Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly - Jan. 10, 2014

Business Weekly GREATER

FORT WAYNE

JANUARY 10-16, 2014

Daily updates at www.fwbusiness.com

LOCAL NEWS

Looking to grow Tower sought its own acquisition

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$1.00

First Financial moves into Fort Wayne

STORM PUTS REGION IN DEEP FREEZE

Cincinnati bank hires former Tower lenders

BY DOUG LEDUC dleduc@kpcmedia.com

the completion of plans and the extensive renovations to the two buildings are expected to take about 18 months to complete.

The university plans to use the down-

First Financial Bank has opened a Summit City banking center with two teams of bankers who used to work for Fort Wayne-based Tower Bank & Trust Co. Davis First Financial and its parent company, First Financial Bancorp, both have their headquarters in Cincinnati. As of Sept. 30, the company had $6.3 billion in assets, $3.9 billion in loans and $4.7 billion in deposits, including more than $1.9 million in Indiana deposits.

Claude Davis, chairman and chief executive officer of the company and president and CEO of the bank, said its 110 banking centers include 45 in Indiana. Its downtown Fort Wayne location in the former Merrill Lynch building at 130 W. Main St. was announced Jan. 6 in a prepared statement.

“We had interest in the Fort Wayne market for several years and what we were looking for was the right entry point in the market and so the availability of these teams is what created the opportunity to enter the market now,” Davis said in an interview.

n

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BARRY ROCHFORD

Glenbrook Square was largely deserted Jan. 6 when record-breaking snow and low temperatures gripped northeast Indiana and much of the rest of the state. A state of emergency kept most businesses closed and vehicles off the roads. For more, read the story on page 6.

Saint Francis waits for word on Legacy funding University is poised to begin renovations at downtown Fort Wayne campus

BY LINDA LIPP llipp@kpcmedia.com

The University of Saint Francis is still stitching together the pieces of the $12 million in funding that it needs to get its downtown Fort Wayne campus up

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INSIDE

Vol. 10 Issue 2

and running in the former Scottish Rite and Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce buildings.

It already is cutting it close if it is to get the buildings renovated and ready for classes by the fall of 2015, CFO Rich Bienz said. The selection of an architect,

See USF on PAGE 21

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

LOCAL NEWS

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

Happy thoughts

Real estate...................... 10 People on the Move ..... 14 Top Lists ..................... 17-18 BizLeads..................... 18-20

High workplace morale makes productive employees

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See FIRST on PAGE 20

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January 10-16, 2014

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January 10-16, 2014

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

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Tower made its own acquisition overtures before ONB deal

BY DOUG LEDUC dleduc@kpcmedia.com

The Fort Wayne-based parent of Tower Bank & Trust Co. may have been on the other end of an acquisition agreement by now if a smaller Indiana bank it approached had responded differently.

Instead, Tower Financial Corp. ALSO IN BW will hold a special Q Merger helps meeting at 9:30 a.m. boost Tower Feb. 7 at the Land- stock price 116% mark Conference & in 2013. Top Reception Center, List, page 17 6222 Ellison Road, Fort Wayne, where its shareholders will vote on an offer

by Evansville-based Old National Corp. to buy Tower for $6.75 in cash and 1.2 shares of Old National for each Tower share.

The deal was announced Sept. 10.

A prospectus published last month to provide Tower shareholders detailed information on Old National’s offer included an account of how the acquisition came about.

It depicted a board that was convinced Tower had to grow substantially to remain independent and was willing to attempt that through acquisition before its duty to maximize shareholder value pushed it in another direction.

Initially, “the decision to sell was not one that was high on our radar,” Michael Cahill, president and chief executive officer of the bank and its holding company, said in an interview.

“We were having really good progress

PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY BARRY ROCHFORD

Tower Financial Corp. shareholders will vote on the proposed acquisition by Old National Bancorp Feb. 7 in Fort Wayne. on our own and thought there was some real opportunity on the part of folks who might want to become part of Tower.”

Members of Tower’s senior management and of its board, chaired by Keith Busse, began the process in 2011 of reviewing other community banks they thought might fit within its growth profile.

“During this time, Cahill and Busse n

See TOWER on PAGE 7

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BANKING & FINANCE REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY SERVICE COMPANIES HEALTH CARE EVENT PLANNING

Old National stays busy

BOOK LISTS OF

2014

Old National Bancorp, which expects to complete its acquisition of Fort Waynebased Tower Financial Corp. by the end of the quarter, now has a southern Michigan bank in its sights.

The Evansville bank company announced Jan. 8 it planned to acquire Ann Arbor-based United Bancorp Inc., parent of United Bank & Trust. The Michigan bank’s 18 branches will double Old National’s presence in the

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state to 36 full-service offices.

The agreement approved by the boards of both companies values the deal at about $13.17 per share, or a total of $173 million.

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January 10-16, 2014

Surge in new home construction helps lift permit totals The value n of construction permits issued in Allen County in 2013 totaled $569.6 million, an increase of $59 million, or 11.6 percent, from 2012.

Totals were up in both the commercial and residential sectors, according to a year-end report from the Allen

Reporter’s

NOTEBOOK

BND COMMERCIAL

REAL ESTATE & RETAIL

County Building Department.

climbed to 839 in 2013 from 689 the year before.

Totals include new buildings as well as additions, renovations, repairs, alterations and other projects.

Linda Lipp

Commercial permit values rose to $307.9 million, an increase of $24.2 million, or 8.5 percent, from the year before. Residential permit values surged to $261.7 million, an increase of $34.8 million, or 15.3 percent, from 2012. The number of new home permits issued in the county

Steve Wesner represented the landlord, M-B-C Corp., and Roger Koehlinger represented the tenant, God’s Automotive LLC, in the renewal of a lease of 1,500 square feet of space at 2215 Parnell Ave. Karl Behrens represented the landlord, Rogers Markets Inc., in the renewal of a lease of 6,000 square feet of space at 312 E. Dupont Road to the tenant, Pathway Community Church.

David Norton and Dave Stemen represented the landlord, CMSJ Holdings LLC, in the renewal of a lease of 1,904 square feet of space at 10826-10828 Coldwater Road. Norton also represented the tenant, Quality Counseling & Psychological Services.

Stemen represented the tenant, KCI USA Inc., in the lease of 1,350 square feet of space in Pierceton from McClure Properties.

Behrens

represented

the

tenant,

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of 69,329 square feet of space at 3102 Brooklyn Ave. from landlord, Aerl L.C. Phil Knapke represented the buyer, Kroger Limited Partnership II, in the purchase of 4,444 square feet of space at 5765 Falls Drive from Liberty Mills Investments of Fort Wayne LLC.

CBRE/STURGES Brad Sturges represented the owner of the former Borders bookstore space at 4320 Coldwater Road in the new lease of 26,081 square feet of space to Fresh Thyme Farmers Market.

Karen Spake and Carolyn SpakeLeeper represented the seller, JCIM US LLC, in the sale of a 65,790-square-foot industrial building on 9.63 acres at 300 S. Progress Drive, Kendallville.

Spake and Spake-Leeper represented the landlord, Peggy Mills LLC, in the lease of a 5,000-square-foot industrial building located at 4835 Jean Drive. The new tenant is F&M Tile Co. Spake and Spake-Leeper represented the owner, Peg Perego USA Inc., in the lease of a 40,000-square-foot industrial building at 3605 Independence Drive to Tri State Warehousing.

Bill Cupp represented the buyer, Reflective Industries LLC, in the acquisition of a 34,628-square-foot industrial building at 2101 Renner Drive, Hartford City.

Cupp represented the landlord, Interstate Properties LLP, in the lease of an additional 18,000 square feet of industrial space at 5503 Distribution Drive to Trelleborg Sealing Solutions US Inc. Alexander Genova represented the seller, Hook-Super X LLC, in the sale of

1.6 acres at 1703 Carroll Road. The site will be a new location for Indiana Physical Therapy.

REDS, WHITES AND PASTELS Painting with a Twist, a franchise that combines instructional art with wine, will celebrate its grand opening Jan. 16 at 6425 W. Jefferson Blvd.

The Fort Wayne studio is owned by Marshall and Bonnie Springer, who had considered the idea previously and decided to move forward with the franchise after Marshall Springer was furloughed from his Air National Guard position during the GREATER FORT WAYNE

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

last government shutdown.

Painting with a Twist, known previously as Corks N Canvas, was founded in 2007. It offers programs for a variety of customers and occasions, from birthday parties to bachelorette parties to informal friend get-togethers.

“Being laid off without income got me thinking. Given the current political situation, there was no way of telling how long the shutdown might last or when the next one might start. So I decided I needed to find another way of generating income,” Springer said.

“There’s something about the idea of getting people together over a glass of wine and showing them how to tap into their inner artist,” he continued. “And I like the fact that we also cater to children.

We change the theme of the painting and serve them soda, of course. But the kids have every bit as much fun as the adults.”

The Springers remodeled the space adjacent to Chop’s Steaks & Seafood to meet their needs and hired painting instructors. They even conducted some pre-opening classes to iron out the bugs.

Springer is continuing with the National Guard and has no intention of retiring soon.

For information or to sign up for a class, visit PaintingWithATwist.com/fortwayne.

UPSTAR, MLS NAME 2014 OFFICERS The Upstate Alliance of Realtors and the UPSTAR Multiple Listing Service have installed new officers for 2014.

UPSTAR officers are: J. Kyle Ness, Real Living Ness Bros., president; David Mervar, Beer & Mervar Realtors, president-elect; and Brenda Williams, Century 21 Bradley Realty, secretary/treasurer.

Adam Smith, Coldwell Banker Roth Wehrly Graber, is the immediate past president of UPSTAR and the new president of the UPSTAR MLS. 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.

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.

January 10-16, 2014

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Extension service hosts Get Checking workshop

Q

The Allen n County office of

IPFW APPOINTS NEW VICE CHANCELLOR

Purdue University’s Cooperative Extension Service will host

Reporter’s

NOTEBOOK

a free workshop every month this winter and spring, which could help improve e c o n o m i c stability and asset growth for area families through better access to mainstream financial services.

Doug LeDuc An announcement on the Get Checking workshop said it is designed for “clients and families who have never had checking or savings accounts at a bank or credit union, mismanaged accounts at banks and credits unions so those accounts are now closed without committing fraud, or have accounts, but continue to still use predatory lenders.”

The workshop will be offered from 1-5 p.m. Jan. 23, March 18 and May 14, and 5-9 p.m. Feb. 18, April 15 and June 16 at the extension service’s office at 4001 Crescent Ave. on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Topics covered during the sessions will range from “Choosing an Account Right for You” to “Keys to Successful Money Management and Credit.”

Preregistration is required for the workshop by contacting Vickie Hadley at the extension service at (260) 481-6826 or hadleyv@purdue.edu or at its office in person or at the home and money page of its website at www.extension.purdue.edu/ allen.

