Brewer awaits liquor license

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said yesterday Iron City Brewing LLC, the proposed owner of bankrupt Pittsburgh Brewing, has asked that the liquor license held by current owners be transferred to it. PLCB officials could not say how long it would take to investigate the new ownership group and approve its application. A federal bankruptcy judge last month approved Iron City's plan for acquiring the brewery, which sought bankruptcy protection in December 2005.

Ampco-Pitt's profit soars

Surging demand from the steel and aluminum industries sent Ampco-Pittsburgh's second-quarter profits up 55 percent. Net income totaled $10.2 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, vs. earnings of $6.6 million, or 66 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Sales increased 18 percent to $88.7 million.

U.S. Steel seeks training site

U.S. Steel said it is negotiating a lease for nearly 33,000 square feet at the site of its former Duquesne Works. The facility, owned by the Regional Industrial Development Corp., would be used to train employees of the steelmaker's Mon Valley plants.

Brokerage suspends work

Cool Space Locator, a nonprofit real estate brokerage, is suspending its operations in the wake of president Kyra Straussman's departure to assume a post with the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority. Ms. Straussman and Deborah Baron co-founded Cool Space in 2000; in January, its fiscal sponsor, the Tides Center, said its Pittsburgh office would cease sponsoring projects.

Consol exec cashes shares

The president of Consol Energy Inc.'s coal group exercised stock options to buy 22,095 shares for $15.39 apiece Friday, then sold them on the same day for $50 apiece, as the company's stock price rose to a 52-week high of $50.21. Peter B. Lilly reported the transaction in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale was conducted under a trading plan that allows a company insider to set up a program in advance for such transactions.

Also in business ...

Cartesia Dx, an Oakland-based developer of a technology to diagnose and track inflammation in patients, received a $180,000 investment from the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse. The company formerly was named Arthritis Imaging Inc. ... CNX Gas said it increased its 2007 capital budget to $336 million from $312 million to reflect the costs associated with increased drilling at well sites ... Fairmont Supply Co., of Cecil, said it acquired Piping and Equipment Inc., a pipe, valve and fittings supplier based in Pensacola, Fla., in a stock transaction. Terms weren't disclosed ... OEM/Erie, a maker of plastic parts for the auto industry, is closing its Erie plant, eliminating 150 jobs. Some of the workers have been offered a transfer to a Detroit operation.