Glaxo lops Philly headquarters tag

Philadelphia will no longer be able to call itself one of the American headquarters of British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the company said Wednesday.

As part of a restructuring that also will eliminate 1,800 U.S. sales jobs, GlaxoSmithKline said it will designate its facilities in Research Triangle Park, N.C., as the single operational headquarters for the United States.

The company's global headquarters are in London.

Spokeswoman Mary Anne Ryhne said the headquarters designation was aimed at eliminating confusion. GlaxoSmithKline remains "committed to the Philadelphia community and to Pennsylvania. We've supported communities where our employees live and work, and we'll continue to do that."

GlaxoSmithKline employs about 5,000 people in the Philadelphia region. The company has not said how many jobs would be cut here or in any other city. Many big pharmaceutical companies, including Merck and Wyeth, have cut jobs to cope with the threat of generic competition and a lack of blockbuster drugs.

A spokeswoman for Glaxo's Consumer Healthcare unit in Robinson, which has about 450 employees, said there will be no impact on Pittsburgh-area operations from the sales force reduction. But about 60 jobs were cut here when marketing operations were moved this summer.

Research Triangle Park won the headquarters designation in part because the company owns its facilities there and leases its Center City building, Rhyne said.

Some of the jobs to be cut are already vacant, and some will be shifted from pharmaceutical sales to vaccine sales, so the net job reduction will be 1,000.

The shared headquarters resulted from previous mergers.

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$40.6M natural gas pipeline planned in region

A unit of Dominion Resources Inc. has asked federal regulators for permission to build a $40.6 million natural gas pipeline to push the fuel through four Western Pennsylvania counties and eventually to retail markets.

Dominion's Rural Valley project will move 57 million cubic feet of natural gas daily from the Big Springs area of McKean County, through the Allegheny National Forest in Elk County, into Armstrong County near Rural Valley, with termination at the huge Oakford compressor station outside Delmont, Westmoreland County.

Dominion and Texas Eastern Transmission LP jointly own the Oakford compressor station/underground natural gas storage facility.

Total new pipeline to be laid for the project is just 1.3 miles, as much of the Rural Valley project uses existing Dominion pipe. The project includes a new compressor station in Armstrong County featuring 5,325 horsepower of natural gas-fired compression to push the gas south toward Oakford. It also includes natural gas measuring and regulating stations to be built in Rural Valley, in Elk and McKean counties, and a measuring station to be constructed at the Oakford facility.

In an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Dominion said the facilities are designed to create "additional outlets for the increased natural gas production in Western Pennsylvania."

That is a reference to the sharp ramp-up in natural gas being found, produced and readied for shipment from the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation under much of the state.

"We're going to be taking natural gas from our customers and getting it to market for them, or to their customer for delivery to market," said Dominion spokesman Robert Fulton.

The five natural gas producing companies that have signed contracts to take all the project's available capacity are Equitable Energy Inc., Seneca Resources Corp., a unit of National Fuel Gas Co., of Williamsville, N.Y., Kittanning-based independent natural gas producer/marketer Snyder Brothers Inc., and Dominion companies Dominion Field Services and Dominion Peoples.

Richmond, Va.-based Dominion has asked FERC to issue a final order approving the project by June 1, so that the pipeline can come on-line no later than Nov. 1, 2010.

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Prime North Shore site sold

The city Stadium Authority has completed the sale of one of two prime pieces of North Shore property where the Pittsburgh Steelers want to build a 178-room Hyatt Place and a companion year-round entertainment complex.

The purchase price for the 3.96-acre site near Heinz Field was $1.38 million, according to documents filed Tuesday with the Allegheny County Real Estate Department.

The buyer was PSSI Stadium Corp., which manages Heinz Field.

The price was approved by the authority for the entertainment portion of the development.

"We are pleased that we were able to close on the purchase of the property for the entertainment center," said Steelers President Art Rooney II in a statement. "We are looking forward to moving ahead with the final planning and development phase of the property."

