Shale seminars

Shale seminars

cortland

First Place Bank and the Trumbull Soil and Water District are hosting shale seminars Wednesday at the Trumbull County Agriculture and Family Education Center.

The seminars will cover land-drilling and leasing issues, tax effects of oil and gas leases and financial- planning tips for managing funds.

The seminars are at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Space is limited. The center is at 520 W. Main St. in Cortland. For more information, call 330-637-2056, ext. 101.

Praise for Farmers

canfield

Farmers National Bank is earning praise from a nationally respected publication in the banking and financial-services community. American Banker Magazine lists Farmers as one of the very best banks in America in its May edition.

The magazine ranks the top 200 community banks in the country based on a three-year average return on investment for its shareholders.

Farmers ranked 123. However, when adjusted for banks with assets greater than $1 billion, Farmers comes in at number 25, the only Ohio bank to make the list at that asset level.

Ohio tourism grows

columbus

The Ohio Office of Tourism announced Ohio’s tourism economy grew 6.5 percent in 2011 and generated $40 billion in total sales, up from $38 billion in 2010, according to research conducted on behalf of the Ohio Office of Tourism.

Tourism last year generated $2.7 billion in taxes for Ohio — $1.6 billion in state taxes and $1.1 billion in local taxes. This growth in sales helped increase tourism employment to 443,000 full-time-equivalent jobs with an associated income of $10.6 billion, an increase of 4,000 jobs over 2010.

Best Buy shake-up

NEW YORK

Best Buy’s founder, Richard Schulze, is stepping down as chairman of the beleaguered consumer-electronics chain after the company’s investigation revealed that he failed to alert the board of directors when he learned that the CEO was having an inappropriate relationship with a female employee.

Best Buy Co. said Monday that a probe it launched in March determined that former CEO Brian Dunn, who resigned last month, violated company policy and showed poor judgment by having a “close personal relationship” with a subordinate.

The inquiry also found that Schulze, who first heard about the relationship in December when another employee gave him a written statement regarding it, acted inappropriately by not telling human resources or the company’s board about the allegations.

JPMorgan CEO faces shareholders

NEW YORK

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon came clean to stock analysts and accepted blame in a TV interview for a $2 billion trading mistake. Next he faces the shareholders, who have taken a big hit from the bank’s blunder.

Dimon travels to Tampa, Fla., today for the JPMorgan annual meeting, where he almost certainly will address the colossal error.

Vindicator staff/wire reports