October 13, 2017 at 7:47 p.m.

Forge parent posts quarterly loss

Business Roundup

Allegheny Technologies Inc., parent company of Portland Forge, this week reported a non-cash charge of $114 million for “goodwill impairment” related to its cast products business.

 “Excluding the goodwill impairment charge, we expect our third quarter 2017 results to be in line with our outlook provided in July,” Rich Harshman, ATI’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“As required by accounting standards, we performed an interim goodwill impairment analysis for our cast products business in the third quarter 2017 and determined that all goodwill assigned to this business unit is impaired. Looking ahead, we expect the business’s financial results to improve significantly and be at or near break-even in 2018, and return to profitability beginning in 2019,” Harshman said.

ATI’s third quarter 2017 sales are expected to be in the range of $865 to $875 million with a reported loss in the range of $1.11 to $1.14 per share, including the charge for the goodwill impairment. Excluding this charge, the reported loss is anticipated in the range of 6 cents to 9 cents per share. 



Donates 

Jay County REMC recently donated a day of work to spruce up the South Adams trailhead in Geneva. 

According to an article in The Berne Witness, workers from REMC installed trees and other foliage at the trailhead. Each year, REMC employees select a project in a surrounding county to volunteer for on a work day. 

The company donated both the time and the landscaping supplies for the project. 



Menu mania

McDonald’s has unveiled a McVegan burger in Finland, Forbes reported this week. The fast food giant has launched a number of vegetarian products in Finland since 2012.

According to Forbes, the burger is 100 percent plant-based and has a soy patty on a Quarter Pounder bun.

Meanwhile, Arby’s will soon be launching its venison sandwich at all 3,300 of its locations in the U.S. But the launch will be for one day only, Oct. 21.

The venison sandwich debuted last October in some test markets and was an overnight success. The sandwich features a thick cut of venison steak topped with juniper-berry sauce and crispy onions on a toasted roll.

Arby’s is reportedly going to test market an elk sandwich.



Hired

Swiss Village recently hired two new employees. 

The retirement community and rehabilitation facility is located in Berne. 

Ruthann Perry has been hired as the assistant director of nursing and started the job in September. She has 13 years of experience working in healthcare and has worked as director of nursing for two different facilities. 

Michael Secaur has been appointed the director of food service. He has 20 years of experience working in healthcare food service and most recently worked for a large hospital system. His first day is Monday. 



The standard

The website Campaign India cited Jay County native Mary Meeker as the go-to source for staying ahead of trends in the digital world.

“To my mind any media conference anywhere in the world is incomplete without taking cues from and cognizance of the Mary Meeker Report,” wrote Sandeep Goyal this week.  “For those in the digital domain, every year, Mary’s report is bed-time reading for a few nights when it releases annually. For the uninitiated, Mary Meeker is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and her annual Internet Trends report is a bellwether report keenly awaited by the global digital industry,” Goyal wrote.

Meeker is a graduate of Jay County High School and received her bachelor’s degree from DePauw University.



Invests 

Gannett has made a majority investment in Grateful Ventures, an online lifestyle media company. 

Gannett is a media conglomerate that owns USA TODAY and 109 local news organizations, including The Star Press (Muncie) and Indianapolis Star. 

The investment is part of an effort to diversify USA TODAY’s portfolio and audience, according to a Gannett press release. The company is planning to launch several new initiatives through the partnership in 2018, including live interactions, long-tail content and videos.

According to Reuters, the investment was less than $10 million. 



New system

Walmart stores will have a new system for returns this winter. 

The chain is introducing its Mobile Express Returns system, which will expedite returns through use of the Walmart App, according to a company press release. The service will be available for online purchases in November and in-store purchases starting in early 2018. 

Customers can begin the return themselves on the Walmart app by selecting the transaction and item that will be returned. Upon arriving at the store, customers can use the Mobile Express Lane at the customer service desk and use a QR code displayed on the app to return the item. 



Eliminating

Tyson Foods Inc. will eliminate 450 jobs across the company.

Tyson Foods is the parent company of Tyson Mexican Original in Portland. 

Meat & Poultry reported that most of the cuts will be in corporate offices in Springdale, Arkansas, Chicago and Cincinnati, but that they will take place across several levels of the company. The cuts are part of the company’s “Financial Fitness” plans. 

In other news, a lawsuit against the company has been transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

Chicken Kitchen USA LLC, a restaurant franchisor and broiler chicken buyer, has accused Tyson of conspiring to fix the price of broiler chickens. 

The lawsuit was originally filed in Florida, but Tyson asked that it be transferred to Illinois, where 12 similar cases had been combined into three class action lawsuits, according to Meat & Poultry. 





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