The Get Checking workshop is part of the Bank on Fort Wayne financial education initiative announced in 2011 with support from ProFed, Tower Bank, 3Rivers Federal Credit Union, Lake City Bank, Midwest America Federal Credit Union, Fifth Third Bank, PNC Bank, Markle Bank, Grabill Bank, 1st Source Bank, Old National Bank, First Federal Savings Bank of Huntington and Fire Police City County Federal Union.

Markle Bank and Grabill Bank have since merged to become IAB Financial Bank.

Completion of the workshop will earn participants a certificate, which will allow

BANKING & FINANCE

them to open a bank or credit union account with a participating institution.

Qualified participants also will receive a $50 incentive to open an account.

INDIANA SENATORS VOTE FOR YELLEN CONFIRMATION Janet Yellen, vice chair of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, will become its 15th chair and the first woman in that position when she is sworn in Feb. 1.

Yellen’s nomination to a four-year term as chair was announced by the Obama administration on Oct. 9 and confirmed through a bipartisan vote of the U.S. Senate on Jan. 6.

A White House statement on her confirmation said she was among the country’s most respected economists, and as a leading voice on the Fed for more than a decade she helped pull the economy out of recession.

With her confirmation, “the American people will have a fierce champion who understands that the ultimate goal of economic and financial policymaking is to improve the lives, jobs and standard of living of American workers and their families,” the statement said.

“Janet is committed to the Fed’s dual mandate of keeping inflation in check while also addressing our most important economic challenge by reducing unemployment and creating jobs.”

Yellen was confirmed by a margin of more than 2-to-1, with 56 senators voting in favor, 26 voting against and 18 not voting.

U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., and U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., both voted in favor.

U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-3rd, tempered his congratulations with a plug for his policy preferences. As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, he had authored the H.R. 492 legislation to end the Fed’s “dual mandate” and force it to focus on sound monetary policy.

“While I congratulate Ms. Yellen on her confirmation, I also invite her to work with Congress on solutions that restore confidence and encourage economic growth through predictable, rules-based monetary policy,” he said in the statement.

“Printing money won’t create the jobs Americans need, no matter who chairs the Federal Reserve.”

The statement said “as a part of its ‘Federal Reserve Centennial Oversight Project,’ the Financial Services Committee will hold an aggressive series of hearings on the Fed this year.”

The committee deals with banking system, insurance, housing, economic, and securities and exchange issues and has

responsibility for the nation’s monetary policy and matters relating to international finance.

Stutzman introduced his Focusing the Fed on the Currency of the United States, or the FFOCUS Act of 2013, about two months after his office announced his selection for the House Financial Services Committee.

In a statement explaining the FFOCUS Act, Stutzman had said last February “more than twelve million Americans are out of work but, instead of pursuing an aggressive pro-growth agenda, this Administration is hoping the Federal Reserve will ‘solve’ the problem by firing up the printing presses.

“Printing money is no substitute for sound job growth policies. Since 1978, the Federal Reserve’s contradictory dual mandate to fight unemployment and inflation has become a crutch for politicians who lack the courage to tackle the real problems.”

If you have items for the banking and finance column, please contact Doug LeDuc by e-mail at dleduc@kpcmedia.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.

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BRIEFLY

ALLEN COUNTY

Wendy Kobler was named vice chancellor for advancement at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, the school announced.

She will be responsible for development, marketing and alumni relations at the university. She worked for four years as vice president of marketing, communication and advancement at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Ala., where she also was a member of the president’s executive cabinet and advised the school’s board of trustees.

Kobler’s background includes working as the marketing and public-relations manager for Fiscal Systems and serving as the lead conference organizer for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Conference. She also owned her own business, Kobler Communications.

She has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of West Florida and a master’s degree in secondary education from Alabama A&M University.

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40 UNDER 40 NOMINATION DEADLINE EXTENDED Know of someone under the age of 40 making a difference in northeast Indiana?

Business Weekly is accepting nominations for its fifth-annual 40 Under 40 awards, which recognize individuals for their professional and civic achievements.

Winners will be featured in a special Business Weekly publication and be honored at an event that begins at 6 p.m.

March 19 at Ceruti’s Banquet & Event Center in Fort Wayne. The nomination deadline has been extended to Jan. 22. To nominate yourself or another individual, go to FWBusiness.com/ events/40_under_40 and click on “40 Under 40 Nominations.”

FILE PHOTO

Storm has chilling effect on businesses ‘Extraordinary’ event shuts down commerce

BY JOEL ELLIOTT jelliott@kpcmedia.com

A freezing blast of weather blowing in from the North Pole shut down much of Fort Wayne Jan. 6 and brought an as-yet-unquantified slowdown in business.

Gov. Mike Pence declared a state of emergency in parts of Indiana. The National Guard mobilized to assist those stuck on the highways as much of the rest of the state hunkered indoors.

Temperatures fell far below zero and roughly a foot of snow fell across northeast Indiana.

Although it was difficult to get a full accounting due to the fact that many still had not returned to their offices, many area businesses shut down because of the snowstorm and dangerously low temperatures. One such business was

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“It’s very rare for us to shut down, but it was one of those scenarios of cold weather and heavy snow that you might see only once every 20 years or so.”

Geoff Thomas Lutheran Health Network

Sweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne.

“We were closed the entire day on Monday (Jan. 6) … It was the first time in the company’s history that we ever closed down,” spokesman Christopher Guerin said of the professional audio equipment and instrument seller. “That’s 35 years, so that’s pretty extraordinary.” n

See STORM on PAGE 7

January 10-16, 2014

C’mon, get happy Lincoln National paper outlines tie between morale, productivity

BY DOUG LEDUC dleduc@kpcmedia.com

It may seem counterintuitive, but all the small talk you soon will be hearing among co-workers about next month’s Super Bowl Kertay XLVIII could actually help improve the productivity of your workplace.

If you need an excuse for this or other light-hearted office chitchat, you can find it in a white paper Dr. Les Kertay released last year praising the benefits of workplace camaraderie.

Kertay is the Group Protection chief medical officer for Lincoln National Corp., an insurance and financial-services company with a headquarters in Philadelphia and annuity operations based in Fort Wayne. The company is known for its Lincoln Financial Group brand.

The white paper, “Happiness and the Bottom Line: The Happy Worker Prescription,” explains what contributes to employee happiness and how that relates to employee success and workplace productivity.

The subject interests Lincoln partly because group insurance costs can be affected by the incidence and duration of workplace absences, and Kertay said happiness in the workplace can affect the incidence and duration of those absences.

The “Happy Worker Prescription” provides an overview of research on the subject, such as Healthways-Gallup findings that employees who are unhappy at work are seven times more likely to be absent from it.

“We know one of the things that drives disability duration and workplace absence duration is the attitude and general health and well-being of the employee,” Kertay said. “The primary drivers are going to be the severity of whatever illness occurs, but once you get beyond that, it’s affected by psycho-social factors and that includes the workplace environment.

“What’s good for the employee is also good for the employer, and indirectly is good for the insurer, but the primary thing really is doing the right thing by the employee.”

The kind of well-being that Kertay

STOCK.XCHNG

describes involves more than just feeling good and includes the development of enriching relationships and a sense of engagement and meaning.

An increasing amount of research has been conducted examining factors that contribute to happiness and well-being, but most of it has focused on what individuals can do to work toward improving their own situation, he said.

Kertay said he also has found evidence that employers can do a great deal to create an environment in which employees are more likely to enjoy their work.

“I think one thing that’s probably the most striking in the (research) literature is the importance of relationships and personal connections in the work force,” he said.

“By way of example, employers sometimes will tend to discourage the watercooler conversations like it’s a time waster, and you certainly don’t want your people spending the whole day gathered around the water cooler. But at the same time, those social relationships are a very important part of their job satisfaction.

“It’s important for employers to pay attention to and provide opportunities for employees to have those social connections.”

Kertay said employers can make a workplace more enjoyable by investing in the training of managers to teach them how to create a work environment that promotes a positive attitude and the kind of collaboration where team members want to see each other succeed. n

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January 10-16, 2014

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TOWER: Dinner put wheels in motion

Continued from PAGE 3

met and engaged in various levels of discussions with eight banks, which TFC had identified as banks that might either have an interest in being acquired by TFC — in either a cash or equity transaction or a combination of both — or that might have an interest in considering a merger of equals transaction,” the prospectus said.

“One proposal made by TFC to acquire one of these banks in the summer of 2012 was rejected, and an attempt in the first quarter of 2013 to interest another bank to engage in a board-level special committee discussion, regarding a possible merger of equals transaction, was rejected by that bank in April 2013,” it said.

“Other than these two items, the discussions did not result in any indications of interest on the part of any banks, it becoming apparent to TFC that both its balance sheet limitations and relatively small public equity float were, and would continue to be impediments to its attractiveness as an acquirer.”

Tower entered into an ongoing advisory relation during the summer of 2011 with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a New York-based investment bank specializing in the financial-services industry. KBW began analyzing strategic alternatives for Tower without a formal agreement for that purpose during the fall of 2012.

It studied banks of interest to Tower as a potential acquisition to project their likely cost, identify any challenges they would present and determine the impact they would have on Tower’s performance.

A special committee including Busse, Robert Taylor, Ron Turpin and William Niezer was formed last February to review acquisition possibilities and to consider the interest other banks had shown in acquiring Tower.

In addition to Old National, five banks had expressed interest in acquiring Tower.

The prospectus does not identify those banks or the banks Tower studied as potential acquisitions, and Cahill declined to identify them.

Tower was not interested in a transaction with any institution that did not have a culture similar to its own, which was rooted deeply in community banking.

Richard Sawyer, Tower’s chief financial officer, had raised Tower’s profile some in September 2012 during a presentation on the company at an Invest Indiana conference in Indianapolis that was attended by Robert Jones, Old National’s CEO. Jones ran into Busse that evening at a dinner hosted by Stifel Financial Corp., an investment bank that had a relationship with Tower dating back to 2004.

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“It’s not as simple as someone putting an equation on the chalkboard; there’s an awful lot of qualitative and quantitative discussion that goes into this.”

Michael Cahill Tower Financial Corp.

Jones had said at that time that he would like to meet with Busse in Fort Wayne at some point in the future but there were no serious discussions.

Jones followed that up last March 11 by bringing Jim Ryan, an Old National executive vice president, to a meeting at Eddie Merlot’s restaurant in Fort Wayne with Busse, Cahill and KBW representatives.

The same group gathered for a conference call on March 20, where a request was made for an indication of value based on publicly available information, without starting any formal negotiations.

A range of $18 to $22 per share was provided two days later.

After the merger of equals transaction was rejected in April, a KBW presentation persuaded the special committee that there were not enough suitable opportunities for Tower to grow through acquisition.

“We felt there was a big gap between pricing and timing and all sorts of other considerations, but you don’t know that until you go out and give it your best effort,” Cahill said.

After its April meeting, the committee authorized Busse to seek further pricing guidance from Old National, which responded that it would pay $22 per share, subject to its due-diligence findings.

The banks signed a mutual confidentiality agreement to explore a deal on May 16. Old National conducted its due diligence in July and informed Tower that it could hold to $22 per share, then Jones made a presentation to Tower’s board on Aug. 7, which convinced its members the banks would be a good cultural fit.

