(Ups) to National City. Its recent acquisition of Wayne Bancorp provides the banking giant with a solid footprint in Wayne, Holmes, Medina and Stark counties. National City has been in acquisition mode all year, buying Cincinnati-based Provident Financial in February and St. Louis-based Allegiant Bancorp in April. As consolidation continues in the banking industry, National City seems to be making moves to ensure it will be a hunter rather than the hunted.
(Downs) to Hoover and Timken. Just when you thought the Northeast Ohio economy had seen the worst of the economic recession, two Stark County institutions recently piled on more bad news. Hoover will move its longstanding North Canton headquarters to Newton, Iowa, home of parent company Maytag Corp. The decision could wipe out as many as 500 high-paying, white-collar jobs in North Canton. And Timken plans to close three bearings plants in Stark County that employ 1,300 people. None of this bodes well for Stark County’s manufacturing climate.
(Ups) to Diebold. The North Canton manufacturer, which was criticized for selling electronic voting machines while Chairman and CEO Walden O’Dell raised money for Republican political candidates, has banned its senior executives from making future donations. In June, the company’s board of directors passed an amendment to its business ethics policy stating that top Diebold officials “may not make contributions to, directly or indirectly, any political candidate, party, election issue or cause, or participate in any political activities, except for voting.”
