The Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly is a newspaper dedicated to covering local and regional business news. It serves Fort Wayne and the 15-county region surrounding the Summit City.
JANUARY 3-9, 2014 Daily updates at www.fwbusiness.com $1.00 Business Weekly PAGE 6 GREATER FORT WAYNE n INSIDE DeKalb turns 50 Hospital — which opened in 1962— kicks off a yearlong celebration LOCAL NEWS PERSONAL BUSINESS PAGE 6 Back on track Consultant writes book on lean techniques PAGE 11 Local news .................... 3-7 BizView .............................. 8 Banking & Finance........ 10 Personal Business ... 11-12 Top List ............................ 17 BizLeads..................... 18-20 Plan of attack Your resolutions don’t have to fail Vol. 10 Issue 1 LOCAL NEWS General Assembly prepares to tackle business issues Personal property tax, gay marriage ban will be debated during the short session Banks BY JOEL ELLIOTT [email protected]A proposal by Gov. Mike Pence to eliminate the state’s business personal property tax likely will dominate parts of this legislative session, but several other items concerning the business and economic climate in Indiana also are expected to come forward when the General Assembly convenes Jan. 7. While mayors of area municipalities have voiced their fears that the elimination of the business personal property tax would severely cut into their abilities to deliver basic services such as road maintenance, some state legislators say the plan has potential. “I’m fully in favor of (eliminating the business personal property tax),” state Sen. Jim Banks, R-Co- lumbia City, said. “We’ve heard some gnashing of teeth from local officials. I’m somewhat sympathetic to their concerns, but we have yet to see what this proposal will look like.” Banks said he believes eliminating the tax will make for more favorable conditions with which to n See SESSION on PAGE 22 Despite being the fifth-largest university in the state, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne ranks 13th out of 15 in per-capita student funding. FILE PHOTO ‘DON’ OF A NEW AGE? Calls grow to grant IPFW more autonomy BY LINDA LIPP [email protected]Professor Mike Nusbaumer, who teaches sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, likes to compare IPFW to a teenager venturing out on his or her own for the first time. The youngster is ready for the parents, in this case Indiana and Purdue universities, to “loosen the reins a little and let him make his own decisions,” said Nusbaumer, who is the IU speaker on the IPFW Faculty Senate. n See IPFW on PAGE 21
Transcript
JANUARY 3-9, 2014 Daily updates at www.fwbusiness.com $1.00
Business WeeklyPAGE 6
GREATER FORT WAYNE
n INSIDEDeKalb turns 50Hospital — which opened in 1962— kicks off a yearlong celebration
LOCAL NEWS PERSONAL BUSINESS
PAGE 6
Back on trackConsultant writes book on lean techniques
PAGE 11
Local news ....................3-7BizView ..............................8Banking & Finance ........ 10Personal Business ...11-12Top List ............................ 17BizLeads.....................18-20
Plan of attackYour resolutions don’t have to fail
Vol. 10 Issue 1
LOCAL NEWS
General Assembly prepares to tackle business issuesPersonal property tax, gay marriage ban will be debated during the short session
A proposal by Gov. Mike Pence to eliminate the state’s business personal property tax likely will dominate parts of this legislative session, but several other items concerning the business and economic climate in Indiana also are expected to come forward
when the General Assembly convenes Jan. 7.While mayors of area municipalities have voiced
their fears that the elimination of the business personal property tax would severely cut into their abilities to deliver basic services such as road maintenance, some state legislators say the plan has potential.
“I’m fully in favor of (eliminating the business personal property tax),” state Sen. Jim Banks, R-Co-
lumbia City, said. “We’ve heard some gnashing of teeth from local offi cials. I’m somewhat sympatheticto their concerns, but we have yet to see what this proposal will look like.”
Banks said he believes eliminating the tax willmake for more favorable conditions with which ton See SESSION on PAGE 22
Despite being the fi fth-largest university
in the state, Indiana University-Purdue
University Fort Wayne ranks 13th out of 15
in per-capita student funding.
FILE PHOTO
‘DON’ OF A NEW AGE?Calls grow to grant IPFW more autonomyBY LINDA [email protected]
Professor Mike Nusbaumer, who teaches sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, likes to compare IPFW to a teenager venturing out on his or her own for the fi rst time.
The youngster is ready for the parents, in this case Indiana and Purdue universities, to “loosen the reins a little and let him make his own decisions,” said Nusbaumer, who is the IU speaker on the IPFW Faculty Senate.n See IPFW on PAGE 21
PAGE 2 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
YOU CAN’TGO FURTHER WITHOUT A DEGREE
indianatech.edu/cps
Telling yourself it’s time for a change? Indiana Tech offers master’s degrees to help you reach the next
level, including an MBA program with several concentrations to suit your goals. Online and classroom
courses are available to help you build a schedule that fits your life. Get started at Indiana Tech today.
Call 800.288.1766 for graduate classes forming now.
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 3
First Defiance gets new execs
‘Big data’ revolution expected to yield results for farmersIt’s among the topics at the annual Fort Wayne Farm ShowBY DOUG [email protected]
A national authority from northeast Indiana on agricultural data use and farmer intellectual-property issues will explain during the 2014 Fort Wayne Farm Show how “aginformatics” will reshape the industry.
The “Apps for Ag and Big Data Issues” seminar will take place at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 16, with Kevin Smith discussing agricul-tural app development for smartphones and tablets and Matt Bechdol discussing the “big data” revolution coming to agri-culture.
It will be among the hot topics covered in educational presentations at the free show, which will run Jan. 14-16 at the
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Expo Center in Fort Wayne. Most of its education sessions will be presented by Purdue University’s Cooperative Exten-sion Service and northeast Indiana soil and water conservation districts.
Smith is a Purdue communications consultant and editor who helped convert the university’s corn and soybean field guide into an iPad app.
Bechdol farms and is president and founder of GeoSilos, an Auburn-based consulting firm, which helps agricul-tural businesses and organizations work on “big data” projects. He started the company after working at NASA as a precision farming consultant, then for ERSI, a leading provider of geographic informations systems products and services.
Two days before his Fort Wayne Farm Show presentation, Bechdol is scheduled to speak to farmers across the country on the same “aginformatics” subject at the American Farm Bureau’s annual conven-tion in San Antonio.
“What’s going on now is the begin-
n “What’s going on now is the beginnings of the next disruptive revolution in agriculture.”
Matt BechdolGeoSilos
n See DATA on PAGE 7
First Defiance Financial Corp. is startingthe new year with new leadership.
Donald Hileman became president and CEO effective Jan. 1, replacing WilliamSmall, who had announced earlier in 2013 that he planned to retire.
Kevin Thompson, who joined First Defi-ance in August in the role of executive vice president of finance, was elevated to executive vice president and chief financialofficer. His appointment to the new positionwas approved by the First Defiance boardon Dec. 23.
Small, who became CEO of the Defi-ance, Ohio-based bank holding company in1999, remains as chairman.
C o n s u m e r s are paying more attention to loyalty cards and other opportuni-ties for gasoline discounts at the nation’s conve-nience stores, according to a survey released by the National Association of C o n v e n i e n c e Stores.
C o n s u m e r s also said they also saw more c o n v e n i e n c e stores offering a wider variety of food options, from prepared foods to healthy options such as salads, nuts and fruits. Younger consumers were more likely to notice these improvements at convenience stores and also more likely to shop there, the survey found.
“Gas prices will always be top of mind with consumers but many are looking beyond the price and selecting where to stop based on what’s inside the store,” said Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives.
STREBIG CONSTRUCTIONStrebig Construction Inc. was awarded a
contract by the Rogers Co. for the complete development of a new business park on Hillegas Road. Strebig is developing a water retention area along Hillegas road as well as bringing utilities across Hillegas to the west side of the road. Construction is under way and should be complete in the early spring of 2014.
CBRE/STURGESCarolyn Spake-Leeper and Karen
Spake represented the tenant, James Medical, in the new lease of 4,800 square feet of office space in the Hollows Office Park, 7107 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Brad Sturges represented the landlord of Dupont Place Shopping Center in the renewal of a lease of 2,542 square feet of retail space at 2890 E. Dupont Road. The
tenant is the Mutual Fund Store.Brady Hayes represented the tenant,
Edward Jones, in the new lease of 1,221 square feet of office space at 3711 Rupp Drive, Suite 102.
Bill Cupp represented the landlord, Ludwig Investments LLC, in the renewal of a lease with Penco Products Inc. for 40,000 square feet of industrial space at 6602 Investment Blvd.
Cupp represented the landlord, Harbor Investments LLC, in the renewal of a lease with Kautex Inc. for 45,000 square feet of industrial space at 1201 Stonebreaker Drive, Kendallville.
Alexander Genova represented the landlord of the Research Drive Industrial Park in the new lease of 10,500 square feet of industrial space at 2208 Research Drive. The tenant is Dark Star Marble and Granite.
SPERRY VAN NESS PARKE GROUP
Diana Parent represented both the lessor, Meadowbrook Investments LLC, and the lessee, Cashland Financial Services Inc., in the renewal of a lease of office space at 3920 E. Market St., Suite 100, Logansport.
James Lohman represented both the lessor, Lake Avenue Medical Building Partnership, and the lessee, St. Joseph Medical Group LLC, in the renewal of a lease of office space at 3217 Lake Ave., Suite 1. Lohman represented the same lessor and the lessee, Lifelines Rehab Inc., the renewal of a lease of medical office space in Suite 5.
Neal Bowman represented both the lessor, CT Financial LLC, and the lessee, the Center for Brief Therapy, in the renewal of a lease of office space at 423 Airport North Office Park.
Cathy Gallmeyer represented the lessee, Essentials and Frosting LLC, in the lease of retail space at 5915 Covington Road, Suite B.
Parent represented both the lessor, Wayne Partnership LLP, and the lessee, Headwaters Park Alliance, in the renewal of a lease of office space at 110 W. Berry
St., Suite 2012.Mark Baringer represented the lessor,
Valley Forge Investments Ltd., andBowman represented the lessee, MetrologyServices LLC, in the lease of flex space at3020 Congressional Parkway., suites G andH.
ZACHER CO./CORFAC INTERNATIONAL
Steven Zacher represented the tenant,Rescare Inc., in the lease of 5,371 squarefeet of office space at 3711 Rupp Drive from Tippmann Properties Inc.
John Adams represented both the tenant,Lisa M. Borton LLC, and the landlord,Harrison/Wayne LLC, doing business asCBD Management, in the lease of 445square feet of office space at 203 W. WayneSt.
Fletcher Moppert represented thetenant, All Weather Exteriors Inc., in thelease of 1,800 square feet of industrial spaceat 5710 Industrial Road from Dymer Co.
NAI HARDING DAHMJohn Caffray represented the tenant,
CrossFit Fort Wayne, in the lease of 4,430square feet of space at 829 Lawrence Drive,Suites 2 and 3.
Steve Chen represented the landlord,Karen Knepp, and Kiernan O’Rourkerepresented the tenants, Angela Abbott andChristine Brumbaugh, in the lease of 600square feet of office space at 6115 StoneyCreek Blvd.
Dan Dickey represented both the land-lord, Community Healthcare AssociatesInc., and the tenant, Community HomeHealth Care, in the lease ofr 7,776 squarefeet of office space at 2700 S. Lafayette St. He also represented Community CarePharmacy in the lease of 2,726 square feet of space at the same location.
If you have items for the real-estate and retail column, please contact Linda Lipp by e-mail at [email protected], by phone at (260) 426-2640, ext. 307, or by mail at Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, 3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808.
Fort Wayne, IN 46808Published weekly every Friday,
the annual subscriptionrate is $49.
3306 Independence DriveFort Wayne, IN 46808
(260) 426-2640Fax: (260) 426-2503
www.fwbusiness.com
PAGE 4 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
Convenience stores hone appeal to consumersn Reporter’s
NOTEBOOK
REAL ESTATE & RETAIL
Linda Lipp
facebook.com/businessweekly
Ivy Tech C o m m u n i t y College North-east plans to start offering compe-t e n c y - b a s e d classes this coming spring, which could enable individ-uals who have been teaching themselves infor-mation systems to complete coursework more quickly.
An announce-ment on the classes offered through Ivy Tech Northeast’s Computer Information Systems program said they will allow students who have become familiar with the subject matter through work or life experience to proceed through them at an accelerated pace.
“Students in the program will have the benefit of working with a subject matter expert for each course. They will also have an assigned mentor who will help guide them through the educational process,” it said.
The announcement said the classes are ideal for motivated self-starters with some background in information systems who enjoy working on their own and are comfortable working online.
The program is the first one at Ivy Tech Northeast to offer competency-based classes. Individuals interested in enrolling in it will receive special consideration if they already have completed six credit hours of classes in the field.
