Business briefs
REYERS AWARDED: Reyers, a family-owned shoe store at the Eastwood Mall in Niles, has captured another national award. Footwear Insight magazine has named the store among the winners of its 2023 Gold Medal Service Awards. The annual competition seeks to find the “best of the best” shoe stores in America when it comes to customer service.
The magazine sends “secret shoppers” to visit hundreds of the best stores. Utilizing a point system, the judges select the top stores, naming them Gold Medal winners. Reyers scored 92 on a scale of 100.
It is the seventh straight year the store has earned the honor, prompting the magazine’s judges to call it “consistently consistent.”
In 2021, Reyers moved to the mall all after more than 130 years in Sharon, Pa.
MERCY WELCOMES NEW CLASS: The Mercy Health-Youngstown Graduate Medical Education Program recently matched 42 incoming physician residents across nine programs for national Match Day.
The new class includes 11 internal medicine, nine emergency medicine, 10 family medicine, four general surgery, three orthopedic surgery, one ENT and four transitional residents. In addition, two hospice and palliative medicine fellows and five dental residents recently joined.
Match Day is known in the graduate medical education community as the day when graduating medical students get placed into residency and fellowship programs. It is also the day when Mercy Health-Youngstown learns who will become our next class of physician residents.
Mercy Health-Youngstown has maintained residency programs for more than 100 years.
REBRAND AT PALO: Youngstown-based marketing firm, Palo Creative, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, has announced a strategic rebrand that includes a new logo that features customized lowercase typography and a vibrant red Pantone.
The effort also includes an upgraded website, as well as, according to a press release, a pledge to enhance client relationships.
FOUNDATION TO RECOGNIZE LEADERS: The Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley will honor health care leaders whose dedication has transformed care in the Valley at the 2024 Health Care Visionary Awards on April 10 at the DeYor Performing Arts Center, 260 W. Federal St., Youngstown. The event starts at 7 p.m.
The honorees include Dr. Cynthia A. Kravec, who will receive the Mahoning Valley Leadership in Health Award; the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, which will receive The Heart of the Mission Award; and Mercy Health-St. Joe’s at the Mall will receive The Continuing the Legacy Award.
FUNDING AVAILABLE: The Ohio Departments of Development and Agriculture have released program guidelines for the next wave of grant funding available to help Ohio livestock and poultry producers improve and expand meat processing services.
It is the fourth round of the Ohio Meat Processing Grant Program. In the first three rounds of funding, 128 grants were awarded to meat processors in 59 of Ohio’s 88 counties, totaling nearly $28 million.
The amount available through the grant program is $14 million. Ohio livestock and poultry producers can apply for grants of up to $500,000 through the program.
Eligible costs include new and upgraded machinery, other equipment and technology products, and plant construction or expansion for confinement, processing, and refrigeration.
Eligible applicants include federal or state-registered meat harvesting or processing facilities in Ohio. The Department of Development administers the program in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
People on the move
NEW BOARD MEMBERS AT YBI: The Youngstown Business Incubator recently announced the appointment of two new board members, Stephanie Gilchrist and Elle Hendricks.
Gilchrist, a former YBI staff member, is director of economic development for Youngstown.
Hendricks is the director of workforce development at Dinesol Plastics and the fourth-generation of her family’s business.
As board members, Gilchrist and Hendricks will play key roles in supporting the organization’s mission of promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in the region.
VP ANNOUNCED: Erica Kenadie Cobbin-Richardson has been named vice president in the role of overseeing the strategic direction and operation of the W. James Cobbin Office Tower, 1350 Fifth Avenue, Youngstown.
NEW BCA MEMBER: Mark Hadley has been appointed a board member of the Boardman Civic Association.
Hadley, a native of Boardman, is a certified financial planner with Beard Pension Services, Inc.
The association’s president, vice president, secretary and treasurer will remain the same for 2024. They are Daniel Segool, president; Meg Harris, vice president; Mark Luke, secretary; and Jeff Barone, treasurer.
The association is a group of local business, civic and community leaders who are invested in the growth and development of the Boardman area.
BROKERAGE ADDS REALTOR: Coldwell Banker EvenBay Real Estate has brought on Kristen Peters to the real estate brokerage.
Peters of Youngstown, who received her Ohio real estate license in 2024, also works as a school-based board certified behavior analyst for two cyber-charter schools in Pennsylvania, where she works with children on skill acquisition and behavior reduction.
Business briefs
AGENCY WINS AWARDS: Youngstown-based Clever took home seven awards at the 2024 AAF Akron American Advertising Awards, including two of the top awards.
Clever received the Judge’s Choice Award for its suicide prevention ad for Alta Care Group and a MOSAIC Addy for the Black History Month campaign for Alta Care Group.The MOSAIC Addy is a special local judge’s choice award that honors work that best exemplifies a spirit of diversity and inclusion.