Rooney said the plan is to develop an indoor/outdoor year-round entertainment venue that would seat 5,000 people outdoors and 2,000 indoors.

Officials previously said PromoWest Productions of Columbus, Ohio, will operate a concert venue at the site similar to one it operates in Ohio.

The sale is another blow for North Side United, a pro-labor neighborhood group that filed a lawsuit to stop the sports team from buying an adjoining property known as Lot 6 that is targeted for the hotel.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph James threw out the lawsuit in a ruling last month.

The Stadium Authority voted Aug. 6 to sell that 3.53-acre site for a price of $1.32 million. Officials of the authority could not be reached for comment.

North Side United claimed that price shortchanged taxpayers because it was 10 times under its market value. However, the authority argued in court papers that the group's members don't have legal standing to stop the authority from selling the parcel.

With the sale, the land would go on the tax rolls.

The Stadium Authority has set a Dec. 1 deadline for Continental Real Estate Cos., the Columbus-based developer working with the Steelers and Pirates to develop property between Heinz Field and PNC Park.

That deadline could be extended to April 1, 2009, if Continental is "diligently" pursuing efforts to secure government approvals past Nov. 30.

"We are working to get the various approvals needed so we can get the development started," Frank Kass, Continental's chairman, said yesterday.

Kass previously said Continental would seek $4 million in state funds to support the development.

"We strongly object to this land deal," said Michael Glass, co-chair of North Side United.

He said the group plans to appeal James' ruling on the lawsuit and will oppose any public funding allocation for the project.

"We see this as virtually free land based on a back-door deal ... that was done with complete disregard to the needs of North Side residents," he said.

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Family firms work by making objective choices

Recruiting and retaining good employees, promoting people based on ability and not on family connections and planning who will run the business when the founder retires are key elements to operating a successful family business, experts and owners say.

"I think (family) business owners need to realize it is more important what you can do for your business, than what the business can do for you," said Thomas Bryan, a civil engineer and manager at Frank Bryan Inc., a construction materials supply business in McKees Rocks and theSouth Side.

"You have to be an employee like any other employee," regardless of family ties to whoever runs the business, said Bryan, 50.

The business, which has about 50 employees, was founded 125 years ago by his great-grandfather Frank Bryan.

Family businesses in Western Pennsylvania were celebrated Wednesday by the nonprofit Family Business Roundtable of Western Pennsylvania and by Pittsburgh 250 during a program at the Sen. John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center in the Strip District.

It remains a family affair at Frank Bryan Inc. Thomas Bryan's late father, Tom "Tink" Bryan, was president. One of his father's cousins, James, is a vice president, and another of his father's cousins, Bob, is secretary-treasurer. Thomas' brother, David, is a civil engineer. Thomas Bryan's cousin, Matthew Bryan, is the business manager. A fifth generation of Bryans -- Thomas' son, Justin, an engineer -- also joined the business.

The number of small family-owned businesses in Western Pennsylvania is difficult to calculate, and the Small Business Administration doesn't keep statistics on family-owned firms, said Janet Heyl, a spokeswoman for the SBA in Pittsburgh.

About 72 percent of the businesses in Western Pennsylvania are family owned, said Ann Dugan, executive director of the Family Enterprise Center at the University of Pittsburgh, which provides services to family-owned firms in a 10-county area.

"All businesses start out as family businesses -- a husband and wife, or siblings and cousins. Some of those end up being publicly traded," said Dugan, whose center has served more than 1,000 clients since it was founded in 1996.

"Western Pennsylvania really has a strong history of family businesses," said Ellen Ruddock, director of the Center for Family Business at Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Eberly College of Business and Information Technology.

Some of those businesses, such as Snyder Cos. of Kittanning, are in their fourth and fifth generation of family ownership, Ruddock said.

To keep the business alive, succession planning is a must and should be reviewed early on -- and as an ongoing process, said David Dietrich, chairman of the Family Business Roundtable.

