Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly - Dec. 13, 2013

Business Weekly GREATER

FORT WAYNE

DECEMBER 13-19, 2013

Daily updates at www.fwbusiness.com

LOCAL NEWS

Shot in the arm Lilly grants support colleges’ initiatives

PAGE 3

$1.00

TAKING IT FOR A SPIN New FW high-end auto dealership is a ‘Dream’ come true

STOCK.XCHNG

Unhappy holidays

BY DOUG LEDUC dleduc@kpcmedia.com

Imagine Santa Claus forced you to chose this year between a McLaren MP4-12C “Project Alpha” or a Ferrari 458 Italia.

The search for professional help in northeast Indiana with such a weighty decision might take you the Dream Makers store John Justice opened in Fort Wayne late last month at 6393 Cross Creek Blvd., next to Carpet City and directly behind nearby Home Depot and Meijers stores.

The Justice Automotive Group dealership specializes in high-end performance cars.

In addition to the McLaren and a number of Ferraris, the store carries Dodge Viper, Porsche, Lamborghini and Aston Martin cars — all priced above $100,000. The car in its inventory with the biggest price tag a couple of weeks after it opened was a $535,000 dark red 2011 Ferrari 599 GTO two-door coupe with 1,198 miles on it.

Shoppers arriving at Dream Makers will see many vehicles priced below $100,000 on its lot like an ordinary dealership. But its lobby, offices and an area for service and detailing don’t seem to occupy as much space in the building that houses them as the vast showroom where the most prized inventory is displayed in an artistic n

See DREAM on PAGE 22

n

INSIDE

Vol. 9 Issue 50

Because state hasn’t paid off loan, businesses see higher unemployment taxes

BY LINDA LIPP llipp@kpcmedia.com

DOUG LEDUC

John Justice stands in front of a $315,000 McLaren MP4-12C “Project Alpha” with 300 miles on it, as well as a host of other exotic and muscle cars, at his new Dream Makers dealership in Fort Wayne.

For the fourth year in a row, Indiana employers will see their federal unemployment taxes rise because the state has failed to repay a debt it owes the U.S. government.

The 2013 increase, retroactive to Jan. 1, should not be a surprise to employers because the tax has been increasing incrementally every year since 2010.

“Everyone is going to be subject to it if they have a payroll,” said Jessica Ogle, a certified public accountant and manager at Dulin Ward & DeWald Inc. in Fort Wayne.

But that doesn’t mean employers are n

See TAXES on PAGE 23

Local news .................... 3-7

LOCAL NEWS

PERSONAL BUSINESS

BizView .............................. 8

Low-pay protests

Called to serve

Labor advocates call for livable wage for fast-food workers

Shelter has expanded to meet veterans’ needs

PAGE 5

PAGE 11

Real estate........................ 9 Personal Business ... 11-12 Top List ............................ 17 BizLeads..................... 18-20

PAGE 2

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

fwbusiness.com

BOOK YOUR BUSINESS EVENT HERE OR THERE

December 13-19, 2013

FORE!

Breakfast or Lunch Meetings, Cocktail Receptions, Holiday Parties, Off Site Company Gatherings • 10,000 sq. ft. facility • Seats up to 700 people • Off Site catering available at your facility • Menu customization JOEL ELLIOTT

260-432-4500

Amy Hannon

Sales Manager amy@thelandmarkcentre.com

6222 Ellison Road, Fort Wayne • www.thelandmarkcentre.com

Coyote Creek Golf Club demolished an 84-year-old building that formerly housed the club and began renovation of the 18,000-square-foot building it currently uses.

Renovations and construction will include a new golf shop, bar, restaurant, men’s and women’s locker rooms and a new cart stage area. General Manager Joe Wharton said he does not yet have an estimate at how much the project will cost. Coyote Creek will host a member’s-only final day on Dec. 15 before closing for 3 1/2 months for the remodeling project. Located at 4935 Hillegas Road in Fort Wayne, the 160-acre golf club was purchased from the Elk’s Country Club in 2007 by Tippmann Properties, Golf Director Bill Blumenherst said. It is now owned by Tippmann Properties and Coyote Creek shareholders.

The fitness & gift season is here! Give the gift of health and fitness by Summit City Bicycles & Fitness. We’re the largest family-owned d bicycle and fitness store in the region – offering amazing expert service and fitness advice. From ellipticals to treadmills to bicycles to complete home gyms, with our free delivery and setup, you’ll be up and running in no time!

484-0182 • (800) 587-5594 3801 Lima at Fernhill (just behind Glenbrook) AVA I L A B L E Some restrictions may apply.

With approved credit.

M-F 10-8; Sat 10-6

YOUR BICYCLE & FITNESS EQUIPMENT

SUPERSTORE! We make your workout less work!

sum mmitcityb bik kes..com

December 13-19, 2013

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

fwbusiness.com

Grants bolster colleges’ career-readiness efforts Several area schools get $1M each from Lilly

BY LINDA LIPP llipp@kpcmedia.com

Education and economic development intersect in the down-to-earth proposals made by a group of northeast Indiana colleges and universities that each won a $1-million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. From Manchester College’s plan to offer business degrees with a major or minor in sales to Huntington University’s expansion of entrepreneurial programs, the proposals all emphasize the development of practical, real-world skills that will help graduates obtain better jobs.

The $1-million grants to the University of Saint Francis, Trine University, Huntington, Manchester, Grace College and Indiana Tech were announced Dec. 5

by Lilly. Goshen College also will receive a $1-million award. The Ivy Tech Foundation will receive nearly $5 million, and

the Indiana University Foundation and Purdue Research Foundation are getting $5 million each.

Lilly awarded nearly $63 million in total to 39 Indiana institutions for programs designed to help increase the number Prall of state residents with bachelor’s degrees and in higher-skilled jobs.

The grants are being offered as part of the Lilly Endowment’s Initiative to Promote Opportunities Through Educational Collaborations. The grant application process goes back to 2012, when Lilly offered planning grants to the colleges and universities to come up with proposals for programs Lilly might help fund.

In May, the endowment rejected all of the n

See GRANTS on PAGE 7

IMPLEMENT QUALITY MANAGEMENT I N YO U R B U S I N E S S International Standards Organization’s ISO 9001:2008 ensures that products and services are safe, reliable, and high quality. For business, they are strategic tools that reduce cost by minimizing waste and errors, increasing productivity, and gaining new customers. Ivy Tech Corporate College in Fort Wayne is offering a complete set of resources to assist in designing and implementing quality systems and preparing for registration audits.

• Identify key business processes and train quality auditors • Write quality manuals, procedures, and work instructions • Pre-assessment audit in evaluating quality management Training consists of 30 hours of classroom work, 14 hours of training for internal auditors, and two days (16 hours) of an internal pre-assessment audit by a qualified instructor.

OFFERED FEB. 4–AUG. 19 | 1 – 3 P.M. EVERY OTHER WEEK LO CATION: IVY TECH’S CARROLL HALL ON THE NORTH CAMPUS, 3701 DEAN DRIVE, FORT WAYNE Individual companies will schedule auditor training and assessment with instructor during this time. Each company can send two people to the classroom sessions, and the internal auditor training will be available for up to 10 people per company.

For more information or to register, call (260) 480-4118 or email atravis@IvyTech.edu

IvyTech.edu/CorporateCollege

PAGE 3

PAGE 4

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

fwbusiness.com

December 13-19, 2013

Promotion tempts residents to ‘Savor Fort Wayne’ Twenty restau- n Reporter’s rants are expected to participate NOTEBOOK in Savor Fort Wayne, a promotion designed to encourage area residents to sample the many food establishments Fort Wayne has to offer.

From Jan. 15 through Jan. 26, guests will be offered the opportunity to take advantage of specially Linda Lipp designed, threecourse, valuepriced menus at participating eateries. The promotion was developed by Visit Fort Wayne, with support from the

REAL ESTATE & RETAIL

Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association.

“Savor Fort Wayne celebrates the ‘City of Restaurants’ by highlighting dining

across the region,” said Melissa Glaze, owner of JK O’Donnell’s.

Menu offerings will include steaks, seafood, salads, sandwiches and some restaurants also will provide vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options. To participate, all diners have to do is visit SavorFortWayne.com, review the menus and choose where to dine. Updates also will be posted on the Savor Fort Wayne page on Facebook and on Twitter: @SavorFortWayne.

CBRE/STURGES Kathy Moses-Denig and Brady Hayes represented the landlord of Midwestern Office Park and the tenant, LPL Financial, in the renewal of a lease of office space at 7221 Engle Road, Suite 210.

Carolyn Spake-Leeper and Karen Spake represented the landlord, Garrison Properties, and the tenant, Fort Wayne IT Solutions LLC, in the new lease of office space at 719 Airport North Office Park.

Spake-Leeper and Spake represented the landlord, Randall Gilmore, in two leases at his 829 Lawrence Drive office park: the continued lease of 3,132 square feet of office space to the Fort Wayne Lodge of Perfection Ancient Accepted Scottish

Local Experts. Global Resources.

Greg Conkling

Broker gconkling@naihd .com

Bill Drinkall

Broker bdrinkall@naihd .com

Alfred Stovall,

Jr. Broker astovall@naihd.c om

Congratulations Redwood Mana to gem

ent on the purchase of 13 acres of land lo cated at 5501 Map Road. Greg Conklin lecrest g represented the se ller, Michael Hallien Steven Hallien, w here Bill Drinkall an & d Al Stovall repres buyer, Redwood M ented the anagement. Redw ood Management developing one-st will be ory luxury apartm ents at this locatio other apartment n as well as communities arou nd Fort Wayne.

Contact Greg, Bill or Al for all your comm ercial real estate ne eds.

111 East Ludwig Road, Su Fort Wayne, IN 46 ite 101 825 260.423.4311 w w w.n a ih d .c om

Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction Inc.;

and the renewal of a lease of 4,430 square feet of space to CrossFit Fort Wayne.

Spake and Spake-Leeper also represented the Scottish Rite in that transaction.

Spake and Spake-Leeper represented the landlord of Keystone Industrial Park and, along with Alex Genova, represented the tenant, Auto Spa Inc., in the new lease of 3,000 square feet of industrial space at 5431 Keystone Drive.

Genova represented the seller, IAB Financial Bank (successor in interest to MarkleBank), and Spake and SpakeLeeper represented the buyer, Volunteers of America of Indiana Inc., in the sale of the former United Hispanic Americans’ 12,800-square-foot office complex at 2424 Fairfield Ave.

PENNIES FOR PAWS Shoppers who want to help the Fort Wayne-based pet rescue, Perfect Paws, can designate a portion of the price of their purchases at Amazon.com go to the local charity.

The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5 percent of eligible purchases to a shopper’s designated charity. To sign up, visit https://smile.amazon.com and type in the name of the organization. The site will remember the selection, and then every eligible purchase made result in a donation.

Shoppers can use their existing Amazon accounts to shop at smile.amazon.com.

Q

ELKHART GETS HEALTH CLUB Planet Fitness will open its first club in Elkhart, at 3253 Northview Drive, in the North Pointe Plaza, at the end of this month.

While under construction, the club will offer special pre-grand-opening memberships for just $1 down. The official grand opening will be on Dec. 31.

The empty space next to RV Parts Nation has been gutted and transformed into a 20,000-square-foot facility with treadmills, elliptical machines, Arc trainers and stationary bikes. Every piece of cardio equipment is connected to an entertainment system consisting of multiple widescreen HD televisions.

The facility also has upper and lower body strength machines, a 30-minute express circuit and a 12-minute ab circuit, as well as a spa, tanning and red-light therapy booths, massage beds and massage chairs.

A certified fitness trainer is on hand on weekdays at no extra charge. The club will be open 24 hours a day on weekdays and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Chris Klebba is the club’s owner.

If you have items for the real-estate and retail column, please contact Linda Lipp by e-mail at llipp@kpcmedia.com, by phone at (260) 426-2640, ext. 307, or by mail at Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, 3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808.

BRIEFLY

A LLE N C O U NT Y

FRONTIER ROLLS OUT DOWNTOWN WI-FI Frontier Communications Corp. has turned on some free Wi-Fi hot zones covering the downtown Fort Wayne blocks of Freimann Square and One Summit Square as well as some areas in between them.

Frontier and the city of Fort Wayne announced the completion of the fastest open mesh network in the metro area during a news conference Dec. 11 in the mayor’s office at Citizens Square.

Most of the blocks around Citizens Square have some hot zone coverage. And with a download speed of 3 megabits per GREATER FORT WAYNE

Business Weekly (USPS 024-494) Periodicals postage paid at Fort Wayne, IN 46802

second and upload speed of 1 Mbps, the free service is faster than what was envisioned for it when it was announced during the summer of 2012.

The network has been designed so that its capacity can be adjusted to accommodate the number of people who want to use it.

The Stamford, Conn.-based provider of telephone, broadband and fiber-optic subscription television service spent $150,000 building the network, which included the installation of transmitters on city traffic-signal and street-light poles as well as Frontier’s own utility poles.

Frontier will bear the cost of operating the network and will pay for the use of city property. It is making the free Wi-Fi service available in the hot zones in return for access to city property.

3306 Independence Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808 (260) 426-2640 Fax: (260) 426-2503 www.fwbusiness.com

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 3306 Independence Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Published weekly every Friday, the annual subscription rate is $49.

December 13-19, 2013

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

fwbusiness.com

PAGE 5

Ball State sets economic outlook presentations Ball State U n i v e r s i Center ty’s

n

Reporter’s

NOTEBOOK for Business and Economic Research is projecting 2 - p e r c e n t economic growth for the Fort Wayne regional economy next year.

That projection, along with one for the hiring of 3,800 more workers, will be Doug LeDuc part of a forecast the center was scheduled to present at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 16 at the Grand Wayne Center, 120 W. Jefferson Blvd. in Fort Wayne.

