LIMELIGHTS, CAREER PATHS

lAW

Attorneys Frank Cassese and Justin Markota have joined Betras, Kopp & Harshman, LLC one of the region’s leading personal-injury law firms.

Cassese, a graduate of Cardinal Mooney and Ohio State University, received his law degree from Cleveland Marshall School of Law. Markota, a graduate of Ursuline High School and Youngstown State University, received his juris doctorate from Capital Law School in Columbus.

Cassese completed an internship at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, clerked for Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, and worked with Atty. Brian Kopp in the representation and administration of DeBartolo Sports and Entertainment Inc. He also helped manage The MVR restaurant in downtown Youngstown owned by his family.

Markota served an internship at the Mahoning County Treasurer’s office and clerked for attorneys in Canfield and Cleveland while pursuing his law degree.

insurance

Gibson Insurance Agency of Girard once again earned the designation as Grange Personal Lines Agent with Authority – a designation less than 1.7 percent of all Grange agencies across the country earn. The honor illustrates the agency’s exceptional personal lines loss ration, volume and strong commitment with Grange Insurance. It allows the agency the benefit of underwriting authority for personal lines policies in addition to extra resources to continue the agency’s success.

marketing

Whitefire Grille & Spirits of Canfield recently hired Lisa Wallace to develop the restaurant’s marketing and public relations and private dining. Wallace spent the past six years at the Big Reach Center of Hope in Salem, where she was instrumental in building the organization.

MEDICine

Dr. Robert J. Wetzel, son of Dr. Robert and Bina Wetzel, will join University Hospitals Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in Cleveland on Sept. 1, and will be an assistant professor to the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. Dr. Wetzel is a 2003 graduate of Poland Seminary High School, where he was valedictorian, and a graduate of the University of Akron. He received his medical degree from Northeastern Ohio Medical University in Rootstown.

finance

Farmers National Bank recently hired Suzanne Rinehart as vice president, commercial banking for the company’s Fairlawn office. Rinehart brings 15 years of middle-market, commercial real estate and small-business banking experience. She was most recently team manager and senior vice president in managed assets with FirstMerit bank in Akron. Rinehart also worked with Huntington National Bank and Chase, both in the greater Cleveland and Akron areas.

Cortland Bancorp, the holding company for Cortland Savings and Banking Co., has been named to the 2015 OTCQX(R) Best 50 – a ranking of 50 top-performing companies traded on the OTCQX Best Marketplace last year. The OTCQX Best 50 is the first ranking of strong performing U.S. and international companies traded on the OTCQX marketplace. The ranking is calculated based on an equal weighting of one-year share price performance and average daily dollar volume growth in the previous calendar year.