Cash takes new job at Ball State

Cindy Cash is stepping down as executive director at John Jay Center for Learning to take a position at Ball State University designing the university’s expanding online curriculum.
Cash joined John Jay in January 2011. Her last official day with John Jay is March 22.
As executive director, Cash helped establish the annual C3 Career-College-Connect and College Goal Sunday events, launched the Jay County Education Success Coalition, and established new partnerships with Vincennes University and the Purdue Manufacturing Extension program.
John Jay Center also partners with Ivy Tech, the Jay School Corporation, and Indiana Wesleyan University.
“I know the programs and partnerships implemented in the past coupe years will continue to grow due to the 20/20 Vision for education in Jay County,” Cash said.
Cash herself was an alumna of John Jay. She holds a master’s degree from Ball State. Prior to joining John Jay, she taught in the South Adams school system.

Fisher Meats wins
Fisher Meats’ venison hot dog won best of show and garnered a perfect score at the “I Connection Cured Meat Show,” hosted in Champaign, Ill. Feb. 21-23.
Fisher Meats, one of hundreds in attendance at the contest between Indiana and Illinois meat processors, won 11 awards in 18 categories.
The company’s pulled pork with sauce and venison hot dog were both crowned grand champion. Its hot dogs, smoked sausage, ring bologna, and bratwurst were all awarded reserve grand champion. Its BBQ ribs were awarded champion and its boneless ham and braunschweiger were awarded reserve champion.
Fisher Meats also received Indiana’s Best of Pork award for its smoked sausage.

Cooper Farms founder dies
Virginia June (Rockey) Cooper, the last living company founder of Cooper Farms, died Sunday in Oakwood, Ohio. She was 91.
She was born June 21, 1921 to the late Edgar Ray and Helene (Eastman) Rockey.
She married Virgil Homer Cooper in 1939 and in 1941 they moved north of Oakwood. She and Virgil later built their turkey hatchery and offices next door to their home, allowing her to watch the growth of the company over the years.
Cooper was known as the matriarch and co-founder of Cooper Farms and worked on the farm during the early years of the company.
She is survived by three children, Jim (wife: Anada), Dianne and Gary Cooper, all of Oakwood; 13 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
In 1980, Virgil Cooper retired, handing over day-to-day management of Cooper Farms to Jim, Dianne and Gary. Cooper Farms continues to be one of the largest family-owned turkey processing companies in the country.

Programs offered
Vincennes University will offer two noncredit healthcare training programs in Portland this spring.
The Phlebotomy Technician Training Program, which is for those who wish to learn skills for an entry-level healthcare profession, will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, April 2 to July 16, from 6 to 9 p.m.
The noncredit program is 15 weeks and includes 90 classroom hours of training and hands-on practice. The fee is $1,499 and includes textbooks.
The Clinical Medical Assistant Training Program, which prepares students to perform patient clinical skills in the medical office setting, will be held on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, April 1 to July 2.
This noncredit course is a 220-hour program, with 140 classroom hours and 80 hours of a clinical externship.
Interested students should attend an orientation meeting March 11 at 6 p.m. at the John Jay Center for Learning, 101 S. Meridian St., Portland.
Upon successful completion of either program, students will receive a VU Certificate of Completion and be eligible to sit for the National Healthcarreer Association national exam.
All classes will be held at the John Jay Center for Learning.
For more information call (800) 809-8852 or email [email protected].

Job fair
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 100 Holiday Drive, Portland, hosted a job fair this week.
Between 200 and 300 people attended the job fair, seeking information from 17 different local companies.
Attendees had the chance to discuss job opportunities and fill out applications.

Rail workers get $
Norfolk Southern Railway Co. has been ordered to pay more that $1 million to three workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration stating that Norfolk violated the whistleblower provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act.
Norfolk has been ordered to reinstate one of these workers, a Fort Wayne man who was injured while operating a crane in support of a bridge-building operation in Albany. Norfolk was also ordered to pay him a total of about $438,000 in damages.
The employee was taken out of service and terminated on Aug. 24, 2010, after an internal investigation alleged he had made false statements about his injury. The employee reported an eye injury requiring the extraction of a sliver of metal and rust ring from his eye.
Two other workers, who were injured while working in Pennsylvania, were also awarded $683,508 in damages after OSHA determined they were fired for reporting their injuries.
The railroad said Thursday it will appeal both rulings.

Applications open
Applications opened Friday for the Young Entrepreneurs Program, an initiative that assists college-aged and recently graduated entrepreneurs in making their business plans a reality in Indiana.
Those interested can apply to the program by submitting a business plan proposal to the Indiana Small Business Development Center by March 22, 2013.
For more information, or to submit a proposal, visit www.isbdc.org/yep.

I&M buying
Indiana Michigan Power, an operating unit of American Electric Power, has issued a Request for Proposals to purchase up to 200 megawatts of wind energy for use by its customers.
The RFP seeks proposals from eligible projects and bidders in I&M’s service territory for a long-term 20 year Power Purchase Agreement. I&M currently purchases a total of 250 megawatts of wind power from the Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in Benton and Tippecanoe Counties and the Wildcat Wind Farm in Madison and Tipton Counties.

[[In-content Ad]]