Students place in national contest

Jay County High School students Josh Loyd and Dylan Sutter finished in 11th place among 49 state teams in the 63rd Annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition this week.
Loyd, a 2012 graduate, and Sutter, who will be a senior in the fall, represented Indiana after winning the state championship.
They were both students of the South Adams High School automotive tech classes, which has fielded state champions four times in the past six years.
The national contest pits students seeking automotive careers against each other by testing knowledge, workmanship and problem-solving through a written test and hand-on test to diagnose and repair an intentionally bugged car.
The South Adams program is supported by Moser Motor Sales, which currently employs three prior state champions from the area.

Building permits
County residents obtained 24 building permits totaling more than $358,000 in new construction in May.
Permits were issued to the following people:
Rich Reinhart, 5156 N. 700 East, Bryant, grain bin, $1,000; Glynn Barber, 4751 S. 700 West, Redkey, greenhouse, $2,000; Leon Muhlenkamp 6089 E. 500 North, Portland, calf barn, $21,000; Duane and Rhonda Monroe, 6593 W. 300 South, Portland, barn, $500, Earl and Cherrie Geeseman, 6327 W. Walnut Corner Road, Pennville, storage shed, $300; John Siegrist, 723 W. Main St., Portland, garage.
Lisa and Kenneth Hinshaw, 328 Meridian Heights, Portland, fence, $6,000; Matt Glentzer, 404 E. High St., Portland, fence, $2,000; John Hampshire, 411 E. Walnut St., Portland, Fence, $500; Terry Hartley, 507 E. Water St., Portland, fence, $700; Larry R. Newton, 1093 W. 200 South, Portland, fence, $1,000; Ruth A. Hosier, 106 W. Lafayette St., Portland, fence and walkway overhang, $12,200.
Lucille Hummer, 911 W. Water St., Portland, porch, $3,600; Dave Schrock, 1610 E. Division Road, Portland, porch, $3,300; Glen Haines, 6988 W. 300 North, Pennville, open porch and roof change, $3,500; Doug and Sherry Herriford, 815 W. 7th St., Portland, deck, $800; Mary Nuckols, 103 Olson Lane, Portland, deck and ramp, $8,600; David Keiln, 105 S. 500 West, Portland, deck and garage, $9,000.
Virgil Kahlig, 1618 W. 400 North, Portland, machine shop, $100,000; Pioneer Warehousing LLC, 218 E. Lincoln St., Portland, pole building, $12,000; Craig Weaver, 3D Recycling, LLC, 501 Bridge St., business occupancy; Charles M. Lewellen, 3954 S. Boundary Pike, Portland, new home, $163,000; Troy and Peggy Atkinson, 228 E. North St., Portland, storage building, $2,600; Community and Family Services, 521 S. Wayne St., Portland, storage building, $4,000.

Apprenticeship initiative
A representative from the U.S. Department of Labor met with Jay County businesses Thursday morning to offer advice on how to start a registered apprenticeship program.
Stephen Steed addressed apprenticeship requirements and standards to train people in all phases of industry at John Jay Center.
Cindy Cash, John Jay Center executive director, said the goal of bringing Steed was to show businesses in the area the benefits of having apprenticeship programs in Jay County.

Energize-ECI visits Chicago
Energize-ECI, Inc., took a sales trip to Chicago on Monday and Tuesday to update site selection professionals about advantages and opportunities of doing business in East Central Indiana.
Bob Grewe, executive director of New Castle-Henry Economic Development Corporation; Tim Eckerle, executive director of Grant County Economic Growth; and E. Roy Budd of Energize-ECI went on the trip to renew relationships and meet new members of site selection consulting firms.
Energize-ECI, Inc., works to provide programs to encourage new business investment and job creation in East Central Indiana.

President’s Club
A Fort Recovery company earned membership in the President’s Club of New Holland Agriculture.
K&L Tractor Sales Inc. received the company’s highest honor for dealers, recognizing outstanding achievement in all facets of business management and customer satisfaction. North Star Hardware & Implement Co. in North Star, Ohio also earned membership.
Mike Wallace, Kenny Knoth and Todd Homan own K&L. Abe Hughes, New Holland Agriculture vice president for North America, said the company earned membership because of its exceptional service and support to its customers.

Networking luncheon
Jay County Chamber of Commerce will hold a networking luncheon on June 26.
Representatives from WorkOne and O J T Training Program will be among those in attendance.
The luncheon will begin at noon at Jay County Hospital. The cost is $8 and reservations can be made by emailing [email protected] by Thursday.

Home Health Depot
Indianapolis-based Home Health Depot announced its acquisition of Fort Wayne-based Medical Mobility LLC on Wednesday.
Home Health Depot consolidated Medical Mobility’s full line of durable medical equipment into its existing store.
Home Health Depot operates in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa.

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