BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Ribbon-cutting event

CHAMPION

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Champion Self Serve Pet Wash, 4509 Mahoning Ave. at 9 a.m. today.

Ron and Angela Potyonek identified a problem they experienced as dog owners — they were unable to bathe their larger dogs during the winter months. As a solution, they established Champion Self Serve Pet Wash in July.

Champion Self Serve Pet Wash is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

Apostolakis milestone

CORTLAND

Apostolakis Honda, 3156 Elm Road, is celebrating 40 years in business. In 1976, the same year that Honda introduced the Accord, Apostolakis Honda became the exclusive Honda dealer in Trumbull County.

The Apostolakis Auto Group added Shenango Honda in 1980 and Apostolakis Mazda in 2002.

Huntington board

COLUMBUS

Huntington Bancshares Inc. on Thursday announced that the board of directors elected four new members in support of the company’s pending integration of the recently completed FirstMerit Corp. acquisition.

The four incoming members, who formerly served as FirstMerit directors, are: Lizabeth Ardisana, owner and CEO of technical and communications services firm ASG Renaissance; Robert S. Cubbin, president and CEO of Meadowbrook Insurance Group; Gina D. France, founder, president and CEO of strategy and transaction advisory firm France Strategic Partners; and J. Michael Hochschwender, president and CEO of The Smithers Group technology-based consortium of companies.

Times shutters app

NEW YORK

The New York Times is shutting down its NYT Now smartphone app because the company says it hasn’t lived up to its hopes in the two years since it was launched in an effort to reach a younger audience.

NYT Now offers morning and evening news briefings and a curated list of articles in a mobile-friendly format. It was launched in 2014 with a subscription fee of $8 a month but was transitioned last year to a free model. The Times says it had 334,000 unique users at its peak in May of last year. That number had fallen to an average of 257,000 per month over the past three months.

Harley-Davidson pays $15M to settle

WASHINGTON

Harley-Davidson Inc. agreed Thursday to pay $15 million to settle a U.S. government complaint over racing tuners that caused its motorcycles to emit higher-than-allowed levels of air pollution.

Harley-Davidson manufactured and sold about 340,000 Screamin’ Eagle Pro Super Tuners since 2008 that allowed users to modify a motorcycle’s emissions control system to increase power and performance, according to court filings by the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency.

The racing tuners, which the prosecutors said were illegal “defeat devices” that circumvented emissions controls, also increased the amounts of such harmful air pollutants as nitrogen oxide spewing from the bikes’ tailpipes.

Staff/wire report

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa Inc., .1210.45.09

Aqua America, .71 31.79 .27

Avalon Holdings,3.08.03

Cortland Bancorp, .2815.05.00

Farmers Nat., .169.50 .04

First Energy, 1.44 33.12.28

Fifth/Third, .5219.58.06

FirstMerit Corp., .6821.61 .37

First Niles Financial, .129.00.74

FNB Corp., .4812.33.12

General Motors, 1.5231.55—.30

General Electric, .9231.43.14

Huntington Bank, .28 9.51—.15

iHeartMedia Inc.,1.19 —.06

JP Morgan Chase, 1.9265.95.06

Key Corp, .3412.21.02

LaFarge, .3417.57 .00

Macy’s, 1.51 40.25—.16

Parker Hannifin, 2.52 124.04—.32

PNC, 2.0485.46—.32

Simon Prop. Grp., 6.40214.35.38

Stoneridge 17.07 —.14

Talmer Bank, .20 22.78.34

United Comm. Fin., .10 6.75.04

Selected prices from Thursday’s 4 p.m. close.