greater fort wayne business weekly - dec. 20, 2013

Bontrager to be region president after ONB acquisitionOther executive changes outlined in Securities and Exchange Commission fi ling

Bontrager

BY LINDA [email protected]

Some key executives at Tower Financial Corp. are expected to continue their employment with the banking business — albeit in different roles — after its acquisition by Old National Bancorp is completed next year.

Wendell Bontrager has accepted Old National’s offer

to become region president for ONB, according to a Dec. 5 securities registration statement Old National fi led with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bontrager currently is an executive vice president and chief lending offi cer for Tower Bank.

Michael Cahill, Tower Financial’s president and CEO, has been offered and has accepted a position as senior consultant, Fort Wayne region. Gary Schearer, currently president and CEO of Tower Trust Co., was

offered and has accepted a job as senior vice president, client adviser manager. Tina Farrington, currently chief operating offi cer, was offered the position of executive vice president, integration executive, which was still subject to her acceptance as of the fi ling date.

Bontrager, Schearer and Farrington were offered cash retention bonuses of $40,000 each, payable in install-n See TOWER on PAGE 21

DECEMBER 20-26, 2013 Daily updates at www.fwbusiness.com $1.00

Business WeeklyPAGE 3

GREATER FORT WAYNE

n INSIDEA sweet spotSpangler Candy rolls out all-natural fl avors in advance of the holidays

LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS

PAGE 3

Power to goAngola hotel has one of two Tesla charging stations

PAGE 20

Local news ....................3-7BizView ..............................8Health Care .................... 10Personal Business ........ 11Top List ............................ 17BizLeads.....................18-20

Eyeing a marketLonge makes lenses for Google Glass

Vol. 9 Issue 51

LOCAL NEWS

Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana distributes more than 42,000 pounds of food each week.

RYAN SCHNURR

THE SEASON OF GIVINGCommunity Harvest serves more than 90,000 area residents each year

BY JOEL [email protected]

Semitrailers bearing loads of canned goods and fresh produce rumbled in and out of Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana’s loading area while a steady stream of people lined up through the front doors.

The day was cold and snowy, and slush fi lled the parking lot,

THIS WEEK ON

Jane Avery talks about how Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana helps area residents in need on INFortWayne.com.

n See HARVEST on PAGE 22

Together, we’re growing a more prosperous, vibrant

community in Greater Fort Wayne.

is the new organization that unifies the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance and the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, serving as a single point of contact for business and economic growth in greater Fort Wayne.

Learn more at .

PAGE 2 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n December 20-26, 2013

BY DOUG [email protected]

A Bryan, Ohio, company that has made its sweets as much a part of Christmas for nearly 60 years as sugar plums and figgy pudding announced a new candy cane last month after expanding its candy-cane pack-aging capacity this summer.

Spangler Candy Co. also stepped up its mobile marketing with a clever holiday app, a little more than a year after launching two new mobile websites.

The new SweetNature candy cane made without artificial coloring and 100-percent natural flavors is one of three items the company rolled out recently. “There’s also a peppermint circus peanut and a bag of Dum

Dums that are a limited-edition holiday mix,” said Stacy Shoup, associate brand manager.

The holiday version of the Dum Dums lollipops, which are free of gluten and the top common allergens, come in apple cider, gingerbread, green apple Grinch, hot choc-

IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO

Here’s a photo of Bridgett and her family. Bridgett is a graduate of Genesis Outreach, a partner agency of United Way of Allen County. With the help of Genesis Outreach, Bridgett is working hard to turn her life around. Things are looking up for her.

But, if you look closely, you’ll see that there is more to this photo than meets the eye. It’s a mosaic made up of hundreds of photos contributed to us by people invested in the work of United Way. Like the photo, Bridgett’s journey is made with the help of a generous community — a community that gives to United Way of Allen County.

United Way of Allen County focuses on education, income, health and basic needs — the building blocks for a good quality of life. Your gift to United Way is an investment in a healthy community. That’s what it means to LIVE UNITED.

ARE YOU PART OF THE PICTURE?United Wayof Allen County

GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEERwww.unitedwayallencounty.org

BOOK YOUR BUSINESS EVENTHERE OR THERE

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• Off Site catering available at your facility

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260-432-45006222 Ellison Road, Fort Wayne • www.thelandmarkcentre.com

Breakfast or Lunch Meetings, Cocktail Receptions,Holiday Parties, Off Site Company Gatherings

Amy HannonSales Manager

[email protected]

December 20-26, 2013 n GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly fwbusiness.com PAGE 3

New under the tree this year: Spangler’s natural flavorsCompany promotes products through Santa ‘spy’ app

Peppermint is one of the natural flavors Spangler Candy Co. came out with this year.

BARRY ROCHFORD

n See SPANGLER on PAGE 7

GREATER FORT WAYNE

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GALLUP WILL SURVEY PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADS

Gallup Inc. will survey Purdue Univer-sity graduates to track their well-being after earning their degrees and how engaged they are in their workplaces.

Purdue is the first university to partner with Gallup on the survey, which is based on the Washington, D.C.-based polling and consulting firm’s “behavioral economic” measures. The survey is funded in part by a $2-million grant to Purdue from the Lumina Foundation.

In a joint announcement, Gallup and

Purdue said the survey will measure five areas of an individual’s well-being: purpose; social; physical; financial; and community.

The Gallup-Purdue Index will ask grad-uates about their workplace engagement — whether they like what they do, whether they’re doing what they’re best at and whether someone within the workplace cares about their development.

A Gallup official said other schools will be able to join the initiative.

Survey findings will first be reported in the spring and then annually there-after. Gallup initially will randomly call graduates and ask them to provide an email address and complete the Web-based survey. Gallup said it wants to survey about 30,000 people each year.

BRIEFLY

Fort Wayne center to be part of Simon spinoffI n d i a n a p o -

lis-based Simon Property Group Inc., which owns North-wood Plaza in Fort Wayne, plans to spin off a new business that will own its strip malls and smaller enclosed malls.

The company said the spinoff to its share-holders would allow it to focus on bigger malls and premium outlets. The new publicly traded real-estate investment trust is expected to own or have an interest in 54 strip malls and 44 smaller enclosed malls, for a total of 53 million square feet of space in 23 states.

Northwood Plaza, located at Stellhorn and Maplecrest roads, is one of the Indiana properties expected to be included in the spinoff. Others are located in Lafayette, Mishawaka, Muncie, Kokomo, New Castle and the Indianapolis area.

Simon President and Chief Operating Officer Richard Sokolov will become chairman of the new company, and Simon Chairman and CEO David Simon will serve on its board of directors.

Simon currently owns or has an interest in more than 325 retail real-estate properties in North America and Asia.

The spinoff will be accomplished through a pro-rata special distribution to Simon shareholders. The initial Form 10 information statement relating to the spinoff is intended to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission before the end of the year, and the distribution is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2014.

Northwood is anchored by Target. Other tenants include the U.S. Postal Service, GNC, Cinema Grill, Penn Station and Casa Grande.

BND COMMERCIALDavid Nugent represented both the land-

lord, Jon Leman, and the tenant, First Republic Mortgage Corp., in the lease of 1,807 square feet of space at 10319 Dawson’s Creek Blvd., Suite H.

Brian Geeting represented the tenant, Kos Associates, in the lease of 2,198 square feet of space at 203 W. Wayne St. Harrison/Wayne LLC is the landlord.

Karl Behrens represented the tenant, Tri-State Warehousing, in the renewal of a lease of 40,000 square feet of space at 3605 Independence Drive from landlord, Peg Perego USA Inc.

Steve Wesner and Roger Koehlinger represented the landlord, Dymer Co. LLC, in the lease of 1,800 square feet of space at 5710 Industrial Road to the tenant, All-Weather Exteriors Inc.

David Dumas represented the buyer, RMI Enterprises LLC, in the purchase of the property at 14722 Lima Road. Nugent represented the seller, Farmers & Merchants Bank.

SNOW BURIES SALESIn-store retail sales for the week of Dec.

9-15 were down 0.8 percent from the same period in 2012, and shopper traffic was down almost 20 percent, in part because of snowstorms that hit much of the country as the week came to a close.

“Last weekend’s extreme weather prevented many consumers from completing their holiday shopping,” said Bill Martin, founder of ShopperTrak. The last few days before Christmas, including “Super Saturday” Dec. 21, are expected to be among the busiest shopping days of the holiday season.

“Shoppers will plan and focus their store visits on getting items they want at the best values,” Martin said. “It will be critical for retailers to provide the best experi-ence for shoppers motivated to complete their holiday shopping — by adequately staffing for the surge in traffic and ensuring merchandise is stocked and easily acces-sible.”

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.

n Reporter’sNOTEBOOK

REAL ESTATE & RETAIL

Linda Lipp

Indiana has been ranked ninth best in the country for entrepreneur-friendly policies in an index compiled by the Washington, D.C.-based Small Business & Entrepre-neurship Council.

The most entrepreneur-friendly state in the 18th-annual index is South Dakota. Indiana neighbor Ohio is 10th and Mich-igan came in 12th. The least friendly state is California, the SBE Council concluded.

“The top states on the Small Business Policy Index 2013 are streamlining govern-ment and lifting burdens like excessive taxation and regulation. They are passing responsible budgets, and living within their means.” CEO Karen Kerrigan said.

F r o n t i e r C o m m u n i c a -tions Corp. has turned on some free Wi-Fi hot zones covering Freimann Square and One Summit Square in down-town Fort Wayne as well as some areas in between them.

F r o n t i e r and the city of Fort Wayne announced the completion of the fastest open mesh network in the metro area during a news conference Dec. 11 in the mayor’s office at Citizens Square.

Citizens Square and most of the blocks around it have some hot-zone coverage. And with a download speed of 3 megabits per second and upload speed of 1 Mbps, the free service is faster than what was envi-sioned for it when it was announced during the summer of 2012.

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

“I’m encouraged by the investment and positive momentum in the city of Fort Wayne,” Mayor Tom Henry said in a prepared statement.

“We appreciate the partnership with Fron-tier to provide free Wi-Fi in our downtown area that continues to grow and succeed. Being a leader in technology demonstrates a commitment to attracting and retaining jobs and businesses and making Fort Wayne a welcoming place for citizens and visitors.”

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

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

The company expects to sell busi-nesses operating downtown capacity on the network for their own Wi-Fi hotspots, which they can make available to customers and employees.

“Frontier is proud to strengthen its presence in Fort Wayne with a proven tool in driving economic development in local communities,” Dan Sullivan, general manager for the local market, said in the

statement.“We are bringing the communities we

serve technology leadership; connectivity via wireless broadband access is what busi-ness and residential customers, visitors and commuters want, need and can now enjoy through this partnership between the city of Fort Wayne and Frontier.”

Frontier has established similar down-town networks in a number of other cities. Company officials said public response to one activated in Terre Haute more than a year ago has been favorable.

CITY COUNCIL SUPPORTS FUNDING FOR RAIL STUDY

The latest blog post of the Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association praises the Fort Wayne City Council for passing by 9-0 a nonbinding resolution seeking $200,000 in funding for an envi-ronmental impact study that could help bring high-speed passenger rail service to Fort Wayne.

The resolution was proposed by Geoff Paddock, the councilman who represents the 5th District, which includes the down-town area where trains would stop at the renovated Baker Street Station to pick up and drop off passengers. Paddock is one of NIPRA’s founding members and sits on its board.

The study would determine the environ-mental impact of a route, which would run trains at up to 110 mph between Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, with stops of between two to three minutes at Fort Wayne and seven other cities along the way. The $2-million cost of the study would be borne by cities and states the route would serve.

