Mutual Security closes here, Winchester

After 63 years in business, a local consumer finance company has closed its doors.
Mutual Security, 108 E. Main St., Portland, and its office in Winchester have closed. All 700 loans have been sold to Personal Finance Company, Muncie, said owner Barry Hudson.
Hudson’s grandfather, Lawrence Hudson, opened the Portland office in 1947. The Winchester office opened in 1958. Barry Hudson’s father, Fred Hudson, later ran the business.
Barry Hudson said the business financed the purchase of cars, appliances and electronics. However, credit cards are more commonly used for many of those purchases today, he said.

Permits issued
Jay/Portland Building and Planning issued 23 permits during August totaling around $500,000 in construction costs.
The permits include a $65,000 remodel at Portland’s Walmart for the Walmart Wireless location inside the east side entrance.
Permits were issued to: William Schoenlein, 2229 North 600 East, Portland, grain bin, $15,000; Craig L. Miller, 9545 West 550 North, Pennville, pole building, $30,000; Gerard Heitkamp, 5943 North 250 West, Bryant, barn addition, $5,000; Mike Grile, 501 N. Union St., Pennville, fence, $300; Christopher Comer, 318 E. Arch St., Portland, fence, $1,300; Christa’s Bakery and Café, 101 N. Meridian St., Portland occupancy permit and business signage, $575; Jeff and Kill Knisely, 0681 North Ind. 167, Dunkirk, new home/garage, $175,000.
Helena Chemical, 8774 West 500 North, Pennville, warehouse/barn, $63,500; Walmart No. 2388, Walmart Wireless, 950 W. Votaw St., Portland, tenant space remodel, $65,000; Rich Shimp, 8953 South 400 West, Ridgeville, swimming pool and deck, $5,000; Max Blowers, 6128 North 150 West, Bryant, residential addition, $8,000; Jeff Upp, 4351 E. Division Road, Portland, residential remodel, $40,000; Daniel V. Shetler, 4618 North 150 East, Portland, residential addition, $1,000; Pat Bennett, 1885 S. Nan Del Lane, Portland, residential addition, $15,000.
Trista Carreno, 1005 N. Ben Hawkins Ave., Portland, residential addition, $1,000; Jay-Randolph Developmental Services, 522 E. North St., Portland, residential addition, $30,000; Milo Miller Jr., 109 Bittersweet Lane, Portland, deck, $1,000; Dale and Brenda Rowles, 1682 N. Ind. 1, Pennville, enclosed porch, $1,200; Mary Elliott, 3996 West 600 South, Portland, porch, $1,000; Gerald Manor, 117 W. 10th St., Portland, deck, $500; Len Braner, 195 W. Bridge St., Pennville, shed, $3,000; Braulio and Cheryl Ruiz, 102 S. Charles St., Portland, garage, $12,000.

Ad director
DRG, Berne, has named Michelle Thorpe as the company’s new advertising sales director.
Thorpe has nearly 15 years advertising and market experience and has worked with Meredith, Des Moines, Iowa, and Creative Craft Group,.

Partner of the Year
Ivy Tech Community College was named Partner of the Year by the Association for Operations Management for its contributions to the central Indiana chapter.
The award recognizes the college for providing a courses providing certification and training for manufacturing and service industries.

Honored
Donna Penticuff, director of communications for LifeStream Services, was honored with three national awards during the National Federation of Press Women conference in Chicago.
She won two awards for second-place awards for LifeStream’s quarterly newsletter StreamLines and for Web site editing for the agency’s site.
Penticuff has been a member of the federation for 30 years and is a past national president of the group.

Board president
LifeStream president and CEO Kenneth D. Adkins was re-elected as president of the board of directors of the Indiana Association of Area Agencies on Aging.
The IAAAA representes 16 agencies across the state covering care for the elderly.

Exclusive
Romer’s Catering and Entertainment Facilities, St. Henry,  Ohio, was named as the exclusive catering consultant for the Sidney Inn, Sidney.
Romer’s has been family owned since 1974 and will serve to help cover weddings, anniversaries, reunions, corporate events, fundraisers and other functions at the inn. The Sidney Inn accommodates up to 250 guests.

$2,500
Farmers have an opportunity to win $2,500 to support agricultural programs in their county through an award program through the Monsanto Fund’s America’s Farmers Grow Communities program.
A total of $207,500 will be invested in rural areas in 83 counties in the state, including Jay and its neighbors Adams, Randolph, Wells, Delaware, and Blackford.
The program is being offered in 1,201 counties across 38 states.
To learn more and sign up for the program, visit www.growcommunities.com or send a written request for rules to Jane Winburn, 914 Spruce St., St. Louis, MO, 63102.

Educator award
Brad Kohlhagen, Agriculture and Natural Resource Extension Educator for Adams County was received honored with an award from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents for being a top ANR educator in the state.
Kohlhagen has been the educator for Adams County for eight years.

Non-profit seminar
The Jay County Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Jay County are sponsoring a seminar titled “What Not-for-Profits Need to Know About Filing 990 and NP-20 Forms” on Sept. 22.
The seminar will be led by Scott Bollenbacher, Kalla Caffee, Hannah Hughes and Misty Hernandez of Bollenbacher and Associates LLC. The training will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the John Jay Center for Learning Community Room.
The seminar is free to attend and registration should be returned to the chamber before the date.
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