Business category, Page 98
Biden says the FTC’s proposed ban on junk fees will help families and ‘honest’ businesses
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a proposed rule by the Federal Trade Commission to ban any hidden and bogus junk fees, which can mask the total cost of concert tickets, hotel rooms and utility bills. Biden has made the removal of these fees a priority of his...
Birkenstock set for its stock market debut as Wall Street trades in its wingtips for sandals
NEW YORK — Birkenstock is making its debut on the stock market as Wall Street trades in its wingtips for sandals for a day. The 249-year-old German maker of upmarket sandals set a price of $46 per share for its initial public offering of stock, valuing the company at $8.64...
Exxon Mobil buys Pioneer Natural in $59.5 billion deal with energy prices surging
Exxon Mobil Corp. is buying Pioneer Natural Resources in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion, its largest buyout since acquiring Mobil two decades ago, creating a colossal fracking operator in West Texas. Including debt, Exxon is committing about $64.5 billion to the acquisition, leaving no doubt of the Texas...
PNC laying off employees, exact amount not announced
PNC Bank is laying off an undisclosed number of employees, according to a statement from the company. It remains unclear how many workers will be let go. The banking giant based in Downtown Pittsburgh said in a statement that it is reviewing its organizational structure and “have identified an opportunity...
X promises ‘highest level’ response on posts about Israel-Hamas war, yet misinformation still flourishes
The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, says it is trying to take action on a flood of posts sharing graphic media, violent speech and hateful conduct about the war between Israel and Hamas. X says it’s treating the crisis with its highest level of response. But outside...
Just shy 4 years ago, another graduate worker union drive has begun at the University of Pittsburgh
Last time, they came close — as in 39 votes shy in an election to secure union representation. Now, four years later, more than 2,000 graduate student workers at the University of Pittsburgh, including teaching and research assistants, are vying anew to join the United Steelworkers. A card-signing campaign initiated...
Workers at Mack Trucks go on strike after rejecting tentative contract deal
DETROIT — Union workers at Mack Trucks went on strike Monday after voting down a tentative five-year contract agreement that negotiators had reached with the company. The United Auto Workers said 4,000 unionized workers walked out at 7 a.m., adding to labor turmoil in the industry that has ensnared all...
New Kensington’s Digital Foundry gets $200K infusion to boost manufacturing industry skills
A representative of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration kicked off the state’s Manufacturing Week on Friday with a visit to downtown New Kensington. Gwen Ross, director of workforce development initiatives with the state Department of Community and Economic Development, was at the Digital Foundry at New Kensington for what she said...
AHN, Johns Hopkins end cancer center partnership
After nearly a decade, Allegheny Health Network and Johns Hopkins are ending their cancer center collaboration. The affiliation between the Pittsburgh-based health care system and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins was established in 2014 and ended earlier this year. AHN will continue to partner with Johns...
Surge of hiring in September defies predictions, points to U.S. job market’s enduring resilience
WASHINGTON — An unforeseen burst of hiring last month has lifted hopes that the economy will prove durable once again, even as an array of threats lie ahead. Businesses across the U.S. economy ramped up their hiring in September, defying surging interest rates, financial market turmoil, the ongoing threat of...
Columbia Gas tests hydrogen blends in natural gas appliances
Near Beaver Valley Mall in Center, a micro-village is undergoing an experiment. They call it Safety Town. Small cabin-like structures surround a tiny house that’s been outfitted with the usual natural gas appliances you’d find in any home — a stove, water heater, washer and dryer and fireplace. There, Columbia...
X removes article headlines in latest platform update, widening a rift with news media
SAN FRANCISCO — X, formerly known as Twitter, has stopped showing headlines on articles shared on the platform. Now, X only displays an article’s lead image and a link to the story. Plans for the change were first reported by Fortune in August, when owner Elon Musk confirmed in a...
