Business Notebook

Irmo chamber gets new chief

Kerry Powers, the former associate publisher of Columbia’s Free Times newspaper, will become the new president and chief executive officer of the Greater Irmo Chamber of Commerce.

Powers is succeeding Tiffany Boyce Heitzman, who is relocating because of her husband’s new assignment in the Army. Powers had been associate publisher at the alternative weekly since 2006. She attended State University of West Georgia and began her career as a radio account executive in 1997.Brief headline goes here

IN BRIEF

▪  The Chinese stock market is experiencing a terrifying free fall, and Greece is teetering on the brink of financial collapse. But the top central bankers in the United States and Europe see no reason for panic.

▪  Greece gets a triple dose of good news, when creditors agree to open talks on a third bailout package, to give the country an interim loan to cover its debts, and to provide more support to its shuttered banks.

▪  Fewer people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week as employers remain confident enough in the economy to hold on to their staffs.

▪  Goldman Sachs’ second-quarter profit slumps by more than 50 percent after the firm set aside $1.45 billion for legal costs related to mortgage-backed securities.

From Staff and Wire Reports.