Paddock said a $200,000 contribution to the study by the city of Fort Wayne could come from a $250,000 Front Door Fort Wayne line item the council already had approved for 2014 to make the city more attractive.

The resolution did not appropriate money but sought a formal recommenda-tion from the city’s administration on the matter; it was phrased in a way that would make the city’s contribution contingent on other parties in the project committing the remaining $1.8 million.

“We were surprised yet pleased by the unanimous vote. Fort Wayne took a big step forward,” NIPRA said in the blog post, which also thanked Paddock and everyone who helped him prepare a presentation he gave on the project at the Dec. 10 city council meeting.

The city, Allen County and the Commu-nity Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne provided the majority of funding for a study


Frontier turns on Wi-Fi hot zonesn Reporter’s

NOTEBOOK

TECHNOLOGYDoug LeDuc

n See TECHNOLOGY on PAGE 7

With sales down, Vera Bradley hopes ‘Pink Elephants’ fly againBY LINDA [email protected]

Fighting headwinds that have continued to slow sales, Fort Wayne-based Vera Bradley Inc. has relaunched a popular pattern for the first time in its history.

The handbag and accessories manufac-turer’s more recent patterns have proved less popular with customers, so Vera Bradley brought back “Pink Elephants,” a fan favorite from 2007, in a limited assort-ment. It also launched two new prints in early November and its final new pattern of the year a month later, interim CFO Kevin Sierks said on a Dec. 11 conference call after the company released its third fiscal quarter earnings report.

And because the company expects the soft response to its products and promo-tional pricing to continue, it lowered its outlook for the fourth quarter. Net revenue is expected to be in the range of $145 million to $150 million compared to $162.6 million a year ago, and earnings per share are expected to be 44 cents to

47 cents.The conference call also featured

the public debut of new CEO Robert Walstrom, the former president of SaksOff Fifth who replaced Michael Ray at Vera Bradley in early November.

“Over the next several months, I will be evaluating several areas of the business, focusing on the product assortment and the indirect and direct distribution channels, including e-commerce, in order to developa strategic plan that will drive improvedfinancial performance and increase long-term shareholder value,” said Walstrom,according to a transcript on SeekingAlpha.com. “We are working diligently to makeimprovements in our organization thatwill enable us to stabilize the business andgenerate more consistent sales and earn-ings growth over the long term.”

For its third quarter, Vera Bradley reported net income of $15.2 million,a decline of more than 14 percent from$17.7 million in the year-ago period. Earn-ings per share of 37 cents were downn See VERA on PAGE 7

fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n December 20-26, 2013

Lutheran’s Bauer awarded SagamoreBrian Bauer,

CEO of Lutheran Health Network and Lutheran H o s p i t a l , received the Sagamore of the Wabash award Dec. 12 at a joint meeting of the North-east Indiana Regional Part-nership and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

State Sen. Jim Banks, R-Co-lumbia City, presented the award, which is one of the Indi-ana’s highest honors, to Bauer at Sweetwater Sound on behalf of Gov. Mike Pence.

Bauer was appointed CEO of the health network by its board of directors in October after serving as interim CEO following the departure of Joe Dorko in June. He became CEO of Lutheran Hospital in 2011 after serving as CEO of Terre Haute Regional Hospital.

“His substantial impact on our region during the short time he has been here makes this distinction well-deserved,” Banks said in an announcement. “Brian is among the youngest recipients to receive a Sagamore of the Wabash from our governor and that is a testament to his effectiveness as a servant leader who is shaping the future of our region in health care and beyond.”

Bauer has been the honorary chair of the Indiana March of Dimes’ 2012 March for Babies, the National Kidney Foundation’s 2012 Kidney Walk and the American Heart Association’s 2013 Heart Walk. He is a board member of Greater Fort Wayne Inc. and was appointed by Pence to the Region 3 Works Council.

PHYSICIANS SUBJECT TO NEW OPIOID PRESCRIBING RULES

Indiana’s Medical Licensing Board on Dec. 15 implemented new rules for physi-cians and osteopathic physicians who prescribe opioids to patients.

The rules are the result of legislation passed earlier this year by the General Assembly that calls for new standards and protocols for prescribing opioids. Patient cases are subject to the new rules if a doctor

prescribes 60 or more opioid-containing pills a month or a morphine-equivalent dose of more than 15 milligrams a day.

In an announcement, the licensing board said the prescribing rules could be applied to other medical professions or other prescribers — for example, veterinarians and dentists — in the future. The Indiana Board of Pharmacy is expected to consider the new rules at its meeting in January.

The new rules call for, among other things, a series of regular face-to-face meetings with doctors and their patients, counseling on the use of the drugs and the creation of treatment plans for patients. Patients whose prescrip-tions meet the threshold also must consent to drug tests and random pill counts if they’re deemed necessary by the prescribing physi-cian. The new prescribing rules are available at www.in.gov/pla/2832.htm.

IPFW TO LAUNCH NURSING PRACTICE DOCTORATE

Indiana University-Purdue Univer-sity Fort Wayne will launch its first-ever doctorate degree program — in advanced nursing practice — in spring 2015.

The board of trustees at Purdue Univer-sity, which manages IPFW’s Fort Wayne campus, approved the new systemwide degree program Dec. 16.

In an announcement, IPFW said following an accreditation visit, students will be able to enroll in the doctor of nursing prac-tice program in spring 2015. The university expects to enroll 10 students in the program’s first year. The program has the backing of area health-care providers, Ivy Tech Community College Northeast and the Indiana Univer-sity School of Medicine-Fort Wayne. The doctor of nursing program, which will be available at other Purdue University system campuses, is expected to be approved by the Indiana Commission of Higher Education early next year.

“This is a major milestone for IPFW and is in response to community needs in advanced nursing practice,” IPFW Chan-cellor Vicky Carwein said in the announce-ment. “This program will put more nurses out on the front lines who possess the highest level of clinical education.”

Citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the university said there are about 2.5 million positions for registered nurses across the country, and 233,000 jobs will be added each year through 2016.

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 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808.

n Reporter’sNOTEBOOK

HEALTH CAREBarry Rochford

Bauer

Longe produces prescription lenses for Google Glass usersBY BARRY [email protected]

Google Glass, the small, wearable computer somewhat resembling a pair of eyeglasses, is designed to let you record and share the world around you, and augment your experiences through the use of a small video display just above your right eye.

But even though it looks like a pair of glasses, even though it’s called “Glass,” it doesn’t improve your sight. And for those who depend on actual eyeglasses to see, trying to wear both at the same time can be a bit awkward.

Longe Optical in Fort Wayne has begun producing prescription lenses for Google Glass, using its new ClearVu Digital tech-nology that makes what the company calls “high-definition” lenses.

Jeff Ostermann, president of Longe Enterprises Corp., said 65 percent of the U.S. population wears prescription lenses. “If they really needed those, there just wouldn’t be a way for them to even use this device,” he said of Glass. “And that’s a problem we wanted to solve.”

Google has made the $1,500 Glass units available to more than 8,000 devel-opers and others who are helping the company beta test the product before a wider rollout that’s expected next year. The Glass units come with their own protective and tinted lenses that clip in to the device’s bridge piece.

Longe Optical used those lenses and the device’s existing lens mount as a refer-ence in developing its own prescription lenses that clip in to Glass.

“It may seem simple, but there’s actu-ally a lot of engineering that our team back at the lab had to do to be able to make these work in terms of how to drill the (mount) holes in such a way that it doesn’t split and to get the shape and even the curve of it just right so the prescription wasn’t distorted,” Ostermann said.

In November, the company, which was started in 1949 and is owned by Sweetwater Sound founder Chuck Surack, installed new equipment to produce its ClearVu Digital lenses. For a long time, lenses have been made by taking some-thing resembling a hockey puck of glass or other material that’s curved on one side and then grinding it into a prescription lens.

The resulting lens, Ostermann said, would have the correct prescription in the center, but around the edges the prescrip-

tion would be off enough to distort what’s being seen.

“If you’re even just a few millimetersoff, the actual prescription when you getout to the edge of your lenses is different,”Ostermann said. “It’s not what the doctor gave you. It’s not what they actually prescribed for you.”

With the new technology, Longeuses computer software to generate analgorithm that customizes the prescrip-tion across the curvature of the lens.A diamond-tipped cutting machine then creates the desired lens.

“The resulting impact of that reallyis … it’s like going from analog TV toHD-TV,” Ostermann said.

Using that same technology to create lenses for Glass users just made sense, he said.

“We thought, well, being kind of tech guys ourselves, we thought it would bea shame to take this beautiful GoogleGlass and put it with this old-fashioned lens that’s not giving you the best quality vision,” Ostermann said.

There is an ongoing debate on whether it’s appropriate to wear Glass in certain situations. A driver in California was citedfor wearing Glass earlier this year. Other users have reported being asked to removethe device when in, for example, a restau-rant or store.

Ostermann said he doesn’t think the

Longe Optical’s “high-definition” lenses clip in to the Google Glass device.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

n See LONGE on PAGE 7


last year to establish that a good business case could be made for the route. The study had been requested by the state’s previous governor, Mitch Daniels.

A Tier I environmental impact study would be one of the most important steps yet to take before 80-percent federal funding could be sought for a more expensive Tier II preliminary engineering study the project would require.

A similar federal funding match would be available for new track, overpasses and signals that the project would require, provided the Federal Railroad Adminis-tration moved forward on it.

The business case study completed last year by Transportation Economics and Management Systems projected the route could be profitable within three years of its launch, running 10 trains daily charging 34 cents per mile for business-class tickets.

The 300-mile project would cost $1.1 billion, or $3.7 million per mile, and the study projected all of that spending, in addition to operation of the route, would create 26,800 jobs and add $7.1 billion in household income over 30 years.

Columbus is the largest city in the country without passenger rail service, and

it wants a passenger rail route to Chicago.In addition to Fort Wayne, Indiana cities involved in discussions about the projecthave included Gary, Valparaiso, Plymouth,Warsaw and New Haven. Indiana has infor-mally agreed to match the contributions ofcities in the state.

Some city council members indicated they did not want to miss out on a chance to secure federal funding for an important project even if they considered eventuallyobtaining federal funding for it unlikely.

“I read a study once that said a CEO or director should do new ventures and be successful seven or eight out of 10 times,and if it’s 10 out of 10, they’re too conser-vative … and if it’s less than seven then they’re too liberal or too wild,” said Coun-cilman John Crawford, R-at large.

“I will vote for this because I think weshould do some speculative things like this even though they are long shots, because ifthey are successful they would be great forthe community and the region.”

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.

Continued from PAGE 5

n TECHNOLOGY: Rail project would cost $1.1B

almost 16 percent from 44 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. Net revenue was $130.1 million, a decrease of 6 percent from last year’s $138.3 million.

The company reported a growth in net revenue from its company-owned stores of 18 percent, primarily due to the opening of 20 full-price and four outlet stores during the previous 12 months. Comparable store sales were down 6.5 percent, however, because of lower traffic and underper-forming products.

E-commerce revenue declined 7.8

percent due to lower traffic and smaller average transaction size. Sales from the network of independent retailers that sell the company’s products decreased 17.3 percent as the retailers remained cautious about ordering.

Vera Bradley also has been paring its network of independent retailers and expects to have 400 fewer, or about 3,100 in total, by the end of the fiscal year.

For the full fiscal year, which ends Feb. 2, net revenue is expected to be in the range of $523 million to $528 million. Earnings per share for the full year are projected to be in a range of $1.41 to $1.44.


n VERA: Revenue rises at company stores

olate, merry cherry, polar punch, sugar cookie and sugar plum flavors.

The SweetNature product is sold by the dozen in peppermint or assorted fruit packs with black cherry, honeycrisp apple and ripe strawberry flavors.