“It’s not as simple as someone putting an equation on the chalkboard; there’s an awful lot of qualitative and quantitative discussion that goes into this,” Cahill said.

“Value is not just a point-in-time price paid for stock,” he said. “How the community views you, how your employees view you, how your customers view you — that all impacts value.”

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STORM: Employees’ safety paramount

Continued from PAGE 6

Guerin said it was difficult to estimate how much revenue the company lost on account of the winter shutdown.

He said the company can take in as much as $1 million per day in sales, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it lost that much Jan. 6, since if customers had intended to make a purchase they could just make it on another day. The company stayed closed Jan. 6 out of concern for the safety of its employees, he said.

“On really bad-weather days, we don’t want anyone to risk an accident to get here,” Guerin said. Jan. 6 “was just over-the-top extreme.”

Other businesses closed down to avoid the icy blast.

All RediMed urgent-care clinics closed, along with all offices and clinics of Lutheran Medical Group in northeast Indiana on Jan. 6, Lutheran Health Network spokesman Geoff Thomas said.

Those with medical emergencies were advised to call 911 or go to hospital emergency rooms instead.

“Obviously, there was an inconvenience factor of having to reschedule appointments, but I think we were able to get the word out in a timely way,”

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Thomas said. “It’s very rare for us to shut down, but it was one of those scenarios of cold weather and heavy snow that you might see only once every 20 years or so.”

The cold snap came as a result of a disturbance in a semi-regular weather pattern that circles the North Pole, according to the Weather Channel.

The relatively tight circle of the “polar vortex” was warped into an elongated loop that spanned much of the northern hemisphere, falling lopsidedly across North America and bringing the cold and snow.

One hub of business shut down by the winter storm was Jefferson Pointe in southwest Fort Wayne. Mall managers shut down the mall itself, as the emergency announcements did not allow for them to travel by road to be there, but individual store owners were free to open if they chose to do so, marketing manager Katrina Newman said.

“Once it’s a Level One emergency, only emergency personnel was allowed on the roads,” Newman said. “We did it for the safety of the public. It’s very rare for us to close the shopping center.

I’ve been here for three years and we’ve never closed.”

HAPPY: Provide opportunities to socialize

Continued from PAGE 6

“It’s really about investing in the emotional intelligence of your manager,” he said. “There’s business skills and there’s interpersonal skills, and investing in those people skills I think is important.

“It’s important for employees to know how their role contributes to the success of the team and how the team contributes to the success of the company,” Kertay said.

“They will control themselves (from going overboard with socializing) because people are invested in the success of the team and the success of the company.

That kind of environment is both the most satisfying and the most productive.

It takes care of itself if you have those pieces in place.”

Kertay said studies have shown the number of times a person experiences even brief moments of joy each day can strongly predict overall happiness, and employers can make a workplace more cheerful by increasing the number of favorable emotional events employees experience.

The American Psychological Association has an entire program devoted to nurturing a psychologically healthy work-

place, he said.

Kertay offers employers the following 10 tips as his “Happy Worker Prescription” to create an enjoyable workplace culture: • Make sure managers understand that employee happiness impacts productivity and helps keep your workforce fully engaged and productive.

• Hire happy people.

• Invest in managers’ emotional intelligence.

• Provide recognition in the way the employee values most.

• Provide opportunities to socialize, and encourage it.

• Provide benefits that are important to your employees and enhance their financial security — and emphasize the value of those benefits.

• If there are issues with performance, address them directly, starting with the positive.

• If an individual or the team is showing signs of stress, listen without judgment.

• If you have done something wrong, apologize.

• Express interest in staff well-being, including when an employee is out of work.

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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

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Barry Rochford brochford@kpcmedia.com Editor

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Joel Elliott jelliott@kpcmedia.com Reporter

Doug LeDuc Reporter

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Mary Schmitz mschmitz@kpcmedia.com Creative Supervisor

Ashley LeTourneau aletourneau@kpcmedia.com Researcher

MARKETING CONSULTANTS

William Hanley Kelly Bransteter

George O. Witwer Publisher Emeritus

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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.

©2014 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

January 10-16, 2014

Odds and ends for the new year

Terry Housholder thousholder@kpcmedia.com

dleduc@kpcmedia.com

n

The Purdue problem Without Purdue University’s guidance and stewardship, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne would not be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

It would not have become the fifthlargest public institution in Indiana. It would not have an expanded athletic center and a renovated student center — or one of a number of other facility investments that have been made on the northeast Fort Wayne campus.

Yet, Purdue’s management of IPFW has over time become something of an obstacle. Of a hindrance, not a help.

It’s time that Purdue’s president, Mitch Daniels, and its board of trustees recognize this and take action. IPFW is no longer simply a regional campus serving as a feeder school for West Lafayette. It is its own university, with its own unique set of circumstances and aspirations.

It should be provided the autonomy to decide how to best educate students in northeast Indiana for the next 50 years.

Education is the rallying cry in northeast Indiana and across the state as we attempt to improve economic conditions and our quality of life. Businesses expanding, companies relocating, developing and supporting a desirable work force — it all depends on our students obtaining a quality education that instills the skills employers want to see in their employees.

n

EDITORIAL

Education is so critical that the No. 1 priority for the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership over the next decade is raising to 60 percent the number of residents in the region ages 25 to 64 with a two- or four-year degree or professional credential. Other economic-development strategies — be they local or state-level — are grounded in the premise that education is the foundation for our future.

IPFW must have the freedom to provide the programs that northeast Indiana employers want and need.

It should be able to offer advanced degrees that will help prepare students for future jobs at companies and within industries that are significant to this region’s economy. And it should receive funding equitable to its status as one of the state’s largest universities.

Purdue’s leaders must work to help achieve this, and they must clear the bureaucratic quagmire and empower IPFW administrators and faculty so the university can set its own course.

If they don’t, the calls for IPFW becoming its own independent degreegranting institution will grow stronger.

And area business leaders will look to other universities — Notre Dame, for example, or Ball State — to offer the programs and degrees that northeast Indiana needs, and that Purdue failed to provide.

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.

Q To begin the New Year, I want to apologize for an error in last week’s column. There I wrote that the personal property of commercial and industrial firms was assessed at the state level. That is not true. County assessors remain responsible for such assessments.

That error was not commented on by any of my readers. This lack of response indicates: a) I have no readers; b) I have no readers who know anything about the assessment of business personal property; c) I have no readers who care enough to put me on the right path; or d) your kindly local editor corrected my misstatement.

Q On Feb. 9, Lake Central High School in Lake n County dedicates its new $120-million complex.

This is a renovation and extension of its existing structure. The public will be invited to see what their money is buying and learn how education at Lake Central will be enhanced by the new facility.

For all of us, this is a good reminder that in some areas of the state progress is being made in reinvigorating education. Some citizens do not see the need for structural improvements. They will testify that, “What was good enough for me when I went to school ought to be good enough for today’s students.” At the other extreme are those inclined to say, “There is nothing too good for my child, and the school in my area ought to reflect my values.”

Between these extremes are the many who recognize the quality of facilities influences the Morton J. education students receive. Further, school buildMarcus ings are community assets that influence the location of families and businesses alike. The one-room, unheated wooden school with the two-seater privy has become a romanticized artifact of a time best forgotten. Structures and facilities adequate 20 year ago are out-of-date, as are teachers who have not modernized their methods and curriculum.

Every new education facility in Indiana should be the object of a community celebration. Given today’s financial puritanism, no district dares to spend too much on frills and fads.

Q “Indiana, the state that works” is the latest frivolous slogan used to attract capital investment to Indiana. No doubt you heard this slogan was on a sign above Times Square during the year just past. It may still be there, if the state government does not have the good sense to take it down.

What does this assertion mean? Does it suggest Hoosiers work harder than those who live elsewhere? Does it signify the social and political mechanisms of Indiana are better attuned to each other than will found in Ohio? What is the New York visitor to think upon see this meaningless fluff? Remember, this is only a 15-second message.

I was reminded of the Indiana works ad as I watched TV recently. There was an ad encouraging investment in Mongolia with essentially the same message. We have the people, the knowledge, the work ethic, the willingness to engage with business, etc. The ad agency for Mongolia missed its desired viewers, just as I suspect Indiana was taken by its ad agency with a sign in Times Square.

EYE ON THE PIE

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

January 10-16, 2014

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

fwbusiness.com

INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH OUR 2013 INDUSTRIAL SUCCESS STORY DĂŬŝŶŐ ŝīĞƌĞŶĐĞ /Ŷ ThĞ EŽƌƚŚĞĂƐƚ /ŶĚŝĂŶĂ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů ZĞĂů ƐƚĂƚĞ DĂƌŬĞƚ! /Ŷ ϮϬϭϯ͕ The Zacher Žmpany sold, leased or ŵĂŶĂŐĞĚ ϱϮ ŝŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů ƉƌŽƉ with a total area ŝŶ ĞdžĐĞƐs oĨ ϰ͕ϬϬϬ͕000 square feet.

For over 50 years, our team has been the framework for your success, providing client service and professionalism.

Brokerage Services: Industrial, KĸĐĞ͕ ZĞƚĂŝů͕ Land & Investment Tenant/Landlord ZĞƉƌĞƐĞŶ n Site Search & Selec

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Property Management We appreciate the opportunity to partner with these outstanding companies and to assist with the r region.

MANAGED 763,861 SF &Žƌƚ tĂLJŶĞ WƌŽĐƚŽƌ Θ 'ĂŵďůĞ

SOLD 607,712 SF DĂƌŝŽŶ ĂŶĂ ŽƌƉ͘

SOLD 408,120 SF n tŽůǀĞƌŝŶĞ tŽƌůĚǁŝĚĞ

SOLD 169,500 SF &ƌĞŵŽŶƚ

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SOLD 129,920 SF &ƌĞŵŽŶƚ <ŽĞƐƚĞƌ DĞƚĂůƐ͕ /ŶĐ͘

SOLD 120,000 SF &ƌĞŵŽŶƚ

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LEASED 59,000 SF <ĞŶĚĂůůǀŝůůĞ 'ƌĂƉŚŝĐ Packaging

SOLD 32,400 SF &Žƌƚ tĂLJŶĞ WƌĞŵŝĞƌ ƵŐĞƌ

&KZ DKZ /E&KZD d/KE͕ KZ dK Z /s KhZ ϮϬϭϰ /E h^dZ/ > ^hZs z͕ W> ^ KEd d:

THE ZACHER COMPANY, LLC ϰϰϰ ^d D /E ^dZ d͕ ^h/d ϮϬϯ͕ &KZd t zE ͕ /E ϰϲϴϬϮ WŚŽŶĞ͗ ;ϮϲϬͿ ϰϮϮ-ϴϰϳϰ &Ădž͗ ;ϮϲϬͿ ϰϮϮ-ϵϯϬϭ ǁǁǁ͘njĂĐŚerco.com

LEASED 100,000 SF &Žƌƚ tĂLJŶĞ ^ŚĂŵďĂƵgh & ^ŽŶ͕ >͘W͘

SOLD 59,000 SF <ĞŶĚĂůůǀŝůůĞ ƌĚĞŶ n

LEASED 28,368 SF n ƵŐĞƌ dŽƌƋƵĞ USA

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LEASED 69,329 SF &Žƌƚ tĂLJŶĞ ŵĞƌŝĐĂŶ ƋƵŝƚLJ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ

LEASED 48,000 SF &Žƌƚ tĂLJŶĞ

LEASED 42,250 SF &Žƌƚ tĂLJŶĞ ,ŽŵĞ ĐƌĞƐ ƵŝůĚŝŶŐ ^ƵƉƉůLJ

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LEASED 23,954 SF &Žƌƚ tĂLJŶĞ WŚŽĞŶŝdž ^ƚĂŵƉŝŶg

SOLD 22,900 SF &Žƌƚ tĂLJŶĞ DĂƌŬ &ŽƌĞ ^ĂůĞƐ

PAGE 9

Real Estate n

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InFocus

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GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

January 10-16, 2014

Apartment rent gains tempered by rising construction

STOCK.XCHNG

(Bloomberg) — U.S. apartment rents probably will rise 3.3 percent in 2014, little changed from last year, as the most construction in a decade boosts vacancies and limits landlords’ ability to increase rates more, Reis Inc. said.

