AP board restructuring announced

The Arts Place board of directors has approved a new structure.

Board president Sarah Lingo announced last week that the restructuring process will result in a board that has equal representation from Jay and Blackford counties. Arts Place operates the Jay County Campus of Arts Place in Portland and the Blackford County Arts Center of Arts Place in Hartford City.

“The new structure reflects best practices for non-profit organizations who, like Arts Place, have a regional footprint,” said Lingo.

Workshop set

Jay County Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a leadership workshop from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, June 27, at Community Resource Center.

The Fusion: Leading Multi-generational Teams event will cover social, political and economic influences that shape the attitudes of individuals across generations. It will focus on improving leadership and communication skills.

For more information, or to register, visit shaferleadership.com/fusion-jay-county.

Jay County Chamber of Commerce will also host ribbon-cutting ceremonies for a couple of new businesses.

Also, the chamber will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday, June 17, for Sweet T’s Creations. The new bakery is located at 2 West High St., Redkey.

Zoom with the fair

Jay County Fair Board intern Kaden Khayyata will host several “Business After Hours” Zoom presentations to allow local businesses to learn about ways to advertise and otherwise be involved with the Jay County Fair.

Presentations are scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, 6 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Saturday. Links are available at TinyURL.com/JCFBizAfterHrs24.

To contact Khayyata, email [email protected] or call (260) 726-9616.

Cash retiring

Penn Township Public Library recently announced the retirement of librarian Brenda Cash.

Her last day at the library was May 30. She had been the librarian for 17 years.

An open house to celebrate Cash’s career is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 29, at Pennville Community Center, 210 S. Union St.

Projects moving

NextEra Energy Resources and Entergy on Friday announced a joint development agreement for the development of up to 4.5 gigawatts of new solar generation and energy storage projects.

The five-year joint development agreement is expected to facilitate the development and construction of new solar generation and energy storage projects.

“We believe the power sector is at an inflection point, and growing electricity demand will be met by low-cost, renewable generation and storage,” said Rebecca Kujawa, president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources. “We’re pleased to reach this agreement because it further strengthens our long-standing collaboration and adds up to 4.5 GW on top of the more than 1.7 GW of renewable energy projects already underway with Entergy.”

NextEra owns and operates Bluff Point Wind Energy Center in southern Jay County and northern Randolph County.

Cardiologist added

Lutheran Health Physicians has added cardiologist Dr. Shezad Sanaullah to its staff at Bluffton Regional Medical Center, 303 S. Main St., Bluffton.

Sanaullah earned his medical degree at Creighton University and did his residency at State University of New York followed by fellowship training in cardiovascular diseases from the University of Florida. He previously worked at Cardiology and Internal Medicine Group of North Florida in Apalachicola, Florida.

He diagnoses and treats patients with coronary artery disease, vascular disease, heart failure, heart valve disease and other disorders. He is also board certified in nuclear cardiology.

Training scheduled

ServSafe training is held at John Jay Center for Learning in Portland.

The next session is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 18. The certification course is open to all food service employees and emphasizes safe food- and beverage-handling practices to minimize the risk of food-borne illnesses.

For more information, or to register, call (260) 729-5525.

Named dean

Ball State University has announced that Katrina Bulkley will become the new dean of its Teachers College beginning July 1.

Bulkley is currently a university innovation fellow at Montclair State University in New Jersey. A graduate of Stanford University (doctorate), the University of North Carolina (master’s) and Wesleyan University (bachelor’s), she is also a professor of educational leadership.

“I am excited to welcome Dr. Bulkley as the new dean of our Teachers College,” said Dr. Anand R. Marri, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Ball State, in a press release. “Throughout our national search process, Dr. Bulkley impressed us with her passion for education, her extensive experience in leading academic initiatives, and her commitment to data-driven and equity-focused leadership. I look forward to working with her to build on the strengths of our Teachers College and to advance our University’s mission and strategic plan.”

Colleges join

Purdue University, Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame have joined Indiana Research Consortium to collaborate on national defense research.

The consortium seeks to “drive innovations and advancements in areas critical to U.S. national security while positioning Indiana as a hub for defense research.” The universities will work together to address challenges in areas including microelectronics, hypersonics, energetics and cyber-physical systems.

“Indiana is home to a deep bench of research experts and programs that are critical to our national defense,” said Karen Plaut, Purdue University executive vice president for research, in a press release. “Through the spirit of collaboration and cooperation by the state’s three leading research universities, we can pool our expertise and programs to support the missions of NSWC Crane and the Defense Department and help to solve significant challenges in key areas of national security research. Indiana’s superpower is working together to solve big problems, and this is the first step towards that goal.”

Considering options

Dollar Tree is considering options for its Family Dollar stores, including possible sale.

Dollar Tree purchased Family Dollar in 2015. Earlier this year it announced plans to close 970 of its 8,359 Family Dollar stores.

“Many of these stores had been under-invested for years, and the capital investment required to fix them could not deliver an acceptable rate of return,” said Dollar Tree CEO Richard Dreiling.

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