Cooper makes $750,000 donation

The Cooper Family Foundation is making a $750,000 contribution to Camp Lakota, a Boy Scout camp in Defiance that serves northwest and west central Ohio.

The funds will go toward constructing a new hall at the camp.

The relationship between the Boy Scouts of America and Cooper Farms is a long-standing one, the foundation said in a press release. The Cooper family has eight current Eagle Scouts and three more in the process of earning the honor.

“We believe in scouting and we believe in tradition,” Greg Cooper said in a prepared statement. “We have three generations of Eagle Scouts in our family. We’re proud to be able to provide this donation to such a great organization.”

“My dad was very involved and very supportive of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts,” Dianne Cooper told The Greenville Advocate. “We just want to keep that legacy going.”

The new building will be named “Cooper Lodge.”

Camp Lakota has been serving the area since 1941. The camp covers 640 acres, including a 48-acre lake.

Cooper Farms raises live turkeys, chickens, egg layers and hogs, with facilities in Fort Recovery, St. Henry and Van Wert. It has extensive relationships with agricultural producers in Jay and Mercer counties.

Closing two

First Merchants Banks will close two of its branches in Delaware County.

As of April 12, the branch at 937 W. Walnut St., Albany, and the one at 107 E. Harris St., Eaton, will close, the company announced.

A bank spokesman said the closings are part of a continual evaluation of its branches and that the two in question had lower traffic than others.

"It's part of a normal and ongoing process for us to evaluate all of our locations, and really considering where it makes sense for us to consolidate, relocate or build," Karen Evens, marketing director, said in a prepared statement.

Most of the affected employees will be moved to other branches, she said.

It has a name

Mary Meeker’s new venture capital firm has a name.

It will be called Bond, according to a report from Axios on the internet.

Meeker, a Portland native and graduate of Jay County High School, announced in September that she would be leaving Kleiner Perkins after eight years to launch her new venture capital fund.

She is in the process of raising $1.25 billion.

Known internationally for her annual Internet Trends Report, Meeker will be joined at the new firm by Kleiner Perkins general partners Mood Rowghani and Noah Knauf.

Drops Monday

The Decatur Daily Democrat will be dropping a day of publication effective next week.

Publisher B.J. Riley announced the Monday print edition will be discontinued. The newspaper, owned by Illinois-based Horizon Publications Inc., will continue to be published Tuesday through Saturday, and its website will be updated regularly.

Hungry grant

The Andersons Inc., which has a large operation in rural Dunkirk, has awarded Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry a grant of $500. 

The funds will be used to assist in paying processing fees for donations of large game and livestock within Indiana, with the meat being given to area hunger-relief agencies. The funds will be directed into Jay, Blackford, DeKalb, Delaware, Wabash and Wells counties.

Founded in 2011, Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry encourages the donation of large game and livestock to its “Meat” the Need program, raises financial support to pay processing fees on these donations, and gives this nutritious meat to hunger-relief agencies within Indiana. Hunters and farmers may donate, at no cost to them, by taking their large game or livestock to a participating meat processor in their area.  Local hunger-relief agencies will be contacted for distribution.

New role

Adams Health Network's board of trustees has named Dr. Scott Smith as the new executive director of Adams Memorial Hospital.

Jo Ellen Eidam will continue to serve as the CEO of Adams Health Network.  

Smith's new role as executive director of the hospital took effect Jan. 1. He will continue to serve as chief medical officer of the hospital as he has since 2016. He was the medical director of the hospital's emergency department for fifteen years, and launched his career at Adams Memorial Hospital in 2000.

Smith in a native of Angola. He graduated from the University of Houston and earned his medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine. 

Rethinking

Yum Brands Inc., parent company of Pizza Hut, recently said it plans to reduce the popular chain’s dine-in operations and focus more on delivery.

“We are migrating out of many of our dine-in assets to delivery assets in the United States,” Chief Financial Officer David Gibbs said in an interview with Reuters.

The chain has faced stiff competition from other restaurant chains that rely on delivery business to drive growth.

Pizza Hut’s same-store sales have shown little growth since 2015, with analysts estimating a drop this year too, Reuters reported.

Artie Starrs, president of Pizza Hut’s U.S. unit, was reported to have said that he was “extremely dissatisfied” with the pizza chain, blaming its dine-in assets and lack of innovation and creative advertising for its poor performance.

New director

Patty Habegger has been named as new director of food service at Swiss Village in Berne. She assumed her new role this week.

Habegger had served as assistant director of food service and has worked at Swiss Village for 30 years.