Wagner featured in best in finance

A Jay County native was recently featured in Louisville Business First.

The print and online business publication featured Mitch Wagner in its 2020 Best in Finance feature.

Wagner, a 1976 Jay County High School graduate, has served as vice president of finance for Maker’s Mark Distillery for 25 years. The question-and-answer feature looked at what motivates Wagner, his most gratifying moments and his greatest challenges.

“The financial side of the bourbon business is a constant balance of managing supply and demand,” he told the publication. “We’re trying to predict demand for something we make today but won’t sell for six years. That’s unbelievably difficult.”

If a movie were made about his career, he said it would be called “The Bourbon Trail” starring Woody Harrelson. He knows Harrelson, dating back to when they were both students at Hanover College.

To view the piece online, visit bit.ly/LBFMitchWagner.



Geier joins

Bridget Geier has joined Mercer Health Medical Group as a nurse practitioner providing primary and pediatric care.

The Coldwater, Ohio, native will work primarily in the Coldwater officer. The group also has offices in Fort Recovery, Celina, St. Henry and New Bremen.



Supplying

Ardagh Group announced this week that it is supplying glass bottles for Arterra Wines Canada.

Ardagh, which operates glass container manufacturing plants in Dunkirk and Winchester, is providing the company 1.5-liter glass bottles.

“As the largest producer of glass wine bottles made 100% in North America, Ardagh takes pride in working closely with customers like Arterra to deliver the highest standards in sustainable packaging options,” said Ardagh chief commercial officer John T Shaddox said in a press release. “The 1.5-liter Bordeaux Stelvin bottle is manufactured across the U.S., making it available for regional shipment to North American wineries from coast to coast.”



Burgers get sunny

McDonald’s newest restaurant at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida is 100% solar.

The restaurant was built with solar panels covering the roof and solar glass throughout. It is designed to run the restaurant entirely on renewable energy.

McDonalds is using the facility to test sustainability with an eye on implementing renewable energy at other locations.

Running fully on renewable power, or reaching a goal of “net zero” energy use, “is still sort of at the technological edge for buildings,” said Carol Ross Barney of Ross Barney Architects, which designed the restaurant. “For a restaurant, the biggest energy use is in cooking, especially in a high-volume restaurant like this one at Disney World.”



Walgreens lost big

Walgreens Boots Alliance reported this week that it lost $1.7 billion in March, April and May in large part because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The drugstore chain based in Illinois said lockdowns related to the business slashed sales by at least $700 million, mostly overseas.

“Prior to the pandemic, our financial performance for fiscal 2020 was on track with our expectations,” said Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina in a statement. “However, this unprecedented global crisis led to a loss in the quarter as stay-at-home orders affected all of our markets.”