The 41,683 apartment units completed in the fourth quarter were the highest since late 2003, the New Yorkbased research company said in its quarterly report. Development rose from 29,560 units a year earlier and 37,546 in the third quarter.

Apartment construction in the U.S. has rebounded from a 50-year low reached five years ago as rental demand surged with the tide of foreclosures from the housing collapse and increased difficulty getting mortgages. Landlords were able to charge higher rents, particularly in new buildings, and the national vacancy rate was cut by almost half from 8 percent at the end of 2009. A boost in supply is set to temper rent growth this year, Reis said.

“Demand will not implode but will struggle to keep pace with escalating completions,” Ryan Severino, senior economist at Reis, said in the report. “We anticipate that for the first time since 2009 the national vacancy rate will rise in 2014.”

Still, with an improving job market and many new Class A properties commanding higher rents than the market average, rents probably will climb about 3.3 percent this year following a 3.2-percent gain in 2013, Reis said.

Rents paid after any landlord giveaways such as a month’s free rent climbed to an average of $1,083 a month in the fourth quarter from $1,074 in the previous three months and $1,049 a year earlier, Reis said. The vacancy rate, which has hovered close to a decade low for the past two years, fell to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent in the third

n

“Demand will not implode but will struggle to keep pace with escalating completions.”

Ryan Severino Reis Inc.

quarter and 4.6 percent a year earlier. Vacancies reached 3.9 percent in 2001’s third quarter, according to Reis.

San Francisco, New York and Oakland had the biggest increases in effective rents from the third quarter, according to Reis. San Francisco’s average rent of $2,081, up 1.9 percent, was almost twice the national average, while New York’s stood at $3,105 and Oakland’s was $1,441.

For the year, Seattle had the biggest rent growth, rising 7.1 percent to $1,139 a month, Reis said. San Francisco was second, with rents up 5.6 percent, and San Jose, Calif., was third, at 5.5-percent growth.

Phoenix and Atlanta, which haven’t had as much construction because they were slower to recover than some markets, may have rent growth of about 4 percent this year, Jay Denton, vice president of research at Axiometrics Inc. He added that top markets such as San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland are likely to have gains of about 5 percent, down from 6 percent to 9 percent in 2013, according to data from the Dallas-based apartment research company.

The Bloomberg index of apartment real-estate investment trusts dropped 6 percent after reinvested dividends in 2013, compared with a 2.4-percent gain for the broader Bloomberg REIT Index and a 32-percent return for the Standard & Poor’s 500.

Office rents increase in gradual market recovery, Reis says (Bloomberg) — U.S. office rents rose in the fourth quarter, extending a gradual recovery from the recession that’s prompted some landlords to sell buildings as occupancies climb.

Tenants paid an average of $23.48 a square foot, up from $23.32 in the previous three months and the 13th straight quarterly gain, according to a report by Reis Inc. Effective rents, the amount after any landlord concessions, increased from $22.98 a year earlier, the New York-based research firm said.

Sluggish employment growth has translated into a modest rebound in the office market during the past four years. Technology, energy and media companies have

led leasing, helping to lift property values in select cities including New York, San Francisco and Houston.

“Until the growth rate in high-wage, high-skill jobs that require office space accelerates, expect slack demand for existing inventory to be the norm,” Ryan Severino, senior economist at Reis, said in the report.

Occupied space rose by a net 8.52 million square feet in the fourth quarter, about even with the amount of new offices built during the period, Reis said. That helped keep the national vacancy rate at a four-year low of 16.9 percent, unchanged from the third quarter and down from 17.1 percent a year earlier.

New York and Washington had the country’s lowest vacancy rates, at about 10 percent, while Boston, Dallas and San Jose, California, had the largest rent increases from the third quarter, according to Reis.

The firm estimates effective rents will rise 3.4 percent next year, following a 2.2-percent increase in 2013.

Blackstone Group LP, one of the biggest U.S. office landlords since its 2007 purchase of Equity Office Properties Trust, has sold about $5 billion of office assets during the past year to take advantage of the recovery, a person with knowledge of the transactions said.

The fourth quarter’s net leasing gain of 8.52 million square feet was up from 3.11

million square feet a year earlier and 7.64 million in the third quarter, according to Reis.

Completions of new office space totaled 9.13 million square feet, up from 3.6 million square feet a year earlier and 6.3 million square feet in the third quarter, the firm said.

Office construction is rising from a low in 2012, when developers delivered 12.3 million square feet of space, the smallest in Reis records going back 15 years. For 2013 as a whole, developers completed 25.9 million square feet. In 2008, before the industry slump, completions averaged 16.4 million square feet a quarter.

January 10-16, 2014

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GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

fwbusiness.com

Free workshops focus on Internet marketing KPC Media Group Inc. is offering a series of free workshops aimed at small to medium-sized businesses throughout northeast Indiana and featuring Mike Blinder, national speaker, author and one of the nation’s leading Internet experts.

These free two-hour workshops will help decision makers learn how to grow their business on the Web by finding new customers, cost effectively, online.

“The ABCs of Interactive Marketing” workshop topics include: reaching thousands of potential customers; getting found on the Web; improving your website’s performance; and social-networking strategies that guarantee success.

In addition, participants have a chance to win a free business marketing makeover.

Workshops will be held: • 2:30 p.m. Jan. 20, Courtyard by

Marriott, 1150 S. Harrison St., Fort Wayne. Light snacks provided.

• 7:30 a.m. Jan. 21, Bridgewater Golf Course, 1818 Morningstar Road, Auburn.

Continental breakfast provided.

• 11:30 a.m. Jan. 21, 6 Autumns Restaurant, 3855 State Road 127, Angola.

Light lunch provided.

• 3:30 p.m. Jan. 21, Cobblestone Golf Course, 2702 Cobblestone Lane, Kendallville. Light snacks provided.

Reservations are required. To reserve a seat visit LocalMediaWorkshops.com, or call (260) 426-2640, ext. 358.

“KPC Media Group is pleased to sponsor these workshops featuring Mike Blinder, by far one of the leading experts in the field of Internet marketing,” said Terry Ward, COO of KPC Media Group.

“We are proud to offer these free work-

shops as part of our ongoing commitment to help small to medium-sized businesses in northeast Indiana grow by providing high-quality educational opportunities for those who wish to learn and better target their products and services to potential customers.”

KPC Media Group has been locally owned since its founding in 1911. Along with the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, it publishes three daily newspapers, the Times Community Publications in Allen County, Family magazine and the Smart Shopper, along with phone books and real-estate guides in northeast Indiana.

The company also has commercial printing and direct-mail divisions, and offers expanded digital services through Keyflow Creative.

Q

January 10-16, 2014

BRIEFLY

INDIANA

IVY TECH MERGES REGIONS TO CUT COSTS Ivy Tech Community College will consolidate some of its regions as it works to improve efficiencies and reduce costs.

The college last year merged its northwest and north-central regions. In an announcement Jan. 7, Ivy Tech said its East Central region, which includes campuses in Anderson, Marion, Muncie and New Castle, will be combined with its Richmond region, which includes a campus in Connersville.

East Central Chancellor Andrew Bowne will oversee the combined region.

In addition, Ivy Tech’s Columbus region, which includes a campus in Franklin, will be merged with the Southeast region, which has campuses in Batesville, Lawrenceburg and Madison. An interim chancellor will be named for the merged region.

Ivy Tech said its Greencastle campus, which is in the Wabash Valley region, will be moved to its Central Indiana region.

The Ivy Tech Northeast region will remain unchanged.

In addition, the community college said it expects to name campus presidents at about 20 sites across the state. The campus president title will replace the vice chancellor/dean title that exists now, and the position will report to the chancellor for that region. No additional staff will be hired as a result of the change in title.

“Ivy Tech Community College is Indiana’s primary open enrollment institution of higher education and the state’s largest college/university with over 100,000 students each term,” board of trustee chairman Steve Schreckengast said in the announcement. “The only way the state will reach its goal of increasing the number of adults with a degree or certification to 60 percent by 2025 is if Ivy Tech is successful.

“We are focused on the success of our students and in keeping higher education affordable and accessible. At the same time we are faced with state funding challenges and must operate as efficiently as possible and eliminate any unnecessary duplication.”

The community college said that state funding per full-tim equivalent students dropped from $3,248 in 2006 to $2,543 in 2012. Funding per student (part time and full time) presently is $1,210.

Follow BW on Twitter: @fwbusiness

January 10-16, 2014

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

fwbusiness.com

Three keys to socialmedia success in 2014 It’s a new year: n time to instill better habits, establish new goals and look ahead to where you’d like to find yourself in 12 months. That makes it a great time to evaluate your business’s social-media efforts to ensure you invest your time wisely and get the results you’re looking for. With that in mind, here are three things to focus on as you plan for the coming year: 1. Have a strategy. Few organizations take the time to approach social media strategically. Instead of determining goals, considering the audience, and allocating resources toward the effort, they take a shotgun approach, dabbling in the use of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn — to name just a few examples — without ever considering whether those tools are best suited to their needs and the needs of their audience.

Even if you have a well-established social media presence, it’s worth taking a few steps back to consider what you hope to accomplish and what strategies, tactics and platforms will get you there most effectively.

The truth is, without a written social media strategy, it will be difficult to avoid knee-jerk reactions to things that, in the long run, don’t deserve much of your attention. A strategy is critical to keeping your efforts on track.

ANTHONY JULIANO

2. Integrate your social-media strategy with your larger marketing/communication strategy. As you develop your social-

media strategy, be sure to align your efforts with your larger marketing and communication strategy. Doing so will allow you to leverage efficiencies and anticipate opportunities to position your brand in the right place at the right time.

Here’s an example: Let’s say your organization hosts a big event every year. You’re probably using traditional marketing and communication methods to get the message out, whether you have an exclusive invite list or the event is open to the public. You also have probably considered the importance of the event — whether it’s for fundraising, customer engagement or employee morale — before establishing a budget and determining what tactics you’ll use to make it successful.

