Forward Focus Exploring Dubois County’s Future
The Herald ■ YO U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 8 9 5 DUBOISCOUNTYHERALD.COM
DUBOIS COUNTY, INDIANA
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 SECTION B
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Inside A strong economy
Dubois County continues to be a leader in Indiana. Page 3.
They’re everywhere ...
...and growing. We’re talking about the arts in Dubois County. Page 28.
Revitalizing downtowns
Jasper and Huntingburg have big plans for their downtowns. Page 32.
Developing the future
Ed Cole of Dubois Strong talks about what the county needs to do to stay strong. Page 4.
Lots brewing
As is happening around the country, breweries are popping up in Dubois County. Page 38.
Brain drain: A problem? Do young people leave the county for greener pastures? Why did those who returned come back? Page 7.
And much more Printing in 3D
Among the amazing technologies being used locally is 3D printing. Page 16.
Young and involved residents speak out. Starting on Page 8. The reach of Crane. Page 19. Dubois County’s emerging leaders. Page 21. The next generation of family businesses. Starting on Page 24. Ahead: Wired cities. Page 36. What young people think of libraries. Page 37.
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
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Sturdy local economy needs housing strategy By BILL POWELL bpowell@dcherald.com
Think of Dubois County’s stat of having held or been tied for the state’s best unemployment rate for 33 of the last 38 months as like clubbing 60-plus home runs over three professional baseball seasons. “We are knocking it out of the park every day,” said Ed Cole, president of Dubois Strong, the county’s economic development group. In the latest state report, Dubois County led all 92 Hoosier counties with 2.8 percent unemployment in September. That was the best county rate in almost eight years. But housing is where the county’s statistics are lacking. A housing study released earlier this year showed the local economy is so strong, Dubois County finds it difficult to fill production level positions, with a contributing factor being workforce housing. “We have tremendous, tremendous companies,” Cole said. “I know that many of them could and would expand if they simply had the workforce to do it.” The housing study found that Ferdinand has limited housing inventory and that, while Huntingburg and Jasper have good housing inventory overall, both cities need to provide some level of rehabilitation to their affordable housing, a term that Dubois Strong quantifies as housing that doesn’t exceed 30 percent of a household’s annual income and is affordable to the majority of a community’s workforce. “If you just looked at the number of rooftops that exist in Dubois County, there is enough to fill the need that we have,” Cole said. “The problem is they are either older; they maybe have two bedrooms and one bath and maybe need the roof fixed. “We really haven’t done what we call workforce-level housing in about 30 years.” The county’s consultant, he said, defined that as housing in the $90,000 to $150,000 range. Dubois Strong is trying to get creative,
Transmissions division manager Sara Schmidt of Jasper, middle, checked in with group leader Mark Greulich of Mariah Hill, right, and safety coordinator Debbie Schmitt of Jasper during a morning walk through of the floor Oct. 9 at Jasper Engines & Transmissions. ALISHA JUCEVIC THE HERALD
organizing a five-step action plan to help improve county housing before the end of 2019. It includes working with local developers to create more affordable housing, building housing and finding ways to encourage more local employees to live in Dubois County instead of commuting into the county to work. With 11,000 people who drive into the county every day to work, it would be nice to get 3 to 5 percent of them to move here, according to Cole. “There are some things we are looking at for each individual municipality and we are also looking at how we can broaden those things to the entire county,” Cole said.
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In continuing to do his part, Cole is making presentations before government bodies and civic groups and is currently working to get on a Dubois County Homebuilders Association agenda. “We want to make sure we get buy-in for what we’re doing,” Cole said. He hopes there will be more gains like Hunters Crossing, a new development in Huntingburg that will create more than 120 new single-family homes on Chestnut Street between 12th Street and 17th Street, as well as a nearby park. Hunters Crossing’s inclusion of a park meshes with the study’s goal of addressing quality of life and the idea of creating hous-
ing surrounded by opportunities and attractive areas. Plant closings elsewhere can also be opportunities to share information about Dubois County, according to Cole. Dubois Strong is quick to pass out information cards that give Dubois County facts, figures and quality-of-place attractions. Over a picture of a Dubois County Bombers batter digging in behind the plate at a packed League Stadium in Huntingburg, the information card notes: “Dubois County is more than just a place to live and work. It has various comforts that allow you to call it home.” “Hopefully,” Cole said, “we can be successful with that.”