Michael Hicks, a Ball State economist and director of the center, is including Fort Wayne among eight stops he will be making in the state for the university’s annual Indiana Economic Outlook forecasting event.

In addition to economic performance forecasts for the country, the state and each region he will visit, Hicks will describe how the United States narrowly averted a recession this year, which could have resulted from the impact of a downturn in Europe.

“This will be the first postwar European recession that did not engulf the U.S.,” he said in a statement. “Still, the United States economy will continue to perform poorly through 2014, in virtually all areas.

“We estimate the inflation adjusted gross domestic product to grow at an annualized rate of 1.9 percent to 2.1 percent in each of the four quarters of 2014.”

Hicks expects Indiana’s economy to grow 2.2 percent, which he believes will be a little stronger than the national economy’s growth rate.

In Indiana, “growth will be led by continued strong performance of the durable goods manufacturing sector, while non-durable goods production will remain flat,” he said.

“The strength of the durable manufacturing recovery in Indiana is the major contributor to growth in the state.”

The center’s presentation for the state’s north-central region was scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. Dec. 16 at Ivy Tech Commu-

BANKING & FINANCE

nity College, 22531 County Road 18 in Goshen.

He is projecting a 4.6-percent increase in the gross domestic product for that region next year.

The economic outlook presentations will be open to the public and will cost $25 to cover a luncheon in Fort Wayne and a reception in Goshen.

To register for either of the events go to: http://cms.bsu.edu/academics/centersandinstitutes/bbr/events/outlook.

1ST SOURCE TO VERIFY ODD DEBIT-CARD ACTIVITY Holiday shoppers with 1st Source Bank debit cards have been asked to notify it if they plan to make purchases that deviate from their normal purchase patterns, such as shopping in a different state or country or making a much larger purchase than usual.

“To cut down on fraud and provide you with additional protection, 1st Source uses Fraud Monitor to identify odd purchases and activity on your debit card,” the bank said in a prepared statement.

“If a purchase is considered suspicious, you may receive an automated call asking you to verify the recent transaction.”

The South Bend-based bank with operations in Fort Wayne and northeast Indiana is asking its debit-card holders to call (800) 513-2360 if they plan to make purchases that stray from their normal routine.

OLD NATIONAL INSURANCE EXPANDS EVANSVILLE BUSINESS Old National Insurance plans to buy the insurance accounts serviced by the Evansville office of Wells Fargo Insurance.

Indianapolis-based Old National Insurance is the insurance subsidiary of Old National Bancorp, the Evansville-based parent company of Old National Bank.

The parent company has local branches and is buying Fort Wayne-based Tower Financial Corp. Old National Insurance has major operations at at 1111 Chestnut Hills Parkway in Fort Wayne; most of the business the company is buying in Evansville is property/casualty insurance.

“We are thrilled about this acquisition, and we look forward to continuing to deliver the same exceptional service that Evansville-area WFI clients have come to expect,” Tom Flynn, Old National Insurance n

See BANKING on PAGE 6

JOEL ELLIOTT

United Auto Workers and Communications Workers of America members demonstrate outside a McDonald’s restaurant in downtown Fort Wayne Dec. 5.

Unions lend support to ‘low pay’ campaign

BY JOEL ELLIOTT jelliott@kpcmedia.com

Car horns beeped in solidarity at the busy intersection Dec. 5 as vehicles drove past a knot of shivering demonstrators protesting wages low wages for fast-food employees. The temperature was below freezing, and a biting wind cut through parkas and tore at handmade signs.

“Low Pay Is Not OK!” one sign read.

“Honk If You Support Livable Wages” read another.

Most of the demonstrators near the McDonald’s restaurant at the corner of West Jefferson Boulevard and Fairfield Avenue in downtown Fort Wayne were members of local chapters of the Communications Workers of America and United Auto Workers unions, who were not themselves fast-food workers.

“It’s a hard thing to ask someone who’s not in a union to come out and do this,” Katia Ewing, an AT&T employee, said as traffic rolled by and as McDonald’s employees glanced out of the restaurant’s windows. “We want to support people who are working to support themselves, and they can’t come out, so our CWA and UAW brothers and sisters came out and did it for them.”

Concern about the falling value of the present $7.25-an-hour minimum wage comes as the the United States posts the highest level of income inequality since the Great Depression. Globally, the U.S. has the greatest disparity by far of any other advanced economy, according to a December report from the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center. The top wealthiest 20 percent in the U.S. control almost 17 times more wealth than do those in the poorest 20 percent. Second on the list was Spain, whose wealthiest control 6.8 times the wealth of that of its poorest 20 percent.

Indiana is 32nd nationally for the rate of poverty, according to U.S. Census data. In fares better in state-by-state rankings of the Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality.

Indiana is 13th, tied with Delaware and Minnesota. In this ranking, Utah is considered the most equitable state, whereas New York and Washington, D.C., are ranked at the bottom.

While the ongoing low-pay campaign, which included other demonstrations across the country Dec. 5, focuses on fastfood workers, they are not the only ones whose wages are, in some cases, causing n

See PAY on PAGE 6

PAGE 6

n

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

fwbusiness.com

PAY: 76% of fast-food workers are adults

Continued from PAGE 5

them to use public aid programs. Nearly one-third of the half-million bank tellers in the United States rely on some kind of public assistance for a total of about $900 million from taxpayers, according to a recent Washington Post story.

Inflation has caused the federally mandated minimum wage to fall in value in recent years to its lowest point since the 1960s, when it was more than $10 per hour in today’s dollars, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Gross domestic product per capita has risen steadily since the end of the Great Depression and shows no obvious impact from various minimum-wage increases over the decades.

While many low-wage workers may feel reluctance to speak out for fear of being fired, collective action brings some protection, according to Tom Lewandowski, president of the Northeast Indiana Central Labor Council.

“Nobody in Washington cares. Nobody in Indianapolis cares. The most important thing you can do is to talk to the co-worker next to you,” Lewandowski said. “How can we make workplaces better and our economy better if we are living in a dictatorship? And I don’t care if the dictators are capitalist or commies. They’re all the same. They don’t want us talking to one another.”

On several occasions, employees at fastfood restaurants in Fort Wayne expressed an interest in being interviewed for this story but were prevented from doing so by either managers or owners of local franchises. Regardless of whether employees of a restaurant or other establishment are able to organize to the point of having a union, the National Labor Relations Act protects employees from being fired, suspended or otherwise penalized for participating in protected group activities, including acting together to improve their pay and working conditions.

The median wage of a fast-food worker is $8.94 per hour, according to a study by the University of California at Berkeley Labor Center. Available work hours are so limited — 30 per week on average — that families of more than half of fast-

food workers are forced to rely on public programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, the study said.

By failing to pay its workers a living wage, the fast-food industry effectively forces the general public to subsidize its profits to the tune of around $7 billion in taxes, according to the study.

“If they (restaurant franchisers) are not going to pay people in that industry a living wage so they can buy health care and send their kids to school on a full belly — if we’re having to subsidize them, that’s like taxing me to put money in the franchise owner’s pocket,” said Mark Crouch, director of the labor studies department at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

“That’s not right. We shouldn’t be doing business like that in this country. There’s something fundamentally wrong with our country when we don’t pay enough that people can provide their family a reasonable standard of living.”

Contrary to the popular image of fastfood restaurants being operated by teenage students who live with their parents, 76 percent of fast food workers now are adults, the UC Berkeley study said. More than 40 percent of fast-food workers families’ are either below the poverty line or “near-poor,” or living on less than twice the poverty level, the study found.

President Barack Obama has proposed raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour and indexing it to inflation. The “Low Pay is Not OK” movement is calling for it to be raised to $15 per hour.

Restaurant industry groups, however, say such an increase would create more harm than good.

“We should be focusing on making it easier, not harder, for businesses of all sizes to grow and create jobs at fair wages,” Patrick Tamm, president of the Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association, said in a news release. “The restaurant industry has been a bright spot during the economic recovery, but drastically higher wages in the past have led to higher prices and job losses in the restaurant industry — and that is a consequence our economy cannot afford right now.”

December 13-19, 2013

Embassy will host ‘Downton’ premiere “Downton” is n Reporter’s coming downtown.

The fourthNOTEBOOK season premiere of the popular PBS series “Downton Abbey” will get the big-screen treatment Dec. 29 when PBS39 offers a free sneak-preview showing at the Embassy Theatre.

In an announcement, PBS39 (WFWA-TV) said doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and Barry Rochford seating will be on a first-come, firstserved basis. At the showing, attendees will be able to watch the first hour of the fourth season’s first episode.

The fourth season of “Downton Abbey” will premiere on PBS39 and other public-television stations Jan. 5.

MEDIA & MARKETING

PARTNERSHIP PRODUCES NEW WEB VIDEOS The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership has produced two videos showcasing the area’s higher-education offerings and its work force.

n

One video, titled “Bright Futures,” is on the YourStoryMadeHere.com website and highlights colleges and universities in northeast Indiana.

The second video, titled “Your Workforce is Ready,” is available at NEIndiana. com and documents how initiatives being undertaken in the region are improving the quality of the work force.

LABOV SIGNS MONACO LaBov Marketing Communications and Training in Fort Wayne was named the agency of record for Monaco RV.

Monaco RV is part of Allied Specialty Vehicles Inc.’s Allied Recreation Group, which is based in Decatur.

In an announcement, LaBov said it is working with Monaco on the launch of its new luxury Class A diesel motor home, the Dynasty.

“LaBov has an in-depth understanding of the RV market that we find highly important in a strategic marketing partner,” Monaco President Mike Snell said in the announcement. “Our collaboration with them has and will continue to make a significant, positive impact on the Monaco brand.

If you have items for the media and marketing column, please contact Barry Rochford by email at brochford@kpcmedia.com, by phone at (260) 426-2640, ext. 311, or by mail at Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, 3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808.

BANKING: Acquisition is a ‘cultural fit’

Continued from PAGE 5

president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.

“Our service-focused team of insurance experts is ready to exceed client expectations and earn their continued business.”

Frank Krisanits, the company’s southern region president, said in the statement Wells Fargo Insurance sales executives Rollie Lehnus and Mike Retter would continue to work with the acquired accounts.

“With their experience and expertise, they make an already strong team even stronger, while also helping to ensure a smooth transition for WFI clients,” Krisanits said.

“This partnership represents a tremendous strategic and cultural fit,” Bob Jones,

Old National Bancorp president and CEO, said in the statement.

“Meeting the insurance needs of our clients, in Evansville and beyond, is an integral part of Old National’s mission to be a full-service financial institution.”

Wells Fargo Insurance said it planned to open a regional insurance office in Louisville, Ky., that would be headed by Jack Matthews, who also had worked previously with Wells Fargo Insurance.

If you have items for the banking and finance column, please contact Doug LeDuc by e-mail at dougl@fwbusiness.com, by phone at (260) 426-2640, ext. 309, or by mail at Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, 3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808.

December 13-19, 2013

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

fwbusiness.com

PAGE 7

DeKalb County education initiative earns recognition

BY LINDA LIPP llipp@kpcmedia.com

A program to improve educational levels in DeKalb County is getting national exposure in a publication put out

by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

The Learning Link initiative, spearheaded by Community Foundation Sorg DeKalb County, is one of 15 innovative educational programs detailed in the just-published “Perspectives in Philanthropy: Reimagining Education.” The article was written by Learning Link’s director, Judith Sorg.

“We think the foundation’s education initiative has the capacity to dramatically change our community through its long-term and grassroots approach. This opportunity to appear in Morgan Stanley’s publication affirms the transformative nature of our work to improve the quality of life for all in DeKalb County,” said Wendy Oberlin, community foundation executive director.

The foundation’s program was nominated by its Morgan Stanley representative, and, after several conference calls with the publisher, was selected for inclusion in the journal in the section on kids education.

The work started in 2008 when the community foundation gathered a group of local leaders together to address the relationship of poverty and unemployment to the county’s

n

Q Copies of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s “Perspectives in Philanthropy: Reimagining Education” are available through the Community Foundation DeKalb County or online at www.morganstanleyfa. com/public/projectfiles/perspectivesinphilanthropyvol11/index.html.

low level of educational attainment: just 18.6 percent of residents in the prior census had two- or four-year degrees, compared with 25.2 percent statewide and 30.7 percent nationally.

“Our board understands very clearly the connection between education and the health of the community,” Sorg said.

It started from the position that addressing just one point in the educational continuum would not fix the problem — that it had to be a “cradle to career” approach, Sorg wrote.

“It would require aligning the goals of the educational programs that are already in place, and providing smoother connections between them,” Sorg’s article said.

Three action teams were formed: one focusing on early childhood, a second on K-12 and a third on adult learning.

One of the early questions the early childhood team addressed was how many children entering kindergarten could be considered ready to learn. The team agreed on a definition and a common assessment program that all the schools in the county could use, and in 2012, 56 percent

of students were judged as ready. Although that was higher than the goal of 50 percent ready that the team had set, it also means that 44 percent were not ready, Sorg noted. By 2015, the team hopes to raise that number to 90 percent.

The foundation also identified seven programs already in the community that focus on parenting skills. “In our community, we hear over and over, ‘It’s about the parents,’” Sorg said. But increasing participation in those programs has been more challenging because they are vulnerable to funding and other issues.

Other programs involve community volunteers who mentor K-12 students, businesspeople who speak to highschool students about career paths and a Career Success Coalition that is working to increase college access and degree completion.

Even as the foundation has begun to address educational attainment, the county’s educational levels have improved.

By the 2010 census, 25.8 percent of DeKalb County residents had two- or four-year degrees, a distinct improvement from 10 years earlier but still behind the 30.2 percent for Indiana and 35.6 percent nationwide.

Business and education leaders in northeast Indiana are watching DeKalb County’s efforts closely, Sorg said.

“If our community is a learning community which supports a learning environment which leads to educational and employment opportunities, then we can successfully address a number of our unmet community needs,” she wrote.

