Business briefs
BANK’S EFFORT SURPASSES $382,000 IN COMMUNITY SUPPORT: As part of Premier Bank’s annual movement designed to foster kindness, “Powered By (kind) People. Fueled By You.”, the bank awarded more than $382,000 to 121 community partners in the Mahoning Valley in 2023.
This support includes the following community partners: American Cancer Society for the 2023 Tri-County Golf Classic; Butler Institute of American Art for the Summer Visual Arts Day Camp; Compass Family & Community Services for the American Made Country Music Concert; Potential Development for PD Promise Partnerships; Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley for the .5k & Coffee Trail; The Way Station for a donation to support the East Palestine Derailment; The United Way of Trumbull County to support the 2024 United Way Campaign; The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley to support the 2024 United Way Campaign; Ursuline High School for the Auditorium LED Lighting Upgrade project; and Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber Foundation for program support.
PACE PROVIDER COMING TO NEO: One Senior Care, a PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) provider to rural and Appalachian communities, recently announced its program, LIFE-Northwestern Pennsylvania, has been selected by the Ohio Department of Aging to bring PACE to Trumbull, Mahoning and Ashtabula counties.
In June, Ohio lawmakers issued a request for proposals to identify partners to administer the program in the state’s rural areas.
The PACE program, already operating in 32 states and servicing approximately 55,000 seniors, is designed to address the unique needs of low-income seniors with chronic care needs.
Based on research that highlights the advantages of at-home care and a supportive social environment, PACE offers a wide array of services including medical, psychosocial, cognitive, functional, and end-of-life support.
New businesses
MUSIC CAFE OPENS: The Octave Live Music Cafe and Event Center on North Phelps Street in downtown Youngstown held its grand opening Dec. 22.
The cafe is owned by Gary Reynolds Jr., Jay Simon and Micah Hall Sr.
The Octave is a restaurant and live music venue, and contains an event center that can be rented out for parties, meetings and special occasions.
People on the Move
TOURISM BUREAU HIRES MANAGER: The Trumbull County Tourism Bureau has hired Samantha Ensminger as the agency’s new marketing manager, effective in November.
Ensminger joins the bureau with experience in content development, marketing and event management.
She previously served as events coordinator for the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber for almost three years. During her time there, she organized and managed more than 100 events annually.
Prior to her work at the chamber, Ensminger held various roles in the marketing industry, specializing in content development and marketing, scriptwriting and event planning.
Ensminger has a bachelor’s degree in English from Youngstown State University, where she also minored in technical and professional writing and Italian.
FARMERS GROWS TEAM: Farmers National Bank is adding Mahoning Valley native Michael Olive to the bank’s commercial Lending team as vice president, relationship manager out of Mahoning County.
Olive has been in banking for the last 14 years, including several as a commercial lender.
Originally from Lowellville, Olive earned his bachelor’s and MBA degrees from Youngstown State University. He also completed a commercial lending certificate through the American Bankers Association and graduated from the Shenango Leadership Program.
PROMOTION AT AIM: Youngstown-based Aim Transportation Solutions, a family-owned and -operated provider of commercial transportation solutions, recently announced the promotion of Joe Telega to vice president of leasing sales.
In the role, he is responsible for overseeing Aim’s nationwide leasing sales team, formulating and executing sales strategies and nurturing client and vendor partner relationships.
Telega began his career at Aim in 2010 as a lease sales representative in Pittsburgh. In 2012, he transferred to Aim’s headquarters in Youngstown to fill the open lease sales position for northeast Ohio and part of western Pennsylvania.
He was promoted to regional sales manager later and in 2018, was promoted to regional vice president.
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Business briefs
COMPANIES COLLABORATE: Penguin City and One Hot Cookie have released a collaboration beer, Holy Cannoli, a pastry stout with hints of vanilla, chocolate and cinnamon.
The beer was inspired by one of One Hot Cookie’s Holy Cannoli cookie. This year along with the release they will have a limited edition 16 ounce Belgium beer glass with 22 K gold rim and gold imprint of the two brands.
Penguin City Brewing Company and One Hot Cookie have been collaborating since 2019, when they introduced their first beer collaboration, Pink Peppermint Ale, a beer inspired by One Hot Cookie’s pink peppermint brownie.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: The Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber, in collaboration with Sapientia Ventures, Huntington, HBK and Brouse McDowell, will honor 20 family-owned businesses at the Mahoning Valley’s third annual Family-Owned Business Recognition Dinner on Feb. 29 at The Lake Club in Poland.
Rob Cochran, president & CEO of #1 Cochran, an auto dealer group, is the keynote speaker.