"Families struggle with the smooth-succession process. The best practice is to keep a board of directors, where they hire the most qualified person to run the business ... but retain family ownership," Dietrich said.

An example of such a struggle is the effort by the Rooney family to work out ownership of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

To successfully operate a family business, owners must make good business decisions and "really, really, really work hard," Ruddock said.

"They're very passionate about what they're doing, and putting in extra hours is absolutely necessary. An eight-hour (work) day is not even in the picture. Their businesses are 24 hours a day," Ruddock said.

Robert Levin, president of the family-owned Levin Furniture, agrees that heading the family business is an all-consuming affair.

"It's always on your mind. You're never really away from it," said Levin, whose company has 750 employees working in six stores in Western Pennsylvania, six in Ohio, as well as an office and warehouse in South Huntingdon, Westmoreland County.

"People have to know that you are around, and you have to give them a reason to shop with you," said Levin, 52, who grew up in the family business that has grown to annual sales of about $145 million. His grandfather, Samuel, started the business in Mt. Pleasant in the 1920s.

Family businesses face competitive struggles like all other businesses, Ruddock said, and are not immune to changes in the marketplace that can make it hard to survive.

A longtime family-owned business, King Garden Palace & Nursery in Unity, is closing its retail operation Sunday. That part of the business offers little prospect for growth, said Ronald King, one of the owners of the business founded by his grandfather, David, about 60 years ago.

The retail business supplied plants and trees and the tools of the gardening trade, as well as popular nostalgic Christmas toys, model trains, decorations and decorated trees. King's wholesale business, which sells plants and supplies to landscapers and King's own landscaping business, will remain open.

"There's very slow growth to no growth, and the overhead is getting higher. It's hard to compete against the big-box stores," King said, noting that national chains can offer cheaper prices for trees, shrubs, flowers and tools.

"A lot of people don't support their local businesses," even though those businesses often can offer the type of expert advice that can't be found at the big-box stores, said King, 35. Customers are so "price-driven" that they miss the bigger picture of supporting a local business, he said.

About 15 employees will be affected by the closing.

"It makes me sad," said Ricky King, Ronald's mother, recalling that her three children -- Raymond, Renee and Ronald -- helped in the family business as youngsters.

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2 retired Boscov's execs to buy chain's assets

Two retired Boscov's executives are preparing to buy the assets of the regional department store chain that filed for bankruptcy protection in August.

Albert Boscov and Edwin Lakin, the son and son-in-law of company founder Solomon Boscov, will buy the 39 remaining stores, including locations at Beaver Valley Mall in Monaca and Clearview Mall in Butler. Boscov's announced the deal Tuesday but didn't disclose terms.

The deal "maximizes the value of our business and the return to our creditors," said Ken Lakin, Boscov's CEO and Edwin Lakin's son.

As its restructuring process is completed, he said, "Boscov's will be well-capitalized and have the resources to build a stronger and more competitive business."

Reading-based Boscov's said it terminated an earlier agreement to sell its assets to Versa Capital Management Inc., a Philadelphia-based private equity firm.

Financing for the deal has yet to be completed. Boscov's said it aims to close the transaction by the end of November. The deal is subject to the approval of a Delaware bankruptcy judge.

The chain Solomon Boscov founded in 1911 expanded aggressively in 2006 by acquiring former Kaufmann's at Monroeville Mall and South Hills Village, along with eight other stores from Macy's parent Federated Department Stores Inc.

A weak retail climate and tighter credit pushed Boscov's into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing $538 million in assets and $479 million in debts as of May 3. The two Pittsburgh area stores and five other former Federated sites that converted to Boscov's were among the 10 to close this fall as part of the restructuring.

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Technology belt plans grow

Economic development groups and others want to expand a Pittsburgh-Cleveland technology belt initiative that is already helping to connect companies and investors in the two regions.