They are free of the eight allergens the federal Food and Drug Administration has identified as the most common, and the company’s announcement on them said their “bold stripes are created from the natural coloring found in vegetable juice.”

Enough candy canes and other forms of Christmas candy are purchased in the runup to the holidays that Shoup said the company will not know how the new products have been doing until after the season.

Candy-cane sales start before December, and food retailers such as grocery stores are not the only ones selling them. Hobby Lobby has a large display featuring Spangler’s traditional candy canes.

“So much is used for crafts and deco-rating that those are bought for quite a while before Christmas,” Shoup said. “Our website shows all kinds of crafts you can do with candy canes.”

Since the fall of 2012, Web surfers going to Spangler Candy and Dum Dums sites with their smartphones have been taken automatically to mobile versions of those sites the company said it built to stay current with technology and consumer trends.

“Mobile website use is increasing, and we see usage rates ranging from 20 to 40 percent” of the traffic Spangler attracts to its websites, Shoup said.

The company announced last month its mobile Spangler Candy website was ready for traffic directed to it by a Santa Spy Camera app that was introduced to the public on Facebook in September and launched on Nov. 18.

“This mobile and tablet app, created and patented by BelieveIn! LLC, allows parents to record high-quality video of friendly elves and Santa in their own home with unprecedented authenticity,” the Spangler statement said.

Alexander Craig, chief executive officer of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based BelieveIn, said there have been close to 200,000 downloads of the Santa Spy Camera from 40 countries at the iTunes app store, and about 100,000 fans are awaiting an Android version scheduled to launch next year.

The app works with the video camera of the device to create scenes that super-impose Santa or his elves on an image

taken at, for example, the user’s home. The app is free and so are two of its 32 scenes — “Peek-A-Boo” and “Dropping In” — while the rest are in-app purchases of 99 cents to $1.99.

Elves are caught leaving behind peppermint red and white Spangler candy canes in couple of the scenes available for purchase: “Raining Canes” and “Candy Cane Drop.”

A link in the scenes takes users to a section of Spangler’s mobile website where they can buy “the exact candy canes left behind by the elves in the video,” the company’s announcement said.

Without providing figures, which he said were proprietary, Craig said the scenes were selling well because having candy canes as evidence of the visit by the elves “enhances the overall experi-ence and makes the believability even stronger.”

“We’ve had a pretty good response, better than the industry for the in-app purchase, and now with the lower prices we’re hoping for even more,” he said. “This app is designed to create an ongoing experience for parents and their chil-dren and we hope it will become a new Christmas tradition for this digital age.”

Shoup said the company began using two new packaging lines this summer following a upgrade of its candy-cane production capacity, which included building a 22,000-square-foot addition on to its 500,000-square-foot complex.

“We run candy canes for other compa-nies … and have been able to get more business because of the new lines,” she said. “There is no correlation between the equipment and SweetNature canes. The product was developed because of the interest in natural colors and flavors.”

A 2011 announcement outlining plans for the $40,000 project said when the lines were used fully, they would add 20 to 30 positions to the company’s Bryan work force, which is now at 450 employees.

The statement said Spangler makes its commodity candy canes in Mexico and its more difficult “branded” candy canes at its plant in Bryan, which it said was the only facility in the United States making candy canes on a large scale.


n SPANGLER: Company adds spacen “This app is designed to create an ongoing experience for parents and their children and we hope it will become a new Christmas tradition for this digital age.”

Alexander CraigBelieveIn! LLC

prescription lenses will encourage users to wear Glass inappropriately.

“At the end of the day, I think it comes down to the user’s responsibility,” he said.

Other companies have said they’ll also make prescription lenses for Google Glass, and there are rumors that Google will unveil its own solution.

Ostermann said Longe will offer its

lenses as an aftermarket product, but it’s too soon to know what demand will be and how many lenses to produce. Prices will compa-rable to Longe’s existing lenses, and those interested in getting their own Glass lenses can sign up for updates at LongeOptical.com/Glass.

He said: “We’re also kind of waiting like others to see what the next step is in their evolution of this design when they make it available to the masses.”


n LONGE: Lenses will be aftermarket product

n BizView nPAGE 8 fwbusiness.com

In what has become an annual event, the Legislature when it convenes in January is expected to again consider changing Indiana’s laws to allow the sale of alcohol at retailers and liquor stores on Sundays.

Liquor-store owners, by and large, have stood fi rm against such an expansion. They worry about the costs they will incur being open on Sunday, and they argue large retailers will have a competitive advantage because they can subsidize those costs through other operations. Of course, that same situation exists the other six days of the week — but, well, pay no attention to that.

It’s one thing for liquor stores to argue about competition. It’s entirely another thing, however, to argue that they are somehow engaged in upholding the public good and limiting the scourge of alcoholism, as Mark McAlister, chairman of Big Red Liquors in Indianapolis, recently did in an op-ed he penned.

“There are signifi cant challenges facing Hoosiers every day,” McAl-ister wrote in his op-ed column that was distributed Dec. 12. “Too many Hoosiers are struggling to fi nd work; crime and violence scar our cities and towns. But instead of asking Indiana’s legislators to focus on those issues, today there is a renewed push by multi-national retailers to redefi ne Indiana’s alcohol laws. Large retailers are asking the legislature to allow them to sell alcohol on Sundays. They are suing the state for the privilege of selling refrigerated beer. They are convinced that more access to alcohol is appropriate public policy.

“They are wrong.”McAlister continued: “There is no

denying the fact that increasing access to alcohol increases the chances that alcohol will be abused. Forty years of studies demonstrate that even a moderate increase in the availability of and access to alcohol lead to increased consumption and abuse. Today Indiana law allows alcohol to be sold from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. six days

a week. That means Hoosiers can go into a store and buy alcohol 72% of the time during a seven-day week. To those who insist that we must sell on Sundays, I ask — how much access is enough?”

To reiterate, McAlister is chairman of chain of nearly 50 liquor stores that sell alcohol six days a week. It’s understandable if the swirling, confusing logic made you forget that.

And then he serves up this: “Alcohol is ever present in the media and in society. Children and adults alike are exposed to alcohol and alcohol advertisements every time we watch television, attend a professional sporting event or enjoy a concert. This constant exposure makes it too easy to forget that alcohol is a drug and that when it is abused there is a heavy price to pay.”

He’s not wrong there. We are inun-dated every day with messages and ads about alcohol. And its abuse and the impact that has on individuals and families is nothing to make fun of.

If McAlister and other liquor-store owners are so concerned about the effect alcohol has on society, there’s one very simple solution: Close.

But don’t sell alcohol and gladly take customers’ money six days a week while also claiming you’re providing a public service by not being open on the seventh. People who hear that will think you’ve imbibed too much.

Fizzy logic on Sunday sales“The sky will fall. Infl ation will soar. Money will be worthless.

Stocks will crash. Auto sales will plummet and Indiana’s economy will go into the tank again.”

That is the dire prediction of many who fear the Federal Reserve cutting back its quantitative easing (QE) policy.

If my experience is correct, very few Hoosiers know about QE other than as shorthand for Queen Elizabeth. This QE is how our federal central bank has been fi ghting to keep our fi nancial institutions from failing and to stimulate the economy.

The process can be complicated, but the idea is simple. Remember when the stocks, bonds, mortgages and other fi nancial assets owned by banks, insurance companies and others crashed in value in 2008? The Treasury Department and the Fed went in to relieve those institutions of their “toxic assets.”

After that was done, the Fed found the economy was not returning to health fast enough and decided on a buying program under the name of “quantitative easing.” Thus the Fed went shopping for bonds, mortgages and other bargain assets, boosting their prices.

When the Fed makes such a purchase, it trans-fers money to the seller’s bank account. Either the money sits there or is spent on something.

If the money sits, the bank may lend it to a borrower who spends it on something. But what if the bank does not lend the money? Perhaps, the bank cannot fi nd a risk-free borrower. Possibly, the bank is intimidated by new regulations intended to protect customers.

Similar points can be made about other fi nan-cial institutions tht sell assets to the Fed. An insurance company, for example, might take the money out of its bank account and pay it out as profi ts to its shareholders or bonuses to its exec-utives.

Under QE, $84 billion a month is pumped into asset markets and prices rise, as we have seen on the stock market. Owners of stocks, who tend to be among the richest Americans, become wealthier and spend a little of it on baubles or boats. The balance they reinvest in a rising stock market to make more money.

When the Fed talks of slowing (tapering) its buying spree, negative anticipations grow. Hence, the “sky is falling” scenario.

The nation cannot undo what has been done. We, however, could do what so many oppose. We could spend money on national needs instead of shifting funds to already-wealthy asset owners.

What are America’s and Indiana’s needs? You, I and our neighbors have lists. Preschool education? Safer roads and bridges? Environ-mental protection and restoration? Worker training?

Now, as for the last fi ve years, is the time for aggressive fi scal policy, spending money that becomes jobs and paychecks in ways that benefi t our future.

In the early stages of the recession, monetary policy saved the banks and fi nancial asset holders from ruin. That was good. But once accom-plished, we depended on those institutions to move the economy along. They did not. QE paved the way for a few to be enriched while the nation’s needs went unmet.

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].

Is the party over?

n

EYE ON THE PIE

Morton J.

Marcus

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GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n December 20-26, 2013

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NORTHEAST IND IANA

REGIONAL CHAMBER SETS LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

The Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana, which provides lobbying services and advocacy outreach for more than 85 business members in the 10-county area, announced its legislative priorities for the General Assembly’s 2014 session.

The priorities fall into three areas: compet-itive business climate; 21st-century talent; and world-class infrastructure.

“For the first time, we’re going into a legislative session with commitments from lawmakers to author bills in support of all of our priorities,” Vince Buchanan, executive director of the regional chamber, said in a statement. “This will help us get traction in a very busy short session of the General Assembly.”

Some of the priorities under competitive business climate include:

• Creating rural enterprise area develop-ment incentives for counties with fewer than 50,000 residents;

• Increasing the cap of the historic pres-ervation tax credit to $10 million from $450,000; and

• Limiting the Indiana Department of Environmental Management from “stopping the clock” during the permitting process, unless mutually agreed upon.

Other priorities include:• Allowing Indiana University-Purdue

University Fort Wane to apply directly to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education for advanced-degree programs;

• Creating a Big Goal incentive program that allows employers to partner with employees who have finished at least 50 percent of their degrees or credentials so the employees can complete their studies; and

• Creating the ConnectIN Council to iden-tify best practices in expanding broadband Internet access in underserved areas.

All of the priorities are available at NEIN-Advocates.com.

At a joint meeting Dec. 12 of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, the region’s Mayors’ and Commissioners’ Caucus endorsed six of the regional chamber’s legislative priorities.

ALLEN COUNTY

CITY WANTS TO MOVE DINER TO COMMUNITY CENTER LOT

The city of Fort Wayne has proposed moving Cindy’s Diner roughly a block north-west to near the intersection of West Berry Street and Maiden Lane and placing it in the parking lot of the Community Center.

The Board of Park Commissioners, which

oversees the Community Center and the Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department, heard plans for moving the diner at a meeting Dec. 12. In a statement, the city of Fort Wayne said moving Cindy’s Diner likely would happen in February.

The diner presently sits on the north-west corner of West Wayne Street and South Harrison Street, which is the site of a planned $71-million multiuse development that includes a new headquarters for Ash Brokerage Corp., a parking garage, apart-ments, condominiums, townhouses and retail space.

