Operations center

Operations center

YOUNGSTOWN

Technology consulting firm Data Recovery Services on Thursday announced the opening of the Network Operations Center to augment its support operations at the company’s headquarters in downtown Youngstown.

The NOC will centralize all of the firm’s support services that had been scattered in offices in Akron, Columbus and Pittsburgh.

The NOC is manned round-the-clock and allows engineers to manage more than 33,000 square feet of data-center space.

Biomedical grant

CLEVELAND

BioEnterprise this week received a one-year grant of up to $550,000 to advance the development of the biomedical industry in Northeast Ohio.

The Fund for Our Economic Future approved the grant Tuesday with a vote of the fund’s governing board.

Since July 2002, the nonprofit BioEnterprise has partnered with other organizations to create, recruit and accelerate more than 170 companies in the field, and it has attracted more than $1.6 billion in new funding.

Ohio surplus auction

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Department of Administrative Services announced that the state of Ohio surplus auction will have 173 vehicles up for bid, including 16 motorcycles and 33 trucks.

The auction will take place at the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, General Services Division headquarters at 4200 Surface Road on Dec. 14.

Gates open at 8 a.m., and the auction begins at 10 a.m.

The vehicles will be sold as-is with no warranties. Temporary tags may be purchased on the day of the auction for $18 in cash.

Merger approved

HERMITAGE, Pa.

F.N.B. Corp. and BCSB Bancorp Inc. announced Thursday that they received full regulatory clearance for a proposed merger.

Regulators approved a proposal to merge a bank subsidiary of BCSB Bancorp into F.N.B. Corp.’s bank subsidiary, First National Bank of Pennsylvania.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland waived F.N.B.’s application requirements.

Shareholders of BCSB Bancorp will vote on the merger at a meeting next month. The merger has an expected closing date of Feb. 14, 2014.

Jos. A. Bank probe

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. disclosed Thursday that Ohio’s attorney general is looking into some of its advertising and marketing practices.

The retailer said in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it received a subpoena this month but has not yet dealt directly with the attorney general’s office about the matter.

Jos. A. Bank’s General Counsel Chuck Frazer said that the company could not discuss ongoing legal matters. Kate Hanson, a representative for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, said the office could not comment under state law.

The investigation comes after Jos. A. Bank has faced two lawsuits in Ohio alleging deceptive sales and marketing practices for its use of the words “free” and “regular price.”

Vindicator staff/wire reports