Fort Wayne Nissan

Nursing home work set to start

Lutheran Life Villages plans to break ground today on a $9 million, 50,000-square-foot nursing home at 9910 Coldwater Road, south of Dupont Road.

The ceremony is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. for the previously announced project.

Initially, the project was estimated at $6 million, but Lutheran Life CEO Bruce Blalock said Tuesday that costs have escalated since planning began. Construction on a nine-acre site is expected to be completed by late spring 2012.

The nursing home is expected to house 84 residents and employ about 100 full- and part-time workers.

“We’ll probably start hiring right after the first of the year,” Blalock said.

Lutheran Life provides a range of retirement living services and has locations in Fort Wayne and Kendallville.

Talks on last Borders stores fall through

Bookstore chain Books-A-Million Inc. says its last-minute talks to buy the leases and assets of 30 Borders bookstores out of bankruptcy have fallen through.

Borders Group Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in February, received court approval last week to liquidate its 399 stores. The chain said at the time it was talking to Books-A-Million about buying 30 store leases and inventory.

But Books-A-Million said Tuesday those talks were unsuccessful.

Birmingham, Ala.-based Books-A-Million operates 231 stores in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Borders, which closed its Fort Wayne store this spring, is based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Nissan eyes $8 billion expansion in China

Nissan announced an $8 billion expansion plan for China on Tuesday as part of a global strategy to focus on faster-growing emerging markets and reduce reliance on the United States.

Nissan’s plan with its local partner, Dongfeng Group, calls for opening new factories to meet surging demand and introducing 30 new models by 2015. They include a China-produced electric car to be sold under the low-priced Venucia brand that Nissan Motor Co. is creating for the Chinese market.

Auto sales in China jumped 32 percent last year to 18 million vehicles, defying global economic malaise.

Nissan hopes to nearly double its annual sales in China to 2.3 million vehicles by 2015, up from 1.3 million last year.

Area Ohio counties see unemployment dip

The four Ohio counties bordering northeast Indiana saw unemployment drop in June, according to information released Tuesday by state and federal agencies.

U.S. plant to make Nissan electric motors | The Journal Gazette ...

– Nissan will build motors for the electric Leaf at its engine plant in Decherd, Tenn., starting in early 2013 as the automaker expands production.

The plant will be able to make up to 150,000 electric motors a year. It currently makes engines and components for Nissan vehicles built in North America, and also houses engine casting and forging operations.

New production at the site will be added to current production in Japan, said company spokesman Steve Parrett. He said locating the work at Decherd is not related to the March disaster in Japan.

More than 4,000 Leafs have been delivered to customers in the United States. The price of the 2012 Leaf that goes on sale this fall is about $2,500 higher than this year at $35,200 for the SV trim level, Nissan has said.

A $7,500 tax credit could reduce the starting price to $27,700.

The Decherd plant expansion is being funded with a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to encourage advanced technology, the company said last week. The Japanese automaker was not announcing the amount of the loan, Parrett said.

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