MBAC PLANS FINANCIAL EVENT: The Minority Business Assistance Center in the Youngstown / Warren region is partnering with the Youngstown Black Arts & Culture Council, PNC Bank and the Minority Business Development Division of Ohio to host a panel discussion Friday on financial freedom through entrepreneurship.

The discussion will commemorate the Juneteenth holiday with a focus on freedom and independence. The event also will have entrepreneurs in attendance for an opportunity to network and discover black businesses in Youngstown.

The center aims to serve the needs of small, minority, socially and economically disadvantaged businesses.

Go to tinyurl.com/mbacjuneteenth to register. To learn more about the center, go to ybi.org/programs/mbac.

APP CONTAINS NEW FEATURES: Akron Children’s Hospital’s consumer app, Akron Children’s Anywhere, has been redesigned with a new user interface and additional functions, such as a search option and interactive campus walking directions.

It is now available to download free via app stores for Android and Apple smartphones.

The app now allows visitors to choose a hospital campus (Akron or Boardman / Beeghly) and see maps of each floor. In addition, similar to using Google Maps driving or walking directions, users can select a starting location and a destination, and be given step-by-step directions.

Also, job seekers can access job postings; potential volunteers can learn about opportunities for them to get involved; donors can make gifts online; and friends and family can create and send patients electronic “get well” and other types of greeting cards.

YBI PROGRAM RECEIVES GRANT: The Youngstown Business Incubator’s Youth Entrepreneurship – Youth Xperience program has received a $10,000 grant from the Taco Bell Foundation to support more than 200 youth in Trumbull and Mahoning counties.

YBI and YE increase students’ exposure to otherwise inaccessible learning experiences and STEM career exploration using virtual reality and augmented reality technology, and other programs that educate and inspire the next generation of leaders.

YBI is one of more than 450 youth-serving organizations that will receive a portion of the $15 million in community grants from the foundation this year.

PREMIER DONATES: Premier Bank has donated a collection of 1960s copper-and-wood printing blocks and a complete 1963 Department of Defense´ sanitation kit to the Mahoning Valley Historical Society.

The printing blocks were used to print illustrations in newspaper publications until the 1970s because they were compatible with the industry standard at the time — letterpress printing — and allowed for the reproduction of grayscale values in images. The donated blocks include early Home Savings & Loan Company executives and managers, plus a view of the tower at 275 W. Federal St. and a partial street map of downtown Youngstown.

The sanitation kit was furnished by the Office of Civil Defense Department of Defense during the Vietnam War. The purpose of the kit was to provide standard supplies for waste disposal in fallout shelters. The kit contains an instruction sheet, two unopened boxes of supplies, commode seat and 10 rolls of 1958 ScotTissue.

YSU STUDENTS PICKED FOR FELLOWSHIP: Several current and former business students at Youngstown State University have been selected to participate in the John D. Beeghly Fellows program, which provides students with a paid fellowship working with the Ohio Small Business Development Center, Export Assistance Network and the APEX Accelerator at Youngstown State University.

Projects include domestic and international market research, financial modeling, export readiness studies, business viability analysis, cash flow projections, sales forecasting, marketing and social media strategies, research on government contracting opportunities, marketing capability statements and outreach for government contracting efforts.

The students are Carly Calderone, Rachel Durniok, William Everett, David Kimpton, Jakob Peters, Alexander Sinopoli, Isidora Sisic and Esphriamia Spirtos.

BANK HOSTING SUPPLY DRIVE: Farmers National Bank in June is hosting the pet supply drive, “The Dog Days of Summer.”

Anyone is welcome to drop off pet supplies at one of the company’s 65 branches across Ohio and Pennsylvania. Items can include, but are not limited to, treats, collars, leashes, bowls, bedding, blankets, towels, toys and cleaning supplies.

Additionally, people can pay $1 or more to write their name on a paw print that will be displayed in the bank during the campaign.

All proceeds and donated items will be going to local animal shelters. Each branch has picked an organization within its community to benefit.

People on the move

MOVES AT BURGAN: Burgan Real Estate agent Brett Green is now licensed in Ohio.

Green, who already had a license in Pennsylvania, is a native of Midland, Pa. After pursuing a career as a health care executive, he switched to real estate, but still serves as a board member for the Buckeye Online School for Success and is a director of the Beaver County Association of Realtors.

Also, Burgan recently added Anthony Amendola as an agent.

Amendola, a Boardman native, is pursuing his bachelor’s degree at Youngstown State University, where he is involved with the Student Investment Fund.

FARMERS ADDS LENDER: Farmers National Bank of Canfield has hired Mahoning Valley native Tyler Barnhouse as a small business lender out of Salem.

A native of Salem, Barnhouse, who graduated from Kent State in 2017 with a degree in business administration, has seven years of retail and commercial banking experience. Most recently, Barnhouse was working in Cleveland.

SEVERAL JOIN FIRM: More Options Realty has added five agents to its real estate team.

They are Kelly Flowers, who will work in western Pennsylvania; Alexyes Pltnikov, who will cover Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania; and Joe Abramovich, Dennis Sheldon and Tina Withey, whose areas include northeast Ohio.

Submit items for business briefs, new businesses and people on the move by 4 p.m. Thursday. Email business@tribtoday.com or through the Submit News feature at www.tribtoday.com or www.vindy.com.