Business digest || Wedgewood Pizza opens in Columbus

Wedgewood Pizza opens in Columbus

columbus

A franchise of Fernando’s Wedgewood Pizza opened here Monday. The restaurant is run by Youngstown natives Alicia Barker and her father, Dominic Cercone. They have been developing the franchise since 2008, when Cercone, now of Austintown, retired from the General Motors plant in Lordstown after 40 years. Devoted fans of Wedgewood Pizza, Cercone and Barker approached Wedgewood owner Fernando Riccioni about opening a fourth location in Columbus, where Barker now lives. The new pizza shop, located at 3057 Turnberry Court in Grove City, already has a loyal local fanbase, primarily made up of Youngstown transplants living in Columbus, Barker said.

GM dealerships number 4,500

detroit

General Motors announced Thursday that it has concluded dealer arbitration and will have a network of about 4,500 U.S. dealerships effective Nov. 1. The network will be 25 percent smaller than it was in June 2009, when the automaker had 6,049 dealerships. The company originally intended to cut more than 2,000 dealers from its network but said Thursday that it will reinstate about 725 dealers. GM also said that dealerships are participating in major upgrades of their Chevrolet, Buick-GMC and Cadillac facilities to “align with new branding guidelines.” About 300 upgrades have been completed, and 1,000 projects are scheduled for 2010.

Upgrades include “customer-friendly features such as work areas with phone and laptop computer power outlets, Wi-Fi and a caf area with refreshments,” the company said in a release. GM also will update or install new signs at dealerships across the country.

US wades into BlackBerry dispute

WASHINGTON

The Obama administration waded into the growing international dispute over the banning of BlackBerry services Thursday, saying it is seeking to broker compromises between the company that makes the popular smartphones and foreign governments that say they pose a security risk.

Worried that the ban will hurt the work of American diplomats and businessmen overseas, the State Department said it had been in touch with the manufacturer, Research in Motion Ltd.

Officials from several nations, including the United Arab Emirates, India, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, have announced or are contemplating bans on BlackBerry features.

Vindicator staff/wire reports