GFW ANNOUNCES PRIORITIES; OPPOSES GAY MARRIAGE BAN

Greater Fort Wayne Inc. on Dec. 12 unveiled its legislative priorities for the coming year and announced its board of directors opposes a proposed state constitu-

tional amendment banning gay marriage.The proposed constitutional amendment,

House Joint Resolution 6, is expected to go before the General Assembly during its 2014 session. The amendment would prohibit same-sex marriages and civil unions.

“We need to be competitive on a national level and be recognized as a community that thrives on diversity, innovation and inclu-sion,” Mark Becker, CEO of Greater Fort Wayne, said in a statement. “Such legislation hinders our ability to grow and prosper, and could delay our vision of becoming a top metro center in the United States.”

Greater Fort Wayne, which was formed earlier this year through the merger of the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance and the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, also said it supports efforts to change the classifica-tion of Indiana University-Purdue Univer-sity Fort Wayne. IPFW presently is oper-

ated by Purdue University and offers degreeprograms through Indiana University and Purdue. Greater Fort Wayne would like to see it reclassified as a multisystem campusthat is equally affiliated with IU and Purdue.

In its statement, Greater Fort Wayneoutlined a series of priorities that it believes would support local economic-development efforts, including:

• A single county executive for Allen County;

• Infrastructure improvements;• Riverfront development;• Making more resources available for

entrepreneurs and startups; and • Stream-lining the permitting process.

The organization also said educational and work-force development efforts couldbe strengthened through increased funding for the EARN Indiana program that givesfinancial assistance to companies thatprovide paid internships to qualified students


BRIEFLY

Health CarePAGE 10 fwbusiness.com GREATER FORT WAYNE Business Weekly n December 20-26, 2013

(AP) — The slow rollout of a new federal health insurance marketplace may be deepening differences in health coverage among Americans, with residents in some states gaining insurance at a far greater rate than others.

The demarcation may be as simple as Democrat and Republican.

Recently released federal fi gures show more people are picking private insur-ance plans or being routed to Medicaid programs in states with Democratic leaders who have fully embraced the federal health care law than in states where Republican elected offi cials have derisively rejected what they call “Obamacare.”

On one side of the political divide are a dozen mostly Democratic leaning states, including California, Minnesota and New York. They have both expanded Medicaid for lower-income adults and started their own health insurance exchanges for people to shop for federally subsidized private insurance.

On the other side are two dozen conser-vative states, such as Texas, Florida and Missouri. They have both rejected the Medicaid expansion and refused any role in running an online insurance exchange, leaving that entirely to the federal govern-ment.

The new federal fi gures, providing a state-by-state breakdown of enrollment in the new health care program through November, showed that the political differ-ences among leaders over the initiative are turning into differences in participation among the uninsured.

Even though many conservative states have higher levels of poverty and more people without health coverage, fewer of them may receive new insurance, said Dylan Roby, an assistant public health professor at the Center for Health Policy Research at the University of California, Los Angeles.

With the patchwork implementation of the federal health care law, “the gap will exacerbate,” Roby said

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department reported that 364,682 people had signed up for private coverage through the new health insurance marketplaces as of Nov. 30 and an additional 803,077 had

been determined eligible for Medicaid.But the rate of residents gaining health

coverage was more than three times as great in the states embracing the federal health-care law than in those whose leaders have resisted it.

In the dozen states embracing the over-haul, more than 50 percent of those who applied for coverage picked an insurance plan or were eligible for Medicaid. That rate was barely 15 percent in the two dozen states that aren’t cooperating in the implementation of the federal health care law.

“It’s very frustrating,” said U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat who voted for the federal law only to see it twice rebuffed in a statewide vote and repeatedly rejected by her home state’s Republican-led state Legislature.

“The political point has trumped the services that Missourians need,” McCaskill said.

In Texas, which has the highest rate of uninsured residents in the U.S., the GOP-controlled state Legislature opted not to create a state-run insurance market-place and Republican Gov. Rick Perry also declined to expand Medicaid to cover more of the working poor. As of the end of November, just 14,000 Texans had signed up for insurance through the federally run marketplace and fewer than 17,000 of the nearly 245,000 applicants on the exchange had been determined to be eligible for Medicaid.

State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat from San Antonio who chairs the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, said he nonetheless remains optimistic about the meager numbers.

“To know that there are people who, despite those odds, are still enrolling is encouraging,” Fischer said.

In California, which also has a high uninsured rate, more than 107,000 people

had picked an insurance plan through the state-run marketplace as of the end of November, and nearly 182,000 others had been determined eligible for Medicaid. That means nearly two-thirds of the 448,133 individuals who applied through the insurance exchange could gain some sort of coverage.

Federal grants in California have helped fi nance TV and radio commercials, bill-boards, bus signs and town hall meetings encouraging people to participate in the new health insurance marketplace.

That sort of promotion has been lacking in many of the states that have refused to run their own insurance marketplaces.

In Missouri, where a law forbids the government from implementing an insur-ance exchange, a coalition supporting the marketplace delayed its promotional campaign because of the technical trou-bles that marred the launch of the federal website.

“We didn’t want to drive people to a frustrating experience,” said Thomas McAuliffe, a policy analyst at the nonprofi t Missouri Foundation for Health.

Now, advocates for the federal law face a steep challenge to implore people to sign up by Dec. 23, which is the deadline to be covered by health insurance policies that take effect in January.

“When we look at enrollment numbers, we’re obviously going to lag behind, because in many parts of the state there’s still a sense that Obamacare is not going to help me — even by the people it’s going to help the most,” McAuliffe said.

Heather McCabe, an assistant professor of social work at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said the low enrollment numbers in many states raise questions about whether people are turned off by the problematic website, don’t know they’re eligible to use the exchange or have found the policies unaffordable.

“If the answer is that people still don’t understand what the exchange is and how to use it, then the answer is we need to do education and help people better access the system,” she said. “But if the answer is that the premiums are too high, then we have an issue that’s a little more diffi cult to deal with.”

n InFocus n

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Federal data show health disparities among states

Newly released federal fi gures, as of Nov. 30, show more people are picking private insurance plans or being routed to Medicaid programs in states with Democratic leaders who have fully embraced the federal health-care law than in states where Republican elected offi cials have rejected it.

AUTO CREDIT USALaura Becker was hired as a sales repre-

sentative at Auto Credit USA in Columbia City. She has 25 years of experience in advertising, marketing and graphic design.

SWEETWATER SOUNDSweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne

recently announced several new hires. They are:

• Sales engineer Clint Bransteter, who previously was a sales assistant at Sweet-water;

• Sales engineer Jeff Bohan, who previ-ously worked for fi ve years in a book publishing business in Bloomington;

• Sales engineer Ed Burwell, who previ-ously was a bluegrass banjo player and worked as a CPA for the past 14 years;

• Sales engineer Michael DeFraties, who most recently served as assistant music director for Faith Family Christian Church in Rushville, Ill;

• Sales engineer Jason Kovach;• Sales engineer Devin Cunningham,

who has worked for Bose as a demonstra-tion specialist and has been involved in home and commercial studio recording for many years;

• Sales assistant Michele Jones, who previously worked for an advertising agency and as a chemical buyer;

• Sales assistant Alli Richardson, who previously worked in offi ce administration;

• Service specialist Colin Williamson; and

• Karin Dees, who joined the kitchen staff of Sweetwater’s Downbeat Diner. She recently worked for Concordia Lutheran High School.

BROCK GRAIN SYSTEMSDavid Dell was named global marketing

and sales director for Brock Grain Systems in Milford, a business unit of CTB Inc. Dell, who has more than 30 years of experience in sales and marketing in the agriculture industry, will be responsible for developing and implementing strategic marketing plans, guiding product develop-ment and managing worldwide distribution channels.

EMBASSY THEATRE FOUNDATIONJoann Nixon was named the 2012-2013

volunteer of the year by the Embassy Theatre Foundation’s board of directors. Tom Noll received the Dale R. McNeal Award for sustained volunteer leadership.

Sister M. Elise Kriss, president of the University of Saint Francis, was re-elected to a three-year term on the board.

Newly elected to the board were:

Kimberly Amick, Fort Wayne Metals; Suzanne Ehinger, Parkview Hospital; Chris-topher Guerin, Sweetwater Sound; Jill Perillo, NIPSCO; Bradley Sturges, CBRE/Sturges; and Pone Vong-phachanh, Upstate Alliance of Realtors.

Board members who were appointed as midterm replace-ments and were elected to three-year terms were: Jeremy Senk, Carson Boxberger LLP; and Richard Maples, Angel Corps.

Board offi cers for 2013-2014 are: president, Marla Peters, American Specialty Insurance; vice president, Chris Gomez, Kroger Co.; treasurer, Maples; and secre-tary, Tom Barfell, Do it Best Corp.

Other board members are: Tom Borne, Asher Agency; Carolyn Brody, community volunteer; Tim Durnell, First Republic Mortgage; Jeff Potter, Fort Wayne Mad Ants; Gary Wasson, community volunteer; Keitha Wesner, community volunteer; and Deborah Woodroof, Sweet Violets Tea and Antiques.

RUOFF HOME MORTGAGEGreg Thomas was the top loan orig-

inator companywide for the month of October at Ruoff Home Mortgage in Fort Wayne.

Larry Dickey Jr. was the top loan orig-inator for the month of October for the fi rm’s southwest offi ce.

HEALTH INSURANCE INC.Connie Lerner, human resources and

benefi ts adviser at Health Insurance Inc. in Fort Wayne, passed the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services marketplace exam, enabling her to assist customers seeking coverage through the federal health exchange with enrollment and plan selection.

CANICommunity Action of Northeast

Indiana recently made several new hires: Debra Bournes, Melissa Caballero, Sherry Mosley, Erina Pratt and Juanita Varnell in Head Start; and Jennifer Brando, Christina Castle, Amanda Chappell, Brandy Duncan, Brenda Mudd and Kimberly Overholser in community services.


n PEOPLE ON THE MOVEE-mail your People on the Move items to [email protected].

Jones

Lerner

Cunningham

Dickey

Kovach

Thomas

DeFraties

Dell

Burwell

Dees

Bohan

Richardson

BY LINDA [email protected]

When Don Farmer departed the office of mayor of Van Wert, Ohio, six years ago, he felt like he left some unfinished business behind.

“When I left office here, and I went down the hall and said goodbye to everybody, I said, ‘I will be back,”’ Farmer recalled during a Dec. 12 interview in his office in the munic-

ipal building.Voted out in the Republican primary in

2007 by just 113 votes after championinga less than popular street widening project, Farmer vowed he was not finished with poli-tics. Four years later, he ran again. Withsome of the hard feelings over the U.S. 127 widening project faded, this time he won by a landslide.

During much of his time away from civicoffice, Farmer, who had years of retail experi-ence in the paint and home improvement busi-ness, worked part time at the local Walmart. That also turned out to be a great way to keepin touch with voters, he acknowledged with asly smile. “I saw everyone there.”

Now, two years into what he swears will be his last term as mayor, Farmer and Van Wert County Economic Development DirectorCynthis Leis, who came on board about a year ago, are hard at work on many of the same projects that marked Farmer’s first fouryears in office.

“I turned 75 last month. I’ll be 77 when Ileave, and as Cindy said, we’re going to try toaccomplish some big things in the next twoyears,” Farmer said.

At the top of that list is finding a major industrial user or users for Van Wert’s 1,600-acre megasite along U.S. 127 and U.S. 224. The site is being prepared with the aid of a$5-million state grant, and is one of just twoof its kind in the state of Ohio.

Farmer also has tackled some new projects;among them, redesigning the city’s website,VanWert.org, on his own.

“I’ve never been afraid of a computer,”he boasted. “There was a movement at (city)council — our website looked terrible — andcouncil decided they would approve maybe $5,000, $7,000, $10,000 to have it redone.