STUDENT VENTURE LAB GROWS, GETS NEW WEBSITE
The Northeast Indiana Innovation Center has launched a new website for its Student Venture Lab and welcomed three new student ventures to the six that already were operating there.
The lab is in the Innovation Center complex at the northeast corner of Stellhorn and Hobson roads. Its website, Student-VentureLab.com, has new tools to facilitate collaboration and help young entrepreneurs plan the development of their business and track its progress.
New ventures at the lab are involved in public restroom products, personalized golf equipment and online tools for teacher-stu-dent-administration collaboration.
Ventures in the lab exchange a small amount of equity in return for six months of space and services there and some startup funding. The services include one-on-one coaching from Mike Fritsch, the center’s entrepreneur-in-residence.
Depending on the performance of the ventures, they can be invited to stay for second and third development phases, each lasting six months. Over three phases, the investment in the student venture could amount to $11,500 in startup funding and office space and services valued at $9,000.
“We are very happy to be able to expand this wonderful program,” Fritsch said in a prepared statement. “The new website and new collaboration tools will really help expand the program.”
Any proceeds from the equity invest-ments are reinvested in the lab, which also receives financial support from the Lincoln Financial Foundation, IAB Finan-cial Bank, the Edward M. & Mary McCrea Wilson Foundation and other individual and corporate contributors.
“We invest in the entrepreneurial poten-tial of young people who want to make their own cool jobs and companies of the future, Karl LaPan, president and chief executive officer, said in the statement.
“Now, students can apply on a rolling basis into our program. We encourage young people with ideas to apply. We are accepting spots now for new student ventures.”
FRONTIER WORKERS FULFILL HOPE HOUSE WISH LIST
Hope House families visiting their sick kids at Fort Wayne-area hospitals have been getting some extra help from the local employees of Frontier Communications.
The Stamford, Conn.-based provider of broadband, phone and subscription televi-sion service employs 1,150 in the city, and they volunteered to fulfill a holiday wish list of household and comfort items for families staying at the nonprofit Mad Anthonys Children’s Hope House.
Parents and siblings can stay at the nondenominational Hope House respite center on the Lutheran Hospital campus at 7922 W. Jefferson Blvd. at a minimal cost while visiting hospitalized children in their families.
“Frontier employees are very pleased to support Children’s Hope House this holiday season,” Michael O’Keefe, a Frontier oper-ations vice president, said in a prepared statement.
“Frontier employees are involved in the community year-round, and supporting chil-dren coping with serious illness during the holidays is especially rewarding,” he said.
“Anytime we organize an effort to support a great cause, Frontier employees rise to the challenge and do their best.”
CUSTOMERS RECYCLED, SAVED AT CELLULAR CONNECTION
The Cellular Connection said more than 61,000 mobile devices were traded in last year though an ERV program.
The Cellular Connection (TCC) has oper-ations in Fort Wayne and is the country’s largest Verizon Premium Wireless retailer. ERV is a joint venture of eRecyclingCorps, a company specializing in incentivized mobile device trade-in programs; 2013 was the first year of program participation by the Cellular Connection.
“ERecyclingCorps is the vendor of choice for TCC because we value the importance of providing peace of mind to
our customers that their data will be respon-sibly wiped from their used devices,” Jay Sichting, Cellular Connection chief oper-ating officer, said in a prepared statement.
“Our customers enjoy the economicincentive for trading in their used mobile phone and the flexibility to apply it towards the purchase of a new device, service or other products.”
Cellular Connection customers tradingin phones through the program saved close to $2 million in the form of in-store creditthey applied toward new wireless phone and accessory purchases.
If you have items for the technology column, please contact Doug LeDuc by e-mail at [email protected], by phone at (260) 426-2640, ext. 309, or by mail at Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, 3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808.
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 5
Ivy Tech Northeast to offer competency-based classesn Reporter’s
NOTEBOOK
TECHNOLOGY
Doug LeDuc
Keep In TouchSend us your comments and news tips to
PAGE 6 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
DeKalb Health in Auburn celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2014.CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Judge grants contraception injunctionA U.S.
district court judge granted a preliminary injunction to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and other local Catholic organizations, p r e v e n t i n g the federal g ove r n m e n t from enforcing a provision of the Patient Protection and A f f o r d a b l e Care Act that requires employers to provide insurance coverage for contraceptive services.
The preliminary injunction was granted Dec. 27 by Judge Jon DeGuilio in Fort Wayne. In addition to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, the injunction covers Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend Inc., Franciscan Alli-ance Inc., Specialized Physicians of Illi-nois LLC, the University of Saint Francis and Our Sunday Visitor Inc.
The diocese and the other organiza-tions have sued the federal government, claiming Affordable Care Act’s contracep-tive coverage mandate violates their reli-gious freedom. Employers can be fined for
not offering coverage.
DEKALB CELEBRATES 50 YEARSDeKalb Health was scheduled to kick
off a yearlong celebration of its 50th anni-versary Jan. 2 in Auburn.
The former DeKalb Memorial Hospital opened Jan. 2, 1964, and was dubbed the “miracle of Indiana” because of the commu-nity support that made its construction possible. Since then, the health-care system, which was renamed DeKalb Heath in 2011, has grown to employ nearly 600 workers and has an estimated annual economic impact to the region of more than $39 million.
Since its opening, DeKalb Health has made more than $75 million in capital investments as it expanded its facilities and services. In 2013, patient visits totaled more than 91,000, and the hospital provided more than 350,000 inpatient and outpatient services, the health-care system said in an announcement.
DeKalb Health staff and patients were scheduled to take part in a small celebration Jan. 2, and other events to commemorate the hospital’s 50th anniversary will be held throughout the year.
If you have items for the health-care column, please contact Barry Rochford by email at [email protected], by phone at (260) 426-2640, ext. 311, or by mail at Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, 3306 Indepen-dence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808.
n Reporter’sNOTEBOOK
HEALTH CAREBarry Rochford
For resolutions to succeed, they need to be manageableBY JOEL [email protected]
The new year brings the busiest time for fitness centers and other places of self-improve-ment, but area consul-tants said much of the resolve often wears off quickly.
There are, however, certain strategies for continuing these activities that seem to meet with higher levels of success.
Anne Davis sees a lot of resolutions come and go in her job as executive director for Spiece Fitness in Fort Wayne. Her first recommendation is to train with a buddy or in a group.
“Our experience here, and in the fitness industry overall, is that people who work out with a group or with a trainer have a much higher success rate of sticking with the program, mostly because it’s fun … and also because they are accountable to other people.”
Davis said that those who start a program and set out specific goals for themselves seem to attain those goals more frequently than those who start with vague intentions.
But some aim to improve more than themselves; they would like to improve their business or workplace. Michelle Glad-ieux, president of Gladieux Consulting in Fort Wayne, does professional develop-ment and executive coaching, focusing on conflict management and negotiation in the workplace. She gave a few tips on sticking to resolutions:
“Consider involving another person,” she said. “A coach, friend, collaborator, significant other, someone with whom you share your goal who will help hold you accountable.”
And maintain a healthy level of inten-sity, she said.
“It’s a tough balance, but strive to be both gentle with yourself and to challenge yourself,” Gladieux said. “We all need down time and days off; we are also much stronger and resilient than we know.”
Then she got more specific to the work-place.
• Figure out where you’ll expend new effort and choose direction of your behavior. For Gladieux Consulting lead-ership coaching clients, this might be, “I will be more available to my employees.”
• Choose the intensity of your actions, for example: “I’m willing to invest two
hours per week to build relationships with my staff.”
• Persist in the new behavior, for example: “I’ll set up and honor two hours of one-on-one meetings with my employees to see how they’re doing every week for 52 weeks.”
• Eliminate some time wasters and procras-tination to the greatest extent possible.
• Set aside 30-60 minutes to reflect on what you enjoy most or appreciate about your life, work, health, finances, etc., then list what you’d most like to see change, Gladieux advised.
From there, choose one item you want to begin in 2014 and then answer thefollowing question: “How does this mean I will have to change?”
Gladieux added: Think about how you’ll feel, what you’ll say, where you’ll be when you begin to enjoy the positive change in your life. Visualization can bea powerful motivator, and there’s no highquite like overcoming what used to be one of your weaknesses.
Another business coach, Michael Fritsch, the Northeast Indiana InnovationCenter’s entrepreneur-in-residence, said one of the most important strategies toachieving long-term improvement goalsis to break down the plan into small,measurable steps.
“For example, increase visibility through social media, create a new product line or hire a new salesperson,” Fritsch said.
Specific steps toward the goal ofincreasing visibility through social media could include taking a a social-mediaclass, creating accounts in LinkedIn andPinterest or writing a blog.
“An important part of any goal- or resolution-achieving plan is to monitor and measure your results,” Fritsch said.
“By holding yourself accountable, yougreatly increase your chances of success.Mark it on your calendar every week tocheck your status and write down yourprogress. You would be surprised at how much this helps you reach the finish line.”
Davis Gladieux
Fritsch
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 7
nings of the next disruptive revolution in agriculture,” he said. “We’re now entering this ‘aginformatics’ revolution where everything we do is going to be data driven.”
The revolution started with the devel-opment of farm equipment such as planters and sprayers capable of using satellite navigation to vary seeds and inputs on sections of a field, and yield monitors with satellite navigation to measure the results.
More production-related agricultural data has been collected as the types of sensors and uses for the data have multi-plied and as the technology for collecting and using it has improved.
Most of the production-related data that have been collected on the farm have been used on the farm. But researchers have been developing new ways to analyze massive amounts of data and arrive at important findings they other-wise would have missed.
And agricultural researchers are discovering “as that data is collected on the field, it can be aggregated further and further,” Bechdol said.
“Ultimately, this is about turning data into decisions and data into dollars.”
Crop producers in the future, for example, might be able to benchmark themselves anonymously against other farmers growing the same crops under almost identical conditions to see how they are doing, he said.
“Data on the farm has been an underuti-lized asset,” Bechdol said. “With these new technologies that have come has come the realization on the producer’s part that this data is useful not just to me but to my partner and trusted advisers as well as people who may not like me as much.
“Data as a modern commodity … represents my farm’s intellectual prop-erty. It’s how I do my business; it’s my magic recipe,” he said. “When I share my data with you and you’re going to turn it into a product for me, the question is, who are you going to share it with, who has access to it and what are they going to do once they have access to it?
“It’s murky as to what that owner-ship and control issue is. And that has producers anxious,” Bechdol continued. “With that comes some questions you need to be asking yourself and your part-ners. We’re just at the precipice of this revolution. The ‘aginformatics’ revolution is going to fundamentally change the way we go about measuring and monitoring and producing agricultural products.”
Smith said agricultural apps for smart-
phones and tablets are gaining popu-larity because more and more farmers are finding a mobile platform convenient and easy to use.
The platform “allows you to include more photos and other kinds of media that you can’t do in print,” he said. “If you are carrying a smartphone or a tablet around with you already, you have instant access to the information; instead of thumbing through pages of a print guide — which is great — you can click on a link and it’s right there.”
The iPad version of Purdue’s corn and soybean guide became available at Apple’s App Store in May for $12.99. With about 1,700 copies of it downloaded so far, “we know that it’s doing alright,” Smith said.
“We’ve gotten questions about, ‘When is it coming our for iPhones and Android.’ It will be out for iPhones next year … The conversion to an iPhone is pretty minimal,” he said. “Android is a little trickier … To do an Android version, we’d have to start over again, basically.”
The “Apps for Ag and Big Data Issues” seminar will be among more than a dozen educational presentations sched-uled for this year’s Fort Wayne Farm Show on topics that will range from water rights and crop insurance changes to the 2014 weather outlook and farm-to-fork specialty marketing.
Outlook sessions will be presented at 10 a.m. on Jan. 14 by David Kohli, an Allendale market analyst, and Jon Cava-naugh, marketing director for Central States Enterprises, and on Jan. 16 by Mike Swanson, a work-force analyst with Wells Fargo Investments. Chris Hurt, a Purdue agricultural economist, will present an outlook session at 1 p.m. Jan. 15.
The annual farm show is among the coliseum’s largest events. Last year, about 390 exhibitors used 950 booths to provide information about agricultural goods and services. The show’s attendance has been as high as 40,000.
Continued from PAGE 3
n DATA: It has been underutilized by farmersn “If you are carrying a smartphone or a tablet around with you already, you have instant access to the infor-mation; instead of thumbing through pages of a print guide — which is great — you can click on a link and it’s right there.”
Both sides in the Showgirl strip-club lawsuit pitting Alva and Sandra Butler against the city of Angola are awaiting a decision from a federal judge on a proposed injunction that would allow an adult entertainment venue to open in Angola.
