BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Ribbon-cutting event at High Octane Coffee

BOARDMAN

High Octane Coffee Co. at 695 Boardman-Canfield Road will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday and an official grand opening of the location from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

High Octane combines the motorsports lifestyle with fresh, in-house roasted, small-batch, craft coffee. High Octane Coffee serves many signature handcrafted blends with creative names reflecting its gear-head lifestyle and humble Ohio Rust Belt roots.

The new location features a drive-thru, as well as several new menu offerings, including breakfast burritos by Los Gallos and a full line of ice cream from Baker’s Golden Dairy in New Waterford.

Public forum at airport

VIENNA

Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, 1453 Youngstown-Kingsville Road, will have a public forum for a new airline service from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Southern Airways Express will be at the forum to discuss a new airline option at the airport.

Complimentary breakfast and free parking will be offered.

RSVP by Friday to 330-856-1537.

Bonus for autoworkers

LORDSTOWN

The United Auto Workers and General Motors through the 2015 national contract negotiations agreed to recognize autoworkers for achieving a target performance. Eligible UAW-GM workers will receive a $500 bonus.

Salem chamber to meet

Salem

The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce will have its 71st annual meeting Wednesday at Salem Golf Club, 1967 S. Lincoln Ave.

The event begins at 11:30 a.m. with registration and a cash bar, with a buffet and program to follow from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Chamber members get in for $32.50; nonmembers pay $37.50. An RSVP is required by Friday to info@salemohiochamber.org or call 330-337-3473.

The event will honor and celebrate Shawna L’Italien as Outstanding Citizen of the Year, Essential Vision Care as Business of the Year and The Banquet in Salem as Non-profit/Organization of the Year.

ESPN to cut 150 jobs

BRISTOL, Conn.

ESPN is eliminating 150 production and technical employees as the sports broadcasting giant continues to shift its focus to a more digital future.

The company says the layoffs, which were announced Wednesday morning in a memo to employees, don’t include on-air talent and will have a minimal impact on the network’s signature SportsCenter news program.

The 38-year-old network has been squeezed by rising fees to broadcast live events. ESPN also has lost about 10 million subscribers during the past six years, based on estimates by Nielsen Media Research.

American Airlines seeks pilots for holiday flights

dalLas

A scheduling glitch has left American Airlines scrambling to find pilots to operate thousands of flights over the busy Christmas holiday period.

A spokesman for the airline said Wednesday that American expects to avoid canceling flights by paying overtime and using reserve or on-call pilots.

American isn’t saying how many flights are affected, but the pilots’ union says that about 15,000 flights were scheduled without a captain, a co-pilot or both.

American, the world’s biggest airline, has about 15,000 active pilots and expects to operate more than 200,000 flights in December.

The pilots’ union estimated that when the problem was discovered late last week, about 19,000 cockpit seats were left empty. The glitch affected flights between Dec. 17 and Dec. 31 from nearly a dozen airports including hubs in Dallas, Chicago and Miami.

Microsoft to rebuild HQ

SEATTLE

Microsoft is overhauling its longtime headquarters with an 18-building construction project that will make room for 8,000 more workers.

The announcement came ahead of the company’s annual shareholders meeting Wednesday.

Microsoft’s decision to expand on the footprint of its campus in Redmond, Wash., its home since 1986, is in contrast to the highly publicized office expansion plans of Seattle-based Amazon. Amazon has been looking at cities across North America for a spot to build a second headquarters that will be as big as its Seattle hub.

Staff/wire reports