Fisher Meats wins big again

Fisher Meats blew away the competition at the annual convention of the Indiana Meat Packers and Processors Association and the Hoosier Cured Meat Show.

The family-owned meat company took Best of Show with Fisher’s hickory smoked bacon.

The company, which has facilities in Portland, Redkey, and Muncie, also took Grand Champion honors for its traditional bacon, its non-traditional (pepper) bacon, its braunschweiger, and its venison summer sausage.

Reserve grand champion honors were awarded for Fisher’s smoked, bone-in ham, barbecue pork, and poultry bratwursts. Fisher’s macaroni and cheese loaf lunch meat and boneless turkey breast took champion honors.



New issue

The East Central Indiana Regional Partnership has published its second issue of a magazine highlighting the quality of life in the region.

Livability East Central Indiana’s second issue includes an article on workforce development and job training that features John Jay Center for Learning and its industrial maintenance education program.

The partnership includes Jay, Blackford, Delaware, Fayette, Grant, Henry, Madison, Randolph, Rush and Wayne counties.



Packaged

Walmart is continuing to build on its efforts to become a one-stop shop in the Internet age, The Washington Post reported this week. 

The company is adding FedEx Office locations, where customers can ship packages, drop off returns and pick up deliveries, at 500 of its U.S. stores.

A pilot program had included 46 Walmart locations over the past six years. This next step will expand to about 10 percent of Walmart’s stores in the U.S. over the next two years.

The partnership “builds on a shared goal of providing customers convenience and value, so they can save both time and money,” Brian Philips, chief executive of FedEx Office, said in a press release.



Workshops set

The East Central Indiana Small Business Development Center will be offering “Business Start-Up Basics” workshops in Anderson in Muncie, Richmond, Anderson and Marion during April.

There is a $10 fee for the workshops. For more information on dates and specific locations, go to www.ecisbdc.org.



Sells division

Tyson Foods Inc., parent company of Tyson Mexican Original of Portland, has agreed to sell its Circle Foods division, which has a similar product line to the Portland plant, to Japanese brand Ajinomoto Group.

California-based Circle Foods distributes a range of speciality foods such as flatbreads, tortillas and Mexican food products under brands including TortillaLand, Nuevo Grille and Rotiland.

Ajinomoto Group operates several specialist arms around the world, and Circle Foods will join its Ajinimoto Windsor frozen food division.



Initiatives

CVS Health this week announced two initiatives in New Hampshire to combat opioid abuse.  The company, which has stores in Portland and Dunkirk, has installed safe medication disposal units inside two CVS Pharmacy locations in New Hampshire to help facilitate proper and timely disposal of opioids and other medications that could be diverted or misused if left in people's homes. 

CVS has also committed more than $60,000 in funding to three New Hampshire non-profit organizations also working to address and prevent opioid abuse.  

Meanwhile, the company also announced that t had hired former Eli Lilly chief financial officer Derica Rice as the president of its pharmacy benefit management business.

CVS is in the process of closing its $69 billion acquisition of Aetna Inc as it works to tackle soaring healthcare spending.

Rice, who was with Eli Lilly for 27 years, will join CVS on March 30, according to a press release.



Career fair

Ivy Tech Community College’s Fort Wayne campus is hosting a health care career fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 24.

The career fair will be at the Coliseum campus at 3800 N. Anthony Blvd. in Fort Wayne.



New store

The building that housed the former Walgreens store in Decatur will have a new tenant next month. Walgreens closed the Decatur store more than one year ago.

The Decatur Daily Democrat reported this week that the building will be the new home of 24/30 Surplus Closeout Variety Store.

Owner Dave Louden told the Democrat there are two 24/30 stores in Fort Wayne and a third in New Haven.

The store will stock not only food but health and beauty products and other items. 

“Every one of my stores does not carry the same thing,” Louden told the Democrat. “You never know what you are going to find each time you go in.”



Tree city

Berne has been named a Tree City by the Arbor Day Foundation, it was announced this week. To qualify for the designation, a community must have a tree-care ordinance, an annual forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, a tree board or department, and an Arbor Day observance.



Will pay

Walgreens has agreed to pay $5.5 million to resolve allegations that it overcharged for prescriptions covered by the Massachusetts workers’ compensation insurance system, The Associated Press reported this week..

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said the “settlement ensures that Walgreens does not profit from those transactions and will help our state’s ongoing efforts to combat the opioid epidemic.”

The settlement also requires Walgreens to implement procedures to prevent future overcharges on opioids and other drugs under the workers’ compensation system, and subjects the company’s future sales to state audit, The AP said.

The Deerfield, Illinois-based chain said in a statement while it is pleased to have resolved the matter, it does not admit wrongdoing. 

Settlement

Fast food giant McDonald’s announced this week it has reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board, which had accused the chain of unfair labor practices as “joint employer” of its franchisees’ workers.

The company did not reveal specifics about the settlement, only restating its firm position that it “is not and never has been a joint employer with its franchisee.” 

“The settlement allows our franchisees and their employees to move forward, and resolves all matters without any admission of wrongdoing,” McDonald’s said in a statement released Monday.

The agreement is subject to final approval by the administrative law judge.