GRANTS: Huntington will offer entrepreneurial programs through partnership with NIIC

Continued from PAGE 3

proposals and told the schools to try harder.

Calling themselves the “College to Career Action Team,” the northeast Indiana schools coordinated their reapplications through the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and the Questa Foundation, which offers educational loans to students that are partially forgiven if the students remain in the area after graduation.

Although each school offered a specific proposal, they also all shared the goal of promoting economic development through education, said Andrew Prall, vice president of academic affairs at USF. USF’s proposal has three main components: to reinvent career services as career outreach and connect to employers; to develop an insurance/risk management bachelor’s degree program that will help fill the number of jobs in that key northeast Indiana sector expected to open because of industry retirements over the next five years; and to help implement USF’s Media Entrepreneurship Training in the Arts program, which will utilize project-based learning teams with employer involvement.

Manchester did some research before settling on a sales degree, “something no other small liberal-arts school in Indiana offers,” said Manchester professor Tim

Ogden, who chairs the department of accounting and business.

“Like everybody else, we’re looking for different ways to help our students and strengthen our programs,” Ogden said. “(Sales) just seemed like a place where there is considerable opportunity. It’s not just for-profits, it’s nonprofits, too. Everybody is affected by sales.”

The school is looking for a new faculty member to head the program, which it expects to launch next fall.

The Manchester initiative, called “Liberal Arts Plus,” also will: seek to engage students in internships focused specifically on economic development; strengthen the school’s collaboration with employers, work-force agencies and other colleges and universities; and develop a smartphone app to help guide students in career readiness through college.

Huntington University will use its funds to expand and enhance its existing entrepreneurial program and create additional opportunities through Fast Forward, a new entrepreneurial program that will launch in 2014.

Fast Forward will offer current and future Huntington students a regionally unique program for career exploration, idea cultivation, entrepreneurial encouragement and applied work experience, the university

n

“Like everybody else, we’re looking for different ways to help our students and strengthen our programs.

(Sales) just seemed like a place where there is considerable opportunity. It’s not just for-profits, it’s nonprofits, too.

Everybody is affected by sales.”

Tim Ogden Manchester University

said. It also will help to stimulate the local economy by creating jobs through groundbreaking business ideas from students in the program.

“This is a new and exciting opportunity for Huntington University and the broader community,” said Troy Irick, vice president for HU Ventures. “In its most complete form, Fast Forward will provide the greater northeast Indiana region not only job creation but new business formation and commercial application of entrepreneurial ideas as well.”

The program will work in collaboration with the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center in Fort Wayne. Under the leadership of President and CEO Karl LePan, students will be challenged to build teams, develop

commercially viable ideas, present their ideas to potential investors and create a network of fellow entrepreneurs for mentoring and collaboration.

Fast Forward also will work with Huntington North High School’s Viking New Tech program to allow a select number of high-school students the opportunity to participate.

The Indiana Tech grant will support three initiatives. Half will go to the Center for Creative Collaboration, an interdisciplinary assistance center for entrepreneurs and small business startups that will bring community mentors together with faculty and students from the business, engineering and law schools.

Most of the remainder will be used to expand and enhance career services, with the remaining $75,000 earmarked for implementation of “backwards design,” a curriculum development approach that will help match its education programs with the needs of today’s employers.

Trine University will use its grant to further develop Innovation One, a program that will tackle three critical challenges faced by Trine and the northeast Indiana labor force: to find a best-fit career preparation program; to build skills that meet the needs of employers; and to find employment.

n

GREATER FORT WAYNE

Business Weekly 3306 Independence Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808 (260) 426-2640 Fax: (260) 426-2503 www.fwbusiness.com

PAGE 8

fwbusiness.com

BizView

thousholder@kpcmedia.com Publisher

Barry Rochford brochford@kpcmedia.com Editor

Linda Lipp llipp@kpcmedia.com Associate Editor/Reporter

Joel Elliott jelliott@kpcmedia.com Reporter

Doug LeDuc dleduc@kpcmedia.com Reporter

Claudia Johnson cjohnson@kpcmedia.com

Mary Schmitz mschmitz@kpcmedia.com

Not enough to get by

Creative Supervisor

Ashley LeTourneau aletourneau@kpcmedia.com Researcher

MARKETING CONSULTANTS

William Hanley Kelly Bransteter

George O. Witwer Publisher Emeritus

Terry Housholder President, CEO

Terry Ward Chief Operating Officer

S. Rick Mitchell Chief Financial Officer

Lynette Donley Advertising Director

Kelly Lynch Digital Media Director

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly is a publication of KPC Media Group Inc.

©2013 All rights reserved

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 3306 Independence Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Published weekly, the annual subscription rate is $49.

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

December 13-19, 2013

In need of evidence

Terry Housholder

Marketing Manager

n

The minimum wage was never meant to be a “livable” wage. But maybe it’s time to consider whether the United States is better offer instituting the latter.

At $7.25 an hour, the minimum wage, even for those working 40 hours a week, is barely enough to scrape by. For those trying to support a family, forget about it. Those families often turn to public assistance, which places a greater burden on all of us.

Low wages are a systemic problem in the U.S. The rate of growth for service industry jobs far outpaces the rate of growth for all jobs. In a report released earlier this year, the National Restaurant Association said it expected the number of restaurant industry jobs to increase by 3 percent in 2013 versus 1.4 percent for overall U.S. employment — the 14th year in a row the industry rate will surpass the overall rate.

Restaurants, according to the report, will employ 13.1 million people this year — or 10 percent of the country’s work force.

The perception of restaurant jobs

n

EDITORIAL

is that they are filled by teenagers looking to make a little extra money while in high school or college. The reality is that restaurant workers these days are older and often have family members who depend on their paychecks. The workers often take the jobs because other industries simply aren’t hiring.

The minimum wage was instituted to give a measure of protection to employees, to make sure businesses weren’t taking advantage of them.

But it was not designed to lift a worker or a family out of poverty. Nor should it be.

We keep adding more and more low-wage positions. We add them because the American economy is based on all of us buying things — food, TVs, you name it. But the workers in all those stores and restaurants tend to make less than other occupations.

What happens to the economy when we can’t afford to buy what we’re selling?

WHAT’S YOUR VIEW? Want to share your thoughts on something you’ve read? Business Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns. E-mail them to news@fwbusiness. com, fax them to (260) 426-2503 or mail them to Business Weekly, 3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808. Business Weekly reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity and length.

The Indiana General Assembly is generous when giving away the revenue of local governments. The latest scheme, advocated by the politicians wielding power at the state level, is to give a nice tax break to businesses at the expense of local governments. They propose to get rid of the property tax on business equipment.

Such property, called “personal,” is used by firms to make products and provide services. Long ago, households, too, paid the personal property tax. Today, a computer system used in a business is subject to the tax; a computer used in a household to surf the Web and send pictures to Granny is exempt.

There were good reasons for getting rid of the n tax on household goods. It was widely ignored, and those who did not ignore it most frequently lied about what they owned and how much it was worth.

There may be good reasons for getting rid of the tax on business machinery. Such a tax is believed to discourage businesses from investing in new equipment. No one seems to have evidence that this is true, but it is believed and that is good enough for the governor and the Legislature.

We have had wonderful announcements from new and existing Indiana firms about how much they are going to invest in new equipment around the state. Not one of those announcements said Morton J. firms would have invested more without the personal property tax.

Marcus Unfortunately, no one seems to have a clear idea of how cities, towns, counties, schools, libraries and other local entities will replace the lost property tax. But then that has never been a concern of those who press for lower property taxes.

Indiana has spent the last 40 years in a war on the property tax and local democracy. We have insisted on controlling local spending, denying cities and towns self-determination, capping property taxes and eliminating various forms of property from taxation.

When the inventory tax was eliminated a few years back, who benefited? Auto dealers were the No. 1 type of business paying that tax. Did auto prices fall? Did auto salespeople get higher commissions? I don’t know and I don’t know anyone who does know. But local governments got less money for maintaining public services or local income taxes were raised for individuals.

If we eliminate the personal property tax, let’s imagine that there is more investment by business in Indiana. Who will benefit? Will Hoosier workers be paid more because they are more productive? Or will fewer Hoosier workers be hired? Perhaps the benefits will show up as greater benefits for top executives.

I don’t know if studies in other states have answered those questions.

Perhaps the Legislature could look into the issue. Its members could then rely less on the theoretical arguments used by the advocates of still more tax cuts for selected industries.

EYE ON THE PIE

MORTON J. MARCUS is an independent economist, writer and speaker formerly with Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He can be reached at mortonjmarcus@yahoo.com.

Commercial Real Estate n

December 13-19, 2013

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

InFocus

n

fwbusiness.com

Wolcottville looks to improve downtown business district

BY PATRICK REDMOND predmond@kpcmedia.com

Wolcottville is looking to improve its downtown business district and is asking residents to give the town their best ideas.

Wolcottville, along with members of The Troyer Group, a Mishawaka architecture and urban planning firm retained by the town, was scheduled to hold a community workshop Dec. 12, after Business Weekly’s deadline. They hoped to get ideas from the town’s residents to be included in a business district master plan the firm will present to the town next spring.

“We want to engage the public and get their ideas and suggestions on how to improve downtown Wolcottville,” said C.J. Cunningham, an urban planner with The Troyer Group.

The Troyer Group has distributed an 18-page document that gives a brief history of the town as well as outlining Wolcottville’s business district. The document lists what the consulting firm believes are the downtown’s strengths and weaknesses.

A grant of approximately $30,000 was awarded to the town by the state’s Office of Community and Regional Affairs to pay for the study and the master plan. Region III-A, a regional branch of the state government serving northeast Indiana, helped the town secure the grant.

“We’ve been working on this for quite some time,” said Jeanette Combs, Wolcottville’s clerk-treasurer.

According to the preliminary “Existing Conditions” document created

by The Troyer Group, the Wolcottville business district suffers from poor and limited sidewalks and has a clear lack of pedestrian amenities. The report also suggested that the storefronts in town seem “worn” and in need of facelifts.

THE NEWS SUN

Wolcottville has hired an urban planning firm to help determine how the town can improve its downtown area.

The report cited a lack of strong downtown identity and offers few “destinations” to draw out-of-town visitors.

The report pointed out, however, that Wolcottville does have several qualities that make downtown vitality “very attainable, including its wide business-district sidewalks, available parking and municipal offices within the downtown district.” The report also highlighted the town’s strong sense of community as an asset, and called Wolcottville a small, quiet, safe and geographically well-defined downtown district.

The group called the downtown’s open space and available retail space a real business opportunity, with convenient access to regional midsized cities.

Goals stated by the report for the town include the need to establish consensus

and partnerships with organizations and groups with a stake in seeing the downtown revitalized. It also suggests the town needs to “develop promotional activities to enhance the downtown image.”

The report further said the LaGrange County town needs to retain and expand successful businesses and promote economic development that preserves Wolcottville’s “small-town charm.”

Finally, the report suggested the town needs to create a more appealing atmosphere downtown and convey a positive message about downtown Wolcottville to residents and visitors.

This story originally appeared in The News Sun, which is published by Business Weekly owner KPC Media Group Inc.

Q

PAGE 9

BRIEFLY

ALLEN COUNTY

LAKE CITY FINANCES NEW ASH HEADQUARTERS Lake City Bank will provide about $20 million in financing to Ash Brokerage Corp. for its new downtown Fort Wayne headquarters and will open a bank branch in the retail portion of the project.

Lake City Bank is the first retail tenant announced for the headquarters project, which is part of a $71-million multiuse development that includes apartments, condominiums, townhouses and a parking garage.

The new Ash Brokerage headquarters building will have 95,000 square feet of space. The company, which presently is in southwest Fort Wayne and distributes annuity and life, disability and long-term care insurance products to a network of financial advisers, initially will have 230 employees at its new headquarters, and 115 more workers could be added by 2018.

Hanning & Bean Enterprises will build a $32-million, 13-story residential development on top of a $19.5-million, four-story parking garage constructed by the city of Fort Wayne on the northwest corner of West Wayne Street and South Harrison Street.

The downtown Lake City Bank branch will occupy 4,000 square feet on the first floor of the Ash Brokerage headquarters building.

The branch will have a drive-through and provide space for the bank’s commercial banking department and its investment and wealth-advisory businesses.

“Since establishing our first office in Fort Wayne in 1998, we’ve grown our total deposits in Allen County to more than $600 million, making us the largest Indiana-based bank in the county,” Michael Kubacki, chairman and CEO of Warsaw-based parent company Lakeland Financial Corp., said in an announcement. “Our strong growth in the Fort Wayne market over the past 15 years is a reflection of our expansion throughout northern and central Indiana. Ash Brokerage is a great client partner and we’re excited to play multiple roles in this development.”

“Lake City Bank’s commitment to our headquarters project is an important step forward,” Tim Ash, president and CEO of Ash Brokerage, said in the announcement.

“As our financial partner, the bank’s approval of this loan facility will provide us with the capital to bring this facility to reality.”

PAGE 10

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

fwbusiness.com

December 13-19, 2013

Social media: It’s not just a young person’s game In 2012, the n NextGen Journal published a piece titled “Why Every Social Media Manager Should Be Under 25.” As you might imagine, the response to the article was overwhelmingly negative, ranging from casual remarks about the folly of youth to calls for an apology from the author, Claire Sloane.

While there was little overt support for Sloane’s opinion, the controversy highlights a problem with social media that persists today — albeit just beneath the surface: ageism.

ANTHONY JULIANO

Sloane is by no means unique in her claims that youth is a prerequisite to social-media success, but others are less vocal.

Nancy McCammon-Hansen, the marketing coordinator for Fort Wayne’s History Center and more than twice the age limit suggested by Sloane, has seen this firsthand. Despite being active on a variety of platforms both personally and on behalf of her organization, she believes her efforts are sometimes overshadowed by age — and she sees that perception as somewhat common. I recently spoke with Nancy to learn what she has experienced.