In the same way, you’ll want to consider what role social media can play in supporting those traditional marketing and communi-

cation tactics. Use social media prior to the event to get the word out and thereby increase attendance. Post photos or videos to your social-media profiles during the event to generate interest from and improve the attendees’ experience. And share recollections from attendees after the event to turn them into advocates for your organization and get others thinking about what they missed — and why they should be part of the event next time.

This is just one example, but it underscores the way in which social media should be a part of, not apart from, your marketing and communication efforts.

3. Evaluate your team, and invest in training, if needed. Like anything else in

your business, the success of your social media strategy is contingent upon the skills and abilities of the people doing the work.

It’s worth considering, therefore, whether you’ve assigned social media to the right people — those who are reliable and who communicate well. (Remember, managing a business’s social media strategy is a serious responsibility; the person you put in the lead effectively holds the keys to your brand.)

It’s also worthwhile to evaluate whether you’ve put enough resources toward social media, or whether it’s time to up the ante — perhaps even looking outside your organization for support. Even if you have the right people in place, you’ll also want to think about whether your team needs training in order to keep up with the ever-changing social-media environment.

Many organizations think they can get by staffing social media with those who are self-taught. Many of those same organizations end up with less-than-stellar outcomes — or, worse yet, serious public-relations problems — when a staff member uses poor judgment. The cost associated with those issues far outweighs the cost of training your employees in best practices.

Don’t wait another year to refine your company’s approach to social media.

Investing a little time up front is certain to pay off when the time comes to look back at 2014.

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.

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

January 10-16, 2014

E-mail your People on the Move items to news@fwbusiness.com.

CANI CANI in Fort Wayne added several staff members: Debra Bournes, Melissa Caballero, Sherry Mosley, Erina Pratt and Juanita Varnell in Head Start; and Jennifer Brando, Christina Castle, Amanda Chappell, Brandy Duncan, Brenda Mudd and Kimberly Overholser in community services.

Lich

Boothby

Gormley

Reidenbach

White

Schueth

Amos

Duke

Massman

LeStrange

SHAMBAUGH & SON Wendy Bone was hired as accounts payable clerk, LeAnn Court was hired as cafe worker and Xizosong Zou was hired as Java developer at Shambaugh & Son LP in Fort Wayne.

USSI USSI in Columbia City announced

several recent staff changes: Paul Lich was hired as a team leader.

Nathan Boothby was hired as a production program manager.

Jeffrey Boger was hired as a marketing manager.

Keith Gormley was hired as a buyer.

Bruce Reidenbach was hired as a staff engineer.

Jeffrey White was hired as a buyer.

Nathanial Schueth was promoted to a

Sales Representative 3.

John Amos was promoted to a Senior Test Engineer 2.

Michael Duke was promoted to director of production programs.

Darrell Massman was promoted to tooling and test engineering manager.

Peter LeStrange was named undersea products and tech marketing manager.

IAB FINANCIAL BANK Senior Vice President Thomas Obergfell was named to lead Fort Wayne-based IAB Financial Bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business banking division.

Senior Vice President Rick Gentis will lead the agribusiness banking division.

First Vice President Andrew Marshall will lead the retail and small business banking division.

Vice President Douglas Fyock will lead the mortgage banking division.

Obergfell

Gentis

NORTH EASTERN GROUP REALTY Kristi Abel joined North Eastern Group Realty in Fort Wayne as

an agent.

Marshall

LUTHERAN LIFE VILLAGES Suzan Moriarty Lutheran Life Villages in Fort Wayne

joined

as director of home care. She most recently was regional marketing director at Millerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Merry Manor Home Healthcare Solutions.

Fyock

January 10-16, 2014

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PAGE 15

If the state gets rid of the personal property tax, other rates would rise The Indiana n General Assembly may consider eliminating property taxes on personal property in the upcoming session.

Personal property is almost entirely business equipment. Eliminating this tax could encourage more business investment in Indiana, especially since some of our neighboring states have already eliminated this tax.

Personal property owners pay about a billion dollars in property taxes to local governments, which is 16 percent of total property taxes. Eliminating this tax would create some big tax and budget issues for legislators to consider. Here’s why.

Indiana limits the revenue that local governments raise from the property tax.

There’s a maximum property-tax levy restricting most local government operating funds. The maximum levy increases from the previous year’s maximum based on a state formula. Most of the levy does not depend on changes in assessed value.

LARRY DEBOER

If we eliminate personal property from assessed value, total assessed value would be smaller. We calculate property tax rates by dividing the levy by assessed value. With the levy limited and assessed value smaller, most tax rates would go up. Personal property owners would pay less, but higher tax rates would shift this tax burden to everyone else.

Or taxes would shift, except for the property-tax caps. Indiana’s constitutional tax caps limit homeowner tax bills to 1 percent of assessed value before deductions. The caps limit rental housing, second homes and farmland taxes to 2 percent of assessed value and business land and building taxes to 3 percent.

Personal property elimination would raise tax rates and tax bills. In many cases, these higher tax bills would exceed taxpayer caps.

Taxes paid by personal property owners would shift to other taxpayers, but the part above the caps would be unpaid. Local governments would lose that revenue.

Which taxpayers would pay more, and which governments would lose revenue?

We have solid answers to these questions.

In 2012, the Legislative Services Agency did a study of personal property tax elimination, which is published in the Oct. 4, 2012 minutes of the Commission on State Tax and Financing Policy, http://www.in.gov/legisla-

tive/interim/committee/2012/committee/stfp. html.

The study estimated that $963 million in personal property tax payments was paid statewide in 2012. If personal property was removed from the tax base, other property owners would pay about $453 million in higher taxes, and $510 million would be revenue lost to local governments.

Homeowners would pay $170 million in added taxes, a 9-percent increase in the average homestead tax bill. Businesses would pay $176 million more on their land and buildings, which implies that businesses with a lot of equipment would see tax reductions while those with little equipment could see tax increases. Rental housing and farmland owners would pay the remaining $108 million.

Two factors cause huge variation among counties: how much personal property the county has, and how close the taxpayers are to their tax caps. In Delaware County, for example, personal property owners pay about 15 percent of property taxes; however, a large number of taxpayers are already at their tax caps. Further increases in tax rates would not raise their tax bills. But that means that some revenue that local governments collect from personal property taxpayers would not be collected from other taxpayers.

The LSA study estimates that 76 percent of personal property taxes would become lost revenue, while homeowner taxes would rise only 7 percent.

In Brown County, almost no taxpayers are at their caps. More than 99 percent of personal property taxes would be shifted to other taxpayers. But Brown taxpayers have little personal property, so there’s not much tax to shift. Homeowner taxes would go up only 4 percent.

Consider Pike County, though. Personal property owners pay 41 percent of Pike’s taxes. Very few taxpayers are at their caps.

With so much tax to shift, about two-thirds of personal property taxes would become lost revenue, yet homeowner tax bills still would increase 31 percent.

Businesses pay about a billion dollars in property taxes on their equipment. If those taxes are eliminated, about half the amount would shift to other taxpayers, and about half would be lost revenue to local governments.

That’s what would happen, anyway, if the General Assembly made no other changes.

Possible “other changes” will be the subject of debate.

LARRY DEBOER is a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University in West Lafayette.

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GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n

fwbusiness.com

January 10-16, 2014

On the car lot, you’re going against decades of the wrong approach to sales I get a ton of n emails from people seeking insight or asking me to solve their sales dilemmas.

Here are a few that may relate to your job, your life and (most importantly) your sales thought process right now.

JEFFREY GITOMER

Dear Jeffrey, this is my first week in car sales. Can you tell me what sections of any of your books I could go to for help with deflecting that first “What’s your best price?” question. I want to build rapport and provide the value of my services in addition to the vehicle. I was thinking of using your “can you close a sale in five questions?” as my porcupine close, ignoring the price question, and asking my own question, “Jeffrey, how do you select a car or truck?” Any suggestions? — Rich Rich, yes, I have a bunch of suggestions. First of all, you’re battling 100 years worth of doing it the wrong way. Yes, there have been a lot of cars sold, but oftentimes in spite of themselves. And the reason

people come in and want the best price is because they’ve already shopped online.

They already know what the car costs.

The customer is now more educated in the car business than the car salesperson is because the customer has probably shopped 10 different brands, and the car salesman pretty much only knows his own.

So the challenge for you as a salesperson is if you get a question of “What is your best price?” get it down to the model and say, “Look, I’ll give you my best price, but don’t you want to know if this is the right car for you? Why don’t we take it for a drive and then we’ll talk about how much it is if you really want it. If you don’t want it, there’s no sense in negotiating for it, and I’m assuming if I give you may best price, you’ll say ‘thanks’ and buy it. Otherwise, you’re going to go shop around and thank me and then go talk to my competition and that’s not what we want to do. We want to put you in a car. We want to make you feel great, and we want you to get the best car for your money today and when you sell it, and we want to make sure along the way that it’s maintained. Is that fair enough?”

Dear Jeffrey, I’m in sales and the manager of the office is also an agent.

She distributes the Internet leads for the

other agents and regularly keeps the highest-dollar leads for herself. We have a transparent database that percentage-wise shows she’s been doing this for over a year, yet she denies it. How do I deal with a manager like this? — Bill Bill, you quit! You don’t want to work for a liar. You certainly don’t want to work for someone who garners all the leads for herself. Why don’t you give her all the leads and go get your own leads? Or, why don’t you go someplace where it’s more fair?

My recommendation is first talk to her boss and ask if there is any way the leads can be distributed more fairly. Obviously, if you were getting all the leads you might do the same thing yourself. It’s called cherry picking. She knows not only what the best lead is, but also what the easiest lead to close is. Maybe it should just be random, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, and split up the leads like that.

If she fights it, she’s doing it the wrong way. You gotta be ethical, you gotta be honest or you gotta find another job.

Dear Jeffrey, I have a large insurance agency and we interview for salespeople quite often. “Looking for a professional with an aggressive sales demeanor.” Somebody told me of an interview question that

they ask and I’d like to get your opinion.

During an interview, this person will ask the interviewee to bark like a dog. That’s a pretty rough question isn’t it? If they don’t do it, the person will end the interview.

If they do it, the interview continues. The rationale is that if they don’t do it, they’re not inclined to get out of their comfort zone. If they bark, and they’re comfortable in doing it, they’ll be comfortable in doing things out of their normal task. What do you think of this? — Jay Jay, what do you think of it? Do you think it’s professional or do you think it’s third grade? “Well, I’m sorry, candidate, you didn’t bark like a dog, so even though you’re a great salesperson, you’re a smart guy and you’ve got a great attitude, you’re disqualified.”

Dude, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life! Why don’t they just cluck like a chicken? The challenge is this: If I’m interviewing people, I want to know if they’re smart, I want to know if they’re self-starting, I want to know if they have a great attitude, and I want to know if they have some kind of past history of success.

All the rest is irrelevant.

