PhillyInc

Unisys Corp., which last week said it would cut 950 jobs on top of the 5,600 cuts altready announced, received an accolade -- for recruiting -- earlier in April. ERE Media Inc., a publisher of online forums and newsletters about recruiting, named Unisys’ staffer Brian Krueger as the finalist for Recruiter of the Year. Krueger was bested only by recruiter Achuthan Nair of Wipro Technologies, a Bangalore, India company that helps United States companies handle their business and technology needs abroad. Unisys, like other companies, has outsourced much of its work to India and other lower cost locations. — Jane M. Von Bergen

Lockheed Martin Corp. shareholders rejected a shareholder proposal that future proxy statements list the name and corporate title of executives earning more than $500,000 base pay annually -- the vote was 315.3 million shares against; 23.9 million shares in favor (with 6.2 million abstentions at 34.1 million not voting). Shareholders also rejected, but by a narrower margin, a proposal that that shareholders be allowed to cast an advisory vote on the board's compensation committee report. The vote was 184.3 million shares against; 137.2 in favor (with 23.8 million abstentions and 34.1 million not voting). The voting late last week was reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission on a form 8-K . -- Henry Holcomb

Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the largest U.S. chicken processor, said today that Pennsylvania is one of the states where its faces federal lawsuits seeking collective action for unpaid wages and overtime, the company said.

Two cases are pending before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Pittsburg, Texas company said in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. It denies wrongdoing.

In Pennsylvania, the company has a prepared food plant in Franconia and a fresh turkey processing plant in New Oxford, near York.

"Pilgrim's Pride strives to comply with all federal state and local laws,including those covering required compensation to our employees," said Ray Atkinson, a company spokesman. "In fact, we received a favorable decision relating to our pay practices in federal court and the decision was upheld on appeal." -- Jonathan Berr

Crown Holdings Inc.’s Crown Cork subsidiary had about 79,000 outstanding asbestos claims at the end of the first quarter, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. During that time, it received about 1,000 new asbestos claims and settled or dismissed an equal number, the Philadelphia-based company said. -- Jonathan Berr

The Boeing Co. is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its jumbo-jet factory in Everett, Wash., which has been expanded over the years to become the “world’s largest building” by volume. How big is it? Its 472 million cubic feet can swallow 2,142 average-size homes, 3.32 billion 16-ounce soda bottles, 75 football fields, or 911 basketball courts. Built to produce the Boeing 747, it has 25,000 employees who now also build the 767, 777 and 787 airliners. Parts of some of those planes have been built in Boeing’s relatively diminutive plant in Ridley Park. -- Henry J. Holcomb

Phillyinc - What will happen to your current site in Nicetown?
Pizzi - The fact that there was interest by Trump as a site for a casino really highlights the site’s value, from a location and access standpoint. All we’re doing now is we need to evaluate that. There is no plan at this point in time on anything other than just to evaluate the highest and best use for us and the community.

Q - What do you think its `best use' would be?
A - All of that is sort of the kind of work we want to provide in our evaluation. As I said, there was something other than industrial use that was envisioned (by Trump). We’ll work closely with Allegheny West Foundation, too, in anything that comes of it.

Q – Where else did you look for a site?
A -- We looked in the tri-state area, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. We were looking at either exisiting buildings or sites. That is just, from a shareholders' view, something we owed shareholders. Then like a funnel we brought it down to the viable sites. I come from an economic development background, I started at the PIDC. I made it very evident to the city and state that we were not going to practice any threats of that nature. We all had the same goal.

Q – But the effect was the same as a threat to leave: a nice deal with tax breaks and loans?
A – I want to point out that the tax break was not anywhere on the top of the list of reasons we went to the Navy Yard. Much more important to us was the partnership with Liberty/Synterra. It being in the exact center and heart of our ditribution area, with access to truck and rail and I-95. And then there were the low-interest loans. Tax breaks was not a driving force. The taxes were not on the top of the list.

Q – Do you envision PIDC being interested in your current site?
A – It doesn’t normally buy real estate unless it can develop it. The real estate tracts they have brought are usually donated. And we would not donate this to them.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Thanks largely to the patronage of the U.S. Defense Department, investors in Exton-based Innovative Solutions & Support Inc. are flying high from sales of its flat-panel displays and monitoring systems. Shares have risen almost 50 percent since January. So, major shareholders have registered plans with the SEC to sell 3.5 million shares. In a new SEC filing, it says chief executive Geoffrey S.M. Hedrick alone intends to sell 3.4 million shares. - Jonathan Berr

When a major investor in a public company registers his or her share-holdings with the SEC, it can mean several things, including the possibility he will sell them. Or not. Which is now what Geoffrey S.M. Hedrick, CEO of Exton-based Innovative Solutions & Support Inc., says he is doing with his: Holding them. Last week, Innovative filed notice with the SEC that shareholders including Hedrick held 3.5 million shares and might sell them. We mentioned the filing in a posting. But we did not listen to Hedrick's conference call with equity analysts, who pressed him on the point. And he said never fear, he had no plans to sell. Click below for the transcript of the call, as provided by Innovative.

