REGION

REGION

Lifetime achievement

YOUNGSTOWN — The Regional Advertising and Marketing Association has presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Don Guthrie, a veteran WKBN-TV meteorologist and broadcaster. He has been an on-air personality for the past 37 years and has earned the Seals of Approval from the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society. He is a graduate of Thiel College in Greenville, Pa.

The award was presented Wednesday at a program presented by the Regional Advertising and Marketing Association formerly known as the Ad Club under the management of the Regional Chamber. The new name for the organization was chosen to modernize its image and to better reflect the wider purpose of the programs, which encompasses advertising, marketing, public relations and new media.

Valley car sales plummet

YOUNGSTOWN — Car sales plummeted in the Mahoning Valley last month.

Dealers in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties sold 1,505 new vehicles in November, which was 30 percent lower than the 2,162 sold in November 2007. Used-vehicle sales last month totaled 2,782, which was 19 percent lower than the 3,430 sold in November 2007.

Sweeney Chevrolet in Boardman led all dealers with 99 new vehicle sales. The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 was the top-selling vehicle with 139 sales.

Cutbacks at Delphi

WARREN — Salaried workers at Delphi Packard Electric have been told they may be laid off temporarily to deal with reduced demand from automakers. This would be the first time that salaried workers would be laid off with the potential of being recalled, said David Olsen, a Delphi spokesman.

He said he wasn’t sure if any workers have been notified that they will be laid off, but he expected cutbacks to occur. General Motors, the largest buyer of Packard’s wiring harnesses, has been cutting production to deal with lower demand for vehicles.

Hourly workers are being laid off on a weekly basis, said Mike O’Donnell, shop chairman of International Union of Electrical Workers Local 717. He wasn’t sure of the number. He said he expected indefinite layoffs to occur in January.

From Vindicator staff reports