Lender's to close bagel production line; 35 lose jobs\nMATTOON, Ill. -- The Lender's Bagels bakery is closing down a production line because of declining sales, a company executive said.\nThe move, effective May 9, will put 28 full-time and seven part-time workers out of a job. About 300 people work at the Lender's plant.\n"Over the last couple of years, the bagel business has continued to decline," Harold Tessman, senior vice president of operations for Pinnacle Foods Group Inc., Lender's owner, said Monday. "As a result, we are eliminating one of our bagel production lines and will be preparing the plant for the future production of different products."\nPinnacle Foods spokesman Kelley Maggs declined to comment about which products might be added to the plant's production lines. The Cherry Hill, N.J.-based company produces such products as Swanson frozen dinners, Mrs. Butterworth's and Log Cabin syrups and pancake mixes and Mrs. Paul's frozen seafood.
Higher volume boosts Chicago Merc first-quarter profit\nCHICAGO -- Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. reported Tuesday that first-quarter profit surged 54 percent as electronic trading helped boost volume at the futures market.\nThe company earned $70.9 million, or $2.04 per share, from $46.1 million, or $1.35 per share, a year earlier. Net revenue climbed 29 percent to $214 million from $166 million a year ago, as clearing and transaction fees increased 31 percent to $160.8 million.\nThe results exceeded the expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who were looking for a profit of $1.93 per share on revenue of $211.6 million.\nShares of the company rose $12.10, or 6.8 percent, to $190.11 on the New York Stock Exchange.\nThe Merc's average daily volume climbed 39 percent to 3.9 million contracts, and trading on its Globex electronic platform rose 95 percent to 2.6 million contracts per day.\nThe company said electronic volume represented 66 percent of its total volume for the period. In March, the final month of the quarter, electronic trading averaged 2.8 million contracts per day, a 78 percent increase from a year earlier.\nChairman Terry Duffy said in a statement that the company has benefited from "increased investor sophistication and more active investment strategies that are driving a shift toward exchange-traded derivatives to manage risk."
Fremont glass plant to add 75 jobs after expansion project\nFREMONT, Ind. -- A glass manufacturer plans to add 75 workers to a northeastern Indiana plant after a $7.45 million expansion project.\nCardinal Glass Industries will add a fourth insulating glass line to the factory, which it opened in 1997 and now employs 250 people, company officials said.\nThe new line will allow Cardinal to increase its production of glass sold to companies such as Andersen and Pella for residential windows, plant manager Jim DeVaney said Tuesday during a factory tour.\nThe expansion, scheduled for completion in October, will add 91,000 square feet to the plant and is the second by Minneapolis-based Cardinal at the factory some 40 miles north of Fort Wayne. A project last year added 45,000 square feet to the building, which had 135,000 square feet when it first opened.\nCompany officials said workers would be hired for the new jobs over the next three years.\nGary Nielander, executive director of the Steuben County Economic Development Corp., said a 10-year tax abatement approved by the Fremont Town Council that will save Cardinal up to $300,000 helped secure the expansion.