Of the 20 selected honorees, one will be chosen from each category as the recipient of a special award. The categories are:
Sapientia Ventures Success in Succession: This category highlights a well-executed and unique succession plan that occurred in recent years.
Huntington Social Impact Award: This category is focused on a family-owned business that went above and beyond to support the community while leveraging the business.
Family-Owned Business Advocate of the Year: This award goes to either a business or an individual that was involved in an initiative that supported the family-owned business ecosystem locally.
Brouse McDowell Local to National Presence: This award goes to a family-owned business that has managed to develop a national or global presence while remaining family-owned.
HBK Growth Story: This award is for a family-owned business that took its enterprise to the next level.
Submissions are due by Jan. 10. Nomination forms are available at regionalchamber.com.
Eligible nominees must operate in Trumbull, Mahoning or Columbiana counties, have a representative attend the dinner, be family-owned (with exception of the advocate award) and be available to film a short video that will play during the dinner.
PREMIER DONATES: Premier Bank recently donated $18,000 to Youngstown CityScape. The funds will be used for the title sponsorship of Sparkle Youngstown!, an annual event designed to show off downtown Youngstown’s new look and serve as the hometown kickoff for the winter holidays each year.
GIFT GIVEN TO CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL: Akron Children’s Hospital has received a $1 million gift from The J.M. Smucker Co. to support the hospital’s early literacy efforts through the creation of the Smucker’s Berry Good Reading Program.
The program provides the hospital with the funds to grow the scope and quality of its early literacy outreach efforts by encouraging families to read aloud together. As part of the program, children ages 6 months to 5 years old who come in for their annual well-child visits receive a new book to take home. Through the program, Smucker and Akron Children’s will distribute more than 60,000 new, developmentally appropriate books at Akron Children’s facilities this year.
Smucker made its initial contribution to support Akron Children’s early literacy program in 2019, expanding on its longtime philanthropic partnership with the organization.
YSU AWARDED SCHOLARSHIP MONEY: The Ohio Department of Higher Education has awarded an additional $1.1 million to Youngstown State University’s Choose Ohio First (COF) scholarship program
The YSU-COF 2024 award and YSU STEM Advancement Integrating Data COF promotes workforce development and data science opportunities for students through partnerships with regional employers, relevant training and professional development.
The award will support an estimated 80 new YSU students over five years in selected STEM majors and graduate programs, integrating data analytics into their curriculums. The majors and programs include economics, engineering, computer science, mathematics, biology, chemistry and health sciences.
People on the move
PROMOTIONS AT 717: 717 Credit Union recently announced the following promotions:
Lindsay Coles, with 717 for five years, was promoted to assistant consumer lending manager. In her new position, Coles will work with the consumer lending manager to direct the daily operations of the lending production staff.
Tyler Elliott, also with the credit union for five years, has been promoted to teleservices manager. In the role, he will direct the daily operations, formulate and direct the sales programs within the credit union call center.
Amy Suslovic has been named vice president and corporate sales manager. She has been with 717 for 10 years. Her primary role is to oversee the development, implementation and direction of sales support programs, sales / service training and established sales measurement system.
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Business briefs
RINGING FOR A CAUSE: About 80 employees of Canfield-based Farmers National Bank volunteered Nov. 30 to ring bells for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign.
Volunteers were at 18 sites, from as far west as Lodi and Wooster to as far east as Knox and Sykesville, Pa. They also rang bells at multiple locations in the Mahoning Valley.
The campaign collects funds to support the Salvation Army’s Christmas and year-round missions of “doing the most good” for the community. Donations collected during the holiday season help provide gifts to local children and food, shelter and utility assistance to those who need it most every day of the year.
YBI TO HOST SPEAKER: The next speaker in the Youngstown Business Incubator’s Lunch & Learn series is Adam Ellis, founder of a company in the YBI’s Evolve program, on using Overall Equipment Efficiency as a performance indicator to manage a manufacturing facility.
His remarks will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
The virtual event is noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday. Register at eventbrite.com.
LOCAL PHYSICIAN WAS PANELIST AT NATIONAL FORUM: Mercy Health-Youngstown and -Lorain Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. James Kravec recently joined health care leaders from around the country to discuss the most pressing health care challenges facing the industry.
Kravec spoke on two panels during the 11th annual Becker’s Healthcare CEO and CFO Roundtable. They were “Physician Alignment and Acquisition Strategies for the Next 5 Years” and “How to Build a Data-Driven Culture and Deliver Value to Inundated Providers.”
The conference Nov. 13-16 also featured keynote addresses from former President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush.
