Sprungers start new title company

An area law firm is getting involved in the title business.

Sprunger Title, a new company that is part of Sprunger & Sprunger, will offer title services with locations in Berne, Bluffton and Portland.

The company will offer electronic closings, with all parties having online access to the status of their title work. Title quotes can be placed on the company’s website — sprungertitle.com.

Sprunger Title can be reached at [email protected].

New coordinator

State of the Heart Care has named Stephanie Crum as a training and development coordinator.

Crum, a Coldwater, Ohio, resident, started in her new role in April. She has worked for State of the Heart for 14 years, serving as a team manager for its Portland and Coldwater offices.

State of the Heart provides hospice services in Jay, Adams, Blackford, Delaware, Randolph, Grant and Wayne counties in Indiana and Mercer, Auglaize, Darke, Allen, Miami, Preble, Shelby and Van Wert counties in Ohio.

Invested

Portland native Mary Meeker’s new firm has made its first investment.

Bond Capital, which has raised $1.25 billion, is part of a $70 million funding round for online design platform Canva, Fortune reported this week. Other investors include General Catalyst, Felicis Ventures and Blackbird Capital.

“The Canva team are building their platform around three trends — content, community and commerce — that we’ve been observing in some of the world’s fastest growing companies,” Meeker said in a news release. “With its global user base of more than 15 million monthly active users, Canva is a clear leader providing a platform that empowers users to create compelling, data-rich visuals and gain design fluency through collaboration and feedback.”

Seeking abatement

POET Biorefining was approved for a tax abatement on a 5-2 vote for its facility that is planned to open in early 2020 in Shelbyville. 

The company, which operates a plant in Portland, was granted a 100-percent abatement on personal property taxes for 10 years by Shelbyville City Council, The Shelbyville News reported. It is expected to save the company about $24 million, after which POET will pay about $2.5 million in taxes annually.

“We typically don’t do 100 percent of anything. And we did 100 percent of the personal property for 10 years,” Mayor Tom DeBaun told The Shelbyville News. “(POET) came to us at the negotiating table and said here is what Ohio is offering and how can you meet that?”

POET is in the process of building a starch biofuel plant in Shelbyville. It is expected to have 40 to 45 employees with a $2 million annual payroll.

Reusable effort

Walgreens is part of the new Loop platform, a service that allows shoppers to buy products in reusable packaging, CNN Business reports. Kroger is also involved in the venture.

Customers can purchase items — products include items ranging from laundry detergent to ice cream — in reusable packaging and then have them picked up by Loop. They are then cleaned, refilled and shipped back to the customer.

Pilot programs were launched this week in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

Expanding in India

Yum! Brands, parent company of Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, has announced plans to expand in India.

The company announced this week that it plans to open 600 new Taco Bell locations in India over the course of the next decade as part of a partnership with Burman Hospitality, L.A. Biz reported. The restaurant chain currently has 35 locations in India. The goal is to increase that number to more than 60 by the end of 2019.

“We see so much opportunity in India, as it is still a largely untapped market for Taco Bell and offers huge potential for the brand. We’ve partnered with Burman Hospitality for the past four years growing our presence in India, and the master franchise partnership marks a significant step in our journey," said Ankush Tuli, managing director of Taco Bell's Asia-Pacific region, in a statement.

Protesting

Hundreds of McDonald’s Corp. restaurant workers in 13 cities walked off the job Thursday to protest what they describe as low pay, unsafe workplaces and sexual harassment.

The workers are pushing for a $15 hourly wage and changes to its sexual harassment policy. Earlier this week, the American Civil Liberties Union helped 25 workers file sexual harassment complaints against the company, NPR reported.