Business Notebook

Engineering company, Thomas & Hutton, has expanded its downtown Columbia presence, the firm announced Tuesday.

The engineering, surveying and planning company now occupies more than 4,900 square feet at 1501 Main Street and has signed a long-term lease extension.

Since Thomas & Hutton opened its Columbia office in September 2013, it has more than doubled in size. The company employs more than 200 people at regional offices in Charleston, Greenville, Myrtle Beach as well as Savannah and Brunswick in Georgia.

Youth jobs coming to N. Charleston

The city is receiving $1.6 million from the U.S. Department of Labor for a demonstration youth jobs project.

The money will be used to develop satellite job centers in impoverished areas of the city. The centers will provide six-week job training and work opportunities for youngsters and young adults to help them be better prepared for jobs.

The problem of exploding air bags could be widening beyond Japanese manufacturer Takata Corp.

U.S. safety regulators are investigating inflators made by ARC Automotive Inc. that went into about 420,000 older Fiat Chrysler Town and Country minivans and another 70,000 Kia Optima midsize sedans.

The probe, revealed in documents posted Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, comes just weeks after Takata agreed to recall 33.8 million inflators in the U.S. in the largest automotive recall in American history.

IN BRIEF

▪  A groundbreaking ceremony for Kroger’s first Marketplace store in the Columbia area is scheduled for July 21 at Killian Crossing in Blythewood.

▪  Honda reached a settlement Tuesday to resolve allegations that the company discriminated against minority car buyers by marking up interest rates on loans, a practice industry experts describe as common because of the discretion given to individual dealerships.

From Staff and Wire Reports.