Juliano: I understand you recently had a conversation that implied some ageism — that social media is perceived as only being for the young, in other words. Can you share that comment and your response to it?

McCammon-Hansen: Actually, I’ve had that happen twice: once in April at the state convention of an organization to which I belong and this past month in a comment from a colleague.

Juliano: Have you heard comments like this before or do you know others who have been involved in similar conversations?

McCammon-Hansen: It really annoys me when I go to a meeting and someone makes the comment that, “We have to have some younger people to do that social-media stuff.”

Just because I’m over 50 doesn’t mean that I’m over the hill.

Juliano: What’s your perception of this issue? Why do people see youth as an advantage when it comes to social media?

McCammon-Hansen: I think part of it is laziness on the part of some people who

would prefer not to learn something new and the perception that “you can’t teach an old — and I use that word reservedly — dog new tricks.”

Juliano: Is there any truth to any of those claims? Are there advantages that come with having a young person manage your socialmedia strategy?

McCammon-Hansen: What’s really best is to have people with different perspectives involved in the effort. My officemate is a recent college graduate. I think her perspective and mine provide a combination of ideas that is exactly what any social-media program needs. And we both listen to other staff because we all have different social groups to which we belong and we need to appeal to a wide audience. If more than one person has ownership, I think it’s healthier for all involved.

Juliano: What do you think people need to know when it comes to this issue? Do you believe there is truly ageism in the socialmedia world, and is there a way to resolve that?

McCammon-Hansen: I think there is ageism in the world — and not just when it comes to social media. I don’t like it, but it’s there. However, it’s important to remember that a good team is comprised of people who use their talents to better the business, support one another, help one another and educate one another. You’re all in it together. Why not make the most of the situation and pool your collective talents and abilities rather than concentrating on one facet — and a small one, at that — of your work force?

Juliano: What would you say the next time someone implies that you have to be young to master social media?

McCammon-Hansen: Well — after I sighed loudly, because likely I would do that — I would try to tactfully point out that I manage four Facebook pages, plus my personal one, two Twitter accounts, my LinkedIn page and two blogs. I’d add that I’ve made it a point to learn about social media because that’s my job as someone who works in marketing and public relations. Learning about social media is no different than those of us who learned to type, on a typewriter, now using a computer. If you want to be an asset in the marketplace you keep up and a professional will make it a point to stay current.

ANTHONY JULIANO is a marketing and social media strategist, teacher, trainer and writer. He is vice president of marketing and social media strategy at Asher Agency in Fort Wayne, and he teaches social media and marketing classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Connect with him at LinkedIn.com/in/ anthonyjuliano or via e-mail at anthonyj@asheragency.com.

n December 13-19, 2013

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

CAREER PATH

PersonalBusiness

n PAGE 11

“We thrive on this ministry and on being able to see the hand of God and the goodness of this community on a daily basis” How would you describe Shepherd’s House?

Name: Barbara Cox Organization: Shepherd’s House Title: co-founder Location: 519 Tennessee Ave. Founded: 1998 Serves: Up to 47 residents recovering from alcohol or drug addiction, mostly homeless military veterans Website: ShepherdsHouse.org

fwbusiness.com

Shepherd’s House is like a giant home with a lot of structure for a multitude of people who find themselves feeling hopeless because they’re addicted to drugs or have alcohol problems; 99 percent of them are veterans.

We have an intake process and a lot of rules and a lot of surveillance cameras, and we have a beautiful facility for them to live in with one major hitch: They must stay sober.

We have social workers and a lot of recovery meetings and classes and we work in collaboration with the Veterans Affairs, WorkOne and veterans centers.

The minimum stay here is six months and the maximum is two years, or longer if they need it.

Clients start out in an eight-man bedroom and if they do well they go into a four-man room, then a two-man room and then they’re on their own in the rooms on the second floor. It’s all incentive-based.

When they first move in, they have a mentor assigned to them to explain the programs and tell them what the rules of the facility are, and eventually they end up becoming mentors to others.

They don’t have to do anything but come in and make a commitment to stay clean and sober and work a recovery program.

How did you and your husband grow Shepherd’s House into what it is today?

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Barbara Cox and her husband, Lonnie, felt called to start Shepherd’s House, which helps veterans get sober and get their lives back on track.

If you come across any homeless vets with drug addition or alcohol problems, just let them know they can come here and they don’t have to bring anything. We give them toiletries, a welcome kit, bedding, clothing and food.

We started it and ran it for many years while we were running Cox Heating & Air Conditioning.

My husband “retired” three years ago when he sold Cox after running it for 30 years, and now we’re both doing this full time.

We did not have any education or certifications for it when we started the shelter but my husband had served in the military and owned bars in the past, and we’ve used drugs in the past and this has been payback time for us.

We had gotten closer to the Lord and my husband came home one day and said the Lord wanted him to open a shelter. I wanted no part of it, but 18 months later the Lord put it in my heart to go with it, and now its like the vets staying there are our kids, even though they’re grown up. n

See COX on PAGE 12

PAGE 12

n

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

fwbusiness.com

December 13-19, 2013

COX: Renovating a former hospital and adjoining church has allowed the shelter to grow

Continued from PAGE 11

My husband found an abandoned old convent on the southeast side of town and we rehabbed it and ran the shelter there for two years before relocating it to a place that was about 5,000 square feet bigger on Tennessee Avenue.

It’s a 14,000-square-foot building that had been a hospital that was converted into office space and occupied by a variety of businesses. We took down walls and created some bigger rooms for bedrooms and put in kitchens and a lot of bathrooms.

When we began, we could house 15 clients. Now we can house 41 in the bigger house, plus six more in the Spy Run house.

The buildings have adjoining backyards.

We did the Spy Run house three years ago. It had been a church and someone took out the pews thinking they could turn it into

a bar and it was one big, empty space. That lower-level room is now a massive exercise/ weight room, kind of a wellness center.

Hundreds of businesses have given us what we needed during the last 14 years.

Anything we asked for the Lord has blessed our ministry with.

What do you like about this work?

What is ahead for the organization?

Do any moments there stand out?

We don’t have a disabled-accessible kitchen, so we met with the architect and are ready to break ground where the garden is now to add on a disabled-accessible kitchen and a meeting and eating area.

As soon as we get something done there’s something else that God says we need, so it’s always a work in progress. My husband and I both know when it needs to grow, and we need to add something new like a clinical social worker or a life skills class.

We had one veteran who, when he came in to us, I was told he would be the worst mental-health case we would ever be confronted with. He had a lot of conditions.

A stroke put him in the hospital while he was with us. Parkview Hospital told us he would be on life support and never be able to get off it. The VA hospital told us if he survived he would be a vegetable. While he was in rehab and going through therapy we were told he was completely delusional.

He was in hospitals for about four months

We thrive on this ministry and on being able to see the hand of God and the goodness of this community on a daily basis.

Most of our supporters are veterans themselves who are giving back to veterans who have fallen on hard times.

and then he came back to us for awhile.

Now he’s living by himself in Kokomo.

He doesn’t need any help feeding himself or taking care of himself; he’s completely independent and very happy. He’s just like you and me.

What have you learned from your work?

You can have a thought but you don’t necessarily have to keep that thought. You can choose to take that thought out of your mind and replace it with something better.

And the more you make the right choices, the more good will take over the bad in your life and you don’t have to go backward anymore.

It is just a matter of creating healthier habits for a healthier lifestyle. If you do it well enough long enough, it gives you a new life.

God can take people at ground zero who are hopeless and remold them and put them in the right path, and eventually they can walk out with their shoulders up and feeling good about themselves again. They can become active contributors to their community.

By Doug LeDuc. To suggest an idea for “Career Path,” email news@fwbusiness.com.

Q

BRIEFLY

ALLEN COUNTY

Nation’s best.

Indiana’s own.

Katz, Sapper & Miller is proud to be the only CPA firm headquartered in Indiana to receive INSIDE Public Accounting’s 2013 Pyramid Award, which recognizes three of the country’s “Best of the Best” accounting firms. Talk to us and discover for yourself what our proven success can do for you.

Tony Brita, CPA Katz, Sapper & Miller, LLP Certified Public Accountants 803 South Calhoun Street, Suite 110 Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802 260.440.8363

Our People: Your Success ksmcpa.com/fort-wayne

APTERA RENOVATES OFFICE, WILL ADD WORKERS Fort Wayne computer software and Web development firm Aptera Software Inc. will spend $785,000 to renovate and equip its 201 W. Main St. offices, and create as many as 17 additional jobs by 2016.

Renovation work at Aptera’s 13,500-square-foot building is expected to be completed by January. The renovation and new equipment will allow the company to streamline its operations, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. said in an announcement.

Aptera presently has more than 70 employees, and already has begun hiring additional software developers, network engineers, graphic designers, and marketing and sales staff.

The company was founded in 2003 and provides software development, Web marketing and core infrastructure consulting services to clients throughout the Midwest and across the United States.

The IEDC offered Aptera up to $150,000 in tax credits and $100,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans.

December 13-19, 2013

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

FIND IT IN FORT WAYNE

- since 1987 -

Gourmet Gift Baskets • Perfect for the Holidays •

Local Delivery • Shipping Nationwide

The Hollows 7121 W. Jefferson Blvd Fort Wayne, IN 46804

260.432.1133

Just In Time for Christmas Only at Freeman Jewelers

25% Off

All Diamond Rings, Pendants, Earrings, Engagement Rings and Loose Diamonds

for the Holidays 10102 Auburn Park Dr. Fort Wayne, IN 46825 260.426.4486

www.freemanjewelers.com

fwbusiness.com

PAGE 13

PAGE 14

fwbusiness.com

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

FIND IT IN FORT WAYNE

SweetAviation

COOL CASH just in time for the holidays!

Take advantage of our low rates to cover your upcoming holiday expenses.

Oncein-a-lifetime Gift...

Discovery Flight for $79

Learn the Fundamentals of Flight t 4JU JO UIF QJMPU T TFBU BOE UBLF UIF DPOUSPMT XJUI B DFSUJĂśFE JOTUSVDUPS

Call or visit your nearest Partners 1st office today!

Northbrook Village 1403 W. Dupont Rd 407.0181

t -PH BDUVBM øJHIU UJNF UPXBSE QJMPUJOH DFSUJÜDBUJPO

This Gift Is Perfect For t 5IBU TQFDJBM TPNFPOF XIP T MPPLJOH GPS B OFX DIBMMFOHF t 5IF TQPVTF XIP IBT FWFSZUIJOH t 5IF BTQJSJOH QJMPU JO ZPVS MJGF

Lutheran Health Plaza Time Corners 1314 Minnich Rd 6210 West Jefferson Blvd 493.6670 459.1443

1330 Directors Row 471.8336

6116 Trier Rd 486.8043

Payment based on a rate of 9.15% as of 11/25/13 with a 24-month term. $15 application fee applies, therefore disclosed APR is 10.63%. Rates subject to change. Rate based on Partnership Level 1 discount of .50%. Actual rate based on credit worthiness and loan term. Normal loan underwriting guidelines apply.

t &YQFSJFODF UIF UISJMM PG UBLF Pò BOE TPBSJOH UIF TLJFT t -FBSO IPX UP SFBE øJHIU JOTUSVNFOU HBVHFT

December 13-19, 2013

Annual

Christmas Sale

ONE DAY ONLY! Saturday, December 14 • 9 am to 3 pm 20% OFF* ALL IN STOCK ITEMS * MSRP • Ask about our Free delivery area.

Register to win a free lift chair and other fabulous prizes!

Call or Go Online Today!

5P IBWF ZPVS HJGU DFSUJĂśDBUF DPOWFOJFOUMZ EFMJWFSFE UP ZPVS IPNF

SweetAviation

Free Refreshments

Starting at $499

FREE

non-invasive healthy leg screening by JOBST

Flight Training, Aircraft Rental & Maintenance — Smith Field Airport

SweetAviation.com

(260) 267-5505

1JMPU 5SBJOJOH t &YQFSJFODFE *OTUSVDUPST t "JSDSBGU 3FOUBMT .PSF

Our Business is Your Good Health!

Comfort - Safety - Mobility 7821 Coldwater Rd. - Just north off exit 312B off I-69

888-848-4077 • 260-423-9571 • jamesmedical.com

Starting at $699

December 13-19, 2013

n

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

fwbusiness.com

FIND IT IN FORT WAYNE

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE E-mail your People on the Move items to news@fwbusiness.com.

5005 Illinois Road ~ 260-434-0100

GENERAL MOTORS Vic Pereira, recently area manager body shop at Flint Assembly in Flint, Mich., was promoted to assistant plant manager at General Motors Co.’s

Fort Wayne Assembly Plant. He began his career with General Motors in 1991 as a manufacturing engineer.

Todd Johnson , recently acting lead shift leader, was promoted to material director.

Pete Adgalanis , recently business manager in paint, transferred to Global Facilities Procurement and Contracts as a service agreement analyst. He is still located in Fort Wayne.

Brian Burns , recently a group leader in material, was promoted to material business manager.

Jack Kelly, recently acting trim business manager, was promoted to trim business manager.

Donna Ankenbruck, recently hourly

Pereira

General Manager Illinois Road Store

"Super" Dave Waldren

Jason Brown

Jarrad Gettys

Traves Parker

Sales Manager

Sales Manager

Sam Miller

Mark Rietdorf

Brian Gettys

Brett Hoffer

Finance Manager

Finance Manager

Chad Scott

Kirt Brazelton

Sales Consultant

Sales Consultant

Adgalanis

Internet Sales Manager

Sales Consultant

Sales Consultant

Sales Consultant

Happy Holidays from our family to yours Burns

Ankenbruck

Kelly

Stop in & See us Today!

McNew

Both locations, over $2 milllion in inventory!

300 Visa Gift Card

$ Calderon

Klonica

personnel coordinator/ labor relations representative, has been reassigned to salaried human resources.

Garry McNew, recently labor relations representative, is being reassigned to hourly personnel coordinator/labor relations representative.

