January 19, 2018 at 8:34 p.m.
Identity theft forum set for Feb. 8
Business Roundup
Identity theft forum set for Feb. 8
The Jay County Chamber of Commerce is hosting an identity theft seminar next month.
The event will be at 3 p.m. Feb. 8 at Jay County Security Center, 224 W. Water St., Portland. Admission is free to chamber members, who can RSVP by calling (260) 726-4481.
An education specialist from the Better Business Bureau serving northern Indiana and an Indiana State Police public information officer will present the workshop, which will explain what identity theft is, who it affects and how to protect against it.
Berne honors
Richard’s Jewelry was honored this week by Berne Chamber of Commerce as Business of the Year.
The Berne jewelry store is owned and operated by Ron and Karleen Sprunger, who purchased the business from Richard Lehman in 1985. Ron is a graduate of the Kansas City School of Watchmaking and worked for Lehman for several years before purchasing the business.
The chamber honored Dick McKean as its Citizen of the Year and presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to the Rev. Jerry Flueckiger.
McKean is an active volunteer with the Berne community. Flueckiger has been pastor of First Mennonite Church for the past 10 years.
Pay boost
Two banks with a presence in Jay County are increasing the hourly wages for their employees as a result of the new tax legislation.
MainSource Financial Group will increase the starting pay and minimum hourly rate of its non-exempt, non-commissioned employees to $15 an hour. According to a company press release, the increase will affect over 200 of the bank’s 1,000 employees.
First Merchants Bank, which is based in Muncie, will increase its hourly employees’ wage by $1 an hour. It is also giving all associates $500 bonuses.
In other news, First Merchants Bank was also recognized by Forbes on its 2018 list of “America’s Best Banks.” It ranked fourth on the list of the country’s 100 largest banks.
Re-certified
A Jay County Hospital physician has recently been re-certified.
Dr. Stephen Myron, who works at Jay Family Medicine, has passed his American Board of Family Medicine re-certification. The re-certification must be completed every ten years.
Myron is a lifelong county resident and has worked for the hospital since 1979.
New center
A company in Celina, Ohio, recently unveiled a 100,000 square foot distribution center.
Celina, a division of Celina Tent, manufactures vinyl fabric product for tents, military housing and shelters. Its new center consolidates its manufacturing, knitting and shipping and allows for greater efficiency, according to a company press release. It also hosts the company’s IT/server complex.
Opioid disposal
Walmart will offer its pharmacy customers a free way to destroy leftover opioids, the company announced Wednesday.
DisposeRx is a small packet containing ingredients that will break down pills. Patients can pour the packet into a pill bottle, add warm water and shake it, then dispose of the bottle in the trash. By offering DisposeRx for free, the company hopes to help reduce the misuse of leftover opioids.
Pharmacy patients can request a packet at any time, according to a company press release.
To close
The Ardagh Group has announced it is closing a glass bottle factory in Massachusetts because of a lack of demand for beer bottles.
The Milford Daily News reported that the plant in Milford, Massachusetts, will close at the end of March. The plant employs about 250 people, who were notified of the closure this week. Ardagh bought the plant in 2014 as part of its acquisition of Verallia North America.
Ardagh Group operates glass container plants in Dunkirk and Winchester.
Official drink
Coca-Cola will remain the “Official Soft Drink of NASCAR” through 2023.
The soft-drink company, which has a bottling plant in Portland, extended its partnership with NASCAR recently. It has had a relationship with NASCAR for 50 years and its drinks will be served at 21 racetracks this year.
Coca-Cola has held the moniker of “official drink” since 1998.
Diversity awards
Honda has been awarded for its number of new vehicle registrations from diverse customers.
The National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers presented Honda with six awards at its Diversity Volume Leadership Awards on Sunday. These awards recognize brands that have the highest new vehicle registrations with women, millennials and different ethnicities.
The Honda Civic was the top overall vehicle among ethnic buyers, according to a Honda press release.
Laid off
A Sony plant in west central Indiana is laying off half of its workers.
Sony DADC US Inc. will lay of 375 of its 680 workers at its plant in Terre Haute beginning in mid-March and continuing through August. Sony will be outsourcing some of the manufacturing currently done at the plant.
A spokeswoman said media streaming and a decreased focus on packaged media has caused a decline in the home entertainment market, the Tribune-Star (Terre Haute) reported.
Lawsuit filed
A second lawsuit has been filed against some of the largest poultry producers, including Tyson Foods, accusing them of price fixing.