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Leader says population growth is necessary By WYATT STAYNER wstayner@dcherald.com
Ed Cole took over as president of Dubois Strong, the county’s economic development group, one year ago and in the time since has been working to grow the county by coordinating a comprehensive housing study and working on various economic endeavours. The Herald sat down with Cole to talk about the past year and what he sees in Dubois Strong’s future.
In the one year since Ed Cole became the president of Dubois Strong, he has been working to grow the county by coordinating a housing study and working on various economic endeavours. Workforce and housing are the priorities Dubois Strong is focusing on for next year, he said.
We write about Dubois Strong a lot. People hear the name Dubois Strong a lot. But I’m not sure people completely understand what Dubois Strong is or what it does. Give us a brief summery. We’re the lead economic development agency for the county. We’re tasked with increasing investment with internal businesses or businesses coming into the county. Without that investment, there are no jobs. With that investment, you bring people. We are the ones that collaborate with all the cities and towns in order to come to a consensus on the direction that we want to go and how we can be the leader to facilitate those changes. Has it been a big learning experience your first year on the job? It has. It’s really getting a feel for the priorities that are important (in Dubois County). Every area has things that they want to do. It’s a matter of finding out what’s important and where do we want to go first? You’ve only got so many resources and you want to expend those resources to the best of your ability. In economic development, so much of what you’re doing is partnering and collaborating with people. We don’t always want to lead it, but we want to be the ones to say, ‘How can we make it better? How can we move it forward?’ Outside of housing, what things do you think need to be added or rein-
HERALD FILE PHOTO
forced in the county to attract people? We’re in an atmosphere now — and I don’t think it’s going to be changing anytime soon — where we are competing for workforce. It absolutely comes down to quality of place. We’ve got the jobs and we can add jobs as we go along. But it comes down to the quality of place. Is this a place, if you were a young person and you were looking for a job, would you come here because it has the amenities that are important for you? Everybody says this all the time about millennials, but it’s the quality of life first, then the job. That’s the standard belief. It just seems to be the way people think now. I think the quality of place with the downtown revitalization that has been talked about. The America’s Best Community emphasis (in Jasper). The things that are going
on in Huntingburg with Stellar (Communities). And Ferdinand is doing a comprehensive plan because they are always looking at what they can do better. It’s pretty amazing what is being proposed. What are the top priorities Dubois Strong is focusing on for next year? I think it’s multi-layered for us, but No. 1 is workforce. Workforce has a lot of connections with it. Workforce goes with the housing. If you bring someone in, they need to be able to find an affordable house. The other thing is the Midstate Corridor and the Jasper bypass. In many respects, it all goes back to workforce because if you’re trying to get folks here, then it also has the opportunity to bring business and those businesses will bring people.
What do you envision the county being like in 10 years? We have to increase the population. If we could add 10,000 or 15,000 people to the overall population of Dubois County, it would be a game-changer. Then you’ve got the taxes that come from those folks living here. A better ability for a larger workforce. A better ability for companies to expand. I think all of those are key, but it really has to be workforce- and population-driven. It would energize the area. Do you think the county can support another 10,000 to 15,000 people? Yeah. (Improving the) infrastructure would have to be a focus. But I think it would be welcomed and I think over time, we could adapt and make it happen.
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Brain Drain or Brain Gain? TURNS OUT, THE NOTION THAT YOUNG TALENT CONSISTENTLY BOLTS DUBOIS COUNTY FOR BIGGER CITIES AND BETTER JOBS ISN’T ACCURATE. INSTEAD, FOR MANY PEOPLE IN THEIR 20S AND 30S, THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE. picnics. She’s an older millennial and describes her generation as one that wants to help but is cautious about being involved. She says there’s no lack of folks like her and her husband, but convincing people that Dubois County is an island and not an abyss somewhere between Indianapolis, Evansville, Louisville and Bloomington is sometimes difficult.
ALISHA JUCEVIC/THE HERALD
Jessica DeLorenzo, an organizational development manager at Kimball Electronics, grew up in Madison and moved to Jasper with her husband, Judah, in 2009. Jessica’s parents are from Ferdinand and she said those roots drew her back to the area to start her career after graduate school. “We’ve had opportunities to move away again and we’ve found ourselves staying because of the connections and opportunities we’ve built,” DeLorenzo said. “We fast track ourselves by staying in a small town.”
