Business Connection Summer 2015

SUMMER 2015

A publication of

Family powerhouse Motors generate business for Columbus Industrial Electric

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Contents Features

Columbus Industrial Electric. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Problem of empty buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Barkes, Weaver & Glick Funeral Homes. . . . . . 16 SBA’s Stacey Poynter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Mentoring engineers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Jobs in agriculture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 J. Irwin Miller biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

16 In every issue Around the Water Cooler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 On the Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Mark McNulty column. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Business Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Business Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Morton Marcus column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

4 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

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On the cover

Richard Martin rewires a motor at Columbus Industrial Electric.

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6 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

Opposite page: Phillip Brennan begins the process of winding a dyno coil. Above: Family members stand outside the office of Columbus Industrial Electric next to an electric motor sculpture conceived by founder Ralph Deppe.

From left are Steve Deppe, Helen Deppe, Teresa Deppe and Susan Chandler.

Motor skills Family is fully in charge at Columbus Industrial Electric

A

By Barney Quick n photos by Greg Jones

few types of businesses come to mind in association with the phrase “small, family-run enterprise,” but is a shop that sells and repairs electrical motors one of them? Columbus Industrial Electric certainly fits the bill.

There are 10 Deppe siblings in the generation spawned by the business’s founder, Ralph Deppe. Four are currently involved, but all 10 are stockholders.

Ralph had worked for Daniel Hayden Electric, a now-defunct local company in the motor business, for several years when he struck out on his own.

Son Steve began hanging around the Daniel Hayden shop and subsequently at his dad’s own workplace.

Columbus North High School had a work program that was the precursor to the C4

curriculum, and Steve used it to work at Columbus Industrial Electric in the afternoons for academic credit. He’s now the president.

Helen Deppe, one of Steve’s sisters, started out rewinding motors, later moving into purchasing and administrative functions. Another sister, Susan Chandler, likewise works in the office. A brother, Francis Deppe, is a vice president but is retired from day-to-day activity. The shop is populated with various relatives.

The company sells a variety of products, including motors, belts, drives, chains, gear boxes, pulleys and hubs, controllers, brakes, pumps and air compressors. Brands include Baldor, Fasco, Leeson, Lincoln, Bando, Emerson and Ingersoll Rand. Motors range in horsepower from onetwentieth to 500.

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 7

Even though the company employs just 11 people, a number of departments and dedicated areas are in the facility on Indianapolis Road. Aside from the office, there are the single-phase department and the threephase department, the winding department, the machine shop and the warehouse. Clearly, everyone involved has a fairly comprehensive knowledge of electrical motors in order to pitch in where needed.

“Our customer base is really varied,” says Helen. “Farmers come to us a lot for applications such as crop dryers. HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) people and manufacturing companies use us.

Motors are found in anything that moves.”

The company grew by word-of-mouth for its first 15 years. Many customers had known Ralph from his Daniel Hayden days.

“We had a sales rep after that,” says Helen.

“He just retired.”

Columbus Industrial Electric is a real testament to the hands-on means of learning the trade. The variety of motors and applications quickly imparts a remarkable depth of familiarity with the range of

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situations to be encountered.

“Steve has so much knowledge, he can tell what kind of motor someone is talking about by the application the person is describing,” says Susan.

The company offers pickup and delivery service over a 50-mile radius. It has 24-hour service and emergency phone numbers for situations arising after regular hours.

Because out-of-commission motors mean downtime for customers, when the flood of 2008 occurred, “everybody who could get in here the next day came and helped wipe down the walls,” says Susan. “We’d moved everything to a high enough elevation that all we lost was a forklift.”

One of the main activities in the shop is pulling and replacing copper wires. Motors are baked in a special oven to loosen old wires. Pulled wire is sent to Columbus’ Kroot Corp., a scrap-metal processor.

The shop also has a balancing machine for eliminating wobble in blades and rotors. Readings quantifying how true the balanced component is are printed out for customers.

The machine shop is for activities such as boring, sleeving, building up shafts and putting in new keyways and shafts. All repaired motors pass through the paint booth.

Community involvement takes a number of forms at Columbus Industrial Electric. It participates 10 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

Opposite page top: John Smock puts a part into the lathe in the machine shop portion of Columbus Industrial Electric. Opposite page bottom: Charles Sorg works on the problem part of a motor after he has dismantled it. Above: A small portion of the stock motors kept on hand. Below: Bearings of all sizes and configurations are kept in stock to ensure timely turnaround of repairs.

in the Shop With a Cop program, which pairs underprivileged children with police officers for Christmas-gift-shopping forays, contributes to East and North high school bands, and awards two scholarships per year through 4-H. It sells electronic drives that are connected to the motors of area schools’ computer networks to slow or speed them according to heat and air demand. It’s a past sponsor of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s Christmas concert. Ivy Tech often arranges for its students of the electrical trade to tour the shop.

Steve predicts that the mix of brands for which his company is a dealer will undergo some shifts.

“The landscape is changing because of the influx of Chinese products,” he notes. “It’s driving prices down to where domestic manufacturers can’t compete. I anticipate selling more Chinese motors eventually.”

He also sees changes in the pricing of repair services. “The federal Department of Energy has set minimum efficiency levels that manufacturers have to meet. That’s raising costs. Our trade group, the Electrical Apparatus Service Association, keeps us apprised of how that’s developing. These standards will eventually hit residential users as well.”

He observes that “in a few years, we’re going to have to be certified in assuring that repair doesn’t affect efficiency. Only mega-shops will survive.”

There are no Deppes from subsequent generations coming on board, so it’s up to the current crew to ensure that the company thrives. That’s fine with Steve: “I’ll probably be here as long as I’m alive, just like Dad.”

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 11

A

waiting game Empty buildings still hold promise for future

This building on west State Road 46 was formerly a Denny’s restaurant.

12 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

By Barney Quick n photos by Greg Jones

T

he longer they sit idle, the more we notice them. Who hasn’t passed by an empty commercial building on a regular basis and begun to mark the time since it first caught our attention?

What happens to them? Why do some sit empty longer than others? Is there a point at which the city gets involved?

Robert Elliot, associate commercial and industrial broker at Breeden Inc., a commercial realty company in Columbus, says that, relative to many other communities, most commercial structures in the city actually move fairly quickly.

“This is an active market,” he says. “Certain spaces that are highly visible seem to sit idle for extended periods, but they’re largely in demand given the city’s openness to new businesses and ideas.”

In some cases, layout limitations are a cause of prolonged idleness. Elliot notes the accessibility problem of the former Denny’s site at the Indiana 46 exit off Interstate 65 on the city’s west side. The former Wendy’s building, across the road from the

Denny’s site, also sat empty for several years before recently being demolished.

Sometimes it’s a matter of a lengthy timetable for an empty building’s next occupant. Such is the case with the former Lockett’s Ladies Shop location two addresses north of the fire station at 11th and Washington streets. Lockett’s has moved to a location downtown, and the eye-care practice slated to take the site over is still making preparations to do so.

Occasionally, an empty building develops safety or security issues, and the city’s code enforcement office has to get involved.

Fred Barnett, coordinator for code enforcement, says that the process for determining whether to step in regarding a commercial building is similar to that for residential structures. “Two factors come to bear: personal observation and third-party notification,” he says. “If I know a piece of property is vacant, I feel it’s my responsibility to see if issues need to be addressed.”

He looks for physical deterioration, trash on the premises, grass that needs mowing and safety

The office buildings at 25th Street and National Road are shuttered.

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issues. If the situation has reached the point where particular codes are being violated, he notifies the owner, either in person or by certified letter. The time frame for bringing the property into compliance with code is generally a week to 10 days.

If Barnett doesn’t receive a response within that time, the owner gets a final notice. If the issue is one of safety, the Board of Works may order the building to be boarded up. At that point, the search for the owner intensifies.

His job entails a fair amount of research, beginning with tracking down the title. Contact information for the owner is generally obtained via social media or a Google search. If the owner is deceased, he begins searching for next of kin.

Barnett uses the term “accountable recordability” to describe the foundation of his approach. “It’s not enough to write violations,” he says.

A major aspect of that, according to Barnett, is “keeping in the back of your mind that a building that is OK now will need to be looked at from time to time. I know of one piece of commercial property that was OK in November 2014 when I started in this position that incurred damage over the winter.

It’s now unsecure.”

The two long buildings on 25th Street just east of the Burger King at the intersection with National Road are an example of the kind of legwork Barnett must do. They housed various types of offices for years, but were rendered unfit for occupancy by the flood of 2008.

“They’re boarded up, and I believe that was done by the owner, but that was before my time,” says Barnett. “They’re safe and secure, but they have some issues. The owner has passed away, so my communications about the matter are with the trustees of the property.”

He understands that some properties may be hard to sell, due to location or the building’s size or location. “I know I’ll have to deal with those at some point down the road.”

He mentions converting such a property into a green space as an option. “It doesn’t immediately profit the owner, but it makes property values rise, and then the owner may eventually be able to profitably put a new structure on that land.”

While codes themselves are precise, the business of enforcing them is always evolving, according to Barnett. “An area of town may go from being primarily commercial to industrial, and those have different codes. An enforcement officer has to adapt.”

He stresses that “the majority of commercial property out there is safe and secure. That doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be rubbish or tall grass. There are a few of those.”

Barnett says that “obviously, you want 100 percent compliance. My personal goal is to maintain at least 80 percent compliance on all violations written.”

He’s aware that tact is an essential element of his

work. “It’s my job to enforce codes. I don’t interpret them. Still, you definitely have to use common sense and common courtesy.”

Private property is by definition the business of the person or entity that owns it. There is a story that goes with every empty building we pass by and wonder about. The desired ending of the tale is generally for it to house some kind of productive activity again as soon as possible.

An industrial building and office at the corner of 22nd Street and Cottage Avenue is empty.

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Rory Glick stands in the casket showroom at the Washington Street location of Barkes, Weaver & Glick Funeral Homes. | photo by Greg Jones

Dying business is

thriving Barkes, Weaver & Glick maintains long tradition of helping families 16 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

By Barney Quick

T

he current owner of Barkes, Weaver & Glick Funeral Homes and Crematory is well aware of his company’s 80-year legacy as a locally owned provider of services to families experiencing loss. Rory Glick bought the business in 2005 but had already been involved for about 20 years at that point, starting with performing chores and making Richard Weaver’s standards his own.

“There’s no doubt that it involves some balance and focus. You’re responsible for making sure services for these people’s loved ones come off in a timely manner, yet you have feelings about it yourself.”

