LED investment paying off big

An investment in LED lighting is paying big dividends for Jay Schools.

The Jay County REMC’s Power Moves program, the school corporation has received an incentive payment of $25,368.

“Everybody benefits from improved energy efficiency,” Mark Arnold, Jay County REMC president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement. “Members use less electricity, so their energy costs go down. Our co-op doesn’t have to purchase as much power, so power suppliers generate less, delaying or avoiding the cost of building new power plants.”

The LED lighting was installed in classrooms, hallways, common space, and the auxiliary gymnasium at JCHS, said Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome.

The purchase was made with funds realized through refinancing of bonds earlier this year, and the utility cost savings will help ease a crunch in the corporation’s general fund.

“We knew we needed to make a change, and with the Power Moves incentive now was the perfect time,” said DeRome. REMC and the Power Moves engineers made sure the school corporation would purchase the right lights to qualify for the incentive.

Power Moves helps co-op members save energy via a rebate program that offers a range of incentives. For more information, contact Cindy Denney at the REMC at (260) 726-7121 or (800) 835-7362.



Merger vote

Shareholders of MainSource Financial Group — parent company of MainSource Bank — will vote Dec. 4 on a proposed merger with First Financial Bancorp.

The merger proposal, which was unveiled in July, calls for First Financial to be the surviving corporation.

“The merger will combined two Midwest community banks to create a $13 billion institution with scale and strength in commercial and retail banking, wealth management, and specialty finance,” shareholders were told in a letter from management this week.

First Financial shareholders will also vote on the merger on Dec. 4. That meeting will be held in Cincinnati, while the MainSource meeting will be held in Greensburg.



Ardagh reports

Ardagh Group, which operates glass container manufacturing plants in Dunkirk and Winchester, reported third quarter results that showed growth in three of the companies four segments.

The only weak performer was Glass Packaging North America, which includes both the local plants.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)  were $1.58 billion. The company said part of the glass packaging business was affected by weaker demand in the beer and wine segment and the impact of recent hurricanes on freigh costs.

The company, which has been working to de-leverage its debt, is expected to be carrying year-end debt of about $7.5 billion.

Meanwhile four of its glass customers have been named winners in the Clear Choice Awards presented by the Glass Packaging Institute.

Wicked Weed Brewing won the award in the beer and cider category, Boathouse Beverage LLC won in the flavored alcohol beverage category, Newell Brands Ball Sharing Jars won n the food category, and Constellation Brands’ Robert Mondavi Winery won in the wine category.

The awards were presented in Chicago this week.



New hours

WorkOne’s Jay County office, located in the John Jay Center for Learning building in Portland, is changing its hours effective next week.

Beginning Oct. 30, the office will be open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Randolph County office be open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, while the Delaware County office will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.



OTC for ODs

Walgreens is now stocking Narcan, the nasal spray that can pull an opiod user out of an overdose, at all of its more than 8,000 pharmacies.

"By stocking Narcan in all our pharmacies, we are making it easier for families and caregivers to help their loved ones by having it on hand in case it is needed," Walgreens vice president Rick Gates, said in a prepared statement.

Walgreens had been making Narcan available in 33 states prior to this latest expansion.

Narcan has been priced at $125, while a naloxone auto-injector called Evzio costs thousands of dollars. Lower prices are sometimes available through insurance programs; many first responder agencies also get the drug at a lower rate.

In 2015, a total of 52,404 people died in the United States from drug overdoses, and 33,091 of them died from overdoses involving opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In 2016, overdose deaths soared to more than 64,000 — with fentanyl and its analogs accounting for more than 20,000 fatal overdoses.



McDonalds earnings

Investors have been giving high marks to the third quarter earnings report from McDonalds. The company’s stock price is up 33 percent since the end of last year.

Third quarter sales were $5.755 billion or $1.76 per share. Same-store sales grew 6 percent on a year to year basis.



Robot on aisle 2

Reuters reported this week that Walmart is planning to roll out shelf-scanning robots in about 40 stores in an effort to replenish inventory more quickly.

The company has been piloting such robots in a handful of stores.

“The robots are about 2 feet in size and come with a tower on their backs that is fitted with cameras, which scan aisles to check stocks, missing items and if products have been left in the wrong place by customers,” The New York Post reported

“If you are running up and down the aisle, and you want to decide if we are out of Cheerios or not, a human doesn’t do that job very well and they don’t like it,” Chief Technology Officer Jeremy King told Reuters.

The robots are 50 percent more productive, can scan shelves three times faster than their human counterparts and significantly improve accuracy levels, King said. Store employees are only able to scan shelves about twice a week.