Environmental Techtonics Corp. (AMEX: ETC), a Southampton, Pa.-based maker of aircraft simulators and decompression chambers, says in an SEC filing today that two big legal battles are coming to a head. It says a trial in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims is expected in June in its dispute with the U.S. Navy. In 2003 the company had sought $5 million "in connection with a contract for a submarine rescue decompression chamber project." The Navy rejected the claim in 2004, and the company filed suit in the claims court in 2005. Also sometimes next month, ETC says the discovery phase should be completed in its series of suits and countersuits against Walt Disney Co. In 2003 ETC sued Disney claiming the conglomerate owes it money for the design and production of the "Mission:Space" ride in Disney's Epcot Center. Disney countersued for $65 million in damages for "alleged failures in performance and design in the contract." ETC then filed another suit against Disney in 2005 alleging breach of confidentiality and unfair trading practices. PhillyInc has called ETC for comment. -- Jonathan Berr

Courtesy www.sjroe.com

PhillyInc: Is it a good time now to be in the alternative energy business?
Fraser: "When I first started coming to the United States in 1998, renewable energy was not the flavor of the month. … We focused on getting to know the poultry industry around the country. …Then of course after 9-11 we found a strong emphasis in many states in developing alternatives to oil. All of those factors have lead to a very strong and new appetite for renewable energy development."

Mace Security International Inc. (Nasdaq: MACE), the Mt. Laurel-based marketer of the famous security spray by the same name and even a few car washes from an abortive side business, is giving at least one employee extra incentive to stick around in the face of California investment firm’s effort to shake up the board. (See previous post). Mace said in an SEC filing today that chief accountant Ronald Pirollo of Langhorne, Pa., will get a lump-sum “retention payment” equal to his current salary of $180,000 if CEO/Chairman Louis Paolino Jr. no longer serves and control of the company changes hands. It may not seem like a lot. But then again, MACE's share price has been stuck below $3 for a couple years. Keep an eye on those filings.
- Thomas Ginsberg

Tang = soup in Mandarin (Phillyinc art)

- Harold Brubaker

Herr, though, isn't just a spokesman. He's also president of the Herr Food Inc., the privately owned business founded by his father James Stauffer Herr in 1946. Despite fierce competition from multi-national food companies, Herrs chips are the top sellers in the Philadelphia area, a position he said the company works hard to maintain. In an interview with PhillyInc, Herr talked about working in the family business where his older brother JM Herr is the chief executive and his father remains an advisor. He also spoke of how the family's religious faith guides the company. By the way, his favorite chips are natural kettle chips with sea salt and the Red Hots.

PhillyInc: Lots of families who run businesses wind up squabbling with one another. What's your family's secret for getting along?
Herr: "We do place a fairly high value on relationships. I guess it goes back to when we were growing up. ... There were five brothers and sisters. Whenever we got into a fight or something like that, we had to take time out. We had to apologize. We had to ask the other person for forgiveness. We learned it was easier not to get into these fights." (continued)

Courtesy American Executive

According to a recent glowing piece by the American Executive magazine, Singh's contract just for one phase of the work could be worth as much as $152 million, using Holtec's own underground Vertical Ventilated Module (VVM) technology. Singh actually had offered to invest $150 million of its own money into the project, although it's unclear whether his offer was accepted in the agreement signed on August 3. Coincidentally (it seems) on the same day, Singh's alma mater, the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania, announced that he had given it $20 million - it's largest gift ever. Talk about giving back. And talk about patience. Here's one of his lines from the magazine piece:

“We can make money here based on ideas that are not immediately gratifying. ... I call these ideas seed corn. If you don’t plant seeds today, you won’t have a crop tomorrow. Chernobyl is a great example. If we hadn’t developed the technology to dehydrate fuel seven years ago, we wouldn’t have the Chernobyl contract today.”

- Thomas Ginsberg

- Thomas Ginsberg

Come and get me!

Not with terms like “dead cat bounce,” “eyeballs” and “gross impressions.” That one is a personal favorite. It’s what employees do when they have to imitate their bosses' motivational speeches. (Actually, it’s an advertising term for how many times a message is seen or heard.)

How about this one, courtesy of today's corporate news: “Reverse logistics.” Does that mean making tidy and orderly systems messy? Most of us have kids or spouses who are expert in that -- no need to venture into the business world at all.

The term comes to us today from Genco Infrastructure Solutions Inc., which praises itself as the “recognized leader in Reverse Logistics.” The Pittsburgh company and its sister Genco subsidiary, Capital Returns Inc., just landed a $38.4 million, five-year-contract from the Philadelphia-based Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Supply Center.

