Part-time reporters join CR staff

Several reporters will be working part-time for The Commercial Review over the coming months.

Rose Skelly, Julie Valentine and Allie Kirkman will all be serving as part-time employees for the newspaper.

Skelly, 21, who was an intern for The CR last summer, began working part-time for the newspaper in January following the departure of former county reporter Nathan Rubbelke. She took on a full-time role this summer and has now resumed part-time work as she begins her senior year at Ball State University.

Valentine, a 2013 Jay County High School graduate, has also been hired as a part-time reporter. She served as an intern for The Commercial Review during the summer of 2015.

Kirkman, who was The CR’s intern this summer, will also continue on a part-time basis. She is a junior at Ball State University and is serving as managing editor of the college’s Daily News this semester.

Plans call for Skelly, a South Bend native who is majoring in journalism and psychology, to join The Commercial Review as a full-time reporter following her graduation in May.

Valentine will also be working as a managing product designer for Portland’s Dynamic Business Solutions, overseeing web development projects and user experience design, according to a company press release. A graduate of Stephens College with a bachelor’s degree in fashion communication, she previously worked as art director for Stephens Life Magazine and had an internship with PATTERN Magazine. 



Retiring 

Jeanne Akins is retiring from her position as human resources director for The Bank of Geneva. 

Akins has worked as human resources director for the bank since 1997, The Berne Witness reported. She previously worked as manager of the Geneva Bureau of Motor Vehicles from 1995 to 1997, which was inside the Geneva branch of the bank at the time. 

Akins and her husband Charles have two children and five grandchildren. 



Accredited 

Swiss Village Inc. has received the Basic Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement Accreditation from Providigm. 

Providigm, an nationwide independent accreditor, provides solutions and training for health care providers. 

The accreditation shows that Swiss Village assesses its quality of care against federal regulations and standards and is effectively correcting any issues that arise, according to a press release. 



Appointed 

Mike Poore has been appointed regional president and CEO of Lutheran Health Network.

A Lutheran Air medical helicopter is based at Portland Municipal Airport. 

Poore has been interim CEO since mid-June, and position became official. He has almost 30 years of experience in hospital administration, according to a Lutheran press release, and recently served as vice president of operations for Community Health Systems Professional Services Corporation. He has also served as CEO of health care centers in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. 



Promoted

Alliance for Strategic Growth, an Indiana workforce development organization, has announced the promotions of five of its employees. 

Stephanie Clawson was promoted to vice president of strategic communications; Denny Cochran was promoted to vice president of employer engagement; Heather Flanigan was promoted to associate director of workforce operations; Lyndsey Hellems was promoted to executive vice president; and Shauna Jester was promoted to associate director of workforce operations. 

ASG works to improve the workforce in Eastern Indiana, which includes Jay, Blackford, Delaware, Fayette, Henry, Randolph, Rush, Union and Wayne counties. 

 

Center opens 

Tyson Foods Inc., the parent company of Tyson Mexican Original in Portland, opened its Incubation Technology Center on Wednesday in Springdale, Arkansas.

The center will supply chickens for Arkansas operations. 

It will employ the latest advances in biosecurity, according to a company press release, such as high-tech ventilation to circulate fresh air continually. Robotics have also been installed to assist workers and improve safety. The center will employ about 35 people and has been under construction for about a year. 

Earlier this month, Tyson announced it will invest $84 million to expand its Union City, Tennessee, poultry plant. 

The expansion will create more than 300 jobs and is slated for completion in 2019. It will add about 25,000 square feet to the facility, expanding its harvest area, adding processing lines and upgrading the hatchery, feed mill and transportation. 



Ink line unveiled 

Ardagh Group has added a line of temperature-sensitive inks for aluminum cans to its portfolio, which will reveal messages as the cans change temperatures. 

Ardagh is the parent company of glass container plants in Dunkirk and Winchester. 

Reveal Impact will use two different inks which are the same color when the can is cooled, but when the can is warmed again, will disappear at different speeds. The result will be a “revealed message (that) surprises the consumer and supports highly targeted marketing techniques,” according to a company press release. 

The inks can be used to indicate the temperature of the beverage, and offer the opportunity for businesses to interact directly with customers through tailored messages, the release said. 



Reaccredited 

CVS Pharmacy has earned reaccreditation in community pharmacy from URAC, which applies to all CVS pharmacies nationwide. 

URAC is a non-profit organization that works to promote health care quality through accreditation, certification and measurement, according to a CVS press release. To earn the community pharmacy certification, CVS went through an evaluation process determining its quality of care and services to patients. 

"We are proud that our pharmacies have received URAC's reaccreditation in Community Pharmacy," Kevin Hourican, executive vice president of Retail Pharmacy and Supply Chain, said in a prepared statement. "At CVS Health, we are committed to being a leader in the pharmacy care industry and helping people on their path to better health. Having a respected accreditation organization such as URAC take a close look at the operation of our pharmacies and confirm the quality of the pharmacy care and services we provide demonstrates that we are fulfilling that commitment.”