By JASON RECKER jrecker@dcherald.com
N
ot once but twice, Nashville, Tenn., sparkled as a possibility. Large city not too far from home with night life and culture and a vibe that makes it seem like a place — maybe the place — to be. Judah and Jessica DeLorenzo could have jumped at the chance to exit southern Indiana. Twice, fate tempted them. Twice, they declined. They’re here, they’re 30 years old, they’re happy and they’re not looking to upgrade. Dubois County isn’t short on sturdy roots. The future hinges on growth in terms of minds perhaps more than bodies and the ability to avoid, or at least neutralize, what’s commonly termed “brain drain.” It’s when talent, mostly young, bolts town for bigger opportunities in better locales. It happens here, local officials acknowledge. But it’s not a major problem because of people like the DeLorenzos and the opportunities they embrace. Quite simply, Dubois County has something to offer. It’s more hip than you probably think. “The opportunities in a small town were unbeatable,” said Jessica, the organizational development manager
at Kimball Electronics and former director of student activities at Vincennes University Jasper Campus. “Yeah, some things are more fun and it’s splashier to live in a big city, but we have an opportunity to be part of a community here. We can be civilly engaged. We’ve been able to be a big fish in a little sea, and we’ve stayed.” The DeLorenzos grew up in Madison, an Ohio River city in southeastern Indiana that’s not all that different from Jasper. She attended college at Rice University in Houston then worked in Shreveport, La. He was in the Air Force. They were drawn back to Indiana by family in Dubois County. They lived in Evansville for two years and commuted to Jasper for work, Jessica at VUJC and Judah at Jasper Engines & Transmissions. “We thought that would be the best of both words — live in a bigger city and work in a place that values us,” Jessica said. “But we found ourselves spending more time here because of the opportunities.” They’re part of the Emerging Leaders, a crowd of younger folks focused on giving money. She’s a part of Women Empowering Women, the Family Scholar House with the Sisters of St. Benedict in Ferdinand and Jasper’s America’s Best Communities’ bid, and they’re part of festival planning committees and church
Strong work Ed Cole, the executive director of county economic development group Dubois Strong, describes community building as a 10,000-piece puzzle. Lag in any one area and you’re left with a hole. Luring talent, especially young folks with talent, requires keeping the puzzle together and patching holes. He notes that younger people these days look for a desirable place to live, then find a job. A generation ago, people found a job wherever they could and endured living wherever work took them. So to attract people, the county has to be attractive. “It comes down to quality of place,” Cole said. “Really what everybody is looking for is a safe place that has the essentials. People in economic development love to talk about water, sewer, roads, schools. All of those basic elements, regardless of age, you want those. We have all of those. Now, when you bring people in, you want them saying ‘wow’ instead of ‘eww.’” Cole acknowledges brain drain happens in Dubois County but he figures it happens everywhere, even in Indianapolis. What he sees most is that Dubois County natives leave for college, land a job in a metropolitan area, then return to their homeland once they move closer to 30. Once they’re ready to settle. Once they’re ready for a family. “We understand people are young and want to take a job somewhere else for awhile, but we want to be open and welcoming when those folks want to come back,” Cole said. “We believe those strong family ties will bring people back. It’s a tremendous plus to this area. ... There’s nothing wrong with seeing what’s on the other side of the hill. Then you find out this is a better place. That’s the hope.” When Dubois Strong found out about the impending shutdown of an auto parts plant in Randolph County — it’s in east-central Indiana near the Ohio border — it approached the 750 workers there with a one-page brochure and links to Dubois County’s top employers. Dubois Strong did the same with a plant in Michigan City and has marketed itself to Illinois, where unemployment is higher and resident satisfaction with life overall, Cole notes, is lower. Blue-collar jobs are the most difficult to fill, and a site-evaluation analyst who recently visited Dubois County noted that having too many jobs and not enough people does create problems. “If somebody expands here, where do we get the workers?” Cole asked. That’s where creativity and selfawareness come into play. “Jasper has a master plan and (America’s Best Communities contest) and Huntingburg has Stellar (Communities) and we have talk about libraries and the arts. There are a lot of quality of place things going on,” Coles said. “Ferdinand just talked about its comprehensive plan, too. We’re not afraid to look at ourselves and think about how we make