If logistics means moving supplies or products efficiently through a manufacturing, warehousing and distribution center, reverse means the opposite — sucking all that product away from its former final destination. Genco, which handles retail returns, for example, will be sucking back (efficiently, we presume), expired or soon to be expired pharmaceuticals from the Defense Department along with medical supplies and related waste materials. Efficiency will be key, since the materials will come from throughout the United States as well as overseas.

Have a favorite term? Send it in with your own definition (but please, include the real meaning too!)

- Jane M. Von Bergen

The 69-year-old employee Pinckney, whose official title is special plant project coordinator, makes sure the quality and taste of the company’s ice cream is consistent. He makes sure that the chocolates are sufficiently chocolaty and that swirls of flavor are in both the bottom and the top of the container. He’s been at Turkey Hill for 14 years, but he dates his ice cream expertise to his childhood growing up on his family’s New York dairy farm. The 650-employee Turkey Hill, owned by Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), is run by Quintin Frey, grandson of the founder.
In an interview with for PhillyInc, Pinckney dished – pun intended – on his career, ice cream and his way of staying trim.

PhillyInc: Can you pick a favorite flavor or is that like asking you to pick a favorite child?
Pinckney: They are mostly all my favorites. … I like our black raspberry just for the flavor and the taste of it, and butter pecan. … From a professional standpoint, I prefer vanilla because you can get a true sense of all of the other dairy products.

It's not local, but something grabs us about this description of the Chinese toy manufacturer who apparently committed suicide over a recall. Local media portay him as a "caring and upright" guy taken in by his friend and business partner who sold him the toy paint.

Now that Mace Security International Inc.'s (NASDAQ: MACE) largest shareholder Andrew Shapiro has added to his holdings in the beleagured security products company, he demands to know how he can reach out to fellow shareholders of the Mt. Laurel security firm.

Shapiro's firm, Lawndale Capital Management L.L.C., intends to "communicate with Mace's shareholders with respect to matters relating to their mutual interests," Shapiro said in a SEC filing, adding that could include "nominating various individuals to Mace's Board of Directors as alternatives to current board members and/or to take other such action as Lawndale believes, in its sole judgment, may be necessary and/or appropriate to address Mace's governance weaknesses for the purpose of enhancing Mace's long-term sustainable value."

Along with other shareholders, Shapiro, who now owns 1.53 million shares, up from 1.42 million in June, has long complained that Mace's board of directors is too deferential to Chief Executive Louis Paolino. They have also claimed that Paolino is overpaid and receives unusual bonuses for both buying and selling companies. A Mace spokesman didn't immediately return a phone call to PhillyInc.

In June, Shapiro asked the board to remove Paolino's brother Matthew, who is also a company vice president, from the board and to expand its membership from five to seven people. He also recommended Eugene I. Davis, Gerald T. LaFlamme and Donald R. Raefield to be appointed as replacement board members.

One of the few things that Mace and Shaprio agree on is that the company's stock is cheap. Mace said yesterday that it would buyback as much as $2 million worth of its stock because it's currently trading under its book value (total assets excluding tangible assets and liabilities such as debt).

Shares of Mace have tumbled more than 20 percent this year amid concerns about the continued poor performance of its security business. During the six months ended June 30, security sales fell 11% to $11.06 million from $12.44 million.

The latest quarterly earnings weren't so hot either. Mace had a net loss of $1.26 million, or 8 cents, compared with $1.88 million, or 12 cents. Revenue fell to $11.3 million.

Mace, which released its earnings yesterday, has scheduled its earnings conference call for Thursday at 11 a.m. People can access the by calling 1-888-751-6352. A Web cast is available at the Web site

As usual, there will be plenty to talk about.

- Jonathan Berr

DuPont Co. (NYSE:DD) is cobbling together a mighty effort to stabilize its share of the corn seed market in the U.S. and North America. The Wilmington company is the world's largest corn seed producer, but its pesky rival, Monsanto Co., keeps snatching business, Bloomberg News reported. The St. Louis company gobbled as much as 5 percent of U.S. corn seed sales this year at the expense of its competitors.

Speaking in a husky voice during a DuPont internet presentation today (actually, we don't know if his voice was husky, but we couldn't resist the pun. sorry), Erik Fyrwald, agriculture group vice president for DuPont, vowed to turn the situation around, by, at a minimum, holding share flat in 2008 in North Ameria and growing it elsewhere. DuPont predicted that seed sales will rise 15 percent this year, driving profit 10 percent higher in its agricultural unit.

It looks like DuPont is putting more than seed money into the battle. It plans to spend $100 million, some earmarked for 150 new sales and marketing employees in its Pioneer Seed unit. The rest will go to increasing production of its most desirable seeds.

The company also confirmed its earlier forecast of $3.15 a share for 2007 earnings, less than the $3.17 predicted by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net income for 2006 was $3.38 a share.