Findings of fact written by attorneys on both sides of the battle are before presiding federal Judge Robert Miller and awaiting his ruling.
Alva Butler is the founder of the Showgirl clubs in Fort Wayne and current owner of Showgirl III in that city. Since buying the former Slider’s Grill & Bar property in Angola in August 2012, he has tried to put a Showgirl club in the city. However, Angola has fought Butler and his company, BBL Inc., resulting in a suit filed in U.S. Federal District Court Northern Indiana that is being heard in South Bend.
Butler alleges his First and 14th Amendment rights have been violated by the city and its officials. The city main-tains it properly exercised its powers to enact and enforce ordinances.
The Butlers contend the city prevented them from opening a strip club by changing laws and using an administrative ruling as a denial, saying the site was too close to a public gath-ering place, a bike trail that existed only on paper in 2012 and won’t be built until 2014 at the earliest.
The proposed injunction would prevent Angola from enforcing its sexu-ally oriented business law against Butler and Showgirl. Butler filed suit against the city in March. He bought the former Slider’s property, 310 W. Wendell Jacob Ave., at auction in August 2012 and informed the city of his intentions through a letter from his attorney.
The injunction also would make null zoning changes, as applied to Butler, that effectively have prevented the former Slider’s site from being used for a sexu-ally oriented business.
If Miller denies Butler’s request for an injunction, the case would continue to play out in court.
This story originally appeared in The Herald Republican, which is published by Business Weekly owner KPC Media Group Inc.
Judge weighs strip-club injunction
n BizView nPAGE 8 fwbusiness.com
It’s a simple relationship. Local governments and school districts rely on taxes to provide services.
The math is equally simple: When revenue is reduced, services will be cut.
One idea that has gained favor recently is the elimination of Indi-ana’s personal property tax on busi-nesses. It’s on Gov. Mike Pence’s list of priorities for the next legislative session, and many business groups, including the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Manufac-turers Association — you can read about its stance on the next page — are lobbying hard to get rid of it.
The business personal property tax doesn’t include real estate, but it does pertain to most equipment and other items a business owns. In 2012, the tax generated more than $960 million in revenue across the state that was distributed to local governments and school districts, among other entities.
For cities, revenue from the tax, on average, funds 15 percent to 20 percent of their yearly budgets.
The argument for eliminating the tax is straightforward: It would make Indiana, which ranked 10th in the Tax Foundation’s 2014 Business Tax Climate Index, even more attractive to businesses, putting us on equal
footing with other states that have gotten rid of similar taxes.
What’s less straightforward is how local governments and school districts would offset the loss of revenue; Angola Mayor Richard Hickman told Business Weekly for a Dec. 27 story that eliminating the tax would be “crippling” for his city. Other mayors across the state share his concern.
There are vague assertions that local governments and school districts could consolidate or wring effi ciencies out of their operations to save money. There’s also talk that municipalities could raise local option income taxes to help make up for the revenue cut — a step Fort Wayne and some other cities already have taken to counter previous revenue reductions.
If Indiana can responsibly elimi-nate the business personal property tax without causing major harm to local governments’ abilities to protect residents and provide services or school districts’ efforts to education children, it should do so. It should not, however, throw cities’, coun-ties’ and school districts’ budgets into chaos without fi rst attempting to address the ramifi cations.
State should do the math
Strangely, there is little opposition to eliminating taxes on the equipment (personal property) of Indiana’s businesses. The question is how to replace the $1 billion in revenue lost by Indiana’s counties, cities, towns, school corporations and libraries. That’s signifi cant money for police, fi re and other public services.
Gov. Pence and his allies are scrambling to fi nd a replacement for that lost revenue. Raise the state’s sales tax? No one favors that. Allow local governments to impose a sales tax? Never! That would be anarchy, chaotic competition among neighbors.
Thus far, the most favored idea allows commu-nities to raise one of the local option income taxes. State politicians like this because local offi ce holders will be blamed for the higher taxes.
However, back up just one step and reconsider this entire matter. The governor and his allies preach the benefi ts of lower taxes as an incentive for busi-nesses to locate jobs in Indiana. At the same time, just about everyone agrees that Hoosier workers are ill-prepared for the demands of the modern workplace.
Who benefi ts from a better-prepared work force? Mainly, it’s those companies installing new equip-ment that seek better-prepared workers. Thus, under the principle of benefi ciary taxation, businesses should pay for the updating of the existing work force and the education of the future work force.
What about a statewide personal property tax, with a single rate? Currently that rate varies from one jurisdiction to another. Additionally, the state, not the locality, assesses the value of that equipment.
Further, the billion dollars raised from the tax could be earmarked for vocational education at all levels, in all its many forms from accounting to zoology.
This means changing education, which everyone seems eager to do.We have spent decades believing more education will bring monetary
rewards to the individual. More education was once a route to becoming a more articulate, cultured and engaged citizen. Today, more education has become an investment from which there should be a monetary return.
If education is to supply the work force businesses want, then fi rms (or their associations) should be more involved in the preparation of the work force. Either businesses train workers directly or hire institutions to do that. The link between fi rms and schools would have to be strengthened.
Businesses don’t want to get involved with education. They want workers with certain behavioral characteristics (showing up on time) and specifi c job skills. Today, however, the variety of jobs keeps changing. Hence, employers want workers who can relearn rapidly or adapt to new demands quickly.
Modern equipment seems to drive the demand for better trained workers. The property tax on business equipment is well suited for fi nancing the necessary supply of qualifi ed workers.
This does not relieve the Legislature from fi nding other funds to sustain local services. It is, however, a move toward letting businesses pay for the education services they use. And won’t more fi rms bring jobs to Indiana if we have a better trained work force?
MORTON J. MARCUS is an independent economist, writer and speaker formerly with Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He can be reached at [email protected].
By cutting taxes, do we hurt worker training?
n
EYE ON THE PIE
Morton J.
Marcus
n EDITORIAL
WHAT’S YOUR VIEW?Want to share your thoughts on something you’ve read? Business Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns. E-mail them to [email protected], fax them to (260) 426-2503 or mail them to Business Weekly, 3306 Inde-pendence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808. Business Weekly reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity and length.
Published weekly, the annual subscription rate is $49.
GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 9
Manufacturers would benefit from eliminating taxGov. Pence is
right when he says “the time has come to phase out the busi-ness personal prop-erty tax” to “spur new investment and growth.”
A good step toward fulfilling the governor’s goal is to exempt produc-tion machinery and equipment from the personal property tax. Indi-ana’s economy is the most manufac-turing dependent in the nation, yet our state penalizes investments in production machinery and equipment by taxing those investments.
It’s the old adage, if you want less of something, tax it.
Hoosier manufacturing is currently experiencing a revival, and it is critically important we keep the momentum moving forward. Indiana has added 60,000 manu-facturing jobs since July 2009, second highest in the U.S. behind Michigan — a
state that is phasing out its personal prop-erty tax.
Much of the recent growth in manu-facturing can be attributed to our state’s favorable tax and regulatory climate. Yet despite the advantageous business envi-ronment in Indiana, property tax policy remains an important issue for manufac-turers.
The 2013 Indiana Manufacturing Survey, conducted by Katz Sapper & Miller and Indiana University Kelley School of Business, ranked property and corporate tax policy as the issues “most critical in terms of the cost and viability of manufacturing in Indiana.”
This continued interest in property-tax policy among Hoosier manufacturers is well-founded. The nonpartisan Legisla-tive Services Agency found that while net taxes across all property types decreased 10.3 percent from 2007 to 2011 in Indiana, business real and personal property taxes increased 6.3 percent.
Additionally, the Tax Foundation compared property-tax treatment of resi-dential property with commercial and industrial property throughout the U.S. The report found that “nationwide, state
and local governments collected 44 percent of property tax revenue from residential property and 56 percent from non-residential property (mostly commer-cial and industrial).”
In Indiana, the share of property taxes collected from residential property is only 29 percent and a whopping 71 percent from commercial and industrial property — an astonishingly lopsided property-tax burden on Hoosier businesses.
“Personal property” is a very broad term that includes billboards, office equip-ment, furniture, and racks and shelving. Production machinery and equipment, however, is just one slice of the total personal property pie. It includes the tractor and combine used by farmers to grow food, and the lathe, drill press, and CNC machine used in the manufacturing of goods.
Annually taxing these assets is counter-productive because it is a tax on produc-tivity.
In 2013, industrial and agricultural taxpayers paid $486.7 million in personal property taxes, which represents 7.76 percent of all real and personal property taxes paid to local governments. Any
budget shortfall that may result from exempting production machinery andequipment can be recouped through local government efficiencies and consolida-tions, and if necessary, the current localoption income tax system.
In addition to being affordable,a personal property tax exemption forproduction machinery and equipment would primarily benefit farmers and small manufacturers.
Seventy-nine percent of Hoosier manu-facturers employ 49 people or less, and 68 percent are pass-through entities, suchas S corporations, sole proprietors andpartnerships.
If we want to spur business invest-ment, help farmers, improve the economic competitiveness of our communities, andattract new manufacturers to Indiana without significantly impairing thebudgets of local governments, support Gov. Pence’s plan and start with exempting production machinery and equipment from the personal property tax.
PATRICK KIELY is president of the Indianapo-lis-based Indiana Manufacturers Association.
n
PATRICK KIELY
Banking & FinancePAGE 10 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
(AP) — Successful stock investors followed some simple advice this year: Don’t worry, be happy.
Next year, though, they will need to temper that rosy approach.
In 2013, investors who blocked out the scary headlines about a possible govern-ment default, budget cuts and concerns about when the Federal Reserve would begin to scale back its stimulus, did great.
The economy wasn’t robust, but it wasn’t weak, either. Earnings grew, even if companies achieved them by cutting costs rather than increasing sales. And the Fed gave the market a year-end bonus by keeping short-term borrowing costs near zero, even after dialing back its program to hold down longer-term rates.
Final tally: Stocks were up more than 28 percent.
The worrier’s ultimate refuge — cash, bonds, and gold — actually caused even more heartburn. Havens like bonds were down last year: The biggest category of bond funds by assets, intermediate-term bond funds, lost an average of 1.5 percent. Gold had its fi rst down year since 2000, having declined 27.7 percent.
Market strategists, on average, see more modest growth for stocks in 2014. The S&P 500 could rise 5 percent to 7 percent. Bonds should continue to struggle as interest rates and expected to rise.
Here are the positives from 2013 and some tempering thoughts for 2014.
2013 HIGHLIGHTSSmall caps were big: Here’s where
the stock optimists really shone. The Russell 2000, an index that tracks smaller, riskier stocks, was up nearly 37 percent, more than the Dow and the S&P 500.
Stunning debuts: IPOs are risky and also for positive thinkers. And they surged this year. The number of initial public offerings rose to its highest since 2000.
When stock prices rise steadily and strongly, companies have incentive to roll out their stocks to the public. And inves-
tors want those new shares. The average IPO stock rose almost 35 percent last year, outperforming the S&P 500, according to data from Renaissance Capital. In total, companies sold $55 billion of stock in 2013, an increase of 29 percent from 2012.
No holding back: Another streak for bulls. The S&P 500 went 27 months without a downturn of 10 percent or more. That compares with an average streak of 18 months between such declines, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Investors who sat out the rally in stocks
are now left with a quandary. Do they buynow, with stocks more expensive, or dothey stay on the sidelines and risk being left further behind?
2014 PREDICTIONSWatch out for crowds: After being
burned during the fi nancial crisis, manyinvestors have stayed away from this fi ve-year bull market. Investors pulled $430billion out of stock funds, according todata from Lipper, while putting nearly $1trillion into bond funds since the market bottomed in March 2009.
Professional investors worry that theaverage Joe will now try to make up forlost time in 2014. If large numbers of individual investors jump, the demandcould infl ate prices beyond what earn-ings justify. That could lead to what WallStreet call a “melt-up,” which almostalways leads to a “melt-down.”
What goes up must come down:Goldman Sachs analysts see a 67-percent chance that stocks will decline 10 percentor more in 2014, which is known as astock market “correction.” The S&P 500is up nearly 40 percent since the stock market’s last major downturn in October 2011 Still, Goldman analysts still expect stocks to end next year modestly higher.
Lower exposure: 2014 is not looking good for bond investors. With the Fedstarting to pull back on its bond purchases in January, one of the biggest buyers of bonds for the last year will slowly slipout of the market. That could send bond prices lower.
Bond investors should tweak their port-folio to focus on shorter duration bonds, said Richard Madigan, chief investment offi cer for JPMorgan Private Bank.