“I took my laptop and sat on my couch at home and designed the website, and it cost thecity $99, and that had nothing to do with me.It had to do with getting the server I used.”

Farmer also put his computer skills to use when Van Wert ran into a roadblock in the development of the megasite in the form ofa state requirement that it put in an oversizedgasline. “It would have run the biggest petro-leum refinery plant that you have ever seen,”Farmer said. “It was overkill. If we’d had todo that, we would have used up all our grant.”

Farmer and the city went through the

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Employees are eligible to make or receive

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They may not be claimed as a dependent on another individual’s tax return

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Van Wert mayor hopes to accomplish ‘big things’ over the next two years

Van Wert Mayor Don Farmer and Economic Development Director Cynthia Reis have high hopes for Van Wert’s 1,600-acre megasite, which should earn certification in 2014.

LINDA LIPP

n See FARMER on PAGE 14


normal channels trying to get the requirement lifted or obtain money to meet it, but had no success after several months of work. One evening, Farmer, a self-proclaimed “Googler,” saw something online about the former mayor of Marysville, Christiane Schmenk, who had been tapped to head the reorganization of the Ohio Department of Development. He wrote her to congratulate her on the appointment and outline the situation the city was having with the gasline requirement. He sent one copy by mail and one by email.

“I left the office at 4:30; at a quarter to five I’m sitting at home, my cell phone goes off and it’s Christiane Schmenk,” he recalled.

Two weeks later, Farmer, Van Wert Safe-ty-Service Director Jay Fleming and two other Van Wert residents attended a meeting in the state office building and succeeded in getting the gasline requirement removed. Instead, with support from Dominion Gas, Van Wert won an agreement that Dominion would extend the gasline as needed when a user for the site is found.

“When we came out of that meeting, the four of us, we really did do high-fives,” Farmer revealed.

A rail line, about 1.5 miles in length, is being extended to the edge of the site from a

old spur that had ended at Bonowitz Avenue. The $3.7-million rail extension, which Farmer refers to as “the driveway to the future,” should be finished around the end of the year.

When the spur is complete, Van Wert will apply for the state’s Job Ready Site certifica-tion, a review process that is expected to take three or four months. It also is working with an international site certifier.

“Marketing, really, is just beginning,” Farmer said. “The two certifications we gain in 2014 will be a major marketing tool for us.”

Leis, who works for Van Wert with the support of the Ohio State University exten-sion service, spent 17 years with ODOD, now known as the Ohio Development Services Agency, calling on manufacturers in north-west Ohio. All her connections will give her an edge in marketing the megasite, Farmer said.

“In today’s world, we cannot isolate ourselves by ourselves,” he declared.

In that regard, he added, Van Wert also benefits from business successes in nearby communities. “If Fort Wayne gets something, we’re excited. We know how many people we have that will leave Van Wert daily and work in Fort Wayne. We also know how many people in Fort Wayne work over here. In years back, you were worried only about your little corner. Now, we can’t do that,” Farmer said.

There are no real hard feelings that Fort Wayne won the fight this year to retain major employer BAE Systems, which reportedly considered relocating to Van Wert or Hicks-ville, Ohio, before settling on a new location in southwest Allen County.

Leis had been working with the state for some time to provide information to a pros-pect, whose identity the state had not revealed. One evening, Farmer, sitting at home and Googling news online, found a mention in a Defiance, Ohio, newspaper that seemed to indicate that prospect was BAE.

There was a brief flurry of discussion in the Van Wert community about it, but BAE chose to stay in Indiana — with the offer of about $4.5 million in local incentives to build the $39-million plant near Fort Wayne Inter-national Airport.

“If there was an Ohio-based company that had 1,100 employees and we had heard talk of them leaving Ohio, you can bet we would have pulled out all the stops, too. And I knew that Indiana was pulling out of all the stops,” Leis reflected.

Back in 2006, when Van Wert was a candidate for the new Honda auto assembly plant that eventually went to Greensburg, in southern Indiana, it got a lot of support and encouragement from northeast Indiana because of the benefits the operation would

have brought businesses and workers in the area, Farmer recalled.

Van Wert subsequently obtained a $3.5-million grant to prepare the 1,900-acre site that had been considered by Honda into a state-certified Job Ready Site for other poten-tial users, but couldn’t obtain the necessary 10-year options from all the property owners. When the deal fell through, it had to return the grant and start all over.

The options on the second site it later assembled are good through 2022. Even if a major user for the land is not found by then — and Farmer said he hates to even acknowledge that possibility — the Marsh Foundation, which controls 700 of the acres, has said it will continue to make its property available.

Like every other community, Van Wert took a hit during the economic turndown in 2008, 2009 and 2010, Farmer admitted, but it is working its way back. City income tax revenue now is up about 2 percent, and Farmer would like to see that hit 3 percent. The city also has accumulated $516,000 in reserves as a cushion.

And while 80 percent of local econom-ic-development efforts continue to focus on business retention, luring other employers is also vital to the city’s future. “We know we have to produce new, too,” Farmer said. “A community just can’t live without growth.”


n FARMER: A 1.5-mile rail line is being built from an old spur to the 1,600-acre megasite


She sees you when you’re sleeping; she knows when you’re awake — so wake up!

After nearly 60 years of wavering belief in Santa Claus, I have come to a major “aha!” Santa Claus is actually Google.

Think about it:Google knows

when you’re sleeping.Google knows

when you’re awake.Google knows if

you’re bad.Google knows

when you’re good.Google has lists, and she checks them

twice.Google knows who’s naughty.Google knows who’s nice.And Google reads all your letters!Holy cow! How can this be? It sure clears

up a lot of mystery. I’ve always wondered how Santa Claus knew all this stuff. How did he find my house? How did he know what I wanted? It turns out Google knows everything about everyone. Especially you.

Google knows where you live.Google knows where everyone lives.Google knows what you want.And Google can make it into your home

and everyone else’s home on Christmas Eve.

Pretty cool, huh?Finally, Santa Claus is exposed! The

Clark Kent of our time has been revealed. The question is: How has Santa, er, I mean Google, rated you this year? Is she going to bring you everything on your wish list?

And maybe a bigger question is: How are you taking advantage of the Santa Claus elements Google presents to help you build your personal brand and reputation?

Actually, I wonder if your Christmas wish list contains a wish for you to have a better personal brand next year? Or a better reputation next year? Or a higher Google ranking next year? Or maybe to occupy the entire first page of Google next year? Probably not.

Your Christmas list probably contains material things like an iPad, or a smart-phone, or an Xbox, or some clothing. Too bad.

Like Santa Claus, mother Google keeps track of you all year long. You can’t just all of a sudden become nicer at Christmastime! You have to be nice all the time. You have

to be good all the time. You have to be ethical all the time. And you have to take reputation-building actions all the time in order for mother Google to look upon you favorably.

And just so we understand each other, mother Google doesn’t make a list and check it twice. She already has the list, you are already on the list and that list gets checked every day.

If you’re trying to harvest the bounty that Google offers, the free bounty that Google offers, you have to take the appro-priate actions that will move you up the list, and keep adding to the list on a consistent basis.

• Write something and post it online.• Have an article published someplace.• Tweet something meaningful.• Speak someplace.• Join a business group.• Lead a civic group.• Participate in a charity.• Start a personal website.• Tweet something profound.• Create a blog and post an entry every

day.• Post on your Facebook business page.• Put a video up on your YouTube

channel.• Do something noteworthy in your

community.• Tweet something that helps others.• Invite people to your LinkedIn page.Do all of these things consistently. Some

daily. Some weekly. But each of them at least monthly. The key to building your Google reputation is consistent action, consistent writing and consistent posting.

OK, so Google may not really be Santa Claus. But the similarities are remarkable, and the results are the same. If you’re good, you get toys. If you’re bad, you get coal.

The reality is you have to be on the good side of Santa Claus, and you must be on the good side of mother Google.

How important is your Google ranking? If you want material things, a great Google ranking, a great Google personal brand and a great Google reputation will ensure that you get all the things on your list, and a new house and a new car.

Happy, healthy, wealthy, family holiday and New Year!

JEFFREY GITOMER, a syndicated columnist, can be reached at [email protected].

n

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Business WeeklyGREATER FORT WAYNE


In the quest for leads, it’s better to narrow your focus

Question: What’s the best way to acquire leads for my business?

Answer: Every new sale begins with a lead. So if you’re trying to grow your small business, it makes sense to generate as many prospects as possible, right?

Not always. Obviously, you don’t want to limit your opportunities. And there are plenty of services that will, for a fee, provide sales leads. But taking care to learn as much as you can about each potential contact can help you better separate prom-ising prospects from dead ends, resulting in a more focused sales effort.

When using a lead generation service, Jeanne Rossomme, founder and presi-dent of Washington, D.C.-based Roadmap Marketing, suggests focusing on narrow, targeted prospect definitions rather than large, sweeping markets.

“You will save money and your time in chasing prospects where you do not have a compelling advantage,” Rossomme explained. And before going all out with your sales contacts, verify that the leads are, in fact, good.

“Take advantage of free trials and test the leads by phone or email to make sure the contacts are accurate and not ‘stale,’” Rossomme says.

Also remember that the best sales pros-pects may be closer than you think.

“Your warmest leads are those that know you or are referred by a trusted source,” Rossomme said. “LinkedIn is a fantastic free source for building your network and seeing where you can easily get introduc-tions. It is also a wealth of detailed infor-mation about company structure, issues and needs.”

You can make the most of each sales lead by using the opportunity to learn about your market. Invite recipients to send feedback to

your company about their current and future needs, and whether they’ll be interested in learning more about your product or service. This information will help you tweak your sales approach and product/service to the needs of your potential customers.

One information-gathering option is to do a quick, Web-based survey using systems such as SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang. Be sure to craft the process and questions from the recipient’s point of view. Nobody likes to take time out to complete a cumbersome survey. Also, make sure your email message is as personalized as possible. An incor-rectly spelled name or outdated title is a sure invitation to press the delete key.

Don’t look at leads as either/or outcomes. If you contacted people who sounded inter-ested in your product/service but weren’t ready to buy, follow up periodically with a call, email or a brochure. Do not add them to an email newsletter or promotion unless they specifically request it. As you cultivate this relationship, ask if and how their needs have changed. There may well be an unre-alized opportunity for you to step right in and turn the prospect into another satisfied customer.

Provided by SCORE Chapter 50 in Fort Wayne. SCORE is a nonprofit association of more than 12,000 business experts who volunteer as mentors. SCORE offers free mentoring and low-cost workshops nationwide. Call SCORE Chapter 50’s office, 110 W. Berry St., Suite LL101, at (260) 422-2601 for a free counseling session or visit www.score-fortwayne.org. SCORE Chapter 50’s “Ask SCORE” column appears monthly in Business Weekly.

ASK SCORE

BRIEFLYALLEN COUNTY

IPFW NAMES ATHLETIC DIRECTOR FINALISTS

Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne has four finalist candidates to replace J. Tommy Bell as the school’s athletic director.

Bell left IPFW earlier this year to become the new athletic director at Western Illinois University. Kelley Hartley Hutton, IPFW’s women’s volleyball coach, subsequently was named interim athletic director.

The four finalists are:

• Hartley Hutton, who has coached the volleyball team for 15 seasons and has previously served as IPFW’s senior woman administrator;

• Daron Montgomery, director of athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Ste-vens Point;

• Nona Richardson, executive senior associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at the University of Cali-fornia, Davis; and

• Mark Spencer, senior associate athletic director at Oregon State University.