William Gillespie IV, recently production shift leader in general assembly, has been reassigned to production shift Billingsley leader in chassis/final.

Luis Aldolfo De Luna Calderon, recently production shift leader in body shop, has been reassigned to production shift leader in general assembly.

James Klonica, recently body shop launch manager, has been reassigned to production shift leader in body shop.

Christopher Adasczik, recently launch operations readiness manager, was reassigned as plant launch operations manager.

Daniel Billingsley recently joined the plant in process and technical support for general assembly maintenance. n

Rob Goodman

Jay Leonard Owner - Preferred Automotive Group

See PEOPLE ON THE MOVE on PAGE 16

It is not what you buy, but who you buy it from.

with a purchase now through December 24, 2013.

Offer not good with any other promotions or internet pricing.

9134 Lima Road • 260-489-0489 Jay Leonard

Mick Billings

Jim Baldwin

Owner - Preferred Automotive Group

General Manager

Sales Manager

James Bowman

Kyle Owens

Ed Reyes

Finance Manager

Internet Sales Manager

Finance Manager

Lonnie Lemons

Carl D'Agostino

George Miller

Sales Consultant

Sales Consultant

Sales Consultant

Joe Parra

Juan Parra

Sales Consultant

Sales Consultant

preferredautogroup.com

PAGE 15

PAGE 16

fwbusiness.com

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

FIND IT IN FORT WAYNE

n

December 13-19, 2013

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Continued from PAGE 15 Robert

Combs

recently joined the plant as a general assembly group leader.

Robert

START A NEW HOLIDAY TRADITION. SATISFY SATISFY EVERYBODY. EVERYBODY.

1808 WEST DUPONT ROAD 260-490-MOES Drive thru open 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Douglas

6739 WEST JEFFERSON BLVD. 260-969-MOES

MOES.COM

Riley

Lutz

Parsons

Keller

Suriani

Wadman

Seibert

Lindsey

Kuitse

Pixler

Parsons

recently joined the plant as a general assembly group leader.

Craig

©2012 MOE’S FRANCHISOR LLC

Riley

recently joined the plant as general assembly group leader.

Jack Lutz recently joined the plant as a general assembly group leader.

Keller

recently joined the plant as a paint group leader.

Brian

Suriani

recently joined the plant as material group leader.

David

Wadman

recently joined the plant as quality group leader.

Melvin

Seibert

recently joined the plant as controls engineer.

Ralph (Chip) Lindsey recently joined

E T OM O C O L O

E

WE

the plant as a dimensional engineer in the body shop.

L

FAEGRE BAKER DANIELS LLP Attorney

Andrew

joined Krafcheck Faegre Baker Daniels LLP’s Fort Wayne office.

His practice focuses on real-estate transactions and ongoing corporate matters.

Attorney Matthew Olsen joined the firm.

His practice focuses on construction and real-estate litigation.

GET $5 IN MOE BUCKS

FOR EVERY $25

YOU SPEND ON GIFT CARDS.

Visit your local Moe’s for holiday catering details. We Deliver!

ROTHBERG LOGAN & WARSCO Reanna Kuitse joined Rothberg Logan & Warsco LLP in Fort Wayne. A graduate of the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, she practices primarily in the area of business transactions.

Jessica Pixler, a recent graduate of the IU Maurer School of Law, joined the firm and practices primarily in the areas of civil litigation, medical malpractice and insurance defense.

n

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly Top List

December 13-19, 2013

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

n

fwbusiness.com

PAGE 17

" !

;:?@5@A@5;: >5B1 ;>@ +-E:1

CCC 951C1. /;9

81/@>;:5/ 41-8@4 >1/;>0? ?;2@C->1 -<<85/-@5;:? 2;> <4E?5/5-: ;225/1 -:0 /;><;>-@1 1:@1><>5?1? <1>?;:-8 41-8@4 >1/;>0 ?;2@C->1 -<<85/-@5;: 2;> /;:?A91>?

;C 4195/-8 85 !588E 41B>;: 881: ;A:@E -58 "-@@41C 5?:1E

>5/ ;:1? $$

! !

A<;:@ 5>/81 >5B1 'A5@1 ;>@ +-E:1

CCC @>:?C>7? /;9

#

(>-:?<;>@-@5;: "-:-3191:@ ';2@C->1 ;:?A8@5:3 ?1>B5:3 .;@4 @>A/78;-0 /->>51>? -:0 ?45<<1>?

(>5<81 >;C: '1>B5/1? -:-05-: %-/525/ &-58C-E (4;>;A34.>10 5>1/@ :@1>9;0-8 '1>B5/1? #;>2;87 ';A@41>: +1E1>4-1A?1> "A8@59;0-8 ;9@-> ;95:; ;;0? :/ %-/7-35:3 ;><;>-@5;: ;2 91>5/- %1>0A1 3>5.A?5:1?? A:31 91>E? +;>80 "5:1>-8?

'51>>-%5:1 $9:5';A>/1 " 'C-/; !;A5?5-:- %-/525/ >/18;>"5@@-8 " %;8E91>? )' ,5:/ (1>:5A9

(59 "5::5/4 <>1?501:@

# :381 &;-0 ;>@ +-E:1

CCC 1:?5 /;9

'@>-@135/ ( /;:?A8@5:3 B5>@A-85F-@5;: ?;8A@5;:? ( -:0 -<<85/-@5;: @>-5:5:3 % @181<4;:E A:52510 /;99A:5/-@5;:? /;88-.;>-@5;: ?;8A@5;:? 9-:-310 ?1>B5/1? B501; /;:21>1:/5:3 0535@-8 9105- ?E?@19? C5>181?? :1@C;>7? ?E?@19? 5:@13>-@5;: -:0 ?1/A>5@E ?;8A@5;:?

#

"-@@41C 1>.1> $$ (59;@4E '-B-31 $

" ! " !

' +-.-?4 '@ +-.-?4

CCC 5:@>-?1/@@1/4:;8;351? /;9

#

#1@C;>7 ?A<<;>@ -:0 01?53: :1@C;>7 ?1/A>5@E C5>181??

5:2>-?@>A/@A>1? .A?5:1?? 5:@188531:/1 -A@;9-@10 0-@/;881/@5;: 1:1>3E 9-:-3191:@ ?E?@19? <>;0A/@ 31:1-8;3E ?E?@19? % 9;:5@;>5:3 -:0 >1<;>@5:3 -@- ;9 5:2>-?@>A/@A>1 C5>5:3 @181<4;:1 ?E?@19 ?-81?

5:?@-88-@5;: -:0 ?A<<;>@

#

(4;9-? %;87 *% ;<1>-@5;:? -:0 @1/4:;8;3E '@1B1 ;>>1?@1> <>1?501:@

% #

A<;:@ 5>/81 >5B1 + 'A5@1

;>@ +-E:1

CCC 0C0@1/43>;A< /;9

#1@C;>7 01?53: -:0 ?A<<;>@ ;A@?;A>/10 :1@C;>7 9-:-3191:@ C5>181?? :1@C;>75:3 :1@C;>7 ?1/A>5@E -:0 -//;A:@5:3 ?;2@C->1 ?;8A@5;:?

"-:A2-/@A>1>? 05?@>5.A@;>? >1@-58 ?1>B5/1 -:0 :;:<>;25@?

&;.1>@ ;4891E1> 5>1/@;>

$ #" !

-C?;:G? >117 8B0 ;>@ +-E:1

CCC 1;? /;9

#

(1/4:;8;3E <8-::5:3 -:0 -??1??91:@ ;2 1D5?@5:3 ?E?@19? +5:0;C? -:0 <<81 ?E?@19 -095:5?@>-@5;: -:0 59<8191:@-@5;: 4->0C->1 -:0 ?;2@C->1 <8-::5:3 -:0 5:?@-88-@5;: :1@C;>7 5:2>-?@>A/@A>1 <8-::5:3 -: 5:?@-88-@5;: >;A@5:3 >19;@1 -//1?? 25>1C-88? ;: -:0 ;22 ?5@1 .-/7A< ?E?@19? 05?-?@1> >1/;B1>E <8-::5:3 ( ?1/A>5@E <8-::5:3 9-:-3191:@ -:0 -A05@5:3

5B5/ ;>3-:5F-@5;:? /;:?@>A/@5;: >1-8 1?@-@1 813-8 9-:A2-/@A>5:3 9;>@3-31 <>;21??5;:-8 ?1>B5/1? 25:-:/5-8 ?1>B5/1? 9105/-8

;881 <>1?501:@ -:0 $

# #" !

'<E &A: B1 ;>@ +-E:1

CCC ? ?;:85:1 /;9

'1>B5/1? 5:/8A01 @1/4:;8;3E <8-::5:3 -:0 01?53: 1:0 A?1> -:0 @1/4:5/-8 @>-5:5:3 <>;61/@ 59<8191:@-@5;: ?1>B5/1?

"-:-310 ( '1>B5/1 -:0 'A<<;>@ <8-:? -:0 ?@-@1 ;2 @41 ->@ 8;A0 -?10 '1>B5/1? ';A>/1 $:1 ';8A@5;:? 5? - <>;-/@5B1 ( 9-:-3191:@ 25>9 C5@4 - 2;/A? ;2 9-D595F5:3 /A?@;91>?G >1@A>: ;: @415> 5:B1?@91:@ 5: ( 5:2>-?@>A/@A>1

#

122>1E 1534@? <>1?501:@

" " #" ! #

-C?;:G? >117 8B0 ;>@ +-E:1

CCC ?@>-@135/?;8A /;9

#

"5/>;?;2@ /1>@52510 3;80 <->@:1> -:0 5?/; <>1951> <->@:1> <>;B505:3 5:2;>9-@5;: @1/4:;8;3E 5:2>-?@>A/@A>1 01?53: 59<8191:@-@5;: -:0 ?A<<;>@ @; @>5 ?@-@1 ->1- ?<1/5-85F5:3 5: ?1>B1> B5>@A-85F-@5;: "5/>;?;2@ D/4-:31 -:0 % @181<4;:E 5:/8A05:3 "5/>;?;2@ !E:/

5: @>5 ?@-@1 ->1-

"5/4-18 "/ 5:: <>1?501:@ ;4: "/ 5:: /4512 @1/4:;8;35?@

"

#1C *5?5;: >5B1 'A5@1 ;>@ +-E:1

F1:1@>- /;9

#1@C;>7 5:2>-?@>A/@A>1 -:0 0-@- /1:@1> 01?53: /;:?A8@5:3 -:0 59<8191:@-@5;: ?1>B5/1? :1@C;>7 ?1/A>5@E 01?53: -A05@5:3 9;:5@;>5:3 -:0 1:35:11>5:3 !->31 45348E -B-58-.81 /;9<81D 4534 <1>2;>9-:/1 :1@C;>7? ->1 ;A> ?<1/5-8@E

#

& 1:6-95:

1??81> <>1?501:@ /4512 :1@C;>7 3117

" #" ;80C-@1> &;-0 ;>@ +-E:1

CCC ?@;:1/;9<A@1> /;9

;9<A@1> '-81? ;9<A@1> '1>B5/1 #1@C;>75:3 @-.81@ >1<-5> *5>A? &19;B-8

'4-9.-A34 ';:? %->7B51C :05-:- '@-9< ; D185? :/ #;>@41-?@ 1:1@5/? ;A:?185:3 A0?;: !;35?@5/? !! 1:@F :?A>-:/1 5?-9-: &1-8 ?@-@1 & ";@;>?<;>@? &1085:1 ";@;>?<;>@? , :35:11>5:3 1>-805F1 :/ '7E85:1 '-81?

"581? &-@8522 ?-81?

9-:-31>

A>>1:@ -? ;2 1/

';A>/1 A?5:1?? +1178E >1?1->/4 # 50 :;@ 05?/8;?1

@ 5? :;@ @41 5:@1:@ ;2 @45? 85?@ @; 1:0;>?1 @41 <->@5/5<-:@? ;> @; 59<8E @41 ?5F1 ;2 @41 .A?5:1?? 5:05/-@1? 5@? =A-85@E 8@4;A34 1B1>E -@@19<@ 5? 9-01 @; 1:?A>1 @41 -//A>-/E -:0 @4;>;A34:1?? ;2 @41 A?5:1?? +1178EG? @;< 85?@ ;95??5;:? ?;91@591? ;//A> :2;>9-@5;: 5? ;2@1: .-?10 ;: >1?<;:?1? 2>;9 @41 .A?5:1??1? @; A?5:1?? +1178E ?A>B1E? %81-?1 ?1:0 /;>>1/@5;:? ;> -005@5;:? ;: 81@@1>41-0 @; ?481E !1(;A>:1-A >1?1->/41> >1-@1> ;>@ +-E:1 A?5:1?? +1178E

:01<1:01:/1 > ;>@ +-E:1 # ;> 1 9-58 -81@;A>:1-A 7</9105- /;9 ;<E>534@

.E % "105- >;A< :/ 1:0-88B5881 # 88 >534@? >1?1>B10 (45? 85?@ ;> <->@? @41>1;2 9-E :;@ .1 >1<>;0A/10 5: -:E 2;>9 C5@4;A@ <1>95??5;: #; /;991>/5-8 A?1 ;2 @45? 85?@ 9-E .1 9-01 C5@4;A@ <1>95??5;: ;2 % "105 >;A< :/ #; 211? 9-E .1 /4->310 05>1/@8E ;> 5:05>1/@8E 2;> @41 A?1 >1<>5:@ 59-31 ;> >1<>;0A/@5;: ;2 @45? 85?@ C5@4;A@ <1>95??5;: H >1-@1> ;>@ +-E:1 A?5:1?? +1178E (;< !5?@H 5? - @>-019->7 ;2 % "105- >;A< :/

n PAGE 18

fwbusiness.com

NEW BUSINESSES Monroe Partners LP 9745 E. S.R. 205-57 Churubusco, IN 46723 Carlton D. Monroe Tacair Services LLC 15922 Wappes Road Churubusco, IN 46723 Michael Benolkin Lemay Properties LLC 462 Harvest Court Churubusco, IN 46723 Brad Lemay Creekside Farm Furniture LLC 4803 E. S.R. 14 Claypool, IN 46510 Kari Hanes D.C. Munson and M.E. Munson Family Farms LLC 2473 W. 550 South Claypool, IN 46510 David C. Munson Little Hands, Big Hearts, Great Starts Inc. 2179 N. Airport Road Columbia City, IN 46725 Angela Driver Rolmel Collectibles LLC 417 Raleigh Court Columbia City, IN 46725 Roland Purdy BLCI Inc. 2471 W. Keiser Road Columbia City, IN 46725 Bud Snyder Samuel Thompson Farms LLC 121 W. Franklin St., Suite 200 Elkhart, IN 46516 Samuel S. Thompson Cueramaro Racing, Co. 25106 C.R. 22 Elkhart, IN 46517 Jose S. Ortiz Elkhart Beauty Shop Inc. 5015 Verdant St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Amanda Zurek Fair Trades LLC 53237 Old Farm Road Elkhart, IN 46514 Jason M. Fair Fair Weather Properties LLC 53237 Old Farm Road Elkhart, IN 46514 Jason M. Fair BK-JK Properties LLC 26137 Lake Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 Robert Kelsey

READER’S GUIDE BizLeads is a collection of information gathered from northeast Indiana courthouses, state government offices and informational Web sites.

