LaRosa’s Pizzeria to close today in Kettering
LaRosa’s Pizzeria will shut down its Kettering restaurant at the close of business today, marking the third store-closing in the last four years.
The closing reduces LaRosa’s presence in the Dayton-area market from five locations to two, officials from the Cincinnati-based restaurant chain announced Monday.
The Kettering LaRosa’s opened in 2007. The remaining Dayton-area LaRosa’s are in the Cross Pointe Centre in Centerville and on Hoke Road in Englewood.
LaRosa’s shut down a Huber Heights location in 2016 and a Beavercreek location in 2018. LaRosa’s officials said lower-than-expected sales led to the decision to close the Kettering restaurant.
All 25 hourly team members from LaRosa’s Kettering have been offered employment at the Centerville and Englewood LaRosa’s locations, and the Kettering store’s three managers have been offered positions at Cincinnati-area LaRosa’s pizzerias, LaRosa’s officials said in a release.
“We truly appreciate all of our current and past Kettering team members and can’t thank them enough for their dedication and support in serving the neighborhood for more than a decade,” Michael LaRosa, CEO of LaRosa’s, said in the release. “From the time that we opened Kettering, we were committed to making it a success. However, despite our best efforts, the Kettering pizzeria didn’t perform as well as we’d hoped. We’d like to thank our guests who supported us and hope they will visit us at Centerville and Englewood.”
The two remaining LaRosa’s in the Dayton area’s are its longest-established. LaRosa’s entered the Dayton market in 2002 with the opening of its Centerville pizzeria. That was followed by LaRosa’s Englewood 2006. LaRosa’s Gift Cards or Buddy Cards can be redeemed at any LaRosa’s pizzeria, including Englewood and Centerville.
Services held for Bonbright Distributor owner
H. Brockman (Brock) Anderson Jr., who purchased Bonbright Distributors in Dayton in 1983 after a 25-year career at NCR, died Friday, Feb. 7. He was 87.
Mr. Anderson, of Dayton and Spring Island, S.C., was born in Johnstown, Pa., April 24, 1932. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, and upon graduation, he served six years with the Naval ROTC and two years with the United States Army, according to his son Brock Anderson III, Bonbright Distributors CEO.
Mr. Anderson joined NCR as a salesman after his military service and held roles of increasing responsibility in sales and marketing management with the company. After his 25-year career with NCR, he led the purchase of Bonbright Distributors with help from local friends and investors. Under his tenure as CEO and chairman of the board, Bonbright grew from distributing the products of two breweries in three counties to distributing the products of more than 100 breweries and operating in both Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Bonbright Distributors was founded in 1934 by Carl Bonbright. The company distributes dozens of beer brands, including MillerCoors products, in nine Miami Valley counties.
Mr. Anderson co-chaired the 1995 United Way of Greater Dayton campaign, which raised $20 million. He also chaired the CityFolk Board of Trustees and was a member of the Dayton Art Institute Associate Board, co-chairing its Oktoberfest fundraiser in 1985.
Mr. Anderson is survived by his wife of 55 years, Margy; his three children Molly Treese (David), Katie Anderson, and Brock III (Carly); and six grandchildren: Ell and Vivi Treese, Isabel and Ian Sherk, and Maya and Oscar Anderson.
Lawsuit continues for ex-Fuyao executive
A federal magistrate has ordered a mediation in a nearly three-year lawsuit by a former Fuyao Glass America executive against the Moraine company.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sharon Ovington ordered the lawsuit by ex- Fuyao executive Dave Burrows to be referred to fellow Magistrate Judge Michael Newman for mediation.
“The appointed mediator shall have full authority to conduct the mediation and shall report to District Judge Thomas M. Rose whether or not the mediation resulted in settlement of this case,” Ovington’s said in an order filed last week.
Today a vice president with Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley, Burrows once was the second-highest ranking executive at Fuyao’s Moraine plant as the Chinese auto glass producer painstakingly transformed the plant into what the company now says is the largest auto glass factory in the world.
Burrows is a former Dayton Development Coalition executive who was part of a local and statewide team that persuaded Fuyao Group Chairman Cho Tak Wong in 2013 to build a North American manufacturing operation in Moraine. Burrows went to work for Fuyao shortly after the company began retrofitting the former General Motors plant.
But in November 2016, Fuyao announced “a reorganization of the company’s senior management team,” saying Burrows and former Fuyao President John Gauthier were no longer with the company.
Burrows sued Fuyao in federal court in the spring of 2017, alleging breach of contract, defamation and other charges tied to his separation from the business. Gauthier has taken no legal action against Fuyao.
Verso sells two paper mills
A Miami Twp. paper producer has sold two of its mills in a $400 million transaction, positioning the overall company for the future, leaders say.
