BUSINESS UPDATES | Mercy College graduates celebrate in person

YOUNGSTOWN — For the first time in 17 months, graduates at Mercy College of Ohio's Youngstown location were able to attend an in-person commencement ceremony Monday.

During the ceremony, the Misericordia et Cura Award, the highest honor bestowed by the college, was presented to Kim Pavel, associate program director for the Associate of Applied Science in Nursing Program, Youngstown location.

Pavel began her nursing career at St. Elizabeth Hospital 40 years ago, serving as a staff nurse, a unit manager and a nursing faculty member at both the former St. Elizabeth School of Nursing and most recently at Mercy College of Ohio. She received her diploma in nursing from St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing, her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Youngstown State University and her Master of Science in Nursing from Kent State University.

Many of the 34 nursing graduates completed the majority of their coursework during the pandemic.

"The rapid changes brought about by the pandemic with the stress of nursing school were the most challenging things I've ever faced," graduate Carly Thomas said in a news release. "Online nursing education was a huge transition for all of us. The college faculty helped us get the best possible experience along the way. I feel prepared to begin my nursing career."

YBI portfolio company Spinwheel secures $11M investment

YOUNGSTOWN — Spinwheel, a Youngstown Business Incubator portfolio company, announced the close of its $11 million funding round for its consumer debt management platform.

Spinwheel began as a startup to help individuals get out of debt faster but transformed into a tool for current solutions to give its customer base another resource to achieve the same goal.

The funding was led by QED Investors, with participation from Core Innovation Capital, Fika Ventures and Firebolt Ventures.

Co-founded in 2019 by Tomá;s Campos and Tushar Vaish, Spinwheel was driven by Campos, who saw how student loan debt affected his sister and his niece.

"When my sister graduated, we thought it was an awesome milestone, but she was distraught over how she would pay her student loan debt," Campos told Crunchbase News. "Since she worked for the government, she was rejected for student loan forgiveness and had to take all of her savings and put it toward the student debt. She had been saving for a house."

That situation is what Spinwheel is aiming to help people avoid, a news release states. The $11 million will aid the development of an application programming interface to embed loan management tools into the apps people use the most.

The new funding will go toward scaling the company's product roadmap and doubling its team of six in the next six months. It will also enable the company to quickly expand to other debt categories, such as credit card, auto and mortgage, over the next 12 months, Campos said.

"We see ourselves as the modern API infrastructure to help Americans understand, manage and pay their debt," Campos said. "We want to start on student debt with people and grow with them as they make big purchases throughout their lives."

Ribbon-cutting set for new Handyman Outdoors store

NILES — Handyman Supply of Niles is celebrating the opening of its new Handyman Outdoors store with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. today.

The Handyman Outdoors store at 131 Youngstown-Warren Road offers nearly 10,000 square feet of retail space, along with a new power equipment repair service. It has a full range of products and services for power equipment, a large parts department, RV equipment, fishing and camping supplies and more.

"This new store was made possible by the hard work of our customers," owner Toma Leveto said in a news release. "For more than 40 years, Handyman Supply of Niles has made it possible for our customers and clients to keep working — by supplying parts, small tools and service. We've kept homeowners supplied with everything they need as well. This new store is a way to make sure that work continues for residential and commercial customers alike."

Reservations due by Friday for HBA of the Valley happy hour mixer

YOUNGSTOWN — Home Builders and Remodelers Association of the Valley is hosting a happy hour mixer from 6 to 8 p.m. May 18 at Barry Dyngle's, 1601 S. Raccoon Road.

The networking event is sponsored by On Demand Occupational Medicine.

Reservations are due by Friday (May 14). Call 330-965-9779, fax 330-965-9770 or email karen@hbamv.org.

Gasoline prices increase 5 cents in Northeast Ohio

YOUNGSTOWN — The average price for gasoline across Northeast Ohio is 5 cents higher this week at $2.86 per gallon, according to AAA East Central's Gas Price Report.

The average price for unleaded self-service gasoline in the Youngstown area is $2.86 per gallon.

— Do you have a business announcement you'd like to share? Email news@mahoningmatters.com.

This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 5:25 AM with the headline "BUSINESS UPDATES | Mercy College graduates celebrate in person."