— Rory Glick

“I was a country boy and a basketball player,” says the 1984 Columbus North High School graduate who was coached by the legendary Bill Stearman, “but I’d known since age 13 that this career path intrigued me. By high school, knew I wanted to be either a farmer or a funeral director.”

Easing into his present role over two decades has allowed him to adjust to new industry trends, as well as growth of his own company.

The firm has two locations. One is at the corner of 11th and Washington streets, and the other is on Jonathan Moore Pike on the west side. The staff consists of four licensed funeral directors and three part-time employees. “One is a student in mortuary school,” says Glick. “I like to help young people interested in the business.”

That spirit of mentorship is part of what Weaver passed on to Glick as a young man.

Glick was 20 when he got a call from Weaver’s daughter, Ann, who’d been a high school classmate, informing him that her father was looking for part-time help.

“I painted, mowed grass, pulled weeds and washed cars,” he recalls. “I think he was testing me. After a time doing those chores, he started taking me on death calls.”

Glick embarked on a funeral director’s career path, going through mortuary school, serving SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 17

a year’s internship, passing the national board test and obtaining a license. He maintained an interest in farming and for a while was “blessed to do both.”

He returned to farming full time and considered purchasing his uncle’s farm. Along the way, he married Jill Tremain, with whom he has three sons.

In 1995, Weaver called him to say he was retiring.

He wanted Glick to buy the business.

Trent Morgan, a licensed funeral director who handles day-to-day operations, “learned the business the same way I did,” according to Glick. “He’s involved in a lot of decisions.”

The steps in the process of serving the family of a deceased person are communication-intensive.

A director makes a family call to set up a meeting in the arrangement office. At that meeting, service time, burial clothing and obituary details are Below: This picture on an old fan is of the original funeral home on Cottage Avenue that opened in 1935. Bottom right: The business moved to 1029 Washington St. in 1948. | submitted photos

18 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

established, and legal documents signed. A list of pertinent people to call, such as a minister and a florist, is drawn up.

Keith Starnes is the main staff person involved with prep work, such as embalming and dressing.

Embalming is a decision made by the family.

Glick notes the biggest change in the industry in recent times is the move to more cremations.

In response, Barkes, Weaver and Glick installed a crematory at the west-side location.

Along with providers of crematory and embalming supplies, a funeral home’s vendor base includes suppliers of caskets, vaults, urns, car maintenance, printed materials and cleaning supplies. A fair amount of staff time is spent communicating with sales representatives from these vendors.

Glick notes that compliance with government regulations consumes an increasing amount of his staff ’s time. The Federal Trade Commission and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are the two agencies he deals with most frequently. The FTC is looking to see that the general price list is up to code, and OSHA’s interest is in the general cleanliness and orderliness of the physical facility.

He says that scheduling and capacity are a big challenge, as is the related issue of “making sure we get time off. My wife makes me take vacations pretty far away, because if I’m in town, I’ll drop in. It’s a struggle to make myself take a day off.”

The old white house was remodeled four times.

It was torn down after the new building was erected in the parking lot. | submitted photo

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A sample cremation urn is made of inlaid wood veneers. | photo by Greg Jones

The time encroachment also makes it a challenge to find people for his staff. “Not everyone wants to get up at 2 a.m. to get a body.”

The biggest challenges, in Glick’s opinion, are funerals for young people and burying friends and parents’ friends. “There’s no doubt that it involves some balance and focus. You’re responsible for making sure services for these people’s loved ones come off in a timely manner, yet you have feelings about it yourself,” he notes.

Glick is proud of the fact that his firm is locally owned and that there’s a sense of continuity going back to its founding in 1935 by George Barkes.

Wally Inlow bought it from Barkes. Inlow sold it to Weaver in 1969, so the lineage of management, as well as the standards to which management has held itself, is direct throughout that span. That’s been beneficial for establishing a reputation.

“I probably advertise the least of any funeral home in the area,” says Glick. “Marketing consists of word-of-mouth about who we are and our passion for service.”

A casket made by the Amish of reclaimed barn siding comes with a rocking chair made of the same material that the family can keep as a reminder of their loved one. | photo by Greg Jones

The crematory in the westside building was installed in 2011. | submitted photo

This westside building was built in 1983 on Indiana 46. | submitted photo 20 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

The funeral home moved into this building at 1029 Washington St. in 1998. | submitted photo

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By Barney Quick n photos by Greg Jones

The loan arranger

A

Hoosier native with SBA enables federal guarantees for local entrepreneurs

business owner always feels more comfortable if there is a human element to his relationship with a federal agency. Columbusarea businesses enlisting the services of the Small Business Administration can now put a hometown face on their relationship with that entity.

Stacey Poynter, a 1990 graduate of Columbus East High School and longtime presence in the local banking scene, became the SBA’s Indiana district director last year and is anxious to renew ties with acquaintances in the city’s business community.

22 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

The SBA was created in 1953. Its mission is to foster a favorable climate for the nation’s entrepreneurial enterprises.

Indiana is one district. Some states have more.

There are 68 district offices across the nation and in U.S. territories. The Indiana district is part of the Great Lakes region, which also includes Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin. The Indiana office is at Keystone at the Crossing on the north side of Indianapolis.

Poynter describes the three broad areas of SBA service as the three C’s: access to capital, business

counseling and government contracting.

Generally speaking, the SBA guarantees loans provided by an approved lender. Most Indiana banks are SBA-approved lenders. Poynter says that the guarantee means that “if the loan goes bad, we make good to the bank on 75 percent of the loan, and then the business owes that to the government.”

He says that the benefits to the borrower are a loan that it would otherwise not get, as well as reasonable terms. “It’s not the most profitable for the bank, but it’s a good community service.”

The only situation in which the SBA makes direct loans is in the event of a disaster. “First, FEMA comes in with grants, then the SBA comes in with loans,” says Poynter.

Regarding counseling, the SBA subsidizes what it calls resource partners. These consist of SCORE, a program in which experienced small-business people listen to entrepreneurs’ ideas and coach them on the aspects of starting a new enterprise, such as financials, a business plan, and areas such as taxes and operations, the Women’s Business Center and the Small Business Development Center. This last resource partner is hosted by Indiana’s Office of Small Business and Enterprise, or OSBE. The SBA is happy to make small businesses aware of government contracting opportunities.

Its staff can help with the certification process by which a business becomes a contractor, as well as making small businesses aware of the opportunities available by conducting matchmaking events and outreach programs.

Some businesses qualify for set-aside contracts.

These include businesses owned by women or disabled veterans, and businesses in historically underutilized business zones.

Poynter wants to see person-to-person contact assume priority when an entrepreneur inquires with the SBA. “Our website has a lot of information, but a person should start with calling us,” he says. “We’ll start with some basic questions. Where do you live?

Do you have a business plan?”

Poynter’s deep roots in the Columbus area serve him well in his efforts to put a personal touch on the Indiana district’s services. After graduating from East, he went through Purdue’s Krannert School of Management, then returned to Columbus to teach accounting and economics for a semester at Indiana Business College, now Harrison College.

A few out-of-town jobs followed, including management positions with American General Financial Services in its Bedford, Evansville and Seymour offices.

He returned to Columbus and went to work for Home Federal Savings Bank, now Old National Bank. During that time, he became active in the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce.

“I was on the ribbon-cutting committee, and I served as a chamber ambassador,” he says. “I really appreciated the support and mentorship I got from people at that time.”

In 2008, he joined the SBA as a lender relations specialist. “We’d educate the banks on how our programs work.”

Stacey Poynter visits with Kami Adams in her office at the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce.

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 23

Poynter visits with Tim Cooney at the chamber offices. Cooney explained that he was able to start his first business in Columbus by working with the Small Business Administration.

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Since becoming district director, he’s been “working on strategic partnerships with state-level resource partners. If we’re truly the resource for small business, we need to be the conduit for their resources. I want to simplify that network. My agency is federal, but I’ve always lived in Indiana. I know this state’s businesses.”

The SBA also conducts various events. On May 6 at Camp Atterbury, the agency hosted a Contracting Matchmaker session, which Poynter describes as being similar in format to speed-dating. On June 19, at an OSBE luncheon, the SBA will present some awards, including the Small Business of the Year designation.

Poynter is pleased with the results he’s seen since becoming director. “We’re up 23 percent in the number of loans for fiscal year 2015 over 2014, and ’14 was better than ’13,” he says. “I just talked to some SCORE people. They’re up 44 percent over last year in counseling sessions. That’s outstanding.”

He derives much of his satisfaction from “getting people to look at things in fresh ways. I was working with a gentleman in the drywall business and suggested that he look at government contracting.

He’d always thought the paperwork would be too daunting. I explained that our role was to make it less so.”

Poynter says that he finds it rewarding to help a segment of the economy that plays a major role in shaping the American character. “Entrepreneurs are remarkable, resilient people.”

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Do you seek inspiration and connection with like-minded innovators? Contact the Chamber for a tour of the Fish Tank. Or give us a call at 812.379.4457.

The Chamber identified the need for a place where ideas can swim around so it has developed the Fish Tank. Opening in June, this 24/7 coworking community of innovators will be the home base for those launching new businesses, working remotely or needing an inspiring space in which to work.

Home offices and coffee shops may offer a workable space for some who don’t have or don’t require a traditional office setting.

However, Johnson’s theories explain that open environments allow people to make interesting and unlikely connections. This justifies, in part, the explosion of collaborative corporate environments and community coworking spaces.

It’s phenomenon we studied and tested, before taking this leap.

Community members will have affordable options such as weekend passes, 10-day a month passes and full access passes, ranging from $30 a month to $100 a month. Single-day passes will also be available.

This space, located in the Chamber’s office at 500 North Franklin Street, offer the added member benefit of easy access to Chamber members, the Service Corps of Retired Executives and Indiana Small Business Development Center.

By the

NUMBERS 38

JANAPRIL

new members

14

ribbon cuttings

1744

event attendees

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 25

IUPUC’s Peter Dreher, Joe Peters, Kathryn Salee, Torie Gilland, Kable Walton, Cory Burbrink, Chris Dobbins and Adam Zimmerman are participants in the college’s mechanical engineering program. The students are being mentored by a group of Columbus engineers who provide support and networking opportunities for the future engineers.

Submitted photo

Making the connection Engineers serve as mentors for college students

By Dennis Glade n The Republic

A group of Columbus engineers is mentoring IUPUC students to provide networking opportunities that will help them land full-time, post-graduation jobs as mechanical engineers.