Verso Corp., based in offices on Gander Creek Drive, has completed the sale of its Androscoggin Mill, in Jay, Maine, and its Stevens Point Mill, in Stevens Point, Wisc., to Pixelle Specialty Solutions LLC.
The agreement to first execute the sale was announced in November.
“We are pleased to have completed the sale of our Androscoggin and Stevens Point mills to Pixelle,” Verso Chief Executive Adam St. John said in a statement this past week. “After the transaction, we will continue to be a debtfree company with significant manufacturing and financial flexibility, well positioned to enhance our competitive market position.”
The company said it will return proceeds to shareholders, saying it will “promptly announce how it plans to utilize no less than $225 million and up to $282 million of the net cash proceeds from the transaction for the benefit of stockholders.”
Part of the proceeds will be used to reduce unfunded pension liability this year, Verso also said.
Verso is a North American producer of graphic and specialty papers, packaging and pulp. The company’s Duluth, Escanaba, Quinnesec and Wisconsin Rapids mills have a combined annual production capacity of 2 million tons of paper.
Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to the company and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP acted as legal counsel to in connection with the transaction.
The company has 200 Dayton-area workers and more than 4,000 nationwide. After navigating Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016, Verso restructured its debt and moved its headquarters from Memphis, Tenn., to Miami Twp.
A Dayton veteran takes Dayton VA’s helm
A former Dayton Veterans Affairs leader is returning to Dayton.
Mark Murdock, a former associate director of the Dayton VA Medical Center (VAMC), has been named director, effective on Monday.
“We are excited to bring Mark home as the new director of the Dayton VAMC,” said RimaAnn Nelson, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 10 director. “Mark is an Air Force veteran and has a proven track record of success at medical centers across Ohio – including at the Dayton VAMC. His sound leadership qualities and proven experience will be valuable assets to the Dayton’s employees, volunteers, and — most importantly — to the veterans we are honored to serve.”
Murdock became acting director of the Dayton VAMC in the spring of 2016 when Glenn Costie, then the Dayton director, temporarily took over the Cincinnati VA, which at the time was under scrutiny. Costie returned to Dayton in October 2016.
Murdock serves today as medical center director at the Cincinnati VAMC. He has served in the same role at the Chillicothe VAMC. Mark’s VA career has included assignments as health system specialist, surgical service in Dayton and as the program manager for VISN 10’s Tele-Nurse Triage program.
Murdock retired as a Medical Service Corps officer from the U.S. Air Force in 1999. During his Air Force career, Murdock was assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Charleston AFB in South Carolina, Misawa AB, in Japan, and Aviano AB, Italy.
He is board certified in health-care administration by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), in which he holds membership as a Fellow (FACHE) and is a member of the Greater Ohio Healthcare Leaders Forum (GOHLF), the VA said in an announcement Friday.
Murdock is a native of Sackets Harbor, N.Y.
Springfield native to retire from WSB Radio
Cox Media Group today announced the retirement of Pete Spriggs, a longtime director of Branding and Programming WSB Radio in Atlanta.
Spriggs, a Springfield native, joined Cox in Dayton in 1993 at WHIO and after three years at WDBO Radio in Orlando he moved to Atlanta, where he has worked at WSB radio since 2000. At WSB, he served as director of Branding and Programming, as well as Format Leader for all of CMG’s News and Talk radio brands in the market.
Drew Anderssen has been appointed to step into Spriggs’ role following his retirement, effective Feb. 28.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Pete for over 25 years,” said Bill Hendrich, executive vice president, Radio for CMG. “Along with being the best News/Talk Program Director in the business, Pete is also one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Cox Media Group has benefited greatly from Pete’s leadership in Dayton, Orlando, Atlanta and as our New/Talk Format Leader. We are definitely a better company because Pete Spriggs was on our team. He will be missed, and we all wish him the best going forward.”
Prior to joining WSB, Anderssen spent years in programming and research for Cox Media Group in Orlando, Florida and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Bank buys Dayton charter school property
A Delaware bank has purchased the property of a bankrupt charter school in Dayton for nearly $600,000.
Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased the school building and property at 184 Salem Ave., Dayton. The sale price was $590,000. The seller was listed the Dayton-based Institute of Management and Resources Inc.
The sale included parcels of land along Edgewood Avenue and Lisle Place near the school, Montgomery County land records show.
According to the company’s web site, the building sold houses preparatory grades four to eight.
Michelle Thomas, Richard Allen Schools superintendent, said Tuesday the school remains open and there are no changes in school operations as a result of the sale from a previous management company to the new owner.
Until summer 2017, three Richard Allen schools in Dayton and one in Hamilton were run by the Institute of Management and Resources (IMR), a company started by Thomas and her mother, Richard Allen Schools founder Jeanette Harris, the Dayton Daily News reported last year.
Earlier this decade, the state auditor’s office ruled that IMR misspent $2.2 million in public money running Richard Allen. The company denied wrongdoing and appealed in court, but lost in 2015.