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

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n

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly Top List

January 10-16, 2014

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

n

fwbusiness.com

PAGE 17

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January 10-16, 2014

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n NEW BUSINESSES Eagleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s One Stop Inc. 537 W. Main St. Butler, IN 46721 Talal Haidous Modern Homes of Northeast Indiana LLC 8501 E. 600 North Churubusco, IN 46723 Michael R. Miller Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Home Services LLC 108 Graceland Ave. Claypool, IN 46510 Donald Miller Rum Monkey Enterprises LLC 15 S. Stickler Road Columbia City, IN 46725 Stephen Holloway Lake City Strength and Conditioning LLC 135 W. Tidewater Trail Columbia City, IN 46762 Dustin L. Westafer

PBJ Realty LLC 402 S. Main St. Columbia City, IN 46725 Max A. Busz

Mary O. Razo LLC 1502 Cherry Lane Decatur, IN 46733 Mary O. Razo

SRG Properties LLC 2 Hallmark Square Columbia City, IN 46725 Robert L. Grawcock Jr.

Old Oak Tree Real Estate LLC 119 S. Second St. Decatur, IN 46733 Audra Snyder

V I Cunningham LLC 201 N. Walnut St. Columbia City, IN 46725 Victor I. Cunningham CMJ Enterprises Inc. 1541 E. Poplar Road Columbia City, IN 46725 Christopher Cass Hannah T LLC 1730 W. Old Trail Road Columbia City, IN 46725 Duane Janssen Swogger Farms Inc. 1390 C.R. 5 Corunna, IN 46730 David R. Swogger GMI Agency LLC 147 S. 2nd St. Decatur, IN 46733 Timothy Baker

CWV Properties LLC 522 S. 13th St. Decatur, IN 46733 Kevan Biggs Swan Lake Real Estate LLC 228 W. High St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Glenn L. Duncan Swan Lake Operating LLC 228 W. High St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Glenn L. Duncan Rupp Unlimited LLC 24871 Johannes Court Elkhart, IN 46514 Dona Rupp

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BizLeads

n PAGES 18-20

Ministerio Pentecostes Maranatha Inc. 328 W. Dinehart Ave. Elkhart, IN 46517 Manuel Perez

Fresh Paint Outreach Ministry Corp.

1111 W. Bristol St. Elkhart, IN 46514 Charles Rechtsteiner

Hernan Cortez Romo LLC 932 Taylor St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Hernan C. Romo

BJ Ripper Street Sup LLC 3504 Henke St. Elkhart, IN 46514 Ronald Migedt Jr.

Stadia Conception PC 4703 Chester Drive Elkhart, IN 46516 Kenneth K. Jones Jr.

SLB Sales LLC 3033 Twin Pines Point Elkhart, IN 46514 Chad Bosscher

Paragon Technology Group LLC 2110 Aeroplex Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 Roger Roy

Avery Installation Service Inc. 4003 Augusta Lane Elkhart, IN 46517 Jason Owens

LCM Realty VII LLC 3501 C.R. 6 E. Elkhart, IN 46514 Scott T. Mereness

JSB Transport 1 LLC 30356 Tower Road Elkhart, IN 46514 Joyce Swilley

Benham Ave. Property LLC 1502 Benham Ave. Elkhart, IN 46516 Gurcharn Singh

Epiclesis Consulting LLC 60282 Pembrook Lane Elkhart, IN 46517 Patricia M. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor

Advanced Technical Products LLC 121 W. Franklin St., Suite 400 Elkhart, IN 46516 James V. Woodsmall Sonset Solutions Inc. 2830 17th St. Elkhart, IN 46517 Curtlin G. Bender Numara Inc. 2401 Middlebury St. Elkhart, IN 46517 Wilmer Banegas

Elkhart Youth and Community Center Inc. 200 E. Jackson St. Elkhart, IN 46516 Darrell R. Peterson

Resource Builders of Elkhart County Inc. 127 Riverview Ave. Elkhart, IN 46516 Jason Champaigne

Alta Equipment Company Inc. 28255 Charlotte Ave., Building 2 Elkhart, IN 46517 Steven Greenwalt

The Hearthstone Guild LLC 5809 Arlington Parkway N. Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Ricardo J. Vaz De Carvalho

Central Professional Services Inc. 1439 Greenleaf Blvd.

Elkhart, IN 46514 William Rzepka

Hockey Training Products LLC 301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite 200 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Robert L. Nicholson

Z Code Services LLC 321 W. Wolf Ave. Elkhart, IN 46516 Olin L. Zuercher

Fast Transcription Inc. 6015 Tomahawk Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Kelly Fast

Martin De La Luz Marquez LLC 28208 Moore Ave. Elkhart, IN 46517 Martin De La Luz Marquez

Corporate Cleaners LLC 3338 Vantage Point Drive, Apt. 1B Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Rickyle Lunford

Nicodemus Cleaning Co. 50766 Acorn Elkhart, IN 46514 Leah Nicodemus

The Law OfďŹ ce of Bernadette A. Olmos LLC 538 Wallen Hills Drive, Apt. 1 Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Bernadette Olmos

Half Crazy Runners LLC 444 E. Main St. Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Melanie L. Farr

January 10-16, 2014

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

The Original Ember LLC 5504 Gate Tree Lane Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Michael L. Dennison Sweet Tea Games LLC 1009 Upland Ridge Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46825 David Makonnen Adala Community Inc. 1241 E. Lewis St. Fort Wayne, IN 46803 Amira Izedine Achieve Physical Therapy LLC 10315 Dawson’s Creek Blvd., Building 12, Suite H Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Loreto Bayani C.A.M. Music Inc. 2624 Maplecrest Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Floyd Thomas Post Land LLC 221 Grandstand Way Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Lynda Wynn Medics to Africa Ltd. 919 S. Harrison St., Suite 250 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Nicholas O. Blasio Delagrange Detailing LLC 5620 Litchfield Road Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Ryan Delagrange The Cooking Companion Inc. 6007 Arbor Tree Cove Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Theresa Abubakr BGW LLC 301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite 200 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Jon A. Bragalone Family Satellite Services LLC 14606 Indian Creek Road Fort Wayne, IN 46814 Theresa Farber Reynolds Rentals LLC 215 E. Berry St. Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Zachary E. Klutz R&G Sports LLC 7007 Mangrove Lane Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Angela Gebert Cort Chilian LLC 14828 Walnut Creek Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46814 Cort Chilian Rose Real Estate Holdings LLC 9008 Sea Wind Place Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Edward R. Rose Cosmos LLC 6832 Palmilla Court Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Georgia Bourounis

Attention Too Detail Lawn and Landscape Service LLC 7721 Aboite Center Road Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Robert L. Stahl MMW Investments LLC 4433 Winding Brook Road Fort Wayne, IN 46814 Monica M. Weigand LMW Family Investments LLC 4433 Winding Brook Road Fort Wayne, IN 46814 Laurence M. Weigand Structural Engineering Services LLC 301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite 200 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Robert L. Nicholson C&J Hill LLC 6325 Rock Bluff Court Fort Wayne, IN 46819 Charles L. Hill II Royal Red Unlimited LLC 1002 Lincoln Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46807 Royce Bailey Independent Physician Association LLC 6819 Lima Road Fort Wayne, IN 46818 William Hedrick Midwest LTL Solutions Inc. 10421 Oak Valley Road Fort Wayne, IN 46845 Kris Hannah Mitten of Indiana LLC 921 E. Dupont Road Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Norman E. Hall III Cook Road Industrial Development LLC 14704 Coldwater Road Fort Wayne, IN 46845 Paul Vlaskamp Avocet Trading LLC 6015 Highview Drive, Suite G Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Deb Stewart St. Joe Center Veterinary Realty LLC 6515 Popp Road Fort Wayne, IN 46845 Roy A. Coolman Burlap Blooms LLC 6109 Merlin Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Rachel Degitz Diamante LLC 1003 Lake Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46805 Ricardo D. Guerrero Lafayette Place Investment Collaborative LLC 4538 W. Lafayette Esplanade Fort Wayne, IN 46806 John Lehner

fwbusiness.com Ruben Gonzalez Ramirez LLC 324 E. Leith St. Fort Wayne, IN 46806 Ruben G. Ramirez

ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIP

Robbie’s Enterprises LLC 2330 Beacon St. Fort Wayne, IN 46805 Robert A. Wagner

Equity Land Corp.

8609 Legends Parkway $234,235

4306 Plaza Drive From HUD to Zuniga J. Bernardino $14,000

REAL-ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

2627 Capitol Ave. From 2627 Capitol Ave. LLC to Anthony A. Morgan $55,000

46805 2905 Sherborne Blvd.

From Linda J. Greaf to Hla Htay Kyi $80,000

4428 Avondale Drive From Allen County sheriff to Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. $19,728

2324 Oakridge Road From Chad G. Stiebeling to Game Properties LLC $35,000

3610 Wayne Terrace From FNBN LLC to Javier D. Morales $8,000

1714 Crescent Ave. From Allen County sheriff to Nationastar Mortgage LLC $74,808

46807

DDL Investment Properties LLC 12118 Waycliffe Court Fort Wayne, IN 46845 Debra D. Lucyk Accardi LLC 2330 Beacon St. Fort Wayne, IN 46805 Robert A. Wagner Women Ministerial Alliance of Fort Wayne/ Allen County Inc. 5610 Plaza Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46806 Diandra Bruen Presser Media LLC 5710 Coventry Lane Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Steve Presser KNH Muzic LLC 1125 Hugh St. Fort Wayne, IN 46803 Kenneth Hayes Raibains LLC 2630 Grassy Creek Run Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Anil Rai LVJ Financial LLC. 3110 New Haven Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46803 Vince Tippmann Jr.

