City notary business is at your service
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Crystal and Stephen Stimpson, with their dog Duke, relax outside Stimpson & Wright Republic Notary in Washington.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Crystal and Stephen Stimpson handle office duties at Stimpson & Wright Republic Notary in Washington.
Clients can thank Stephen Stimpson and Donny Wright for their service – military and legal.
The two veterans and Stimpson’s wife, Crystal, have combined to run a notary business at 815 Jefferson Ave., Washington, for more than three decades. Until a year ago, it was known as Donny Wright Notary & T-Plates, where the Stimpsons rented a garage for their detailing business.
Wright, according to Stephen, started talking retirement, but not until he could turn over the notary/T-plate responsibilities to “reliable” people. The couple was interested and began working for Wright, then bought the business and renamed it Stimpson & Wright Republic Notary – before adding the LLC.
Wright, 73, unofficially retired at about that time, but in reality did not do so until two months ago. He relocated to North Carolina.
Wright served with the Army in Vietnam and earned a Purple Heart. Stephen Stimpson, a Navy corpsman for 15 years, is medically retired. He served in the first Gulf conflict in the the early 1990s.
Crystal earned a notary license first and handled those duties while Stephen otherwise ran the business, which included license plates and temporary plates. He also sold Eagle Carports, a sideline picked up from Wright. Stephen, however, recently passed his notary exam and will assume those duties as well.
(Notary is a nebulous term to many people. It is an individual authorized to handle certain legal affairs, often witnessing signatures on documents. He or she also can administer and take oaths and affirmations, among other tasks.)
“Notary is the easy part,” Crystal said. “License plates and T-plates are more difficult.”
The Stimpsons, who live in the Pancake section of South Strabane Township, worked in the gas and oil industry for eight years before moving on. The embrace what they are doing now and are striving to ramp up their game.
“We hope to be more competitive in the market,” said Stephen, who is planning a customer appreciation event, likely late in the summer.
They now offer online registrations, have a Facebook page and will soon have a web page.
Diner opening
Hopewell Diner is on the verge of serving “serious grub” in Washington.
The diner, with locations in Claysville and Southpointe – and creator of that distinctive phone greeting – is being prepared for opening on South Main Street. It will be diagonally opposite from the Washington County Courthouse. As of Thursday afternoon, a specific date had not been announced, but a sign near the entrance says: Coming very soon!”
This will be primarily a breakfast-brunch-lunch diner, the hours being 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week. The Claysville location operates from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. six days a week, the exclusion being Sunday (7 a.m. to 2 p.m.).
Weirton oil-gas firm
Pietro Fiorentini USA, a global provider of oil and gas products and services, has set up shop in Weirton, W.Va.
The Italy-based company opened its new facility Monday in Three Springs Business Park. The facility manufactures gas line pressure regulators and gas service pressure regulators designed specifically for the American market.
“This was possible because we obtained great support from West Virginia,” Mario Nardi, chief executive officer of Pietro Fiorentini Group, said Monday at the ribbon cutting.
A workforce of 29 operates four production lines in the $9 million facility. It is made up of a 30,000-square-foot assembly and warehouse area built on 27 acres. Officials plan to expand the facility to 90,000 square feet.
CB financials
CB Financial Services, the holding company for Community Bank, announced second quarter and year-to-date financial results last week.
• Net income for the three months that ended June 30 was $3 million, compared with $970,000 for the three months that ended June 30, 2018. That was an increase of $2 million (207.1%).
• Total loans grew $27.1 million since March 31, 2019, at an annualized net loan growth rate of about 12%.
• Net interest income for the three months that ended June 30, 2019, increased $1.5 million, to $10.7 million, for the same period in 2018.
• Noninterest income increased $274,000 for the three months that ended June 30, compared with the same period year over year.
CB Financial said the quarterly and year-to-date results were impacted by the FWVB merger that closed in the second quarter of 2018.