Latest news with #Moreno
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How a small Ohio town became the 'center of gravity' in the GOP's realignment
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The Republicans came on Good Friday, condemning corporate America and rallying locals to have faith that their city's paper mill could somehow be saved. One by one, in the shadow of Pixelle Specialty Works' towering red- and white-striped smokestack, they unloaded on the Miami-based private equity firm that plans to close it this summer. H.I.G. Capital, said Sen. Jon Husted, was ignoring the personal toll on more than 800 employees here. 'If the private equity firms who do this to communities had to go walk through and look at every one of you in the eye and hear your stories and see the devastation that they cause when they make selfish decisions,' Husted said, 'they would never do what they do.' Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost aimed his iPhone at the crowd and snapped a picture, which he declared 'Exhibit A' in any potential courtroom fight. 'You just heard from the good cops,' Yost said of the politicians who had spoken before him. 'Meet the bad cop.' And Sen. Bernie Moreno, who organized the April event after writing a letter that blasted ownership as 'Wall Street elites' possessed by 'corporate greed,' shared details from his phone conversation that morning with an H.I.G. official. The mill, Moreno said, had survived the Civil War, two World Wars and the Great Depression. 'It has to be able,' Moreno added, 'to survive a private equity company.' A decade ago, such public shaming of the private sector by GOP officeholders would have been unthinkable. But the uproar around Chillicothe reflects a continuing political realignment under President Donald Trump, whose economic populism has shaken Republicans' pro-business coalition. Moreno, a multimillionaire who made his money selling luxury cars, is emblematic of the shift. He won his seat last year with Trump's endorsement, defeating Sen. Sherrod Brown, a three-term Democrat known for his populist, pro-labor views. Republicans painted Brown and other Democrats as elitists out of touch with places like Chillicothe and surrounding Ross County, where Trump and Moreno both won in 2024. 'It's the most interesting political shift that I've ever seen,' Moreno said in an interview. 'The center of gravity for the Democratic Party is Martha's Vineyard. The center of gravity for the Republican Party is Chillicothe, Ohio.' Pixelle announced plans to shutter the Chillicothe mill in April, triggering the Moreno-led stampede to town days later. The company has seen a decreased demand for the carbonless paper made there as the use of digital receipts and invoices becomes more common. 'We are committed to working closely with local, state, and federal officials to explore future opportunities for the site, including the potential for a new owner and/or eventual redevelopment,' Pixelle wrote in an statement provided to NBC News. The effort to save the mill, or to at least ensure a new employer can take it over as quickly as possible, hit a snag this month. H.I.G. and Pixelle reneged on an agreement to pause the shutdown timeline and keep the factory open through the end of the year — a reprieve that would have bought time to identify a new tenant or use for the property. It had been the one shred of good news Moreno delivered at his April rally. 'Bernie has been the face of this,' said Jai Chabria, a longtime Republican strategist in Ohio. 'Whether he's successful or not is not the measure of where we are. If you look back at the Republican Party of 20 years ago, this is certainly not where a wealthy Republican senator would be expected to lead. Bernie has really embraced where the party has gone.' Even so, Katie Seewer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party, faulted Republicans for 'the latest in a long streak of bad economic news' in the state, noting that Moreno had raised hopes that the mill's closure wouldn't happen this year. 'Republicans own these failures and many others that have created an economy that isn't working for Ohio,' Seewer added. Pixelle is scheduled to end all Chillicothe operations by Aug. 10. The workers there — many of them second- and third-generation paper mill employees — are now waiting to see how much of the tough talk from Moreno and his colleagues leads to action. 'Bernie's railing against private equity,' said Scott Wiesman, who has worked at the mill for 30 years. 'But if you Google it, he's invested in private equity. So how evil is it, Bernie?' Mayor Luke Feeney, a Democrat, gives Moreno more credit. 'My hope and belief is that his efforts have been genuine and sincere,' Feeney said. 