Business – cleveland.com

Plain Dealer audio: Tony Viola and home auctions

2008-04-25T19:44:28Z

Tony Viola

Some home sellers aren't waiting for the best offer. They're going with the highest bidder instead.

Sellers are turning to auctions as a route around a housing market stacked with reasonably priced homes. Last year, live residential auctions produced $16.9 billion in sales, making them the fastest-growing segment of the auction industry.

In our latest Weekend Diary, real estate reporter Michelle Jarboe talks with Tony Viola, who is both a Realtor and an auctioneer. He discusses the pros and cons of auctioning your home.

Listen here:

Or download the mp3.

COMING SUNDAY: Read The Plain Dealer's full report about home auctions.

Plain Dealer audio: Rebecca Reynolds of Planet Green

2008-03-14T22:27:45Z

Chris Stephens/PDRebecca Reynolds opened Planet Green in January.

Some people say it's hard to live a healthy, environmentally positive life. Rebecca Reynolds figures there's no choice.

As a teenager, she suffered a serious blood-clotting disorder and received high levels of steroids as a treatment. Once she recovered, she vowed to eat healthy, live smart and avoid environmental toxins.

Reynolds' store, Planet Green in Rocky River, is part of her cause. From furniture to jewelry, cleansers and pet supplies, she stocks practically everything to live a sustainable life.

In this week's Weekend Diary, Reynolds gives a tour of her store to Plain Dealer reporter Peter Krouse.

Listen here:

Or download the mp3 (00:08:27).

Plain Dealer audio: April Foley, ambassador to Hungary

2008-02-22T23:36:47Z

April Foley

One-time Avon Lake resident April Foley, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, was in town this week on a trade mission and to receive an award from the Cleveland Hungarian Development Panel.

President Bush appointed Foley as ambassador in 2006. The two had met years ago at the Harvard Business School.

Foley toured the Cleveland Clinic and met there with Plain Dealer business reporter Peter Krouse. His interview with her makes up this week's Weekend Diary podcast.

Listen to the interview here:

Or download the file. (0:9:26)

Plain Dealer audio: Resilience Capital Partners

2008-02-08T23:38:51Z

John Kuntz/PDSteve Rosen, left, and Bansem Mansour

Resilience Capital Partners does not make its money on sure bets. The company's founders, Steve Rosen and Bansem Mansour believe they can find value and make money in factories throughout Northeast Ohio that others have all but abandoned.

The Beachwood investment firm recently announced one of its biggest deals yet -- a $44.2 million deal to buy bankrupt automotive supplier Delphi Corp.'s wheel bearings business and Sandusky plant.

Plain Dealer automotive writer Robert Schoenberger recently talked with Rosen and Mansour about the business they began in 2001.

Listen here:

Or download the file.

COMING SUNDAY IN THE PLAIN DEALER: Read Schoenberger's full story about Resilience Capital Partners.

Plain Dealer audio: Developer Stuart Lichter

2008-02-01T21:54:05Z

Stuart Lichter

California developer Stuart Lichter is the man behind the planned redevelopment of the Ford plant in Lorain, the Hoover plant in North Canton, the Goodyear headquarters in Akron and a host of other projects in Ohio.

You may have heard his name, but how much do you know about him?

Lichter, the head of Industrial Realty Group LLC, doesn't seek attention. He is an relatively unassuming man motivated by more than just making a buck.

In our latest Weekend Diary podcast, Lichter talks by phone about what attracted him to rust belt projects, what he looks for in an opportunity and what has made his company a success.

Listen to the podcast here:

Or download the file.

COMING MONDAY: Read The Plain Dealer for Michelle Jarboe's profile of Stuart Lichter.

Plain Dealer audio: Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher discusses economic development

2008-01-25T22:33:23Z

Lt. Gov.
Lee Fisher

Ohio's lieutenant governor says that preserving and attracting businesses is the administration's No. 1 priority.

Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher plans early next month to finish a draft economic development plan for Ohio. A final version is expected in March. One goal is to ensure that state offices are not working at cross purposes, Fisher told Plain Dealer reporters and editors recently.

Fisher's comments make up our latest Weekend Diary.

Listen here:

Or download the file here.

Audio: Touring the restored Southworth mansion, now a union hall

2007-12-14T22:46:38Z

Gus Chan/The Plain DealerAnthony Liberatore Jr., in the doorway of Southworth House.

Laborers Local 860 painstakingly restored the 127-year-old Southworth House to make it a one-of-a-kind union hall. The manor on Prospect Avenue is a relic from the aristocratic quarter near downtown cleveland that John D. Rockefeller and other industrial barons called home.

When the union first saw the house, it was little more than a pigeons nest, said Anthony Liberatore Jr., the local's business manager. Today, the mansion is what it used to be: a treasure for generations to come.

Liberatore took Plain Dealer reporter Alison Grant on a tour -- our latest Weekend Diary.

Listen here:

Or download the file.

Audio: Consultant reviews Verizon's open-network plan

2007-11-30T19:34:01Z

One day, you'll be able to use whatever cell phone company you want, regardless of which phone you have.

Your reception will be clear, your Internet connection strong.

When? Who knows? But experts who watch the industry believe Verizon pulled the future closer this week, announcing that it will open its network to other companies' phones and software by the end of 2008.

Plain Dealer reporter Shaheen Samavati spoke with a number of analysts after Verizon's announcement. Our latest Weekend Diary presents one of them: Richard Doherty, reserach director of Envisioneering Group, a technology market research firm in New York.

