Business Digest

REGION

New officers named for Shenango Valley Chamber

SHARON, Pa. — The Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce has named these officers for this year: president, Angela Palumbo, Pennsylvania CareerLink-Mercer County; secretary, Holly Fritz, Internet Data Management; treasurer, Pete Stanovich, Reali, Giampetro & Scott; and past president, Don Reed Jr., Reed & Reed Accounting & Tax Service. At-large members on the executive council are Eric Brown, Gilbert’s Insurance & Consulting, and Tony Zucco, Penn Power Co.

These new members have been elected to the board of directors: Brian Nespor, First National Bank of Pennsylvania; Shelley Stefanak, Primary Health Network; and Walt Sokac, Sharon Regional Health System.

NATION

Toyota tries to reassure its nervous customers

LAKEWOOD, N.J. — Toyota has launched a media campaign to bolster its reputation for quality as nervous customers confront dealers across the country about faulty gas-pedal systems.

Crisis-management experts said Sunday that the recall of millions of cars and trucks isn’t the Japanese auto maker’s only problem: its message to Toyota owners — delivered in full-page ads Sunday in 20 major newspapers — isn’t as clear and reassuring as it needs to be.

The head of Toyota’s North American sales division, Jim Lentz, is scheduled to appear today on NBC’s “The Today Show” to detail the company’s plans for a fix. Federal regulators have approved Toyota’s plan to start sending parts to dealers in the coming days.

Toyota dealers over the weekend said there has been a noticeable drop in customer traffic and sales, though they have faith that customers loyal to the brand before last week’s recall will not abandon it altogether. Dealers selling U.S. brands have seen more Toyota drivers in their lots than usual, but for now those visits haven’t translated into many new customers.

From Vindicator staff and wire reports