Business briefs: Award recipients, new realtor, AI scam warning

Primrose of Mansfield named Distinguished Community of the Year

Primrose Retirement Communities LLC has named Primrose of Mansfield one of its 12 Distinguished Communities of the Year. The announcement was made on April 27, during the company’s annual Leadership Retreat in St. Augustine, Florida.

"This award is given to communities who consistently meet and exceed expectations related to our mission of creating happy and healthy living environments for our senior population," said President BJ Schaefbauer.

Primrose Retirement Community of Mansfield consists of 36 independent living apartment homes, 32 assisted living apartment homes, and 14 townhome villas.

Since the opening of the first Primrose community in Aberdeen, South Dakota, in 1991, Primrose has grown to include over 33 locations in 17 states.

Spherion Mid-Ohio presented Marketing Excellence Award

Spherion Mid-Ohio received the Marketing Excellence Award during the recent Spherion 2023 National Meeting in Fort Worth, Texas.

Owners Beth and Mark Delaney were presented the award for their dedication to innovation and investment in marketing to raise brand awareness and build an audience to better connect job seekers with employment at local companies.

Their strategy led to an average rating of 4.9 on Google, according to a news release, which also stated one of the office’s biggest marketing achievements in 2022 was from a TikTok post that earned 45 million views and more than 80,000 new followers.

The local marketing team consists of: Jessica Hiser, marketing and advertising director; Matt Peters, client and campaign marketing manager; and Miriam Morgenstern, marketing and outreach specialist.

Bellville native joins Haring Realty

Deanna Conrad, a local entrepreneur and real estate professional, has announced her affiliation with Haring Realty.

Born and raised in Bellville, Conrad is a graduate of Clear Fork Schools and attended the Ohio State University at Mansfield. Starting in the workforce at the age of 14, she worked at San-dar Smorgasbord. Later Conrad founded A to Z Cleaning, which specialized in new construction cleaning for hospitals, schools, strip malls and other large construction sites.

"I chose to go into real estate because I believe buying a home is one of life's most important decisions," said Conrad.

Conrad and her husband, Jim, have seven children, eight grandchildren, a dog and two cats.

She plans to spend several days a week at Haring's Bellville office, making it convenient for her clients and allowing her more time for family activities.

University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center recognized for safety

ASHLAND — University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center received an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit upholding the standard of patient safety in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. This national distinction celebrates UH Samaritan’s achievements in prioritizing patient safety by protecting patients from preventable harm and errors.

The new grades reflect performance primarily during the height of the pandemic. In fact, the spring “A” grade reflects continued outstanding results for UH Samaritan as this is its second “Straight A” result — reflecting a minimum of five consecutive “A” grades.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, assigns a letter grade to general hospitals across the country based on over 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

AI services scams target small businesses

COLUMBUS — Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the hot new thing revolutionizing medical research, challenging the art world, and even helping small business owners succeed by streamlining and automating tasks. Predictably, scammers are nimbly taking advantage.

How does the scam work? You get an unsolicited call, email or text message claiming to offer AI services for small businesses. You may even stumble across a convincing looking ad on social media or be sent one by a friend. The services sound amazing. You’ll pay a reasonable amount upfront, and once the AI is set up, you can expect incredible benefits, such as automating all your marketing needs.

BBB President Judy Dollison warns if you engage with scammers offering phony AI services, you’ll likely lose any money you pay them. At the very least, business information could fall into the hands of bad actors putting individuals at risk for identity theft, business email compromise and other cons.

To avoid scams, the BBB says get to know a company before you do business with them. Review their website and social media accounts. If anything looks unprofessional or if contact information is missing or doesn’t work, steer clear. Do an internet search for reviews and complaints. Search the company name along with the word “scam” to find reports or any dishonest business practices.

Also, watch out for aggressive sales tactics and far-fetched promises. If someone pressures you to buy a service, telling you you’ll miss out if you don’t act right now, or if they promise you your business will make hundreds or thousands of dollars with little to no effort on your part, it’s probably a scam.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Awards for Primrose, Spherion Mid-Ohio, UH-Samaritan plus BBB warning