RIDC sells historic roundhouse in McKeesport
A remnant of U.S. Steel’s operations in McKeesport has a new owner. RIDC has sold the historic McKeesport Connecting Railroad roundhouse to W&E Investment LLC for $273,000. The four-acre parcel is located at RIDC’s Industrial Center of McKeesport. The McKeesport Connecting Railroad was a division of U.S. Steel that connected...
‘He saved my life’: Hillandale Farms founder donates $25M to Pitt after back surgeries
The pain in Orland Bethel’s lower back and hips became excruciating. In 2014, he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis — a narrowing and squeezing of the nerves and spinal cord. The 87-year-old Greensburg resident consulted with six orthopaedic surgeons. They told him they would need to “cut a chunk of...
Federal judge dismisses false advertising claims against Wendy’s, McDonald’s
A federal judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit that accused McDonald’s and Wendy’s of misleading consumers with ads that show bigger, juicier burgers than their restaurants actually serve. In an opinion released over the weekend, U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez said the images on the companies’ websites —...
Essential Utilities sells 3 microgrids in Allegheny County for $165M
Water and natural gas utility, Essential Utilities, Inc. is selling three non-utility microgrid and district energy properties — at Pittsburgh International Airport, a local hospital and Allegheny County government buildings — for $165 million. The buyer is Cordia, a Phoenix-based energy company that is looking to expand its footprint in...
More evidence that the U.S. job market remains hot after job openings rise unexpectedly in August
WASHINGTON — U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose in August, another sign the U.S. labor market remains strong despite higher interest rates — perhaps too strong for the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve. American employers posted 9.6 million job openings in August, up from 8.9 million in July and the...
John Dorfman: RTX, Timken, SeaWorld hit Casualty List
The harsh market climate of August and September has left quite a few stocks selling for what I consider bargain prices. Welcome to the 82nd quarterly Casualty List, featuring stocks that have been knocked around and that I think have the potential to recover and thrive. RTX Corp. I’ll start...
President of Trulieve Cannabis retires
The president of Trulieve Cannabis Corp. has stepped down, effective Oct. 1. Steve White will continue to serve as a strategic adviser for the cannabis company until his anticipated retirement at the end of this year. Mr. White co-founded Harvest Health & Recreation in 2011 and served as its CEO...
Viatris to sell several business segments for almost $7 billion
Pharmaceuticals giant Viatris Inc. said Monday it has agreed to sell several business segments in a planned divestiture. The Cecil-based company will sell substantially all of its Over-the-Counter (OTC) business, Women’s Healthcare business, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients business in India. The company is also selling commercialization rights that were acquired when...
UAW union reaches a tentative contract agreement with Mack Trucks
The United Auto Workers union has reached a tentative contract agreement with Mack Trucks that covers about 4,000 workers in three states. Mack Trucks confirmed a tentative agreement on a five-year contract early Monday after the UAW announced the deal just before midnight Sunday. “The terms of this tentative agreement...
Self-driving vehicle testing in Pittsburgh area shifting gears to focus on trucking industry
Not long ago, cars topped with a futuristic apparatus could regularly be seen cruising along Pittsburgh’s streets, testing technology that allowed the vehicles to get around without a person steering the wheel. But such car sightings have become rare as the autonomous vehicle sector has refocused from the hype of...
Riders protest Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s plan to shorten 4 routes
A group of bus riders on Friday protested Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s plan to shorten four bus routes starting Sunday, saying the changes will adversely affect city residents, particularly in Uptown and Downtown. The transit agency said the routes are being shortened because of the University Line bus-rapid transit construction project...
United Autoworkers strikes spread to Chicago and Lansing as 7,000 more workers join picket line
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union says its two-week strike against Detroit automakers will spread to 7,000 more workers at a Ford plant in Chicago and a General Motors assembly factory near Lansing, Michigan. Union President Shawn Fain told workers on a video appearance Friday that negotiations haven’t broken...
Biden calls for up to 3 oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, disappointing all sides
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday proposed up to three oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico but none in Alaska as it tries to navigate between energy companies seeking greater oil and gas production and environmental activists who want Biden to shut down new...