- Jane M. Von Bergen

With all the news about recalls and toxins from Chinese-made products, this little item stands out via Reuters yesterday: China has banned imports of children's cookies produced by PT. Arnott's Indonesia, a subsidiary of Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE:CPB). Reuters quotes the People's Daily Online as reporting that China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said that 1.6 tons of biscuits had "excessively-high aluminum levels," or about three times the level allowed by the Chinese government. The "biscuits" were not identified, but its Web site says it makes "Tim Tam," "Nyam Nyam," "Stikko" and "Good Time" biscuits. No sign that other products from Campbell or Arnotts were involved. We're putting in a call to Camden.

Is there some connection to the Mattel recall, the pet-food fracas and tires scandal? Or is this a Chinese-Indonesia spat? Reuters notes that even as China's own exports have been placed under heightened international scrutiny, it has banned imports of fish and other aquatic products from Indonesia after finding heavy metals in them. Either way, it illustrates that recalls happen, or could happen, all the time, everywhere and anywhere. Just check the Food and Drug Administration's recall page.

- Thomas Ginsberg

More on the aluminum-laced biscuits saga (previous post): Campbell spokesman Anthony Sanzio, in Camden, tells us flatly today that there's no connection between China banning the biscuits made by its Indonesian subsidiary and other U.S. companies banning or recalling their products from China. He doesn't even demur from commenting on the notion that China is sending a signal about recalls by banning something itself: "I wouldn’t characterize it as that. The Chinese government is obviously concerned about safety. We plan to cooperate with the authorities."

Sanzio gives a few other details: its subsidiary PT Arnott manufacturers the biscuits on contract for another company, which he would not identify. The snacks are not sold under Arnott's or Campbell's name, or any other subsidiary. They are made to the customer's specs and shipped to China in plain white boxes, which are then labeled and sold only there.

As for the aluminum traces found in the biscuits: "Right now, we’re conducting our own investigation into the matter with our teams. We’re testing samples of the products along with the ingredients so we have all the information we have to have to respond appropriately."

- Thomas Ginsberg

Imperium Renewables Inc,, one of the largest makers of biodiesel fuel, says it will build a production facility in Philadelphia to tap the growing demand for the environmentally friendly fuel in the U.S. and Europe.

The company expects to lease an 8.5 acre site in Philadelphia during the second half of the year, according to a filing today with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Construction is scheduled to begin next year on the 100 million gallon per year capacity plant with completion slated for early 2009.

"Our East Coast location will give us a cost advantage over our competitors who must transport biodiesel via rail or road to the East Coast," the filing said. "Additionally, several U.S. East Coast states have enacted laws that mandate or encourage the use of renewable or low emissions fuels or that provide tax or other incentives for renewable fuels, which we believe will stimulate demand for biodiesel."

Last week, Seattle-based Imperium, which also is going public, opened a plant near Grays Harbor, Wash., with a capacity equal to what's planned for Philadelphia. On a capacity basis, the $78 million plant, is the biggest in the U.S., according to the National Biodiesel Board. The company's plant would join one a much smaller in the area operated by Philadelphia Fry-O-Diesel LLC, which converts restaurant grease to fuel. That company hopes to have a commercial-scale plant with a capacity of 3 million gallons next year.

"They serve a very, very different market than we do," said Fry-O-Diesel president Nadia Adawi, who was aware of Imperium's plans. "Their model is not to serve the local market. I don't think we will be competing with them at all."

Philadelphia provides Imperium with a central location to supply Baltimore-based power company Constellation Energy Group Inc. with biodiesel for power plants in 20 states and the District of Columbia under an exclusive contract.

"However, under our contract with Constellation, we may lose this status if we are unable to timely commence operations of our U.S. East Coast production facility," the filing said.

In addition to Philadelphia, Imperium also is planning to build plants in Hawaii and Argentina. The company also is "evaluating" sites in Belgium, China and the Philippines. An Imperium spokesman declined to comment, citing the so-called "quiet period" in which limits the companies going public can release.

Biodiesel is growing from a niche product targeted environmentally conscious consumers to a big business. This year, domestic production is expected to reach more than 300 million gallons, up from 25 million in 2004, according to the National Biodiesel Board, which estimates that demand for the environmentally friendly fuel has tripled in each of the past three years.

"The industry is growing pretty rapidly right now thanks to people's interest in renewable fuel and finding out about more diesel vehicles," said Amber Thurlo Pearson, a board spokeswoman.

- Jonathan Berr

Just in time for the PIF (see yesterday's post on exporting), Fortune magazine has released its latest list of best and worst and richest companies, etc, and it turns out that only one Philadelphia-area company made the magazine's newest list of the 100 fastest-growing public companies. Sure, NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRI) did come in No. 1 with a three-year EPS growth of 433 percent. (Oh, in the spirit of disclosure: NTRI's chief executive officer, Michael Hagan, is a co-owner of The Inquirer, and Inquirer chief Brian Tierney is on NutriSystem's board.) Still, it was not a great showing overall for the country's fifth-biggest metro area. On the other hand, this region did fare better among private companies listed by Inc. magazine last week. So much for lists.

