Chamber promotes Sarah Boyarko

Chamber promotes Sarah Boyarko

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber has promoted Sarah Boyarko to senior vice president of the economic-development division at the chamber, while Guy Coviello, vice president of government affairs, will take on new responsibilities in the economic-development unit, including shale development, effective Tuesday.

Boyarko joined the organization in 2006, becoming vice president of economic development, North America, in 2012.

Coviello joined the chamber as vice president of government affairs in 2014 and has been responsible for representing the interests of the chamber and the business community with federal, state and local elected officials. Coviello will continue to lead the government affairs division.

Alaska Airlines’ biggest sale of the year begins Sunday

SEATTLE

Alaska Airlines customers don’t have to wait for Cyber Monday to enjoy some of the airline’s best deals of the year.

“We can’t reveal any of the details yet, but we promise you will find amazing deals to inspiring places,” said Sangita Woerner, Alaska’s vice president of marketing.

The sale kicks off Sunday at 5 p.m. PST, at alaskaair.com. Customers are encouraged to tell the world where they’re going using #iflyalaska on Twitter and Instagram.

Swiss court convicts ex-HSBC employee of leaking data

GENEVA

A Swiss court has convicted in absentia a former employee with international bank HSBC for economic espionage and sentenced him to five years in prison.

Herve Falciani, 43, was on trial for leaking bank data that led to a worldwide wave of tax-evasion probes against prominent clients with accounts in Switzerland.

Falciani, seen by some as a crucial whistleblower, had refused to travel from his native France to appear before the Swiss Federal Tribunal in Bellinzona in proceedings that began in October. France does not extradite its own citizens, and Falciani appears unlikely to serve the sentence.

Survey shows German consumers losing confidence

BERLIN

A closely-watched survey shows German consumers are losing confidence amid growing concerns of an economic slump.

The GfK research group said Friday its forward-looking consumer climate index dropped for the fourth month in a row to 9.3 points for December, from 9.4 in November.

GfK says consumers’ willingness to buy rose, but that was offset by drops in both their income and economic expectations, partially linked to the growing number of asylum seekers pouring into the country.

Germany is set to receive more than 1 million refugees and other migrants this year, and some 40 percent of consumers surveyed told GfK they believed unemployment would soon rise, most of them saying the newcomers would hurt the labor market.

Staff/wire reports