CANTON, Ohio (AP) - An energy company tapping a major natural gas deposit in eastern Ohio has opened an office in Canton and expects to create more than 70 jobs.

The (Canton) Repository reports today *Friday* that Chesapeake Energy will use the office as an interim operations base until it finds a permanent field office for drilling in the Utica shale formation. Last month Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy said it believes the 1.25 million acres it has leased above the Utica Shale formation in eastern Ohio is worth 15 to 20 billion dollars.  

Natural gas is extracted from shale by hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, a process that blasts chemical-laced water into the ground. Environmentalists have raised concerns about potential groundwater contamination.

People flying out of some Ohio airports don't have worry anymore about security personnel seeing images of them without their clothes on.

The Transportation Security Administration has installed new technology in Dayton, Cleveland and Toledo that allows travelers to go through checkpoint security and have full-body scanners show a generic outline of the body instead of a naked image.

TSA spokesman Jim Fotenos tells The Plain Dealer of Cleveland that the new software enhances passenger privacy. The newspaper reports that if a scanner detects an object on a person, the screen shows a yellow patch on the area of the body that should be patted down.

The TSA says the new software should be installed in all 40 U.S. airports with the machines by the end of the year.

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) - General Dynamics Corp.'s land systems unit has been awarded two contracts to provide tank work for Saudi Arabia with a combined value of $42.4 million.

The contracts were awarded by the U.S. Army on behalf of the Royal Saudi Land Forces. This work is part of a plan by Saudi Arabia to upgrade its fleet of 314 Abrams tanks.

The work will be performed at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio.

The contract continues work started in 2008.  General Dynamics' shares rose 67 cents to $61.85 in midday trading.

On Saturday officials gathered in Clark County for a ground-breaking ceremony at the Springfield-Beckley airport. It kicks off an 11.6 million dollar construction project that will benefit the Air National Guard Base housed at the airport. 

The project will result in a new administrative building and a training complex for the National Guard. It's being built by Tamsah Marker. The Bellefontaine-based company will also construct a warehouse facility and a parking lot to support the new complex.

The project was spearheaded by former Congressman Dave Hobson of Springfield. He was on hand at the ceremony where it was also announced that the new facility will be named in his honor.

IRONTON, Ohio (AP) - Lawmakers and others invested in southern Ohio's economy say the state should work with neighboring Kentucky and West Virginia to help the region realize the shipping potential of the Ohio River.

Patrick Donovan of the Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute tells The Columbus Dispatch the tri-state area needs a port authority that competes globally.

Bill Dingus of the Lawrence Economic Development Corp. says the river system moves 63 million tons of commodities valued at $7.4 billion to, from and within Ohio. He says that just scratches the surface of the river's potential.

He and Donovan anticipate the river could get more business with a major Panama Canal expansion scheduled for completion by 2014.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio regulators are proposing that companies get breaks on their electric bills for certain levels of new hiring and investment in the state.

Public Utilities Commission of Ohio spokeswoman, Beth Trombold, tells The Columbus Dispatch the plan is aimed at boosting jobs and economic development. It’s likely the rate cuts would mainly go to large businesses and that other electric customers would pay more.