- Thomas Ginsberg

So who’s going to buy Godiva chocolates? No, not the boxes in the store — the business unit up for sale by Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE:CPB) The world’s biggest maker of bulk chocolate, Barry Callebaut, AG, in Zurich, just said no, turning down $500 million in annual sales. Lindt & Spruengli AG, the Swiss manufacturer of Ghirardelli chocolates, is looking into it, Bloomberg News reports. Analysts say bidders may pay as much as $1 billion for the Godiva.
- Jane M. Von Bergen

Bloomberg this morning quotes unnamed insiders as saying that, yes, Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE:SOUP) is asking $1 billion for Godiva. Previous posts here and here.

Hope van Beuren, whose grandfather John T. Dorrance invented condensed soup in 1897, and her husband John recently unloaded more shares of Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) than they have in years. The van Buerens, who report their holdings to the Securities & Exchange Commission separately, have reported transactions valued at more than $83 million from selling Campbell's stock over the past 18 months, according to InsiderScore.com (reg. required). They stepped up the pace of their sales significantly this week.

On September 11, Hope Van Beuren sold more than 304,000 shares, her biggest one-day sale since at least 2004, while John van Beuren disposed of more than 234,700, his biggest sale since 1998, according to InsiderScore. John van Beuren also sold another 4,800 shares a day later. And Hope van Bueren disposed of 56,500 shares on both September 10 and September 7.

No word on what prompted the sale. The van Beurens didn't respond to requests for comment left with one of their lawyers and at their foundation in Newport, Rhode Island. A Campbell spokesman also didn't respond to a request for comment.

The van Beurens and other Dorrance heirs in the past have sold large amonts of shares. Individuals whose wealth is tied to one stock do sell shares from time to time for a variety of reasons. Wall Street's sentiment toward Campbell is lukewarm at best. Its shares have dropped more than 8 percent this year amid worries about rising costs. Recently Campbell has begun trying to sell its Godiva chocolate business for more than $1 billion to focus on soup.

With a fortune estimated at $1 billion, Hope van Beuren ranks 297 on the Forbes magazine list of the 400 Richest Americans, which features her cousins Mary Alice Dorrance Malone (No. 140) of Coatesville, Pa. and Bennett Dorrance (No. 153), who both sit on the company's board.

- Jonathan Berr

Last week, Inquirer columnist Monica Yant Kinney wrote of her futile search for toys not made in China or elsewhere. It prompted a thoughtful note from Alan Dorfman of Basic Fun Inc. in Southampton, who suggests the government adopt a new labeling standard: Name of country where a product was manufactured AND where it was designed. As in "Made in China; Designed in U.S.A." Here's his whole note:

I write to comment on your article on U.S. toys and China manufacturing. I am president of a Philadelphia area toy manufacturer, Basic Fun Inc. (Southampton, PA). Basic Fun is proud to be the manufacturer of Monopoly, Etch A Sketch, Scrabble, Dora the Explorer, Sponge Bob Squarepants, Transformers, Pokemon toys and dozens of others toy products Our specialty is miniaturizing classic and popular toys and entertainment properties under license, into fully functional and figural keychain-scale toys. All of our products are designed here in Southampton, and are manufactured in China.

DuPont Co. Chairman Chad Holliday gave a briefing yesterday in Wilmington attended by "60 reporters from 20 countries." So says DuPont. And what did they hear him say? The News Journal heard this: "We do not predict a recession. We have seen some obvious turnaround in the financial markets. MarketWatch heard him review "troublesome" trends among customers.

- Thomas Ginsberg

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported last week that Boeing Co. has fired an employee at its St. Louis facility for "having a conversation" with the newspaper about the company's ability to protect its computers from fraud and manipulation. The newspaper ran an investigative story in July on the subject, although it does not confirm whether it used information from the fired employee. A company spokesman, Tom Downey, told the newspaper it had no comment on personnel matters and he also demurred when asked whether Boeing was conducting surveillance of employees. Boeing employs roughly 5,000 people in the Philadelphia area.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) reported to the SEC yesterday that it gave CEO and president Douglas R. Conant total compensation last year worth $13.43 million. That's a lot, and evidently much more than before, although figuring out just how much is tough despite -- or because of -- the SEC's demand for clearer reporting. Campbell said it bumped up his base salary to $1.13 million from $1.07 million. The biggest gain came from $6.49 million in stock awards this year compared with zero (yes, $0) last year. This week's SEC report on its review of compensation disclosures called for clearer reporting, but we may have to wait till next year to see the real trend.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Douglas R. Conant, the president and chief executive officer of Camden-based Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB), may soon spend a bit more time in New York. He has been elevated to chairman of the Conference Board, the influential business-executive organization that, among other things, produces the Consumer Confidence Index and the leading economic indicators index. The group's leaders and members may be what people unwittingly mean when they say "captains of industry." Its board boasts CEOs of many global corporations. Its other Philly-area CEO is Richard T. Clark of Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK). A chairman's tenure usually lasts two years.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Enersys, the battery and power-system maker based in Reading, rose 14 percent last week on the NYSE, one of the biggest moves among Philadelphia area non-penny stocks. Unclear why. Since Nov. 8, several officers including CEO John D. Craig and president Raymond R. Kubis have sold a total of $18 million worth of stock and options, according to InsiderScore.com. No answer Friday at the company to our call asking for explanation. Anybody know what's happening?