ourselves better. We’re in a unique area. People identify a problem, gather people who care and make it happen. It’s a can-do spirit that just doesn’t exist everywhere else.” Healthy feedback When Kyle Bennett looks at the medical staff at Memorial Hospital in Jasper, he sees a young group that’s involved in the community. The hospital’s CEO wants more folks like that, so he’s on the hunt. Late in the summer, he cold-called a second-year medical student from southwest Indiana to let the young man know that Memorial is interested in him. He works with the high school health occupations classes and listens when current staff members share connections with acquaintances who might be interested in relocating. The message: You’re not coming to the middle of nowhere. “At times, part of our battle is the dot on the map,” Bennett acknowledged. “You have to want to live in a small town and take advantage of that. We sell the greater community — Louisville, St. Louis, Nashville, Indy, Evansville. Folks have to want to be in this area. If we can get somebody to visit the community, there’s always a positive response. We make sure we’re purposeful about giving a tour. We can eliminate that thought that it’s a little town in southwest Indiana with nothing close to it.” Bennett is cognizant of areas deemed “critical shortages” — often those include therapists, registered nurses and pharmacists. Hospital leaders have to make sure pay is competitive with larger markets — those places recruit, too — and has avenues in which employees can get financial help with school. Memorial is also working with St. Mary’s Medical Center and Deaconess Hospital in Evansville and Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes on a consortium that will hold medical residency spots for aspiring physicians. The likelihood that those folks in that program will stay in this geographic area upon graduation, Bennett estimates, is 75 to 80 percent. He’s pushing to attract brain power and keep it here. The hospital has its share of success stories. Adam Dawkins (from Jasper), Josh Leonard (from Knox County) and Geoff Day (from Louisville) are cardiologists all on the young side of 50 (Day’s brother moved to the city to practice here this summer). Michael Snyder is a Jasper native who returned home and brought wife, Farah, with him; both are physicians and neither is yet 40. Same for Nick and Kristin Werne, Jasper natives who came back. There’s a swath of nurses and other staff members, too, who are back where they grew up. In a place that employs 1,600 people, Bennett senses pride in the kind of work and where the work is done. “A lot of those people could work anywhere from a clinical and skills standpoint,” said Bennett, an Illinois native who’s worked at Memorial for 18 years. “It makes it easier for us, raises the bar for us clinically. Plus, they come back with a desire to be here, to come back and serve the community they love and they grew up in, to have their families in that same culture and contribute to the well-being of the community. If we end up with that, that’s good for everybody.”
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Dubois County’s Young Voices Interviews With 11 Who Are 40 and Under
Brad Eckerle
Age: 35 Job: President of Brosmer Land Surveying in Jasper Personal: Married to Micheala (Knies) and has three children — 5-year-old Kate, 2-year-old Luke and infant Sara. Community involvement: Knights of Columbus, Precious Blood Church members, Jasper Baseball Youth League Treasurer, Dubois County Purdue Alumni Association How did you enjoy working in Indianapolis? I enjoyed it, mostly so because of my employer (Crossroads Engineers). For my profession, it was a great learning experience, great people. But then restaurants. I lived in the Broad Ripple area in Indianapolis. There’s probably more restaurants in 1 square mile there than there are in Jasper. Why did you decide to come back to Jasper? Family and Jasper. I always had a goal in my mind that I would be back here. The experience that I was able to attain in Indianapolis, I wouldn’t change anything in that regard. For my path, professionally. Just always wanted to (come back) because I enjoy com-
munity, but more importantly family, especially with my wife (Micheala) being from Jasper as well. I think we always had the interest in getting back here. How do you like being involved in Jasper Youth League Baseball? With my experience in high school with baseball, it’s just an opportunity with the kids. My kids are too young to be involved in sporting events all the
for me it has always been a challenging answer, ‘what is that?’ When I moved to Indianapolis, it was strictly for work. I was young and enjoyed the assets that were there, but it always was kind of short-term ... . In my personal approach, in going to Indianapolis to obtain experience and then coming back, it worked out well and I think that’s working out well for many others as well. As a surveyor, are there any designs in infrastructure that you saw working in Indianapolis that are now popping up in the county? On the commercial end, within the city of Jasper, the converting of (old factory) buildings into apartments. That was something that you saw (in Indianapolis) years ago, that we’re now seeing locally. There’s been more on trails, too. Do you feel like it’s easier to be involved in the community here than it would be in a big city? Certainly. (For example), you’re involved in organizing a hamburger stand for a church picnic, those are the same people that you might be working with (at Brosmer) or working with at Jasper Youth Baseball. In Indianapolis, you can just be a number.
