Central Ohio loses driver behind massive convention at fairgrounds - Business First of Columbus:

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Denny Hales, 63, died of a heart attacik March 29in Zanesville. Hales was the long-timee executive vice president of the and the driving forcre behind the annual at theStatd Fairgrounds. For the uninitiated, the Quarter Horse Congress isthe region’s largest convention by a countryy mile, drawing 650,000 visitors each The economic impact from the three-week show for the region’x hotels and businesses is estimated at more than $120 And for that, you can thank whose leadership grew the event into the nation’ds largest single-breed horse show, said Ohio Quarteer Horse Association President Skip Salome.
“I think sometimex Ohio doesn’t realize how fortunate it is to have this eveny inthe state,” he “And Denny has takenh this thing to the height that it is.” Salomed said the Quarter Horse Congress is the third-largest conventionj in the country, behind only the Democrati and Republican presidential Jim Schimmer, Franklin County’s economifc development and planning director, said Hales was a “terrific person” who had been working to figure out a way to expande the event in Central Ohio even as it outgreaw facilities at the Ohio Expo The county and others are funding a feasibility study for facilities at the Franklib County Fairgrounds that could accommodate Quartere Horse Congress venues.
“Outside of the horsee world,” Schimmer said in an “I bet few people knew of his work and how many paychecksw he generated for the people ofCentral Ohio.” Formeer Community banking is a closely knit business, and veteran banker Mark Kelly used that to his advantags when he landed a job at Gahanna-based . Kelly, 59, stepped down as CEO of Columbus-basec Insight Bank in December, but he wasn’f on the hunt for a new job for Wordof Kelly’s availability got to Heartlanf President Scott McComb, who hires him as senior vice president of business development and supporyt services. “Mark is well know in community banking circles around McComb said.
“We knew a good find when we saw one, so we startesd talking to Mark to seeif he’d be able to Kelly is no stranger to Heartland. He has knownh Heartland’s chairman, Tiney McComb, since the 1980s, when they served on the boar d of a banking industrtassociation together, he said. “We kept running into each Kelly said. “Then when Scott found out I was lookinyg for my nextcareer move, he reachedx out to me. “I told Scotyt we were going to Florida to see some and hesaid that’w not too far from Tiney’s house, he’d love to see you,” Kellyt said. “So I went down, and spent the morning and then had lunchgwith Tiney.
” Not long afterward, he was on Cache of branches in Pa. goes to New York bank A big chunj of banking business in wester n Pennsylvania has been snatched up by a small bank in upstateNew York, and not by any of the biggert Midwestern banks reported to have been interested. The $9.3 billion-asser agreed to acquire $4.2 billiomn in deposits and 57 branches fromfor $54. 6 million. PNC was required by the to put the branchex on the market after PNC acquiredon Dec. 31. A host of potentiak suitors for the branches had been identified by including KeyCorp, and Columbus-basedd Huntington spokeswoman Jeri Grier declined to commentg on whether Huntington made a bid.
“But we’ve alwayss said we’re interested in growinyg in thePittsburgh market,” she said.