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS ALLEN COUNTY ABOITE TOWNSHIP Sistevaris Builders 13613 Paperbark Trail $479,900

EEL RIVER TOWNSHIP Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 4307 Great Hollow Court $396,000

PERRY TOWNSHIP Slattery Builders LLC 683 Perolla Drive $325,000 Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 2506 Lobelia Court $151,913 Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 16249 Gemma Pass $360,000

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP Amos Lengacher 18003 Cuba Road $70,000

Granite Ridge Builders Inc. 7783 Flutter Road $334,900

3318 Heritage Drive From Allen County sheriff to Bank of America NA $75,000

2411 Fox Ave. From Cama Corp. to Strategic Redevelopment LLC $10,900

1615 Dodge Ave. From John P. Gardner and Vida McCray-Gardner to Shane T. and Michelle E. Grim $241,000

4007 S. Wayne Ave. From Mary J. Knight to Jonathon E. and Amber M. Recker $25,000

2612 Nordholme Ave. From Alexander M. Garcia to James M. Burkhart $66,000

2605 Hoagland Ave. From Clint and Tara A. Baals to Roger C. Summers $14,000

711 Glazier Ave. From Robert D. and Carol A. McCorkle to Bec305 Properties LLC $38,400

4136 S. Wayne Ave. From Allen County sheriff to Bank of America NA $104,156

1610 Kentucky Ave. From Ronald J. Minnich to Larry W. Ashley $20,000 427 Constance Ave. From April K. Meyers to Gary B. and Deb J. Wells $65,000

46806 4815 Smith St. From James L. Schuchard II to Alexander Owea $15,000

4415 S. Wayne Ave. From Barbara Reeb to Kyaw Wah Law $58,000 1221 W. Wildwood Ave. From Allen County Community Development Corp. to Maria E. Cruz $8,000 5720 S. Calhoun St. From Allen County Community Development Corp. to Cielo P. Villanueva $5,017

3802 Clermont Ave. From Dyle Hughes to Vernon L. Ray Sr. $15,000

911 W. Oakdale Drive From Freddie Mac to Russell Kolkman $36,900

3006 Monroe St. From Gwendolyn G. Brown to Angelia and Daryl K. Burnett Sr. $35,000

5319 Buell Drive From Mark A. and Jane Walls to Troy M. and Chalise M. Wieland $21,500

4531 Bowser Ave. From Fort Wayne Habitat for Humanity Inc. to Nino Marina $10,000

1153 W. Packard Ave. From Allen County sheriff to Jeff Piazza $12,781

46808 4816 Montrose Ave. From Allen County sheriff to Fidelity Bank $30,000

2523 Ellen Ave. From Amy R. and Duncan Rodman to Game Properties LLC $60,000

4919 Lima Road From Grand Prix Fort Wayne LLC c/o Cerberus Real Estate Capital Management LLC to Fort Wayne Hotel Suites Inc. $1,400,000 2116 Meridian St. From Larry D. Hilsmier trust to Richard Langeland $40,000 1336 Goshen Ave. From Sam L. and Diane E. Revett to Bruce D. and Sally Ainslie $50,000 1508 High St. From Jodie Billman to Paul and Elizabeth Holly $26,000 1617 St. Marys From Rick Widmann to Alex Palermo $10,000

2402 Bellflower Lane From Fannie Mae to Samuel Aguirre $84,500

46809

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11722 Tweedsmuir Run From Woodlands of Liberty Mills LLC to Granite Ridge Builders Inc. $36,000

10605 Indianapolis Road From Charles F. Dwyer to Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority $225,000

536 Union Station Drive From Granite Ridge Builders Inc. to Amber R. Kidd $142,000

6108 Smith Road From Sherry I. Zemen to Kim A. Hawk $109,900

14903 Sandstone Drive From St. Joe Development Corp. to Windsor Inc. $45,600

2905 Koons St. From Robert Maddox Inc. to Jerome T. Slate $40,000

7317 Rob Roy Road From Midfirst Bank to HUD $128,172

5516 Allendale Drive From Glenn B. Crowell to Steven and Geoffrey A. Burns $10,000

325 Club Course Drive From Timothy J. and Sara K. Weir to Gregory S. and Jane P. Smith $325,000 10522 River Birch Run From Angela Sheets to Melissa K. and Chad E. Querry $310,000

4219 Patrick Lane From Barbara E. Belote to Darlene S. Ford $60,000

4020 Nokomis Road From James L. and Ruthann Devine to Ralph and Shirley Cox $62,000

3016 Lincolndale Ave. From Chris Leeper to Rajesh N. Patel $59,000

11122 Arranmore Cove From Equity Land Corp. to Heller & Son’s Inc. $39,865

2930 Treviso Way From Oakmont Development Co. LLC to Prime Properties Corp. Inc. $44,900

1640 Sinclair St. From Allen County Community Development Corp. to Maria S. Diaz $7,500

6234 W. Ferguson Road From Michael D. and Shirley J. Harvey to Kandace A. Basnett $119,000

14129 Peddlers Ford From John F. Popp Business Corp. to David and Ginny Diehl $140,000

3000 N. Wells St. From Allen County sheriff to Tower Bank & Trust Co. $50,000 1420 Melrose Ave. From Kelly L. Carpenter to Michael D. and Shirley J. Harvey $73,900 4915 Pocono Crossing From Lindsay L. Omlor to Shane P. and Kimberly S. Dafforn $118,500 4839 Anglers Lane From Jarod N. and Marisa A. Ray to Benjamin J. and Jessica R. Lindemann $149,500 708 Greenlawn Ave. From Fort Wayne Habitat for Humanity Inc. to Maung Soe & Aye Naw $90,000 1715 Diamond Creek Run From Michael E. Burgess and Ashleigh N. Smith to Jeffrey L. and Laura J. Harmon $112,900 2126 Colter Cove From Jared D. and Lisa R. Haagen to Christopher R. Sharpe $117,250

46814 14909 Brittwood Court From Charles D. Crawford Jr. and Andrea M. Crawford to Jennifer M. Boyd $140,000 884 Beal Brook Pass From Granite Ridge Builders Inc. to Brooke Southivong $141,700 1809 Rothbury Court From Donald B. Fisher to Tahmoures and Farbod Salman $310,000 2920 Covington Manor Road From Mark S. and Karen S. Willcutts to Julie J. Meyers $376,000 1525 White Coral Court From Oakmont Development Co. LLC to Timberlin Homes LLC $69,900 2923 Arden Cove From John R. and Pamela D. Sampson to Gregory Ducharme $310,000 14628 Firethorne Path From Edward J. Caylor III to Dustin and Amanda Falk $152,500

14675 Sandstone Drive From Oakmont Developer Co. LLC to Buescher Construction Co. Inc. $49,900 576 Walkmans Cove From Granite Ridge Builders Inc. to Rebecca J. Armstead $139,600 1554 White Coral Court From Oakmont Development Co. LLC to Buescher Construction Co. Inc. $64,900 14307 Bridgestone Road From Patrick and Susan Sorenson to Lichun Chen and Jian Shen $286,100 10329 Greenoak Blvd.

From Walter O. and Jeanette M. Jackson to Nicholas D. and Malak B. Heiny $330,000 14922 Blue Reef Drive From J1 Seven LLC to Windsor Inc. $39,900 325 Victoria Station Way From Granite Ridge Builders Inc. to Phillip J. and Marsha K. Perri $140,895

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14576 Sandstone Drive From Oakmont Development Co. LLC to Arbor Home Building Corp. $52,900

46815 2005 Majestic Lane From Jennifer M. Boyd to Harold E. and Rhea L. Fox $85,500 3516 Walden Run From Allen County sheriff to Bradford Pepple Roth IRA $50,411 6203 Lombard Place From Jonathan and Devon Plant to Jessica Clayton $96,250 3104 Winslow Place From Maya T. Kaczmarek to Dennis R. and Judy A. Donahue $105,500 3718 Oak Park Drive From Midwest America Federal Credit Union to Ryan N. Barnett $79,500 3710 Bluegrass Lane From Allen County sheriff to Fannie Mae $119,130 3725 Well Meadow Place From Ramaier and Indrambikai Sriram to Lien T. Huynh $199,000 6021 Cordava Court From David B. and Sherry M. Vance to Michael R. and Ann Kendall $118,000 4220 Wedgewood Drive From Timothy Whiteman to Nicole C. Mahler $95,900 3415 Maxim Drive From Brian and Catherine A. Knipscheer to Barton E. and Kasey M. Price $156,500

7103 S. Lake Knoll Drive From Delagrange Builders Inc. to Eunice A. Ware $156,400 1210 Langley Pass From Terry M. and Carolyn V. Elijah to Melissa A. Durr $187,500

Sheena R. Greene 2234 Versailles Village Place Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Assets: $13,200 Liabilities: $11,018

Jillian R. and Benjamin C. Zwick 321 W. Sherwood Terrace Fort Wayne, IN 46807 Assets: $86,444 Liabilities: $156,152

Lanna S. Shipley 213 W. Fleming Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46807 Assets: $5,800 Liabilities: $36,079

Jamie L. Berrum 4815 S. Anthony Blvd.

Fort Wayne, IN 46806 Assets: $3,375 Liabilities: $9,674

Beth L. Nelson 516 Elmer St. Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Assets: $2,805 Liabilities: $157,067

Hoffman Road From Wilmer Rohrbach to Doane A. Rohrback $68,544

Deanna J. Jones 5924 Arbor Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46809 Assets: $59,146 Liabilities: $83,795

LaTresha Benson 7015 Woodlynn Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46816 Assets: $775 Liabilities: $153,921

8115 Asher Drive From Griff A. Neilson to Christopher J. and Beverly E. Irvin $167,500

David L. Olry 4602 Craftsbury Circle Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Assets: $159,850 Liabilities: $91,048

Katrina R. Harris 118 Lexington Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46807 Assets: $2,780 Liabilities: $35,947

4321 Meridith Drive From Val D. and Melody A. Asay to Rachel A. Matthews and Judy A. Woods $110,000

Justin M. Hartwig 2314 Poinsette Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Assets: $83,050 Liabilities: $94,059

Laura L. Bowman 302 W. Jacobs Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Assets: $127,001 Liabilities: $169,677

3721 Courtwood Drive From Veronica Shinabery to Peter and Laura Mapes $103,000

Marty G. and Robin R. Piercy 5330 Goshen Road, Lot #236 Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Assets: $24,800 Liabilities: $82,510

Tisha D. Heller 9633 Skipjack Cove Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Assets: $186,044 Liabilities: $177,652

4614 Stellhorn Road From Duetta R. Davis to Austen H. Snyder $101,000 4906 Galway Drive From ITS Investments LLC to Alex Palermo $55,000

8031 Newfield Drive From Ellen M. Augsburger to Jeffery P. Buzzard $72,000

46816 2615 Dexter Drive From Allen County sheriff to Fannie Mae $64,752 2507 Oakwood Drive From the Oakwood residential trust to May Thu $69,900 214 Rexford Drive From Allen County sheriff to Fannie Mae $89,631

1719 Greythorn Drive From Chad E. and Betsy A. Springer to Terence L. Bramley and Sarina L. Pitts $157,700

3800 E. Paulding Road From Khin Hlaing and Tin Aye to Min O. Sorn $35,000

2636 Reed Road From Maxine Hedges to Ghay Htoo $38,000

5917 Lunada Drive From Freddie Mac to Paw Htun Aung $24,000

5721 Bayside Drive From Cosette M. Sheets Estate to KT Property Holdings LLC $69,500

6002 Guild Drive From Alliance Property Management Ltd. to Okison.Com Inc. $160,000

2605 Regal Court From Westport Homes of Fort Wayne Inc. to Game Properties LLC $54,000

BANKRUPTCIES

4905 Woodmark Court From Freddie Mac to Joy E. Denthouter $65,000

Giovanna M. Schumaker 5631 Kroemer Road Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Assets: $118,439 Liabilities: $161,401

ALLEN COUNTY Diane Martz-Stowe 2209 Rutgers Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46819 Assets: $71,650 Liabilities: $106,592

Shalonda R. Tabron 1013 Illsley Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46807 Assets: $8,150 Liabilities: $60,426 Roger W. West Jr. and Kristina L. West 15214 Grabill Road Grabill, IN 46741 Assets: $3,195 Liabilities: $11,911 Sarah K. Anderson 2627 Lynn Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46805 Assets: $69,026 Liabilities: $78,609 Craig A. Downey 13202 Fox Brush Lane Grabill, IN 46741 Assets: $107,225 Liabilities: $98,110 Jill C. Buckel 1915 Versailles Village Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Assets: $2,450 Liabilities: $22,569 Harold E. Matz 4811 Lillie St. Fort Wayne, IN 46806 Assets: $10,700 Liabilities: $18,995 Joannie O. Schnellbach 5717 Reed Road Fort Wayne, IN 46835 Assets: $9,750 Liabilities: $36,231

Otis Sewell 2623 River Cove Trail Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Assets: $464 Liabilities: $12,010 Paul E. Goodridge Jr. and Samantha B. Goodridge 13813 Yellow River Road Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Assets: $24,046 Liabilities: $58,251 Valerie D. Fowler 6102 Rock Creek Place Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Assets: $39,235 Liabilities: $62,127 Jennifer K. McDonough 7027 Chartercrest Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46815 Assets: $2,783 Liabilities: $26,275

DEKALB COUNTY Donald T. Walters 4070 C.R. 50 Auburn, IN 46706 Assets: $133,815 Liabilities: $253,621 Tina M. Nodine 908 S. Randolph St. Garrett, IN 46738 Assets: $64,016 Liabilities: $100,858 Jeffrey P. and Brandi E. Burns 1316 S. Jackson St. Auburn, IN 46706 Assets: $9,560 Liabilities: $66,243

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January 10-16, 2014

FIRST: Will look for permanent location

Continued from PAGE 1

The announcement said First Financial has hired Robert Slusser as its Fort Wayne market president and Brock Rauch as mortgage sales manager for its local operations. Slusser had been Tower’s lending director and Rauch had been its mortgage manager.

