I&M crews heading to Puerto Rico

Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) has sent nine of its linemen to Puerto Rico to help the hurricane-stricken island restore electrical power.

The group will be working in some of the most heavily damaged and remote areas for about 30 days, the utility said.

Later this month, a second team will be sent to relieve the first group.

In addition to the linemen, I&M is sending six fleet vehicles, including bucket trucks.

“We are honored to send needed resources and I&M energy experts to help our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico,” Toby Thomas, I&M’s president and chief operating officer, said in a prepared statement.



Protect ID

Tuesday is the deadline to make reservations to attend a free identity theft prevention seminar sponsored by the Jay County Chamber of Commerce.

The seminar will be conducted from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the conference room at Jay County Jail, 224 W. Water St., Portland.

Participants should enter via the east door.

Sgt. Ron Galaviz of the Indiana State Police and Kristal Heffley of the Better Business Bureau will be among the presenters.

To make a reservation, contact the chamber at (260) 726-4481 or vial email at [email protected]. The seminar is open not only to chamber members but to the general public as well.



Tax help

AARP volunteers will be offering free tax help at the Adams Public Library System’s Geneva branch from 1 to 5 p.m. March 1 and April 10.

To reserve a spot, phone (260) 368-7270.

Participants should bring their tax return from last year, Social Security and birth date information, all W2s, 1099s and other tax statements received during the year.



Excel class

Purdue University, through its Manufacturing Extension Partnership, will be offering a class in basic Excel skills at John Jay Center for Learning from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 12. The cost is $99 and the deadline to register is April 9. For more information, contact John Jay at (260) 729-5525.



New bottles

Ardagh Group, Glass – North America, the division of Ardagh Group that includes glass container plants in Dunkirk and Winchester, this week announced the debut of two 375ml Belgian beer bottles.

The new 375ml Belgian Crown and 375ml Belgian Cork bottles are now available for purchase by craft brewers on Ardagh Group's BOBTM for beer site (Beer.BuyOurBottles.com).

"Ardagh Group is proud to offer craft brewers the unique 375ml bottle design for packaging their craft beer," Alex Robertson, chief commercial officer for Ardagh Group's North American Glass division, said in a press release. "This classy bottle design will truly stand out on store shelves, offering brewers the brand differentiation they desire."

The new bottles were developed by Ardagh Group as the result of a bottle design contest conducted at the 2017 Craft Brewers Conference.



Indian stake

Walmart is in talks to buy a minority stake in India’s leading homegrown e-commerce firm Flipkart, Reuters reported this week.

The giant U.S. retailer could acquire a stake of 15 to 20 percent in Flipkart, which is the main challenger to Amazon.com in India.

Walmart has held intermittent talks with Flipkart over the past two years, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.



In tower

First Merchants Bank last week announced it will establish a regional headquarters office on the second floor of the Skyline Tower building in downtown Fort Wayne. 

The News-Sentinel reported that First Merchants will occupy the entire 17,750 square feet of the building’s second floor as the anchor tenant. The tower is still under construction on Wayne Street east of Webster Street.

The move will allow First Merchants to move 60 employees from various locations around the city into one office in five months.

Weigand Construction is building the $44 million mixed-use development, which will include 124 apartments. It’s expected to be completed by June.



Selling branches

Three MainSource banking centers and one drive-through location in Columbus must be sold to a third party for the U.S. Department of Justice to approve the $1 billion merger of MainSource Financial Group and First Financial Bancorp, The Republic of Columbus reported this week.

A fifth banking center, located in Greensburg, must also be sold as a Department of Justice requirement, the newspaper said.

About 25 MainSource employees will be affected by the decision, of whom 20 work in Columbus.



Partnership

Shares of CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance dropped early this week after Amazon, J.P. Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway announced a partnership to improve employee health.

The three companies, led by Jeff Bezos, Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett, plan to develop ways to improve the health of their employees, with the goal of improving customer satisfaction and reducing costs, CNBC reported.

CVS share prices dropped 4 percent and Walgreens 5 percent on the announcement as investors tried to get a handle on the venture’s impact.



Settle suit

The Associated Press reported this week that Walgreens has agreed to pay more than $2 million to three Northern California counties to settle a lawsuit alleging the company was selling expired baby food, infant formula and over-the counter drugs.

The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office told The AP Walgreens will pay $2,250,000 in costs and penalties to Santa Clara, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties as part of the settlement. The company, which did not admit liability, also agreed to have employees remove expired items from the shelves and post signs asking customers to check expirations dates.

State investigators found the chain charged customers more than the posted price for items.



Still growing

McDonald’s outlook still looks healthy based upon the latest financial reports.

For the first quarter, the fast-food giant had a profit of $698.7 million, or 87 cents a share, compared with $1.19 billion, or $1.44 a share, a year ago. It earned $1.71 a share, up from $1.43 a year earlier. 

Revenue dropped 11 percent to $5.34 billion from the year-earlier quarter because of the sale of company-owned restaurants to franchisees. 

Same-store sales rose 4.5 percent in the U.S.