Each of the finalists is expected to visit IPFW in January.

n Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly TopList

n



n BizLeads n

NEWBUSINESSESStemen & Co. Fort Wayne LLC110 W. Berry St., Suite 1904Fort Wayne, IN 46802Edmund Kos

Meha Group LLC8727 Shearwater PassFort Wayne, IN 46825Haris Hrelja

Martab Farm LLC1105 New England DriveFort Wayne, IN 46815Norma Lantz

Narcizo De Jesus Monterroso LLC3812 Central DriveFort Wayne, IN 46806Narcizo De Jesus Monter-roso

Teresa E. Morales LLC324 E. Leith St.Fort Wayne, IN 46806Teresa E. Morales

Alpha Track Ventures LLC6435 W. Jefferson Blvd., #169Fort Wayne, IN 46804Trevor Spencer

Difilippo LLC2330 Beacon St., Suite 101Fort Wayne, IN 46805Robert A. Wagner

Ts2 Holdings LLC6435 W. Jefferson Blvd., #169Fort Wayne, IN 46804Trevor Spencer

BDI LLC3938 Furnbank DriveFort Wayne, IN 46815Bruce Wendell

MD Specialty Leasing LLC1140 Lake Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46805David W. McComb

Romary Technologies LLC10710 Muldoon RoadFort Wayne, IN 46819Edward J. Romary

RTO Real Estate LLC1716 Pemberton DriveFort Wayne, IN 46805Kevin M. Gerbers

Bed Bug Destroyers LLC446 Augusta WayFort Wayne, IN 46825Larry L. Dauscher

Opal and Ruby Gift Emporium LLC10125 Silver Lake CourtFort Wayne, IN 46825Kristin Packnett

Anthony Express Inc.305 W. Essex LaneFort Wayne, IN 46825Salih Salih

Holley Home Team LLC1020 E. Dupont RoadFort Wayne, IN 46825Ashley Holley

The Amandus Group LLC8525 Samantha DriveFort Wayne, IN 46835Steven J. Kohrman

C&E Retailers LLC6232 Hursh RoadFort Wayne, IN 46845Ken Snyder

A Nail Salon LLC5408 Meijer DriveFort Wayne, IN 46835Thuan V. Pham

Hanna Investment Corp.1711 Dell Cove DriveFort Wayne, IN 46804Kristin Marquell

Yummykone LLC1514 St. Joseph Blvd.Fort Wayne, IN 46805Mark Hagar

Argentina 444 LLC14717 Remington PlaceFort Wayne, IN 46814Alberto Inza

Lx3 LLC4251 Lahmeyer RoadFort Wayne, IN 46815Troy Smith

That Guys LLC8416 Talmage CourtFort Wayne, IN 46835Jonathan Weber

TLC Acquisition Co. Inc.11116 Monte Vista CourtFort Wayne, IN 46814Bryan P. Kaiser

TLC Realty LLC11116 Monte Vista CourtFort Wayne, IN 46814Bryan P. Kaiser

Lin’s Captain Clean of Indiana Inc.527 Huffman St.Fort Wayne, IN 46808Linda I. Schaefer

Baughman Jager Prop-erty Management LLC333 Ley RoadFort Wayne, IN 46825Michael Parks

Creative Types Consulting Group LLC826 Wilt St.Fort Wayne, IN 46802Sonia Checchia

Party Bike LLC2710 Northaven CourtFort Wayne, IN 46825Janelle Ford

ARWRC LLC5315 Industrial RoadFort Wayne, IN 46825Scott L. Smith

Medical Device Academy Inc.1304 Lakeland CoveFort Wayne, IN 46825Bryan Brown

Yovi LLC1108 Pointed Reef WayFort Wayne, IN 46845Amit Gupta

DVP Media & Produc-tions LLC6939 Autumn View DriveFort Wayne, IN 46816Dexter Rogers

Tea Finance LLC10214 Chestnut Plaza Drive, #152Fort Wayne, IN 46814Anthony Brita

Coneccion Latina LLC2925 Lafayette St.Fort Wayne, IN 46806Sophia Quinones

Intensive Care Consul-tants Corp.7424 Trotters Chase LaneFort Wayne, IN 46815Khurram Shahjehan

Three Rivers Social Research LLC1606 Channel PlaceFort Wayne, IN 46825Christopher S. Bradley

731 Management LLC4616 Cadena LaneFort Wayne, IN 46815Dennis Leininger

Leasequip LLC7021 Homestead RoadFort Wayne, IN 46814Angela Butler

GTC Properties LLC7007 Trafalgar St.Fort Wayne, IN 46803Todd Gibson

Mediterra Homeowners Association Inc.1020 E. Dupont RoadFort Wayne, IN 46825Jeffrey M. Thomas

Apolonia Hernandez Braulio LLC324 E. Leith St.Fort Wayne, IN 46806Apolonia H. Braulio

Gates Bear Paul Realty LLC215 E. Berry St.Fort Wayne, IN 46802Trisha J. Paul

Grace Chics LLC204 Chisholm PlaceFort Wayne, IN 46825Grace Chics

J.A.L. Services LLC424 W. Maplegrove Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46807Jeffrey R. Dunlap

Effective Nonprofits Inc.933 Calverton CourtFort Wayne, IN 46825Paul S. Zimmermann

Hornbaker Lowe Proper-ties LLC5212 Litchfield RoadFort Wayne, IN 46835Susan K. Lowe

TJC Investment Proper-ties LLC724 Laddie LaneFort Wayne, IN 46845Timothy Presley

Karina Cruz LLC3026 Pennsylvania St.Fort Wayne, IN 46803Karina Cruz

Ynot Metal Inc.301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite 200Fort Wayne, IN 46802Robert L. Nicholson

Jose Sanchez Land-scaping LLC1207 Nuttman Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46807Jose A. Sanchez

Reliable LLC3630 Raymond St.Fort Wayne, IN 46803Chibueze J. Nnamuchi

Fort Wayne Neuropsy-chology LLC12203 Bending Oaks CourtFort Wayne, IN 46845Tasha H. Williams

Resolute Cleaning LLC4111 Highland DriveFort Wayne, IN 46804Nicholas Dangler

Standard Freight LLC2701 S. Coliseum Blvd., Suite 1320Fort Wayne, IN 46803Richard A. Bell

Success Tvan LLC1503 E. Paulding Road, Lot 53Fort Wayne, IN 46816Debbie Brancfield

Raji Parker Holdings LLC2335 Hunters CoveFort Wayne, IN 46804Reneta U. Thurairat-nam-Sandkuhler

Overflow Development & Design LLC7302 River Ranch CourtFort Wayne, IN 46835John Whitcraft

Foster Field Services LLC607 Ridgemoor Drive, Apt. 3Fort Wayne, IN 46825Christopher Foster

Engram LLC301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite 200Fort Wayne, IN 46802Andrew D. Boxbergber

Allstar Wireless IN Inc.6713 W. Jefferson Blvd.Fort Wayne, IN 46804John Kuza

Nolari Investments LLC8921 Spring Forest DriveFort Wayne, IN 46804Michael T. Appel

Custom You LLC301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite 200Fort Wayne, IN 46802Robert L. Nicholson

Eaebrow Threading LLC924 Liberty St.Fort Wayne, IN 46803Zahid Hussain

Something Borrowed Floral Designs LLC11415 Trails North DriveFort Wayne, IN 46845Susanne Rippey

T21 Communications LLC4330 South Lane Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46807William R. Pickard

AJK Meet the Artist Concerts LLC8505 Crenshaw CourtFort Wayne, IN 46835Andrew J. Kratzat

Sweet Pea Holdings LLC2811 Miller Ridge CourtFort Wayne, IN 46818Drew Wiard

AB Concrete Creations LLC3800 Fillmore St.Fort Wayne, IN 46819Betty Schroeder

Homestead High School Class of 2003 LLC444 E. Main St.Fort Wayne, IN 46802Spencer J. Feighner

Living Solutions-Life-style Planning LLC6637 Pointe Inverness WayFort Wayne, IN 46804William Dillon

Rudissil Ventures LLC619 Wyff Ridge DriveFort Wayne, IN 46819Jack Dadou

Valley Forge Contracting LLC2721 Chichester LaneFort Wayne, IN 46815Hitesh Patel

Christian Child Care Ministries Inc.7250 Mill Run RoadFort Wayne, IN 46815Russell Baker

Carterco Brokerage Inc.10626 Sheffield CoveFort Wayne, IN 46804William L. Carter Jr.

Refugio Robles LLC306 Mckinnie Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46806Refugio Robles

Sergio Bonilla LLC324 E. Leith St.Fort Wayne, IN 46806Segio Bonilla

The Dent Guy of Fort Wayne Inc.3006 Pennsylvania St.Fort Wayne, IN 46803Pamela Hall

Preston Adams Consulting LLC10125 Schuyler CourtFort Wayne, IN 46804Samuel C. Rhodes

656 Fifth LLC301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite. 200Fort Wayne, IN 46802Andrew D. Boxberger

Tricon Diebold Develop-ment LLC317 Fiddlers CoveFort Wayne, IN 46825Glenn Conkling

4625 Fairfield LLC301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite. 200Fort Wayne, IN 46802Andrew D. Boxberger

Maria Guadalupe Cervantes LLC4538 Avondale DriveFort Wayne, IN 46806Maria Guadalupe Cervantes

L.G. Wayne Consulting LLC301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite. 200Fort Wayne, IN 46802Tyler J. Winkleman

Stratimar LLC5409 Keswick LaneFort Wayne, IN 46835Sarah Musselman

Humberto R. Arias Silvestre LLC409 Edgewood Ave., Lot 9Fort Wayne, IN 46805Humberto R. Arias Silvestre

PPR LLC2025 Turnberry LaneFort Wayne, IN 46814Pure Panache

DML Investments LLC5416 Vance AveFort Wayne, IN 46815David Ludwig

High Tech Auto Repair LLC3205 Rodgers Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46803Luis Cardenas Sr.

Norris Realty LLC444 W. Fairfax Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46807Christopher Norris

Onboarder LLC921 E. Dupont Road, #247Fort Wayne, IN 46825Tyler J. Winkleman

Terra Vista LLC10110 Notestine RoadFort Wayne, IN 46835Jeremy Cattaneo

Maria De La Luz Pani-agua Villanueva LLC4520 Avondale DriveFort Wayne, IN 46806Maria De La Luz Paniagua Villanueva

KT Energy LLC129 W. Berry St., Suite 1200Fort Wayne, IN 46802Tourkow Crell

Fanpix Indiana LLC5642 Coventry LaneFort Wayne, IN 46804Martin S. Rifkin

Joanna’s Family Restau-rant II Inc.10368 Leo Road.Fort Wayne, IN 46825Mauro Puga

Rogness Communica-tions LLC2315 Sweet Cider Road.Fort Wayne, IN 46818Rebekah Rogness

Konkler Enterprises LLC2535 Baywood TrailFort Wayne, IN 46845Mathew J. Konkler

Falcon Motor Xpress Ltd.11206 Chestnut Ridge CourtFort Wayne, IN 46814Arandeep S. Grewal

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.