These listings are intended to help companies find new customers as well as stay on top of happenings with current customers, vendors and competitors.

New Businesses lists firms that were recently incorporated in the state of Indiana. Information is gathered from the Indiana Secretary of State.

Addresses listed may not be the actual address of the business.

Building Permits are issued by the Allen County Building Department during the specified period of time.

Real Estate is a list of agricultural, commercial, industrial, and residential real estate sales recorded by the state of Indiana.

Bankruptcies are from the United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Indiana. For complete data involving a particular filing please access the The PACER Service Center, the Federal Judiciary’s centralized registration, billing, and technical support center for electronic access to U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court records. Its Web site URL is http://pacer.psc. uscourts.gov.

Patents include the following: Patent number, local inventor and assignee, brief description, filed date and approved date. Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Listings may vary due to information availability and space constraints.

Kheri Management LLC 121 W. Franklin St., Suite 400 Elkhart, IN 46516 James V. Woodsmall UMH Rentals LLC 1875 Osolo Road Elkhart, IN 46514 Jason Farmer The Gyrfalcon Trust LLC 216 S. Fourth St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Rosy Meza Bowers Management LLC 22813 Greenleaf Blvd.

Elkhart, IN 46514 James T. Bowers Michiana Business Solutions LLC 27683 Plainfield Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 Jason Hawks Wat LLC 26273 Lakewood Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 Wayne Mason Enrique Vega LLC 123 W. Hively Ave., Apt. E59 Elkhart, IN 46517 Enrique Vega

Legendary Carts LLC 3325 Middlebury St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Adam Price Super Mazz Produce LLC 56791 28th St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Maria L. Cervantes Welch Packaging Marion Inc. 1020 Herman St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Scott M. Welch Burke’s Midwest Hauling LLC 2500 Riverview Place Elkhart, IN 46516 Christina Burke ATS Consumer Products LLC 121 W. Franklin St., Suite 400 Elkhart, IN 46516 Timothy S. Shelly ATS Realty LLC 121 W. Franklin St., Suite 400 Elkhart, IN 46516 Timothy S. Shelly

BizLeads

Bighorn Transportation LLC 1712 New York Ave. Elkhart, IN 46514 Janet S. Coil 13-Dragons LLC 24780 Corbin Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 William Baumann Tekmodo Technologies LLC 1758 Cobblestone Blvd.

Elkhart, IN 46514 Gene Gamber Juan Roldan LLC 915 Hester St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Juan Roldan All You Naturally LLC 1501 Cedar St. Elkhart, IN 46514 Ann C. Johnson Armando Gonzalez Guerrero LLC 2801 Toledo Road, Apt, 519 Elkhart, IN 46516 Armando G. Guerrero Milford Property LLC 601 E. Beardsley Ave. Elkhart, IN 46514 Todd W. Woelfer Bel Leasing 2 LLP 1020 Herman St. Elkhart, IN 46517 Scott M. Welch Above All Chiropractic Center LLC 3625 Cortland Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 Ryan A. Morningstar Twins Cleaning Services LLC 701 Christian Ave. Elkhart, IN 46517 Paola Campos-Oropeza North Shore Apps LLC 25364 North Shore Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 Austin King Suite Serendipity Beauty Shop LLC 54595 C.R. 17, Suite 5 Elkhart, IN 46516 Hoyette Hawkins Elkhart Central High School Boosters Association Inc. 1 Blazer Blvd.

Elkhart, IN 46516 Kyle Weirich Smart Technical Support Inc. 11206 Chestnut Ridge Court Fort Wayne, IN 46814 Daljeet Goraya

n

Gad Properties Fort Wayne LLC 110 W. Berry St., Suite 1904 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 David M. Mustard Intelligence Counseling International LLC 5809 Arlington Parkway N. Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Ricardo J. Carvalho Rosalio Barrios LLC 1223 Trick Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Rosalio Barrios Lake Bay LLC 202 W. Berry St., Suite 830 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Daniel P. Nieter Daily Fantasy Dispatch LLC 3215 La Balme Trail Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Mclean Karr Ambassador Real Estate Advisors LLC 2845 E. Dupont Road Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Garrett Cooper Ambassador Real Estate Group LLC 2845 E. Dupont Road Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Garrett Cooper Sweets So Geek LLC 3433 Kirkwood Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46805 Heather L. Seewald Cruiser Classic Auto Inc. 3416 Lower Huntington Road Fort Wayne, IN 46809 James T. Monroe Inkworks Marketing, Printing & Design LLC 2825 Maplecrest Road Fort Wayne, IN 46815 Robert A. Wilson Stay-Some Investments Ltd. 110 W. Berry St., Suite 1100 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Stacy K. Somers Sara’s Holdings LLC 1800 Magnavox Way Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Todd J. Lassus The Church of Jesus IN Fort Wayne Inc. 6907 Huguenard Road., #101 Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Winston Pearson SFIS LLC 5236 Stonehedge Blvd.

Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Stephen Franks

PAGES 18-20 GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

Constantlyon LLC 1505 Cherokee Road.

Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Michael Brett

CFS Racing LLC 4133 Buell Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46807 Jonathan Nolan

Ruckel Chiropractic PC 7231 Engle Road Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Charles E. Ruckel

Lavonne’s Clothing and Fashions LLC 1530 Tulip Tree Road Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Tracy R. Williams

Harvest Freight Inc. 122 E. Essex Lane Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Osman Daood North American Estate and Treasure Brokers LP 921 E. Dupont Road, Suite 892 Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Steve Hillman Wondervast Enterprises LLC 11106 Lantern Lane Fort Wayne, IN 46845 Elijah P. Phenicie Lifeline Youth & Family Services Inc. 7136 Gettysburg Pike Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Mark Terrell Prime Signage LLC 8181 W. Jefferson Blvd.

Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Timothy Savage Black Canyon Fort Wayne LLC 116 E. Berry St., Suite 302 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Randall W. Kammeyer Sundowners LLC 3005 Huguenard Road Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Sandra Johnson W.B.Z. Day Spa Inc. 5326 Illinois Road Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Baozhu Wang

COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS FORT WAYNE WAYNE TOWNSHIP Millstone Inc. 7260 John St. $850,000 Millstone Inc. 7240 John St. $850,000

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS FORT WAYNE WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP Yoder, M.N.J. Inc. 3936 Parkside Drive $200,000

NEW HAVEN ADAMS TOWNSHIP Delagrange Homes LLC 9093 Landin Pointe Blvd. $207,800

ALLEN COUNTY ABOITE TOWNSHIP Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 13718 Beal Brook Court $151,912

CEDAR CREEK TOWNSHIP Fort Wayne Golf Calendar LLC 9707 Hidden Valley Place Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Jon Salway Madoch LLC 2330 Beacon St. Fort Wayne, IN 46805 Robert A. Wagner Synergy Radiology LLC 6119 W. Jefferson Blvd Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Mark Schaefer Jeena C. Photography LLC 3509 Shadow Creek Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Jeena Caywood Forge Scrubs & Apparel LLC 1724 Sycamore Hills Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46814 Jason Forbes

Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 9557 Sienna Springs Drive $302,988 Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 11107 Eagle River Run $217,510

PERRY TOWNSHIP Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 5004 Argiano Crossing $273,840 Lancia Homes 13091 Claret Court $169,848 Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 2523 Stonecorp Road $144,874

December 13-19, 2013 ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIP Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 6417 Sunny Mist Lane $164,838 Windsor Inc. 7006 Wickcliffe Court $154,407

REAL-ESTATE TRANSACTIONS 46815 5827 Montavilla Drive From Mark and Merlene Hesse to Bruce and Audrey Stone $91,900 8114 Santa Fe Trail From Randy Jacquay to Rosemary Milton $78,000 1510 Faulkner Court From Brian S. and Robin K. Becher to Tony M. and Dawn M. Pruitt $171,000 5243 Stellhorn Road From Joel P. Pape to Taryn M. Bradtmueller $110,000 5720 Fontana Drive From HUD to Douglas J. Peterson $55,500 4034 Oakhurst Drive From Kenneth J. and Cynthia D. Mattern to Greg and Ashley Foster $82,500 4024 Wedgewood Drive From Allen County sheriff to Kondaur Capital Corp. $57,200 3921 Tarrington Drive From Harold D. and Jean M. Dewitt to April Colby $167,000 7925 Red Clover Lane From Renee A. Gerber to James L. and Arlene T. Landstoffer $151,000 7616 Maysville Road From Leonard O. Goeglein and Charlotte A. Hottman to Ronald R. Raml and Kathleen A. Halbach $169,900 2105 Cimarron Pass From Freddie Mac to Paul Wilson $67,900 4215 Fieldbrook Pass From John E. and Holly R. Lemler to Stephen R. and Ann R. McNeely $179,900

December 13-19, 2013

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

3431 Glencairn Drive From Jay S. and Patrice C. Kumaran to Alex A. Palermo $72,000

2612 Chandler Drive From Allen County sheriff to U.S. Bank $42,245

3019 Seafarer Cove From Allen County sheriff to Freddie Mac $144,000

7220 Woodlynn Drive From Sharon A. Miller to Jose A. Paez $99,000

3415 Courtwood Drive From Freddie Mac to Austin J. Frost $84,900

7823 Gathings Drive From Treffley R. and Barbara A. Bourcier to Christopher L. Hurse $108,000

7211 Blackhawk Lane From PNC Bank to David L. Gibson $67,500 2312 Buckhurst Run From Heller & Sons Inc. to Raphilla D. Dixie $169,339 6720 Pawawna Drive From Mary L. Dobbs to Cody A. Brake $107,500 4024 Stanton Drive From Joseph M. and Leslie D. Davis to David M. and Erin A. Friend $122,900

46816 2824 Dellview Drive From the estate of Joyce Reynolds to Tin Tun $49,000 1523 E. Paulding Road From Citimortgage Inc. to HUD $79,523

915 E. Paulding Road From Allen County sheriff to the Bank of New York Mellon $18,302 1029 Sylvia St. From HUD to Litus LLC $18,650

46818 11617 Carroll Cove From Paul B. and Elizabeth M. Larson to Heidi L. Tanner $293,700 2614 Sumac Court From Vincent P. Bane III and Tabitha Jo Bane to Paul B. and Elizabeth M. Larson $175,000 1905 Graham Drive From Douglas M. Trainer to JRM Realty LLC $57,500 10910 Cook Road From Janet Haudenschild to Joel Peters $214,999

7304 Chadwick Drive From Jack E. Kling and Rebecca L. Porter to Summit City Investments Inc. $25,000

10436 Kentfield Place From Diana L. Mathews to Austin Gray $132,500

1708 Ventura Lane From U.S. Bank NA to Ja Lar Tin $35,130

10434 Cherry Creek Road From Allen County sheriff to Fifth Third Mortgage Co. $163,565

6225 Chaddsford Drive From Allen County sheriff to Sierra Mountain Retirement LLC $38,000

2022 Wayside Drive From James R. and Juanita L. Stout to Bryan J. and Melissa A. Stout $105,000

4318 Richfield Lane From Marcus A. Tubbs to Cassandra Webster $85,000

10704 Knollton Run From HUD to Alyssa M. Bopp $105,500

1216 Farwood Ave. From Baker Jasmine J1216 to Bor Sort and Bae Gon $49,900 4408 Encino Drive From James H. Lewis III to Sherri Downing and Robert Fox $65,750 4416 Casa Verde Drive From Leah A. Incremona to Richard T. and Arleen K. Byrd $69,900

11006 Summer Chase Road From Dale N. and Julie A. Peterson to Bill and Lisa Green $220,000 10826 Wild Ridge Place From Christi L. and William A. Thomas to Mark E. and Jacqueline E. Clark $174,500 2205 Perry Trail From Allen County Sheriff to Property X LLC $102,951

fwbusiness.com

5705 Joyce Ave. From the estate of James L. Eby to Michael S. and Leanne M. Beeching $127,000

46819

1819 Falconview Place E. From Jeffrey B. and Debra J. Dechert to Luke C. and Michelle L. Carpenter $184,900

7010 River Haze From Elizabeth J. Kraegel to Todd W. Ertel $130,000

8929 Merganser Lane From Susan K. Abbott to Eva M. Geist $152,900 425 Heyford Court From Lancia Homes Inc. to Christian L. Burns $188,000 9109 W. Cook Road From Steven D. and Tressa L. Tuggle to James T. and Erin M. Wagner $287,500 4714 W. Wallen Road From James T. and Erin M. Wagner to Tyler and Leah Shelton $195,000 2702 Bearberry Court From John F. Rotz and Audrey A. Colgan to Ryan J. Hilgenberg $163,500 3816 Hathaway Road From Barbara K. Bellinger to Dorothy A. Rayford $60,000

