Business expo is April 1

The 2017 Business Expo and Job Fair is set for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 1 at Jay Community Center. Admission is free, and there will be a number of door prizes and vendor giveaways.

For more information, contact the chamber at (260) 726-4481 or visit http://www.jaycountychamber.om.



Lunch Tuesday

Jay County Commissioner Doug Inman and Jay County Council president Jeanne Houchins will speak about the State of the County at Tuesday’s Jay County Chamber of Commerce networking luncheon. The event is set for noon in the conference rooms at Jay County Hospital.



Opening again

Manning Service, 101 E. Washington St., Saratoga, will celebrate the re-opening of its Hunt Brothers Pizza Shoppe with an event Tuesday.

There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3 p.m. followed by a reveal of the new pizza shoppe and a free pizza party that will run until 6 p.m. The renovated facility is part of the 25th-anniversary celebration for Hunt Brothers, which is based in Nashville.



IPO closed

Ardagh Group has closed its initial public offering of stock after raising about $319 million in the deal, The Irish Times reported this week.

The glass and metal containers company, which has glass container plants in Dunkirk and Winchester, has said it will use the proceeds from the IPO to reduce its debt load.



To speak

Portland native Mary Meeker will be among the featured speakers at Code 2017 scheduled for May 30 to June 1 at Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Meeker, a graduate of Jay County High School and DePauw University, has been the key investment expert on the internet for more than a decade.

Other featured speakers will include Steve Ballmer, who led Microsoft for 14 years, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and media industry leader Shari Redstone.



Making difference

A new study indicates that the decision by CVS Health to stop selling tobacco products is making a difference, Reuters reported this week.

The study, first reported in the American Journal of Public Health, found that smokers who purchased cigarettes exclusively at CVS stores were 38 percent less likely to buy tobacco after CVS made the change.

In 13 states, cigarette sales dropped 1 percent — 95 million packs — in the eight months after CVS made the move.

“It shows that responsible behavior by a pharmacy has public health benefits for the whole population,” Stanton Glantz told Reuters. Glantz directs the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, and was not involved with the study.



Store closing

Marsh Supermarkets will close its Nora Plaza store on April 8, Indianapolis media outlets reported this week. The closing decision was based on the store’s poor performance.

Marsh operates 72 supermarkets in Indiana and Ohio as well as Village Pantry convenience stores throughout the region.

USA Today has reported that low food prices and tough competition are hurting profits for supermarket chains like Marsh.



New president

Yum Brands Inc., parent company of Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, has a new president of its KFC U.S. Division.

Louisville Business First reported this week that Kevin Hochman will replace Jason Marker in that role.

Hochman, who joined KFC U.S. as chief marketing officer about three years ago, will report to Roger Eaton, chief executive officer of KFC Global. As marketing officer, Hochman is credited with bringing back the iconic figure of Col. Sanders in KFC’s advertising.



Not on list

There’s good news for J.C. Penney shoppers. The Muncie Mall Penney store is not on the list of 138 stores slated for closing. Neither is the J.C. Penney store at Glenbrook Square Mall in Fort Wayne.

The nearest Penney stores slated for closing are those in Huntington and Connersville and St. Marys, Ohio.

Other Indiana Penney stores to be closed are in Jasper, Columbus and Logansport. The Findlay, Ohio, Penney’s is also slated to be closed.