He would normally tell investors to have bonds that mature in average of about fi ve years. For 2014, Madigan isadvising them aim for average duration of two to 2 1/2 years.
“Long duration bonds are much more a riskier asset than a safe asset next year,” Madigan said.
n InFocus n
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Closing the chapter: 2013 lessons for investors
Trader Richard Newman works on the fl oor of the New York Stock Exchange Dec. 18.
Despite all the doom-and-gloom talk, stocks fi nished the year up 28 percent
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 11
How would you describe Chau-tauqua?
I started Chautauqua as a consulting firm that provides business perfor-mance improve-ment. I’m the only full-time employee and I have a part-time marketing person and employ other freelance consul-tants as I require.
I’ve done a fair amount of leadership coaching and consulting with an oil refine-ment company in Canada, but for the most part my clients are indus-trial compa-nies in need of specific assis-tance.
Most busi-nesses eventu-ally have diffi-culty adapting to changes in their market, which can cause them to fall behind and in some cases fail to serve their customer base the way they need to.
What led to your consulting and writing about busi-ness performance improvement?
I put myself through college running machines on a factory floor. I have worked at every level, from running machines to floor supervision to plant management, and I was a global vice president of operations and a division general manager.
I’ve spent a lot of time making different products over 38 years, and nearly everyone in the country has used something I’ve helped manufacture. If you’ve ever done your own laundry or driven a car you’ve probably interfaced with something I’ve made.
I spent 14 years with Eaton, and in my last position with them I was responsible for global operations in their clutch division.
For the most part I’ve been a lean enter-prise specialist. I don’t use the word expert because I’m not sure there is such a thing. A book I wrote based on my experience, “KISS: Keep it Simple and Sustainable,” is about managing lean.
I started writing it sometime in 2010, around the time I started the consulting busi-ness, and finally got it printed this October.
The book was intended to be a blueprint for turning a business toward performance excellence. In essence, it walks readers through 10 chapters and hopefully is fairly simplified.
It guides them through the process of setting a vision for the organization, aligning their responsiveness as a leader to the needs
bachelor’s degree in education from Northern Illinois University and a master’s of business administration from Loyola University Chicago; graduated from the Eaton Corp. executive develop-ment program
Other: author of “KISS: Keep it Simple and Sustain-able,” a new book designed to serve as a step-by-step guide for leaders who want to build simplicity into their manage-ment approach
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
“Every business has problems, and I try to solve them by enabling the business to perform to the needs of the market”
Business performance consultant Lowell Puls has written a book, “KISS: Keep it Simple and Sustainable.”
n See PULS on PAGE 12
FEE-ONLY.NEVER A COMMISSION.
At Galecki Financial Management, our team specializes
in comprehensive fi nancial planning and advising to
HELP YOU REACH YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS.
We provide our services on a Fee-Only basis, rather than
earning commissions, so you can trust that our only incentive
is to HELP YOU SUCCEED. If our personalized,
Fee-Only approach sounds right to you, give us a call.
Put the GALECKI TEAM TO WORK FOR YOU.
260.436.8525www.galecki.com
PAGE 12 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
of the business and lining up the initiatives of the business to match with the needs of the organization and the needs of its market.
It outlines the process of energizing and engaging the organization, setting priorities, and working on the culture through messaging and through measurement. And it explains how to cement all of that in place with business level systems.
I approach each of my business engagements using the techniques that I’ve written about. Every business has prob-lems, and I try to solve them by enabling the business to perform to the needs of the market. Not a lot of businesses are able to do that without making important changes.
What is ahead for Chautauqua?I think it’s too early to say that the book has had any
impact on the consulting business. I’m still doing a lot of work with my current set of clients, but like everybody, I’m always hopeful to expand that.
Right now, I’m not planning a sequel to the book but I have a couple of ideas for other books related to leadership and lean enterprise and manufacturing strategy, which I consider myself to be pretty adept at.
What’s ahead at this point is I’m looking for some addi-tional business in Canada from existing clients and will continue to grow the consulting side of the business. I’m also hoping to eventually buy my way into a manufacturing business. I envision this as a company that would expand into ownership and not just consult.
What do you like about your work?I find the consulting work highly variable and the chal-
lenges are almost always a lot of fun. The client is usually in considerable hot water with a key customer and looking to correct that, and my track record with helping with that is extremely good.
The highest return on investment for my engagement has been 1,400 percent and the range for all engagements has been extremely high.
I usually am fairly adept at going in, helping them with their issue and turning that into cash that hits their bottom line pretty rapidly. Most of the times when I get engaged the investment will pay back within the quarter.
Have there been any moments at Chautauqua that stand out so far?
We had a client that had fallen dreadfully behind on work for a really key customer, and we basically laid out an improvement plan in five days. It took 25 days to rearrange their manufacturing and literally by Day 31 their manufac-turing performance had improved 70 percent.
What have you learned from your work?Companies get in trouble for a lot of reasons and it’s
not always their fault. They’re usually very hesitant to seek help because they think the help will be more than they can afford. But the corrective work that gets done affects their operations so much more than they realize that the return on investment usually comes very, very quickly.
Often, they don’t see their problems as the kind that can be solved by somebody from the outside, but surprisingly find there is a lot that can be done for them.
By Doug LeDuc. To suggest an idea for “Career Path,” email [email protected].
Continued from PAGE 11
n PULS: Everyone has problems
(AP) — When they bought their shoe repair business in 1975, Glen and Shirley Jones were taking a risk.
They would be competing against six established shops in town, and they knew nothing about fixing shoes.
How things changed.Thirty-eight years later, they had the
only known shoe repair shop in Elkhart County. And by then, their customers swore by their work.
However, Jones’ Shoe Repair, 739 S. Main St., closed for good at the end of December. Glen, 78, and Shirley, 72, said they’re ready to retire.
“We’ve done this many years,” Shirley told The Elkhart Truth prior to the shop’s closing. “We would like to enjoy a few years of not having to get up and go to work, especially in the wintertime.”
They tried to retire in 2009, but as they were cleaning out the building after closing, their customers kept coming through the front door with work.
“People wouldn’t let us,” Shirley said. “They said, ‘You’ve got to open up.’”
But the Joneses meant it this time. They quit. Really.
“We have made it definite that once we close at 3 o’clock Dec. 31, we’re locking that door, heading out the other, and we’re not taking in any more work,” Shirley said. “I guess they’ll just have to find someplace else.”
Over the years, Glen and Shirley learned plenty about fixing shoes, but also about repairing purses, coats and anything else made of leather or cloth. Asked what she enjoyed about the work, Shirley said, “Trying to make something old and broken into something wearable and useful.”
“So many of them throw away a purse or something just because the zipper might be broke,” she said. “They don’t realize it’s easily fixed.”
But when asked to reflect on their years running the shop, she and Glen talk more about the people they’ve served.
“Our tried-and-true customers are about like family,” Shirley said. “Through thick and thin they come to see us.”
“We’ve got the best customers in the world, right here,” Glen added. “I will miss the customers. We are people persons, no question.”
As if on cue, customer Linda Weiss walked in and handed Glen her ticket stub, which helped the Joneses find her order among many in brown paper sacks on
shelves behind the front counter.Weiss paid $8 to pick up a dog harness
and cloth bag that had been repaired.“I’m going to miss you guys when you
close,” she said.“Hey, we’re going to miss our customers
as much as they miss us,” Glen told her.The Joneses referred customers to the
closest shoe repair shop they know of, Violi Shoes, 118 E. Mishawaka Ave., Mishawaka. That includes their orthopedic customers, who come with notes from their podiatrist detailing their specialized shoe needs. For example, a person with one leg shorter than the other needs a heel “buildup” on the shoe. In a metal box, Glen keeps a 3-inch-by-5-inch index card on each ortho-pedic customer, listing the size of heel that belongs on each shoe.
Brian Hall, Violi Shoes owner, said he is ready for the influx of customers. Hall, who also sells new shoes, said he expects to remain open for at least eight or nine more years. He said he is the only cobbler in Mishawaka, and there are two left in South Bend.
“There are very few shops around anymore,” Hall said. “Shoes are built so cheap nowadays, a lot of times it costs more to repair them than to buy them new, with everything made in China.”
Operating the business allowed the Joneses to buy their Dunlap home, raise three children, own other commercial build-ings on their block, and take vacations over the years. Glen had hoped one of their two adult sons, both of whom are skilled cobblers, would take over the business, but they aren’t interested. One drives a truck, the other a forklift.
“They like that weekly paycheck,” Shirley said, “where they know what they’re getting every week. This is long hours. It’s dirty work. You never get wealthy because you never know how much work is going to come in and when they’re going to pick it up (and pay).”
“You have to enjoy your job or it’s no good,” Glen said. “I enjoy what I do.”
YOUR CAREER.
MOVING FORWARD.Our 21-month Weekend MBA Program
offers career-friendly flexibility and
a globally prestigious Purdue MBA.
The program is built around you,
your schedule and your career goals.
Program begins in August.
ANALYTICAL INSIGHT. GLOBAL LEADERS.PURDUE WEEKEND MBAKRANNERT.PURDUE .EDU/WEEKENDMBA
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 13
Elkhart’s last shoe- repair business closes
n “So many of them throw away a purse or something just because the zipper might be broke. They don’t realize it’s easily fixed.”
Shirley JonesJones’ Shoe Repair
County withholds SCEDC funding over open-door issueBY MIKE [email protected]
Steuben County Commissioners have tabled making the county’s semiannual payment to the Steuben County Economic Development Corp. because the group holds its meetings in private.
Commissioners want SCEDC Executive Director Dave Koenig to be present at their Jan. 6 meeting to discuss the issue. Tenta-tive payment has been approved, pending the Jan. 6 discussion. The county pays the SCEDC $130,488.
When founded in 2004, the SCEDC loosely followed provisions of the Indiana Open Door Law. In 2012, the SCEDC board changed its bylaws to take the meet-ings and its records private.
“I am the representative to the EDC and I have mentioned it several times that the public should be involved in economic development,” said Commissioner Loretta Smart. “I am not very well received with my opinion.”
Generally, it has been held in Indiana that EDCs that are nonprofit corporations
and contract to provide services to govern-ment do not have to follow provisions of the state’s sunshine laws. A recent opinion from the Indiana Public Access Counselor differed with what had been tested in court, but because it was just an opinion, it did not have the force of a court precedent.
In the case of Steuben County, the lion’s share of the operating revenue for the SCEDC comes from government; Steuben County and its city and towns. Of the money paid by government, just more than half comes from Steuben County, which is represented on the board by one commissioner and one council member. There are representatives on the board from each city and town in the county, six from private industry and one at-large. The board numbers 16 people, nine of whom are from government.
Councilwoman Linda Hansen has also been vocal about the EDC’s meetings not being open to the public.
This story originally appeared in The Herald Republican, which is published by Business Weekly owner KPC Media Group Inc.
It’s a new year, and that means New Year’s resolutions. Great intentions to do good things. But as with business, music, sports and many other things in life, timing is everything.
For instance, it’s probably not the best time of year to pledge to go to the gym five days a week when you’re in the dead of winter and it’s freezing outside when you wake up in the morning and when you come home in the evening. Your chances of succeeding in this particular resolution are less than they would be at a different time of year. It’s similar in business. A great sense of timing can be the difference in realizing success or never leaving the gate.
Timing can make or break new product introductions, win or lose you customers, earn or lose you money and a lot more. If a
product is launched at the perfect time, it’s successful and celebrated. Launch that same product at the wrong time and it’s a dud. A lot of that has to do with monitoring market conditions and finding the ideal balance between supply and demand. Launching a product when there’s a high demand makes it more likely to succeed. It’s no coincidence that new toys, electronics, movies and more are brought to market right around the holidays. Conversely, launching a product when demand is low or when a competitor just released a similar product makes it less likely to succeed.
The success or failure of marketing and advertising campaigns is also driven in large part by timing. What day of the week and time of day to send an email campaign, for example, is a key consideration. Or determining at what point in the ownership lifecycle you should send surveys. There are even certain days and times that are better for businesses to post on Facebook in order to get the most “likes” and shares. Now more than ever, timing is important consid-ering the multitude of distractions that take our attention away. Get the timing wrong, and your marketing efforts are nothing but white noise.
Another facet of business that relies
heavily on good timing is customer service. Online companies that offer fast, conve-nient delivery have realized great success. The same goes for companies that quickly address customer questions, comments and concerns. Time is a valuable commodity, and if you can show customers you respect their time, you strengthen your brand, product and services, and generate loyalty and good word of mouth.
Expediency in customer service also includes saving your customers time. For example, mail-order companies that include return shipping labels save customers time if they need to return products. While they may not have been fully satisfied with a product, saving them time and adding convenience to their day translates into a stronger likelihood they’ll shop with that company again.
