BUSINESS DIGEST || Joint tech program

Joint tech program

YOUNGSTOWN

More than 200 people from across the world attended the first Technological Innovations in Metals Engineering conference in Haifa, Israel, co-organized by Youngstown State University and Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology.

The two-day conference in late May, sponsored by the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society and the European Union Cooperation in Science and Technology program, focused on additive manufacturing, metals processing, alloys, critical materials and applications and attracted participants from the European Union, China, New Zealand, South Africa and the U.S.

Dan Schectman, 2011 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was chairman and a keynote speaker.

The next conference is set for 2020 at YSU.

ACH ranks in Top 50

WASHINGTON

U.S. News & World Report has released its 2018-19 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings, highlighting the top 50 centers in each of 10 pediatric specialities.

Akron Children’s Hospital, which has a location in Boardman, ranked 44th in neonatology, neurology and neurosurgery and orthopedics and 41st in urology.

Two Ohio hospitals made the 2018-19 Best Children’s Hospital Honor Roll of 10 centers: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center ranked second and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus ranked seventh. Boston Children’s Hospital ranked first.

Last year, Akron Children’s ranked 35th in neonatology and 30th in urology.

View the rankings at health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings.

New-home sales up

WASHINGTON

Sales of new U.S. homes jumped 6.7 percent in May, with purchases in the South accounting for all of the monthly gains.

The Commerce Department said Monday new homes sold last month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000, up from 646,000 in April. The South reported monthly sales growth of 17.9 percent. Sales were flat in the Midwest and fell in the Northeast and West.

GE to sell to Advent

BOSTON

GE is selling its distributed power unit to Advent International for $3.25 billion as it continues to shed businesses.

The deal includes distributed power’s Jenbacher and Waukesha engines and manufacturing sites in Austria, Canada and the U.S.

The distributed power business had 2017 sales of $1.32 billion and has about 3,000 workers.

The deal is expected to close by the fourth quarter.

GE Chairman and CEO John Flannery was tasked last year with reshaping the Boston company. GE has shrunk dramatically since it became entangled in the financial crisis a decade ago, and Flannery has vowed to shed $20 billion in assets quickly. Former CEO Jeff Immelt left last June, and its CFO left several days later.

Shares of General Electric Co. fell slightly in early morning trading on Monday.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSE CHANGE

Alcoa Inc., 44.20-1.36

Aqua America, .20 35.110.74

Avalon Holdings,2.150.02

Chemical Bank, .2857.85-0.24Community Health Sys, .214.00 -0.28

Cortland Bancorp, .1124.31-0.93

Farmers Nat., .0716.10-0.10

First Energy, .36 36.211.12

Fifth/Third, .1630.08-0.02

First Niles Financial, .059.750.00

FNB Corp., .1213.81-0.11

General Motors, .3840.55-0.70

General Electric, .1212.80-0.26

Huntington Bank, .11 15.23-0.12

iHeartMedia Inc.,--

JP Morgan Chase, .56104.85-0.90

Key Corp, .1120.12-0.28

LaFarge, 2.01--

Macy’s, .38 37.06-0.36

Parker Hannifin, .76156.01-1.37

PNC, .75138.59-0.77

Simon Prop. Grp., 2.88171.42-1.43

Stoneridge 36.85-0.29

United Comm. Fin., .06 11.28-0.06

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