And with engineering students having a high firstyear college dropout rate, their local mentors are also trying to provide the necessary support to help keep them in school.

Clayton Force, project engineering manager for Force Construction, is devoting time to spearhead the new partnership between the college and local engineers. Part of its emphasis is to promote the merits of a Purdue engineering degree program at the IUPUC campus, he said.

Through his time as a student and now as a professional, Force said he has seen high dropout rates among students in engineering programs.

He said one of the chief goals of the partnership is to help reduce the rate of attrition within the IUPUC program by providing real-world advice and guidance.

Force, a graduate of Purdue University in West Lafayette, said he remembers what it was like to seek 26 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

career advice and how difficult networking can be at a young age. After moving back to Columbus, Force noticed efforts being made at the high school and community college levels to promote the mechanical engineering program offered in Columbus and to enroll students in those degree programs.

“What I didn’t see was a connection between engineering professionals in the community and those who have actually chosen to go into those technical programs,” he said.

With all the effort to get students enrolled in mechanical engineering, Force said, there needed to be more support for students who are currently in the program.

The mentoring program puts students in touch with nine engineering professionals in the Columbus area. In addition, students are in contact with five local firms that hire engineers — Cummins, Strand Associates Inc., CyberMetrix Inc., Caltherm Corp. and Force Construction.

In just its second semester, the mentoring easily pairs with IUPUC’s mechanical engineering program, in only its second year. Engineering students had a chance to meet all nine engineering mentors during an April presentation at IUPUC. About 25 of the program’s 35 students attended the session, assistant professor Tom Lawrence said.

The mechanical engineering students were

realizing for the first time that in just a few years they could be mentors themselves, he said.

Chris Dobbins, who works part time for Cybermetrix and plans to work full time there this summer, said it was interesting to hear about the day-to-day activities at each company and how each firm’s opportunity is different, despite employees coming in with the same mechanical engineering degree.

Adam Zimmerman, a junior in the mechanical engineering program, said the event was a great opportunity to speak with the professionals in a casual setting, instead of the more likely scenario of meeting them during a job interview after graduation. He works full time for Cummins while going to college.

Junior Torie Gilland has been hired as a summer intern for the GECOM Corp. in Greensburg.

GECOM manufactures automotive door locks, trunk locks, tailgate locks and openers, power sliding door systems, power tailgate systems, seat locks, hinges and trunk openers.

Mechanical engineering studies The Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree at IUPUI grants a Purdue University degree to all of its graduating students. All courses required for the degree can be completed on the IUPUC campus in Columbus. Information: iupuc.edu/academics/ degree-programs/engineering/

“Hopefully I’ll be able to understand every single thing that they do,” Gilland said. “The company is really down to earth, and I think it’s important to feel comfortable with the people you are working with.”

Although the program at IUPUC is for mechanical engineering, Force wants to expose students to all the different roles that engineers play in the business community. He tells the mechanical engineering students that all engineers don’t sit at a computer all day, nor do they just work on one machine all day.

“We have roles in business, finance and business development,” he said.

The Columbus Economic Development Board reports that, with an estimated 31 mechanical engineers per 1,000 workers, Columbus has the highest concentration of mechanical engineers in the nation. The community boasts three times the national average for all types of engineers, according to the board.

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 27

Around the WATER COOLER CEDB updates

Some of the updates shared by the Columbus Economic Development Board during its annual meeting May 4: • It is applying results of a recent target industries analysis to attract more businesses to the community. Based on study results, the board is pursuing six industries: scientific research and development services; motor vehicle design and testing; pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing; instruments manufacturing; aerospace products and parts manufacturing; industrial metalworking and machinery manufacturing.

• The board’s sites and buildings committee had a victory last year when Force Holdings announced it would build the first industrial shell building in Columbus in more than 20 years. The building is completed, and prospective companies have visited.

• Columbus Aviation Board of Commissioners recently issued a request for proposals to redevelop 777 acres at the former Walesboro airport site as an industrial site.

MainSource earnings increase

MainSource Financial Group reported firstquarter earnings of $7.7 million, or 35 cents per common share, compared with $6.2 million, or 30 cents per common share, a year earlier.

The company’s Oct. 17 acquisition of MBT Bancorp of West Harrison led to an 8 percent increase in net interest income, while MainSource’s expense base only increased modestly, said Archie M. Brown Jr., president and CEO of the Greensburg-based company.

The company incurred a $2.4 million first-quarter charge related to the prepayment of Federal Home 28 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

Loan Bank advances and realized $252,000 in gains from the sale of investment securities. The sum of these items reduced earnings per share by 6 cents.

Total assets as of March 31 were $3.15 billion, a $280 million increase from a year earlier. The increase in the balance sheet was primarily related to the MBT Bancorp acquisition, in addition to organic loan growth, Brown said. The company’s board of directors announced a quarterly common dividend of 13 cents per share, up from 11 cents, an 18 percent increase. This represents an annualized dividend yield of about 2.6 percent.

MainSource has local offices in Columbus, Hope, Edinburgh, North Vernon and Westport, in addition to locations inside retail stores and ATM locations.

Indiana nonprofits grow in for-profit areas

BLOOMINGTON — A new report from Indiana University says the state’s nonprofits are expanding into industries traditionally seen as being dominated by for-profit companies.

The (Bloomington) Herald Times reports that the IU study says nonprofits in nontraditional industries have experienced “remarkable growth” and that many gained market share.

The report focused on five so-called minor industries: finance, information, company management, scientific and technical services, and utilities. Nonprofit employment grew 29 percent from 1995 to 2011 in those industries, while forprofit employment rose just 2 percent.

Kirsten Gronbjerg, associate dean of faculty at IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, says nonprofits in such industries are overlooked and are a small part of the state’s economy. But she says they seem “remarkably resilient and competitive.”

Former industrial building to become shopping plaza

A former industrial building along the Central Avenue corridor, once used by Cosco and Cummins, is in the midst of a complete renovation that its owners envision will attract retail tenants, including restaurants.

John and Andrew Counceller, of Orinoco Properties Inc., are working to create 13 new retail spaces at 1503 Cottage Ave. Orinoco Properties, which owns and manages commercial, industrial, residential and storage facilities, is investing nearly $1.5 million to renovate the building, including work to the second floor and establishing a new parking lot.

Purdue University creating aerospace district

Purdue University plans to create a 980-acre aerospace district in West Lafayette.

University President Mitch Daniels says the Purdue Research Park Aerospace District will include public and private research facilities. He called it “one of the most comprehensive and important enterprises we have undertaken.”

Purdue aviation technology graduate Scott Niswonger and the Purdue Research Foundation will purchase Lafayette Aviation as part of the project.

Lafayette Aviation will be renamed Purdue Aviation.

The district also will include the Purdue University Airport and Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has named the site an Indiana Certified Technology Park.

Turbine maker to pay up after missing goal

An Italian wind-turbine maker is expected to pay a central Indiana county $375,000 for failing to meet a goal of hiring 200 workers by the end of 2014.

Delaware County commissioners and Brevini Wind confirmed the payment. The company could pay another $800,000 if it fails to create the equivalent of 410 full-time jobs by Dec. 31, 2016, the Star-Press of Muncie reported.

Brevini said when plans for its Yorktown factory were announced in October 2008 that it planned to create 450 jobs. But because of the recession and declining growth in the wind power industry, the company never has employed more than 60 workers.

The company issued a statement saying it’s “well positioned for future growth in Delaware County.”

Brevini, which moved its headquarters from Illinois to Indiana before opening the factory, has invested more than $10 million in real estate and another $26 million in equipment for its twobuilding complex.

The company has an annual payroll of more than $3 million and paid more than $300,000 in real estate taxes in 2014.

Delaware County issued $2.2 million in bonds to help the company in 2008 and spent $5 million on an unused rail spur designed to handle huge gearboxes.

Indiana businesses boost summer tourism

SANTA CLAUS — Businesses in a southern Indiana county say they have spent more than $26 million to help boost tourism this summer.

Visitors to the Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Spencer County can ride a new roller coaster called the Thunderbird that propels them from zero to 60 mph in under 4 seconds. Monkey Hollow Winery has added a new small events space while Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort has added 20 new cottages and a new camp store.

The Holiday Drive-In has added five digital projectors, and Santa’s Lodge is expected to add a zip line.

The Lincoln Pioneer Village & Museum also will rebuild two cabins, the Comfort Inn & Suites will update its lobby and the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial plans to offer more programming.

Muncie firm to hire 300-plus

A Muncie-based construction and facilities management firm plans to add as many as 316 jobs to its current workforce of about 150 by 2024, in addition to investing $2.3 million to expand its corporate headquarters.

A-Son’s Construction Inc. has started hiring for the new positions, according to an announcement from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. The jobs would include management, human resources, administrative and client support positions.

Founded in 1999, A-Son’s is a construction firm that also provides facilities management services for thousands of commercial, residential and hospitality properties across North America.

A-Son’s currently is located at 1301 E. Riggin Road in Muncie. According to the Muncie Star Press, much of the firm’s expanded workforce will operate a service center, answering calls from clients around the country.

— Staff and Wire Reports SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 29

Ag grads are finding a bumper crop of job opportunities

A

By Tom Meersman n Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (TNS)

Adam Donkers and many of his friends at the University of Minnesota don’t need to worry about jobs after graduating. They’re majoring in agricultural sciences or agricultural business, and large and small companies are eager to hire them.

“Pretty much every member (of my ag fraternity) has a full-time job when they’re graduating,” Donkers said. “Every junior has an internship, most of the sophomores have internships and a good handful of freshmen have internships.”

Job posting boards, on-campus interviews and a special annual career fair for ag students show much the same trend, according to Sara Newberg, director of the university career center that assists ag majors.

“We have a limited number of students with an interest in that career direction and far more employers interested in hiring them,” Newberg said.

Donkers, raised on a family farm in Minnesota, is a junior majoring in agricultural business. He’ll learn about agricultural lending this summer at CoBank, a co-op that specializes in farm credit. It will be Donkers’ third internship in three years, and he’s interested in grain merchandising as a career.

Donkers is also president of the Gopher Crops and Soils Club, and he said his peers are majoring in fields from ag business and agronomy to plant science, marketing and animal science.

Agribusiness firms are invited to attend club meetings, especially in the fall, he said, and are happy to oblige.

“They have the earlier internships so that they can snatch up people and see if they would work out well for full-time employment,” Donkers said.

Purdue University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture studied the shortfall in agricultural jobs on a national basis and estimated that from 2010 to 2015 there would be about 54,400 openings each year in agriculture and natural resource jobs, and about 29,300 graduates from specialized colleges and university departments to fill them.

