Journal and Courier from Lafayette, Indiana • 14

GM pinching pennies Lights turned off as global sales tumble merger talks continue See Page B5 nl NINE ra JU JU 11a) DU People products Tenneco to close Evansville plant LAKE OREST Ill Tenneco Inc on Wednesday announced that it will cut 1100 jobs world wide and close five facilities including one in Indiana in a broad restructuring of operations as the company grapples with an industry downturn The maker of emission and ride control systems for automo biles said the move and other cost cutting efforts are expected to save $64 million a year The company is restructuring one North American plant and closing four including a Milan Ohio elastomer facility and an original equipment emission con trol plant in Evansville Ind About 500 salaried jobs and 600 hourly positions are being eliminated Portfolio Two attorneys have joined the Justice Law Offices in Delphi and Logansport Bryan Coul ter is an associate attorney and will practice in the areas of litigation personal injury claims criminal defense and family law Coulter is a graduate of Purdue Univer sity and the Indiana University School of Law Bloomington He was admitted to the practice of law on Oct 17 at Indianapolis by the Indiana Supreme Court Davy Eaglesfield is of counsel and has specialized in environmental law for more than 25 years in India napolis Eaglesfield rep resents individuals and businesses in litigation and resolution of environmental issues in state and federal courts His practice includes industrial and hazardous waste issues environmental insur ance claims and wetlands issues confined feeding operations and environmental cleanups Achievements Lynn Irwin a Lafayette resi dent was presented a Consisten cy Club Award during the recent Home Garden Party conference in Las Vegas The award was for sales achievements recruiting efforts and the introduction of new products for the coming season Home Garden Party specializes in tabletop stoneware candles framed art gourmet food mixes and home decor items that are sold through home parties Shorttakes Sarah Schwarz an Edward Jones financial adviser in Lafayette will host a free satellite broadcast titled Market Volatility: A Spe cial at noon and again at 5:30 pm on Monday Nov 3 Call (765) 429 5289 Staff and wire reports To submit items for People Products send them to Max Showalter by mail at mshowalterjconlinecom by mail to 217 Sixth St Lafayette IN 47901 or by fax to (765) 420 5246 Coulter 0 Eaglesfield Wabash National still on rough road raw material costs hurt earnings STA REPORTS After posting a net loss of $43 mil lion or 14 cents a share for the third quarter Wabash National president told investors Wednesday that tougher times could be coming in the fourth quarter fourth quarter will be the most difficult of the year as we ex pect the imbalance between raw material costs and selling prices to reach a said Dick Giromini president and chief executive officer of the Lafayette based truck trailer maker given the holiday season and our annual year end shut down' we will operate with fewer production days during the fourth In a report issued Wednesday eve ning Wabash National showed third quarter net sales of $243 million or the same quarter last year Wa bash National reported net income of $38 million or $012 per share on sales of $291 million or the nine months that ended Sept 30 the net loss totaled $139 million or $047 per share on sales of $6055 million or the same pe riod in 2007 net income totaled $106 million or $035 per share on sales of $8447 million Giromini said the results matched the expectations and that the manufacturer had made progress on goals to contain costs and improve production volume these gains were more than offset by unprecedented raw material price Giromini said He said the company expects to ship 32000 to 33000 new trailers this year which was the same amount the company projected after the sec ond quarter Wabash National released its third quarter report after the stock markets closed The stock had gained 36 cents to close at $516 on the day 53 firms size up high tech talent ByCURTSLYDER cslyderjconlinecom the 11th Hountz Purdue industrial engineering graduate student Shih Ching Wu was in his best suit and tie Wednesday go ing from company kiosk to kiosk dur ing a job fair in the Purdue Memorial Union going to graduate in Decem he said looking for a full time Hundreds of students gathered in the ballrooms of the Purdue Memo rial Union Wednesday for annual High Tech Job air for Indiana com panies Representatives from 53 companies looked for job candi dates as well as poten tial interns The idea behind a job fair limited to Indiana companies is keeping Purdue graduates in the state said Randy Hountz associate director for Technical Assis tance Program or TAP BOS I OM weM 1 'wS i wmm 7 7 4 17 1 A wSii By John TerhuneJournal Courier Nathan Taylor (left) and recruiter Samantha Bowman of SCSI Advanced Quality Solutions converse Wednesday during the High Tech Job air in the Purdue Memorial Ballroom Taylor a junior from St Louis is majoring in com puter mtormation technology and Is seeking a summer internship