As the chief clinical officer, Kravec, of Youngstown, is responsible for providing physician executive leadership for Mercy Health clinical teams in Youngstown and Lorain. That includes more than 1,500 hospital medical staff involved with acute care delivery, Mercy Health Physicians and Mercy Health Select. He oversees the overall mission, strategic leadership and the assurance of quality care delivery for those clinical enterprises as well as their integration.
Kravec also serves as the system medical director for Graduate Medical Education for Bon Secours Mercy Health. In the role, he leads operations, strategy and growth for the physician residency programs throughout the system, which includes seven markets, 40 resident and fellowship programs, and 500 residents and fellows across the U.S.
New businesses
FORMALWEAR SHOP TO OPEN AT EWM: Tuxedo Junction, a new formalwear specialty shop, is planned to open in January at the Eastwood Mall. It will be located in a 1,562-square-foot space on the north end of the mall next to Daffin’s candies.
Tuxedo Junction has a large selection of men’s suits and tuxedos for rental or sale. Designers include Michael Kors, Ike Behar and Allure Men.
The company operates 10 stores in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The location at Eastwood Mall will be the first Tuxedo Junction in the Mahoning Valley.
RIBBON CUTTING: Vapor Kings, 4930 Mahoning Ave., Austintown, was to mark its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday.
Vapor Kings is a smoke shop / vape store. It carries disposables, mods, coils, batteries and vape juice as well as Delta products, from Delta disposables to smoking accessories to Kratom, Glass and Hookah.
People on the move
NEW FACES JOIN REGIONAL CHAMBER: The Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber has hired Chuck Rudge as director of events and Gabrielle Jones as the development and program coordinator for Leadership Mahoning Valley, the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and the Regional Chamber Foundation.
In his role, Rudge of Boardman, will oversee all aspects of the more than 100 events the chamber holds each year, from planning to logistics and production to member experience. He also will lead the efforts of the Mahoning Valley Safety Council, the largest chamber-affiliated safety council in the state, and work to create and launch new events in 2024 and beyond.
Rudge was the marketing services manager at Werner Co. in Greenville, Pa., for nearly 10 years, overseeing the daily operations of the commercial marketing department and planning corporate events around trade shows and the company’s sponsorship of the NCAA Final Four Tournament.
Jones will provide administrative and program support to the executive director in growing the Leadership Mahoning Valley program and establishing the new Center for Nonprofit Excellence. She also will provide administrative support to the president of the chamber foundation.
Jones of Howland earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business administration, as well as a certificate in nonprofit leadership from Youngstown State University.
PATRICK JOINS BIKESHARE COMPANY: YoGo Bikeshare, Mahoning Valley’s first bicycle-sharing system, has brought on Corey Patrick as its new vice president of operations.
Patrick brings nearly a decade of experience to the company, including a previous role as director of marketing and communications with the Youngstown Business Incubator. He most recently was Cleveland director for Venture for America.
YoGo Bikeshare began its search to fill the vacant position after the family-owned company’s original vice president of operations, Kent Wallace II, stepped down to pursue other ventures.
Patrick holds a bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University, where he graduated in 2016 with a double major in finance and marketing, along with a minor in entrepreneurship, and a certificate in nonprofit leadership.
He also is a board member for The Walnut Grove, a nonprofit recreational space in Canfield that features an inclusive, special needs-accessible playground and natural trails.
YoGo Bikeshare began installing docking stations in the fall in preparation for its 2024 inaugural season. The station locations include near the Youngstown Flea at Fifth Avenue and Federal Street, CycWard Bike Shop on Elm Street across from Wick Park, West Commerce Street at Erie Terminal and Emily Alley at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre.
FARMERS EXPANDS DIVISION: Canfield-based Farmers National Bank is expanding its Treasury Management team in western Pennsylvania with the recent hire of Greg Anderson as vice president, senior relationship manager.
Anderson brings with him 15 years of experience in the role. He specializes in advising businesses on how to streamline and forecast their cash flow along with fraud-prevention techniques for businesses, public entities and nonprofits.
He is a graduate of Edinboro University, where he earned a degree in business administration. He also has received accreditations from the Pennsylvania Bankers Association for commercial lending along with other certifications.
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Business briefs
YSU STUDENTS PASS GLOBAL BUSINESS EXAM: Lugina Bassil of Boardman and Zackary Shumaker of Austintown were among four students at Youngstown State University who recently passed the Certified Global Business Professionals exam after completing the Ohio Export Internship Program at YSU.
The exam certificate is a national certification issued by the National Association for Small Business International Trade Educators and an acknowledgment of international business expertise in management, marketing, supply-chain management and trade finance.
The credentials set the benchmark for global trade knowledge and the certification shows that an individual has the knowledge required to be a successful global commerce professional.
