Tyson begins stock purchases

Tyson Foods Inc. has begun its cash tender offer for all the outstanding shares of the Hillshire Brands Co.
Tyson launched the tender offer at a price of $63 a share on Wednesday, and the offer will expire at midnight EST on Aug. 12, although an extension is possible.
Hillshire and Tyson announced the merger agreement on July 1.
Headquartered in Springdale, Ark., Tyson Foods is the second-largest food production company in the Fortune 500. It is the parent company of Tyson Mexican Original, Portland.

Hired
Sonja White was recently hired as retail banking manager at First Bank of Berne.
Her major responsibility will be to oversee and coordinate retail functions within the bank.
She began her career in 1990 as a teller at Merchants Bank and has since worked her way up to retail management.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Indianapolis and later earned a master’s degree from University of Phoenix.

FR tractor sales earns honor
K & L Tractor Sales, Inc., in Fort Recovery, was recently named to New Holland’s exclusive President’s Club.
New Holland of Pennsylvania sells and services a line of agricultural and construction equipment.
New Holland President’s Club winners achieved the highest levels in excellence in facilities, business management, sales, parts and service support, training and customer satisfaction.

Joins Fuqua
Albany resident Mike McCarty recently joined Fuqua Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram as new car sales manager in Dunkirk.
He has 15 years of auto sales experience in Muncie and Hartford City, 13 years of experience in the retail music business and eight years of experience in media sales.

New physician
Adams Memorial Hospital has added a new physician in the emergency room to help handle the needs of its patients.
Dr. Jason F. Tanner, who will begin work Aug. 1, completed his internship and residency at the Fort Wayne Medical Education Program.
He graduated in 2011 from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in Cupecoy, Saint Maarten.
He has spent the last year working shifts at Adams Memorial Hospital while completing his residency.

Bell growing
Delaware County is working on plans for a 60-acre aquaculture park near Albany, and the town council has asked its attorney to begin the process of annexing the property.
The site for the proposed park would be next to Bell Aquaculture, which has the capacity to produce more than 2 million pounds of fish a year in its indoor tanks.
The Delaware Advancement Corp., an entity of the economic development alliance, has an option to buy about 40 of the 60 acres, The Star Press reported.
The plan proposed by the Delaware County Redevelopment Commission includes $2 million in road and drainage improvements and $850,000 for extending utility lines to the park.
The Delaware-Muncie Metropolitan Plan Commission is scheduled to vote on Aug. 7 on creating a tax increment financing (TIF) district, which would be used to finance the improvements.
A county zoning board has approved Bell Aquaculture’s plans to build a feed mill as part of a $30 million expansion. The mill is expected to produce 2.2 million pounds of fish food a month, with the company planning to sell the surplus.
Over the past few years, Bell Aquaculture LLC has set itself apart as one of the leading aquaculture companies in the country.
The feed mill was the final step in creating a fully vertically integrated aquaculture farm. With the ability to make fish food at the facility and distribute it to each of the tanks, the company has surpassed the stage of needing to order and ship in several kinds of fish food.
Company production manager David Whitehair said prior to building the feed mill they had to order food in at least two weeks in advance.
In “Phase 2” of the farm, which is a section that holds tanks of only rainbow trout, Whitehair said they go through five supersacks, or one ton bags, each day. The fish feed on a schedule of every two hours.
Assistant feed mill manager, Lucas Porter, explained that the process of making the fish pellets is a lot like the production of any other animal food. But Bell has conducted research to install ingredients in the feed that best suit the nutritional needs of each fish species.
There is plenty of storage space for the feed which comes in 50-pound bags or one ton bags, but Porter said they make everything to order. Bell is focused on the food production of its own fish, but also is in the market of selling food to other aquaculture farmers.
Bell Aquaculture recently held a grand opening event for the feed mill to the delight of many state officials who are recognizing Bell’s efforts toward leading Indiana in aquaculture farming.
Local opposition to the feed mill expansion had arisen in the spring, but Bell Aquaculture has worked with those opposing the project and has seen a decrease in complaints.   Bell processes fish at its Redkey facility.[[In-content Ad]]