Janessa Wolf
Marc Steczyk
Age: 40 Job: He was named the new director of the Lincoln Amphitheatre in July during an announcement by Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann. Personal: The Ferdinand resident is a former marketing and communications manager for Kimball and was the town manager for the Town of Ferdinand as well as the executive director of the Ferdinand Chamber of Commerce. He and wife Emi (Wright) are the parents of 4-year-old twins Casmir Townes and Dylan Mae Steczyk. Community Involvement: Marc is president of Next Act, the group working on reopening the Astra Theatre in downtown Jasper. He is fresh from wrapping up the sixth Ferdinand Folk Fest, an annual event for which he is founder and director. Why all this community involvement keying on cultural opportunities for you and the groups working with you? Part of my drive ... is that we want to create a sense of place. If we create more of these opportunities for younger professionals and their families, it will be more enticing for getting families to come back after they’ve done the same thing we’ve done — experienced Indianapolis, Louisville or whatever. It gives them an opportunity to experience what they’ve had ... and yet live the reason they came back: the safety, the schools. It’s a way of hopefully driving population growth. At the end of the day, that’s what all of our groups are trying to do. What about your musical background? One of the reasons I started writing my own songs was I couldn’t mimic other guitar players. It was a way of learning to play the guitar better through
time. I’m not where I have to be at the field for so many games, but I can still do quite a bit for the treasurer part. The support that we get in that program is amazing. For our recreational league, we have a great turnout. Do you feel like baseball has strengthened your relationship with the community? It has allowed me to spend time with people that I probably would not have (otherwise). Certainly, there’s interaction with a lot of the parents of the kids. And you reach out to businesses for support, so certainly, I would say so. How would you sell Jasper to a young person? I feel the personalities that are here and the look of Jasper is inviting. For my age, I feel when people look to come back maybe it’s activities and things, whether it’s Louisville or Evansville, it’s only an hour away. When I lived in Indianapolis, that was no different. What needs to be added to the county to attract young people to the area? The reasons I moved back were family related. There’s nothing that you can build that would change that and my mentality toward it. I enjoy the discussions or potential additions of things that may draw (young people) back, but
the writing of songs. Some of (my songs) are good. Some of them are bad. It’s certainly a stress reliever, as well. It’s just something I really enjoy doing. This is a good day for you because you are borrowing a lift platform so you can hang some banners at the Lincoln Amphitheatre. Generally speaking, what makes a good day? A good day for me is waking up, getting the kids and sitting down with my daughter (Dylan) — because she is the most inclined to do it, (Casey) sits over on the couch and props himself up with pillows — and we watch “Curious George.” That’s how every day starts and it ends. And then, making progress on all the different ventures I’m involved in. If we continue to move forward, then we’re doing good things. What doesn’t the public know about you? I’m a Boonville Pioneer. Class of 1993.
Age: 25 Job: Recreation Director for City of Jasper Personal: Lives in Jasper and is sister to four brothers — Jeremy, Jeff, Jason and Jared. Community involvement: Jasper High School girls soccer junior varsity coach and JHS administrative volunteer; Jasper Middle School seventhgrade girls basketball coach; member of Jasper Optimist Club; participant in Jasper Women’s Softball League. You’re from Jasper. Why come back here after college? Really to be with my family. Family is a big thing and Jasper is where my family is. I couldn’t live somewhere where my family wasn’t a five-minute drive away. I have four older brothers and then my parents and we’ve been close our entire lives. My brothers taught me sports and my dad was big into athletics. They raised me that family is important. Families here are connected and stick together. We get together all the time just to hang out, not just for holidays. What about for people who aren’t from here? How do we get them here? In college, everybody asked me what was so special about Jasper. It’s the perfect-sized community. People stick by each other. Even at this job, I know I can count on all my co-workers. People don’t like to see others fall on their face. They’ll help you any way they can. This town is like this. I’d bring anybody, everybody here. You don’t hear of problems. How do we keep it that way? I hope to raise my kids the way my parents raised me — keep values and morals in the right direction, keep people from being selfish, teach them
to be selfless. What needs to be done to attract young people? The small town is the best community. We don’t know strangers and even if you met somebody you didn’t know, everybody is willing to introduce themselves. If somebody is looking for nice place with right values and a place that is adding things to build the community — like the (Spirit of Jasper) train, The Parklands — you get them to come once to see one thing, they see it and say it’s beautiful and want to come back. We hear that a lot with the train. They can’t wait to see more. What do you do for fun? I don’t have trouble. For me, a perfect night is sitting outside by the fire pit hanging with my friends and family. In high school, people asked what there was to do. I couldn’t wait to go to college. But the truth is, big towns cost money. You learn to value the little things. Plus, places are a 45-minute drive and you can come back into town.
