September construction tops $404,000 (10/04/2008)

It was a busy month of relatively low-cost construction as 32 permits were issued by the Jay/Portland Building and Planning department in September. The total estimated construction cost was $404,050.

Permits were issued to: Donald Reynald, 6281 East 500 South, Portland, pole building, $2,500; Dan J.M. Schwartz, 432 West 400 North, Portland, chicken house, $5,000; Anthony Schoenlein, 1629 West 500 South, Portland, metal building; $3,500; Joe Siegrist 8544 East 800 South, Union City, grain bin, $7,000; Barry Fennig, 2842 East 600 North, Bryant, grain leg cover, $75,000; Dale and Gregg Minnich, county road 850 East between county roads 300 North and 400 North, Portland, machine shed, $10,000, Richard Haffner, 5618 North 450 East, Portland, pole building, $25,000.

Jason M. Kable, 530 East 300 North, Portland, building, $15,000; Scott Newton 2352 North 400 East, Portland, garage and lean-to, $10,000; Carl Reinhart, 6951 East Ind. 67, Bryant, lean-to, $4,500; Gus H. Jackson, 4151 North 750 West, Pennville, pole barn addition, $1,500; Karen Carey, 7103 East 150 North, Portland, pole building addition, $2,000; Charles A. Jackson, 108 Silvers Lane, Portland, fence, $550; Terri Eldridge, 941 W. Race St., Portland, fence, $2,200; Mark Twigg Studio and Gallery, 1570 North 200 West, Portland, home occupation type 1; Pioneer Packaging LLC, 415 W. Water St., Portland, certificate of occupancy and use; Createc Corporation, 1600 N. Meridian St., Portland, certificate of occupancy and use.

Christina Bishop, Cute as a Button Salon and Primitives, 218 N. Meridian St., Portland, business occupancy; Sandra Green, 7073 North 200 East, Bryant, manufactured home, $65,000; Madonna Duran, 7573 North 250 West, Bryant, residential addition, $35,000; Richard L. Knight, 624 South 200 West, Portland, residential addition, $7,400; Larry R. Newton Jr., 1093 West 200 South, Portland, residential addition, $75,000; Duane and Rhonda Monroe, 6593 West 300 South, Portland, residential addition, $20,000.

Emanuel E. Wickey, 8307 North 450 East, Bryant, residential addition, $6,000; Patricia Burk, 212 Pittsburg Avenue, Portland, deck, $1,500; Michael and Cynthia Evers, 322 W. Walnut St., Portland, deck with ramp, $1,000; Clifford Stults, 317 West 200 South, Portland, enclosed porch, $1,500; Arthur Evans, 715 East 200 South, Portland, pole building, $3,000; Reuben B. Hilty, 4839 N. U.S. 27, Portland, wash house, $2,500; Larry and Linda Freyburgher, 314 W. Tenth St., Portland, shed, $2,400; Robert Smith, 2538 North 100 West, Portland, pole building, $18,000; Paul Saunders, 4030 South 300 East, Portland, detached garage, $2,000.

Celebrating

Tyson Foods, which operates a Mexican Original plant in Portland, recently celebrated 25 years of making tortillas.

Local employees marked the occasion with a picnic for 425 team members at the Jay County Fairgrounds.

The company, which bought Mexican Originals in 1983, opened its Portland plant in May 1995. The plant produces a variety of baked and friend Mexican food products, in addition to tortillas.

According to the Tortilla Industry Association, tortillas are poised to overtake sandwich bread in total sales in the United States.

The Portland plant operates 12 product lines producing more than 2.5 million pounds of product each week.

The plant has an annual payroll of more than $10 million.

New MRI unit

Mercer County Community Hospital will be installing a new MRI machine after approval from its board.

The new equipment features a larger scanning area to help remove the claustrophobia effect and will allow bigger patients, up to 550 lbs., to receive scans. The machine will also produce higher quality imaging and will allow the hospital to perform scans every day of the week.

Income rises

Walgreen Co. reported a gain in its fourth quarter net income of 12 percent despite consumers being in a financial crunch.

Walgreens floated to $443 million net income in the fourth quarter, up from $396.5 million the previous year. The company's chief financial offer told the Wall Street Journal that Walgreens has typically been a recession-resistant operation.

Development seminar

The next professional development seminar hosted by the Jay County Chamber of Commerce will take place Oct. 29.

"Right Place, Right Time Marketing" will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the community room of the John Jay Center for Learning and will feature training and a media panel dis-

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cussion.

The cost of the seminar is $25 for chamber members and $40 for non-members. The deadline for registration is Oct. 24. For more information, call (260) 726-4481 or mail reservations to the chamber at 118 S. Meridian St., Portland IN 47371.

Efficiency seminar

Jay County REMC will hold an energy efficiency seminar on Oct. 16 at its offices. The program is set for 6 p.m., with registration beginning at 5:30 p.m.

To make reservations, contact the REMC at (260) 726-7121.

Meet the candidates

Two events will allow the public to get a chance to meet candidates running for office in November's elections.

On Oct. 8, candidates will be on hand at 7:30 a.m. to meet and greet and display political material at the Jay County Chamber of Commerce networking breakfast at the Dunkirk Elks Lodge.

The "Meet Your Candidates Night" will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 in the Hall-Moser Theatre at Arts Place. Candidates will make a statement and candidates in contested races will field a prepared question as well as inquiries from the audience.

40 years

Berne's Swiss Village retirement community is celebrating 40 years in business.

The village, west of Berne, opened May 27, 1968 and has been providing a place for retired people to settle down since.

As a celebration, the Main Street Jazz Band will give a free concert at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18 in the South Adams High School auditorium. On Oct. 19, an anniversary program will be held at 2 p.m. in the Swiss Village auditorium.

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