GateHouse submits
NYSE business plan

GateHouse Media Inc., owner of the Repository newspaper in Canton along with other newspapers, said it submitted a business plan to the New York Stock Exchange demonstrating its ability to meet listing requirements.

GateHouse will continue to suspend its dividend and repay amounts outstanding under its revolving credit as of Sept. 30, the company said.

Business to worsen
for trucking firms

Freight demand for U.S. trucking companies will get worse before it gets better, as credit stays tight, Wachovia Corp. senior economist Mark Vinter said.

''I'm really concerned that I don't think credit's going to open up that quickly,'' Vitner said at an American Trucking Associations conference in New Orleans. ''I don't think it's going to open up until the end of 2009.''

About 970 trucking companies went bankrupt April through June, the highest for any quarter since 2000, according to a Sept. 9 report from Thom Albrecht, an analyst at Stephens Inc.

Interstate Bakeries
files to reorganize

Interstate Bakeries Corp., the bankrupt maker of Hostess Twinkies, which has operations in Akron and Tallmadge, filed a new plan to reorganize its operations and exit court protection.

The new plan was filed after creditors dropped their opposition in exchange for $5 million and a chance to earn more money if the company rises in value, Interstate said.

The company owes unsecured creditors, who don't have any collateral backing their claims, $332.6 million and its lenders, including Silver Point Finance LLC, $451.4 million, according to a description of the plan filed by Interstate on Saturday.

China vows overhaul
of dairy industry

China's Cabinet vowed a complete overhaul of the scandal-ridden dairy industry, pledging to inspect every link from the farm to the dinner table to try to restore public trust in Chinese-made food products.

In its strongest action yet, China's highest level of government called the industry ''chaotic'' and acknowledged there was a lack of oversight.

Police detained six more people suspected of tampering with milk in northern China, a spokeswoman said, bringing to 32 the number of people arrested in the scandal.

Ford to receive
government grant

Ford Motor Co. is receiving a $10 million grant from the U.S. Energy Department to develop plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The funding will help the automaker continue to develop its demonstration fleet of 20 plug-in hybrid vehicles. The project costs $20 million, so the government is funding half of the program.

Kraft to cut jobs
by about 1 percent

Food maker Kraft Foods Inc. said it is cutting 400 jobs in North America to reduce costs. The layoffs will represent a cut of about 1 percent in the company's North American work force.

The layoffs will mainly affect employees in Chicago; Madison, Wis.; Tarrytown, N.Y.; East Hanover, N.J.; and Toronto, Canada, offices.

Meggitt Plc wins
brake-control deal

Meggitt Plc, the British-based maker of engine-monitoring systems for Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. planes, won what was called a ''multi-million'' dollar contract to supply brake-control devices and other components for the new Gulfstream G250 aircraft.

Meggitt is the parent of Aircraft Braking Systems in Akron.

EBay will reduce
work force by 1,600

After a series of changes designed to draw more people to its online marketplace, eBay Inc.'s latest alteration is aimed at its own employees. The auction-site operator said it will cut about 1,600 jobs, 10 percent of its work force, in its largest round of dismissals ever.

EBay Chief Executive John Donahoe said in an interview that the cuts were not a reaction to the weak economy.