PARKER — Chris Kossman of Central Electric Cooperative has been promoted to director of information technology.

Kossman began working for the cooperative in 2007 as IT administrator and was promoted to IT manager in 2012.

Kossman recently completed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Management Internship Program as well as its supervisory training class.

In his IT role, Kossman also has served on the Northwest Commission’s Technology Advisory group.

He graduated from Slippery Rock University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in IT.

Home sales remain strong in regionPITTSBURGH — “For sale” signs are appearing and disappearing quickly from lawns in Southwestern Pennsylvania.According to the March residential real estate report from West Penn Multi-List, the market again strengthened for those selling their homes.In the 13-county region served by West Penn, which includes Butler, the average number of days a house was for sale was 104 days compared to 113 days in March 2012.Also, the average home sale price increased 3.40 percent, $152,467 to $157,644, in the same month.

AgChoice gives out cash to customersAgChoice Farm Credit has announced that $819,000 in cash patronage has been distributed to its customer-owners in the Butler area based on 2012 profits.Patronage distributions totaled $12 million this spring across AgChoice’s service territory, which includes 52 counties in Pennsylvania and four counties in West Virginia.In 2012, AgChoice had a net income of $37 million before taxes. These earnings support AgChoice’s patronage program as well as other initiatives for the benefit of its customers.“As a cooperative, we are proud to have our customer-owners share in our profits,” said Dennis Spangler, chairman of the board and owner and operator of Harmony Springs Farm in New Berlin, Pa.Paying patronage to AgChoice customers has been a part of AgChoice since 1999.AgChoice Farm Credit’s Butler branch office services more than $75 million in total loan volume for agricultural and rural customers in Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Jefferson and Lawrence counties.To learn more about AgChoice, visit www.agchoice.com.