One of the bigger gaps was in science and engineering, according to the Purdue report, with

30 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

more than 14,000 jobs available to those with baccalaureate or higher degrees each year and only 6,200 specialized graduates.

The shortage is being filled by graduates recruited from “allied disciplines,” the study said — schools of engineering, health sciences and business.

Brian Buhr, dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, said there’s clearly a need for more ag students in the pipeline, and he’s not surprised that companies are doubling down to find newly trained scientists.

“There’s a whole high-tech side of ag that’s really booming,” he said. “It’s everything from robotics and sensors in harvesting equipment or livestock production systems, or even managing soil and drainage issues, all the way over to the genetics and genomics side of the world.”

Buhr said the college has established a working group with representatives from Cargill, CHS Inc., Land O’Lakes Inc. and other companies to discuss the issue. “They’re expressing this question of where does the next-generation workforce come from,” he said.

Some additional graduates may come from community and four-year colleges in farm country.

Three schools in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system announced that they will team up and pool resources to address the shortage of skilled workers in the ag industry. The effort, called AgCentric, will begin in September and includes Central Lakes College, Ridgewater College and Northland Community and Technical College.

Adam Holton, CHS senior vice president of human resources, said the shortage of trained students is not a crisis, but that it has become more difficult to find and attract the best candidates in some areas.

“In our case, that runs the gamut on the pure engineering side with our energy business to our agriculture side to our processing and food ingredients,” he said. CHS is the nation’s largest

farmer-owned cooperative. “There is a challenge, and as we go into the future it will get harder.”

To recruit the best people for its needs, Holton said, CHS has heightened is efforts to go “upstream” and contact undergraduate and community college students early in their studies to inform them about ag-related fields and careers.

The company also maintains strong partnerships with colleges and universities, he said.

Larry Meadows, Land O’Lakes’ senior communications manager, said one problem for agribusinesses is that many people, including students, don’t realize the complexity and sophisticated knowledge needed to grow crops, process and transport food, and compete globally.

“People think about the farm and that’s it,” he said. “They don’t think about the opportunity in IT, the opportunity in commodity risk, the opportunity from an investment and finance standpoint.”

Land O’Lakes recruits on many campuses each year, Meadows said, and last fall pledged $1 million to the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences for ag-related programs and scholarships.

Don Wyse, a professor in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at Minnesota, has watched the number of students in agricultural sciences fluctuate over the past four decades and has supervised graduate students who took their advanced degrees into plant breeding and genetics labs at Monsanto, Syngenta and other companies.

Those jobs were in demand during the past decade, Wyse said, and students lost interest in basic agronomy — the science of growing crops for production — because there were

Adam Donkers is an agriculture business major at the University of Minnesota. | TNS fewer opportunities.

Now the pendulum is swinging back, said Wyse, because companies have determined that their future profits may depend less on new genetics and more on improved crop systems that increase yields by using precision agriculture.

“So now the companies are stepping up and saying, where in the world are all the agronomists?

And where are all the applied cropping systems people? It’s a wide array of opportunities.”

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 31

Charlie Rentschler, author of “The Cathedral Builder: A Biography of J. Irwin Miller,” at Viewpoint Books. | photo by Andrew Laker

A Columbus legend J. Irwin Miller biography tells stories behind former Cummins leader From The Republic

A new book about J. Irwin Miller’s life by Hartsville resident Charlie Rentschler is touted as the first and only Miller biography every published.

Titled “The Cathedral Builder,” it looks at the life of the man who led Cummins Inc. from 1951 to 1977.

Rentschler, who had never written a book before, said he couldn’t help but follow his curiosity about more than 500 boxes of archived material from Miller’s life that were donated to the Indiana Historical Society by Miller’s children in 2010.

He knew the material could bring to light details about Miller that many people would never know.

After the material was donated, Rentschler spent the next four years conducting interviews 32 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

with more than 80 people important in Miller’s life and engaging in his own rigorous research on the local legend.

The experience of working with Cummins for nearly 40 years also helped nudge the Princeton University graduate to explore Miller’s life, including the personal and professional aspects.

It was clear to the Indiana Historical Society just how special the Miller archived material was, said Suzanne Hahn, vice president of library and archives. She said it took nearly two years of work to organize the material.

“It is one of the largest collections, if not the largest,” she said. “It’s exciting. When you first receive it, I guess it can kind of be a little daunting.

Once you see that kind of rich material … it is exciting to know that you’re preserving it and making it available for the public to use.”

The archives contain personal papers, correspondence, diaries, awards, photos and postcards representing the eight generations of the Irwin, Sweeney and Miller families. The material

was donated in boxes that each contained dozens of folders filled with documents, all of which have yet to be copied in digital format.

The collection was underwritten by gifts from Irwin Management Co.; the Irwin-Sweeney-Miller Foundation; the Cummins Foundation; and J. Irwin Miller’s children, Margaret Miller, Catherine Miller, Elizabeth Miller, Hugh Miller and Will Miller.

Revealing new details

Rentschler ended up being a regular visitor for several months at the Indiana Historical Society’s archival library to go through the documents. His research revealed several things about Miller he had never known, including his involvement at Yale University.

“Miller impacted Yale in a variety of ways.

Interestingly, the first way was his interest in architecture,” he said. “When he was brought onto the Yale board, the first thing he did was to tell Alfred Griswold, the president, that this Gothic architecture has got to go. He introduced Yale to Eero Saarinen,” he said.

Rentschler, now 75, said his wife, Suzie, and Miller’s wife, Xenia, worked together in running the Columbus branch of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. From time to time, that partnership would result in socializing at the Millers’ house.

He observed that Miller was a shy man, but he had a heart of gold that stemmed from his time in the Navy and strong ties with Christian Theological Seminary.

“The two main things were Christianity and capitalism. You might say, ‘Well gee, those are like oil and water.’ But they’re really not,” Rentschler said. “They used the money they made as capitalists to subsidize the good work they were doing as Christians.”

Miller was also a director of the National Council of Churches. Through his endeavors, he supported multiple local, national and international initiatives.

Finding an author

Terry Whittaker, who owns and operates Viewpoint Books, said he has pushed for years to find someone interested in writing about Miller.

After having no success, Whittaker said Rentschler came to him with an idea and questions about how to get a book published. Now, four years later, “The Cathedral Builder” is stocked at Viewpoint Books.

Whittaker, who also was a tour guide at the Columbus Area Visitors Center, knew some background information about Miller. But he said the new biography contains stories he had never heard that really enhanced what he knew about the storied Columbus philanthropist.

“I think he caught the essence of what a decent

human being this man was, how humble he was and how fairly he treated everybody,” he said. “He was obviously a strong Christian man, but I think his personal philosophy came through in this.”

Whittaker said Miller knew how to be both socially and corporately responsible and that anyone with a business background could take something insightful away from the book.

“This is something people are really interested in, and there is really nothing out there about him.

It’s a very important book for Columbus, and it goes beyond that, too,” he said. “There’s a lot in here that’s not just regional or local, he was a very important figure to a lot of people.”

After going through all of the records, Rentschler said he came across a speech that Miller gave to some architects that summed up the way the IrwinSweeney-Miller family lived their lives. The theme of the speech also produced the title to the book.

Miller asked those who were working with him to look at themselves as “cathedral builders.”

“Don’t try for instant ‘image,’” Miller said.

“Instead emulate the cathedral builders of the 12th century who were content simply to make great plans and to lay in their lifetimes no more than the footings and foundations.”

Try One Over Ice Today!

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 33

on the move

Randy Proffitt, executive director of marketing and recruitment at Ivy Tech Community College Columbus/Southeast, has won a Paragon Award from the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR). Paragon Awards represent outstanding achievement in two-year college marketing and public relations on a national level. The 2014 Paragon awards were announced during the annual NCMPR Randy Proffitt conference, which took place in Portland, Oregon, in March.

Proffitt’s work was selected for a Bronze 2014 Paragon Award for his design and creation of the Big Book of Fun, an activity book for children visiting the campus with their parents. The colorful book keeps children busy with fun activities, including mazes, word searches, puzzles, and pictures to color, while their parents discuss community college options with Ivy Tech admissions personnel.

District awards are those representing one of seven districts in the nation. Proffitt has won 10 national awards.

Securities and Exchange Commission and regulatory reporting, deposit and loan operations management, information technology management and implementing operational efficiencies and cost savings.

Bryant Lucas has been appointed captain of the IU Police Department at IUPUC. He holds a bachelor’s degree with distinction in public affairs management from Indiana University and a master’s degree in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He also is a graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy at Quantico, Virginia.

Bryant Lucas He began his law enforcement career as a conservation officer with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources in 1987 and in 2012 assumed the role of communications commander with the DNR. He also served as assistant executive director for the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center, a division of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

Beth Jones has joined German American Bancorp, 240 Jackson St., as a mortgage loan originator. A graduate of Bellarmine University, with a degree in communications, she has worked in the financial services industry for 17 years and will specialize in customized financial solutions for Bartholomew County residents.

Jerry Williams, Mary Morford and Roberta Mullins were recently re-elected to three-year terms as volunteer directors of Business & Industrial Federal Credit Union, a not-for-profit, communitychartered financial institution serving Bartholomew, Jennings and Jefferson counties.

Indiana-based Salin Bank & Trust Co. announced that Thomas Flournoy has joined the bank as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

His extensive career in banking includes more than 30 years of experience in bank accounting,

Jerry Lancaster, owner of Lancaster Hearing Aid Center, and Janet Lancaster, owner of South Central Indiana Interpreting, have opened First Light Home Care in Columbus. Their son, David Lancaster, is office manager and community liaison.

34 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

First Light offers companion, nonmedical and personal care services for seniors, adults with disabilities, new mothers, patients recovering from surgery or injury and others in need of assistance in Bartholomew, Jackson, Johnson and Brown counties.

Building Concepts of Indiana, a Columbusbased general contracting company specializing in designing and constructing pre-engineered buildings, was awarded third place in the housing/ homes/residential section of the National Frame Builders Association’s annual expo in February. The award was for a building the company constructed in Morgan County that featured a living area and attached shop.

Dr. Daniel Vermillion of Columbus is among 23 veterinarians in Indiana to receive a Certificate of Excellence in Education from the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association. Award recipients must have completed at least 40 hours of continuing education in 2014.

Former Columbus resident Mark Triplett of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, was recently recognized by the Consulate General of Japan in Seattle for his contributions to Japan-U.S. relations after the Fukushima nuclear plant accident.