Design for Mankind Inc.4817 Williamsburg DriveFort Wayne, IN 46804Erin Loechner

PMPFW Inc.12618 Aboite Center RoadFort Wayne, IN 46814William Martin

Choice One Real Estate Services LLC1540 Irene Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46808Randall Howenstine

COMMERCIALBUILDINGPERMITSFORT WAYNEABOITE TOWNSHIPStrebig Construction Inc.9801 W. S.R. 14$700,000

Strebig Construction Inc.9909 W. S.R. 14$838,000

Lawrence Building Corp.5765 Falls Drive$190,000

Lawrence Building Corp.5765 Falls Drive$100,000

RESIDENTIALBUILDINGPERMITSFORT WAYNEABOITE TOWNSHIPBob Buescher Homes8209 Shady Lake Drive$214,000

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIPHomeowner1312 Garden Club Drive$35,000

ALLEN COUNTYABOITE TOWNSHIPGranite Ridge Builders Inc.625 Victoria Station Way$152,000

Byall Homes15109 Fenway Pass$328,842

CEDAR CREEK TOWNSHIPArbor Home Building Corp.18716 Red Mound Cove$395,000

LAFAYETTE TOWNSHIPGranite Ridge Builders Inc.10951 Kress Road$188,367

LAKE TOWNSHIPHawthorn Valley Enter-prises Inc.2141 Henry Crossing$126,093

PERRY TOWNSHIPBob Buescher Homes509 Perolla Drive$249,000

Lancia Homes15481 Towne Gardens Court$122,125

J&K Contractors1615 Shavono Cove$250,000

PLEASANT TOWNSHIPHeller & Sons Inc.2012 W. Ferguson Road$163,000

ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIPQuality Crafted Homes Inc.10192 Foxwood Pass$300,000

Hawthorn Valley Enter-prises Inc.9728 Acacia Passage$101,714

REAL-ESTATETRANSACTIONS468258430 Waterswolde LaneFrom Christopher B. and Christine M. Stevens to Gregory C. and Kelly L. Bercaw$124,000

10235 W. Palo Verde DriveFrom Charles A. Blemker to Amanda S. Luthy$64,000

1503 Ludwig Park DriveFrom Ross A. Sneary to William P. and Megan J. Runyan$89,900

1323 Mayfield RoadFrom the secretary of veterans affairs to Legacy Home Developments LLC$33,000

906 Elnora DriveFrom Scott A. and Vicki R. Johnstone to Neka D. and Sasha L. Shumpert$94,000

8331 Bremen WayFrom Joshua S. and Chelsea L. Pulfer to Adam and Erin Jacobwitz$175,000

844 Laurel Hill PlaceFrom Zachary W. Clevenger to Benjamin D. Mercer$115,000

525 Stratton RoadFrom Timothy L. and Cathy R. Beere to Conner J. and Jasmine L. Peterson$107,000

468356129 Sawmill Woods DriveFrom Samuel L. Huff to Brandi L. Berkhalter$68,250

5117 Timbers End PlaceFrom Aimee S. Karacia to Da’Shawn T. Ayers$137,900

7013 Weymouth LaneFrom Star Financial Bank to Michael J. and Kathryn R. Diekhoff$27,900

3311 Bunchberry CourtFrom Allen County sheriff to Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co. N.A.$149,291

7851 Flutter RoadFrom Raml Inc. to New Venture Development Corp.$407,990

6808 Curwood DriveFrom Scott E. and Sara E. Romines to Kasey J. and Katie K. Cook$103,900

8011 Tacoma PlaceFrom Allen County sheriff to Brick Properties LLC$102,000

9512 Golden Oak DriveFrom Bryan J. and Melissa A. Stout to Brenda E. Sanchez$137,500

Legends ParkwayFrom Raml Inc. to SJ Devel-opment Corp.$34,923

7103 Denise DriveFrom James L. Huard to Walter D. and June L. Hansen$95,900

8218 Maple Valley DriveFrom Jennifer J. Patten to Jason P. and Temple L. Cronkhite$103,000

7323 Kristine DriveFrom Reincke-Norris LLC to Ted A. and Betty C. Brindle$67,500

4124 Monument DriveFrom Wells Fargo Bank N.A. to HUD$46,860

6712 Creekwood LaneFrom Brent Grable to Charles D. and Sandra L. Neigebauer$124,500

5621 Graber DriveFrom Levi L. Smith to Jeffrey W. Walker$78,500

7621 Idlebrook DriveFrom Windsor Homes to Thomas A. and Elwanda G. Foisy$43,900

6703 Shag Bark CourtFrom James S. and Monica F. Vernot to Thomas P. McBride$165,500

7132 Tanbark LaneFrom John and Amy S. Crilly to Margaret R. Kelly$110,000

8903 Rothman RoadFrom Dee M. and Jane R. Beavans to Marlin R. Benson$170,000

7107 Wren LaneFrom Wells Fargo Bank to HUD$63,687

9701 Founders WayFrom HUD to Kristin M. and Alexander B. Rohrs$109,000

7608 Idlebrook DriveFrom Rothman Point LLC to Windsor Inc.$38,400

8303 Lamplighter CourtFrom Jeffrey A. Schmidt and Kim E. Riethmiller to Thomas J. and Nancy L. Arnold$85,000

9508 Arundel RunFrom Patriot Group Inc. to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$29,900

7114 Holden DriveFrom Valencia Development LLC to Lancia Homes Inc.$37,905

5619 Fox Mill RunFrom Norma J. Wright-Miller to Mary A. Zull$143,000

8408 Sweet Blossom CourtFrom Michael E. and Linda M. Oetting to Terry L. and Maryann Kummer$240,400

7118 Wrangler TrailFrom Charles and Jaclyn R. Shuff to Paige E. Cole$69,900

6406 Squires PlaceFrom Charles F. Leonard to Douglas M. Trainer and Nataliya K. Caton$95,000

4511 Brookshire CircleFrom Claudia L. Rhineholz to Mark T. and Linda C. Hockenberry$80,000

6015 Goodfellow DriveFrom Renee Y. Curneal to Debra A. Bloomberg$94,900

7202 Brackenwood CourtFrom the Billy L. Snyder estate to Steven M. and Sharon K. Blotkamp$220,000

4715 Wheatridge RoadFrom Janet L. Echemedia to Mark M. and Diana L. Zwierko$46,000

6523 Salge DriveFrom Randy A. Bleke and Stephanie M. Yoquelet to Arthur C. Klaehn$70,000

9738 Snowstar PlaceFrom David M. Boles to Elwood Gustafson Jr.$98,500

9720 Araglin PointeFrom Theresa A. Gordon to Rodney W. Imel and Kimberly A. Troyer$97,000

5833 N. Brookwood DriveFrom Earl T. Newman to Steven Bingham$68,150

6324 Brandonwood LaneFrom Fannie Mae to Zams 2 LLC$31,000

8422 Legends ParkwayFrom SJ Development Corp. to Mark W. and Kristen F. Miller$60,000

4621 Hartford DriveFrom the Gordon L. and Thelma R. Lowden revo-cable living trust to Christo-pher M. Ciocca$68,000

8203 Abernathy CourtFrom Heller & Sons Inc. to Joseph S. Mahlan$34,823

7026 Elmbrook DriveFrom Danielle Kraft to Jona-than L. Hallett$101,000

9511 Wheelock RoadFrom Larry N. and Patricia L. Parker to Daniel T. and Susan J. Parker$120,000

7544 St. Joe RoadFrom Larry N. and Patricia L. Parker to IMA Properties LLC$120,000

9504 Briarcrest CourtFrom Barbara J. Snider to Tim N. and Carol M. Malcolm$89,000

8809 Pinsley WayFrom Fannie Mae to Julie and Shane Cunningham$203,900

7825 Lila WayFrom IAB Financial Bank to Ty D. and Kathryn L. Koppenhofer$119,663

8709 Crestfield CourtFrom Todd and Kristen Smith to Britt D. and Carla M. Scott$315,000

7207 Canterwood PlaceFrom Brett B. and April J. Brown to Adam P. and Danielle M. Kraft$163,000

7921 Welland CourtFrom Honeysuckle Develop-ment LLC to Tara M. Plough$85,000

4684513015 Claret CourtFrom PT Development Corp. to Springmill Woods Development LLC$732,458









1514 Vintners WayFrom PT Development Corp. to Springmill Woods Development LLC$732,458



1454 Gateway TrailFrom Lancia Homes Inc. to Michael C. Klee and Valerie A. Kimball$159,100

5031 Honey Oak RunFrom John L. and Sue A. Conley to Robert J. Lenhart$185,000

15000 Coldwater RoadFrom Tom Zwierko to Michael E. and Rebecca A. Byerley$40,000

416 Landau RunFrom Lancia Homes Inc. to Jeffrey S. Heiniger$232,420

13003 Garnet HillFrom Kurt D. Schlabach to Suresh and Vinita Jaiswal$327,500

13036 Winding Vine RunFrom Lancia Homes Inc. to Joseph A. and Janine M. Steinbrunner$196,496

11414 Red Fern PlaceFrom MBC Corp. to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$54,500

11414 Red Fern PlaceFrom Granite Ridge Builders Inc. to James L. Gould Jr. and Julie K. Gould$56,180

1010 Hemingford CourtFrom Christopher W. Sloan to Michael H. and Sarah J. Holly$129,500

909 Hemingford CourtFrom Brian R. and Laureen E. Lemberg to Derek T. and Cindy A. Wedler$205,000

11325 Tall Oak RunFrom MBC Corp. to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$48,000

11203 Belleharbour CoveFrom Domo Development Co. LLC to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$350,126

11223 Belleharbour CoveFrom Domo Development Co. LLC to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$350,126

4746 Trailside CrossingFrom Domo Development Co. LLC to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$350,126

11182 Parkers Bay DriveFrom Domo Development Co. LLC to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$350,126

11150 Parkers Bay DriveFrom Domo Development Co. LLC to Granite Ridge Builders Inc.$350,126

BANKRUPTCIESADAMS COUNTYTammy S. Roe115 Fremont LaneDecatur, IN 46733Assets: $64,278Liabilities: $83,809

ALLEN COUNTYSara K. Fry13320 Delano CoveFort Wayne, IN 46845Assets: $965Liabilities: $30,814

Sharon K. Dennis1125 Third St.Fort Wayne, IN 46808Assets: $3,210Liabilities: $39,642

Joshua M. Nichols5107 Vance Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46815Assets: $19,450Liabilities: $15,612

Natalie J. Kinsey21812 S.R. 101Woodburn, IN 46797Assets: $7,060Liabilities: $57,400

Brenda Maddock1817 Babcock DriveFort Wayne, IN 46819Assets: $63,050Liabilities: $85,594

Kayla D. Brady601 N. Main St., Apt. 2Kokomo, IN 46901Assets: $2,410Liabilities: $49,644

Chad A. and Amber L. Fisher1441 Wall St.Fort Wayne, IN 46802Assets: $11,940Liabilities: $40,741

Daniel V. and Naomi C. Rainwater1612 Crescent Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46805Assets: $12,200Liabilities: $70,279

Christina N. Lopez6217 Amarillo DriveFort Wayne, IN 46816Assets: $12,100Liabilities: $21,743

Brenda S. Pease1809 Third St.Fort Wayne, IN 46808Assets: $1,500Liabilities: $21,527

Christian M. Ruoff15133 Lions PassageLeo, IN 46765Assets: $248,800Liabilities: $312,117

Ryan P. and Jaimi L. Stolte8107 Oklahoma TrailFort Wayne, IN 46815Assets: $9,110Liabilities: $20,532

Thomas M. Klimkofski8016 Grayfield CourtFort Wayne, IN 46825Assets: $193,300Liabilities: $96,454

Rickey D. Parnin Jr.2109 Huffman Blvd.Fort Wayne, IN 46808Assets: $39,820Liabilities: $41,092

Jean M. Mitchell1730 Billy DriveFort Wayne, IN 46818Assets: $85,879Liabilities: $28,541

Kent M. and Judi M. Loomis14425 Emanuel RoadHoagland, IN 46745Assets: $397,405Liabilities: $429,018

Anthony L. Williams6227 Salge DriveFort Wayne, IN 46835Assets: $7,050Liabilities: $67,983

Michelle S. Bonilla1805 N. Wells St.Fort Wayne, IN 46808Assets: $1,513Liabilities: $24,482

Thomas L. Blackburn8108 Bridgeway Circle, Apt. 2BFort Wayne, IN 46816Assets: $32,200Liabilities: $60,009

