Alabama officials tour city

About 100 business and civic leaders from Birmingham, Ala., will be completing a whirlwind tour of Pittsburgh today as they seek to learn from the region's efforts to redevelop brownfields, improve its image and revitalize Downtown. Since arriving Sunday, the group has visited the Waterfront and Carrie Furnace sites in the Mon Valley, toured Piatt Place -- the former Lazarus-Macy's department store being converted into condos, shops and offices -- and learned about the region's parks and trails. The trip, hosted by the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, was arranged because of the similarities between the two old steelmaking cities, said Barry Copeland, chamber executive vice president.

American Textile expanding

American Textile Co. is expanding its manufacturing operations in Duquesne with public and private financial assistance totaling more than $4.5 million. The company, a supplier of mattress and pillow protectors, received $3 million in financing from the state, $530,000 through the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, and a $1 million loan from the Citizens Job Bank. The new manufacturing operation will produce pillows and will result in the creation of 50 jobs over a three-year period.

Clinics set for drugstores

A Montgomery County company with plans to operate 10 nurse practitioner health clinics in local Eckerd drugstores is starting with centers in Rochester and Monroeville. Conshohocken-based Take Care Health Systems Inc. operates retail health-care centers that typically treat a limited set of basic ailments such as sinus infections, poison ivy and strep throat for fees that average from $59 to $74. Industry experts expect thousands of these retail centers to open in the coming years as consumers seek lower-cost care in more convenient settings.

Air charter flying in

Citing growth in the demand for private aviation, Atlantic Aviation will break ground today on a 30,000-square-foot hangar at Pittsburgh International Airport. The hangar will hold 15 planes, said John Carlen, general manager of Atlantic Aviation. Construction is expected to be completed in the spring. The air charter and flight services company also is planning a 7,000-square-foot office building.

Owens to end bankruptcy

Judge Judith Fitzgerald yesterday approved Owens Corning's plan for emerging from bankruptcy in federal bankruptcy court in Pittsburgh. The ruling comes more than five years after the company sought protection from creditors over health claims related to its asbestos products. The plan shifts Owens Corning's $7 billion in asbestos liabilities off company books and into a trust that will be established for the plaintiffs.

City law firm plans merger

Pittsburgh law firm Fox Rothschild will merge with Grotta Glassman and Hoffman, a New Jersey-based firm that specializes in labor and employment law. The merger will add 53 attorneys to Fox Rothschild. Grotta Glassman has offices in New Jersey, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Also in business ...

Kennametal Inc. said it completed the previously disclosed sale of the Disston Co., its consumer products business, to Cal SDI for $34 million, and said it bought Canada-based Camco Cutting Tools and Advanced Powder Fusion for an undisclosed amount ... Bayer MaterialScience funded a $300,000 grant from the Bayer Foundation to Penn State University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering for graduate fellowships and international student internships.