CR announces its new puzzle page

A new feature has been added to the Saturday edition of The Commercial Review.

The newspaper is introducing a puzzle page as a new feature in its weekend edition, publisher Ray Cooney announced Friday.

The new pages will package the existing crossword, Cryptoquip and bridge features while adding a word search, Kid’s Corner and trivia on a single page. The puzzle page will run in the newspaper each Saturday.



Shop to open

Bizy Dips Bakery and Coffee Shop is scheduled to open Sept. 8 in John Jay Center for Learning.

Bizy Dips, owned and operated by Hannah Long of Portland, has been in operation as a bakery for about a year, taking orders and selling at Portland Farmers Market. Long announced plans in June to expand her menu and add a full-service coffee, espresso and tea bar.

The new location will be open from 7 to 11 a.m. beginning Sept. 8 with plans to expand hours in the future. It will be in the main lobby area of John Jay, 191 S. Meridian St., Portland.

For more about the shop, see the Sept. 5 edition of The Commercial Review.



I&M helping

Indiana Michigan Power has sent more than 200 employees and contractors to help restore power following Hurricane Laura.

The company’s crews left early Thursday to help Southwestern Electric Power Company crews in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. They planned to be ready to work Friday.



New president

Mitch Isaacs, executive director of Shafer Leadership Academy in Muncie, has been named president of Indiana Leadership Association.

Isaacs has served on the organization’s board for three years, including as vice president and secretary. He takes over as president from Lin Ringis.

Indiana Leadership Association focuses on facilitating best practices of leadership in Indiana through providing information, networking and training.

“I think ILA is poised to help leadership academies across the state evolve,” said Isaacs. “Now we can help them incorporate virtual opportunities in their programming. We’ve already started providing some development on this topic and I look for us to provide more in the coming months.”



Wind farm sold

Companies that own wind farms in Jay County were involved in the sale of another Midwest facility this week.

Explore Okoboji announced this week that Scout Clean Energy sold Three Waters Wind Farm in Dickinson and Osceola counties in Iowa and Jackson County in Minnesota to NextEra Energy. The facility is still in the development process.

Scout is the developer of Bitter Ridge Wind Farm currently in the final stages of construction in southwestern Jay County while NextEra owns and operates Bluff Point Wind Energy Center in southern Jay County and northern Randolph County.



Ardagh sees drop

Ardagh Group, parent company of glass manufacturing plants in Dunkirk and Winchester, saw its second-quarter revenue drop by about 5%, Glass International reported this week.

Its revenue for the second quarter came in at $1.6 billion. The drop came mostly because of a 7% reduction in glass packaging.

“The group performed well in the quarter, reflecting strong execution and the defensive end markets we serve,” said Ardagh chairman and chief executive Paul Coulson. “Demand for sustainable packaging remains strong and we continue to progress our growth investment projects.”



Offering books

Beginning Tuesday, every McDonald’s Happy Meal will come with a book.

The promotion is part of the McDonald’s celebration of National Literacy Month. The books being offered are all focused on dinosaurs in connection with the launch of the Netflix animated, action-adventure series “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.”

“Families are important to us, and we know they’re facing many challenges this year with ‘back to school’ feeling very different,” said McDonald’s vice president of U.S. marketing, brand content and engagement JJ Healan in a press release. “We’re proud and excited to work with Universal to help families experience the joy of reading together and create new memories with the Jurassic World franchise.”



Looking to buy

Walmart is the latest company to want a piece of TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned video app that has come under fire from the Trump administration.

The world's largest retailer made a joint bid with tech giant Microsoft to buy TikTok's U.S. business, according to a person close to the deal who isn't authorized to discuss the terms publicly.

It may seem like an unlikely combination, but Microsoft and Walmart are already business partners. Microsoft provides cloud computing services that help run the retailer’s stores and online shopping. The two companies signed a 5-year partnership in 2018, enabling them to join forces against a shared rival: online shopping giant Amazon.



Trying to triple

Motherson Sumi Systems CEO Vivek Chaand Sehgal told Livemint this week that his goal is to triple the company’s annual sales to $36 billion by 2025.

Sehgal told the India-based business news publication that he plans to reach that goal in part by buying distressed companies.

“There’s a lot of pain in the system," he said. “We believe that our basic philosophy of solving the problem with the customer, that will give us multiple opportunities in the coming months — somewhere around October, November, you will start to see and hear that we’re going ahead and taking over companies."