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Elizabeth Wertman
Steffi Schmuecker
Age: 28 Job: Regional retail banking manager at German American Personal: She and her husband, Florian, live in Ferdinand with their two children, Lena, 2 and Felix, 1. Community Involvement: Kiwanis Club, Sister Cities Partnership Commission, Actors Community Theater, Junior Achievement Advisory Board for Dubois County You grew up in Schnellville, but went away for college. What drew you back to Dubois County? Going away to college, you see more of the world and you realize Dubois County is actually a great place to live. There are so many caring people here. I had a neighbor that after a storm, trees fell in both our yards. I went to work, and when I got back my neighbor had cleaned up both our yards. I just feel like that community you can’t find anywhere else. I wanted my kids to have the same experience I had with caring people all around. What does a regional retail banking manager do? Basically I oversee all the accounts and lending. If you open an account, cash a check, take out a loan, I oversee it. I cover all of Dubois County, Tell City and Rockport. What’s the best thing about Dubois County? You can see people you know anywhere, and people are willing to talk and get to know each other. I’m one of those people that don’t shy away from
that kind of thing. I like getting to know people. I also enjoy living in a place where we feel so small, but we still have a lot of the amenities and can do things like a larger community. You’re quite involved in the community. What makes you want to be active? I’ve just always liked to be involved in things. When you’re in a small community, you can do those things. ... Like with the Actors Community Theater. I may not have time to be in a show and rehearse, but I still like the arts and theater, so I’m on the board. It’s a way for me to be involved with something I care about. (Former Jasper mayor Bill Schmitt) asked me to be on the Partnership Commission, which deals with our relationship with Pfaffenweiler (Germany) and all the activities with that. That was cool to be appointed to since my husband is from Germany, and our relationship with Pfaffenweiler, I think, is something that makes Jasper unique.
Ben Potter
Age: 32 Job: Software engineer at Kimball Electronics Personal: Potter has two sons — Alex, 5, and Jack, 2 Community Involvement: Dubois County Suds Club and Dubois County Emerging Leaders. When Potter was moving back to Jasper from West Lafayette in September, he wanted to find a place to live. That need for housing sparked an idea and he came close to developing a database for Dubois County housing. His work at Kimball Electronics and family life delayed it. But now development of the database could happen. So I was wanting to create a database that you could store and look up data on apartment and rental information. One thing I noticed (when I was moving back), was there’s not a good way to find a place to live to move back. I was fortunate that my sister (Jessica DeLorenzo) had a house that was vacant. There was a while where people were looking at buying her house before I moved back and I was like, ‘Well if that happens I need a place to live, so I looked at apartments and there’s really not a good resource to look up where to live in the county. There are some decent sites that do a good job of keeping the housing up, but rentals just aren’t on there. What options does the county have? One thing I found was there was this website ... that just lists properties. It doesn’t say whether they are for rent now, whether they were for rent 10 years ago or if they just sold it. You’d have to go down this list and hope that these phones numbers are current and
Age: 25 Job: Executive Director of the Huntingburg Chamber of Commerce Personal: Lives in Huntingburg with husband Chad. Community Involvement: Huntingburg Chamber of Commerce and Stellar Steering Committee Member Why did you decide to come back to Huntingburg? Well, I went to the Herron School of Art and Design at IUPUI. I think it was family, pretty much. My (husband) is from Holland and he had already moved back home because we already knew we were going to have to take over the family farm. How is your first year as director of the Huntingburg Chamber of Commerce going? It’s definitely something I’m learning a lot in. It’s very different from what I’m used to as far as work criteria goes, but it’s very rewarding. Do you feel like your role as chamber director has strengthened your relationship with the community? That’s what my hope is. I feel like since I’ve stepped in it’s been kind of weak, but everyone’s greeted me with open arms and I’ve been able to bring in some potential members and show everyone the ideas I have. I don’t want this to just be a membership gig, I want people to really participate. How would you sell Huntingburg to a young person? My main thing is, there is a lot of room to thrive. A lot of the businesses and community events are run by older people, which is great to learn but you can emerge as a young leader from the experience. I thought this job would be the one that would set me over the top, and so far it’s been tough, but if you work hard you will thrive and see
yourself succeed and in turn see your community succeed, which I feel is pretty rewarding. What needs to be added to the county to attract young people to the area? We have nice family events, but I do feel sometimes that my generation and younger are left out. I have a 14-yearold sister and I constantly hear, “I’m bored.” I think back to when I was 14, granted I had my twin, but we’d always find something to do. Nowadays there’s different aspects to that and we need to step up and bring it to their age level of interest. Finding those kind of things is going to be a challenge. What’s your biggest goal over the coming year for the chamber? I really just think it’s building that relationship with our members. I want to know what they want and what they want to see from the chamber. I don’t have a magic wand, I can’t do it all, but I want to provide an actual service to the chamber and help these business thrive. The ones I haven’t touched base with I want to get out there and hear from them and take their concerns very seriously.
