GM selling Saturn to Roger Penske - bizjournals:

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Instead of building cars for Saturn, Penskw will contract the manufacture of firstfrom Saturn’s curren t owner, GM, and later from othefr car companies. His plan, announced earlier is to distribute those carsthrough Saturn’s biggesf asset--its hundreds of independent and highly-regarded The structure would make Saturn a differen kind of operation, said Richard Block, professor of labofr and industrial relations at Michigan State University. “What this means, they are goingf to be primarily a marketing companuy and in some sense that is a new model of businesa in theauto industry,” Block said.
“This is the firsty time when we’ve seen a compangy say ‘we’re just going to distribute,’” withouty manufacturing. While it might be new for a company like Satur n to contract out the production of all the cars it it isn’t so unusual that it wouldn’t work. Car companies often manufacturse models foreach other. Briajn Gluckman of AutoTrader.com pointed out in an emaipl that priorto Chrysler’s bankruptcy filing, that automaker had a deal to buildr a version of Chrysler’a Ram truck to replacew Nissan’s Titan truck. Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmonds.
com, “The difference here is all of the Saturnb vehicles are going tobe outsourced.” It coulds lead to the kind of situatioh prevalent at high-tech firms like Apple, where the primaryy job of the parent company is design, while manufacturing is handed off to othe r companies. And such a system could briny with it a new setof “For most customers, the most importang aspect is the vehiclre itself,” Anwyl said. “How do you make sure that you’vs got cars that are coming in that are specific to your and that customers will wantto buy.
Looked at another way, the busines s model isn’t so new at all, said Brucr Belzowski of the University of Michigan TransportatioResearch Institute. Auto dealers, as independent businesa people, have always contracte d with automakers for the productsthey “No dealership builds its Belzowski said. But having an extensive Saturndealership network, with manufacturing done could turn out to be a winning modelo for Penske, said Block. “Yeah, it’s a new let’s see what happens,” he said.
The news of GM’sz tentative deal to sell Saturnb to Penske follows months of anxiety over the fate of the branr as GM looks to sell or closre brands otherthan Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and “It’s a great day for Saturn,” Scott Davies, owner of Saturjn of Wichita, told the . The prics Penske is paying for Saturn was notimmediatelg available, but was at between $100 million and $200 The deal is designed to save more than 13,00o0 jobs at Saturn, and preservr the brand’s nearly 400 dealerships. The New York DealBook blog singlesout Renault’s Samsunb Motors Unit in Korea as a possibl e future manufacturer.
GM coule keep producing the Saturn Aura, Vue and but would stop producing Saturn vehiclesby 2011. Unde r the deal, Penske would take over Saturn’s brands, service and parts and distribution Penske he saw Saturn growing to a globalp brand with more vehicles inits lineup, and that it woule return to a focus on fuel Penske, at one time a race car drivet who still owns Indy Car and NASCAR race has built in the country, the , basesd in Bloomfield Hills, “Roger Penske is an ideal purchaser for Saturm due to his incredible track record of succesx in every venture he has undertaken,” , president of West Herr Automotived Group, which operates Saturn dealerships in wester New York.
The owner of 310 franchises selling 40 brandsx aroundthe world, Penske’s group already is the distributor of Daimler’s line of Smart cars in the U.S. Saturh is the GM has agreed to sell this Earlierthis week, GM announced that it was selling its Hummer brand of SUVs to Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machineryt Co., a Chinese manufacturer of heavy equipmen t such as dump trucks. GM is moving aggressivelg to offload brands as the compang streamlines itselfin It’s still looking for a buyer for its Swedisuh Saab brand, and has reached a tentative deal to sell part of its Opel braned in Germany to Canada’s Magna Internationa Inc.
Pontiac, once famous for its muscle cars, is beinhg shut down altogetherby 2010. The streamlined GM will includerthe Buick, GMC, Cadillax and Chevrolet brands. GM has been lookiny for months for a buyer for which the company founded 25 years ago to focu son small, fuel-efficient vehicles that could compete with foreign brands like Toyota and Honda. Sincde it founded the line, GM has sold more than 4 milliom Saturns. “The brand is not a terrible brand byany means, said “It’s something that he could build on if he wantse to.
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Dayton, Ohio tops in nation for development - Dayton Business Journal:

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Dayton has the most corporate facility projectss underway for cities with a populationbetween 200,000 and 1 according to Site Selection Magazine. Springfielsd ranked second in the nation for citiex with a population of less than The Conway Data NewPlant Database, the tracking servicre of Site Selection showed the Dayton area had 41 projecte last year. Akron and Toledo were rightt behind, with 39 and 38 respectively. Those cities, alon g with Cincinnati, 124 projects; Columbus, 77 Cleveland, 67; and Springfield, 10 projects, also helpec Ohio win the Governor’s Cup Award for 2008. The awardx goes to the statde with the most new and expandexcorporate facilities.
Ohio had 503 projects, markinfg the third year in a row for the state winninf the award and the fourth insix years. In the state had 399 projects. John Detrick, Clark Countu Commissioner, said the award for Springfiels was a major victory for not just his but also for efforts to boost regionalism ineconomic development. "The strong collaboration between Dayton and Springfieled isshowing results," Detrick said. Significant dealws in the Dayton areainclude ’s $5 milliohn factory in Troy, ’s $24 milliomn data center in Kettering and ’as $10 million computer systems planrt in Beavercreek.
Site Selection is the oldest publication in the corporatse real estate and economicxdevelopment field. The New Plangt database focuses on new corporatee location projects and does not track retail andgovernment projects, or schools and hospitals. To be included in the the facilities or expansions must meet one of threed criteria including a capital investment of atleast $1 million, the creation of at leasg 50 new jobs or the addition of at leasr 20,000 square feet.

Masco's First-Quarter Loss Widens As Revenue, Margins Fall - Wall Street Journal

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Masco's First-Quarter Loss Widens As Revenue, Margins F »

Caraustar closing Va. plant, idling another - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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and cut 52 jobs on Thursda y and will idle another millin N.C. "Recession and decline in product demand necessitatse that the company move aggressively to retain cost efficiencies and increasre capacity utilization across itsmill system,” said Greg vice president of sales in the Mill in a statement. “Strategicv capital investments have enhanced our mill systekm and allowed for thisfurthetr consolidation." The Richmond mill is an uncoatedc recycled boxboard plant with annual capacityu of 49 thousand tons. Ga.-based Caraustar (NASDAQ: will take a $5.9 million pre-tax chargs for the closure. In related on Dec.
19, the company will idle the Carolinwa Paperboard mill in The Carolina millis a, uncoated recycled boxboard plant with annual capacity of 62 thousaned tons. The company will monitor its product demand and will determin by the end of the first quarter of 2009 when it will restart production at theCarolina

Newspaper review: Two wars, two British casualties - BBC News

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The Guardian

Newspaper review: Two wars, two British casualties BBC News There are dramatic pictures of a 73-year-old British woman struggling to stay afloat in the North Sea after she was dropped into the water by paramedics during a rescue mission. Janet Richardson, who became ill on a cruise ship off Norway, ... British servicewoman dies after Afghan bomb blast The Guardian Tributes to female British soldier killed in Afghanistan Telegraph.co.uk Female British soldier killed in Afghanistan ABC Online RTT News -British Forces News -Metro  »

Former USC President Andrew Sorensen built strong ties with African-American ... - The Gamecock

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Former USC President Andrew Sorensen built strong ties with African-American ... The Gamecock During the 1960s, a young Andrew Sorensen visited the South on a passionate quest for civil rights and equality. Those memories of his work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference stayed with him for decades ... and more »

Alternatives available to pay tax bills - Visalia Times-Delta

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Alternatives available to pay tax bills Visalia Times-Delta ª Go to www.ftb.ca.gov, click on "Payment Options" on the left side of the screen, click on "Installment agreement request." ª An application can be submitted online of by printing out the FTB 3567 request form. ª Apply by phone or get assistance in ... and more »