Ardagh to close New Jersey plant

Ardagh Group, which acquired Verallia North America and its Dunkirk glass container plant earlier this year, has announced it is closing its plant in Salem, N.J.
The plant, which had been part of Anchor Glass, employed 290 people.
The Irish Independent reported this week that the New Jersey plant will close on Oct. 15.
One of the oldest glass container plants in the U.S., the Salem factory marked its 150th anniversary last year. It produced about 780 million bottles a year.
Ardagh sold six former Anchor plants in order to satisfy the Federal Trade Commission’s concerns about the Verallia acquisition.
Ardagh is reportedly planning a public offering of stock in 2015.
Union officials in New Jersey speculated that the closing was related to the loss of a contract to make bottles for Snapple and Yoo-hoo.

Sales improve
Allegheny Technologies Inc., parent company of Portland Forge, reported second quarter sales of $1.119 billion but a loss from continuing operations of $3.8 million.
“We continued to see improvement in end market demand as we moved through the second quarter of 2014,” said chairman Rich Harshman in a prepared statement. He noted that sales increased 13 percent compared to the first quarter.
The company’s operating profit was affected by $15.4 million in start-up costs associated with two growth projects, a hot-rolling and processing facility and a titanium sponge facility.

Income jumps
Comcast reported second quarter net income from 15 percent to nearly $2 billion. Net income for the same quarter a year ago was $1.73 billion.

Files bankruptcy
River Terrace Estates, a retirement community in Bluffton with 120 residents, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing $14 million in bond debt.
Officials said the filing will have not impact on residents at the facility northwest of Bluffton. No layoffs are expected.

Raise funds
Super Wash, the national car wash chain, has reported raising $45,061 for food pantries during its annual “Food Raiser” promotion. The cumulative total over the past five years is more than $261,000.

GM profits down
General Motors posted a net profit of $190 million in the second quarter, down sharply from $1.26 billion in the same quarter last year, The Associated Press reported this week.
The company blamed the costs of recalls for the drop in profitability for the quarter. GM has recalled almost 30 million vehicles so far this year.

New clinic
Lutheran Health network will open a new RediMed urgent care clinic this fall in Bluffton.
The Bluffton clinic, to be located at 1980 N. Main St., is one of three that Lutheran plans to open this fall. The others are in New Haven and downtown Fort Wayne.
According to Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, the RediMed clinic in Bluffton will involved the relocation of an existing Business Health Services site to a 3,400-wquare-foot building in front of the Bluffton WalMart. The Bluffton RediMed will have three full-time and one part-time employees.

Lilly profits decline
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. reported on Thursday that its second quarter profit was down 39 percent.
The company reported revenues of $4.94 billion for the quarter, down from $5.93 billion a year earlier. Earnings dropped to $7.33.5 million, down from $1.21 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

Acquires bank
First Merchants Corp. has agreed to acquire Community Bancshares Inc. for about $46 million in stock, pending approval by shareholders and federal regulators.
Community Bancshares is the parent of Community Bank, which has eight branches in Hamilton County and three in Madison County. First Merchants has almost 100 branches around the state, including operations in Portland.

Safety class
OSHA-certified instructors will teach a course at John Jay Center for Learning that addresses on-the-job safety and health work practices that comply with OSHA regulations.
The course, designed for personnel from any type of industry, will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25, and Friday, Sept. 26. The cost is $225 and those that complete the course will receive a 10-hour card from OSHA.
Registration deadline is Thursday, Sept. 18.
To register, call Janet Sanders at (800) 644-8442 ext. 2502 or [email protected], Carolyn Carducci at (260) 729-5525 ext. 223 or [email protected] or register online at www.ivytech.edu/register-now using reference number 20186.

Still the lowest
Mercer County continues to have the lowest unemployment rate in Ohio.
The county’s June jobless rate was 3.3 percent. Mercer County has had the lowest unemployment rate in Ohio since November of 2011. Ohio’s June jobless rate was 5.5 percent.

Earnings up
First Financial Bancorp, parent company of First Financial Bank, reported second quarter earnings of $16 million, up one percent from $15.8 million in the second quarter last year.
First Financial has a branch bank in Fort Recovery.

Quality rating
Amazing Discoveries Childcare, 222 Arlington Ave. in Dunkirk, will open Aug. 4 and has achieved a Level 1 rating in Paths to QUALITY.
Paths to QUALITY is a voluntary statewide systm created to improve the quality of child care.