Nick Hostetter
ask these people and hope they have something. If you really wanted to do a thorough search, you’d have to call everyone. Would a housing app or database help the county? There’s a market for it here because there’s a lot of employers and a lot them are looking for employees. They’re having to travel huge distances and aren’t able to move to the area very easily because they don’t know where to move to. How is this different from Craigslist? It seemed like a lot of times the stuff on Craigslist was not very centralized to an area. ... A lot of people here don’t use Craigslist or know how to post on it, but they might use a chamber of commerce, or something more local. Do you think not having a website or database hinders the county’s ability to attract young people? Yes, definitely younger people. Younger people go online to look for housing.
Age: 38 Job: Owner of Azura Café in Jasper. Personal: Lives in Jasper with wife Angie and three children, Calvin, 14, Henry, 6 and Marley, 5. Community Involvement: On the board of Dubois Strong, member of Jasper Rifle Club, Emerging Leaders, Association of Indiana Counties and Jasper Youth Football You grew up in Celestine. Why come back after college? It was home. It was easy to come back. What makes Dubois County great? The people support local businesses. Plus it’s safe and a great place to raise kids. What made you want to open your own business? Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to own my own business. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do. When a local lady was selling Bronx Bagel, I bought it and was going to open a franchise. Someone said we’d still need a place to get bagels, though, so, no, I didn’t open a franchise. What do you like about owning your own business? It’s rewarding knowing you’re in control of your own destiny. What you put in you’re going to get out of it. What’s the biggest challenge about owning your own business?
It’s hard to find the qualified people for the jobs. I just think the food industry comes with a stigma of being like fast food. But I think we’re one of the cleaner, nicer restaurants to work at in the area. And we’re not fast food. You’re on the Dubois County Council. What made you want to do that? My dad was on the county council as a kid, so it’s just something I wanted to do. What do you see in the future for Dubois County? Growth. I think our businesses and our population are both going to grow. It’s a great place to be.
THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Matt Sanders
Age: 36 Job: Owner of Libby’s Gourmet Ice Cream in Jasper Peronal: Lives in Jasper with wife, Libby, and five children — 17-yearold Cameron, 13-year-old Calvin 13, 12-year-old Madline, 7-year-old Evan 7 and 3-year-old Oliver. Community involvement: Supporter of arts and community involvement. How did you get here? I’m from Bedford, but we’ve been here 16, 17 years. We’ve raised all our kids here. We moved here for my (old) job and loved it. We moved back to Bedford for my wife’s job and stayed there about a year, but I drove my kids to school here for a year. When we decided to start the business, there was no other option. This area supports local, it supports new business and that’s where we were going to go. What did you like about downtown Jasper? We’ve always liked the downtown atmosphere. We go to Bloomington often. We like that feel, people walking, old buildings. When that (space on the Courthouse Square) came open, it was a perfect fit. The downsides are lack of drive-through and parking. But it’s nice to see people walk around the Square. People can sit around and relax and not worry about cars and noise. What have you seen in the downtown area? More kids that may have not come downtown often or at all, they’re making it a destination. Dates, late nights, hanging out. Parking is always something. Also, other types of businesses that are willing to stay open late and different types of businesses. Still, we have
Eric Schue
some pretty cool ones like Just Whimsy and new places like Mad Batter and Bread N Butter. You’ve embraced the use of social media to grow your business. We like to really communicate with customers and make them a part of what we’re doing. That allows us to get ideas and promotions, get thoughts to them and it allows for feedback. That’s been a fun thing we’re doing. It’s our shop but it’s kind of everyone’s shop because they can comment and contact us. We get a lot of people offer helpful suggestions. It seems odd to me. It doubt Walm How have people helped? Some of are them are just flavors. Some of those make it. Java Chip was a big one. Stens likes to order often and we deliver to some places during the day. People at Stens named it for me. Nutter Butter was a suggestion from a customer. Almond Joy was requested by several people. We’ve been asked to do soup. If you’re going to run and operate a business, you need to pay attention to what people say.
