BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Excellence award

YOUNGSTOWN

“City of You,” a multifaceted marketing campaign for Youngstown created by Youngstown State University faculty member R.J. Thompson, has been named best in its category by the Ohio Economic Development Association.

Thompson, an assistant professor of Graphic + Interactive Design, said the campaign replaces Youngstown’s former Rust Belt reputation with a positive, inclusive public image as a city “where anyone can build a future for themselves.”

The OEDA selected “City of You” as the winner in the Economic Development Marketing category for medium sized communities – those with populations of 50,000 to 150,00 – for the association’s 2017 Annual Excellence Awards. The award will be presented next week at the OEDA Summit in Columbus.

Halloween contest

YOUNGSTOWN

The do-it-yourself costume trend has steadily increased for the last several years. Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries wants to see what its customers find and will reward the best of the bunch.

Customers who post a picture of themselves in costume with the hashtag #GoodwillHalloween by Nov. 3 have a chance to win a Goodwill basket with a $40 store gift card.

Customers should tag Youngstown Goodwill using @YtownGoodwill on Twitter and @YoungstownGoodwill on Facebook for the competition. Be sure to identify which items are from Goodwill.

Accord arrives

CORTLAND

Apostolakis Honda recently announced the 10th- generation Honda Accord has arrived to its lot. Back in 1976, the same year Honda introduced the first Accord, Apostolakis Honda became the exclusive Honda dealer in Trumbull County.

Call for review

WASHINGTON

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Cleveland, on Monday called on the federal government to initiate a review to bar Equifax from consideration for new or renewed government contracts, citing Equifax’s failure to protect the personal information of 145 million Americans and more than 5 million Ohioans.

GM buys laser firm

DETROIT

General Motors is buying a small company that is developing laser light sensors for autonomous cars, a move the automaker says will speed deployment of self-driving technology.

GM says it bought Strobe Inc., of Pasadena, Calif., for a small but undisclosed sum.

Strobe will work with GM’s Cruise Automation team in San Francisco to develop the next generation of laser sensors called Lidar.

Cruise Automation is testing autonomous electric Chevrolet Bolt cars on the streets of San Francisco with human backup drivers. The company says Strobe technology will reduce the cost of the vehicles while speeding up large-scale deployment. But GM didn’t say when the technology would ready to carry passengers.

Staff/wire reports