PPG Industries Inc. plans to move 111 employees from its Downtown headquarters to a Monroeville facility beginning in October. The company said Wednesday that the move, which is scheduled to be completed by February, has been planned for over a year. The relocated employes will join 290 research and development and support employees in PPG's chemical business that are already stationed at PPG's chemicals research and development center in Monroeville. PPG spokesman Larry O'Reilly said the employees are moving to a location PPG owns from space the company rents at PPG Place, Downtown. The Monroeville facility "has been under utilized," O'Reilly said. "We believe it makes great business sense and will help PPG capitalize on the synergies of having all of its chemicals associates at one location." PPG currently has about 1,200 employees at its PPG Place headquarters. Employees being relocated work in the chemicals business, including customer service, information technology, marketing, sales, administrative support and executive leadership.
Steel sale resumes
Ukraine said it had resumed the sale of its biggest steelmaker, VAT Kryvorizhstal, after a court dismissed legal challenges brought by politicians opposed to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. A committee is now checking whether the bids correspond to the tender conditions and will open price offers at its June 14 meeting, when it's scheduled to pick the winner. Arcelor SA, the world's biggest steel producer, bid jointly with Russia's Severstal for the 93.02 percent stake. LNM Group, the second- biggest steelmaker, and U.S. Steel Corp., the biggest in the U.S., both said they had bid.
Del Monte ceremony
Ceremonies are scheduled to be held today for the start of construction for the second office building in the North Shore development by Continental/Nationwide Realty Investors partnership. The newest addition is the 270,000-square-foot Del Monte Foods Co. structure to be located between Heinz Field and PNC Park. Del Monte plans to relocate about 600 of its nearly 1,200 Pittsburgh-based employees into 178,000 square feet of the six-story, 270,000-square-foot building, but will maintain its headquarters in San Francisco. A late 2005 completion is scheduled. Already under construction is the six-story Equitable Resources building, which will consolidate employees from seven area locations.
Venture firm hires Zhu
PA Early Stage Partners, a Wayne-based family of venture funds, said it hired biotechnology industry veteran Qingsheng "Ching" Zhu as a partner to manage its new Pittsburgh office at the Cellomics Building in Hazelwood. Zhu worked for 10 years at Guidant Corp. of Indianapolis, Ind., designing and developing cardiovascular medical products. With his appointment and the recent opening of its local office, the group is now ready to consider investments in early-stage life sciences companies in this region. In November 2003, it received a $15 million capital commitment to its latest fund from the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, and it previously received $20 million in funds from the state Tobacco Settlement Fund for that purpose.
West Penn expects profit
West Penn Allegheny Health System expects to record an operating profit between $15 million and $20 million for the fiscal year ending June 30. President and Chief Executive Jerry J. Fedele said Wednesday it is the hospital's first annual profit since a system-saving merger four years ago. Fedele said the system also expects to record revenues between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion, up from $1 billion in 2000. "When you look at where we've come over the last three and a half, four years, we've made a $100 million swing," Fedele said, referring to an $80 million loss the system reported in 2000.
Tube City acquires firm
Glassport-based Tube City, LLC, has acquired Scrap OptiMiser Associates, including its Scrap OptiMiser, a ferrous scrap computer-purchasing model which is used by steel mills to determine which grades of scrap to buy for their steelmaking furnaces. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Tube City, which processes and purchases more than 15 million tons of scrap annually, said the Scrap OptiMiser is marketed out of the Chicago area. Tube City has licensed the OptiMiser computer model for the past nine years. Bob W. Martin and Roy Whipp, owners of Scrap OptiMiser Associates, will be affiliated with Tube City.
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