Subaru of America Inc. chairman, president and CEO Tomohiko Ikeda hasn't had much time to get homesick for Japan since arriving in Cherry Hill to run the automaker's U.S. division. Ikeda is executing Subaru's goal of expanding its U.S. market share from its current 1 percent. It has opened offices in Los Angeles and Dallas, and is working on increasing dealerships from 599 to 625.

On his second tour here after serving as a vice president from 1998 to 2002, Ikeda faces a daunting situation. Although Subaru recently posted record sales, the overall auto market is lackluster. U.S. new-vehicle sales were probably 1.2 million in November, virtually unchanged from a year earlier and down 2.5 percent from October, according to Edmunds.com.

To be sure, Subaru's consumers are loyal. Consumer Reports rates the company's cars second in terms of reliability behind Honda and ahead of Toyota, which is one of the investors in Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Consumer Reports recommends all of the company's models.

The company is in Cherry Hill because that's where Subaru's first distributors, Malcolm Bricklin and Harvey Lamm, had set up their company, Subaru in America, in 1968. It is now wholly owned by Fuji.

Ikeda, 54, who drives a dark-gray Tribeca, has made the most of his time in the Philadelphia region. His wife, Yuriko, earned a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania during his last posting in Cherry Hill. She has accompanied him again to the United States. Their son Tenchi, 20, remains in Japan.

Ikeda spoke to us about Subaru's plans to meet the growing demand for environmentally friendly vehicles, its U.S. expansion plans, cheesesteaks, and Impressionism.

Q: Subaru has had trouble meeting sales targets in the past, but recently reported its best sales in 20 years. Does that mean it's on the right track?
A: Actually better this year. Last year, we sold over 200,000 units. It's the best sales in our history, over 200,000. Our target was a little below 200,000, because some products are discontinued, like Baja. (Also, this is a changeover year, when we've introduced four new models.) Our targets were down. Even so, the market is not good ... [because of] oil and the green issue.

Robert E. Turner, chief of Turner Investment Partners Inc., gets big-league compensation, and then some. His firm's SEC disclosure for its IPO last month (we finally noticed it yesterday) says its founder will get $2 million in base salary plus a possible $4 million bonus. That $6 million would be a higher percentage of its total assets under management -- $27.6 billion -- than several bigger firms pay their chiefs.

Baltimore's Legg Mason Inc. has $1 trillion under management and is paying Raymond A. Mason about $13.7 million total. Janus Capital Group Inc. of Denver has $193.5 billion under management and pays Gary D. Black about $14.5 million. Pittsburgh's Federated Investors Inc. has $276 billion under management and pays J. Christopher Donahue about $3.6 million.

Turner's office says no comment.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Campbell Soup Co. says it's selling to a Turkish company, Yildiz Holding A.S., which is the owner of the Ulker Group. See Inquirer business news.

Some clever consultants have come up with attention-grabbing, if predictable, advice for Santa Claus: Relocate!

The Swedish firm Sweco AB of Stockholm says it has examined global demographics and transport routes and concluded Santa Claus ought to relocate to the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan, where he could "achieve the most efficient around-the-world trip to distribute Christmas gifts. He can eliminate time-consuming detours and avoid subjecting his reindeer to undue strain." (No word on whether Sweco is bidding for contracts in Kyrgyzstan.)

Jumping on this sleigh, Kyrgyz tourism authorities have declared their predominantly Muslim nation Santa's "new home," according to Reuters.

The government there also calls 2008 the "Year of Santa Claus" and renamed a mountain "Santa."

Okay kids, whoever spells Santa's new address correctly gets an iPodsky.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Demolition of the abandoned Tidewater Grain Co. elevator last weekend may illustrate something poignant about our manufacturing sector after all: It has reduced to rubble one vestige of this region's economy and will replace it with perhaps a symbol of our future manufacturing role: a mountain of scrap metal.

Camden Iron & Metal Inc., whose subsidiary Preston Properties bought the Tidewater site in August for roughly $3 million, says it spent about $2 million to raze the structure and make way for a new metal-shredding operation on the river. So says Howard Cain, a consultant to the Camden-based company run by Joe Balzano.

