SC business notebook, July 3 | The State

Sportsman Boats expanding, to bring 50 new jobs in 5 years

DORCHESTER COUNTY Sportsman Boats Manufacturing will expand its current operations in Dorchester County, investing $2.35 million and creating 50 jobs in the next five years as it moves into a larger facility, the S.C. Department Commerce said Tuesday. The 72,600-square-foot facility will give the company room to add new boat models. The move is expected to take place by Labor Day. Hiring will begin this month. See sportsmanboatsmfg.com/Careers.html for jobs.

GM, Honda joining to develop hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

NEW YORK General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. are joining forces to develop hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The two companies said Tuesday they plan to develop new hydrogen storage and fuel cell technologies by 2020. They will also push for more hydrogen fueling stations. Fuel cell vehicles have electric motors that are powered by a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. The only byproducts are water vapor and heat, so there’s no pollution. But the lack of infrastructure to transport and store liquid hydrogen has been a barrier to the cars’ development. GM and Honda already have more than 1,200 fuel cell patents between them, and both companies have experimental vehicle fleets. Ford, Daimler and Renault-Nissan announced a similar plan to collaborate on hydrogen vehicles earlier this year.

Animal groups ask court to block revival of domestic horse slaughtering

COLUMBIA, Mo. A coalition of animal protection groups is asking a federal court in northern California to block the revival of domestic horse slaughter at commercial processing plants. A lawsuit filed Monday by the Humane Society of the United States, four other groups and five individuals seeks an emergency injunction to overturn the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent permit approval for a horse meat plant in Roswell, N.M. The federal agency on Tuesday approved another equine slaughter operation in Sigourney, Iowa and expects to accept another request later this week.

Ex-Tiffany executive accused of stealing, selling more than $1.3 million worth of jewelry

NEW YORK A former executive with Tiffany & Co. stole a little blue box bounty from the jeweler’s midtown Manhattan headquarters and resold it for more than $1.3 million, federal authorities said Tuesday. Ingrid Lederhaas-Okun was arrested Tuesday at her home in Darien, Conn., on charges of wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property. As vice president of product development, she had authority to “check out” jewelry to determine production costs. Authorities allege that after she left Tiffany in February, the company discovered she had checked out 164 items that were never returned. If convicted, Lederhaas-Okun faces up to 20 years in prison.

The Associated Press contributed.