Unilever

Unilever has notified state regulators that it will begin closing its Hagerstown ice cream plant in November, ultimately laying off 437 workers, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Monday. The company had announced plans to close without an exact date two years ago. Tim Troxell, executive director of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission, said Unilever doesn't expect to finish the shutdown until August 2013. What remains unclear is how quickly the bulk of workers will be laid off, he said.

Unilever has notified state regulators that it will begin closing its Hagerstown ice cream plant in November, ultimately laying off 437 workers, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Monday. The company had announced plans to close without an exact date two years ago. Tim Troxell, executive director of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission, said Unilever doesn't expect to finish the shutdown until August 2013. What remains unclear is how quickly the bulk of workers will be laid off, he said.

CHICAGO - Consumer products giant Unilever announced plans yesterday to spin off the baked goods unit of newly acquired Bestfoods, and Sara Lee Corp. immediately surfaced on analysts' lists of potential acquirers. The announcement comes amid a flurry of takeovers and sales in the food industry as companies try to sharpen their focus and grow to thrive and control costs. Earlier this month, Unilever completed its takeover of Bestfoods. with brands such as Hellmann's mayonnaise and Skippy peanut butter.

School is not cool, math and history are a drag and most of what's left is just kind of ... well, boring. So what's a 17-year-old high school student who's still trying to figure out who he is and what he wants out of life supposed to do? Why, become a photographer and make movies, of course. Exhibit your work in one of the world's most prestigious museums. Post your videos on YouTube.com so your friends (but not necessarily your parents) can see them. Not every precocious teenager with a digital camera and a laptop computer loaded with PhotoShop and Windows Moviemaker gets to act out such dreams.

Less than two weeks after saying that it was considering a plan to be taken private, Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. has reached an agreement to be sold to Unilever PLC. The agreement, which was described by people close to the takeover talks, was apparently reached late yesterday during a lengthy meeting of the Ben & Jerry's board in New York. An assistant to Ben & Jerry's chief financial officer, Frances Rathke, would not comment last night. Unilever's spokesman and the company's investment banker did not return telephone calls.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch maker of Lipton tea and Dove skin-care products, will slash 8,000 jobs and close more than 30 factories after acquiring rival Bestfoods for $24.3 billion last year. The cuts are on top of the 25,000 staff reductions over five years the Dutch-British company had announced previously, said Michael Haines, a spokesman. Unilever indicated yesterday that first-quarter net income before one-time items fell 53 percent after acquisitions raised borrowing costs.

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS. N.J. -Unilever NV, the world's second-largest food company, has offered to buy Bestfoods for $18.3 billion in cash, an unsolicited bid that the U.S. food company rejected as inadequate. Bestfoods, maker of Hellmann's dressings and Skippy peanut butter, said Unilever offered $66 a share yesterday and in April bid $61 to $64. Unilever, a British-Dutch company that makes Lipton teas and Q-Tip swabs, couldn't be reached for comment. Unilever has been buying well-known brands it can market world-wide, spending $2.6 billion last month for SlimFast diet foods and Ben & Jerry's ice creams.

At a recent meeting of about 200 manufacturers at the World Trade Center in Baltimore, this question was posed: How many people have heard of Unilever? Not a single hand went up. The company might not be a household word, but its products are in households across the country, and the $49 billion conglomerate operates a 500-person plant in Baltimore. The 50-acre plant is the sole source of the following products sold in the United States: liquid Wisk, all and Surf laundry detergents, and liquid Final Touch and Snuggle fabric softeners.

A weekly briefing on the economic calendar Monday Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index for July Earnings reports: Humana Inc.; Opnet Technologies Inc.; Tyson Foods Inc.; Unocal Corp. Tuesday June personal income and spending Earnings reports: Comcast Corp.; Coventry Health Care Inc.; Marsh & McLennan Cos.; Qwest Communications International Inc.; Tyco International Ltd. Wednesday Institute for Supply Management services index for July Earnings reports: Cigna Corp.

Their names are evocative: Mountain Rush. Wild Rain. Tsunami. Clean Impact. Voodoo. Fresh Blast. Their labels, provocative: "Caution: Habitual use ... could lead to seriously close encounters," reads one. "Leaves you feeling fresh, clean and ready for action, even when you push your limits," suggests another. The product? Body deodorant sprays for men. The major players -- Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Gillette and Coty -- have all jumped in the game within the last year, filling U.S. store shelves with at least five varieties and more than three times that number of scents.

