Chamber board gets four new members

Chamber board gets four new members

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber’s board of directors has named four new members for 2016: Atty. Matthew Blair, Blair & Latell Co., LPA; Dr. Jay Gershen, president, Northeast Ohio Medical University; Robin Patton, manager of external affairs, FirstEnergy; and Herb Washington, president, H.L.W. Fast Track Inc.

Women’s clothing store sets opening

WARREN

Clothes Mentor Howland will have a grand-opening celebration beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The new clothing store for women at 8230 E. Market St. has apparel, shoes, handbags and accessories.

The first 50 customers in the store will receive a mystery gift card.

Clothes Mentor Howland is part of a national retail franchise that buys and resells gently worn items that are in good condition from brands such as Ann Taylor and Michael Kors.

Clothes Mentor has more than 130 stores nationwide in 29 states, including 12 stores in Ohio.

Since October, Clothes Mentor Howland has been buying women’s gently used clothing for cash in preparation for the store’s grand opening.

Jobs agency moves

SHARON

The West Central Job Partnership, 44 South Beaver St., New Castle, Pa., will move to the third floor of 217 W. State St., Sharon, Pa. For information, call 724-347-7855.

Retail sales edge up

NEW YORK

Retail sales grew 0.2 percent in November, a slight improvement compared with August-October. Consumers spent more money on apparel, sporting goods and electronics, and online retailers did better. Department-store sales were flat.

Interest-rate hike expected soon

WASHINGTON

Investors are focused on a two-day policy meeting at the Federal Reserve, which will wrap up Wednesday. Policymakers are widely expected to announce that they’re raising key interest rates from their record-low levels. Recent economic reports indicate that the U.S. economy is healthy enough to withstand a rate hike.

Treasury delays $10 bill announcement

WASHINGTON

The country will have to wait a bit longer to find out who will become the first woman on U.S. paper currency in more than a century.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew had said he would announce a decision by the end of this year naming the woman who will replace Alexander Hamilton’s portrait on the $10 bill.

But late Friday, Treasury issued a statement saying the announcement was being delayed until sometime in 2016. Treasury said the delay will give the government time to “carefully review and consider a range of options” in response to an outpouring of suggestions from the public over the past six months.

Lew set off a furor in June when he announced he was replacing Hamilton’s portrait on the $10 bill with a woman. Treasury has gotten more than 1.5 million responses commenting on the change, everything from tweets to handwritten notes.

Staff/wire reports