Triplett, a senior adviser at PNNL, was picked for a new U.S. State Department program offering expertise to Japan on Mark Triplett radioactive contamination cleanup in 2013. The award was for his continued support of Japan and the Fukushima area through PNNL. He is a 1970 graduate of Columbus High School, earned a master’s degree in engineering from Purdue University in 1974 and a doctorate in public policy at Rand University in Santa Monica, California.

Columbus attorney Michael P. DeArmitt has opened an office at 431 Washington St. A former deputy prosecuting attorney in the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office, he is also experienced in criminal defense, family law, personal injury, and wills and estates.

DeArmitt is a 1990 graduate of Columbus North High School, a 1994 graduate of Franklin College and a 1997 graduate of Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis.

Dr. Justin Lewis has joined the staff of Columbus Regional Health, Columbus Radiology Inc., 2400

E. 17th St. He is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and completed a residency in diagnostic radiology at DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and a fellowship in body imaging and MRI at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Century 21 Breeden Realtors’ President Jan Hexamer-Gardner recently presented awards to both the company and agents for accomplishments in 2014 at an awards celebration held at Harrison Lake Country Club.

Scott Taskey received the Double Centurion Award, President’s Office Award and the Quality Service Pinnacle Award, was recognized as the No. 1 Century 21 Agent in Indiana and was given Outstanding Scott Taskey Achievement as No. 1 in 2014 Closed Residential Production and Outstanding Achievement as No. 1 Individual in 2014 Listing Production.

Jan Brinkman was honored with the Double Centurion Award and Quality Service Producer Award and was recognized as the No. 2 Century 21 Agent Jan Brinkman in Indiana. She also received Outstanding Achievement as No. 1 in Outgoing Referrals during 2014.

Karen Dugan, Karen Abel and Tracie Hawes received the Centurion Producer Award. Both Dugan and Abel were honored with the President’s Producer and Quality Service Pinnacle Awards and Hawes received the Quality Service Producer Award.

Abel also received Outstanding Achievement as No. 1 Individual in Selling Production for 2014.

Other agents receiving the Quality Service Pinnacle Award were Candi Hester, Dan and Laura Davis, Holly Downey, Jane Kennedy, Jane Mellinger, Joan Baker, Kassie Reynolds, Linda Mackey, Nora Noblitt, Peggy Dell and the Bev and Dave Roberts Team. Those receiving the Quality Service Producer Award were Bhavana Deshpande, Brigette Nolting, Cindy Patchett, Debbie Barrett, Jim Norris, Jim Petro, Kathy and Michael Boyce, Paul Furber and Vicki Gardner.

The Wischmeier Group of John and Kimberly Wischmeier and Sarah Sanders received the Masters Team Award and Outstanding Achievement as No. 1 Team in Selling Production and No. 1 Team in Listing Production. Masters Emerald Awards were SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 35

given to Downey and Kennedy. Masters Ruby Awards were given to Hester, Petro and Mellinger.

Breeden Realtors, established in 1951 by the late Rex E. Breeden, is a full-service brokerage firm.

Hexamer-Gardner and Mark A. Pratt, co-owners of Century 21 Breeden Realtors and Breeden Inc., purchased the Century 21 franchise in 2004.

Oscar Olmeda has been promoted to patrol sergeant on the second shift at Columbus Police Department. Olmeda joined the department in December 2005 after working three years with Decatur County Sheriff ’s Department. A veteran of the Marine Corps, he served four years as a hydraulics and structural mechanic.

He completed SWAT training in 2007, has completed the Oscar Olmeda advanced observer sniper course and was named a field training officer in 2011. Since joining CPD, he has worked as a detective and a firearms instructor.

Enkei America recently recognized employees who achieved perfect attendance records in 2014.

They are Jeff McInteer, Raymond Whitchurch, Chris Heck, Lea Baositong, Mike Matern, Mike Whited, Chris Richerson, Tim Shepherd, Travis Erwin, Mike Barnes, Frank Nieman, Shaun Carter, Brian Burke, Brian Budd, Marcus Henson, John York, Katiria Alamo, Santos Tapia Marrero, Rolando Duenas, Karen Mendez, Robin Baker, Julie Mathis, James Brogdon, Brad Bott, John Ruble, Ed Bates and Charlie Morris.

Also, Rafael Basurto, Glenn East, Mike Enochs, Brian Kiefer, Bruce Lienhoop, Edwin Perez Luzunaris, Filiberto Mondragon Hernandez, Munoz Cipriano, David Ogle, Darrell Pike, Patrick Rafferty, Ernesto Ramirez, David Ratekin, Emmanuel Rodriguez Martinez, Mike Tobias, Max Wilson and Dwayne Wohler.

Trilogy Health Services, owner of Silver Oaks Health Campus in Columbus, Covered Bridge Health Campus in Seymour and Aspen Place Health Campus in Greensburg, was among a record 100 Indiana businesses named a 2015 Best Place to Work in Indiana. Trilogy was included on the major business list of companies with 1,000 or more employees.

The company also has been recognized as a Best Place to Work in Kentucky and a Best Employer in Ohio.

36 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

The Best Places to Work program was created in 2006, a project of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, BizVoice, Inside Indiana Business, the Society for Human Resource Management, Indiana Economic Development Corp. and Best Companies Group.

Officer Seth Beville of North Vernon Police Department recently attended training directed toward using social media in community outreach efforts. The training included information on several available social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+, and provided ideas on how to serve the community through these sites.

Kathleen Inman

Chiropractor Dr. Kathleen Inman has relocated her practice from Nashville, Tennessee, to Columbus. Align Columbus Chiropractic is at 624 Third St., Suite 101.

Inman treats not only humans with spinal and neck alignments and nutritional counseling but also takes animal patients experiencing misalignments of the spine or extremities.

Donald Jackson, assistant treasurer at Cummins Inc., has been named vice president and treasurer and has replaced the retiring Richard Harris, vice president and chief investment officer, May 1.

During his 12-year career with Cummins, Harris instituted many Donald Jackson improvements in the company’s global treasury function in the areas of cash management, pensions and currency and commodity hedging programs as well as others.

Jackson joined Cummins in 2013 after 17 years with Compaq/ Hewlett-Packard, where he held a number of senior financial and treasury positions. He is Richard Harris a graduate of Texas Christian University, with a degree in business administration, and earned a master’s degree in business administration from Rice University.

Cummins also announced the retirement of Karen Battin, vice president – controller for the engine

business. She retired May 1 after 17 years of service. Since joining Cummins in 1998, Battin held a number of positions in accounting and investor relations, and served as controller in the power generation business.

Naomi J. Cohenour has been appointed executive director of Karen Battin the Office of Administration and Finance at IUPUC. Among her responsibilities will be managing IUPUC’s fiscal affairs to ensure the proper assessment, collection, depositing and distribution of all campus income.

She has been with Indiana University for 16 years and has held various fiscal and financial roles.

She is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University College of Business, with a Bachelor of Science in business information systems and a Master of Business Administration in accounting. She also earned a technical certificate and an associate of applied science, both in office administration, and a certificate in religious studies.

Elizabeth Ryan has joined Northwestern Mutual in Columbus as a financial representative. She is a 2007 graduate of Ball State University, with a degree in advertising and marketing, and will offer Northwestern clients expertise in life, health, disability and longterm care insurance.

Elizabeth Ryan Before joining Northwestern, she was a relationship manager and Internet marketing consultant at WebLink International in Indianapolis.

Old National Bank has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute as a 2015 World’s Most Ethical Company. It is the fourth consecutive year the financial institution has been honored for its impact on the way business is conducted by fostering a culture of ethics and transparency at every level of the company.

Ethisphere, a leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, uses five categories — ethics and compliance program, corporate citizenship and responsibility, culture of ethics, governance and leadership, innovation and reputation — to evaluate the companies chosen for the award.

Old National was founded in 1834 in Evansville and operates banks in Indiana, western Kentucky and

Louisville, southern Illinois and central and western Michigan. It is ranked among the top 100 banking companies in the United States.

Thomas H. Mueller, a financial adviser with The Prudential Insurance Co. of America’s Indiana Agency, 634 Third St., recently qualified for membership in the Million Dollar Round Table based on excellence in customer sales and service. Only a small percentage of life insurance and financial services professionals qualify for membership each year for the Round Table, one of the industry’s most prestigious organizations.

Amy Boerger of Columbus has been appointed vice president of North American engine business at Cummins Inc. She brings more than 30 years of experience in sales and service, OEM account management, and leadership roles in emissions solutions and the engine business unit. Most recently, she has Amy Boerger served as executive director of North American engine business and was involved in the heavy-duty, mid-range and light-duty (HMLD) engine business leadership team, leading all aspects of the annual sales and support for nearly 250,000 HMLD engines.

As vice president, she will continue her overall leadership for engine business interests in North America, including in North American field sales and support and central national account teams, as well as the truck, bus and industrial OEM teams.

She is a 1984 graduate of Valparaiso University, with a degree in mechanical engineering, and was a finalist for the 2014 Most Influential Woman of the Year in Trucking.

Jim Fier of Columbus has been named vice president of engineering, heavy-duty, midrange and light-duty (HMLD) engine business. He began his career with Cummins in 1986 as a service engineer and has held various roles, including executive engineer of HMLD on-highway, Jim Fier worldwide chief engineer, technical project leader and program leader. He is currently executive director of HMLD engineering, leading all new product development and current product support of Cummins 2.8 to 15-liter on- and off-highway products for the global market.

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 37

Fier earned an agricultural engineering degree from North Dakota State University in 1986. He is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and a graduate of the Bosch/Carnegie Mellon international project management training program.

Tim Millwood of Columbus has been named vice president of purchasing at Cummins Inc. He joined Cummins in 1992 as a manufacturing engineer and has held many positions at Cummins locations around the world, serving as a plant manager at Darlington Engine Plant in England, in purchasing roles in the United States and Latin America, and roles in supply chain, marine business and the Tim Millwood Scania XPI joint venture. He has been executive director of purchasing since 2012.

He is a graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned a degree in industrial engineering.

Tim Martin of Columbus has launched Courageous Counseling, a ministry featuring practical, biblical answers to everyday problems, struggles and hurts. Both counseling and a class Martin teaches, titled “Your Answers to Life,” are tailored for Christians and non-Christians alike.

Jane Harris has joined Salin Bank & Trust Co. as a mortgage representative for Columbus and Bartholomew County. She entered the banking business in 1984 as an assistant controller at Columbus Bank & Trust, a position she held until 1995, and has held mortgage origination, customer service and Jane Harris business development positions since then at Indiana Bank & Trust Co., Home Federal Bank & Trust Co. and Jackson County Bank.