Cain told us that Camden Iron & Metal ships has been looking for a site closer t the river for about two years. It ships about 70 percent of its scrap out by water to manufacturing plants overseas or in the South. It will relocate its current Philadelphia operations to the 12-acre Tidewater site and close its smaller site at 26th and Penrose. Cain said no decision has been made on what will become of the Penrose site. At the Tidewater site, the new pile of scrap metal should begin to rise later next year and will replace a concrete salvage operation there run by Carbon Services Corp. of Leighton, Pa.

So one way or another, recycling and scrap seem to be in Philly's future.

- Thomas Ginsberg

When Vijai Gupta arrived in Canada from his native India in 1959 to study chemical engineering at McGill University, he soon realized there wasn't a morsel of Indian food to be found. He quickly became a gastronomic adventurer, sampling cheap delicacies he could afford on a student budget that he had never tried before, such as Hungarian goulash.

Fast-forward to the 1970s. His wife, Jyoti, wanted to start a home-based business to use her nutrition degree while watching over their two children, Anjali and Anuj. So in 1979, while living in Houston, the couple founded JYOTI Cuisine India, named after his wife, and began outsourcing the canning of foods based on Jyoti's recipes. A year later, Gupta, then a scientist at Atlantic Richfield Co., was transferred to the Philadelphia area and brought the food business along. In Their food business took off and by 1997, they moved from his house to the site of a former mushroom cannery.

The road to profitability hasn't been easy. JYOTI was sued after people found pebbles in with their chickpeas and other beans. To solve the problem, Gupta invented bean-cleaning technology that since has been patented and licensed to other food processors.

Last year, Gupta said sales at his Berwyn, Pa.-based company rose 50 percent to $3 million. (It's now owned by the couple's holding company, Gourmail Inc., with Jyoti listed as president.) Now the company, called JYOTI Natural Foods, which provides vegetarian meals to US Airways and British Airways, is launching its first meat product, chicken curries to compliment its vegetarian products.

Q: When you arrived in Canada as a student in 1959, was there any Indian food to be found?
A: There were no restaurants, no Indian grocery stores, and so on. ... I would go all over Montreal to find cheap, good food like Hungarian goulash, for $1.25 (for) the whole meal. ... I went to an Italian restaurant and tried to put some sugar in a cup of tea. ... It turned out it was Parmesan cheese.

The son of the late founder of Airtrax Inc. has resigned from the board of a small Blackwood maker of specialized vehicles.

Peter L. Amico Jr., in a letter dated Jan. 10, said he no longer sees his participation on the board of directors as "productive."

"My father, the Founder, biggest believer and hardest working man I knew would be proud that I served in his company," Amico writes in his letter, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday. "Airtrax was his concept. A concept that took years to bring to fruition."

That concept was a wheel that can move in all directions. The "omni-directional technology" was designed and manufactured by Airtrax via a technology transfer deal with the U.S. Navy. The company has developed military and commercial vehicles that use the wheel technology, but has struggled to complete orders.

Airtrax was started in 1997 by Peter Amico Sr., who died Aug. 25, 2006. The company said in another regulatory filing that Amico's death, which was unexpected, has limited production and sales.

Why did the younger Amico quit the board? His letter offers this: "The disagreement with the family estate is concerning, and will only create conflict, which would impede with the business of Airtrax ...."

He concludes saying that the Amico family wants Airtrax to succeed and "wishes the best of the Company and its employees."

- Mike Armstrong

Given yesterday's market gyrations and Fed rate cut, it wouldn't be a surprise if many people missed these news items yesterday.

DuPont Co. and Johnson & Johnson, two companies that employ 14,400 people in the Philadelphia region, issued fourth-quarter earnings results on Tuesday. DuPont reported lower net income, but managed to beat analysts' estimates. Johnson & Johnson's earnings were 10 percent higher.

These are giants in the chemicals and health-care industries. But their conference calls were drowned out by the wail of worry emanating from the world's stock markets.

At any other time, a 10 percent increase in the worldwide sales of Remicade, the drug developed by Horsham-based Centocor Inc. , would warrant a second look. At $3.33 billion in sales, Remicade is one of the most lucrative drugs to emerge from Philadelphia's life-sciences sector.

Perhaps on another day, investors might have paid attention when DuPont chief executive officer Charles O. Holliday Jr. explained how the Wilmington company has benefited from compound annual sales growth rates of 18 percent in Asia's emerging markets.

It's hard to focus on tales of growth when so many are nervous about recession.

- Mike Armstrong

Think the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act is toothless?

Met-Pro Corp. this morning disclosed that it would restate its financial results for each quarter since Jan. 31, 2007, after discovering errors made by a non-officer level sales employee.

