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Business Briefs: Local gas cost drops, but still higher than average
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The price of gasoline in Western Pennsylvania fell 2.5 cents this week to $3.86 per gallon, which is still higher than the national average of $3.79, according to GasBuddy.com. Prices in the area this week were 35 cents higher than one year ago.
The Dollar Energy Fund is providing grants to help limited-income households pay their utility bills during the 2012-2013 heating season. Dollar Energy partners with 13 utility companies across the state. Applications will be accepted through Sept. 30, 2013, or until the funds are depleted. For more information about how to apply or donate to the organization, visit www.dollarenergyfund.org.
UPMC on Monday announced a five-year, $100 million project on "personalized medicine," with the goal of giving physicians the tools to predict the most effective treatment for individual patients based on their genetic and clinical profile. UPMC will be teaming with technology partners Oracle, IBM, Informatica and dbMotion on the project, which will integrate and analyze clinical, financial, administrative, genomic and other information to produce better patient outcomes and reduce costs.
The Washington Post Co. said on Monday that it has agreed to buy a majority stake in Celtic Healthcare, a Butler County home health care and hospice provider. Celtic Healthcare, whose headquarters is in Mars, and The Washington Post did not disclose the purchase price. Celtic was founded in 1996 in by physical therapist Arnie Burchianti, who will continue to be the company's CEO and co-owner, the Post has said.
International law firm Jones Day, which operates an office Downtown, said it plans to open an office in Amsterdam in early 2013. The Netherlands office will be the firm's 10th in Europe and 38th worldwide. Steve Brogan, the firm's managing partner, said launching an office in Amsterdam demonstrates "Jones Day's confidence in and commitment to the future of the European Union, which remains the largest economy in the world." The firm has 1,742 attorneys nationwide and 56 in its Pittsburgh office.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Monday that its index of factory activity rose for the first time in four months to 51.5. That's up from 49.6 in August. A reading above 50 signals growth. A measure of new orders jumped to 52.3, the highest reading since May.
Construction spending dipped 0.7 percent in August from July, the Commerce Department reported Monday. It was the second straight monthly decline. The decline lowered construction spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $834.4 billion. That's nearly 12 percent above a 12-year low hit in February 2011 and roughly half of what's considered healthy.
Half of all adult Americans now own either a tablet computer or a smartphone, and one-third use their mobile devices to view news stories and video clips at least once a week, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, which polled more than 9,500 adults from late June to early August. About 20 percent of the mobile news users surveyed said they paid for an online subscription in the last year. Nearly one-third of the mobile users have print-only subscriptions, and most have no plans to give them up.
The Pittsburgh chapter of the American Advertising Federation has named Nancy Richert as its new executive director, replacing Joyce Perhac, who served four years in the role. ... Manfred Schneider, former chairman of Bayer AG, was named an advisor to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. He retired after 45 years with Germany-based Bayer. ... Honda is recalling 600,000 Accord cars with V-6 engines, model years 2003-2007, to fix a faulty power steering hose that can leak fluid and cause a fire. Any owner who suspects a leak should take their car to a dealer for inspection.
From staff and wire reports
First Published October 2, 2012 12:00 am