Grocery stores Winn-Dixie Stores and Bi-Lo Holdings have alleged that Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms and Koch Foods of fixing prices of broiler chickens by “destroying” their own hens and eggs to curtail production, the Chicago Tribune reported. The stores say they have had to pay inflated prices for chicken and have suffered financially. The lawsuit was filed Jan. 12 in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
In November, a federal judge did not dismiss a previous lawsuit also alleging price fixing by the three companies.
Environmental goals
McDonald’s announced two environmental goals for 2025.
The company said Tuesday it plants to have all of its customer packaging come from renewable, recycled or certified sources by 2025. It will also have recycling available in all restaurants. Half of its packaging is currently from recycled materials, while only 10 percent of stores have recycling available, USA Today reported.
“Our customers have told us that packaging waste is the top environmental issue they would like us to address,” said Francesca Debiase, McDonald’s chief supply chain and sustainability officer, in a press release.
No alterations
CVS will no longer alter its beauty imagery, the company reported this week.
CVS has made a commitment to not materially alter any images created for its stores, marketing materials, websites or social media. This includes changing a person’s shape, size, proportion, skin or eye color and wrinkles.
“The connection between the propagation of unrealistic body images and negative health effects, especially in girls and young women, has been established,” Helena Foulkes, president of CVS Pharmacy and executive vice president of CVS Health, said in a press release.
It will use CVS Beauty Mark, a watermark, on images that have not been altered. The company also plans to work with its partners to label any images that have been touched up. CVS plans to have all its stores using transparent beauty images by the end of 2020.
Issuing notes
Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. this week announced pricing of a $485 million private offering of notes to help finance the acquisition of Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.
The notes are being offered only to qualified institutional buyers.
Quarterly report
First Financial Bancorp, parent of First Financial Bank, has announced fourth quarter and year-end financial results.
The company, which has a branch in Fort Recovery and is merging with MainSource Bank, reported net income of $24.8 million or 40 cents per diluted common share for the fourth quarter. That’s virtually identical to the fourth quarter a year earlier.
For the year, the company had earnings of $1.56 per common share, compared with $1.45 a year earlier.
"We remain extremely excited about our pending merger with MainSource and the formation of a new First Financial with the necessary scale and reach to successfully execute our strategy, deliver exceptional client service and provide solid shareholder returns,” Claude Davis, chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.
The event will be at 3 p.m. Feb. 8 at Jay County Security Center, 224 W. Water St., Portland. Admission is free to chamber members, who can RSVP by calling (260) 726-4481.
An education specialist from the Better Business Bureau serving northern Indiana and an Indiana State Police public information officer will present the workshop, which will explain what identity theft is, who it affects and how to protect against it.
Berne honors
Richard’s Jewelry was honored this week by Berne Chamber of Commerce as Business of the Year.
The Berne jewelry store is owned and operated by Ron and Karleen Sprunger, who purchased the business from Richard Lehman in 1985. Ron is a graduate of the Kansas City School of Watchmaking and worked for Lehman for several years before purchasing the business.
The chamber honored Dick McKean as its Citizen of the Year and presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to the Rev. Jerry Flueckiger.
McKean is an active volunteer with the Berne community. Flueckiger has been pastor of First Mennonite Church for the past 10 years.
Pay boost
Two banks with a presence in Jay County are increasing the hourly wages for their employees as a result of the new tax legislation.
MainSource Financial Group will increase the starting pay and minimum hourly rate of its non-exempt, non-commissioned employees to $15 an hour. According to a company press release, the increase will affect over 200 of the bank’s 1,000 employees.
First Merchants Bank, which is based in Muncie, will increase its hourly employees’ wage by $1 an hour. It is also giving all associates $500 bonuses.
In other news, First Merchants Bank was also recognized by Forbes on its 2018 list of “America’s Best Banks.” It ranked fourth on the list of the country’s 100 largest banks.
Re-certified
A Jay County Hospital physician has recently been re-certified.
Dr. Stephen Myron, who works at Jay Family Medicine, has passed his American Board of Family Medicine re-certification. The re-certification must be completed every ten years.
Myron is a lifelong county resident and has worked for the hospital since 1979.
New center
A company in Celina, Ohio, recently unveiled a 100,000 square foot distribution center.
Celina, a division of Celina Tent, manufactures vinyl fabric product for tents, military housing and shelters. Its new center consolidates its manufacturing, knitting and shipping and allows for greater efficiency, according to a company press release. It also hosts the company’s IT/server complex.
