County chamber official Tuesday (12/29/07)

The Jay County Chamber of Commerce will become official on Tuesday.

All current members of the Portland Area Chamber of Commerce will become members of the JCCC upon renewal of their dues in 2008. The directors of the JCCC will be elected at the annual meeting on Jan. 26.

The web site for the new chamber will be www.jaycountychamber.com.

Two Jay County Chamber of Commerce networking events - one a breakfast and the other a luncheon - are set to be held in January.

A networking breakfast will be held Jan. 9 at the Dunkirk Elks Lodge, 1026 S. Main St.

The 7:30 a.m. event will feature Dunkirk mayor-elect Ron Hunt and Jay County Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. Hunt will give a sate of the city address, and Miller will speak about the state of the county.

Also, Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier will give his state of the city address Jan. 29 at noon in Jay County Hospital conference rooms A and B, 500 W. Votaw St., Portland.

The annual meeting of the Portland Area Chamber of Commerce and Jay County Chamber of Commerce will be held Jan. 26 at the Lions Club Civic Center on county road 100 North, east of U.S. 27 in Portland.

The awards for citizen of the year, business of the year, industry of the year and lifetime achievement will be presented. Registration is at 6 p.m., and dinner is at 6:30 p.m.

Businesses and organizations that have reached milestones also will be recognized.

End of Insight in sight

The Comcast Corporation will replace the Insight Communications Company as the area cable provider on Jan. 1.

Customers do not need to take action in order to keep their service and service will not be interrupted during the change, Comcast said in a letter to its customers on Dec. 18.

Comcast and Insight currently own the local cable system jointly, but Comcast is taking full ownership of the system. Comcast will provide cable service in Jay County and other communities.

Insight customers with questions are encouraged to visit www.insightcom.com or call 1-866-860-5963.

Sister store closes

The sister store to Ole Fort IGA is closing.

Owner John Sutter announced this week that the Logan Street IGA in Celina, Ohio, will close permanently on Dec. 31.

Sutter said he has no plans to close the Fort Recovery store, which has been in operation for 10 years.

The Celina store was purchased by the Sutters in 2004 and is now being listed for sale.

Wins contest

The Jay County Boots and Spurs 4-H Club won the tree-decorating contest at WinterFest this year.

The decorated trees were judged at the Jay County Courthouse.

The winning club was given a $100 prize.

Union City on the rise

A Canadian company has announced it will invest $2 million to move into the former Union City Body Co.

Ag Growth will use the former factory to manufacture grain-handling equipment. It will be the company's third facility in the United States. The expansion is expected to create an additional 70 jobs.

The announcement comes shortly after Cardinal Ethanol announced an ethanol facility near Union City. That refinery will begin production in 2008.[[In-content Ad]]