BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Fighting hunger

YOUNGSTOWN

September is Hunger Action Month, and Citizens Bank employees joined the movement by volunteering their time to distribute boxes of food and fresh produce to families in need through the Mobile Pantry program in Columbiana County.

Citizens Bank also made the announcement of a $10,000 gift to ensure the Second Harvest Food Bank Mobile Pantry program is funded for an entire year.

The Mobile Pantry program brings food to seniors and families that live in underserved areas in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Ribbon cutting

CANFIELD

Valley Little Melodies, 4358 Boardman-Canfield Road, will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Activities at Valley Little Melodies are designed to develop and strengthen a child’s physical and neural functions, social-emotional skills, early literacy, early math and much more. The style of the class allows for parent/child bonding moments that boost learning, and parents are supplied with home materials that can continue the fun and learning after class and provide valuable resources for parenting.

New businesses

COLUMBUS

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted on Thursday announced 10,002 new entities filed to do business in Ohio throughout the month of August, an increase of 1,507 when compared with the same month in 2016.

So far this year, 81,981 new entities have filed to do business in Ohio.

New Ohio office for bicycle maker Huffy a quick ride away

MIAMISBURG

Bicycle maker Huffy Corp. is moving to a new headquarters in Ohio, but it’s only a short bike ride away.

The 125-year-old company says it’s moving from one Dayton suburb to another and should be settled into its new location by the end of the year.

Huffy says its new office in Miamisburg will give it a lot more space than its current location in Centerville, which is about six miles away.

About 100 people work at Huffy’s headquarters where all of its bikes are designed and its prototypes are showcased.

US jobless benefit applications fall

WASHINGTON

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits declined slightly last week but still remained elevated as hurricane disruptions impacted layoffs for a second week.

Applications for jobless benefits dropped by 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 284,000 last week after surging to 298,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week’s increase of 62,000 had pushed claims to the highest level in two years.

The less volatile four-week average for claims rose to 263,250 last week, the highest level in a year.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa Inc., .1244.79-0.12

Aqua America, .71 33.940.24

Avalon Holdings,1.900.02

Chemical Bank, .2748.48-0.38Community Health Sys. 7.54 0.21

Cortland Bancorp, .2818.000.05

Farmers Nat., .1613.45-0.05

First Energy, 1.44 31.630.15

Fifth/Third, .5226.31-0.02

FirstMerit Corp.,--

First Niles Financial, .1210.50-0.02

FNB Corp., .4812.66-0.15

General Motors, 1.5238.800.59

General Electric, .9224.270.16

Huntington Bank, .28 12.80-0.10

iHeartMedia Inc.,1.400.00

JP Morgan Chase, 1.9291.04-0.11

Key Corp, .3417.890.02

LaFarge, .34--

Macy’s, 1.51 22.00-0.27

Parker Hannifin, 2.52 167.93-0.02

PNC, 2.20127.20-0.10

Simon Prop. Grp., 6.60163.733.30

Stoneridge 17.450.13

United Comm. Fin., .12 9.02-0.02

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