8819 Hempford Drive From Marjorie L. Eisenacher to Charles E. Parent $107,900

9621 Sea Pines Way From Eric P. and Amy M. Archbold to Eric C. Peat $88,000

531 Elnora Drive From IAB Financial Bank to Colin Moises $83,000 522 Springbrook Road From the Jill Pepple Roth IRA to Jennifer Vanetten $74,000 833 Easton Trail From Manu and Meera Jain to Rachelle L. Grismore and Stephen Simpson $124,000

9221 Burr Oak Drive From the Bank of New York Mellon to Victor Wagler $40,375

7809 Woodbine Ave From Raymond W. Hauser to Bruce C. and Jennifer L. Sharp $112,000

8909 Mariners Ridge Drive From Terry H. Turner to Adam J. Caine and Alyssa K. Zahn $82,900

720 E. Dupont Road From Fifth Third Bank to Dupont Crossing LLC $750,000

1229 Lower Huntington Road From James J. and Susan A. Brunson to Rufina S. Kaufman $72,900

46825 1518 Citation Lane From Granite Ridge Builders Inc. to Sheila K. Blakley $189,900 5312 N. Stony Run Lane From HUD to Cathy Hunter $40,744

2523 Sweet Cider Road From Cynthia L. Barnes to Muhamed and Senada Kostic $140,000

5137 Archwood Lane From Allen County sheriff to Green Tree Servicing LLC $73,678

4702 W. Till Road From Raymond L. Balogh to Andrea Schaefer $16,000

1722 Whitewater Court From Keith H. and Jill M. Werling to Todd E. Werling $110,000

6219/6225 Stoney Creek Drive From Sandra B. Hunter to John Zieg $25,000 2198 Bellevue Drive From IAB Bank to Christopher C. Lewis and Chris R. Meiss $85,900 2708 Jacobs Creek Run From Eric T. Ade to Vuong V. Hoang and Hoi T. Tran $95,000 10109 Nottawa Trail From Russell E. and Ann L. Skinner to Issac R. and Sarah M. Norris $91,500

Michael J. and Jan L. Smith 13236 Lima Road Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Assets: $236,300 Liabilities: $281,505 Tasha M. Cain 8017 Community Lane Fort Wayne, IN 46819 Assets: $1,460 Liabilities: $21,642 Terry L. and Kelly Cox 12324 Butterbrook Lane Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Assets: $179,979 Liabilities: $188,921 Catherine M. Meyers 4209 Winterfield Run Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Assets: $14,037 Liabilities: $132,417 Lucy J. Vogt 424 Archer Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Assets: $165,275 Liabilities: $170,598 Ida B. Washington 4343 Reed St. Fort Wayne, IN 46806 Assets: $45,090 Liabilities: $55,106 JaMela L. Eldridge 2727 Stardale Drive, Apt. 6 Fort Wayne, IN 46816 Assets: $6,985 Liabilities: $29,206 Cheryl R. Johns 7832 Noble Ridge Place Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Assets: $113,295 Liabilities: $193,006

9020 Wyndmoor Drive From Ronald R. Raml to Anthony W. and Theresa J. Distelrath $149,900

Oscar A. and Gladys G. Arevalo 9129 Mariners Ridge Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46819 Assets: $109,237 Liabilities: $117,671

10932 Middleford Place From Gary A. and Ellen S. Price to Hongwei Yu $186,000

2881 E. Dupont Road From BVJ Properties LLC to Pal LLC $1,950,000

1025 Upland Ridge Drive From Lynn A. Shockley to Jeffrey A. and Mary E. Keeling $156,900

Michele L. Lyda 2820 Hillegas Road Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Assets: $1,735 Liabilities: $80,183

413 Heyford Court From Lancia Homes Inc. to Donald C. and Vivian R. Bowers $178,700

1012 Fox Orchard Run From Phuong Do to Grace E. Morken $113,000

9825 Tumbleweed Blvd.

From Bradford Pepple Roth IRA to Steven Wardlow $71,000

10037 Oak Trail Road From Darlene Noak to Zdenka Vickova $112,000

5526 Brighton Drive From U.S. Bank NA to Sunshine Real Estate LLC $47,799

Roger L. and Crystal L. Smith 2125 Morgan Creek Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Assets: $28,993 Liabilities: $91,549

2516 Jacobs Creek Run From Allen County Sheriff to CitiMortgage Inc. $147,462

BANKRUPTCIES

4324 Fairweather Drive From Carroll Creek Development Co. Inc. to Janet R. Haudenschild $46,463 8929 Kasselton Court From Tonia J. Chrisman to Willard L. and Rosemary L. Travis $124,000 3715 Winding River Court From Jeffrey B. and Stacy L. Beeman to Mark T. and Anicia Stalter $150,000

770 E. Dupont Road From Dupont Crossing LLC to Hook-Superx LLC $215,0000 606 Glenfield Drive From Judith J. Reed to Jack M. Chan $90,000

ADAMS COUNTY Ali Said 246 Bellmont Blvd.

Decatur, IN 46733 Assets: $385 Liabilities: $28,356

ALLEN COUNTY Aaron D. Ausderan 2102 Bayside Court Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Assets: $2,525 Liabilities: $13,298

Nichole D. Heinkel 1123 Ferguson Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46805 Assets: $5,577 Liabilities: $24,232 Waymon Brown III 4736 Royal Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Assets: $96,091 Liabilities: $91,985 Perry L. Owens Jr. and Amber K. Armstrong 7414 Lakeridge Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46819 Assets: $12,155 Liabilities: $161,076

PAGE 19

Karen J. Dennis 6640 Maywood Circle Fort Wayne, IN 46819 Assets: $121,100 Liabilities: $124,076

Cari L. Bowers 219 S. Division St. Auburn, IN 46706 Assets: $99,090 Liabilities: $168,501

Mary E. Fields 1010 Oaklawn Court Fort Wayne, IN 46803 Assets: $18,074 Liabilities: $106,707

HUNTINGTON COUNTY

Muris and Enisa Hrelja 7903 Claridge Place Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Assets: $173,700 Liabilities: $213,812 Shane A. and Andrenette D. Montgomery 13317 West St. Grabill, IN 46741 Assets: $126,000 Liabilities: $451,240 William E. and Kathyleen N. Retterer 2702 Sherman Blvd.

Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Assets: $74,225 Liabilities: $213,276 Thomas M. and Ashley A. Hegge 1503 Carlow Court Fort Wayne, IN 46815 Assets: $152,340 Liabilities: $118,053 Everett Z. Ford Sr. and LaKeesha M. Ford 2713 S. Harrison St. Fort Wayne, IN 46807 Assets: $4,300 Liabilities: $59,700 Agustin Alonzo III and Patricia M. Alonzo 4222 Knightway Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46815 Assets: $122,200 Liabilities: $170,033 Barbara S. Gibson 2714 West Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46805 Assets: $132,920 Liabilities: $134,369 Deandra L. Gamble 3428 St. Joe Center Road Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Assets: $64,425 Liabilities: $121,424 Shantel R. Knuth 1852 Hobson Road Fort Wayne, IN 46805 Assets: $82,590 Liabilities: $129,454 Michael A. and Chelsie R. Davis 10102 Wheatfield Lane Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Assets: $11,650 Liabilities: $6,707

DEKALB COUNTY Charles E. Yeaser Jr. and Trishilana M. Yeaser 7520 C.R. 68 Spencerville, IN 46788 Assets: $158,050 Liabilities: $201 ,278

Robert S. and Beth J. Romero 4323 S. Warren Road Huntington, IN 46750 Assets: $153,485 Liabilities: $123,986 James L. Manning Jr. and Patricia L. Manning 8340 S. 600 West Warren, IN 46792 Assets: $29,150 Liabilities: $92,221 Brian E. Davenriner 1011 Byron Huntington, IN 46750 Assets: $103,695 Liabilities: $115,150 Lorrie C. Zeissig 1015 N. Main St. Andrews, IN 46702 Assets: $14,931 Liabilities: $30,687

LAGRANGE COUNTY Janelle L. Jacobs P.O. Box 104 LaGrange, IN 46761 Assets: $126,751 Liabilities: $126,257 Jerry Hicks Jr. 508 E. Spring St. LaGrange, IN 46761 Assets: $101,685 Liabilities: $206,804 Mark N. and Norma J. Easterday 316 N. Detroit St., Apt. B LaGrange, IN 46761 Assets: $5,063 Liabilities: $23,842

STEUBEN COUNTY Marie A. Asher 655 Lane 100 Pine Canyon Lake Angola, IN 46703 Assets: $7,895 Liabilities: $150,098 Michelle M. Rutter 502 Follett Lane, Apt. E Fremont, IN 46737 Assets: $1,115 Liabilities: $11,933

WELLS COUNTY Donovan E. Clark Jr. and Kim E. Clark 1306 W. Washington, #2 Bluffton, IN 46714 Assets: $27,033 Liabilities: $30,378 Robert B. and Judy A. Brown 206 W. Wiley Ave. Bluffton, IN 46714 Assets: $46,200 Liabilities: $68,507 Melissa M. Bunn P.O. Box 93 Craigville, IN 46731 Assets: $117,790 Liabilities: $116,932

PAGE 20

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

fwbusiness.com

Andrew W. Jones 402 Sandalwood Drive Ossian, IN 46777 Assets: $1,515 Liabilities: $12,884

WHITLEY COUNTY Jeffrey A. and Jamie L. Newkirk 3399 E. Sherman St. Columbia City, IN 46725 Assets: $179,550 Liabilities: $213,467

William L. and Carrie A. Shelmadine 2562 W. 450 North Columbia City, IN 46725 Assets: $289,475 Liabilities: $205,703

Shane M. and Amy A. Stoppenhagen 4535 E. Anderson Road Churubusco, IN 46723 Assets: $212,032 Liabilities: $250,940

Tammie L. Bonar 509 Mulberry St. Churubusco, IN 46723 Assets: $3,150 Liabilities: $109,828

Internet Directory www.fwbusiness.com IT SUPPORT & SERVICES • Innovative Technology Group, LLC Contact: Bob Peters 3201 Stellhorn Road Fort Wayne, IN 46815 260-818-0135 itgnei.com

START-UP CAPITAL & ENTREPRENEURAL NEW BUSINESS RESOURCES • Northeast Indiana Innovation Center Inc. Contact: Gulya Alexander 3201 Stellhorn Road Fort Wayne, IN 46815 260-407-6442 niic.net

Be a part of Business Weekly's Internet Directory for $30/week.

Call Today!

260-426-2640

Jerry D. and Marilyn E. Shatzer 5491 N. Fish Hatchery Road Columbia City, IN 46725 Assets: $8,600 Liabilities: $56,687

PATENTS

8,597,352 Articular cartilage fixation device and method Herbert E. Schwartz, Fort Wayne Schwartz Biomedical LLC, Fort Wayne Filed: March 1, 2005 Approved: Dec. 3, 2013

Cut guide Mark Mooradian, Phoenix Matthew J. Lomicka, Fort Wayne Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Falls Church, Va. Zimmer Inc., Warsaw Filed: Feb. 6, 2012 Approved: Dec. 3, 2013

8,591,594 Motion facilitating tibial components for a knee prosthesis Raymond C. Parisi, Wakarusa Katherine M. Rettig, Cincinnati Jeff C. Blaylock, Fort Wayne Zimmer Inc., Warsaw Filed: Sept. 9, 2011 Approved: Nov. 26, 2013

8,599,568

8,591,587

Lightweight audio system for automotive applications and method Vineet Gupta, Noblesville Joseph K. Huntzinger, Kokomo Michael G. Coady, Kokomo Curtis A. Stapert, Carmel Kevin E. Meyer, Swartz Creek, Mich.

Timothy D. Garner, Kokomo Jeffrey T. Bell, Kokomo Robert L. Vadas, Noblesville Donald G. Moeschberger, Kokomo Rick L. Hatcher, Cicero Quan N. Nguyen, Fort Wayne Delphi Technologies Inc., Troy, Mich.

Filed: Aug. 12, 2011 Approved: Dec. 3, 2013

Vertebral body replacement device and method for use to maintain a space between two vertebral bodies within a spine Daniel Refai, Atlanta Jeffrey A. Farris, Berne Jeffrey T. Ebersole, Columbia City Cory A. Trischler, Fort Wayne Gordon P. Kistler, Fort Wayne Charles Wing, Center Valley, Pa. Aesculap Implant Systems LLC, Center Valley, Pa. Filed: May 18, 2012 Approved: Nov. 26, 2013

D694,884

Facebook.com/ businessweekly

Q

December 13-19, 2013

BRIEFLY

ALLEN COUNTY

STOKER TO BE INDIANA TECH STUDENT-AFFAIRS VP Daniel Stoker, presently executive director for student services at the University of Indianapolis, will become Indiana Tech’s new vice president for student affairs Jan. 6.

In the newly created position, Stoker will oversee athletics, student life, residence life and other areas at Indiana Tech.

Prior to working at the University of Indianpolis, Stoker worked at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan. He has worked in university student affairs for more than 18 years.

At the University of Indianapolis, Stoker for three years has taught “The Ethical Leader” course for the organizational leadership major in the School of Adult Learning. He also has taught firstyear transition classes.

He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the State University of New York at Potsdam, and a master’s in college student personnel and a doctorate in educational leadership from Indiana State University.

“I strongly believe in the role that student affairs can have in not only enhancing the student experience on the campus, but also preparing students for leadership and civic engagement after college,” Stoker said in an announcement.

“We not only want responsible, involved students, but also strong, ethical professionals who are prepared to act and serve their industry and community when they graduate.”

Commercial Real Estate Commercial space for lease?

Land? Warehouse?

Whichever you offer, put your message in front of thousands of area business

Innovation Park has the right environment, space, and services to meet today’s innovative and changing business needs regardless of your company’s size.