A Pittsburgh-Cleveland Technology Corridor would encompass a "mega region" with 2.7 million residents and represent "134 miles of economic opportunity," say leaders who are pushing the interstate initiative.

Their new idea is use an existing Biosciences Tech Belt initiative as a model to help other segments -- such as manufacturing -- of the economies of the former Rust Belt cities.

"When it comes to economic development in a global economy, what tends to get the attention of investors and venture capital companies are mega regions," said DeWitt Peart, executive vice president of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development on Tuesday.

Peart is involved in creating the initiative that backers say would create the fourth largest industrial/technical region in the nation.

It would include the Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and the Youngstown-Warren region that lies in between.

The initiative began two years ago when John W. Manzetti, CEO of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, and Baiju R. Shah, his counterpart at BioEnterprise, a similar organization in Cleveland, began discussions.

"Baiju and I met, we talked, and we thought we should start working together, create some excitement, get funding from the federal government and build our regions so we can attract capital and talent," Manzetti said.

As a result, the Biosciences Tech Belt initiative was born.

Together, the two regions have $1 billion in combined National Institutes of Health and industry heath care research; more than $350 million in health care venture investment; and more than 700 bioscience companies employing more than 25,000 people.

In a recent progress report, they said the joint effort has yielded "numerous cross-introductions of venture capital firms and initiated the exploration of 18 company collaborations." Several venture capital firms from one region opened offices in the other, including Chrysalis Ventures, Draper Triangle Ventures and iNetworks.

In September 2007, U.S. Reps. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, and Tim Ryan, D-Niles, Ohio, started a push to expand the initiative to other industries, including manufacturing.

Peart said the next step is to hire a consultant to help write a strategic plan. Work on proposals and funding from local foundations is progressing.

"I think this is a brilliant idea," said Virginia Pribanic, CEO of MedRespond LLC, a South Side-based health care information technology company whose software simulates conversations online. People who type medical questions on a computer can view videos providing answers, she said.

At a recent meeting arranged by the Life Sciences Greenhouse, Pribanic said she learned of three companies in Ohio that could help to enhance her business.

"For entrepreneurs, it can be hard to make connections from region to region," she said. "Thanks to this meeting, I was able to learn of three companies that could be a great match for us."

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Quecreek owner, engineering firm fined

An administrative law judge fined the owners of the Quecreek Mine and an engineering company the maximum -- $55,000 each -- for playing "Russian roulette" with the lives of 18 miners who barely survived an underground disaster in 2002.

In a stinging decision released Monday in Washington, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission Judge Robert J. Lesnick said that PBS Coals Inc. and Musser Engineering knowingly submitted to state and federal regulators inaccurate maps of Somerset County's Quecreek Mine.

And they later failed to take prudent precautions to safeguard the lives of 18 miners as they mined coal blocking millions of gallons of water stored in a nearby abandoned tunnel, Lesnick said.

On July 24, nine miners waded through in-rushing water to escape the flood, but nine others were trapped for three days before they were saved by a rescue mission Lesnick termed "miraculous." Lesnick fined each company $55,000 and overruled a previous federal decision to consider the companies' actions "moderately" negligent.

The judge labeled the two Somerset County companies "grossly negligent."

Downtown attorney Douglas C. Lasota said client Musser Engineering would appeal the fines. PBS Coals' attorney Vincent J. Barbera in Somerset echoed Musser's plan, adding that he "strongly disagreed" with Lesnick's findings.

"PBS Coals has always considered the safety of miners to be the utmost of importance," Barbera said.

Barbera and Lasota declined to comment on a separate case pitting the miners against PBS and Musser. That lawsuit continues to wind its way through Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. But the attorney for eight of the nine trapped Quecreek miners, Howard Messer, Downtown, said the federal ruling "has vindicated our work to find justice."

"It's really a total vindication of what we've been saying for six years. The miners have had to wait six years for confirmation of what we knew to be true in 2002," Messer said.

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