Two join staff at Pacesetter Bank

Pacesetter Bank recently announced the hiring of two Jay County natives to run its Portland office.
Kayla Smith was named branch manager and Zach Chenoweth was hired as an agricultural loan officer at Pacesetter’s Portland branch, located at 1221 N. Meridian St.
Smith and Chenoweth are both Jay County High School graduates. Smith received a degree from Indiana Business College, Indianapolis, and has worked in banking for six years. She will oversee operations and lending at the Portland branch.
Chenoweth graduated from Purdue University with a degree in agricultural economics. He will serve the jay County area with agricultural, commercial and residential lending.
 “We are very excited to have Kayla and Zach join our team,” said Ted Leas, president of Pacesetter Bank. “They each have strong local roots and a great approach to customer service.”

RC considers wind farms
Randolph County Council heard proposals by two wind energy developers at its Tuesday meeting.
EDP Renewals (formerly Horizon Wind Energy) of Houston, Texas has been planning the Headwaters Wind Farm Project since 2008.
The project will include 50 to 100 wind turbines situated on 50,000 acres of land leased in Randolph County.
EDP project manager Jeffrey Nemeth said the project would result in a $220 to $440 million investment in Randolph County and that participating landowners would receive a combined $2 million per year in lease payments.
The project would create 225 to 400 construction jobs and 5 to 13 full-time positions.
Preliminary plans call for the turbines to be arranged in a scattered pattern in the west and south portions of Randolph County.
The council also approved a preliminary tax abatement for a proposed wing project by E.ON Climate Renewables.
The unnamed project would include about 30 turbines and would mean a $120 to $140 million investment in the community according to E.ON attorney Mary Solada.
The E.ON wind farm project would be located north of Ind. 32, between Ind. 1 and the Randolph/Delaware County line and is expected to create 250 construction jobs and two to three permanent jobs.
About 50 property owners would receive a total of $300,000 in annual lease payments.

Radio stations sold
J Chapman, a former radio executive with Indianapolis’s Emmis Communications Corp, and three partners recently agreed to buy six radio stations in east central Indiana, including Muncie’s WLBC.
Chapman and his partners agreed to buy six stations from Forida-based Backyard Broadcasting. Other stations are WERK and WXFN, also in Muncie; WHBU in Anderson, WMXQ in Hartford City; and WMQX in Alexandria.
Chapman, who will be leaving his current job at Maverick Media in Rockford, Ill., said the six stations employ about 31 people.
Chapman will become the operating partner for WOOI Boom Radio, the new company that will operate the six stations starting June 1.

Tyson earnings fall
Fiscal second-quarter earnings for Tyson Foods Inc. fell 43 percent, and the company lowered its full-year sales estimate to about $34.5 billion, down from its $35 billion November estimate.
Tyson Foods, the parent company of Tyson Mexican Original in Portland, reported a second-quarter profit of $95 million, or 26 cents a share, down from $166 million, or 44 cents a share, a year ago.

Declare dividend
Allegheny Technologies Inc., parent company of Portland Forge, announced last week that its board of directors had declared a quarterly cash dividend of 18 cents per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on June 19, 2013 to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 22, 2013.

Places second
Triathlete Cory Tretsky, sponsored by AeroCat bicycles of Portland, took second place male overall at the Buck Hurley Tri in Salisbury, N.C., this week.
Big bonuses
The Irish Independent reported this week that top executives at Ardagh Group may be in line for big bonuses as the company continues its growth.
Ardagh Group announced in January that it has made a binding and irrevocable offer to acquire Verallia North America, which has a glass container plant in Dunkirk, from Saint-Gobain. That transaction will be subject to U.S. regulatory approval and is expected to be closed later this year.
“The story of Ardagh is remarkable,” said The Irish Independent. “It was a small glass bottlemaker … before it was totally transformed by Paris-based financier Paul Coulson. Revenues have risen 135-fold since 1998.”
The company is estimated at being worth 3 billion euros after debt, with Coulson holding a 39 percent stake. Chief executive Niall Wall owns a 9.5 percent stake in the company.
Ardagh has indicated it may issue stock on U.S. markets in coming months.

New project outlined
A developer is planning a $60 million project with apartments, commercial storefronts and a parking garage a few blocks from the Ball State University campus.
The project discussed during a Muncie Redevelopment Commission will replace a largely vacant building in the Village commercial district.
The Star Press reported this week that city officials plan to start building a six-story parking garage at the site this summer. Investment Property Advisors of Valparaiso would then build a four-story building wrapping around the garage that will have 228 apartments and storefronts on the street level.
Redevelopment commission director Todd Donati says the parking garage could be completed in November, with the apartments ready for leasing in the fall of 2014.

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