Janet S. Platt2921 Kingsley DriveFort Wayne, IN 46815Assets: $3,200Liabilities: $29,985

Trevor E. Frye Jr.1118 Dodge Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46805Assets: $5,030Liabilities: $38,128

Preonda M. Hunt5144 Woodmark DriveFort Wayne, IN 46815Assets: $2,879Liabilities: $23,214

Virginia M. Gonzales2737 W. Washington Center Road, #56Fort Wayne, IN 46818Assets: $3,100Liabilities: $31,036

Lynnette N. White2824 Knode CourtFort Wayne, IN 46806Assets: $23,000Liabilities: $68,292

Jason R. and Alisa J. McPherson8707 Ash Bourne DriveFort Wayne, IN 46804Assets: $259,332Liabilities: $335,818

Amber R. Schroeder4830 Arlington Ave.Fort Wayne, IN 46807Assets: $1,700Liabilities: $19,798

Cecilia A. Curry4704 Simplicity CourtFort Wayne, IN 46818Assets: $3,850Liabilities: $34,006

Daphne A. Williams5012 S. Anthony Blvd.Fort Wayne, IN 46806Assets: $2,374Liabilities: $65,000

Ronnie R. Jackson Sr.218 Alverno DriveFort Wayne, IN 46816Assets: $89,416Liabilities: $100,288

Keith D. Williams2603 Boardwalk CircleFort Wayne, IN 46809Assets: $17,140Liabilities: $53,712

DEKALB COUNTYJames A. and Lolly Weigand901 Allison Blvd.Auburn, IN 46706Assets: $145,134Liabilities: $197,316

HUNTINGTON COUNTYLori J. Long1960 White Eagle DriveHuntington, IN 46750Assets: $123,530Liabilities: $127,046

Wilbur L. and Julie A. Phillips1642 Park St.Huntington, IN 46750Assets: $69,446Liabilities: $175,913

NOBLE COUNTYAutumn A. Miller222 E. North St.Kendallville, IN 46755Assets: $11,750Liabilities: $33,236

Tanya M. Deming450 Pleasant St.Kendallville, IN 46755Assets: $8,625Liabilities: $21,074

Travis W. and Paula M. Rhinesmith7365 S. 550 EastWolcottville, IN 46795Assets: $5,970Liabilities: $175,845

STEUBEN COUNTYAnn B. Puthoff730 W. 700 NorthFremont, IN 46737Assets: $134,010Liabilities: $151,442

WELLS COUNTYRichard E. and Martha J. Osborn1332 Stogdill RoadBluffton, IN 46714Assets: $113,390Liabilities: $100,778

Jacob T. Maggart327 S. Johnson St.Bluffton, IN 46714Assets: $1,881Liabilities: $113,821

Grant E. and Heather S. Lavigne534 S. MainBluffton, IN 46714Assets: $137,320Liabilities: $162,116

Kelly L. Egner2644 S. S.R. 1Bluffton, IN 46714Assets: $1,570Liabilities: $25,415

PATENTS8,606,838Method and apparatus for configurable sample rate conversion in tele-operated devicesRichard J. Kenefic, Fort WayneDavid W. Shin, Fort WayneSaad Karim, Cary, N.C.Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Falls Church, Va.Raytheon Co., Waltham, Mass.Filed: Nov. 10, 2010Approved: Dec. 10, 2013

8,606,669Systems and methods for client screening in the financial services industryScott Fergusson, Fort WayneBroadridge Securities Processing Solutions Inc., Jersey City, N.J.Filed: June 1, 2006Approved: Dec. 10, 2013

8,606,453Hybrid vehicle prime movers communication control strategyJay E. Bissontz, Fort WayneInternational Truck Intel-lectual Property Co., LLC, Lisle, Ill.Filed: March 8, 2010Approved: Dec. 10, 2013

8,605,041Data input deviceKevin T. Johnson, Fort WayneKevin T. Johnson, Erie, Pa.Filed: June 8, 2009Approved: Dec. 10, 2013

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Tesla opens Angola charging stationBY MIKE [email protected]

Hitesh Patel knows his Ramada Angola Hotel is convenientlylocated for travelers passing through Steuben County on Inter-state 69 and the Indiana Toll Road.

And the folks with Tesla Motors saw the site as a strategicspot to place a supercharging station to help power their vehicles.

The Angola site is one of two Tesla Motors has opened innorthern Indiana as it works to establish a nationwide networkfor its electric cars. It has 41 such stations open.

Next year, Tesla expects to have enough stations in place toenable travel from Los Angeles to New York. A main piece ofthat travel corridor is I-80-90 in northern Indiana.

A nearly full charge at the stations takes about 40 minutes.“The benefit of having a Tesla Charging Station on our prop-

erty is we have the hotel and we have the restaurant, and it onlytakes 45 minutes, so we have a captive audience. They can eat atour restaurant (6 Autumns) or they can stay in our hotel and theycan charge,” Patel said.

The six charging stations at Ramada are free to use for Teslacar owners. Signs at the stations tell users they have a 60-minutemaximum for parking at three of the units.

Tesla officials say the stations can in 20 minutes give one ofthe cars enough battery power to travel up to 150 miles. A fullcharge takes 75 minutes.

The charging station at Ramada is on the north end of theparking lot and is visible from State Road 127.

“We had the available space,” Patel said.William Stonehill of Granger told the South Bend Tribune

he doesn’t expect to use the station at Mishawaka’s UniversityPark Mall, since a full charge on his Tesla at his nearby homeallows it to travel about 200 miles. The station’s completion is animportant signal, he said.

“It means my car is becoming a car I can take more out oftown,” he said.

Tesla chargers will not work on other electric car models.“It’s about enabling routes that our owners are traveling at

this point,” Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said. “At theend of the year we will have enabled people to drive from LosAngeles to New York.”

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

Tesla Motors has installed a charging station at the north end of the parking lot at Ramada Angola Hotel. The six charging units work only with Tesla cars and are free to use for car owners.THE HERALD REPUBLICAN

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ments as certain merger-related goals are accomplished. Cahill, Executive Vice Presi-dent James Underwood and Chief Financial Officer Richard Sawyer were offered reten-tion bonuses of $25,000 with similar payment arrangements.

Bontrager’s compensation package as region president includes some other benefits. In addition to his base pay of $195,000 and the retention bonus, he will be eligible for participation in Old National’s region cash incentive plan with a target of 30 percent of wages. Old National has agreed to pay the costs of Bontrager’s golf club membership and will fund his membership in the Young Presidents Organization at a cost of $20,000 a year for two years.

Bontrager will be granted 4,500 service-based restricted shares of Old National common stock at the closing of the merger that will vest in increments over three years and also will be eligible during that period for annual award grants as approved by Old National’s board. For 2014, Bontrager’s grant will be 1,375 shares of service-based restricted stock and 4,125 shares of perfor-mance-based restricted stock.

Schearer and Farrington’s job offers also include service-based restricted shares.

Some other familiar faces at Tower have already left as the date of the merger announced in September draws closer. In its own filing Dec. 13, Tower Finan-cial announced that five of the commercial lending officers of its Tower Bank subsidiary had tendered their resignations.

“Although these employees were respon-sible for managing relationships with the bank’s commercial lending customers, Tower fully intends to continue to manage and service these relationships in the same manner and with the same devotion to its customers’ needs as it has in the past,” the Tower filing said. No details were provided.

Tower shareholders will hold a special meeting at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 7 at the Landmark Centre, 6222 Ellison Road, to vote on the merger proposal. The plan calls for stock-holders to receive 1.2 shares of Old National Stock and $6.75 in cash for each Tower share, for a value of $24.96 per share or a total of about $113.6 million. Subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and other condi-tions, the acquisition is expected to close by the end of the first quarter next year.

Based in Evansville, ONB is the largest financial-services holding company head-quartered in Indiana, with $9.6 billion in assets. Tower Financial was formed in 1998 and Tower Bank opened in February 1999.


n TOWER: Commercial lending officers leave

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but people and food kept coming. The food bank’s executive director, Jane Avery, took a moment in her office to discuss the season’s challenges.

The key to maintaining reliable levels of food donations lies in working to ensure donor confidence in the food bank’s qual-ity-control procedures, she said. Behind her on the wall hung a calendar, marked throughout to track deliveries, pickups and other appointments.

She’d blocked off the month of December in red with a label saying “Heat or Eat Month,” a designation Avery said serves as a reminder that cold weather and limited finances are forcing many families to make hard choices.

“This is the first month when people are getting their first full month’s heating bill,” she said.

This season brings a peak level of food donations, as well as an increased demand for food as the region’s less wealthy cele-brate holidays with friends and family. The volume is huge: Community Harvest helps provide 42,000 pounds of food to more than 21,000 individuals each week and serves more than 90,000 different people per year — 15 percent of its nine-county

service area’s population, Avery said.Community Harvest operates on a $3.5-

million budget, employs more than 30 full-time workers and relies on more than 7,000 volunteers who altogether donated the equivalent working hours of an addi-tional 30 full-time employees last year.

Each Saturday morning, hundreds of people come to the food bank on East Tillman Road in south Fort Wayne to pick up free food. The numbers vary widely each week, sometimes depending on the weather. On one of the last weekends of November, for instance, more than 1,100 people lined up. Heavy snowfall and biting cold weeded out all but 400 or so last Dec. 13.

Being able to facilitate such an invalu-able service brings a certain level of grati-fication, Avery said.

“I am delighted that so many people want fresh produce and are willing to stand in line for it,” she said. “And where would it have gone if we hadn’t gotten it? There’s only one other place it would have gone, and that’s the landfill.”

Since supply and demand of donated groceries fluctuates based on a number of factors, managing the flow can be a chal-


n HARVEST: Season brings peak donations

Community Harvest operates on a $3.5-million annual budget, but much of the orga-nization’s work is done by volunteers.

RYAN SCHNURR

n See HARVEST on PAGE 23

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lenge, Avery said.“It really depends on the for-profit

world,” she said. “When times are tough, that’s when our donations go down. When times are good, that’s when donations tend to go up. We have to be very cognizant of what’s going on in the for-profit world.”

Pressure on food banks was expected to increase this month as some benefits from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) mandated by a 2009 law expired in November, according to Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, an Indianap-olis-based nonprofit organization. Monthly benefits decreased by as much as $36 per month, the organization’s executive director, Emily Weikert Bryant, said in a news release.

The decrease in funding “means several days’ worth of food for a struggling family,” Bryant said.

“Clients already have a difficult time putting enough food on their tables and paying their bills even with SNAP bene-fits,” she said. “We hope that by spreading the word early, clients can prepare them-selves as best as possible and local food pantries can proactively gear up for

increased client traffic.”Roughly 925,000 Hoosiers, or 14

percent of the state’s total population, rely on SNAP benefits to feed their families and will be affected by the cuts, according to Feeding Indiana’s Hungry. The 11 regional food banks that are members of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, including Community Harvest, distributed 74 million pounds of food in 2012. But the SNAP benefit reduc-tion will result in the loss of nearly $100 million worth of food over the next year, according to the organization.

It will be difficult for food banks to bridge the gap, Derek Thomas, s senior policy analyst for the Indiana Institute of Working Families, said.

“We’ve reported that under the sequester, a lot of these nonprofits that are delivering a lot of these services are already operating on a lean budget,” he said. “The charitable sector simply cannot make up these lost funds.”

But they will try.Avery said she would like to thank the

more than 4,400 individual donors and organizations for their generosity.

“I have never put out a request in the 17 years I’ve been here that didn’t get met,” she said. “People here are generous.”


n HARVEST: 14% or Hoosiers rely on SNAP


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