'All of those guys that got up there and on that stage said, 'We will sue them if they do this to you' — I hope they stick to it, and until they don't, I'm good with it.' But, Feeney added, 'if it turns out that it was just a dog-and-pony show, then I'll be pretty frustrated, because we're left with the aftermath here.' Chillicothe, about an hour's drive south of Columbus, has a proud history as Ohio's first state capital. Today, it has a population of roughly 22,000, a promising tourist economy boosted by the nearby Hopewell earthworks and mounds, and a redeveloped downtown that Feeney holds up as a small-town success story. Less than a mile from Pixelle, bustling Paint Street features two craft breweries, a boba house and other trendy businesses tucked into tidily restored storefronts. The name of a hip cafe, Paper City Coffee, pays tribute to one of the town's top employers. (Countywide, the mill is the third-largest source of jobs, behind the regional hospital system and a Kenworth Trucks plant.) The mill is 'as much a part of the scenery as the hills and everything else around here,' said Michael Throne, the head of the Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce, who recalled his first glimpse of the smokestack when driving to town for a job interview years ago. 'I'd seen smokestacks before,' Throne said. 'But nothing that towered over the landscape of the city.' Chillicothe's papermaking days date to 1812. For more than 100 years, the city was a hub for Mead, a company that would become a household name in school and office supplies. 'The paper mill really supported southeast Ohio,' said Jeff Allen, president of the United Steelworkers Local 731, which represents Pixelle workers. 'They used to tell us that for every job in the mill, there were three outside the mill.' Over time, Mead's name slowly disappeared. Market forces — a world less reliant on paper, a tangle of mergers and acquisitions — kept bouncing the old mill into new investment portfolios. In 2022, H.I.G. purchased what four years earlier had been rebranded as Pixelle. 'We were Mead kids. Our kids were Mead kids,' said Tim Jenkins, a mill employee for 38 years. 'With the strike in '75, you walked through the lunch line, you could get a free lunch when you said, 'I'm a Mead kid.'' 'Little things like that you never forget.' Feeney, who grew up in Seattle and moved to Chillicothe after graduating from law school in Cleveland, was elected mayor in 2015. National Democrats, eager to project strength in conservative-leaning parts of the Midwest, gave him a speaking slot at their convention the following year. Back then, Feeney estimated, the paper mill accounted for about 13% of the city's income tax receipts. The number has dropped to about 8%, reflecting a more diverse local economy, but also a shrinking workforce. Feeney could never shake the thought that the mill's narrow focus wouldn't age well. 'In the back of my mind, I figured that there was some chance that the paper mill won't be around forever,' he said. 'Paper might not be used in a hundred years.' Despite obvious signs of decline, Pixelle's announcement that it would close the mill came as a shock. No one wanted to believe the worst. 'We saw changes in how they were running the business, and you could tell that wasn't sustainable,' said Allen, who has worked at the mill for 37 years. 'But I don't think anybody thought it was going to truly close. We just thought we would recover — they would make changes, and it would straighten itself out.' While the Pixelle news was gutting, if not entirely unexpected, Moreno's interest in taking on its owners came as a much bigger surprise. Once a swing state, Ohio has heavily favored Republicans in recent elections. But in 2012, voters in the state backed President Barack Obama after being inundated with ads and messaging that characterized his GOP rival, Mitt Romney, as a soulless businessman. Specifically, the ads tied Romney's work in private equity to job losses in Ohio and across the industrial heartland. Republicans at the time dismissed such tactics as attacks on capitalism. 'My political thinking certainly evolved from the Mitt Romney time to today,' Moreno said. 'While Mitt Romney and the people at Bain Capital made a lot of money doing that, they also caused a lot of damage. Fundamentally, that's wrong, and that's not the way Republicans saw things back then.' Moreno said he first learned of plans to close the mill from a car dealer in Chillicothe and described his reaction as 'quite frankly, just pissed off.' He directed his staff to make the issue a priority. His deputy state director, a Chillicothe native, recently moved back to the city. 'I was bowling, my phone rings,' Allen recalled. 'This guy says he's from Bernie Moreno's office, that Bernie's going to come to town. I said, 'Listen, I'm in a bowling league, can I call you back?' I thought, 'You know what? I better listen to this.' But I was suspect of it.' Feeney recalled reading Moreno's strongly worded letter that demanded answers from the owners: 'I don't think I disagreed with anything in it.' But the reprieve that Moreno's saber-rattling helped win was even more short-lived than expected. Less than two months after the Good Friday rally, Pixelle issued an updated notice that the mill would close within 60 days — not, as owners had pledged, at the end of the year. 'I would prefer not to shut down at all, but, remember, I have no leverage,' Moreno said. 'There's no tool in my toolbox where they had to listen to me.' Moreno said H.I.G. instead 'offered up an alternative that was workable' and that could involve transferring the land to a community organization free of environmental concerns. Such an arrangement could make it easier to reuse or redevelop the site. Feeney described such a situation as ideal. But the mayor worries about the site becoming home to a low-staffed data center. 