Some of the most successful entrepre-neurs attribute their success at least in part to timing. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, said that he didn’t expect the success he’s realized with the company and credits the “incredible, planetary alignment” of luck and good timing. Steve Jobs once said, “Getting the right timing for the right action is not coincidence. It is an exact moment that is there to be taken. Something inside you already knows — all you have to do is listen and trust what you hear.”
The importance of timing extends to managing time during the workday. There are a number of time-management tech-niques from scheduling time in your day for inevitable interruptions to establishing your day’s goals first thing in the morning. You can show colleagues and customers more respect for their time by setting and
communicating clear goals prior to holdingmeetings with them.
Timing is also critical in hiring practices.Hiring should never be rushed or be a knee-jerk reaction when things get a little busy.It’s been said to be successful you have tohave the right people in the right roles, andit makes sense. Rushing the hiring processcan lead you to hire the wrong people. Andhiring before you carefully consider if youreally need someone new can decrease acompany’s efficiency level.
There are so many areas in businessand in life where timing plays a crucialrole. It can be the deciding factor betweensuccess or failure. Whether launching a newproduct, responding to a customer concernor making a New Year’s resolution, timingis one factor that’s always worthy of consid-eration.
My entrepreneurial confession: Timingisn’t an exact science. I’ll sometimes thinksomething is going to happen immediately,but it doesn’t. Other things I expect to notbe on the radar for years may appear way ahead of schedule, or sometimes, never atall. While not an exact science, timing isimportant to our success in business andlife.
BARRY LABOV, a two-time Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the year and inductee into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, is founder, president and CEO of LaBov Marketing Communications and Training in Fort Wayne and co-owner and president of Sycamore Hills Golf Club. He has written or co-authored more than a dozen business books, and he blogs at www.barrylabov.blogspot.com.
Play NOW at fwbusiness.com
Offi cial rules online
UPICK‘EM Pro Football 2013 Contest
Sponsored by:
For advertising or sponsorship opportunities call 260-426-2640 x324
Week 15 winner: Rob Martin, robmart71Week 16 winner: F. Deano Lyncy, fdeano45Week 17 winner: Keith Martin, kdmartin20
Great Savings OnAll In-Stock Hot Tubs
3204 Illinois RoadFort Wayne, IN 46802
260-432-3570Poolpatioandspas.com
Financing program: “No interest for one full year”OAC
PAGE 14 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
Success in business — like life — often is a matter of timingn
CONFESSIONS OF AN
ENTREPRENEUR
Barry LaBov
BRIEFLYALLEN COUNTY
WHITE HAT WILL SHOW SECOND FILM AT SUNDANCE
Fort Wayne-based North River Capital LLC’s movie production business, White Hat Entertainment, will premiere its second feature film, “Infinitely Polar Bear,” at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, the company announced.
North River Capital, a private-equity firm, was formed in 2008 by Danny, Rick and Marty Rifkin and other former Omni-Source Corp. employees after that company was sold to Steel Dynamics Inc. in 2007. North River Capital’s White Hat Entertain-ment division was the majority investor for the 2012 film “Robot & Frank,” which also debuted at Sundance before being released domestically.
In the announcement, White Hat Enter-
tainment said “Infinitely Polar Bear” will beonce of 16 movies competing in Sundance’s U.S. dramatic competition. The film festival will be held Jan. 16-26 in Park City, Utah.
“Infinitely Polar Bear” stars MarkRuffalo and Zoe Saldana and is written and directed by Maya Forbes, who co-wrote“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” and“Monsters vs. Aliens.” The feature marks Forbes’ directing debut.
According to the announcement, the film“tells the story of a manic-depressive mess of a father who tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibilityfor their family. Their two, young spirited daughters don’t make the overwhelmingtask any easier.”
New York-based Park Pictures Features,which helped produce “Robot & Frank,”also helped produce “Infinitely Polar Bear.”Other co-producers are Paper Street Filmsand Bad Robot.
Larry Lee, Leepoxy PlasticsCheri Becker, Leadership Fort Wayne
Mike Cahill, Tower BankSharon Eisbart, Sharon Eisbart Corporate Art
Tickets $25 each • Table of eight $150Visit fwbusiness.com or call 260.426.2640 ext. 313
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 15
Resolve to be betterThe weeks
surrounding the new year provide the biggest opportunity of your career. And your New Year’s Eve plans got in the way of next year’s success. It amazes me how much prep time goes into “What are you doing New Year’s Eve?”
The week after the New Year will be a slow one at best.
Below are a few things to ponder, list, write about and maybe even take action on as you head into the unknown of next year.
Note: It’s unknown what will happen in the world, but your world is a lot more knowable, definable and actionable.
And rather than me telling you what to do, let me share with you what I intend to do and you can make your own plan from there.
I am going to continue to expand on my “four words” from last year. My words from last year (posted on my bathroom mirror) were “finish,” “write,” “shape” and “yes.”
My results?• I finished “The 21.5 Unbreakable
Laws of Selling.”• I wrote 1,000 words a week and docu-
mented hundreds of ideas.• My shape is still plus 20 pounds, so
that word will remain this year.• I maintained my “yes!” attitude,
but seeing the word every morning and evening in my bathroom mirror helped.
Those aren’t bad results, but still being 20 pounds overweight shows a flaw in my self-discipline. Not good.
This year’s words are divided into two categories: achievement and improve-ment.
On the achievement side: “adviser,” “digital,” “power” and “time.”
On the improvement side: “Instagram,” “blog,” “shape” and “best.”
I’ll define those eight words next week. Hopefully they’ll inspire you to write and define your words for the year. Interest-ingly, you most likely mentally know what they are, but haven’t gone so far as to physically write them down.
The balance of this week and next will be spent by thinking about, doing,and documenting the following:
• Making one plan to make a longtime dream a reality. For me, it’s traveling to the Great Wall of China.
• Solidify one big idea. My big idea
for 2014 is the continuation and solidi-fication of the Gitomer Certified Advisor Program. It will emerge in 2014 as the premier independent licensee program in the world.
• Intensify the improvement of your major strength. More and better writing for me.
• Celebrate life and plan a few celebra-tions. Several on the list; follow my Insta-gram, @jeffreygitomer, for continued details — and inspiration for you.
• Celebrate family and plan a few celebrations. August in Paris! Getting to know my family below the surface. Spend less time in idle chitchat and more time talking about life and intentions.
• List grateful acts of 2013. My broth-er’s continued hearing recovery. My health. My partner Jessica for her untiring dedication to the financial health of our business. My children, grandchildren and extended family. My dedicated staff of smart, real-world people.
• List cool things that happened. Some of mine were: 50-year high school reunion, lifetime achievement award from Haddonfield High School, the fourth summer trip to Paris in four years, launch of GitomerVT.com, launch of my Gitomer Certified Advisor Program.
Action: Listing your cool things will make you happy and proud, and provide inspiration for this year’s cool things to be achieved.
• List intentions for 2014. What are you really gonna do? Beyond goals and resolutions, your intentions are the key to successful achievement outcomes.
• Read one book a month. Start with these two: “The One Thing” by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan and “The Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell.
• Write 1,000 words a week. My weekly column enters its 22nd year. I’ve written and published more than a million words. (The average business book is 50,000 words.)
Action: Wake up and write.• Think by yourself for 10 minutes a
day. Make a hard appointment for your-self. Note: You can combine thinking and writing!
My list of things to do should keep you busy, productive and inspired to achieve more this year than you did last year. It’s not just a goal and it’s not just a resolu-tion; it’s your intention, your drive, your work ethic and your consistency that will create genuine achievement.
Happy new year!
JEFFREY GITOMER, a syndicated columnist, can be reached at [email protected].
n
JEFFREY GITOMER
Unmatched client service isn’t just a slogan at BKD; it’s the backbone of our culture. Our 2,100 CPAs, advisors and dedicated support staff are bound by the five client service standards that define The BKD Experience. For 90 years, our clients have looked to us for integrity, expertise, professionalism, responsiveness and innovation. We also have strong ties to the Fort Wayne market; our firm has been located in Fort Wayne since 1960. We invite you to experience the enduring legacy of unmatched client service.
experience tradition
Fort Wayne // 260.460.4000
A National CPA & Advisory Firm
experience
PAGE 16 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
n Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly TopList
n
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 17
n BizLeads nPAGE 18 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
NEWBUSINESSESSpine Legacy Holdings LLC200 W. Main St.Syracuse, IN 46567Stepehen R. Snyder
The Java Cottage LLC511 W. Brooklynn St.Syracuse, IN 46457David Mcilwain
Clay Ridge Farm LLC3875 S. 900 WestTopeka, IN 46571Lavern R. Miller
Hawpatch Properties LLC7525 W. 600 SouthTopeka, IN 46571Galen W. Miller
Number 1 Corvette Showcase LLC205 W. Pine St.Topeka, IN 46571Harold McNamara
Woodlawn Medical Aid Inc.4255 S. 900 WestTopeka, IN 46571Quinn Schrock
Shree Balaji Inc.7590 S. Warren RoadWarren, IN 46792Harjinder Kaur
JM Hotels Inc.7275 S. 75 EastWarren, IN 46792Mehul Zalavadia
Mariners Lots LLC1037 Mariners DriveWarsaw, IN 46582Craig Snow
Actppv Inc.510 Acorn DriveWarsaw, IN 46582Shari Carr
1055 Mariners LLC1037 Mariners DriveWarsaw, IN 46582Craig Snow
1037 Mariners LLC1037 Mariners DriveWarsaw, IN 46582Craig Snow
Simeon’s Lawn Care LLC540 W. Clearwater DriveWarsaw, IN 46582Simeon Corrao
Houlton Holdings LLC201 W. Center St.Warsaw, IN 46580Greg Houltin
David Vasquez-Rodri-guez LLC2441 W. 250 South, Lot 31Warsaw, IN 46580David Vasquez-Rodriguez
Bussard Realty LLC1501 E. Clark St.Warsaw, IN 46580Brandon Bussard
Taylor Investments LLC121 N. Washington St.Warsaw, IN 46580Patricia J. Taylor
Championship Sports LLC123 S. Hunters RidgeWarsaw, IN 46582Gary L. Henschen
Magdalena Pacheco Martinez LLC340 E. Levi Lee Road, Lot 197Warsaw, IN 46582Magdalena Pacheco-Mar-tinez
Dog Bowls ny Cindy Koehring LLC1700 Jenny LaneWarsaw, IN 46580Cynthia L. Koehring
Kokomo’s Collision Center LLC1375 S. Zimmer RoadWarsaw, IN 46580Bridget Blackburn
Police Dog Center Ohio LLC1854 E. Springfield DriveWarsaw, IN 46582Allen Danko
Pill Box Pharmacy Inc.2306 Dubois DriveWarsaw, IN 46580Gregory Winn
Team 172-01 LLC3000 N. Airport RoadWarsaw, IN 46581Jonathan Fussle
2283 N. Detroit St. LLC2283 N. Detroit St.Warsaw, IN 46580Arturo Garcia
Gryphon Werks Inc.403 W. Kincaide St.Warsaw, IN 46580Kyra Linn
We Inspire Support Empower Inc.2522 W. Wildwood TrailWarsaw, IN 46580Tammy Allen
El Dorado Restaurant and Bar3104 E. Wooster Road, #29Warsaw, IN 46562Jessica Cielo
Solutions CNS LLC528 E. Winona Ave.Warsaw, IN 46580Jesus Hernandez
All Things New Inc.3587 E. 400 NorthWarsaw, IN 46582William S. Fawley
Three Crowns Coffee LLC114 S. Buffalo St.Warsaw, IN 46580David Gustafson
Ram Healthcare Group LLC966 W. 400 NorthWarsaw, IN 46582Nick A. Deeter
Ramon D. Ortiz-Her-nandez LLC1404 Tippecanoe Drive, Apt. B1Warsaw, IN 46580Ramon D. Ortiz Hernandez
Sisters of Bittersweet LLC335 N. Wayne St.Waterloo, IN 46793Shelley Parson
Cass Transport LLC2800 C.R. 33Waterloo, IN 46793Cassandra Fike
Propane Autogas LLC160 W. Van VleekWaterloo, IN 46793Mark Gibson
IPI Auburn LLC295 S. Commerce DriveWaterloo, IN 46793Daniel M. Rifkin
F&C Trucking LLC1548 C.R. 27Waterloo, IN 46793Fred Coard IV
Refugio Sanchez Collazo LLC3127 C.R. 14Waterloo, IN 46793Refugio S. Collazo
G&P Transport Inc.489 C.R. 39Waterloo, IN 46793Gary Crist
Custom Cakes by Laurie LLC2925 C.R. 27Waterloo, IN 46793Laurie Zink
Account Keepers LLC2803 Widaman St.Winona Lake, IN 46590Heather Hamman
Inspire Electric LLC4124 Hickory Ridge DriveWoodburn, IN 46797David Kreilach
Human Technologies Inc.1613 Progress DriveAlbion, IN 46701Steve Wiltberger
Pokagon Trail Holdings LLC319 Pokagon TrailAngola, IN 46703Ken W. Wilson
Bardom LLC708 Mohawk DriveAngola, IN 46703Weston Hankey
Hillbilly Tire & Tool Co.3395 C.R. 19Auburn, IN 46706Gayle Clark
KS Design Inc.404 Duryea DriveAuburn, IN 46706Kurt Herman
Musical Madness LLC216 N. Division St.Auburn, IN 46706Tyler Littlejohn
Custom Manufacturing and Fabrication LLC1905 S. Jacob St.Auburn, IN 46706Pete Buhite
McLaughlin Tax, Accounting & Manage-ment Advisory Services LLC109 E. Fifth St., Suite CAuburn, IN 46706Melissa Mclaughlin
Elite Martial Arts-Beford LLC1211 St. Andrews PlaceAuburn, IN 46706Keith Schreffler
A Perfect Home LLC410 Lillian St.Avilla, IN 46710Robert J. Lattimore
Race Real Estate LLC407 Old Bog RoadAvilla, IN 46710Abigayle Lash
Assurance Title Co. LLC408 Old Bog RoadAvilla, IN 46710Abigayle Lash
Juan Castro-Quijano LLC356 Clark St.Berne, IN 46711Juan Castro-Quijano
Spare Time Lanes LLC1304 U.S. 27 N.Berne, IN 46711Lance Sprunger
Chelsea’s Cakes LLC466 California St.Berne, IN 46711Chelsea Taylor
AM Food and Fuel Inc.6200 S. S.R. 116Bluffton, IN 46714Matthew J Yergler
Advanced Air Care LLC303 E. Central Ave.Bluffton, IN 46714Matthew G. Reinhard
Midstates Energy Solu-tions LLC1085 B. N. Main St.Bluffton, IN 46714Scott P. Johnson
Stangland Heritage Office LLC1127 N. Main St.Bluffton, IN 46714Christopher L. Nusbaum
Stangland Heritage Family Farm LLC1127 N. Main St.Bluffton, IN 46714Christopher L. Nusbaum
Micon Holdings LLC806 S. Division St.Bristol, IN 46507Michael C. Waumans Jr.