The team of Whitney Burd, Francesca Byrne, Tony Marr and Adrienne Sabo also received two Gold Addy’s in the categories of Online / Interactive-Social Media campaign for its Black History Month Campaign for Alta Care Group and Advertising Media Industry Self Promotion-Ad Chapter for 2023 AdChella, as well as three Silver Addys in the categories of Online / Interactive-Websites for Struthers Unleashed, Print Advertising-Newspaper Advertising for Alta suicide prevention ad and Sales & Marketing-Card, Invitiation, announcement for The Vindy’s.
The American Advertising Awards is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting more than 25,000 entries every year in local AAF Ad Club competitions.
This year’s awards were handed out at a ceremony March 1 in Akron.
CRAYON DRIVE: Akron Children’s Volunteer Services is conducting the “Krayons for Kids” crayon collection drive for patients through March 31 in recognition of National Crayon Day on March 31.
New crayons can be dropped off at collection boxes at visitor desks on both the Akron and Mahoning Valley hospital campuses. Crayons also can be purchased from the hospital’s Amazon wish lists.
PROFESSOR TO SPEAK AT SERIES: Russell Sobel, professor of economics and entrepreneurship at The Citadel, will present the 2024 Paul J. Thomas Lecture on Entrepreneurship titled Creative Destruction, Entrepreneurship, & Discovery at 6 p.m. April 16 at the Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University.
“Creative Destruction” is the term given by noted Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter to the process in which new firms replace old firms. Sobel’s talk will explore the process, why it is important, how economies can best cope with it, and the political battlegrounds it creates.
The public can attend the lecture series for free. Free parking is located in the M30 parking deck on Wick Avenue. For more information, contact Tomi Ovaska at tpovaska@ysu.edu or 330-941-3084.
New businesses
JEWELER OPENS AT EWM: Ashcroft & Oak Jewelers at the Eastwood Mall recently celebrated its grand opening. The store is located on Center Court of the mall.
Founded in 1910, it is the oldest and largest family-owned jewelry retailer in the nation.
People on the move
LINERT JOINS CHAMBER: The Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber recently announced Brenda J. Linert has joined the staff as director of government affairs and community impact.
In the role, she primarily will oversee some of the organization’s economic development and quality-of-life priorities, such as its efforts to grow the Mahoning Valley’s population.
The work includes the Valley’s three R’s — retain, return and receive — of repopulation and developing and implementing plans for a coalition of regional partners to achieve population growth, as well as a campaign to promote positive news and all of the assets the Valley has to offer.
Linert, an award-winning journalist, previously served as editor of the Tribune Chronicle for the past 10 years and The Vindicator for the past four. She joined the Tribune Chronicle in 1995 as a reporter.
FIRM ADDS REALTOR: Coldwell Banker EvenBay Real Estate recently added Michael Mathews, Realtor, to the real estate brokerage.
Mathews, who received his Ohio Real Estate License in 2023, is a lifelong resident of Trumbull County. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Kent State University and then a master’s degree in public administration from Cleveland State University.
For 13 years, Mathews worked for the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. He went on to open a homecare business that he and a business partner ran for many years. After retiring, he went into real estate.
VP NAMED AT MERCY HEALTH: Mercy Health has named Kimberly Bauchens, MSN, BSN, RN, vice president of service lines, serving both Mercy Health – Lorain and Youngstown.
In the role, Bauchens will be responsible for the results of service line growth and program development within Mercy Health’s Lorain and Youngstown markets. Through her leadership, she will orchestrate strategic work across the markets to improve volume and quality of results within the service lines, while allocating organizational resources and building strategic partnerships to drive new service line business development.
Bauchens most recently served as the service line administrator and federally qualified health centers chief operating officer for The Metro Health System in Cleveland. In this role, she led strategic growth and operations for more than 20 health centers and 10 additional locations in primary care, pediatrics, NICU, PICU, genetics, hospital medicine, behavioral health, express care and dental medicine in addition to the federally qualified health centers.
PICU DIRECTOR ANNOUNCED: Dr. Patricia Raimer has been named medical director of Akron Children’s Pediatric Critical Care Unit (PICU).
Raimer was recruited to Akron Children’s PICU team in 2016 to create and direct an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program at Akron Children’s, and it opened to patients in October 2017. ECMO is a life support system for patients whose heart and lungs are unable to provide adequate amounts of oxygen, gas exchange and blood supply.
Before joining Akron Children’s, she was a pediatric critical care physician at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital from 2009 to 2015
She also serves as an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Northeast Ohio Medical University.
PREMIER NAMES MANAGER: Premier Bank recently announced the return of Abby McLemore as branch manager of the Lisbon office.
She most recently worked in accounts payable for a chain of locally owned grocery stores. Prior to that, McLemore served as a customer service manager at the bank’s Columbiana and Salem offices for 15 years.
In her new role, she will lead a team to deliver exceptional customer service, ensuring a focus on building relationships, engaging customers in conversations to understand their financial needs and working proactively to help customers succeed financially.