'I don't want to see hundreds of acres and 20 employees,' Feeney said. State and local officials also remain engaged, prepared to assist in talks to sell or redevelop the site and to help match displaced workers with new jobs. Many note an anticipated surge in other skilled manufacturing jobs in the wider region. There are plans for new semiconductor, drone and electric vehicle battery plants all within about a 45-minute drive from Chillicothe. There also remains hope, especially among Pixelle workers, that the site can continue as a paper mill, with corrugated cardboard and other packaging materials mentioned as a possibility if carbonless is no longer an option. Representatives from three large paper companies have toured the mill but found it unsuitable for their needs, Moreno said. 'They all kind of told me the same thing,' he added. 'The patient's too far gone' because of lack of proper investments. The experience has been instructive, Moreno said. He has ordered his staff to conduct 'a full audit of Ohio companies' that in the coming years might find themselves in a situation similar to Pixelle's and identify ways to intervene before it's too late. 'I don't want to play Whac-A-Mole,' Moreno said. 'I want to be proactive and avoid the next 20 Chillicothes.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
6 hours ago
- Business
- NBC News
How a small Ohio town became the 'center of gravity' in the GOP's realignment
The effort to save the mill, or to at least ensure a new employer can take it over as quickly as possible, hit a snag this month. H.I.G. and Pixelle reneged on an agreement to pause the shutdown timeline and keep the factory open through the end of the year — a reprieve that would have bought time to identify a new tenant or use for the property. It had been the one shred of good news Moreno delivered at his April rally. 'Bernie has been the face of this,' said Jai Chabria, a longtime Republican strategist in Ohio. 'Whether he's successful or not is not the measure of where we are. If you look back at the Republican Party of 20 years ago, this is certainly not where a wealthy Republican senator would be expected to lead. Bernie has really embraced where the party has gone.' Even so, Katie Seewer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party, faulted Republicans for 'the latest in a long streak of bad economic news' in the state, noting that Moreno had raised hopes that the mill's closure wouldn't happen this year. 'Republicans own these failures and many others that have created an economy that isn't working for Ohio,' Seewer added. Pixelle is scheduled to end all Chillicothe operations by Aug. 10. The workers there — many of them second- and third-generation paper mill employees — are now waiting to see how much of the tough talk from Moreno and his colleagues leads to action. 'Bernie's railing against private equity,' said Scott Wiesman, who has worked at the mill for 30 years. 'But if you Google it, he's invested in private equity. So how evil is it, Bernie?' Mayor Luke Feeney, a Democrat, gives Moreno more credit. 'My hope and belief is that his efforts have been genuine and sincere,' Feeney said. 'All of those guys that got up there and on that stage said, 'We will sue them if they do this to you' — I hope they stick to it, and until they don't, I'm good with it.' But, Feeney added, 'if it turns out that it was just a dog-and-pony show, then I'll be pretty frustrated, because we're left with the aftermath here.' 'We were Mead kids' Chillicothe, about an hour's drive south of Columbus, has a proud history as Ohio's first state capital. Today, it has a population of roughly 22,000, a promising tourist economy boosted by the nearby Hopewell earthworks and mounds, and a redeveloped downtown that Feeney holds up as a small-town success story. Less than a mile from Pixelle, bustling Paint Street features two craft breweries, a boba house and other trendy businesses tucked into tidily restored storefronts. The name of a hip cafe, Paper City Coffee, pays tribute to one of the town's top employers. (Countywide, the mill is the third-largest source of jobs, behind the regional hospital system and a Kenworth Trucks plant.) The mill is 'as much a part of the scenery as the hills and everything else around here,' said Michael Throne, the head of the Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce, who recalled his first glimpse of the smokestack when driving to town for a job interview years ago. 'I'd seen smokestacks before,' Throne said. 'But nothing that towered over the landscape of the city.' Chillicothe's papermaking days date to 1812. For more than 100 years, the city was a hub for Mead, a company that would become a household name in school and office supplies. 'The paper mill really supported southeast Ohio,' said Jeff Allen, president of the United Steelworkers Local 731, which represents Pixelle workers. 'They used to tell us that for every job in the mill, there were three outside the mill.' Over time, Mead's name slowly disappeared. Market forces — a world less reliant on paper, a tangle of mergers and acquisitions — kept bouncing the old mill into new investment portfolios. In 2022, H.I.G. purchased what four years earlier had been rebranded as Pixelle. 'We were Mead kids. Our kids were Mead kids,' said Tim Jenkins, a mill employee for 38 years. 'With the strike in '75, you walked through the lunch line, you could get a free lunch when you said, 'I'm a Mead kid.'' 'Little things like that you never forget.'