2000 Middlebury Street-Elkhart LLC1203 S. Division St.Bristol, IN 46507Timothy Dugle
3603 County Road 6 East-Elkhart LLC1203 S. Division St.Bremen, IN 46507Timothy Dugle
M Two Construction Inc.55714 C.R. 131Bristol, IN 46507Zane L. Martens
RBH Holdings LLC55816 Willowbend Blvd.Bristol, IN 46507Regina Howard
460 County Road 15-Elkhart LLC1203 S. DivisionBristol, IN 46507Timothy Dugle
PERRY TOWNSHIPHeller & Sons Inc.11512 Tall Oak Run$235,000
Granite Ridge Builders Inc.15304 Towne Park Run$152,000
ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIPBob Buescher Homes7408 Alleghany Court$207,000
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIPT&M Construction2217 Kroemer Road$245,000
Carriage Place Homes Inc.3122 Buckners Crossing$202,000
Westport Homes of Fort Wayne Inc.3830 Winter Raven Trail$115,185
REAL-ESTATETRANSACTIONS4670410923 Arcola RoadFrom Judith J. Zelt and Steven P. Foor to Byron W. and Judith J. Zelt$32,500
467065962 Deer Hollow RoadFrom Wedgewood Devel-opment Corp. to John D. and Carrie L. Bleeke$61,655
19739 Red Mound CoveFrom Wedgewood Devel-opment Corp. to AF Hamed Construction$70,748
17741 Tonkel RoadFrom Allen County sheriff to Pennymac Loan Services LLC$55,000
467239724 Miller RoadFrom Emily N. Huhn to Erick T. and Katherine M. Adams$159,500
467255104 W. County Line Road NorthFrom Pretty Pines Partners LLC to National Oil & Gas Inc.$650,000
5724 W. County Line Road NorthFrom Peggy McEntire to Jason and Kathreen Price$9,000
4674116306 Grabill RoadFrom James and Mary M. Witmer to Lucas J. and Marie Witmer$90,800
46748108 Twin Eagles Blvd. E.From Gary L. and Sarah K. Hegger to Samuel A. Till Jr. and Sue A. Till$342,500
2767 Stonecrop CoveFrom New Development Corp. to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$27,900
15835 Classic Lake DriveFrom Heidi L. Tanner to Ross Sawyer$128,000
PAGES 18-20
READER’S GUIDE BizLeads is a collection of information gath-ered from northeast Indiana courthouses, state government offices and informational Web sites. These listings are intended to help companies find new customers as well as stay on top of happenings with current customers, vendors and competitors.
New Businesses lists firms that were recently incorporated in the state of Indiana. Information is gathered from the Indiana Secretary of State. Addresses listed may not be the actual address of the business.
Building Permits are issued by the Allen County Building Department during the specified period of time.
Real Estate is a list of agricultural, commer-cial, industrial, and residential real estate sales recorded by the state of Indiana.
Bankruptcies are from the United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Indiana. For complete data involving a particular filing please access the The PACER Service Center, the Federal Judiciary’s centralized registration, billing, and technical support center for electronic access to U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court records. Its Web site URL is http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov.
Patents include the following: Patent number, local inventor and assignee, brief description, filed date and approved date. Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Listings may vary due to information availability and space constraints.
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 19
323 Twin Eagles Blvd.From Kathleen A. Rhinehart to Mark K. and Sarah E. Music$180,000
1241 W. Shoaff RoadFrom Beverly R. Moellering to Bobby L. Yarborough Jr. and Keisha R. Yarborough$142,000
16916 Kell RoadFrom David L. Rodocker to Elizabeth Crook$6,500
15255 Towne Gardens CourtFrom Lancia Homes Inc. to Klukas revocable trust$145,500
15903 Ballantyne TrailFrom Timberlin Homes LLC to Chris Gasser$488,000
15249 Bears Breech RunFrom Allen County sheriff to JPMorgan Chase Bank$106,250
111 Tawney Eagle CourtFrom William P. and Sylvia A. Stiegler to Albert H. and Sandra A. Potter$450,000
15397 Towne Park RunFrom New Development Corp. to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$27,900
4676514826 Marsha Ave.From HUD to LC Will Realty Inc.$47,901
17516 Consta Verde LaneFrom Dennis A. and Pamela S. Ginder to Daniel P. and Sherry J. Kennedy$276,000
8625 Hollopeter RoadFrom Albert V. and Jeanne M. Emilian to Andrew G. and Elizabeth A. Schipper$40,000
11402 Grabill RoadFrom David K. and Joy A. Martin to Seth Gibson$140,000
467737301 Ternet RoadFrom NFG LLC to CL&S Inc.$275,000
467741534 Tartan LaneFrom Christine G. Williams to Ty A. Wyss$84,000
125 Lincoln Highway E.From Linder Oil Co. Inc. to Dodane Properties 1 LLC$120,000
209 Lincoln Hwy E.From Linder Oil Co. Inc. to Dodane Properties I LLC$40,000
2107 Landin RoadFrom Jeffrey L. and Lynda D. Hess to Vaughan Devel-opment Inc.$70,000
1117 Moeller RoadFrom Allen County sheriff to U.S. Bank$72,250
10016 Winding Shores DriveFrom Lewis W. and Janice L. Stier to Vikki S. Bobay$135,000
162 N. West St.From Anna Tippman to Misty R. Hernandez$92,000
9216 Seiler RoadFrom Pinestone Developers LLC to Land Ho of New Haven LLC$65,000
4108 Bridgewood CourtFrom Mary M. Steenman to Kelly Story$134,900
4298 Timber Creek ParkwayFrom Ji Won Kim to Nich-olas C. Fisher$127,000
9615 Pinepark PassFrom Ryan K. and Jamie C. Bowen to Kimberly J. Bodkin$100,000
1735 Douglas LaneFrom Monalisa M. and Philip M. Hartmann to Allison C. Trabel$64,000
594 Brandford CourtFrom Jose R. Martinez to Carl E. and Beverly J. Bradley$40,000
110 Rose Ave.From Luginbill Wire Dieco. Inc. to S and D Co. LLC$168,000
4677717221 Morton RoadFrom CKB Farms LLC to David E. and Janice R. Buuck$100,000
4678312614 Aboite RoadFrom Craig Lange to Keith Billman$71,000
14509 Blue Heron ChaseFrom White Loan Inc. to Aaron and Allison Sackett$94,000
4678817634 Lochner RoadFrom the estate of Eleanor E. Miller to Geoffrey P. George$68,000
16922 Cuba RoadFrom Devisees of Noah L. Delagrange to Neil and Rosemary Graber$653,500
467974316 Woodpark CourtFrom Westcott LLC to Brady D. Gladieux$69,000
468021009 W. Jefferson Blvd.From Henry Annie to Hart-zell Realty Corp.$10,000
2525 Carlton CourtFrom Tim Eylenberg and Jeffrey L Heagle to Jeffrey L. Heagle$12,000
203 E. Berry St., #1407From AWB Holdings LLC to Stephanie Szegedl$219,450
468032701 Dwenger Ave.From AP Realty LLC to Riverfront Holdings LLC$61,200
2321 Bremer RoadFrom IAB Financial Bank to Ottenweller Property Invest-ment LLC$95,000
Sheridan RoadFrom IAB Financial Bank to Ottenweller Property Invest-ment LLC$95,000
468046327 Wilmarbee DriveFrom Richard J. Cashman to Ronald L. and Sandra K. Heilman$14,000
5419 Primrose DriveFrom Jacob D. Wilcken to Sebastian O. Suthers$133,000
8432 Pember Brook DriveFrom Teresa K. Park to Joseph D. North$187,500
6657 Quail Ridge LaneFrom Mary M. Zurney to David T. and Patricia A. Robison$112,500
9317 Dawnsford DriveFrom Robin D. and Donald C. Lambert to David L. Augustine$94,900
10218 Lake Tahoe CourtFrom Hollis L. and Doris W. Bush to Daniel T. Anker$130,000
7711 Currie Hill CourtFrom Allen County sheriff to Wells Fargo Bank$89,000
2707 Grenadier CourtFrom Southwest Develop-ment at Covington Road 1 LLC to Charles and Martha R. Replane$31,900
7222 U.S. 24 WestFrom Ridgewood Medical Park LLC to Long Term Care Investments IV LLC$925,000
6921 Oriole CircleFrom Ridgewood Medical Park LLC to Long Term Care Investments IV LLC$925,000
4113 Rosewood DriveFrom Ridgewood Medical Park LLC to Long Term Care Investments IV LLC$925,000
6905 Oriole CircleFrom Ridgewood Medical Park LLC to Long Term Care Investments IV LLC$925,000
7518 Aboite Center RoadFrom Ridgewood Medical Park LLC to Long Term Care Investments IV LLC$925,000
7504 Aboite Center RoadFrom Ridgewood Medical Park LLC to Long Term Care Investments IV LLC$925,000
5152 Coventry LaneFrom Robert A. Conner to Mark A. and Donna S. H. Jones$120,000
8924 Sandpiper CourtFrom Jeffrey M. and Laura A. McDermott to Chris-topher E. and Klarisa L. Quackenbush$180,000
6327 Chase Creek RunFrom Mark A. and Dana C. Minnick to Christopher and Tamara S. Wells$429,000
9211 Indian Reserve TrailFrom Susan R. Klosterman to Michael E. and Brianna M. Howard$140,500
8210 Cardinal CourtFrom Brian E. Sass to Mark S. and Karen S. Willcutts$254,900
7421 Glen Gelder CircleFrom Ronald L. and Sandra K. Heilman to Glen R. and Sarah A. Wille$120,000
2808 Covington Woods Blvd.From Allen County sheriff to U.S. Bank$137,052
9703 Berkshire LaneFrom Mary Ellen Hambrock revocable living trust to Joseph E. and Meghan Colley$122,900
7903 Sky Breeze CourtFrom Colonial Homes Inc. to Stanley A. Abramowski Jr.$47,900
1401 Wescott DriveFrom Zachary R. Brown and Bally L. Tom to Aaron J. and Jennifer Clark$205,000
9227 Thunder Hill PlaceFrom Kimberly S. Hartman to Brian and Annette R. McCrory$147,000
4622 Ridgelane DriveFrom Julie A. Smith to Gregory D. Dickinson$74,900
127 Silver Maple CoveFrom Carol A. Bower to Nicholas E. Anderson$144,900
2732 Old Orchard RoadFrom Brian A. and Katherine R. Glasgow to Timothy P. and Cynthia E. Anderson$118,000
1917 Lake Front DriveFrom 3030 LLC to Buescher Construction Co. Inc.$54,055
4511 Dicke RoadFrom Allen County sheriff to Wells Fargo Bank$111,065
468041750 Wood Moor DriveFrom Gayle Ward to Joseph J. Mutton$270,000
8724 Dunmore LaneFrom Kathy J. Erschens and Alfred L. Fluharty to Jared D. and Lisa R. Haagen$145,000
1233 W. Jefferson Blvd.From Stanley R. and Nolan R. Arnold to Thomas R. Cain$82,500
8730 Beacon Woods PlaceFrom Eric Arnold to Jason R. and Holly C. Cope$164,000
9804 Tiffany DriveFrom Roy P. Terry to Sonya R. Howard$80,000
5211 Chippewa TrailFrom Randall O. and Kelli L. Cook to Brian and Maggie Collentine$205,000
468051534 St. Joe River DriveFrom Russell R. and Sharon S. Colegrove to Arthur and Nancy Getty$75,000
914 Pemberton DriveFrom Robert A. and Eliza-beth A. Walchle to Robert and Christine Walchie$46,000
826 Lake AveFrom Mona L. Sordelet to Derek R. and Katrina M. Nichols$36,000
1210 Rivermet Ave.From Allen County sheriff to J+K Simpson Prop LLC$42,601
1410 Oneida St.From Allen County sheriff to Freddie Mac$32,400