there are many engi neering and technology firms he said we try to keep it pretty broad and allow Indiana employers to have a good venue here to find and attract Wu from Taiwan wants to stay in Indiana have more friends he said Purdue junior Nathan Taylor from St Louis was Idoking for a summer internship majoring in comput er information technology end is industrial Taylor said all supply chain man agement is my main focus area right Mike Helm manufacturing engi neering manager for airfield Manu facturing in Lafayette said the fair has proved helpful for his company the engineering group that a part of probably hired six to eight people in the last four to five he said Samantha Bowman is a recruiter with SCSI Advanced Quality Solu tions on Tippecanoe County Road 500 East looking for both interns and she said get a lot of candidates here also a lot of leads for January Every By MARTIN CRUTSINGER The Associated Press WASHINGTON The ederal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by half a percentage point Wednesday driving it to a level seen only once be fore in the last half century Meanwhile the government final ly began distributing funds from the billions in the financial rescue pack age Those efforts and others were part of a concerted drive by officials' just days before a national election to demonstrate they are moving as quickly as possible to deal with the most serious financial crisis to hit the country since the 1930s have their foot to the accelerator and they are using every effort at their disposal to stop the slide in the economy and finan cial said Mark Zandi chief economist with Economy com not a moment too soon given the serious damage that has al includes interest rate cut Lending rate drops The ederal Reserve cut its interest rate to 1 percent on Oct 29 ederal funds rate 7 percent 1 SOURCE: ederal Reserve AP frj ready been Wall Street which the previous day posted the second biggest point gain in history was less impressed with activity The Dow Jones industrial average finished the day down 74 points a drop analysts said partly reflected growing worries about whether the ac tions will be sufficient to avert a deep and prolonged recession The ed as investors had hoped announced a half point cut in the federal funds rate the interest that banks charge each other on overnight loans driving it down to 1 percent a low last seen in 2003 2004 That rate has not been lower since 1958 when Dwight Eisenhower was president Reducing the rate as low as zero cannot be ruled out some analysts said but they cautioned that reduc ing rates that far carried some risks including that if the credit crisis sud denly worsened the ed would have used up its ammunition Analysts also noted that just low ering rates cannot serve as a panacea to overcome a credit crisis While the goal is to encourage banks to begin lending again financial institutions See RATE Page B5 Caterpillar chairman says ethics not optional By ERIC WEDDLE eweddlejconlinecom Without ethics a business can not survive no matter how great its strategy That was the message James Owens chairman and CEO of Caterpillar Inc gave Wednesday evening as part of the Series on Corporate Citizenship and Ethics at Purdue University cannot run a successful business for the long pull without having values and ethics be an in tegral part in everything you he said Interweaving glob al dedication to honest business practices the corporate office to a local tractor dealer in Asia with the current declining economy Owens explained how values build business and employ ee dedication a high risk economy the decisions are that more said Wayne Shyy a second year MBA graduate student that base an ethos of that Mr Owens explained is critical to The talk sponsored by Kran nert School of Management and the College of James Ackerman Center for Demo cratic Citizenship filled the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall with business students professors and employ ees of the local Caterpillar plant The Peoria Ill based company employs approximately 1900 peo ple at the Caterpillar Large Engine Center in Lafayette Owens said a continued dedica tion to values through generations of leaders has kept the company strong free of controversy and re spected in local communities Caterpillar began a no nepotism policy in 1925 and by 1974 was one of the first companies in the world to establish a code of conduct The Vision 2020 plan includes four fundamental values integ rity excellence teamwork and commitment and principals drive ac tions and Owens said mentioning how a slide in values at Enron Hewlett Packard and Boeing caused implosion finan cial damage and tarnished reputa tions Saying the economy is filled with Owens expects flat sales for the company in 2009 CONTACT US MARKET GLANCE ONJCONLINECOM Local Editor Dave Bangert dbangertjconlinecom Phone: (765) 420 5231 ax: (765)420 5246 Dow Jones NYSE High: 936332 Close: 899096 I 93009 I 577489 Low: 889029 Off 7416 Off 1042 Up4144i Nasdaq 165721 Up 774 I How long are you willing wait in line to vote either at the early voting centers or on Election Day? Let us know in the poll at jconlinecom.