Associated Press
a day ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Compass Diversified (CODI) Situation Worsens, Admits Accounting Irregularities During 2022 - 2024, Expanded Class Period In Amended Securities Class Action Complaint
SAN FRANCISCO, June 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After hours on June 25, 2025, Connecticut-based private equity firm Compass Diversified (NYSE: CODI) filed a report with the SEC warning investors not to rely on previously issued financial statements for its fiscal years ended- and interim periods within- December 31, 2022 and 2023, citing an expanded scope of previously disclosed accounting irregularities. The firm is navigating a turbulent period marked a precipitous stock decline, burgeoning class-action lawsuits, and recent accounting malfeasance revelations at one of its portfolio companies now spanning its 2022 through 2024 fiscal years. Recently, the plaintiff in the action styled Moreno v. Compass Group Diversified Holdings LLC, Case No. 3:25-cv-00758 (D. Conn.) filed an amended complaint that now seeks to represent purchasers or acquirers of Compass Diversified Holdings' publicly traded securities during an expanded Class Period -- February 24, 2022 through May 7, 2025. Hagens Berman is investigating the claims and urges investors who purchased Compass shares and suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now. Expanded Class Period: Feb. 24, 2022 – May 7, 2025 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 8, 2025 Visit: Contact the Firm Now: [email protected] 844-916-0895 Compass Diversified's June 25, 2025 Admission To Accounting Irregularities: After hours on June 25, 2025, Compass Diversified filed a Form 8-K with the SEC expanding on the company's initial (May 7, 2025) warning that, due to irregularities at its Lugano Holding subsidiary, investors should no longer rely on its full-year and interim financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024. The June 25 filing discloses that, in addition to the 2024 false financial statements, 'the identified irregularities also existed during fiscal years 2022 and 2023' and investors should no longer rely on those annual and quarterly financial statements. Compass Diversified (CODI) Securities Class Actions: The company's May 7, 2025 disclosure of 2024 accounting irregularities ignited several securities class action lawsuits alleging that Compass Diversified made false and misleading statements while failing to disclose critical information to investors, including: On May 7, 2025, investors began to learn the truth, when Compass Diversified revealed that it 'preliminarily identified irregularities in Lugano's non-CODI financing, accounting, and inventory practices.' Following discussions with senior leadership and investigators, the Audit Committee of CODI's Board concluded that 'previously issued financial statements for 2024 require restatement and should no longer be relied upon.' The company also announced its intention to delay the filing of its first-quarter 2025 Form 10-Q. The market's immediate response was severe, with the price of Compass Diversified's stock plummeting by more than 62% on the news. Hagens Berman's Investigation Hagens Berman, a national investor rights law firm, has announced it is conducting its own investigation into potential securities violations by Compass Diversified. 'The cascade of events, from the restatement of financials to the drastic measures to conserve cash, suggests a deeply entrenched issue at Lugano that Compass Diversified seemingly failed to adequately oversee,' said Reed Kathrein, the partner at Hagens Berman leading the firm's probe. If you invested in Compass Diversified and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, submit your losses now » If you'd like more information and answers to frequently asked questions about the Compass Diversified case and our investigation, read more» Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Compass Diversified should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email [email protected]. About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation firm focusing on corporate accountability. The firm is home to a robust practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and other wrongdoings. Hagens Berman's team has secured more than $2.9 billion in this area of law. More about the firm and its successes can be found at Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw. Contact: Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895
USA Today
20-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
'Million Dollar Listing' star Ryan Serhant recruited to sell entire waterfront condo
'Million Dollar Listing' star Ryan Serhant recruited to sell entire waterfront condo Show Caption Hide Caption "Million Dollar Listing" star Ryan Serhant sells Florida condo Former "Million Dollar Listing New York" star Ryan Serhant is representing La Fontana condominium in West Palm Beach, which is up for sale. The owners are hoping the prime waterfront location will attract a developer to demolish and rebuild. A previous deal fell through with a developer who wanted to purchase La Fontana and the neighboring Portofino building together. Rising costs, including a pending fire safety mandate, are motivating factors for selling. Owners at the waterfront La Fontana condominium in West Palm Beach, Florida are putting their entire 140-unit building up for sale after failing to seal deals with two billionaire developers. They've recruited former 'Million Dollar Listing New York' star Ryan Serhant and his firm to represent the 64-year-old building with the idea it would be demolished and replaced by new construction. The address, 2800 N. Flagler Drive, is an attractive location just north of bustling downtown West Palm Beach and sitting directly on the Intracoastal Waterway with nearly three acres of land. It's two miles south of the Lake Worth Inlet, also known as the Palm Beach Inlet, and next to Currie Park, which is currently undergoing a $35 million renovation. La Fontana's association board had previously considered asking for $225 million for the building but there's no sale price set on the current listing, which is being handled off market. 