'Talent' chief visits next week

Gov. Eric Holcomb’s secretary of career connections and talent will be stopping in Jay County next week as she kicks off a 92-county tour of the state.

Blair Milo, who is serving as the state’s “chief talent officer” will be at Community Resource Center, 118 S. Meridian St., Portland, from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday to meet with local business representatives regarding Indiana’s workforce.

Milo was appointed by then-Gov. Eric Holcomb in July and is focusing on how to fill an estimated one million job openings over the next 10 years.

She was elected mayor of LaPorte in 2011 and re-elected in 2015. She serves on the State Workforce Innovation Council and has chaired the Career Counseling Task Force. She also serves on the Indiana Advisory Alliance for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and the Board of Governors for the Richard Lugar Excellence in Public Service series.

Prior to politics, she served as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy. She received her bachelor’’s degree in political science from Purdue University and her master’s degree in legislative affairs from George Washington University.



Hot coffee

Every state’s shoppers are unique.

That’s what Walmart’s analysis of its top selling items — state by state — in 2017 would indicate.

The list, which is quirky at best, says that the most popular item among Indiana Walmart shoppers was instant coffee.

And Ohio? How about grape flavored drink mix?

Others from the company’s list of top sellers:

•Illinois — erasers.

•Pennsylvania — plastic hangers.

•New York State — Cheerios.

•Kentucky — 4x6 photo prints.

•North Carolina — mayonnaise.

•California — protein powder.

•Texas — TV wall mounts.

•Wisconsin — Green Bay Packers bath mats.

•Alaska — RV and marine antifreeze.

At least that last one makes sense.



Smith speaks

Donnie Smith, former president and chief executive officer of Tyson Foods Inc., will discuss global food security in a lecture next week at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Tyson Foods is the parent company of Tyson Mexican Original of Portland.

Smith is expected to highlight the role conventional farming.

Smith was at the helm of Tyson from 2009 to ’16. During that time, the company achieved four straight years of record profits, multiplying stock value six times in seven years.



Drink test

McDonald’s and Sprite are launching a new drink called Sprite Tropic Berry that combines the lemon-lime taste of Sprite with tropically-inspired fruit flavors. 

The drink is now available only in McDonald’s restaurants in New York City, but it’s expected to go nationwide by the summer of 2018.

The fast food giant is also test marketing a new burger featuring fresh beef rather than frozen. Called the Archburger, it’s being sold in seven McDonald’s restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma.



Serve safely

The next ServSafe certification course for food service employees will be Jan. 30 at John Jay Center for Learning. For more information, phone (260) 729-5525, extension 221.



Four percent

Amazon was responsible for about 44 percent of all U.S. e-commerce sales in 2017, or about 4 percent of the country's total retail sales, according to data from an industry analyst called One Click Retail.

One Click said most dollar sales were tied to consumer electronics, which totaled more than $8 billion.

The fastest-growing product groups included luxury beauty and pantry items.

Lawmakers here

State Sen. Travis Holdman and Rep. Greg Beumer are scheduled to take part in a Third House Session sponsored by Jay County Chamber of Commerce.

The event is set for 10 a.m. Jan. 13 at Community Resource Center in Portland.



Record sales

 American Honda Motor Co. Inc. this week reported its third consecutive all-time annual sales record on sales of 1,641,429 Honda and Acura vehicles in 2017, an increase of 0.2 percent over its previous best set in 2016. 

The American division of Honda is a major customer of FCC (Indiana).

 The division also set new annual and monthly sales records for light trucks, recording 840,450 sales in 2017 for a 3.3-percent gain, and 86,740 sales in December, rising 1.4 percent. 



To report

First Merchants Corporation will report fourth quarter 2017 financial results Jan. 25.  The banking company, which has branches in Portland, will host a fourth quarter 2017 earnings conference call and web cast at 2:30 p.m. EST that day.

To participate, dial (Toll Free) 877-507-0578 and reference First Merchants Corporation’s fourth quarter earnings release. 



Spring semester

The spring semester for Ivy Tech classes at John Jay Center for Learning begins Jan. 16.

Courses being offered include communications 101, math 080 and 123, history 11, arithmetic 110, English 111, 112, and 075, and psychology 101.

For further information, contact John Jay at (260) 729-5525 or email [email protected].



Annual meeting

The annual members’ meeting of Jay County Chamber of Commerce is set for noon Jan. 25 at Jay Community Center in Portland. The luncheon meeting is free to chamber members, but reservations are necessary.

To reserve a seat, email [email protected] or phone (260) 726-4481.

The deadline for reservations is Jan. 19.