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PREMIER RANKS ON LIST: Premier Financial Corp., holding company for Premier Bank and First Insurance Group, has been recognized by S&P Global Market Intelligence on its annual list of the best performing large U.S. community banks of 2022.
The company was ranked the highest performing community bank in Ohio and No. 28 among U.S. community banks in the $3 billion- to $10 billion-asset size.
To compile the ranking, S&P Global Market Intelligence calculated scores for each company based on seven metrics: pretax return on tangible common equity; efficiency ratio; cost of funds; five-year average operating revenue growth; five-year average net charge-offs to average loans and leases ratio; nonperforming assets and loans 90 days or more past due as a percentage of total assets; and leverage ratio.
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS OPEN: Applications are available for the Better Business Bureau's Ethics & Integrity Scholarship Program.
The program offers five $1,000, one-year scholarships to graduating high school seniors employed by or who are the children or grandchildren of owners or employees of an accredited business of the BBB. The scholarships are awarded based on a demonstration of leadership skills, community service, academic achievement and a written essay on what ethics and integrity mean to the candidate.
The 2023 scholarships are underwritten by Farmers Trust Co. and 898 Marketing.
Applications and materials must be postmarked by May 1. Visit bbb.org/youngstown for complete information and application forms. Scholarships will be presented May 24. Call 330-744-3111 for more information or email info@youngstown.bbb.org.
NEW SCHOOL CLINIC TO OPEN: Liberty-based QUICKmed opened Quaker Med Clinic on April 3 at Salem High School.
The clinic is offered in collaboration with Salem Regional Medical Center to coordinate care for Salem City School District students, families and staff members. Its services include primary care, sick visits and mental health services. The school clinic will be operational during school hours.
It is one of 11 school-based health clinic the company operates in districts in northeast Ohio.
BUSINESS LEADERS NAME CO-CHAIRS: Mark Mediate, vice president, commercial relationship manager at Premier Bank, and Lisa Mariotti, district sales manager at Grainger have been named co-chairpersons of 2023 Heart of the Tri-County Heart Ball.
The Heart Ball celebrates progress made through the dedication and passion of all who support the American Heart Association's Heart of the Tri-County campaign, a year-round effort aimed at investing in and saving and improving lives in the community.
The signature sponsor for this year's event is Premier Bank. The celebration is Nov. 2 at Eastwood Event Centre. It's a night to honor survivors, patrons and volunteers of the American Heart Association.
EGCC GETS GRANT: Eastern Gateway Community College has received a $50,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education to invest in providing more students with the opportunity to earn a commercial driver's license.
The funding allows the school to continue to provide and enhance the grant.
According to Brian D. Beckett, director CDL workforce at EGCC, there is a 99 percent employment rate upon graduation for students who earn their CDL.
AKRON CHILDREN'S TO DO STUDY: Akron Children's Hospital has been awarded a three-year, $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health / National Institute of Nursing Research to better define the practices of high-quality pediatric palliative care.
The study will engage children, teens and young adults and their parents and providers receiving pediatric palliative care services at Akron Children's, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Texas Children's Hospital in Houston and Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.
Dr. Daniel Grossoehme, a senior scientist in Akron Children's Rebecca D. Considine Research Institute, will be the principal investigator.
The researchers will conduct and analyze up to 88 semistructured interviews of children, teens and young adults ages 11 to 26 about their priorities, goals and values, even openly talking about end-of-life decisions and when and how they want information to make those decisions. These interviews will integrate with the updated parent and provider data to create the new standards.
New businesses
AUTO STYLE COMPANIES COME TOGETHER: Two competitors in the auto accessory business are joining forces at the Eastwood Mall Complex. Auto Evolution / Noel's Car Toys will open in May in a 36,000-square-foot facility located near Bob Evans restaurant.
Planning is underway for a special grand opening celebration that will take place in the summer.
Services include remote car starters, advanced audio and video systems, lift kits, running boards, wheels, bed liners, security systems, mud flaps and other after-market accessories installation. Additional services include window tinting, detailing, engine steam cleaning and paint restoration.
People on the move
FOUNDATION ADDS MEMBER: The Raymond John Wean Foundation has added Sarah Lowry to its board of directors.
Lowry is the director of the Healthy Community Partnership, an initiative of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley. In that role she oversees the cross-sector collaborative and its work to create a healthier Mahoning Valley. Prior to joining HCP, she served as U.S Sen. Sherrod Brown's northeast Ohio regional representative.
She also serves on the boards of Policy Matters Ohio, the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown and Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens.
COHEN & COMPANY NAMES MARKET LEADER: Cleveland-based Cohen & Company has named Assurance Partner Keith Klodnick market leader for the Ohio region.
One of the three largest CPA firms in northeast Ohio for many years, Cohen & Company, which has an office in Youngstown, created the role to further illustrate its commitment to clients and to the communities in which its more than 400 Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown employees live and work.
Klodnick, who joined the company in 1995, has spent more than 25 years in northeast Ohio advising business owners of privately held companies across a range of industries, including professional services, manufacturing, and wholesale and distribution. He will continue directly serving clients while also focusing on expanding the firm's brand, business and community relationships across Ohio.
NCDMM PROMOTES: The National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining has promoted Gino Spinos and Josh Cramer to new and expanded positions to further the growth of the NCDMM mission -- to deliver advanced collaborative manufacturing solutions that enhance our national defense and military readiness.
Spinos, who joined NCDMM in 2019 as director of manufacturing engineering, has been promoted to executive director. He will continue to manage manufacturing, technology and roadmapping programs while maintaining and building customer relationships. He also will have the responsibility of overseeing the project and program management activities across NCDMM.
Cramer will assume the position of director of education and workforce development across the entire NCDMM organization, including America Makes. He joined NCDMM in 2018 in the education / workforce role for America Makes in Youngstown and has developed a strategy that has grown the program's portfolio and overall brand identity.
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