Vaporizing jobs.

• Position: TRIAD REGION

When London-based The Financial Times reported in March that Reynolds American had enlisted New York-based investment bank Lazard to explore buying Lorillard, fears mounted that a consolidation could slash the tobacco manufacturers' Triad employment. Lorillard employs about 1,900 at its headquarters and plant in Greensboro, while Reynolds has an estimated 2,200 at its Winston-Salem headquarters and Tobaccoville plant. A merger could lead to hundreds of duplicate jobs cut, Wells Fargo Securities analyst Bonnie Herzog told the Winston-Salem Journal. Lorillard is attractive because its Newport brand is the No. 2 seller and No. 1 menthol cigarette in the U.S., while its blu eCigs brand, acquired in 2012 (cover story, March 2013), has a 47% share of the electronic-cigarette market. But there's a big hurdle: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration may ban menthols, which anti-smoking advocates say are popular with young smokers who prefer a less harsh flavor. London-based British American Tobacco--Reynolds' largest shareholder, with a 42% stake--would need to approve an acquisition, and it may wait until the FDA makes its decision.

HIGH POINT--Bannockburn, I11.-based APAC Customer Services will add 500 jobs by July at its call center here to provide customer service for an unnamed telecommunications company. APAC is owned by Plano, Texas-based Expert Global Solutions, which is owned by the private-equity arm of New York-based JPMorgan Chase.

HIGH POINT--St. Louis-based Heritage Home Group will close its Pearson Co. furniture plant here by Aug. 30 and will let go all 86 employees. It is the third plant closing in North Carolina announced this year by Heritage Home, which bought the assets of St. Louis-based Furniture Brands International out...