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Business briefs
SUMMIT SCHEDULED: The Women’s LeadHERship Summit, which celebrates strong women leaders, is 4:30 to 7 p.m. March 21 at Congregation Ohev Beth Sholom, 1119 Elm St., Youngstown.
The keynote speaker is Youngstown Municipal Court Judge Carla Baldwin. Moderator is Alisha Alls, a member of the Warren City Schools board of education.
The five panelist speakers are Stephanie Gilchrist, economic development director for Youngstown; Angela Natoli, a doctor with the Chiropractic and Functional Neurology Center; Honeya Price, Warren councilwoman; Sarah Wilschek, executive director, Congregation Ohev Beth Sholom; and Teresa Miller, executive director, Valley Economic Development Partners.
RSVP at valleyedp.com by March 18.
ACCOUNTING CAREER DAY SCHEDULED: The Williamson College of Business at Youngstown State University will host an accounting career day 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 19.
The day is a chance for high school students to explore the steps needed to become a certified public accountant, how to navigate a career in accounting and what a degree in accounting can provide.
It is free and open to any high school student. Register at ohiocpa.com under the Future CPAs button and then High School.
GOODWILL, SCRAPPERS PARTNER: Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries, Inc. and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers have partnered the 2024 season, a move to foster community support and engagement.
Goodwill will have six Community Day program events at Eastwood Field, the home of the Scrappers, that focus on a local community. They are June 19, Niles; June 26, Austintown; July 30, Boardman / Canfield; July 31, Warren; Aug. 4, western Pennsylvania; and Aug. 14, Youngstown. A seventh date is to-be-announced. It will be when Goodwill will be a jersey sponsor.
ACADEMY RECEIVES STEM DESIGNATION: The Valley STEM + ME2 Academy, located within the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, recently announced its renewal of the STEM Designation for five more years, sanctioned by the Ohio STEM Committee.
The redesignation highlights the institution’s commitment to pioneering STEM education methodologies and fostering innovative learning environments.
Valley STEM Academy started in the 2016-17 academic year. The program educates students in 9th and 10th grades from Mahoning County and surrounding areas. Upon completion of their sophomore year, students transition to the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center for their junior year, where they can opt for one of 20 career pathways.
SPEAKER SERIES: The next event in Valley Economic Development Partners lunch and learn workshop is 1 to 3 p.m. Friday at the agency, 4319 Belmont Ave., Youngstown.
The speaker is business vision coach Noel Powers, a Brainz Magazine “World’s top 1,000 entrepreneurs and thought leaders” and global expert on brand leadership and marketing strategy.
Each attendee will receive a free one-year Guide to Building a Profitable Brand and a 30-minute group coaching session with Noel at 2:30 PM.
RSVP by today to Matthew Longmire at matthew@valleyedp.com or 330-759-3668, Ext.111.
BUSINESS GROWTH WORKSHOP PLANNED: Farmers National Bank is planning a workshop to help local business owners in their entrepreneurship journey 5 p.m. March 21 at the bank’s Canfield Lab Branch, 4538 Boardman-Canfield Road, Canfield.
Amanda Stewart, assistant vice president, small business lender for Farmers will host the workshop about starting and growing a business, and business planning, cash flow statements and available resources at all stages
RSVP to Bryttanie Burton at bburton@farmersbankgroup.com or 330-533-2686, Ext. 6601, by March 19.
People on the move
FARMERS ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT: Farmers National Bank has appointed Zachary Gay as director of retail banking.
In the new role, Gay will oversee day-to-day retail operations throughout the Farmers footprint in northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. He also will lead the retail support team.
Gay, who has more than a decade of experience in financial analysis and retail strategic planning, joined Farmers in 2022 as vice president, senior retail banking analyst. In that position, he was responsible for providing data, reporting and analyses for retail banking, consumer lending and small business lending areas.
HOSPITAL NAMES NEW VP: Rod L. Ingram Sr. has been named vice president for marketing and communications at Akron Children’s. He started in the role Feb. 26.
He most recently served as vice president for communications and chief marketing officer at Northeast Ohio Medical University. In this role, he served as the strategic marketing and communications adviser to the president, university board and members of the leadership team, while developing programs to enhance the university’s reputation and strengthening internal and external communications.
His responsibilities included media relations, crisis communications, speech writing, marketing strategy and branding.
He also led the development of all marketing and communications initiatives with partners, including the creation of new co-brands and joint ventures with University Hospitals and Bounce Innovation Hub.
AGENT JOINS BURGAN: Burgan Real Estate recently announced the addition of Amy Stillings to the firm.
Stillings, who grew outside of Cincinnati, received her bachelor’s degree in business administration / marketing from the University of Tulsa, where she also played on the women’s soccer team. She moved to northeast Ohio in 2019, settling in Lake Milton.
She got into the real estate industry after working as a supervisor in a family-owned McDonald’s operation for more than 16 years.