September 2009

LUBRIZOL UP:

Lubrizol Corp., the Wickliffe-based maker of lubricant additives and specialty chemicals, reported its net income for the second quarter was $131.9 million, or $1.92 per diluted share, compared with earnings of $78.1 million, or $1.13 per share, for the like period last year. Revenues for the quarter decreased 18 percent to $1.11 billion from $1.35 billion in the second quarter of 2008. Lubrizol increased its guidance for earnings to the range of $5.47 to $5.77 per share, up from the $3.83- to $4.23-per-share forecast in April.

PARKER PROFITS DROP:

Parker Hannifin Corp., the Mayfield Heights-based maker of motion-control devices, reported an 80 percent drop in profits during its fiscal fourth quarter. The company blames significant declines in orders as a result of the global recession. Net income for the quarter that ended June 30 was $49.5 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with earnings of $252.6 million, or $1.47 per share, for the same period last year. Sales in the fourth quarter were $2.2 billion, a decline of 33.9 percent from $3.3 billion in the like quarter a year ago. Fiscal 2009 sales were $10.3 billion, a decline of 15.1 percent from $12.1 billion in the previous year. Parker officials are pleased with their operating cash flow. The company expects earnings from continuing operations in the range of $1.25 to $1.75 per share for fiscal 2010.

SOLAR ARRAY DELAY:

The economy has slowed down an alternative energy project in Mentor. Ten 18-foot-high StarGen solar concentrators are assembled next to Mentor Senior Center but are not yet operational. They were supposed to be up and running earlier this year, but North Ridgeville-based GreenField Solar Corp. told city officials that investor funding hasn’t materialized. The company now plans for completion of two units and interconnection to the senior center by Sept. 1 and two more completed each of the following months, with the system fully operational by the end of the year. The city received $100,000 in grants from the Cleveland Foundation and the Ohio Department of Development. There is no deadline to use the Foundation money, but the ODOD funds expire Oct. 31 so the city will try to get an extension.

SETTLEMENT FLIES:

Willoughby entered into a settlement agreement with T&G Flying Club, the fixed-base operator that has provided services such as pumping gas, repairing planes and offering flying lessons for the past 20 years. T&G vacated Lost Nation Municipal Airport Aug. 31. T&G will continue to provide services at its facilities at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights. The city was arranging a new fixed-base operator to be in place by the time T&G vacated the airport.

CONCORD CONNECTED:

The Ohio Public Works Commission awarded Concord Township a $700,000 grant for work on an Auburn-Crile Road Business Corridor connector road. The road, which would cross Ohio 44 about a mile south of Interstate 90, will connect Auburn and Crile roads. It will address safety and traffic congestion concerns due in part to the recent opening of University Hospital’s Concord Wellness Center and the October opening of Lake Health TriPoint Medical Center. Township officials want a date of late 2010 for completion of the project, but the Ohio Department of Transportation and county officials say that’s too optimistic.

NO RAISES:

The Lakeland Community College Faculty Association deferred the effective date of its salary increase from Aug. 16 to Jan. 1, 2010, and extended its contract to Aug. 15, 2011, without a salary adjustment. The move – a salary savings of $1.7 million – is to help close the remainder of a projected $3.6 million two-year budget gap. The move joins several other recent adjustments to prevent cutbacks to academic programs and services, including the deferral of salary increases for administrators and staff this year and next, four-day workweeks for staff during college breaks, and the implementation of an energy conservation program. A 3.5 percent tuition increase this year and next also should generate $1.9 million toward the shortfall, while maintaining Lakeland’s seat as fifth-cheapest public college or university in the state.

NURSERY TAKES ON WAL-MART:

Roemer Nursery Inc., at 2310 Green Road, filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Supercenter, seeking $5 million in damages for alleged contaminated water. The nursery claims Wal-Mart is knowingly releasing contaminated water into the local ground and surface water. Those pollutants killed the nursery’s plant inventory, according to the lawsuit. The nursery, which has been in operation since 1959, had no issues with contaminated water prior to the construction of Wal-Mart. It is valued at $1.12 million, although its future is unknown because a primary irrigation pond is no longer usable due to the “toxic level of salinity in the water,” according to the lawsuit. The nursery is basing its claims on a series of dye tests that tracked the dye to the irrigation pond. The Madison Township Wal-Mart has had other cases of water contamination: last year Wal-Mart contributed $65,000 to allow 12 area homeowners within one mile north of the store to switch from well water to county water because of flooded yards, contaminated wells and yard odors.

DRINKING PAYS:

The economy is helping – not hurting – some businesses, including local bars. The Wagon Wheel Tavern in Madison Township is among 442 contract spirituous liquor agencies that reached a record total $729.9 million in fiscal year 2009 sales through June 30.

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