[naviga:h3]Center names acute care director[/naviga:h3]

GROVE CITY — Lauren McCune, RN, BSN, has been appointed the director of acute care at the Grove City Medical Center, according to Tony Bono, vice president of patient care.

McCune will oversee all aspects of patient care in this department, which is a combined medical-surgical and telemetry unit.

McCune received her training at West Penn Hospital School of Nursing and comes to Grove Center from Butler Memorial Hospital, where her 28-year career was spent primarily in cardiovascular care. She also oversaw the hospital’s Service Excellence Experience.

[naviga:h3]NexTier Bank names risk officer[/naviga:h3]

NexTier Bank announced a new addition to its executive management team. Todd J. Simko is the new chief risk officer.

In this role, Simko will oversee risk management and compliance for the entire organization.

Simko has been the deputy chief credit officer at the Pittsburgh Federal Home Loan Bank.

His experience includes eight years as a federal bank examiner and duties at the loan bank including chairman of it credit risk committee and a member of its risk management committee, and emerging risk committee.

Simko replaces Mark Schoen, who now is the chief knowledge officer. Schoen is responsible for investment management and management of the bank’s FDICIA program, liquidity management, and capital and liquidity stress testing.

Simko received his Bachelor of Science from Robert Morris University and is attending the American Bankers Association Stonier National Graduate School of Banking.

[naviga:h3]Top employee award to be given [/naviga:h3]

PROSPECT — The Butler County Chamber of Commerce will honor employees with its 22nd annual Employee Appreciation Day on April 21.

It will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at The Atrium on West Route 422 in Prospect.

The Employee of the Year Award, sponsored by Butler Memorial Hospital, will be presented to an outstanding business employee in the county.

The event is $25 per person, and tables of eight-to-10 people may be reserved.

The luncheon is sponsored by Medure’s Catering, the Butler Eagle, and The Atrium.

[naviga:h3]Cost of stamp dropping 2 cents[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — The cost of mailing a letter is going down.

Beginning Sunday, the price of a first-class stamp drops two cents, to 47 cents. The reduction is the result of an expiring surcharge that had been put in place in January 2014 to help the beleaguered Postal Service recoup $4.6 billion in losses dating back to the Great Recession.

Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan said in a statement that the forced rate reduction would exacerbate Postal Service losses. The agency estimated that it would lose $2 billion in annual revenue as a result.

Commercial and other postage rates also are declining.

[naviga:h3]30-year mortgage falls to 3.59 percent[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates slid this week to their lowest level since February 2015, luring prospective purchasers during the spring home-buying season.