EMLENTON — Emclaire Financial, the parent company of The Farmers National Bank of Emlenton, has redeemed $5 million of the $10 million in outstanding preferred shares that had been issued to the U.S. Treasury Department in August 2011 through the Small Business Lending Fund.

The shares were redeemed at their liquidation value of $1,000 per share plus accrued dividends. The company continues to have $5 million in preferred shares outstanding through the lending fund.

“We were pleased to have been approved by Treasury to participate in the SBLF program in 2011,” said William Marsh, chairman, president and CEO. “The SBLF program afforded us the opportunity to augment the bank's already strong capital position and continue our tradition of small business lending.”

WASHINGTON — Congress is moving to avert an impending shutdown of the federal helium reserve, a key supplier of the lighter-than-air gas used in a products ranging from party balloons to MRI machines.The Federal Helium Program, which provides about 42 percent of the nation's helium from a storage site near Amarillo, Texas, is set to shut down Oct. 7 unless lawmakers intervene.The shutdown is a result of a 1996 law requiring the reserve to pay off a $1.3 billion debt by selling its helium.The debt is paid, but billions of cubic feet of helium remain. Closing the reserve would cause a worldwide helium shortage — an outcome lawmakers from both parties hope to avoid.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. current account trade deficit narrowed in the April-June quarter to the lowest level in nearly three years.The imbalance fell to $98.9 billion in the second quarter, a drop of 5.7 percent from the first quarter deficit of $104.9 billion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.The spring deficit was the lowest since a $93.8 billion imbalance in the third quarter of 2009, a period when the Great Recession had cut into demand for foreign goods.

• The National Association of Realtors recently recognized Thomas R. Murray of Zelienople for 50 years of service to the real estate industry.Murray started his career in 1963 after graduating from Franklin and Marshall College.His real estate sales operation was sold in 1997. However, the agency continues as a property management company based in Zelienople.• Jessamine Montero-Michaels, senior officer for diversity and inclusion and special assistant to the president at Slippery Rock University, recently received a Multicultural Leadership Award at the National Diversity and Leadership Conference at Indiana (Pa.) University.The National Diversity Council promotes diversity and leadership.The award recognizes individuals of color who have made a difference through their achievements and exemplify the ability to excel in their field.