Vision 20/20 set for Tuesday

The second community-wide meeting as part of development of a county strategic plan is set for 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at West Jay Middle School, Dunkirk.

More than 100 people took part in the initial session. Those individuals and any others interested in taking part in the process are invited to attend.

The initial session focused on the pressing issues facing the county and hurdles in addressing those issues.

The next session will focus on Jay County's civic infrastructure.

Derek Okubo of the National Civic League is acting as facilitator for the process.

Building permits

Two new incoming restaurants received permits for business signage in Portland.

The Jay/Portland Building and Planning Department issued permits for Buffalo Wings and Rings, 1204 W. Votaw St., and Agave Azul Mexican Restaurant, 1043 W. Votaw St., which will replace the A1 China Buffet.

A total of 44 permits were issued during July with estimated construction costs totaling $1,062,550.

Permits were issued to:

John Hanlin, 6366 N SR 1, Pennville, calf barn, $10,000; Richard Zeigler of Zeigler Farms Inc., east of 825 W on 50 S, Portland, pole building and grain bin, $65,000; Mike Kunkle, 7395 East 400 North, Portland, barn, $40,000; Charles Muhlenkamp, 4046 E SR 67, Bryant, pole building, $4,000; Steve M. Fullenkamp, 8463 North 700 East, Bryant, grain bin, $6,500; Richard Haffner, 5618 North 450 East, Portland, pole building, two grain bins and dryer, $300,000; Jack L. Shawer, 1452 West 200 North, Portland, machine shop, $59,000; Daniel L. Miller, 8931 North 350 East, Bryant, barn, $9,000; Mark Myers, 9739 West 200 South, Dunkirk, hay barn, $50,000; Chad and Candice Muhlenkamp, 3517 South 700 East, Portland, lean-to, $1,500; Daniel Bruggeman, 6311 East 200 North, Portland, barn addition, $10,000; Mervin B. Wickey, 398 West 650 North, Bryant, barn addition, $15,000.

Jeff Weesner, 1450 South 425 East, Portland, pole barn addition, $35,000; Rick Dues, 3743 South 300 East, Portland, lean-to, $3,000; Charles Miller, 114 N. Ship St., awnings, $5,200; Susan Bechtol, 948 W. Arch St., Portland, fence, $2,100; David and Cheryl Martyne, 807 W. Arch St., Portland, privacy fence, $600; Excellent Nails, 1510 N. Meridian St., Portland, business occupancy; Gerald Sudhoff, 10928 West 400 South, Dunkirk, pond, $8,000; McAfee Recycling Inc., 2157 North 800 East, Portland, roof structural change, $20,000; Flip 360, 1393 West Tyson Road, Portland, business signage, $3,000; Excellent Nails, 1510 N. Meridian St., Portland, business signage, $3,000; Agave Azul Mexican Restaurant, 1043 W. Votaw St., Portland, business signage, $4,900.

Buffalo Wings & Rings, 1204 W. Votaw St., Portland, business signage, $22,000; Lowell and Sandra Kable, 4456 South Boundary Pike, Portland, new home/garage, $80,000; Joe and Linda Schneider, 4250 East Treaty Line Road, Portland, new home, $120,000; Daniel AR Graber, 5259 North 375 West, Bryant, house/shed, $25,000; G-Zero Portland LLC, 913 N. Meridian St., Portland, business remodel, $22,500; North Plaza LLC, 15510 N. Meridian St., Portland, business remodel, $12,000; Ed Wendel, 3194 N US 27, Portland, pole barn, $10,000; Stanley Pitman, 9498 West 150 South, Dunkirk, in-ground pool, $44,000; Dennis Boolman, 1581 South 300 West, Portland, above-ground pool, $3,200.

Dave Haines, 3458 W SR 18, Bryant, residential addition, $20,000; Ricky and Dana Brown, 916 W. Water St., Portland, residential addition and garage, $25,000; Steven L. Wright, 3013 South New Mt. Pleasant Road, Portland, deck, $650; James Myers II, 515 N. Middle St., Portland, deck, $3,000; Stacy Shull, Paradise Pointe, lot 81, Portland, deck, $1,500; Jimmy Fidler, 403 N. Morton St., Portland, porch roof, $1,500; Roberto and Megan Jinez, 908 N. Franklin St., Portland, shed, $900; Bobbie Siegrist, 723 W. Main St., Portland, shed, $500; James Bruner, 347 West 275 South, Portland, gazebo, $2,800; Dennis Mason, 210 Pittsburg Ave., Portland, carport, $1,200; Kenneth Louck, 9431 West 800 South, Redkey, garage, $10,000.

CVS profits

CVS Caremark Corp. saw strong second quarter earnings on the back of pharmacy sales.

Earnings rose 15 percent to $886.5 million for the second quarter, up from $771.2 million a year before. Same-store sales, sales in branches open for at least one year, rose 7.5 percent for pharmacy purchases.

CVS operates a branch in Portland, one of 6,949 branches nationwide.

Awarded

The Indiana Bankers Association announced that several of its member banks were honored with a national award for their efforts in a financial literary outreach program.

Indiana banks reached 22,184 youths as a part of the 2009 Teach Children to Save program, which taught kids about basic money concepts and about saving.

Area banks awarded include: Bank of Geneva, First Bank of Berne, Old National Bank, and Wayne Bank and Trust Company.

New engineer

A Fort Recovery man is joining the staff of Mote and Associates, Engineers and Land Surveyors, Greenville.

Sean Kahlig, a graduate of Fort Recovery High School and current resident, will begin as a project engineer for the firm. He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Dayton, where he was named top junior civil engineering student in 2007-2008 and graduated with a 4.0 grade point average.

Kahlig will be moving to Troy and getting married in August.

Job fair

U.S. Representative Mike Pence will host the 13th annual Sixth Congressional District Job Fair at Ball State University on Tuesday.

The job fair will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Worthen Arena. Several employers will be on hand to take applications and meet prospective employees. For a full list of employers, visit www.mikepence.house.gov.

New educator

A longtime employee of the Ohio State University Cooperative Extension was named as the new part-time educator for Mercer County.

Jim Hoorman will take over where former educator Todd Mangen left off after leaving the position five months prior. He will split his time between the extension offices in Celina and Lima.

Hoorman worked for extension from 1987 to 1993 in Defiance before working in agricultural, then returned in 1997. He has a master's degree in business and agricultural economics and a bachelor's degree in animal science. He is working on a doctorate in environmental sciences.

Fraud loss

First Merchants Corp. reported a $31.2 million loss in the second quarter, with nearly a third of that due to fraud.

The company wrote off $40.4 million of uncollectible debt during the quarter, including $10.2 million resulting from fraudulent financial statements provided by a commercial and industrial borrower.

The bank is seeking legal recourse in the matter.

New college

Ivy Tech Community College will be opening a new Muncie location.

The college will receive the Fisher Building as a donation to form the Ivy Tech Fisher Campus downtown. The college's request for $20 million to build a new building was rejected by the state legislature earlier in the year.

The current Ivy Tech location will focus on technical education, where the new downtown location can be used for general education.

Stimulated

A Muncie manufacturer will receive $40 million in stimulus funds to jump start an electric car development.

Magna E-Car Systems, which operates on Cowan Road in Muncie, will receive the stimulus money as part of President Barack Obama's $2.4 billion for funding batteries and electric vehicles, which he unveiled in Elkhart, Ind., Wednesday.

Magna currently employees about 140 people who assemble power-train components and sub-assemblies for automobiles. Magna has fallen far short of its originally forecast 400 employees from the plant's opening in 2006.[[In-content Ad]]