Opioid disposal
Walmart will offer its pharmacy customers a free way to destroy leftover opioids, the company announced Wednesday.
DisposeRx is a small packet containing ingredients that will break down pills. Patients can pour the packet into a pill bottle, add warm water and shake it, then dispose of the bottle in the trash. By offering DisposeRx for free, the company hopes to help reduce the misuse of leftover opioids.
Pharmacy patients can request a packet at any time, according to a company press release.
To close
The Ardagh Group has announced it is closing a glass bottle factory in Massachusetts because of a lack of demand for beer bottles.
The Milford Daily News reported that the plant in Milford, Massachusetts, will close at the end of March. The plant employs about 250 people, who were notified of the closure this week. Ardagh bought the plant in 2014 as part of its acquisition of Verallia North America.
Ardagh Group operates glass container plants in Dunkirk and Winchester.
Official drink
Coca-Cola will remain the “Official Soft Drink of NASCAR” through 2023.
The soft-drink company, which has a bottling plant in Portland, extended its partnership with NASCAR recently. It has had a relationship with NASCAR for 50 years and its drinks will be served at 21 racetracks this year.
Coca-Cola has held the moniker of “official drink” since 1998.
Diversity awards
Honda has been awarded for its number of new vehicle registrations from diverse customers.
The National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers presented Honda with six awards at its Diversity Volume Leadership Awards on Sunday. These awards recognize brands that have the highest new vehicle registrations with women, millennials and different ethnicities.
The Honda Civic was the top overall vehicle among ethnic buyers, according to a Honda press release.
Laid off
A Sony plant in west central Indiana is laying off half of its workers.
Sony DADC US Inc. will lay of 375 of its 680 workers at its plant in Terre Haute beginning in mid-March and continuing through August. Sony will be outsourcing some of the manufacturing currently done at the plant.
A spokeswoman said media streaming and a decreased focus on packaged media has caused a decline in the home entertainment market, the Tribune-Star (Terre Haute) reported.
Lawsuit filed
A second lawsuit has been filed against some of the largest poultry producers, including Tyson Foods, accusing them of price fixing.
Grocery stores Winn-Dixie Stores and Bi-Lo Holdings have alleged that Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms and Koch Foods of fixing prices of broiler chickens by “destroying” their own hens and eggs to curtail production, the Chicago Tribune reported. The stores say they have had to pay inflated prices for chicken and have suffered financially. The lawsuit was filed Jan. 12 in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
In November, a federal judge did not dismiss a previous lawsuit also alleging price fixing by the three companies.
Environmental goals
McDonald’s announced two environmental goals for 2025.
The company said Tuesday it plants to have all of its customer packaging come from renewable, recycled or certified sources by 2025. It will also have recycling available in all restaurants. Half of its packaging is currently from recycled materials, while only 10 percent of stores have recycling available, USA Today reported.
“Our customers have told us that packaging waste is the top environmental issue they would like us to address,” said Francesca Debiase, McDonald’s chief supply chain and sustainability officer, in a press release.
No alterations
CVS will no longer alter its beauty imagery, the company reported this week.
CVS has made a commitment to not materially alter any images created for its stores, marketing materials, websites or social media. This includes changing a person’s shape, size, proportion, skin or eye color and wrinkles.
“The connection between the propagation of unrealistic body images and negative health effects, especially in girls and young women, has been established,” Helena Foulkes, president of CVS Pharmacy and executive vice president of CVS Health, said in a press release.
It will use CVS Beauty Mark, a watermark, on images that have not been altered. The company also plans to work with its partners to label any images that have been touched up. CVS plans to have all its stores using transparent beauty images by the end of 2020.
Issuing notes
Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. this week announced pricing of a $485 million private offering of notes to help finance the acquisition of Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.
The notes are being offered only to qualified institutional buyers.
Quarterly report
First Financial Bancorp, parent of First Financial Bank, has announced fourth quarter and year-end financial results.
The company, which has a branch in Fort Recovery and is merging with MainSource Bank, reported net income of $24.8 million or 40 cents per diluted common share for the fourth quarter. That’s virtually identical to the fourth quarter a year earlier.
For the year, the company had earnings of $1.56 per common share, compared with $1.45 a year earlier.
"We remain extremely excited about our pending merger with MainSource and the formation of a new First Financial with the necessary scale and reach to successfully execute our strategy, deliver exceptional client service and provide solid shareholder returns,” Claude Davis, chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.
Top Stories
9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit
Chartwells marketing
September 17, 2024 7:36 a.m.
Events
250 X 250 AD