From Enquirer news services

Bombay Co. plans distribution site

PLAINFIELD, Ind. - The Bombay Co., a furniture and home decor retailer, plans to open a $5.2 million Midwestern distribution center that will create 60 jobs within three years, state officials said Thursday.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based company plans to open a 300,000-square-foot center at a business park in Plainfield, a suburb west of Indianapolis.

The state Department of Commerce and local officials awarded $250,000 in tax credits over seven years. The department said it also expects to offer future worker training assistance, and Hendricks County is offering a 10-year property tax abatement and assistance in recruiting workers.

Bombay operates more than 240 retail stores throughout North America, and also offers products through a mail-order business and over the Internet.

Glass workers vote for union

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. - Nearly 400 Pilkington Glass workers have voted in favor of representation by the United Steelworkers of America.

The U.S. National Labor Relations Board this week certified the results of a secret-ballot election held June 20, the union said. The vote was 237-132.

The Steelworkers are preparing to bargain with Pilkington's management starting in late July or early August on working conditions affecting 395 glass workers in Shelbyville, about 20 miles southeast of Indianapolis. The plant produces glass windows for the automobile industry.

The United Steelworkers of America represents workers at five other North American plants owned by Pilkington, which is based in the United Kingdom. The union represents more than 600,000 workers in a variety of industries, including more than 30,000 in the glass industry.

Kindred sells nursing homes

LOUISVILLE - Kindred Healthcare Inc. has left the Florida nursing home market by selling 17 facilities that were considered a drag on the long-term care operator's earnings.

Louisville-based Kindred said it sold 15 nursing homes that it acquired from its landlord, Ventas Inc., and two other facilities it owned in Florida in a deal worth about $64 million.

Kindred didn't identify the buyer, but industry analysts said it was Senior Health Management, a private company.

Kindred said it subleased another Florida facility that it operated, and shed its Texas nursing home operations by terminating its lease on one facility and reaching agreement to transfer operation of another facility that Kindred acquired from Ventas.

"These divestitures will have a significant positive impact on our operating results going forward and demonstrate our commitment to improving our operations and enhancing shareholder value," said Edward L. Kuntz, Kindred's chairman and chief executive officer.