families of 29 men killed in an explosion at its Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia, the daughter of one of the victims said Thursday. The offer came a week earlier when Massey officials visited the family, said Michelle McKinney, daughter of Benny Ray Willingham.
McWane Cast Iron Idles Pipe Plant, 117 Workers
April 30, 2010 4:20 am | CommentsBIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — McWane Cast Iron Pipe Co. says it's temporarily shutting down its Birmingham water-pipe plant because continued weakness in housing construction has reduced demand. The shutdown will idle 117 workers. The plant hasn't been shut down since the late 1970s. It was built in 1921 and is the first of McWane's pipe, valve and hydro-fittings plants across North America.
For A 'Green' Company, BP Wreaks Environmental Damage
April 30, 2010 4:18 am | by Chris Kahn, AP Energy Writer | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — Oil giant BP brands itself a friend of the environment, an energy company that goes "beyond petroleum." That image, worth billions of dollars, is being sullied by the company's inability to contain a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As the expanding oil slick threatens marshlands and wildlife along the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi, BP faces perhaps the biggest public relations challenge an oil company has experienced in the United States since the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster in Alaska in 1989.
Lawmakers: Black Boxes For All New Cars
April 30, 2010 4:13 am | by Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writer | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — New cars and trucks would be required to carry black boxes to record crash information and automakers would pay fees to help fund the government's auto safety agency under a series of proposals in Congress in response to Toyota's massive recalls. The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday released a draft that could form the basis of legislation to strengthen vehicle safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Harley-Davidson Threatens To Abandon Wisconsin
April 29, 2010 11:29 am | CommentsMILWAUKEE (AP) — Harley-Davidson Inc. has warned its employees it may have to move its Milwaukee manufacturing operations if it can't cut millions of dollars in costs. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that company officials told employees Thursday there are significant "cost gaps" that must be filled.
