High-tech zone for city

The creation of a tech-focused economic development zone centered around Duquesne University and three other local universities was approved yesterday by state officials. The Pittsburgh Central Keystone Innovation Zone project will include a $237,3000 grant to the Hill House Economic Development Corp., tax incentives and other initiatives aimed at luring technology firms to locate and expand in areas around the Hill District, Uptown, Downtown and parts of Oakland.

PR Society honors Paytas

Patty Paytas, vice president of communications for the Pittsburgh Pirates, last night was honored as Renaissance Communicator of the Year by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Raymond Morris, chief executive officer of SAE International, was chosen CEO Communicator of the year for a not-for-profit organization. John Miclot, CEO of Respironics, and James Rohr, CEO of PNC Financial Services Group, shared the award for CEO Communicator of the Year.

Boutique bank gets nod

TriState Capital Bank said it received regulatory approval to open for business yesterday. With headquarters in One Oxford Centre, Downtown, the boutique bank targeting mid-size businesses is being run by former Pennsylvania banking secretary Bill Schenck, ex-Federated Investors executive Jim Getz and former Ernst & Young executive Mark Sullivan. The bank said it raised $85 million in an initial round of funding.

A billion cell phones shipped

Cell phone makers shipped more than 1 billion handsets for the first time in 2006, driven by a strong holiday season in which shipments rose nearly 20 percent to a record 295 million devices, the technology research firm IDC reported yesterday. The fourth-quarter activity drove the year's total shipments to 1.02 billion phones, up 22.5 percent from the 2005 tally of 833 million units.

Also in business ...

The Faber Coe & Gregg newsstand inside Two PPG Place will close on Wednesday. The store's lease is ending. ... National City Corp. said it would buy back 75 million common shares under the terms of a "Dutch auction." The company will buy the shares at prices ranging from $35 to $38.75 ... Marshall teen retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc. has named Alan Kane to its board. Mr. Kane, dean of the school of business and technology at the Fashion Institute of Technology, is also on the board of Circuit City Stores Inc. ... Werner Co., the Mercer County ladder manufacturer that filed for bankruptcy protection in June, said it was studying a $175 million buyout offer from an unidentified investor group. The Greenville company said it planned to emerge from bankruptcy this year.