BANKRUPTCIESADAMS COUNTYGary E. Hurst115 Straford CourtDecatur, IN 46733Assets: $78,470Liabilities: $81,159
ALLEN COUNTYThomas L. and Patricia A. Waldfogel6538 Redbud DriveFort Wayne, IN 46825Assets: $121,600Liabilities: $126,601
Roxanna M. Love-Stone5722 Alta Vista CourtFort Wayne, IN 46818Assets: $4,150Liabilities: $31,478
Rachel R. Koogler15050 Carmel Lane, Apt. 202Huntertown, IN 46748Assets: $3,150Liabilities: $10,320
Terry J. and Tameka L. McGraw3215 Norma CourtFort Wayne, IN 46806Assets: $7,090Liabilities: $60,694
Andrew A. Simmons1915 Versailles Village PlaceFort Wayne, IN 46808Assets: $107,275Liabilities: $129,514
Jacob M. Lester12327 Mossy Oak RunFort Wayne, IN 46845Assets: $127,480Liabilities: $149,649
Larry D. and Kellie G. Dennis1239 Huestis Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46807Assets: $16,750Liabilities: $14,113
Philip W. and Heather R. Barnes905 Aurora Knoll LaneFort Wayne, IN 46825Assets: $155,560Liabilities: $226,847
Sylvester A. Harvey Jr. and Dorcas M. Harvey8302 Chapel Bend DriveFort Wayne, IN 46835Assets: $140,050Liabilities: $182,505
Joshua B. Michaud4325 Chatfield CourtFort Wayne, IN 46816Assets: $7,941Liabilities: $30,492
Dameta D. Turner2707 Dexter DriveFort Wayne, IN 46816Assets: $81,090Liabilities: $99,768
Ted E. Geisleman1217 Rumsey Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46808Assets: $3,480Liabilities: $112,887
William F. Johnson0434 E. 200 SouthAlbion, IN 46701Assets: $67,560Liabilities: $96,597
Jehna N. Garza1525 Howell St.Fort Wayne, IN 46808Assets: $11,383Liabilities: $295,654
Melissa F. Simpson2612 Landin RoadNew Haven, IN 46774Assets: $3,440Liabilities: $22,471
Rex L. Owenby Jr.9252 Lake RoadOtisville, MI 46483Assets: $3,784Liabilities: $49,842
Michelle T. Williams1824 Fox Point TrailFt Wayne, IN 46816Assets: $294Liabilities: $14,341
Scott B. Williams2730 Kenwood Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46805Assets: $8,677Liabilities: $126,768
Caryn G. Fowler1602 Echo LaneFort Wayne, IN 46815Assets: $109,176Liabilities: $105,948
Deanna L. Williams9826 DuPont Lakes Apart-ment, Apt. 3BFort Wayne, IN 46825Assets: $130,200Liabilities: $89,332
Brenda Maddock1817 Babcock DriveFort Wayne, IN 46819Assets: $63,050Liabilities: $85,594
Laelya F. Lopes-Goodman2110 Ardmore Ave., Apt. 143Fort Wayne, IN 46802Assets: $4,005Liabilities: $18,554
Robert B. Arnold Sr. and Debra A. Arnold10020 Lanewood CourtFort Wayne, IN 46804Assets: $200,717Liabilities: $507,634
Tocara N. Dunbar3715 Plaza DriveFort Wayne, IN 46806Assets: $1,625Liabilities: $81,574
Keith J. Jimerson Sr. and Patricia A. Jimerson710 Madison St.Fort Wayne, IN 46802Assets: $20,792Liabilities: $17,074
Lotoqua C. Webb538 Baxter St.Fort Wayne, IN 46804Assets: $15,701Liabilities: $121,103
David S. WileyP.O. Box 6101Fort Wayne, IN 46896Assets: $20,000Liabilities: $20,232
Jack R. and Marjorie K. Thomas9227 Mariners Ridge DriveFort Wayne, IN 46819Assets: $155,427Liabilities: $91,906
Mikeion D. Ewing973 Buchanan St.Fort Wayne, IN 46803Assets: $14,325Liabilities: $30,700
Mark E. Neubauer6015 Deer Track CoveAuburn, IN 46706Assets: $192,549Liabilities: $214,137
Michael Karl2517 Terrace RoadFort Wayne, IN 46815Assets: $117,060Liabilities: $116,232
Ronald T. and Wendy L. Ervin5026 Charlotte Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46815Assets: $88,239Liabilities: $246,833
DEK ALB COUNTY
METAL TECHNOLOGIES MAKES ACQUISITION
Metal Technologies Inc. of Auburn announced it has acquired Key 3 Casting LLC, which owns and operates two alumi-num-die and squeeze-casting facilities and a ductile iron foundry, The Star reported.
The transaction was completed Dec. 20. The sale includes Jackson Die Casting LLC of Jackson, Tenn., Minneapolis Die Casting LLC of Minneapolis and Northern Foundry LLC of Hibbing, Minn. The combined operations have approximately $74 million in annual sales and 300 employees.
“The Key 3 acquisition is an integral part of MTI’s strategic plan to grow our metal-casting capabilities to serve our customers’ long-term needs,” Metal Technologies Presi-dent Matthew Fetter said. “The Key 3 acqui-sition gives us die casting, squeeze casting, value-add services and small ductile-iron casting capability. In addition, the location in Jackson, Tenn., provides us with a platform to meet the growth of manufacturing in the South.”
Fetter added, “We definitely see a long-term trend in the marketplace to reduce casting weight by engineering smaller, lighter, iron components or by utilizing lighter mate-rials such as aluminum. The Key 3 acquisition not only provides MTI with a world-class manufacturing footprint for meeting market demand, but provides us with an excellent technical and management team to execute our strategic plan. We are excited about the opportunities of welcoming the Key 3 team members into the MTI family.
“Northern Foundry is a natural addition to our already strong position in iron casting with a special niche in small, lightweight ductile iron castings,” he said.
The three former Intermet Corp. plants were acquired in 2009 by Key 3 Hold-ings LLC. Since then, the companies have focused on diversifying their customer base, enhancing engineering capabilities and capital investment to upgrade equipment and expand
capacity.“MTI is already a supplier to many of Key
3’s customers, so we have a strong relation-ship to build upon,” Fetter said. “Our major customers are very supportive of this acqui-sition, and we look forward to building upon our strong partnership through our expanded capabilities.”
Headquartered in Auburn, Metal Technol-ogies operates iron foundries in Auburn and in Three Rivers and Ravenna, Mich. With the acquisition, MTI has estimated annual sales in excess of $440 million and employs more than 1,000 people. It provides metal castings throughout North America in the transporta-tion, construction, compressor, small gaso-line engine and other markets. The company was founded in 1997 by its chairman and chief executive officer, Rick James. It remains privately owned.
The Star is published by Business Weekly owner KPC Media Group Inc.
IND IANA
PROF: STATE SHOULD SPEND MORE ON ANTI-SMOKING
(AP) — Indiana is not spending enough money on efforts to keep teenagers from starting to smoke or to help smokers quit the habit, an Indiana University professor said.
A recent report by a coalition of public health organizations shows Indiana is turning “a blind eye to what is an obvious problem in this state,” Jon Macy, an assistant professor in the School of Public Health-Bloomington at Indiana University, told The Herald-Times.
“Indiana has become a state where the tobacco companies test-market their new products because we don’t spend any money to counter that marketing,” Macy told the newspaper. “We’ve become a guinea-pig state. Tobacco companies see our teens and young adults as easy targets, because we don’t spend money on prevention messages.”
The report, titled “A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settle-ment 15 Years Later,” assesses whether states have kept their promise to use a significant portion of their settlement funds — estimated total of $246 billion over the first 25 years — to fight tobacco use. The states also collect billions more each year from tobacco taxes.
The report shows Indiana ranks 31st in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. Indiana spends $5.8 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 7.3 percent of the $78.8 million recom-mended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This year, Indiana will collect $536.9 million in revenue from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but spend just 1.1 percent of it on tobacco prevention
programs, which means Indiana is spending only a penny of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco use.
The report says tobacco companies spend $271.7 million a year to market their products in Indiana, which is 47 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.
The report also says Indiana’s cigarette taxof 99.5 cents per pack ranks 32nd in the nation and is below the national average of $1.53per pack. Macy said that’s too bad, becausecigarette taxes are particularly effective indiscouraging young people from smoking.
“Young people are more price-sensitivethan adults, because they typically have lessdisposable income to spend on cigarettes,” he said.
PURDUE’S DANIELS CONDEMNS GROUP OVER BOYCOTT MOVE
(AP) — Purdue University PresidentMitch Daniels is joining other universitypresidents in condemning a decision by the American Studies Association to endorse aboycott of Israeli universities.
Daniels told the Journal & Courierthe boycott would be a clear violation ofacademic freedom. Daniels said he doesn’t believe Purdue has any institutional relation-ship with the association, but is checking tosee whether any of its departments do.
Indiana University President Michael McRobbie has said the university plans to withdraw immediately as an ASA institu-tional member.
But at least seven Purdue professors have in the past favored a boycott of Israeliacademic institutions by signing onto theUnited States Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
WIND FARM OWNER SUING DUKE ENERGY INDIANA
(AP) — The owner of a northern Indiana wind farm is suing Duke Energy Indiana Inc., accusing the utility of breach of contractinvolving its deal to buy electricity from the farm.
Earl Park-based Benton County Wind Farm LLC filed its suit in federal court inIndianapolis. The suit, which seeks unspec-ified damages, claims Duke Energy Indiana hasn’t honored its agreement.
The Indianapolis Business Journalreported the suit alleges that Duke Ener-gy’s actions have resulted in the wind farm “frequently” being forced to curtail opera-tions, causing sharp reductions in the farm’s electrical output and revenue.
A Duke Energy spokeswoman said the company is reviewing the lawsuit.
Orion Energy Group LLC began runningthe wind farm in 2008 as Indiana’s firstcommercial-scale operation, with 87 power-generating wind turbines.
