Regional Business Digest

REGION

Lower First Place earnings

WARREN — First Place Financial Corp. reported lower-than-expected earnings because of devalued Fannie May stock it owns, according to a press release issued Tuesday.

The company said the stock was found to be other-than-temporarily impaired at quarter’s end on June 30 and is worth $2.914 million compared with the $2.916 million it had previously reported.

The company’s net income for the year ending on the same date has been changed to $10.790 million compared with $10.792 million.

Health store reopens

NEWTON FALLS — Healthy Treasures Inc., 40 W. Broad St., has reopened for business after closing for renovations.

The store, which sells food and nutrition supplements, has scheduled a reopening celebration for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Health professionals are expected to attend to answer customers’ questions about various health-related topics.

Hourly giveaways and food samples will be part of the celebration.

Wedding business group plans picnic for Monday

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning Valley Wedding Network, a group of businesses that provide wedding-related services, has scheduled a picnic Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at 59 N. Hazelwood Ave.

Business owners who are interested in attending must R.S.V.P. by Friday via e-mail at youngstownflowergarden@yahoo.com or by phone at (330) 469-9974.

State

Goodyear Tire Rubber to close 92 stores

AKRON — Goodyear Tire Rubber Co. has disclosed plans to close 92 retail stores by the end of the year.

The company did not say which targeted locations are underperforming when it announced its plans on Tuesday.

A Goodyear vice president for retail operations, Scott Vogel, says the company is not announcing the store locations involved. The company intends to first communicate the decision with their approximately 500 full-time and 100 part-time employees and property owners of leased facilities.

Goodyear will take after-tax charges of approximately $30 million, of which $15 million will be recorded in the third quarter of 2008. It expects to eliminate related losses of approximately $9 million annually.

Unemployment rates rise in Valley’s 3 counties

COLUMBUS — The unemployment rate for counties in the Mahoning Valley rose in July, according to information released Tuesday from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Mahoning County’s jobless rate reached 7.8 percent, up 0.7 percent from June; Columbiana’s grew 0.6 percent to 7.8.; and Trumbull County grew 0.4 percent to 8.2.

NATION

Workplace fatalities drop

WASHINGTON — The number of U.S. workers killed on the job has dropped to a historic low.

A government report released Wednesday showed there were 5,488 fatal work injuries last year. That’s the lowest number since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began keeping track in 1992.

There were 3.7 fatal work injuries for every 100,000 workers, the lowest annual rate ever reported by the fatality census.

The 2007 numbers represent a 6 percent drop from 5,840 deaths reported to the Labor Department in 2006.

There were increases in some types of work fatalities. The number of fatal falls on the job rose to a high of 835 in 2007, while workplace homicides increased by 13 percent.

The numbers are preliminary, with a final report on 2007 due next year.

Source: Vindicator staff and wire reports