Verizon Wireless will create 300 jobs with the help of a state financial package, it is expected to announce at a news conference today in Marshall. Dennis Yablonsky, state secretary of Community and Economic Development, is scheduled to be on hand. As reported, Verizon Wireless, a unit of Verizon Communications Inc., plans to lease a four-story building in the Thorn Hill Industrial Park that was occupied until a year ago by Symbol Technologies Inc. The 65,000-square-foot building was built for Fore Systems Inc., succeeded by Marconi Inc. Verizon Wireless employs about 1,200 in the area at two nearby buildings in Marshall and Cranberry. Separately, Yablonsky is expected to be on hand for an event marking the start of construction for the Cherrington Extension road project, which will open 60 acres for development in Moon, near Pittsburgh International Airport. Merger managers meet About 50 managers from Mellon Financial Corp. and The Bank of New York have been meeting weekly to devise their merger integration plans since the week after the $17.6 billion deal was announced Dec. 4, the New York bank's chairman, Thomas Renyi, said Thursday. But the actual combination is still "in the early stages," he told analysts. Similar to what Mellon CEO Robert Kelly, who is in line to head The Bank of New York Mellon, told Wall Street the day before, Bank of New York is focused on "continuity of service," said Renyi. Neither bank wants to give its corporate and institutional clients a reason to be lured away, as often happens when bank mergers are in the offing. Separately, Bank of New York reported quarterly income jumped to $1.80 billion, or $2.36 a share, from $405 million, or 53 cents a share, the year earlier. Annual net income of $3.01 billion compared with $1.57 billion for 2005. DirecTV to raise prices DirecTV Group Inc., the largest U.S. satellite-television service, will raise subscription prices by almost 4 percent on average, aiming to boost revenue yet remain competitive with cable alternatives. The price increase will take effect March 1 for existing customers, said Robert Mercer, a spokesman for the El Segundo, Calif.-based company. Control of DirecTV, which had 15.7 million subscribers as of Sept. 30, is set to move to Liberty Media Corp. from News Corp. when the two companies complete an asset swap in the second half of this year. By limiting price increases, DirecTV may boost sales even as cable operators such as Comcast Corp. lure customers with packages of TV, phone and Internet services. Rite Aid, Eckerd deal OK'd Rite Aid Corp. shareholders on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a deal worth almost $3 billion to buy more than 1,800 Brooks and Eckerd stores and become the largest drugstore operator on the East Coast. Rite Aid, the nation's third-largest drugstore chain, has billed the deal as a way to catapult it within reach of the rapidly growing drugstore leaders Walgreen Co. and CVS Corp. As drug retailers expand into other services, Rite Aid executives say the acquisition will make the company a more attractive partner for in-store health care and wellness clinics and pharmacy benefits managers. The Federal Trade Commission is still reviewing the deal. Time Inc. cuts 300 jobs Time Inc. is eliminating nearly 300 jobs as it continues to revamp its huge portfolio of magazines such as Time, People and Sports Illustrated in an effort to adapt as readers and advertisers move to the Internet. The giant magazine publisher, which is part of the media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., announced to its staff Thursday that it was eliminating 289 jobs in various departments across the company, which publishes about 150 magazines. The cuts, which had been widely expected, would bring Time Inc.'s payroll down to about 11,000. Earnings &#149 Fourth-quarter profit at International Business Machines Corp. rose 11 percent. In the last three months of 2006, IBM earned $3.54 billion, $2.31 per share, on revenue of $26.3 billion. The figures surpassed last year's results, when profit was $3.19 billion, $1.99 per share, and revenue was $24.4 billion. For all of 2006, IBM earned $9.49 billion, $6.11 per share, on revenue of $91.4 billion. That marked a 20 percent increase in net profit from 2005. &#149 Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc. on Thursday reported record 2006 net income of $20.6 million, or $3.12 per diluted share, up from $13.1 million, or $2.02 per share, one year ago. The Bridgeville-based steelmaker said sales rose 20 percent to a record $203.9 million, up from $170 million, one year ago. The company said results reflected substantial demand in aerospace, petrochemical and power generation markets. &#149 Fidelity Bancorp Inc., West View, reported net income fell 14 percent to $832,000, or 27 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31. The savings institution had higher net-interest expenses and non-interest expenses. Assets approached $739 million as of Dec. 31. Fidelity operates 13 branches in Allegheny and Butler counties. &#149 FNB Corp., Hermitage, Mercer County, reported annual net income increased 22 percent to almost $68 million, or $1.14 a share, compared with $55 million, or 98 cents a share, the year earlier. Fourth-quarter net income of $17.6 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with $4.7 million, or 8 cents a share, the year before. Year-ago quarterly results for the bank corporation included $11 million in charges from a restructuring. &#149 Fourth-quarter and full-year sales at its 4,800 domestic stores open at least a year rose 4.7 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively, General Nutrition Centers Inc. reported Thursday. Company-owned stores recorded increased same-store sales of 6.5 percent during the final three months of 2006, and 11.1 percent for the year. Of those percentages, 1.8 percent of the quarterly increase and 1.5 percent of full-year sales were Internet-generated. &#149 Matthews International Corp., the marker maker based on the North Shore, reported that net income increased 8.2 percent to nearly $14 million, or 44 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31. Sales rose 3.1 percent to more than $175 million during the period. The company cited strong sales in its memorialization and casket segments, as well as improved productivity from its Mexican facility. Other business news &#149 Alcoa Foundation plans to award a $100,000 grant to the Foundation for the Indiana University of Pennsylvania National Forum on Fatality Prevention in the Workplace. The award will be given Monday. The university plans to hold a national, two-day forum to study the nature and cause of catastrophic and fatal events in the workplace and to identify best practices and solutions for preventing fatalities. &#149 Hill Barth & King, an accounting firm based in Boardman, Ohio, said Thursday it has merged with Libeg Gargano Bell & Associates, an accounting firm based in Hermitage, Mercer County. Hill Barth has 12 offices in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Neither merger terms nor the merged firm's name was disclosed. &#149 Pittsburgh-area stocks fell Thursday. The Bloomberg Pittsburgh Index of stocks fell 1.75 to 324.63.

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