LIMELIGHTS & CAREER PATHS

Canfield-based HBK CPAs & Consultants announced Clinton A. Smith has been promoted to principal in the Sarasota, Fla., office.

Smith joined the HBK office in Naples, Fla., in October 2007 after earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Youngstown State University.

He moved to the Sarasota office in 2009. Smith is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional.

HBK announced numerous other promotions, as well. In Youngstown, Ed Williams, Stephen Horne and Kyle Melewski were promoted to senior manager, and Megan Brocker was promoted to senior associate.

New York Life Insurance Co. announced Bryan J. Mersol has been named a member of the 2018 Executive Council of New York Life, which recognizes the top 20 percent of New York Life’s sales force of more than 12,000 licensed agents for their sales achievements.

Mersol has been a New York Life agent since 2017 and is associated with New York Life’s Northern Ohio General Office and Mersol Financial Solutions in Poland.

He earned the Centurion award for protecting the lives of 100 people in his first full year with the company, which general office managing partner Brian Nowak noted was the first time he’s seen that accomplishment in his 35 years with the company.

Farmers National Bank has named Juan Santiago as its first vice president of community development.

The new position is responsible for optimizing the bank’s community development efforts and ensuring low- to moderate-income families in the bank’s service area have access to loans.

Santiago is a Mahoning Valley native with a long career in banking and expertise in mortgages.

He also serves on the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority’s Revitalize Home Mortgage initiative and is a member of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and Professionals Partnering with Christ, a faith-based professional networking group.

“With his extensive banking and community experience, Juan is a unique asset to our markets, as he assures that all community members have access to lending opportunities,” said Mark Witmer, senior executive vice president and chief banking officer at Farmers.

RECOGNITION

AT&T announced that it has been named “Best Network” for its overall national wireless network performance by Global Wireless Solutions.

GWS specializes in network benchmarking, analysis and testing and recently conducted directed benchmark testing in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The study combined drive test data with consumer research.

“This first-of-its-kind nationwide study shows some impressive performances from some operators, but AT&T’s overall performance pushes them ahead of the rest,” said Paul Carter, CEO and founder of GWS.