Business digest || Huntington adds grace-period feature

Huntington adds grace-period feature

columbus

Huntington Bank announced Thursday that the company will introduce a new 24-Hour Grace account feature to give customers additional time during the next business day to cover overdrafts to their consumer bank accounts. Huntington will automatically waive overdraft fees as long as the customer makes a deposit during the following business day to resolve the overdraft status. 24-Hour Grace will be free and available to all Huntington consumer- banking customers beginning Monday. The new feature responds to research showing U.S. consumers’ desire to increase their savings and make their money work harder for them.

Home Savings plans child-safety event

lisbon

The Home Savings & Loan branch, 210 W. Lincoln Way, will host a free Kids Safety and ID Kit workshop today from 3 to 6 p.m. The bank will provide free ID kits for parents to complete for their children, and the Lisbon Police Department will be on hand to help fingerprint children and provide child-safety instructions. Reflections of Time Photography will be at the event to offer coupons for a free 4-by-6-inch photo of each child.

The ID kits also will be available from 9:00 to noon Saturday during the Johnny Appleseed Festival.

Fixed gas rate in Canfield, Lisbon

canfield

As part of its agreement with the city of Canfield, Direct Energy has set a new fixed supply rate for natural-gas customers who participate in the Direct Choice program. For the 12-month period from November 2010 through October 2011, Direct Choice customers in Canfield will pay 67 cents per CCF for natural gas.

Natural-gas customers in Lisbon who participate in Direct Choice will pay 63 cents per CCF for natural gas in the same 12-month period. To take advantage of the Direct Choice offer, residents must be eligible to participate in the state’s customer-choice program and have a residence or business within the city limits of Canfield or Lisbon. Senior citizens age 65 or older who own a residence in their respective city are eligible for an additional discount.

Senate OKs $30B to aid small businesses

WASHINGTON

The Senate passed long-delayed legislation Thursday designed to open up credit to small businesses and award them with other incentives to expand and hire new workers.

Democrats won a 61-38 vote to pass the legislation, joined by two Republicans. The measure would establish a $30 billion government fund to help open up lending for credit-starved small businesses, cut their taxes and boost Small Business Administration loan programs.

Obama said Thursday that the bill will help millions of small-business owners across the country grow and hire. “These tax breaks and loans are going to help create jobs in the short term,” he said.

Vindicator staff/wire reports