A weekly briefing on the economic calendar Monday Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index for July Earnings reports: Humana Inc.; Opnet Technologies Inc.; Tyson Foods Inc.; Unocal Corp. Tuesday June personal income and spending Earnings reports: Comcast Corp.; Coventry Health Care Inc.; Marsh & McLennan Cos.; Qwest Communications International Inc.; Tyco International Ltd. Wednesday Institute for Supply Management services index for July Earnings reports: Cigna Corp.

Jonathan Hague and Judy Rahn think a lot about sweat. The sign in front of their beige brick office building in Rolling Meadows, Ill., reads simply: "Global Technology Center." It could just as well read: "Body Odor Analysis and Improvement, World Headquarters." It is here where their employer, Unilever -- the Anglo-Dutch consumer products colossus that makes such things as Q-Tips and Lipton Tea -- researches, develops and tests its antiperspirants and deodorants Degree, Dove, Axe and Suave.

Their names are evocative: Mountain Rush. Wild Rain. Tsunami. Clean Impact. Voodoo. Fresh Blast. Their labels, provocative: "Caution: Habitual use ... could lead to seriously close encounters," reads one. "Leaves you feeling fresh, clean and ready for action, even when you push your limits," suggests another. The product? Body deodorant sprays for men. The major players -- Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Gillette and Coty -- have all jumped in the game within the last year, filling U.S. store shelves with at least five varieties and more than three times that number of scents.

At a recent meeting of about 200 manufacturers at the World Trade Center in Baltimore, this question was posed: How many people have heard of Unilever? Not a single hand went up. The company might not be a household word, but its products are in households across the country, and the $49 billion conglomerate operates a 500-person plant in Baltimore. The 50-acre plant is the sole source of the following products sold in the United States: liquid Wisk, all and Surf laundry detergents, and liquid Final Touch and Snuggle fabric softeners.

In the Region Daily BWI flights to Cumberland are delayed again The launch of state-subsidized air service between Cumberland and Baltimore-Washington International Airport - already delayed once - is being postponed again as the carrier works to get the necessary clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration. The flights - three round trips per day during the week and two per day on weekends - were scheduled to begin Nov. 1, then Nov. 29. Each trip includes a stop in Hagerstown.

No pregnant pauses needed There are no good excuses left for missing workouts -- not even pregnancy. And now that Adidas has launched "The Power of Two" maternity fitness clothing, you can't even complain about having nothing to wear. The line has built-in features designed especially for pregnant women: cooling, supportive fabrics; hidden panels that stabilize the abdomen; and tops and tanks either cropped for comfort or long and flowy to cover new bellies. Colors are simple and sleek -- pink, navy, red, white -- and well-placed stripes and markings minimize new curves.

In the Region Army Corps delays its dredging opinion until Monday The Army Corps of Engineers put off until Monday a decision that could determine the fate of a plan to deepen the shipping channel in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The corps' Philadelphia District has been studying the economics of the project - originally estimated at $82 million - since 1997 and was scheduled to deliver its recommendation to corps headquarters Jan. 12. Amid rumors that the agency was preparing to recommend against spending federal tax dollars on the project, Maryland port officials asked the corps to defer its decision until new economic data could be gathered that might justify the project's cost.

Jonathan Hague and Judy Rahn think a lot about sweat. The sign in front of their beige brick office building in Rolling Meadows, Ill., reads simply: "Global Technology Center." It could just as well read: "Body Odor Analysis and Improvement, World Headquarters." It is here where their employer, Unilever -- the Anglo-Dutch consumer products colossus that makes such things as Q-Tips and Lipton Tea -- researches, develops and tests its antiperspirants and deodorants Degree, Dove, Axe and Suave.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch maker of Lipton tea and Dove skin-care products, will slash 8,000 jobs and close more than 30 factories after acquiring rival Bestfoods for $24.3 billion last year. The cuts are on top of the 25,000 staff reductions over five years the Dutch-British company had announced previously, said Michael Haines, a spokesman. Unilever indicated yesterday that first-quarter net income before one-time items fell 53 percent after acquisitions raised borrowing costs.

In the Region Army Corps delays its dredging opinion until Monday The Army Corps of Engineers put off until Monday a decision that could determine the fate of a plan to deepen the shipping channel in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The corps' Philadelphia District has been studying the economics of the project - originally estimated at $82 million - since 1997 and was scheduled to deliver its recommendation to corps headquarters Jan. 12. Amid rumors that the agency was preparing to recommend against spending federal tax dollars on the project, Maryland port officials asked the corps to defer its decision until new economic data could be gathered that might justify the project's cost.