Listen here:

Or download the file here. (0:02:53)

Audio: Ravenna mayor reflects on Portage County job losses

2007-11-23T18:04:18Z

Ravenna Mayor Kevin Poland

More than 500 workers soon will lose their jobs at factories in long-suffering Portage County. Blame it on a decline in competitiveness, a shift in business emphasis -- a troubled American industry shaving costs here, a small manufacturer losing its main customer there.

More than 460 of those men and women work at Ravenna Aluminum Inc., which will close plants in Ravenna and Rootstown by year's end.

• Listen to the interview here.

In this week's Weekend Diary, Plain Dealer Reporter Frank Bentayou interviews Ravenna Mayor Kevin Poland, who discusses how the situation will affect his community's businesses, economy and, most of all, its families.

Plain Dealer audio: Blogger Jane Genova

2007-11-16T16:55:58Z

At age 62, Jane Genova describes herself as a "disruptive thinker," a "free spirit" and a "Bohemian in my lifestyle."

Not the type of person that corporate America wants to give an executive office.

So Genova decided a few years ago to make a change. She moved to the Internet, where she developed a reputaton as a blogger - first on lead-paint cases and then on more diverse topics.

Genova, of New Haven, Conn., was in Cleveland this week to speak to the Cleveland Coatings Society. She took time to sit down with Plain Dealer reporter Peter Krouse.

Listen to the interview in Weekend Diary. (mp3)
Read Krouse's story about Genova here.

Plain Dealer audio: FirstEnergy's fight for rates

2007-11-02T17:25:53Z

The fight over Ohio's electric rates has been getting louder and louder. But, FirstEnergy Corp. this week set an important foothold somewhat quietly.

Plain Dealer file photo/2006FirstEnergy CEO Anthony Alexander, in the company's Emergency Operations Center in downtown Akron.

On one side of the debate, Gov. Ted Strickland has proposed legislation that, for the most part, allows the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to set electric rates.

On the other side, FirstEnergy Corp. wants to set its rates based on what it pays for electricity on the wholesale market - without getting the PUCO's approval.

Strickland's bill is still working its way through the General Assembly, but FirstEnergy didn't sound conciliatory this week.

After delivering the company's latest earnings report on Tuesday, CEO Anthony Alexander discussed rates and regulation during a telephone conference with analysts.
Read between the lines, and Alexander's message is clear: FirstEnergy plans to do things its way.

You can hear Alexander's remarks in our latest Weekend Diary. Listen here:

Or download the file here. (0:02:45)

One footnote:

A day after this teleconference, FirstEnergy announced that it had retained former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson as a constitutional expert to head off Strickland's plan. "We believe that it is a path the state just doesn't need to go down," a FirstEnergy spokesman said. "But if the state does go down it, we are very much prepared to defend our rights in court."

The fight is getting loud again.

The sounds of Wal-Mart's opening

2007-10-25T19:28:21Z

John KuntzTim Kinney spins his granddaughter, Kyah Thompson, 3, on the first day of business for Wal Mart in Steelyard Commons

It was more than your typical ribbon-cutting ceremony when Wal-Mart opened this week at Steelyard Commons.

It was more like a revival and a pep rally.

Combined.

The 7 a.m. event began before daybreak with a prayer and ended 40 minutes later with a cheer. In between, a parade of public and corporate officials pumped up the crowd and crowed over Ohio's 105th Wal-Mart Supercenter, the first in Cuyahoga County.

Notably missing were the opponents who have dogged Wal-Mart for years over pay and benefits. This was a day for jubiliation -- for promises that Wal-Mart's lower prices would raise Clevelanders' standard of living.

Listen in on the celebration. Download our latest Weekend Diary here. (00:09:50)

Audio: Sen. Voinovich talks about fuel economy in cars

2007-10-12T17:32:10Z

Sen. George Voinovich

We're all happier if we can drive farther on a tank of gas. It saves us money, and it helps the environment.

But it might not do much for the economy, says U.S. Sen. George Voinovich.

Voinovich came to General Motors' Lordstown plant this month to lobby against an energy bill that requires auto producers like Ford and GM to increase the mileage their cars achieve.

The Senate passed the bill -- with Voinovich voting no -- and he doesn't want it to get through the House without changes.

Voinovich believes that the bill would require automakers to spend millions to retool plants and develop cars and that it could cost Ohio thousands of automotive jobs.

Ohio's other Senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, supports the higher standards, earning him a bit of animosity among some autoworkers.

To hear Voinovich's comments, download this file. (0:04:57)

Plain Dealer audio: Jim Graham, UAW Local 1112 president

2007-09-29T10:59:18Z

Lordtown autoworkers will not get to build the Volt. But there is good news anyway.

For some time, the General Motors plant near Youngstown has seen the Volt, a future plug-in hybrid, as its salvation - as the car that will ensure the plant doesn't close when its current vehicles hit the end of the road.

Instead, the new UAW contract sends the Volt to a plant in Michigan. But it gives Lordtown another small fuel-efficient car and two other vehicles.

Plain Dealer reporter Robert Schoenberger has followed the contract negotiations all week. Today, Weekend Diary presents his telephone interview with Jim Graham, president of UAW Local 1112 in Lordstown.

Download the file here. (0:02:25)

Plain Dealer audio: Jeff Smisek, Continental Airlines

2007-09-22T12:36:45Z

Jeff Smisek

Aviation is on the rise in Cleveland.

Earlier this month, Continental Airlines announced details of a planned $50 million hub expansion at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Five days later, Mayor Frank Jackson promised that Burke Lakefront Airport would remain open indefinitely, a statement that ended years of speculation about Burke's future.

Jackson's announcement came during a luncheon presentation at the Jones Day law firm. Also speaking that day was Continental President Jeff Smisek.

Today's Weekend Diary includes Smisek's presentation about Continental's future in Cleveland.

To hear it, download this file. (0:03:46)