The errors center on the premature recognition of net sales and net income. The Harleysville company had this to say:

The financial statement errors were the result of unauthorized actions by one non-officer level sales employee, in violation of the Company's policies, including its revenue recognition policy. The employee has since been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.

Shares of Met-Pro were down 10 percent, or $1.06, to $9.96 around noon.

Claymont Steel Holdings Inc.'s brief turn as a public company is over.

Evraz Group S.A. , a steelmaker owned in part by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, completed its purchase of Claymont Steel in a deal valued at $564.8 million, or $23.50 per share.

Claymont Steel manufactures plate steel out of scrapped railroad cars, automobiles, and other sources of scrapped steel at its mini-mill in New Castle County, Delaware.

The operation has had a string of owners in recent years following the bankruptcy of Phoenix Steel in the '80s. First, a Chinese company bought the operation out of bankruptcy. A Miami hedge fund bought Claymont Steel in June 2005 for $75 million. It took the company public in an offering completed Jan. 23, 2007.

Evraz is a steel and mining company that owns three huge steel plants in Russia, one is Italy and one in the Czech Republic. It also owns Evraz Oregon Steel Mills, in Portland.

- Mike Armstrong

PMC Group, of Mount Laurel, is involved in the biggest acquisition in its 14-year history.

The privately held maker of specialty chemicals and plastics has agreed to buy the oleochemical business of Chemtura Corp., of Middlebury, Conn. Neither side would release the terms of the transaction.

PMC is not a household name among the Philadelphia region's chemical companies. Founded in 1994, PMC was started by Paritosh M. Chakrabarti, former chief of technology at PPG Industries. He led the acquisition of PPG's polymer products business; his initials gave PMC its name.

Spokeswoman Patti Griggs said that the pending acquisition of the Chemtura business would be PMC's largest acquisition to date. The deal covers a factory in Memphis, Tenn., that employs 275 people. The oleochemicals business had revenues of about $175 million in 2007.

Both Chemtura and PMC expect the transaction to close by March 31.

PMC employs a total of about 200 people at two factories in Pennsylvania: Crystal Inc.-PMC in Lansdale and Polymer Products Co. Inc. in Stockertown. It also owns the only producer of audio cassettes (remember them?) in the United States. That would be Lenco Inc., with operations in Nebraska.

A global company, PMC has operations in France, India and Canada.

- Mike Armstrong

The daily swirl of negative economic statistics and red ink gushing from financial services firms can overwhelm what's going on in other sectors.

Take office furniture. Now there's a business that should be on the edge with a shaky economy. What companies are buying new workstations when they’re considering cutting workers?

Based on the financial results for 2007 for East Greenville-based Knoll Inc. , plenty were.

Knoll surpassed $1 billion in sales last year for the first time. In fact, its sales have grown by 50 percent since 2004 when it went public. And while Knoll CEO Andrew Cogan acknowledged on an analyst call that 2008 will be challenging, the company is better positioned to weather this downturn.

Still investors aren't convinced. Knoll shares are down 41 percent over the last year. Knoll closed Thursday at $13.49, up 73 cents.

"We do not believe the industry is facing anywhere near the conditions that were experienced in 2001-2003," said Barry L. McCabe, Knoll's chief financial officer.

For one thing, Knoll is less dependent on those desks. During the 2001 recession, the company relied on its "office systems" for 70 percent of its revenue. Now that figure is 50 percent.

It also gets 10 percent of its revenue from areas other than North America. Knoll's European business was strong and it doubled business in the Middle East.

It is a global economy after all. Companies that have diversified geographically may be able to skate through the U.S. slowdown with only bumps and bruises.

- Mike Armstrong

That solid 2007 that Knoll Inc. turned in has led to some plush bonuses for its top management team.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, CEO Andrew B. Cogan has been awarded a cash bonus of $1.04 million.

Kathleen G. Bradley, president and CEO of Knoll North America, will get a bonus of $780,000, while chief financial officer Barry L. McCabe will get $416,000.

Stephen A. Grover, the executive vice president for operations, and Arthur C. Graves, the executive vice president of sales and distribution, each will receive $416,000.

The East Greenville, Pa.-based office furniture designer and manufacturer topped $1 billion in sales for the first time last year.

- Mike Armstrong

No doubt manufacturing has steadily evaporated here, but Ametek Inc., of Paoli, has been acquiring quite a collection of subsidiaries all over the world.

Ametek could be one of the quietest publicly held $2 billion companies around. Its operations are scattered across 19 states and 10 foreign countries. But occasionally Ametek does a local deal. Yesterday, it bought Newage Testing Instruments Inc. , of Southampton. Unless you're into testing the hardness of metals, Newage is not likely to be familiar.

But it's the kind of company that Ametek seeks out for its customers in the aerospace, industrial, process and power markets. Ametek does have one claim to fame: It boasts that it is the world's largest maker of "air-moving electric motors" for vacuum cleaners.

- Mike Armstrong