Council mulls YBI tax abatement

Council mulls YBI tax abatement

YOUNGSTOWN

City council today will consider giving the board of control authority to grant a 12-year, 50-percent tax abatement to the Youngstown Business Incubator at the former Vindicator building at 29 Vindicator Square it purchased earlier this year.

The abatement would save YBI $5,000 a year in taxes. The agency plans to use the building for startup space for additive manufacturing companies and graduate space for startup firms that have entered the market.

RTI to provide parts to Airbus

PITTSBURGH

RTI International Metals Inc., which once was based in Weathersfield, announced this week it has been selected by Airbus to provide finished titanium structural parts for its new A350-1000 aircraft program.

The award from Airbus – which represents its first procurement of RTI parts manufactured entirely by RTI’s vertically integrated supply chain – calls for RTI to supply two final-machined structural titanium fuselage parts for the Airbus A350-1000 aircraft model.

US retail sales fell 0.3% in June

WASHINGTON

Americans cut back their spending at stores and restaurants last month, a sign that they remain cautious despite robust job growth in the past year.

Retail sales fell 0.3 percent in June, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, the weakest showing since February’s harsh winter weather kept shoppers indoors. That followed a robust 1 percent jump in May, though that was revised down from a previous estimate of 1.2 percent.

Economists had expected that consumers would rein in their spending after May’s large gain. But the reversal was much sharper than projected.

Honda settles claims of discrimination

los angeles

Honda reached a settlement Tuesday to resolve allegations that the company discriminated against minority car buyers by marking up interest rates on loans, a practice industry experts describe as common because of the discretion given to individual dealerships.

Honda’s settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which is subject to court approval, was filed in federal court in Los Angeles. Honda’s U.S. operation is based in nearby Torrance, Calif.

The Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accused Honda dealers of charging higher interest rates to thousands of black, Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Islander customers than white car buyers. Those minority customers paid an average of between $150 and $250 more during the terms of their loans, the Justice Department said.

Under the settlement, Honda is agreeing to pay $24 million to past victims of discriminatory lending and cap the interest-rate markups that dealers can charge to between 1 and 1.25 percentage points, depending on the length of the loan.

Staff/wire reports