Business news in brief

Construction on city residential devel-

opments stopped yesterday when con-

tractors and the carpenters' union, the Metropolitan Regional Council of Philadelphia and Vicinity, failed to agree on who could name the shop steward at union con-

struction sites. Sam Sherman, who heads the Building Industry Association, said con-

tractors had traditionally chosen stew-

ards from among longtime employees; the union wants to appoint an outside steward. Sherman said the sides agreed on wages that would raise compensation by $5.25 an hour to $63.85 an hour at the end of a three-year contract. That includes salary, benefits, and pension. Sherman said the stoppage affected from 10 to 12 major residential projects in the city, and puts about 400 carpenters out of work. The carpenters' contract expired April 30. Neither Edward C. Coryell, the top official at the council, nor Mark Durkalec, who heads the union's residential group, could be reached for comment. No further nego tiations have been scheduled. - Jane M. Von Bergen

Economists have a gloomier outlook than they did in February, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Survey of Professional Forecasters for the second quarter. The 51 economists in the survey are expecting slower growth and higher unemployment this year and next year than they were three months ago, the bank said. - Harold Brubaker

Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania Inc., Narberth, reported a net loss of $6.75 million in the first quarter, down from a profit of $1.04 million in the same period a year ago. The bank attributed the loss to a $2.8 million pretax provision for loan losses and a $4.2 million impairment charge on certain stocks in its investment subsidiary. The bank had total assets of $1.25 billion, up slightly from $1.18 billion last year. - Harold Brubaker

Sunoco Inc., the Philadelphia refiner, will pay the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania $762,150 in civil penalties because its plant in Marcus Hook violated air-quality standards. "We're disappointed in our environmental performance in these areas, as we always strive for continuous improvement in all that we do," Thomas Golembeski, a Sunoco spokesman, said. The Sunoco penalties will go to Pennsylvania's Clean Air Fund, said Lynda Rebarchak, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. - Bloomberg News

The banking arm of ailing auto finance company GMAC is taking on a new name, hoping to smooth its image and entice new customers as it works to drive deposit growth. GMAC Bank has a big corporate office in Fort Washington, and its parent, GMAC Financial Services, has a call center in Horsham for its mortgage business. As of yesterday, GMAC Bank has become Ally Bank, which will offer a variety of savings products, including no-penalty certificates of deposit, online savings accounts, and money-market accounts. The company settled on the name Ally after extensive interviews with customers. - AP

The Navy has awarded a contract to a contractor to set up and manage an IT equipment warehouse in Philadelphia that will ship equipment to various Department of Defense sites around the world. QinetiQ North America, a division of QinetiQ Group P.L.C., was awarded a five-year contract - one base year and four one-year options - with a total value of $7.2 million. The contract covers work for a center run through the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Programs office. - Roslyn Rudolph

Bank chief executives will be replaced in the next couple of months as the United States scrutinizes troubled lenders, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair predicted. "Management needs to be evaluated," Bair said yesterday on Bloomberg Television. "Have they been doing a good job? Are there people who can do a better job?" The FDIC released

a statement after the interview characterizing Bair's comments. Bair said management changes "could happen" based on capital-raising plans submitted to the government. "She did not refer to CEOs specifically," the agency said in an e-mailed statement. "Bair also did not suggest the federal government will remove the bank CEOs." - Bloomberg News

Arizona's oldest continuously published daily newspaper, the Tucson Citizen, will publish its final print edition today but will continue operating in a different form online. A Gannett Co. official told the newspaper's staff that the paper would continue with a Web-site edition providing commentary and opinion but no news coverage. Gannett announced plans in January to close the Citizen if it did not find a buyer for certain assets by March 21. Shortly before the original planned closing, Gannett said it would delay the shutdown as it negotiated with two potential buyers. Those talks proved unsuccessful. The newspaper had about 65 employees as of yesterday. The Arizona Daily Star continues to publish in Tucson. - AP

Macy's Inc. is looking at entering the outlet business to help boost sales, chief executive officer Terry Lundgren said. Such outlets could sell leftover inventory from Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores, and perhaps merchandise developed specifically for them, Lundgren said. Saks Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. are among retailers that operate outlets, which help dispose of unsold goods and keep the main stores free of clutter. They also capture shoppers who shop only at outlets, Lundgren said. - Bloomberg News

A federal appeals court says it won't review the government corruption convictions of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy. A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in March upheld five of the seven bribery and corruption charges against Siegelman and all six charges against Scrushy. The pair wanted the full 12-judge court to review the appeal. Siegelman's attorney expects to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Siegelman and Scrushy were convicted in 2006. Prosecutors charged Siegelman appointed Scrushy to a hospital regulatory board in exchange for Scrushy's arranging $500,000 in contributions to the governor's campaign for a state lottery. - AP