Check out some of our services: Financing • Business Training • Coaching • Mentors • Investors Conference & Meeting Facilities • Office Suites • Wet & Dry Lab Space

Mike Fritsch, Entrepreneur in Residence, mfritsch@niic.net

leaders each week in the Business Weekly’s Commercial Real Estate section.

Call 260-426-2640 ext. 305

Northeast Indiana Innovation Center 3201-3217 Stellhorn Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46815

260-407-1754 • niic.net Indiana’s Fifth Certified Technology Park • ISO 9001:2008 Certified

December 13-19, 2013

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

fwbusiness.com

PAGE 21

During the holidays, remember to be thankful for yourself As the commer- n cialism of Thanksgiving faded into the commercialism of Christmas (or whatever name you’re allowed to call it these days), several thoughts occurred to me that will impact you as a person, you as a salesperson and your business.

People try so hard to express good cheer in the holiday season they often miss the mark. “Don’t eat too much turkey!” or, “Don’t drink too much eggnog!” is your way of saying, “I have nothing new to say.”

My bet is your “thank you” is somewhat like your mission statement. It’s there, but it’s relatively meaningless, and no one can recite it. (Most employees, even executives, can’t recite their own mission statements, even under penalty of death.)

Hard questions: • Why is this the only season we give thanks?

• How sincere is your message, really?

JEFFREY GITOMER

• Why do you find it necessary to thank your customers at the same time everyone else is thanking their customers?

• If you’re thanking people, what are you offering besides words to show them you value and care about them?

• Why do you have a shiny card with a printed message and foil-stamped company signature — and nothing personal?

Here’s an idea: Why not start by thanking yourself? Thank yourself for your success, your good fortune, your health, your family, your library, your attitude, your fun times, your friends and all the cool things you do that make you a happy person.

If you’re having trouble thanking yourself, that may be an indicator that things aren’t going as well as they could be.

In that situation, any thanks you give to others will be perceived somewhere between “less than whole” and “totally insincere.”

I don’t think you can become sincerely thankful to others until you have become fully thankful to yourself and for yourself.

And once you realize who you are, your message of thanks will become much more real, and passionate, to others.

News reality: The good news is this is

the holiday season. The bad news is it’s so full of retail shopping incentives, mobs of people and “today-only deals” that the festivity is somewhat lost in the shuffle.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday — or wait, is it Cyber Tuesday, or Small Business Saturday, or Throwback Thursday?

Whatever it is, it’s a strategy for advertising and promoting. And I’m OK with it, totally OK with the free-enterprise system, I just think the hype of it has become more dominant than the giving of thanks and the meaning of the season.

Call me old-fashioned, or call me traditional, but I don’t think you can call me “wrong.” I want our economy to be strong, but not at the expense of celebration, family time, and personal time to thank yourself for who you have become and who you are becoming.

Try this: Sit around your dinner table and have each person at the table make a statement as to what he or she is grateful for and who he or she is grateful to. Then have them say one thing about themselves that they are thankful for.

This simple action will be both revealing and educational. It also wipes away all the superficial undertones often associated with the holidays.

Back to you: Sit down and make a list of your best qualities. Your personal assets, not your money or your property.

The assets you possess that you believe have created the person you are. Your humor, your friendliness, your helpfulness, your approachability, your trustworthiness, your honesty, your ethics and maybe even your morality. (Tough list, eh?)

And as you head deeper into this holiday season, perhaps next year’s intentions and focus (not goals and resolutions) will be more about building personal assets and building capabilities you can be thankful for and grateful for.

For those of you wondering, “Where’s the sales tip?”: Wake up and smell the leftovers! I’m trying to help sell you on yourself.

Once you make that sale, once you become the best you can be for yourself, then it’s easy to become the best you can be for others and present yourself in a way that others will buy.

It’s the holidays, baby, go out and thank yourself!

JEFFREY GITOMER, a syndicated columnist, can be reached at salesman@gitomer.com.

Over 2,000 moving parts and complex components.

Today’s healthcare rules are just as complicated.

LLo ookk, it ook i tak akes es a sea es asoned, d exp pert me m chanic to b bu uild an a eng gin ine. e. The e. e new e Aff ffor orda or da d abl b e Ca C re Act c ,w wiith th ove v r 10 10,0 0,0 00 00 0 pag a es of ru rule less le and an d re regu g la gu l tions, is just as complicated and difficu ult to unde de ers r ta t nd n . Wh Wherre do o you u sta art? Ca alll the fulllyy-a app ppro ro ove ed pr prof offes e si s on onal alls at PHP a H. As a tru rust sted e , lo l cal re esource we’ll work with you to constructt a health plan forr yo your ur com company mpany. pa an And your y ur em yo mp ploye loyees lo e s. Le Lear Lear a n mo arn moree at ph phpn phpn pni. pni ii.co com/ea m/ea m/ easy asy sy

PHP EASY Health Coverage. Uncomplicated.

866.789.3492 or contact your broker

PAGE 22

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

fwbusiness.com

n

DREAM: Demand for high-end cars grows

Continued from PAGE 1

UPICK‘EM Pro Football 2013 Contest Play NOW at fwbusiness.com Join KPC Media Group Inc. as we bring chances to win prizes every week by picking winners in one of America’s favorite sports – professional football! There will be local and national winners weekly and a national Grand Prize Winner for a trip for two to Hawaii at the end of the contest.

Week 13 winner: Rob Lyons, atllyons Sponsored by:

For advertising or sponsorship opportunities call 260-426-2640 x324

Official rules online

Special discounts on all in-stock hot tub models.

Also receive FREE electrical installation (up to $500.00 max) with a hot tub purchase, if delivered by 12/23/2013.

Offer ends 12/23/2013

3204 Illinois Road Fort Wayne, IN 46802 260-432-3570 Poolpatioandspas.com

December 13-19, 2013

arrangement that gives the feel of an auto show.

For shoppers who are looking for a high-end performance car but don’t know exactly what they want, “I think it helps to look, and let’s face it, it’s a fun place to look at cars because it’s a lot of variety,” Justice said.

A-1 Automotive at 2107 Coliseum Blvd. W. in Fort Wayne does a lot of work on collector cars and its owner, Tim Gaylord, said Dream Makers has targeted a segment of the collector car market that is growing.

Demand has been growing “for muscle cars and performance cars because the baby boomers grew up with these cars and always wanted one but never could afford them, and they have the ability now with their higher incomes as they’re nearing retirement to go out and purchase them,” Gaylord said.

At the high end of the market, “there are small pockets of people who can purchase a vehicle like that,” he said.

“The concentration of people buying a car like that in Fort Wayne is low, but there certainly are people out there who can acquire those cars.”

“Some of the other states are well-established in this market, and I would say northeast Indiana is growing in this market and fairly rapidly.”

Enough collector car shopping is done online that a majority of the customers a local retailer in the business might serve could be expected to come to it from metro areas outside the region, Gaylord said.

“That’s where the Web is a wonderful tool,” he said. “If you have a desirable location, such as the one that (Justice Automotive Group) is getting started, overseas sales can be very strong.”

Joe Justice said he keeps in mind the ability to reach an audience in the nearest major metro areas of the Midwest — and around the world for that matter — when he shoots photos and writes descriptions of the Dream Makers inventory for its website at DreamMakersAutomotive.com.

For example, “if someone living in Indianapolis wants to find a 458 Italia …

I don’t think it would be too much trouble for them to drive 100 miles to shop,” he said.

In addition to the inventory it carries, the dealership offers a service where it will find and purchase for customers any vehicle they specify. All vehicles sold by the dealership are delivered by a Dream Makers employee who personally explains their operation and maintenance. The dealership also customizes vehicles to specifications.

As a 19-year-old college student, Joe works at the dealership part time with his father, John, and with his brother, Jesse, who runs the detailing business.

“It’s awesome,” Joe said of the experience they are sharing. “It is great working around the cars.

“Sometimes you’re around them so much you don’t realize what you’re looking at and … you almost get used to it. But you never quite get used to it,” Joe said. “I still get that thrill whenever a new car shows up.”

John Justice shares that enthusiasm even after 25 years of selling all kinds of vehicles, including time at a dealership specializing in high-end performance vehicles. Starting his new venture was the fulfillment of a personal dream, he said.

“My sons have gotten old enough that they can be a huge asset to what I have wanted to do for a long time,” he said.

“My son Jesse, he started the detailing business and window tinting business five years ago for a fair share of some of my clients,” John Justice said. “Jesse is a partner here … I joined forces with him.”

John Justice believes many customers are fulfilling a dream when they buy a collector car. When he sells them one, he wants to make its delivery an experience they always will remember.

Vehicles will be delivered by truck in an enclosed trailer, Justice said. Customers will be able to go online to watch streaming video of the car being loaded for transport, and will be able to admire its beauty and visually check its condition at any point in the journey.

“If they want it and they tell us how many they will have there, we will bring food and drinks and cater the event,” he said. “Our research and experience shows most people are willing to pay a little extra for that concierge service to know that their car has been cared for all the way to their doorstep.”

The concierge service and the dealership’s vehicle finder service is not restricted to collector cars but is available to anyone. And collector car shoppers will not be the only ones riding in some of the most prized inventory at Dream Makers.

“If we can make a sick kid smile by taking a ride in a car like this, we’ll be the first in line to do that,” Justice said.

He said he already has made arrangements for a number of such visits and looks forward to the dealership’s community involvement.

“We want to do things right, and our No. 1 goal is to have a car dealership people can trust, that they can come to and have a good time and be treated the way they want to be treated.”

December 13-19, 2013

n

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

fwbusiness.com

PAGE 23

TAXES: Indiana started borrowing in 2008, accumulating a total loan of $2 billion n

Continued from PAGE 1

happy about it, agreed Ogle and Jennifer Bearman, tax supervisor at Baden Gage & Schroeder LLC. One of those unhappy employers is Bob Hinty, owner of Hentz Manufacturing, who was notified recently by his payroll-services provider that he would owe a considerably larger amount that he expected this year.

It doesn’t seem fair, Hinty said, that Indiana employers should pay more in federal unemployment taxes because the state has not lived up to its obligations.

“That is no way to conduct business,” Hinty said. “If it is truly something we owe, we should pay it.”

As what some see as an even further aggravation, the state of Indiana ended its fiscal year June 30 with a cash reserve of nearly $2 billion. The state brought in a “structural surplus” of $483 million over that period, $93 million more than expected; and in fiscal 2012, the surplus revenue exceeded $500 million.

“We’ve heard, over the last couple years, Mitch Daniels had no problem broadcasting the fact that the state has a surplus,” Bearman noted. “I can understand, as an employer, how they would feel.”

The U.S. government’s unemployment

“Realistically, when we talk to our clients, we tell them we do not know what the state is going to do, but you have to plan for it.”

Jessica Ogle Dulin Ward & DeWald Inc.

insurance program required employers to pay 6.2 percent on up to $7,000 of the amount they pay each worker each year.

The employers normally receive a Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) credit of up to 5.4 percent on that amount if it is paid on time, and that credit remained at the same level even after the rate was reduced to 6 percent.

Unemployment benefits also are supported with state unemployment taxes.

During the skyrocketing unemployment levels that came with the Great Recession, however, a number of states, including Indiana, borrowed money from the federal government to help pay unemployment claims.

“States got into trouble being able to pay those benefits,” Bearman explained.

Indiana was one of the first to go to the

federal well. It began borrowing in 2008 and accumulated a total loan of $2 billion.

Under the terms of the loans to the states, once a state had an unpaid loan balance for two consecutive years, the feds began to reduce the unemployment tax credit to employers in the state by 0.3 percent each year. If a state repays its loan balance in full and does not borrow again during the same calendar year, the tax credit reverts to the higher 5.4 percent.

In 2012, employers in 18 states and the Virgin Islands paid their federal unemployment tax at a higher rate because of unpaid state balances that reduced their tax credits.

This year, 14 states have outstanding loan balances, and have seen employer credits reduced by 0.3, 0.6 or 0.9 percent.

Indiana and the Virgin Islands are the only ones that have had their tax credits reduced by 1.2 percent for 2013 because of four consecutive years of nonpayment.

States have until Nov. 10 each year to make their payments to the federal government, so it’s only after that date that employers learn whether their tax credit will be reduced — and therefore the amount they owe increased — for that year.

“Realistically, when we talk to our clients, we tell them we do not know what the state is going to do, but you have to plan

for it,” Ogle said. “If the employer doesn’t want to be surprised, then we recommend they put it in at the higher rate.”

Most of Baden Gage & Schroeder’s larger clients use a third-party payroll-services provider, but the firm does provide payroll services to some smaller businesses.

After four years, “a lot of clients have planned for it and they account for it in their books and records,” Bearman said.

If Indiana goes a fifth year without paying the debt, another 1-percent reduction in the tax credit to employers could kick in for 2014, Bearman warned.

Employers also pay a surcharge on their federal unemployment insurance taxes to cover the interest on Indiana’s outstanding loan. The rate of the surcharge changes annually as interest rates vary. The federal interest rate for 2013 is 2.58 percent, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, down from 2.94 percent in 2012, making the surcharge for this year 7 percent.

Rather than continuing to carry the debt, several states, including Texas, Idaho, Michigan, Illinois and most recently Nevada, have approved bond issues to repay the remainder that they owed.

Indiana has said it will pay off its loans by 2019.

ANNING

T PL ARE EVEN

BANKING

TE REAL ESTA FINANCE

ICE GY SERV

HC IES HEALT COMPAN

TECHNOLO

K O BO S T S I L

&

ne fort way greater

2014

OF

eekly siness W ayne Bu er Fort W A Great

Sponsored

By:

ion Publicat

COMING SOON! 2014 BOOK OF LISTS

$19.95

Sponsored By:

December 13-19, 2013

3306 Independence Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808

GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

Business Weekly

fwbusiness.com

GREATER FORT WAYNE

PAGE 24