Susan and Rodney Bruner have opened a franchise of Seniors Helping Seniors in-home care services for residents of a five-county area of central Indiana that includes Columbus, Bloomington, Nashville and Brownstown.

Susan Bruner is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and also is certified in oncology and case management.

Rodney Bruner has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration from Radford University.

38 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

Non-medical services provided by Seniors Helping Seniors range from cooking, light housekeeping, yard work and pet walking to overnight visits, postoperative assistance and respite care.

Lisa Hutchinson

Lisa Hutchinson has been named executive director of the Columbus office of Bridges of Indiana, a human services agency that provides services to individuals with disabilities and the aging population. The Columbus office will serve clients in Monroe, Lawrence, Jackson, Bartholomew, Decatur and Jennings counties.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Indiana Realty’s Outstanding Sales Achievement award recipients for 2014 are Ryan Crissinger, Todd Sims, Nancy Stroia, Cindy Mitchell, Leigh Burchyett, Barry Czachura, Shari Soncrant, Mike Burchyett, April Hooker, Spring Parsons, Yuhshiow Huang, Roberta Ryan Crissinger Smith-Miller, Ryan Ebener, Carol Rudicel, Andy Spurling, Jillian Mishler, Nancy Waller, Robin Knorr, Collie Rees, Kevin Metz, Becky DeHart-Kiel, Pat Kiel and Dan Fish.

Crissinger and Sims of Team Columbus were awarded Chairman’s Circle Gold, recognizing the network’s top 3 percent of residential sales Todd Sims professionals who exemplified great sales measures in closed residential GCI, commercial GCI or closed 70 residential units for the year.

Stroia and Mitchell of Stroia Mitchell Team, as well as Leigh Burchyett, Czachura, Soncrant and Mike Burchyett of Burchyett Realty were awarded President’s Circle, recognizing the network’s top 4 percent of residential sales professionals who exemplified great sales measures in closed residential GCI, commercial GCI or closed 50 residential units for the year.

Hooker, Parsons, Huang and Smith-Miller were named to Leading Edge Society. The award recognizes residential sales professionals who reached great sales thresholds in closed residential GCI, commercial GCI or closed at least 35

residential units for the year.

Ebener and Rudicel were named to the Honor Society. The award recognizes residential sales professionals who exemplified great performance in closed residential GCI, commercial GCI or closed residential units for the year.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Indiana Realty independently owns and operates two locations in Columbus and Seymour.

Podiatrist Dr. Brandon R. Gumbiner has been named a fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, a group of physicians who have earned certification from the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery. He currently is in practice in Seymour and Columbus with Comprehensive Foot and Ankle as well as Indiana Podiatry Group.

Gumbiner was board-certified in foot surgery and reconstructive rearfoot/ankle surgery in September.

He is a graduate of Indiana University, with a degree in biology, and a graduate of Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University. He completed a three-year surgical residency at St. Joseph Hospital and North Chicago VAMC in Chicago.

Teresa Cox

Teresa Cox of Elizabethtown has joined First Financial Bank as a mortgage loan originator at the banking center at 125 Third St. She will serve clients throughout Columbus, North Vernon, Seymour and Nashville. A graduate of Columbus East High School, she has more than 20 years of experience in real estate and mortgage banking.

Sixteen associates at the Re/Max Real Estate Professionals office at 2401 Beam Road were recently recognized for their sales achievements in 2014.

Carrie Abfall, Dana Carson, Jean Donica, Vicky Gelfius and Jeff Hilycord received Platinum Club awards, the third highest regional honor for sales in a single year. Only 5 percent of the 1,278 Re/ Max associates in Indiana achieved the Platinum Club level in 2014.

The 100% Club level, the fourth highest regional honor for sales in a single year, was awarded to Robyn Agnew, Annette Donica Blythe, Jeff Finke, Barb Masters and Mary Simon. Only 22 percent of Re/Max associates statewide received the honor.

Executive Club level, the fifth highest honor given to 21 percent of associates in Indiana, went to

Natalie Allen, Shirley Deitz, Beverly Denney, Alma Gommel and Kelly Sullivan.

Abfall and Gelfius were also awarded the Hall of Fame career award, the third-highest national honor given for total career sales and years of service to the Re/Max organization.

Schneck Medical Center in Seymour has announced the appointment of Dr. Eric Fish as vice president of physician practices, and Dr. Douglas A. Towriss as vice president and chief medical officer.

Fish will manage all operational aspects of Schneck’s physician practices. He is a graduate of Indiana University School of Eric Fish Medicine and served a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis.

He joined the medical staff at Schneck in 2005 and founded Schneck Obstetrics & Gynecology in 2006. He is board-certified by the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology and is a Fellow of the American College of Douglas Towriss Obstetrics & Gynecology. In 2013, he received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Tennessee.

He is also president of the Schneck medical staff, medical director of Schneck Obstetrics & Gynecology, and chairman of the board of managers for Inspire Health Partners.

Towriss will provide executive leadership, direction and administration of the hospital medical staff. He earned his medical degree and completed a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine.

He is board-certified in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and in pediatrics by American Board of Pediatrics.

He joined the medical staff of Schneck Medical Center in 2002.

He also serves as the Schneck Hospitalist Program medical director and was instrumental in its development in 2004.

Bartholomew County REMC held its annual meeting April 16. Larry Hoeltke was elected to the board of directors for District 1, and Brett Glick was elected for District 4.

Newly elected nominating committee members are Leighton Turner, District 1, and Jennifer SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 39

Whiteside, District 4. Jim Turner is CEO, and Curt Burbrink is board president.

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbus/ Edinburgh received the 2014 Torchbearer Award from InterContinental Hotels Group. One of only 60 properties within the Americas chosen from the IHG system of more than 4,700 hotels, the facility, located between Taylorsville and Edinburgh on U.S. 31, was ranked sixth.

The Torchbearer Award recognizes excellence in all aspects of operation, from quality to customer satisfaction, and is IHG’s most prestigious award.

Taylor Bros. Construction Co. Inc. was recently recognized as a Patriotic Employer by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program.

The company recently signed a Statement of Support for the Guard and Reserve, pledging, among other things, to honor and support the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act and to provide managers and supervisors with the tools to effectively manage employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve.

agency and a leading provider of civil legal services to low-income individuals. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, with a bachelor’s degree in communications, and is experienced in managing both community and for-profit organization projects, including 20 years of management in media, four years in higher education and alumni relations, and a background in marketing.

In her new position, Mann will be responsible for the overall operation and leadership of the agency, fund development and building community partnerships in Legal Aid’s eight-county service area. Legal Aid provides client counseling and legal representation by volunteer lawyers for qualified low-income individuals.

Eric Robbins has qualified for Edward Jones’ Financial Advisor Leaders Conference. This conference recognizes financial advisers who are among the leaders in the financial-services firm. The conference also will provide additional training to help them serve more individual investors in their communities. Robbins was among the 944 financial advisers who qualified out of the firm’s 14,000 financial advisers in the U.S. and Canada.

— Staff Reports

Tasha Mann of Columbus has been named executive director of Legal Aid, a United Way

Receiving the 2014 Torchbearer Award from InterContinental Hotels Group for Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbus/Edinburgh are, from left, Chief Operating Officer Andrea Stewart, General Manager Farrah Carr, owner Janeen Sprague and Marketing and Technology Director Nick Sprague. | submitted photo

40 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

Jeff Chandler, middle, vice president of Taylor Bros. Construction, with a certificate recognizing the company as a Patriotic Employer. At left is Army National Guard Specialist Evan Kleinhenz, a former Taylor Bros. employee. At right is Jim Pridgen, representing Indiana Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. | submitted photo

coach’s corner

Mark McNulty

What’s up with millennials?

I was asked to speak to a group about surviving change in an organization. When I showed up, I told them that I had two options for them: I could talk about surviving, in which case I told them I would need only five minutes to talk to them about shutting down, or I could talk to them about thriving through change, in which case I would need my full hour.

They laughed and fortunately chose to thrive, but this is a theme I hear all too often, and it is completely self-defeating for an organization.

Adopting a survival mentality in situations like this can often hasten the demise of an organization, as the mental shift can generate ever more negative thoughts and too much of “what won’t work” and not enough “what will work.”

In the case of this organization, the particular change it was dealing with was generational, specifically the differences between baby boomers and millennials, and how to deal with them as an organization.

Before we jump into that topic directly, let’s talk about our thoughts and beliefs and how they influence our actions and results. The biggest way our beliefs can either help or hurt during change is that they set the tone for the questions we ask of our world around us, as we primarily seek information to support our beliefs.

If we believe something will be difficult, our tendency will be to seek and find supporting data.

If we believe that we can achieve more, we will seek information to support that theory.

In the case of millennials, I have heard time and again about their lack of work ethic, lack of standards and lack of respect for how it has always been done. I remember the time back in 1986 when I was a 24-year-old engineer being accused of the same thing by a senior VP who believed that the work day started at 7:30 a.m., the dress code was white shirt and tie and that this new generation of engineers just didn’t understand what hard work looked like.

The reality is that a group of us lazy young engineers had volunteered to work a noon to

midnight shift to keep a project on schedule despite a shortage of test equipment. So much for the lazy work ethic. When he was informed, he did what most in his generation would do, and he apologized, in person, in front of the whole department. We had a lot to learn from his generation’s ethic.

The Gen X and Gen Y workers look at the world differently and have a different set of values. Here is a quick summary of how they view the world: • Context over Content – Millennials are driven by mission, not by money. They work for a cause first, unlike baby boomers who work for a paycheck.

• Outcomes over Activities – Millennials like to learn, apply their learning to new situations, observe the results/outcomes, then move on to learn the next thing. Baby boomers focus more on activity as the indicator of work ethic, not the learning and results.

• Work to Live over Live to Work – As missionoriented, outcome-based individuals, millennials have a value system that prioritizes life over work, seeking jobs and activities that support their personal goals.

Baby boomers grew up living to work, prioritizing getting the work done over spending time enjoying their life, which was considered selfish.

Millennials behave the way I coach business owners to act, yet society in general finds their approach troubling. The bottom line is that they have a different, not worse, work ethic (one that is undoubtedly healthier) than the older generations.

They are more driven by positive outcomes than simply working hard at whatever is placed in front of them, and they have embraced the power of technology.