Bassil, a senior international business major with a minor in Spanish, is employed as an export intern at Columbiana Boiler Company.
Shumaker, a senior economics major, completed the internship program in the summer. He served as an export specialist for manufacturing company Butech Bliss.
DIVIDEND ANNOUNCED: First Niles Financial, Inc., the parent company of Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Niles, has announced a dividend of 6 cents per share on common stock and 7 cents per share on preferred Class A stock for the fourth quarter of 2023.
The dividend will be payable Dec. 22 to shareholders of record on Dec. 8.
Home Federal primarily serves the Niles area. First Niles had $150.6 million in assets and $12.7 million in stockholders’ equity at the end of the third quarter Sept. 30.
ATTORNEY, FAMILY HELP FEED LOCAL RESIDENTS: Through a $50,000 donation from attorney Daniel L. Rossi and family and in partnership with Akron Children’s Hospital, Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley and Alta Care Group, nearly 2,000 boxes of food are being distributed to Mahoning Valley families this year.
Hosted at various Alta Head Start locations, families receive a box of nonperishable food as well as gift bags for children that include dental hygiene kits, children’s books and other family resources.
Other Akron Children’s Hospital donors are helping to provide the transportation of food deliveries.
MERCY HEALTH WINS EXCELLENCE AWARD: Bon Secours Mercy Health and Mercy Health-Youngstown have implemented system-wide sustainable initiatives that earned environmental excellence awards from Practice Greenhealth, a leading sustainability member organization for hospital networks.
All three of Mercy Health’s hospitals in the Mahoning Valley — St. Joseph Warren Hospital, St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital — were recognized for their sustainability efforts.
Mercy Health-Youngstown convenes a multidisciplinary Green Team that meets quarterly to collaborate on sustainability initiatives and set goals for the market and its facilities. In addition, facilities have transitioned to utilizing reusable pulse oximetry sensors and plastics free of PVC / DEHP for internal feeding tubes and gloves.
The Youngstown team also hosts volunteer opportunities that promote sustainability throughout the year, including an event with the Sisters of the Humility of Mary who steward the Villa Maria Farm and efforts to keep Youngstown beautiful with Youngstown Streetscape.
WNEO MARKS MILESTONE: WNEO recently marked the 50th anniversary of its first broadcast with a ribbon-cutting celebration with the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber.
The event in Kent was part of other activities Thursday, including a woodworking demonstration by Richard Grell, Windsor chairmaker featured in The Master Craftsman and an advance screening of the new documentary PBS Western Reserve: A Study in Persistence.
Established in 1971, WNEO is licensed to Alliance and serves the Youngstown television market. WEAO, which went on the air in 1975, is licensed to Akron and serves the Cleveland-Akron-Canton television market.
All programming is simulcast on the two stations, which operate under the nonprofit corporation, Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio Inc., better known by its brand name, PBS Western Reserve.
PBS Western Reserve (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1), is the only broadcast television service that reaches all of northeast Ohio. It is available to 4.9 million people in the Cleveland and Youngstown markets, and in an average month, more than 1 million people tune in.
TEMA JOINS ASSOCIATION: TEMA Roofing, a commercial roofing company based in Girard, recently joined the American Senior Housing Association as a national roofing service provider.
Representing hundreds of businesses within the independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care community spaces, the association develops partnerships to build better senior living facilities through research, advocacy and educational opportunities.
As a family-owned, community-engaged company, the association’s mission and purpose fit seamlessly with TEMA’s structure and focus, according to the company.
TEMA Roofing Services is a woman- and family-owned business. Its commercial and industrial roofing services include design-build projects, roof asset management, installation, repair, maintenance, HVAC services and commercial solar installation.
New businesses
STORE OPENS: American Freight, a furniture, mattresses and appliances retailer, recently opened a new store at 5185 Youngstown Warren Road, Niles, the former Alorica call center.
The company has more than 370 direct-to-consumer, warehouse-style stores in 40 states.
RIBBON CUTTINGS: Ribbon-cutting ceremonies with the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber to mark the grand openings of two new businesses were scheduled Friday.
Grizzly Bean Coffee House is opening at 4520 Mahoning Ave., Suite C, Austintown. The coffee shop offers a range of hot and iced coffees, other specialty beverages and food. It has a drive-thru.
Also, Pups Path LLC is at the Eastwood Mall Complex, 5555 Youngstown Warren Road, Unit 906, Niles.
The store has everyday and specialty pet supplies at the lowest manufacturers’ price from toys to apparel to wheelchairs for dogs, cats and chickens.
Also, Pups Path has pet training, grooming, photo shoots, parties and interactive doggie daycare, plus mall shoppers can drop of their dog there while they shop.
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