'It's not the building, it's the land,' said La Fontana board President Paul Moreno. 'The general consensus is it will be knocked down and something else will be built.' Celebrity real estate: NBA's Kevin Durant's custom Oklahoma City townhome hits the market — starting at $35 Moreno said the building is current on inspections and in compliance with state safety legislation. But a pending state fire safety mandate to install a pricey new 'engineered life safety system' helped convince some La Fontana owners to sell. 'We're not desperate,' Moreno said. 'But the sprinklers are a ton of work and a lot of money.' La Fontana has been courted by developer Al Adelson and saw some interest from the city's dominant developer, Related Ross, according to Moreno. But Adelson was adamant that he wanted a package deal of La Fontana and its 56-year-old neighbor building Portofino, where there currently aren't enough residents willing to sell. Adelson was offering $150 million for each building. The purchase would have given him a waterfront footprint of about 5.5 acres. Moreno said Ross was looking at a longer timeline for purchase that was "not in compliance" with what the board wanted. Because La Fontana is a co-op — where owners purchase shares in a corporation that owns the entire building — it needs 80% of residents willing to sell. Portofino is a traditional condominium. That means it is governed by rules that say a sale must be approved by 80% of unit owners, but if 5% or more vote no, they can block the sale and another vote can't happen for two years. 'Our owners are pretty content here,' said Portofino board president Michelle Alber. 'We feel like we have a little slice of heaven and if you look at the prices of new construction on the water, it's unobtainable for most of our owners.' Cynthia Witter bought her unit in Portofino for $218,000 in 2003. She also owns a unit at La Fontana that she paid $135,000 for, also in 2003. The cheapest waterfront new construction condominiums in West Palm Beach are at least $1 million. Even with a hefty payout from a developer, it would be a stretch for many Portofino and La Fontana owners to buy a new unit and keep up with association fees and taxes. Still, Witter said she's ready to sell both of her units. 'I think it's an opportunity and my own personal opinion is these units aren't going to go up in value,' she said. 'If La Fontana gets knocked down and starts building, it's going to be awful at Portofino.' Along North Flagler Drive there are at least seven new condominium projects planned or already under construction. Some are as tall as 28 stories, with one trying to go to 31 stories. Christian Prakas, a founding partner of Serhant's Delray Beach office who is helping market La Fontana, said owners there are smart to sell now before the market is saturated with new construction. Serhant also already has someone working on getting city code changes to allow for a taller building on the site. 'This is one of the most valuable spots on North Flagler because it's actually on the water, not across from the water, and has riparian rights, making boat slips possible,' Prakas said. While condo sales in which the entire building agrees to sell were uncommon in the past, that may change with new Surfside safety rules, higher insurance rates and aging retirees. Prakas said this is the first whole building sale Serhant has done in South Florida, although it has brokered similar deals in New York. 'I think we are going to see a massive flood of these coming to the market in the next 10 years as the baby boomers are passing away and their heirs will not want to carry these condos with rising costs and high assessments,' Prakas said. Alber, the Portofino board president, emphasized that while the building is not actively for sale, owners would be willing to entertain offers. 'Who knows what might come our way,' she said. Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@ Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.
NBC Sports
19-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Diamondbacks put catcher Gabriel Moreno on 10-day IL with right-hand contusion
TORONTO (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks put catcher Gabriel Moreno on the 10-day injured list Thursday because of a contusion on his right hand. The move is retroactive to June 16. Arizona selected catcher Aramis Garcia from Triple-A Reno. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Christian Montes De Oca (back/elbow) was transferred to the 60-day IL. Outfielder Corbin Carroll was not in the starting lineup for Thursday's series finale against the Blue Jays. Carroll left Wednesday's 8-1 loss in the eighth inning after being hit on the left hand by a pitch. X-rays did not reveal a fracture. Manager Torey Lovullo said Carroll asked to play Thursday, but Lovullo preferred to rest the 2023 NL Rookie of the Year. Carroll is batting .255 with 20 home runs and 44 RBIs. Former Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk started in right field for the Diamondbacks on Thursday. Moreno was scratched from the lineup Tuesday after injuring his hand during batting practice. He did not play on Wednesday. Moreno is batting .270 with five home runs and 20 RBIs in 53 games. Now in his third season with the Diamondbacks, Moreno was acquired from Toronto following the 2022 season, along with outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., in a trade that sent outfielder Daulton Varsho to the Blue Jays.