This next generation of workers is more productive, more advanced and more connected than any generation before it. To thrive, you need to embrace what makes them different and integrate what they can teach us into our organizations.

Mark McNulty is a business coach with ActionCoach Business Coaching. He can be reached at 350-4903 or mark@coachmark.biz.

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 41

BUSINESS LEADS RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS 1914 BUCKTHORN DR $160,000 NEW 1855 SF RES/GAR SKAGGS BUILDERS INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1961 CREEK BANK DR $174,000 NEW 3178 SF RES/GAR BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 1971 CREEK BANK DR $178,200 NEW 3533 SF RES/GAR BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 1976 CREEK BANK DR $176,000 NEW 3005 SF RES/GAR BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2071 CREEK BANK DR $171,000 NEW 3178 SF RES/GAR BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2181 CREEK BANK DR $203,300 NEW 3945 SF RES/GAR BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2986 DAYLILY DR $320,000 SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL MI HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 4943 DELRAY DR $450,000 NEW SF RES/GAR 3910 SF LOAHAN DEVELOPMENT LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4953 DELRAY DR $265,000 NEW 2306 SF RES/GAR LOAHAN DEVELOPMENT LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4963 DELRAY DR $280,000 NEW 2516 SF RES/GAR LOAHAN DEVELOPMENT LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4973 DELRAY DR $375,000 NEW 3247 SF RES/GAR LOAHAN DEVELOPMENT LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 727 LAKE VISTA DR $543,530 SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 3353 ORCHARD VALLEY DR $88,000 SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

42 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

2081 PAWNEE CT E $312,000 SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL THOMPSON CONSTRUCTION, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1696 PINION CT $115,000 SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1706 PINION CT $95,000 SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1726 PINION CT $90,000 1560 SF NEW HOUSE BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 3203 RED FOX TRL $220,000 NEW 5189 SF RES/BMT/GAR DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2573 SHADOW BEND DR $142,100 NEW 2304 SF RES/GAR BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 7003 STONEY RIDGE DR $323,540 SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 5710 VICTORY DR $200,000 NEW 4238 SF RES/BMT/GAR PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 5720 VICTORY DR $200,000 NEW 4172 SF RES/BMT/GAR PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 5730 VICTORY DR $200,000 NEW 2374 SF RES/GAR PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 5740 VICTORY DR $200,000 NEW 4346 SF RES/BMT/GAR PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

February – march – april

SKAGGS BUILDERS INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 167 WESTBROOK CT $480,000 NEW 4839 SF RES/BMT/GAR SPOON, JOEL, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 1956 CREEK BANK DR NEW 3724 SF RES/GAR $187,400 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2081 CREEK BANK DR NEW 2918 SF RES/GAR $167,700 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2091 CREEK BANK DR NEW 3168 SF RES/GAR $169,700 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2946 DAYLILY CT SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL $344,000 M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1914 DEER CREEK CIR NEW 4390 SF RES/BMT/GAR $300,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1674 DEER CREEK WAY NEW 5008 SF RES/BMT/GAR $300,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1714 DEER CREEK WAY NEW 5540 SF RES/BMT/GAR $500,000 HAVENAAR, JOHN, OWNER PRATT, TIM/BREEDEN INC, CONTRACTOR 3337 DEERBROOK DR SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL $90,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 3345 DEERBROOK DR NEW 2200 SF RES/GAR $130,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 3352 FALL VALLEY DR NEW 1682 SF RES/GAR $80,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

7290 W 275 S $650,000 NEW 9408 SF RES/BMT/GAR BANISTER, THOMAS, OWNER BANISTER CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR

3241 GRAY HAWK DR SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $220,000 DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

4966 WEST QUINCY CT $265,000 NEW 2796 SF RES/GAR

5248 IMPERIAL DR NEW 2935 SF RES/GAR $275,000

SKAGGS BUILDERS INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

$199,300 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

3341 ORCHARD VALLEY DR SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL NEW $90,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

2131 CREEK BANK DR NEW 2995 SF RES/GAR $164,000 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

1656 PINION CT NEW 3549 SF RES/BASMT $95,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

3361 ORCHARD VALLEY DR NEW 1940 SF RES/GAR $85,500 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1716 PINION CT SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $110,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

2501 DAFFODIL COURT EAST SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $300,000 M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2506 DAFFODIL COURT EAST SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $315,000 M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

3214 RED FOX TRAIL SINGLE FAM RES $220,000 DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

4982 DELRAY DR NEW 2866 SF RES/GAR $350,000 LOAHAN DEVELOPMENT LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

6980 SCARBOROUGH RES/NEW $220,000 M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

4992 DELRAY DR NEW 2840 SF RES/GAR $335,000 LOAHAN DEVELOPMENT LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

6985 SCARBOROUGH DR SINGL FAM RESIDENTIAL $438,000 M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

5002 DELRAY DR NEW 2320 SF RES/GAR $260,000 LOAHAN DEVELOPMENT LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

2503 SHADOW BEND DR NEW 2549 SF RES/GAR $149,300 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2523 SHADOW BEND DR NEW 2549 SF RES/GAR $152,400 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 651 TERRACE LAKE DR NEW 5311 SF RES/BMT/GAR $300,000 PREMIUM CONCRETE WALLS, INC, CONTRACTOR MICKEL, HUGH, OWNER

5012 DELRAY DR NEW 2866 SF RES/GAR $350,000 LOAHAN DEVELOPMENT LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 12275 E 250 N SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL $180,000 ALLEN, DENNIS L, OWNER REYNOLDS BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR 8221 E 750 S NEW 4458 SF RES/BMT/GAR $260,000 KITNER, DEREK, OWNER PEDIGO CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR

108 WESTBROOK CT NEW 4578 SF RES/BMT/GAR $350,000 SPOON, JOEL, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

3202 GRAY HAWK DR NEW 4888 SF RES/BMT/GAR $220,000 DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

4317 WESTMINSTER CT NEW2578 SF RES/GAR $200,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

3221 GRAY HAWK DR SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL 220,000 DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

4323 WESTMINSTER CT NEW 2377 SF RES/GAR $150,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2021 CREEK BANK DR NEW3922 SF RES/GAR $192,100 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2046 CREEK BANK DR NEW 3724 SF RES/GAR

3271 GRAY HAWK DR SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $220,000 DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 4690 MAPLELAWN DR NEW 2523 SF RES/GAR $95,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 3345 ORCHARD VALLEY DR NEW 2217 SF RES/GAR $85,000

4260 PRINCETON PARK DR NEW 2548 SF RES/GAR $150,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 3829 RED FOX RUN NEW 5049 SF RES/BMT/GAR $220,000 DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 3204 RED FOX TRL NEW 5789 SF RES/BMT/GAR $220,000 DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2533 SHADOW BEND DR NEW 2341 SF RES/GAR $138,600 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2513 VIOLET WAY SINGLE FAM DWELLING $312,000 M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2593 VIOLET WAY SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $320,000 M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 14000 W LAKE RD LOT 7 NEW 5930 SF RES/BMT/GAR $450,000 BROOKS, DENNIS CONSTRUCTION, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4329 WESTMINSTER CT 2413SF RES/ATT GAR $150,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4652 WILLOWBROOK DR NEW 2147 SF RES/GAR $90,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1976 WOODLAND PARKS DR NEW 3041 SF RES/GAR $95,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2055 WOODLAND PARKS DR NEW 3301 RES/GAR $315,000 SKAGGS BUILDERS INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS 11622 NE EXECUTIVE DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $236,000 ABERCROMBIE, OWNER

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 43

CANYON CONTRACTING, CONTRACTOR ABERCROMBIE STORE REM

CONTRACTING REMODEL INTERIOR AND BRICK REPAIR

3410 S 650 E COMMERCIAL ADDITION $10,000 MILESTONE CONTRACTORS LP, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR STORAGE BUILDING REMODEL

9950 N US 31 COMMERCIAL REMODEL $3,500 HUMBLE IMPRESSIONS, COM REMODEL HUMBLE INSPRESSIONS 2254 SF

8111 E 450 N COMMERCIAL ADDITION $100,000 SIMMONS, DAVID W, OWNER/CONTRACTOR SIMMONS WINERY ADDN 3584 SF

230 S MARR RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $1,470 COLUMBUS EAST HIGH SCHOOL, OWNER MACDOUGALL PIERCE CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR COL EAST HS REMODEL 11649 SF

3410 S 650 E COMMERCIAL ADDITION $6,000 MILESTONE CONTRACTORS LP, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR COM ADDN 1600 SF MILESTONE 323 BROWN ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $2,578,000 CUMMINS INC, OWNER FORCE CONSTRUCTION CO I, CONTRACTOR CUMMINS REMODEL 41500 SF 1451 WASHINGTON ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $500 CREECY-GREEN, THERESA, OWNER RISK ELECTRIC, CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL 1 E 1000 S NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING 140,000 MIDDENDORF FARMS, OWNER MIDWEST UNDERGROUND TEC, CONTRACTOR NEW CELL TOWER/VERIZON 2145 W JONATHAN MOORE PIKE COMMERCIAL REMODEL $300,000 HEARTLAND DENTAL, COM REMODEL HEARTLAND DENTAL 2800 SF 1441 W 700 S COMMERCIAL REMODEL $12,000 AT&T, OWNER OVERLAND CONTRACTING INC, CONTRACTOR AT & T CELL TOWER 11710 N E EXECUTIVE DR DEMOLITION $0 DRESS BARN, OWNER COMMERCIAL PERMIT GROUP, CONTRACTOR DEMO INTERIOR DRESS BARN

11622 NE EXECUTIVE DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $220,000 FAMOUS FOOTWEAR, OWNER CHARLES C BRANDT CO, CONTRACTOR FAMOUS FOOTWEAR/REM 11785 NE EXECUTIVE DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $150,000 AM RETAIL GROUP, OWNER BANKS BROTHERS CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL BASS 1460 NATIONAL RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $165,500 CUMMINS FSP, OWNER DUNLAP GENERAL CONTRACTORS, CONTRACTOR CUMMINS REMODEL 500 SF 2024 TAXIWAY G NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $65,000 COLUMBUS MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, OWNER MOHR,LARRY CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR AIRPLANE HANGAR 3035 N NATIONAL RD DEMOLITION $0 NORTHERN VILLAGE ASSOC, OWNER VERSATILE CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR DEMO/INTERIOR OFFICE 3470 W 450 S COMMERCIAL REMODEL $8,000 CIRCLE K,OWNER USA CONSTRUCTION INC, CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL 200 SF CIRCLE K

