LOCAL BRIEFS

Delta signs deals on engine service

Delta Air Lines has signed two 10-year aircraft engine service agreements and an engine parts agreement with Pratt & Whitney. The two engine services agreements, worth more than $1 billion, cover material replacement and parts repair for Delta’s fleet of PW4000 engines and parts repair for Delta’s maintenance, repair and overhaul customers. Under the engine parts agreement, Pratt & Whitney will be the exclusive supplier of most JT8D-219 engine parts for Delta.

—- Kelly Yamanouchi

Transform wins software contract

Peachtree City-based consulting firm Transform announced it has won a contract to lead implementation of fraud prevention software at Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways. The fraud prevention software uses a device fingerprint for ticket sales, allowing US Airways to analyze suspect travel patterns, billing inconsistencies, high-risk ticket characteristics, booking patterns and other elements.

—- Kelly Yamanouchi

Foreclosure auction number a record

A record number of metro Atlanta properties are scheduled for foreclosure auctions next month, Equity Depot reported Monday. In the 13 counties Equity Depot tracks, 8,425 properties are scheduled to be auctioned Feb. 3. The previous high was 7,967 properties from last September. Fulton County is the leader, with 1,838 troubled properties, followed by Gwinnett and DeKalb counties. Fayette has the fewest foreclosed properties —- 128. Many of the properties will not end up selling because of negotiated agreements and bankruptcy filings.

—- Kevin Duffy

Zep reports loss in fiscal 1st quarter

Thanks to the triple whammy of falling sales, high costs for raw materials and a restructuring charge from a corporate downsizing, Zep Inc. reported a loss of $1.9 million, or 7 cents per share, in its fiscal first quarter. The Atlanta-based industrial cleaning chemicals maker reported a profit $6.3 million, or 30 cents per share for the quarter, which ended Nov. 30. “While we planned for a challenging first quarter, the depth and breadth of this recession is much more severe than what we had anticipated,” John K. Morgan, Zep’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

—- Peralte C. Paul

Meehan’s to open at ex-Macy’s site

Meehan’s Public House will open a restaurant in the former Macy’s department store building in downtown Atlanta, the owners of the building said. Meehan’s, an Irish restaurant and pub owned by Atlanta-based 101 Concepts, has locations in Sandy Springs and Vinings. The downtown restaurant at 180 Peachtree is expected to open in November. The new location will be 4,200 square feet with a Peachtree Street entrance and interior entrance to the lobby of the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel.

—- Joe Guy Collier

Neenah to provide inaugural paper

An Alpharetta-based paper company is getting in on the inauguration celebration of President-elect Barack Obama. Neenah Paper was tapped to provide the parchment for the inaugural invitations, according to a news release from the company. This is not the first time Neenah has supplied the paper for a presidential inauguration, company officials say. The last three presidents’ invitations also were printed on Neenah paper, the release said. The paper used for the inauguration invitation is the company’s trademark Classic Crest paper in recycled 100 natural white, according to the release.

—- Michelle E. Shaw

Poultry industry faces hard times

Georgia poultry farmers are waiting to see whether they will have any chickens to raise at the end of the year. Chicken producers are reeling from last summer’s spike in corn prices. The University of Georgia Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development says record prices for diesel fuel aren’t helping and consumers aren’t eating out as much. As a result, many producers are cutting back. Pilgrim’s Pride, out of Pittsburg, Texas, will end nightshift chicken production in Athens starting Feb. 9.

—- Associated Press