Along with Slusser, “we hired five additional commercial lenders who all had been together as part of that team, as well as four mortgage loan officers who, in addition to Brock, had been together at Tower,” Davis said.

“We feel it’s critical for any bank to be staffed with local people who have local relationships and knowledge of the local market.”

In addition to his Fort Wayne market president responsibilities, Slusser and a team of a half dozen bankers he leads will launch First Financial’s commercial lending platform in the area.

The platform includes commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and specialty finance credit products “as well as treasury management and deposit products to middle-market and small business clients,” the announcement said.

Tower Financial Corp., Tower Bank’s parent company, had reported the resignation of five commercial lending officers in a Dec. 13 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If they had not left, they still would find themselves working under different leadership once Tower’s acquisition is completed by Evansville-based Old National Bancorp.

A Dec. 5 SEC filing had said Wendell Bontager, Tower’s chief lending officer and an executive vice president, had accepted an Old National offer to become its region president once the acquisition closes.

Mike Cahill, Tower Financial’s president and CEO, has accepted a position as an Old National senior consultant for the region, and Gary Schearer, president and CEO for Tower Trust Co., has accepted a position as an Old National senior vice president, client adviser manager.

Slusser limited his comments on the teams’ joining First Financial to remarks he provided in its prepared statement: “We are excited to be joining First Financial, one of the largest community banks serving Indiana and an organization with a strong commitment to client service.”

Members of the team Slusser will lead in the regional launch of First Financial’s commercial lending platform include: Andrew Holy, relationship manager; Seth Keirns, relationship manager; Tim Kuhnen, relationship manager; Janna Murphy, administrative assistant; and Brian Ternet, relationship manager.

First Financial said the mortgage team it has hired for the new banking center averages more than 18 years of industry experience,

with most of that in the Fort Wayne area.

In addition to Rauch, who also will lead the bank’s E-Channel mortgage origination platform, the team includes: Bernie Christman, mortgage loan originator; Jon Halliwill, mortgage loan originator; Tracy White, mortgage loan originator; and Nathan Willis, mortgage loan originator.

Rauch said in the prepared statement that “partnering with First Financial is a great opportunity and strong cultural fit for our mortgage team.

“First Financial’s expanded set of residential mortgage products and enhanced resources will allow us to provide a greater number of mortgage solutions to existing and prospective homeowners in the greater Fort Wayne area.”

Davis said the company’s Fort Wayne banking center opened with a dozen associates but he expects the size of its work force to grow to 20 this winter.

“Fort Wayne’s being the second largest metro area of the state made it an important market for us because Indiana is a significant part of our business, representing between 40 and 50 percent of our overall business,” he said in the interview.

“Secondly, we … have several markets around Fort Wayne that we already do business in and they view Fort Wayne as a regional hub for health care, for shopping and media, so it’s also a good complement to the business we already have in the area.”

Communities in the Fort Wayne area with First Financial branches include North Manchester 33 miles to the west and Van Wert, Ohio, 42 miles to the east.

The bank belongs to a nationwide network of automated teller machines, which includes some in Fort Wayne, and it has an active online banking account base and a very large and growing mobile banking account base, Davis said.

First Financial plans to spend the next several months evaluating potential locations for a permanent downtown banking center as well as potential locations for additional branches, he said.

First Financial has been watching what has been going on in Fort Wayne’s banking industry from its perspective as a company with a community bank business model.

Davis said, “What Tower has done in the Fort Wayne market has been impressive.

“Our interaction has been with the individuals we’ve hired, and we’ve been very impressed with their banking experience, their background and their business results in the market,” he said.

First Financial plans to add wealth management and a full line of consumer banking products and services later this year to the commercial and mortgage business it does in Fort Wayne.

January 10-16, 2014

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USF: IDEM approval delays Shriners deal

Continued from PAGE 1

town campus to house its Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership and its Media Entrepreneurship Training in the Arts program.

The business school currently has 162 undergrads enrolled, and the media tech program has 42. Moving downtown will give them room to grow, said Andrew Prall, vice president of academic affairs at Saint Francis.

One of the bigger parts of the proposed funding plan is a $3-million grant from the city’s Legacy Fort Wayne fund. An internal review committee is expected to make a recommendation by the end of the month on USF’s grant request, city spokesman John Perlich confirmed in an email.

The grant, which would require a 3-to-1 match by USF, or $9 million, also requires the approval of the City Council.

USF purchased the former Scottish Rite building on Berry Street, which it christened the USF Performing Arts Center, two years ago this month, It closed on the purchase of the chamber building at 826 Ewing St. in November 2012, and all of that building’s tenants have finally moved out.

But its purchase of the Mizpah Shrine

building that sits between the other two, on the corner of Ewing and Berry, and the accompanying Shriners’ parking lot and ticket office at 413 W. Main St., on the neighboring block, still has not been finalized.

The former ticket office once housed a boat business. The underground tanks it used have been removed, but the sellers are still awaiting approvals from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management before the deal can close, said Mizpah Shrine recorder Ron Harruff. That probably will take another few months, he estimated.

The Shriners recently completed the renovation of the former Unfinished Furniture store at 1015 Memorial Way, across Parnell Avenue from the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, and have moved all their activities there.

The university has not developed any specific plans for the use of the Shrine building and ticket office, so there are no worries about completing renovations there by fall 2015. It is interested first and foremost in the large parking lot, Bienz said.

If the city awards the Legacy grant, the n

See USF on PAGE 22

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USF: Other funding source could be New Markets Tax Credits

Continued from PAGE 21

funds would be paid out gradually as USF invests its own funds in the renovation work.

“As we spend $3 million, we would get $1 million,” Bienz explained.

USF is lining up other funding sources, including, perhaps, New Markets Tax Credits, Bienz said. The federal program, created in 2000 to spur investment in low-income areas, allows an entity to recoup 39 percent of its investment, refunded over seven years as income tax credits.

USF itself is tax-exempt, but it could sell the tax credits and still get about 82 percent of the value, or up to about $2 million, Bienz said.

The tax-credit program was part of the financing package developers and the city of Fort Wayne used to build the Harrison in downtown Fort Wayne.

The use of historic preservation incentives is also possible, but less likely because those come with some limitations on what can be done to qualifying structures.

“We’re researching what type of restrictions there would be, and would those restrictions impact our future plans,” Bienz said.

The chamber and performing-arts buildings each will require about $5 million worth of work. Both need to have their heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems replaced, and both require upgrades to make them handicapped accessible.

The chamber’s HVAC system was in such dire shape it had to be turned off. “We brought the building down because there were steam pipes leaking inside the walls,” Bienz said.

Since USF took over the building, the performing-arts center has hosted a number of concerts and community events in its auditorium and basement ballroom, along with 14 weddings, Bienz noted. Part of the planning for the renovations there will be scheduling the work, including the creation of new office and studio spaces, to minimize the disruption to other activities.

“The building will be offline for a short time,” Bienz said. “We’re trying to know when to do that.”

Its location in the heart of the downtown area will be a boon to USF’s experiential learning programs, which go well beyond traditional internship opportunities, Prall said.

The META program uses a project-based learning model that brings

together students with different majors to work together in teams to accomplish goals beneficial to both the business and arts communities, Prall said.

The Busse Entrepreneurial Program with Integrated Cooperatives, or EPIC, allows students to intern at a company for an extended period of time.

“They work exclusively within one business through their four-year career, inside various departments,” Prall said.

The program has achieved a 100-percent job placement record, “and a lot of our students come out with multiple job offers,” he said.

The Busse school also offers three master’s degree programs with online classes geared toward the adult learner rather than the traditional student. There are currently 102 students enrolled in those programs, “and the enrollment is growing almost by the day,” Prall said.

USF recently received a $1-million Lilly Foundation Inc. grant that it will use, in part, to launch both a concentration and a bachelor’s degree program in insurance and risk management. The first classes are expected to begin in fall 2014, and the program will move downtown when that campus is completed.

Q

BRIEFLY

STEUBEN COUNTY

LAWSUIT MOVES FORWARD The ruling in the federal lawsuit pitting owners of a strip club against the city of Angola is the early stages but it has been reduced to the point that a quick conclusion is possible.

On Dec. 31, U.S. Federal District Judge Robert Miller struck down many of the motions filed in the case between Alva and Sandra Butler and their company, BBL Inc., against Angola.

Parties in the case were informed of the ruling Jan. 2 by the court, The Herald Republican in Angola reported. On Jan. 3, a telephonic status hearing in the case was scheduled for Jan. 30 with Miller and attorneys representing the parties.

The Butlers are owners of the Showgirl III strip club in Fort Wayne. They sued Angola, claiming their efforts to open a club here were thwarted by the city in violation of their constitutional rights.

The portion of the case that remains involves whether Angola allowed qualified alternative sites to use as opposed to the one Butler purchased in August 2012, the former Slider’s Grill & Bar property at 310 W. Wendell Jacob Ave.

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indianatech.edu/cps Call 800.288.1766 for graduate classes forming now.

January 10-16, 2014

January 10-16, 2014

n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly

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January 10-16, 2014

Business Weekly

LEGEND of LEADERSHIP AWARD

Master of Ceremonies: Ben Eisbart, Steel Dynamics Featuring remarks by: Marilyn Moran-Townsend, CVC Communications Larry Lee, Leepoxy Plastics Cheri Becker, Leadership Fort Wayne Mike Cahill, Tower Bank Sharon Eisbart, Sharon Eisbart Corporate Art

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3306 Independence Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808

Join community leaders as they pay tribute to this legendary leader.

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Breakfast Thursday, February 27 7:30 AM Landmark Centre

Business Weekly

Honoring Irene Walters