1600 BRIAN DR COMMERCIAL ADDITION $1,500,000 BLAIREX, OWNER BREEDEN, GEORGE, CONTRACTOR BLAIREX ADDITION

3805 25TH ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $435,700 OLD NATIONAL BANK, OWNER ABLE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, CONTRACTOR OLD NATIONAL BANK REMODEL

1400 25TH ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $20,109 BARTH CONS SCHOOL CORP/C NORTH, OWNER MAXWELL CONSTRUCTION CO.,

3035 N NATIONAL RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $36,804 NORTHERN VILLAGE ASSOC, OWNER VERSATILE CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR INTERIOR REMODEL, 1422 SF

44 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

2380 25TH ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $104,000 NEW FAIROAKS MALL OWNER LLC, OWNER VERSATILE CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR FAIR OAKS MALL REMODEL 1226 SF 535 WASHINGTON ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $10,000 MORAVEC REALTY, OWNER/CONTRACTOR BUSINESS REMODEL 534 WASHINGTON ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $10,000 OPEN MORAVEC REALTY, OWNER/CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL 11710 N E EXECUTIVE DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $75,000 DRESS BARN, OWNER/CONTRACTOR DRESS BARN REMODEL 5965 SF 55 CARR HILL RD NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $1,656,574 GOODWILL INDUSTRIES, OWNER GDI CONSTRUCTION CORP, CONTRACTOR GOODWILL INDUSTRIES, 15,600 SF 625 WATER ST COMMERCIAL ADDITION $80,000 CITY OF COLUMBUS, OWNER COM-TECH CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR ANTENNA ADDN TO CELL TOWER 2725 W 450 S COMMERCIAL REMODEL $80,000 CUMMINS INC, OWNER FORCE CONSTRUCTION CO I, CONTRACTOR CUMMINS/REMODEL 302 WASHINGTON ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $30,000 RUSSELL, ANDY, OWNER CQE INC, CONTRACTOR ORANGE LEAF REMODEL 580 SF 12085 N EXECUTIVE DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $9,794 SIMO PROPERTY/TOMMY HILGER, OWNER METRO TECH, CONTRACTOR REPL ROOF TOP UNIT 1400 PARKSIDE DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $1,345,280 BARTH CONS SCHOOL CORP/PARKSIDE, OWNER MACDOUGALL PIERCE CONST, CONTRACTOR PARKSIDE SCHOOL REMODEL 3630 SF 202 CARRIE LN DEMOLITION $0 WM PARKS LLC, OWNER DG PERRY BUILDING CONTR, CONTRACTOR DEMO WENDYS RESTAURANT 11860 N US 31 NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $1,105,000

APPLE AMERICAN GROUP, OWNER PERRY BUILDING CONTRACT, CONTRACTOR NEW APPLEBEE’S RESTAURANT 5493 SF 4571 N LONG RD COMMERCIAL ADDITION $150,000 CHANG GROUP CORPORATION, OWNER MORTON BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR 14000 N 250 W NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $150,000 GEORG UTZ INC., OWNER BIEHLE ELECTRIC INC., CONTRACTOR 14000 N 250 W NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $150,000 GEORG UTZ INC., OWNER BIEHLE ELECTRIC INC., CONTRACTOR 500 FRANKLIN ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $6,630 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, OWNER FORCE CONSTRUCTION CO, CONTRACTOR CHAMBER OF COMM REMODEL 1616 10TH ST DEMOLITION $0 KLM NATIONAL LLC, OWNER INDIANA EARTH INC., CONTRACTOR DEMO GOLDEN CASTING 2400 E 17TH ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $350,000 COLUMBUS REGIONAL HOSPITAL, OWNER PEPPER CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR COL REG HOSP REMODEL 3176 SF 1622 SOUTHPARK CT COMMERCIAL ADDITION $300,000 T & K RENTALS INC, OWNER/CONTRACTOR T & K RENTALS

412 WASHINGTON ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $2,500 DOUGLAS, RAWLE, OWNER/CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL 5560 S 175 W COMMERCIAL ADDITION $360,000 TOYOTA TSUSHO AMERICA, OWNER FERGUSON CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR TOYOTA ADDN 2347 SF 523 WASHINGTON ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $40,000 FRITZ, WAYNE/NEAL PAINT, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL NEAL PAINT 2375 SF 301 1ST ST DEMOLITION $0 DONICA, JEAN, OWNER DRIFTWOOD BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR DEMO WAREHOUSE

CERTIFICATES TO DO BUSINESS UNDER AN ASSUMED NAME CHARLES N. LEAGUE DBA AFFORDABLE COOLING AND HEATING (HVAC REPAIRS AND INSTALLATION), 635 DAUGHERTY ST., COLUMBUS JOHN GREENWELL DBA JOHNNY TEE GOOD (SCREENPRINTER), 3044 FOXPOINTE DRIVE, COLUMBUS KATHLEEN BOWEN AND CONDEL BOWEN DBA LMC CLEANING (COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL CLEANING), 12696 W 50S, COLUMBUS JEROME DAVID LEACH DBA THE SHOP FOUNDRY AND MACHINE CO. (MANUFACTURING AND REPAIR), 2505 CARRIAGE DRIVE, COLUMBUS

KIRK A. MCDONALD AND BRENT J BACHMANN DBA BIG OAK WOODWORKING (FURNITURE), 4430 S 550W, COLUMBUS CARRIE WORTON DBA MASTERPIECE IMAGERY (PHOTOGRAPHY), 2370 FARMSTEAD DRIVE, COLUMBUS MICHELLE DAVID AND JEFFREY L. DAVID DBA DAVID’S RADIATOR AND TRAILER SERVICE (REAL ESTATE HOLDING), 905 S. GLADSTONE AVE., COLUMBUS STACIE HATTON-PERRY AND TODD PERRY DBA ENVY LAWN CARE, 11470 S 100W, COLUMBUS DEBRA PETERS-SMITH DBA ADVANCED BUSINESS COMPUTING LLC (COMPUTER SALES AND SERVICE), 2307 MIDDLE VIEW DRIVE, COLUMBUS DEREK YOUNG AND NICHOLE YOUNG DBA THE FLIP FLOP ICE POP COMPANY (GOURMET HANDCRAFTED ICE POPS), 1700 SOUTH DRIVE, COLUMBUS VICKI L. HOWARTH DBA AMERICAN GARDEN BARN QUILTS, 7045 STIRRUP LANE, COLUMBUS NOEL A. TAYLOR D.C. DBA COLUMBUS CHIROPRACTIC, 2529 SANDCREST BLVD. SUITE B, COLUMBUS CLINT NOBLE DBA NOBLE’S BARBERSHOP, 523 WASHINGTON ST., COLUMBUS SIGNATURE BUSINESS HOLDINGS LLC DBA COLUMBUS COLLISION AND RESTORATION CENTER (AUTO REPAIR), 351 S. MAPLETON ST., COLUMBUS MAGGIE FOX DBA MAGGIE FOX PHOTOGRAPHY, 2840 18TH ST., COLUMBUS SCOTT ROMINE DBA ROMINE EXCAVATING, 12771 E. 25TH ST., COLUMBUS RANDAL R. BAILEY DBA ARTISTIC CREATIONS (ARTIST), 3065 FOX RIDGE DRIVE, COLUMBUS

Business Indicators for Bartholomew County

Dec 2014

Jan 2015 Feb 2015

Mar 2015

Labor Force % Chg from Year Ago

43,401 43,450 43,037 42,947 3.28% 4.94% 2.42% 1.26%

Employed % Chg from Year Ago

41,577 41,224 41,026 40,981 3.87% 4.82% 3% 1.63%

Unemployed % Chg from Year Ago

1,824 2,226 2,011 1,966 -8.43% 7.12% -8.17% -5.84%

Unemployment Rate 4.2 5.1 4.7 4.6 Chg from Year Ago -0.5 0.1 -0.5 -0.3

— Center for Business and Economic Research, Ball State University

SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 45

Eye on the pie

Morton Marcus

Don’t let old ideas trump urban needs Today, for the first time, I drove down a repaved section of my street. It’s only about 30 yards, but it had been a mess for several years.

It felt good. I felt good about my city government and myself. Persistently bad streets send a message that you are not worth better treatment.

It was what I witnessed in Gary after Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson repaved many treacherous streets.

She chose well which streets to repair, and there was a definite increase in morale in that much-abused city.

Gov. Mike Pence could learn from this. Instead of spending $2 million on an advertising campaign to restore Indiana’s tarnished reputation, turn that money over to the cities and towns for street repairs.

Instead of spending $10 million or $42 million or $84 million on a nebulous regional program, let our cities and towns boost Hoosier self-esteem by giving us smooth driving.

Our image starts with our feelings about ourselves.

If our ordinary travels are a misery, we will project that condition in our interactions with others. As we teach our children: “How can others respect us, if we do not respect ourselves?”

The governor and his buddies at the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC) have gone back 50 years to pluck the regional cities concept from the ever-present dust heap of ideas that stagnate around the capitol building.

In the mid- to late ’60s, the IU School of Business prepared a map organizing Indiana’s 92 counties into 14 economic regions. One influential legislator did not like it, and Indiana got 15 regions.

For several years this map was used as the State Planning Regions. Then Gov. Otis Bowen declared that any two consenting, contiguous counties 46 The Business Connection SUMMER 2015

could form a region. (Does that have some vague contemporary ring?)

The idea of laissez-faire regionalism co-existed with separate state regions for libraries, hospitals, criminal justice and a host of governmental functions.

Today, workforce development boards operate in regions, and who knows how many different regional configurations serve environmental and antiterrorism purposes.

The IEDC has proposed a competition for regions to design themselves (the laissez-faire model once again) and propose programs to establish their identities, strengthen ties among their counties, raise their incomes and make themselves more visible to the outside world. The best of these proposals would then get some money from IEDC to carry though their programs.

This is paternalistic, state-sponsored bullying. You do the work of preparing an exhaustive, detailed proposal, and if you are good (whatever that means to a highly politicized entity), the Santa-state will fund your activities … for a while.

The Special Staff for Silly Stuff in the governor’s office even gave 25 selected legislators gift bags that were to encourage them to vote for the program.

In a state that talks the talk of conservative politics, this regional cities program is more than a joke; it is counter-productive. Give the money to the cities and towns, let them repair some of their long-neglected infrastructure, and let the people of Indiana go about their business of making our state more prosperous.

Morton Marcus is an economist, writer and speaker who may be reached at mortonjmarcus@yahoo.com.

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SUMMER 2015 The Business Connection 47

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