Business digest

REGION

Seven Seventeen fills a vacancy on board

WARREN — Cheryl DiGiacobbe recently was named to the board of directors of Seven Seventeen Credit Union. DiGiacobbe was appointed by the board to fill a vacancy created as a result of the retirement of Robert Pavick, a long-serving board member.

DiGiacobbe has been an active Seven Seventeen volunteer since 1992, having served on the financial institution’s credit and supervisory audit committees. She is a retired schoolteacher and guidance counselor, having worked in the Warren schools.

Inventors association will meet in Liberty

LIBERTY — The Youngstown & Warren Inventors Association will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Liberty Township administration building, 1315 Church Hill-Hubbard Road. The guest speaker will be Kathleen Dew, a distributor for the Shaklee Co. of Warren. She will give a presentation on environmentally green cleaning and nutrition products. The meeting is open to the public, and there is no charge.

Women photographers open a portrait studio

YOUNGSTOWN — Professional photographers Colleen Warnock, Melissa Hunter and Julie Vargo have joined newcomers Jolene Ihnat, Stacey Montalvo and Theresa Susany to open a portrait studio downtown.

When space in the John W. Davis building, 217 W. Federal St., came available, Colleen Warnock jumped at the idea and recruited the other women. They said managing separate independent photographic businesses from their homes took resources they did not have.

The women said that they capture it all, including maternity pictures, children’s birthdays, christenings, confirmations, family portraits, high school seniors, weddings and other events. An open house will be in early spring. Hours are by appointment only. Contact Colleen Warnock for more details at (330) 793-8776.

Society for Metals chapter plans meeting

WARREN — The Warren chapter of the American Society for Metals will have a dinner meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Cafe 422. John McGoldrick of Hodge Foundry in Greenville, Pa., will speak on ductile iron castings for wind energy applications. For more information, call Rich Polenick at (330) 373-3764.

NATION

Strategist: Focus on your customer service

NEW YORK — The customer is king.

If companies want to avoid being swallowed by the economic crisis, then that’s what they need to realize, says Gal Borenstein, customer service strategist and author of “What Really Counts for CEOs: Connect the Dots Between Marketing & Sales.”

Customer service is making a comeback as a key marketing and brand-building strategy, Borenstein said. That may mean reaching out to customers for feedback through social networking sites, in person or making real-time incident management available for consumers who are savvy and have more resources than ever.

“Many companies have had a tin ear and just don’t listen or aren’t engaged,” he said. “If a company wants to grow or survive in this economy, then we can’t have that complete and utter disconnect between what advertisers promise and what’s being delivered.”

Vindicator staff/wire reports