COO of Allegiant Air is resigning

COO of Allegiant Air is resigning

LAS VEGAS

The chief operating officer of Allegiant Air is resigning.

KTNV-TV reported that 52-year-old Steve Harfts is leaving after serving in the position for about a year.

He first joined Allegiant in December 2014.

His resignation follows questions about the airline’s safety record and incidents involving emergency landings and mechanical issues.

The Las Vegas-based airline, which has service out of Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, offers nonstop flights to 52 destinations.

Chinese students will compete at University of Dayton

DAYTON

Two students from China have won an opportunity to compete for cash prizes in the final round of the University of Dayton’s 10th annual business-plan competition.

The Dayton Daily News reported that the students took first among 58 competitors in the university’s inaugural Entrepreneurship in China contest at the university’s China Institute. Their pitch was a wedding cartoon customization service.

The winning team from Nanjing Xiaozhaung University won $1,500. Two members of the team are heading to Dayton to compete against five University of Dayton teams in the final round of the competition.

The team that finishes in first place will win $25,000.

Sweet’N Low to end Brooklyn production

NEW YORK

For almost 60 years, tiny pink packets of Sweet’N Low have flowed, millions upon millions, from Cumberland Packing Corp., the Brooklyn company where the sugar substitute was first created.

But the family-owned company told workers just over a week ago that manufacturing and packing work would stop in Brooklyn over the course of the year and shift entirely to other parts of the country, leaving only its headquarters in the borough.

News of the shutdown came as a shock to the 300 or so employees when they were told at a meeting.

Workers, along with elected officials, have protested the closing, decrying the loss of manufacturing jobs, some held by employees for decades.

Federal government still offering disaster loans for Sandy

ALBANY, N.Y.

The federal Small Business Administration still is processing low-interest loans for Superstorm Sandy.

The SBA has reopened the disaster loan filing period for businesses and residents and already has approved more than $8.5 million for 242 businesses and residents in affected areas.

The SBA revised the disaster deadline in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia and Puerto Rico. The period for filing runs until Dec. 1.

Businesses and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.

Interest rates are as low as 4 percent for businesses, 3 percent for nonprofit organizations, and 1.688 percent for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years.

Associated Press