244-7606 • 800-451-2709SchraderAuction.com
ARMSTRONG CORPORATE PARKLocated in Columbia City, Indiana has 15 lots still
available. Sizes ranging from 1 to 28 acres. Existing road and utility infrastructure, developed neighboring
businesses, possible Tax Abatement and adjacent toUS 30 with high visibility lots still available. (KJ24W)
Call Kevin Jordan 800-451-2709
PAGE 20 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
Lanika S. Beasley2723 Lillie St.Fort Wayne, IN 46806Assets: $19,550Liabilities: $40,990
DEKALB COUNTYGary L. and Karen M. Parke601 E. Keyser St.Garrett, IN 46738Assets: $152,900Liabilities: $191,983
Kenneth J. and Linda K. SchulthessP.O. Box 208Ashley, IN 46705Assets: $110,767Liabilities: $146,036
HUNTINGTON COUNTYLeigh A. Werling805 Etna Ave., Apt. 3Huntington, IN 46750Assets: $3,143Liabilities: $27,135
LAGRANGE COUNTYRonald A. Sechler10730 W. 650 SouthHudson, IN 46474Assets: $153,450Liabilities: $126,934
NOBLE COUNTYPhillip T. Campbell10142 N. Jones Lake RoadRome City, IN 46784Assets: $2,400Liabilities: $6,475
William W. Engle742 Dowling St.Kendallville, IN 46755Assets: $24,150Liabilities: $23,466
WELLS COUNTYMark S. Kuhn610 ZuercherOssian, IN 46777Assets: $3,975Liabilities: $27,966
Christine M. Meier11313 N. 100 WestOssian, IN 46777Assets: $6,755Liabilities: $26,644
WHITLEY COUNTYTamara M. Line357 N. Line St.Columbia City, IN 46725Assets: $177,050Liabilities: $172,310
Rex A. Line324 Bluebird DriveColumbia City, IN 46725Assets: $186,600Liabilities: $171,114
Jennifer J. Christman205 N. JeffersonS. Whitley, IN 46787Assets: $2,223Liabilities: $62,752
Vickie L. Beasley850 Denzil DriveColumbia City, IN 46725Assets: $23,450Liabilities: $38,488
Susan D. Puckett2291 S. S.R. 9Columbia City, IN 46725Assets: $7,650Liabilities: $31,191
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 21
Although it has grown to be the fifth-largest university in the state, by enroll-ment, IPFW is in the same classification management-wise as the other, smaller regional IU and Purdue campuses scattered around Indiana. Everything it wants, from degrees to dormitories, has to go through Purdue, which has management responsi-bility for the Fort Wayne campus.
IPFW also lags most of the state’s institutions of higher education in terms of per-capita funding for students, consis-tently ranking about 13th of 15 state college campuses.
The lack of autonomy and money are beginning to chafe many in the commu-nity, a number of whom aren’t convinced Purdue truly has Fort Wayne’s best inter-ests at heart.
“Purdue not only doesn’t have a very good idea of what we are in this region, they have been a little bureaucratic,” Nusbaumer said. “I think they see us as a threat to their growth.”
As it stands, for example, IPFW can’t go directly to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to get authority for new degree programs it wants to offer. It has to go through Purdue and its board of trustees, which decides when and if to press the request with the state.
“That it slows it down is a misnomer. It just practically solidifies. We’re not talking glacier, we’re talking granite,” said former legislator Win Moses.
“Is there a more efficient way to do that? Is there a way to streamline that for the business community?” said Katy Staf-ford-Cunningham, the interim vice presi-dent of government affairs for Greater Fort Wayne Inc.
Both GFW and the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana have made greater autonomy and more equitable funding for IPFW a feature of their 2014 legisla-tive agendas. The agenda items are drawn in fairly broad brush strokes, with few specifics, but that is by design, Staf-ford-Cunningham acknowledged.
“We don’t want to tell IPFW what to do. IPFW knows what it needs,” she said. “We want to support them.”
Over the years, northeast Indiana legis-lators have been united in a bipartisan effort to win advances for the Fort Wayne campus, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year.
“It was a political Switzerland. Nobody really claimed credit for it. Everybody just said do it,” recalled Moses, a Democrat.
Their success was mixed at best. The campus did fairly well at getting funding for capital projects, such as an IU medical school and the Rhinehart Music Center,
and Moses gives a lot of the credit for that to former Chancellor Michael Wartell.
“He was so good, he gave us the confi-dence as legislators to send money to him. We knew it would be used wisely. It would come in under cost, under budget and there would be no problem. He was a good builder. He was a good manager of monies,” Moses said.
On the other hand, “fighting for grad-uate degrees was like giving up your first-born,” Moses added.
“There was a sense that we were going to be nothing but a feeder school. They didn’t want any competition. Their goal was to get them to all come to West Lafay-ette.”
IPFW is unique in that the students and faculty members there are fairly evenly split between the two major universities, Nusbaumer noted. The Indiana Universi-ty-Purdue University Indianapolis campus, by comparison, offers just a few Purdue programs. Everything else — including the medical school and the law school — belongs to IU.
And IUPUI, which is managed by IU, is considered a “metro” campus, which give its a little more clout than the regional campus classification under which IPFW operates.
Many in Fort Wayne would like to see an arrangement here, similar perhaps to the IUPUI model, that would create a new clas-sification for IPFW — giving it more local control while still allowing students to earn diplomas with IU or Purdue degrees.
“I think the need to have better control over our future is very high, that we cannot go back to that old thinking, that status quo of ‘we’ll take what they pass along and hope for the best,’” Moses said. “People underestimate how important the rise of IPFW has been to the growth of Fort Wayne, and those ideas have been inter-nally generated. They did not come from Purdue. The rise of IPFW foretells either the rise or decline of Fort Wayne.”
Adding new graduate degrees programs would be a top priority.
“Indiana/Purdue is at the top of the food chain, and those companies that are cutting edge … need to have special master’s programs, doctorates, that are not available here. They have to be made available. They are essential for the 21st century,” Moses said.
“It’s a destination university as well a a hometown university. We should have the types of master’s programs and doctorate programs that allow us as a city to train and compete with the rest of the world. If you can’t bring in people who can get their master’s and doctorates here, you’re going to lose a lot of people that could move into town and take good jobs. It reduces us
to smaller, lesser jobs,” Moses continued.
State Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, has a greater level of indepen-dence for the Fort Wayne campus in mind. He would like to see it even-tually become a separate state university with its own name and degree-granting authority.
“The biggest benefit would be the community ownership in northeast Indiana, our own funding, our own board of trustees,” Kruse said.
That Fort Wayne should have its own university is completely appropriate, Kruse believes.
“I think if you were to start over and create a new state university system, I think you would have a University of Fort Wayne,” he said.
There also is a precedent for inde-pendence, Kruse noted, in the story of the Evansville campus of Indiana State University, which split from ISU in 1985 to become the University of Southern Indiana.
Kruse is aware there would be some initial resistance to a separate university, but thinks that would be overcome as people got used to the idea.
“Making a case for independence, to me, would take about five years for full buy-in,” he said.
Governance issues aside, IPFW Chan-cellor Vicky Carwein would like to see Fort Wayne do better than 13th out of 15 in the amount of state dollars it gets for students.
“The biggest thing for us is we need a better funding model. We are really at the bottom of the barrel. If we could just get to the middle of the pack, just to get to the 50th percentile, that would mean $10 million more a year,” she said.
One of the reasons IPFW falls short is that its graduation rates — about 23 percent to 24 percent after six years — don’t rise to the levels the state wants to see. But that metric only counts full-time, first-time freshmen, not transfer students who started elsewhere or those who work and continue their education at a slower pace, Carwein noted.
Regional campuses such as IPFW, in many ways, are doing a better job of addressing the ongoing educational needs of the citizens of Indiana than the main university campuses, she said. The funding formula should recognize that.
“The nontraditional student has in many ways become more the traditional student,” Carwein said. “We are just going to have to figure out a way to do this differently than we have been doing for the last 50 years.”
Continued from PAGE 1
n IPFW: Some would like to see a new classification for the university
Kruse
attract new businesses from out of state and also to grow local ones. Rep. Martin Carbaugh, R-Fort Wayne, on the other hand, took a more measured approach.
“Allen County would be affected by millions of dollars,” Carbaugh said. I have concerns about the strain it would put on our schools and local governments, to just pull the rug out from under them. I don’t think that’s right. But I would have to see a bill before I can really comment.”
Carbaugh said some options regarding the business personal property tax include: 1) eliminating it entirely; 2) phasing it out over time; 3) allowing individual counties to decide whether to retain it; or 4) offset-ting the resulting shortfall by introducing a new tax or raising a different, existing one.
The agenda won’t be set until the General Assembly’s short session begins Jan. 7, but legislators expect several other items busi-ness-related issues.
Carbaugh intends to present a bill to prohibit discrimination against U.S. mili-tary veterans who return and search for employment. He would do this by including military veterans onto existing legislation that currently protects women and minori-ties from workplace discrimination.
“I have a close friend that served in Iraq, and he’s experienced some discrimination,” Carbaugh said. “There has been evidence of discrimination against hiring them.”
Another business-related issue is a proposed constitutional amendment prohib-iting same-sex marriages and civil unions. Republicans are seeking to amend the state constitution to outlaw same-sex unions, which already are banned under an existing state statute. A bipartisan group called Freedom Indiana opposes the constitutional amendment, arguing that it would cast Indiana as a bigoted, uninviting place in which to work and live.
Business and political leaders wish to attract the best and the brightest to work in Indiana, and some of the best and the brightest happen to be gay, the group says.
“It’s a fairly complicated issue,” Carbaugh said. “It’s not just a numbers thing. There are some effects, but what gets played out a lot is emotionally and faith-based.
“The thing that we’ve been clear about on the Republican side is that it clearly is not a priority issue, it predates me. I inherited this thing basically. Our priority is the basics — what we should do regarding the business climate, reasonable taxes and maintaining good schools.”
Banks, who serves on the Senate’s Education Committee, said education would take priority this legislative session.
“We need to make it easier to access higher education, creating more opportu-nities for that,” Banks said. “And when it comes to K-12, the governor has a number of innovative ideas, paying better salaries to teachers. While on its face, this doesn’t seem like a business issue, but I would argue that it would play a role in putting Hoosiers back to work in our state.”
WATCH FOR IVY TECH CORPORATE COLLEGE’S
SPECIAL INSERTIN THE JANUARY 10 ISSUE OF BUSINESS WEEKLY!
For a FREE, no obligation consultation, contact us
at (260) 480-4118 or IvyTech.edu/CorporateCollege
PAGE 22 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
Continued from PAGE 1
n SESSION: Bill prohibits discrimination of veterans
BRIEFLYELKHART COUNTY
FLEXSTEEL SETTLES LAWSUIT FOR $6.25M
(AP) — An Iowa furniture maker has agreed to pay $6.25 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged it polluted the water wells of nine homes in a northern Indiana neighborhood.
The Elkhart Truth reported Flexsteel Industries admitted no wrongdoing. The settlement was disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2011, alleged that from 1983 through 2007, Dygert Seating and Flexsteel, which bought the company, polluted groundwater in Elkhart, with hazardous chemicals, including triclo-roethylene, an industrial solvent known to cause cancer.
State enlists scrapyards to stop thieves
(AP) — Indiana is enlisting the helpof scrapyards to crack down on brazenmetal thieves who’ve even darkened stretches of highways by stripping wiringfrom roadside lighting.
A measure passed by state lawmakersthat took effect in July targets scrap vehi-cles, catalytic converters and air condi-tioner evaporator coils being brought to scrapyards in exchange for cash.
State Rep. Justin Moed, D-Indianap-olis, said he filed the bill after hearing of growing numbers of thefts of catalytic converters and air conditioner units inhis Indianapolis district, where there aremore than 10 scrapyards.
“We looked at how do we increasesome of the proof required for peoplewho bring in these items, to make surethey came about them lawfully,” Moed said.
His measure requires someone whodisposes of a vehicle for scrap metal to provide proper documentation andmakes not doing so a misdemeanor. Italso requires documentation for sales and purchases of air conditioning parts or a catalytic converter.
Police agencies across the nation haveseen increased thefts of metals such ascopper, bronze, brass and aluminum, according to a report by the NationalInsurance Crime Bureau.
Indiana State Police and county highway departments in December launched an effort to stem growing inci-dences of thefts of wiring from highwaylighting. Swaths of highway, includingportions of northern Indiana’s BormanExpressway/Interstate 65 interchange, have been darkened by such thefts.
Among the scrapyards keeping watchfor metal thieves is Metro Recyclingin the northwest Indiana community ofGriffith. Employees there monitor scrap metal deliveries nonstop on more than a half dozen computer screens, while stillcameras capture photos of every load ofscrap weighed.
Metro Recycling CEO Neil Samahon said the technology is part of the compa-ny’s effort to purge stolen scrap metal from its work stream and help law enforcement track such thefts.
“We’re always looking for ways to control it,” Samahon said. “We want tobe part of the solution.”
A publication of KPC Media Group Inc
Subscribe today at fwbusiness.com
Business WeeklyLimited Time Offer
$49.00
12-month subscription will receive a copy of the prestigious 2014 Greater Fort
Wayne Book of Lists.
BOOK OF LISTS
2014
greater fort wayne
BANKING & FINANCE REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY SERVICE COMPANIES HEALTH CARE EVENT PLANNING
Sponsored By:
$19.95
A Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly Publication
NORTHEAST INDIANA’S
MOST RESPECTED SOURCE FOR
IN-DEPTH LOCAL BUSINESS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
January 3-9, 2014 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 23
PAGE 24 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n January 3-9, 2014