Age: 40 Job: Attorney and Partner at Bingham Greenebaum Doll in Jasper. Personal: Lives in Jasper with wife Audra (Reyling) and children Noah, 11, Aidan, 9, Ella, 5, and Quinten, 3. Community involvement: Jasper Youth Hoops and Jasper Youth Baseball coach; 4-H club leader, Holy Trinity School council member; chairman of the Distinguished Citizens Award for the Boy Scouts of America, Lincoln Heritage District; member of Anderson Woods and Tri-County YMCA board of directors; past board member of the Jasper Action Team, Jasper Optimist Club and Dubois County Republican Party. Did you always know you wanted to come back to Dubois County? I’ve always loved this area, and knew I wanted to end up back here eventually. But I don’t know if I always thought that I would come back right away; I made that decision in my sophomore year of college. I spent the year in Innsbruk, Austria in a foreign-exchange program, and I came to two conclusions. No. 1, it was one of the most fun year of my life. But No. 2, long term, I wanted to be back home. This is home for me. What made you want to move back? I’ve always thought that it’s a unique community. You don’t see small communities like this that have, throughout their history, grown so many of their own businesses that have become globally competitive. And that has benefited the community in that the people who run those businesses are all right here. So much of that gets invested into this community. We’re not worried about a plant shutting down and them
moving out of town. They’re right here. Their families are all right here. How do we attract younger people to the community? We need to increase the diversity around here. We’ve made strides in the last 15 or 20 years. The community is very different, in a good way, than what it was 30 years ago. But we can still do better. I think we have opened up a lot to other people moving in. Some 25 years ago, our community wasn’t seen as an open and accepting community. In some ways, we still fight that battle. We need to market ourselves better. We’ve got 1,000 jobs open in Dubois County at any given time. We need to figure out a way to market that, to tell our story a little bit better. And we must actively recruit our own children to come back. We do a great job of raising our kids here, the schools do a fantastic job of educating them, but we don’t always do the best job of recruiting them to come back. And that’s something we need to work on more.
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
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Cale Knies
Age: 31 Job: Director of the City of Jasper’s personnel, safety and loss control department. He also helps out at the family business, Knies Flooring, which was started by his father Mark, uncle Dan and grandfather Richard. Personal: He and wife Layn (Witte) are expecting their first child in November. Community involvement: Jasper Youth Football coach, Jasper Youth Baseball board member and former coach; Jasper Knights of Columbus and Holy Family Catholic Church member. Companies in Arizona, Georgia and Texas were interested in hiring you. Why did you choose to come back to Jasper? Jasper is home. It’s where my family is, and family is a big thing for me. When I visited Texas, I was shown around. The streets were dirty, you didn’t see much accountability from the people who had
homes. It wasn’t Jasper. How can the community attract young people to move here? Being on this side of the desk, I deal with a lot of different things. We have a lot of great assets here — parks, the down-
Brittany Schepers
Age: 28 Job: Birdseye clerk-treasurer. Personal: She and husband Jonathon Schepers are the parents of a 10-monthold son, Carter. Her father, David Smith, is Birdseye’s fire chief. How did you wind up as Birdseye’s clerk-treasurer? I had wanted this position for quite a few years. (In the 2010 election), I backed out and waited to this past year. Donna (King) backed out (in 2014) so I had no one running against me.
town, the riverfront. But things can be improved. But instead of just going in and changing something right away, I want to figure out why we did it this way in the first place. You have to figure out the details first, connect the dots. Study it first before you look at changing it, to make sure a change would be for the better. Take downtown, for instance. Many communities have a downtown, but some are losing that. We have a nice one. But then Libby’s moved in and stayed open in the evening. Now Libby’s is the place to hang out. People stop at Bread and Butter after work. The shops around the Square are great, but they close at 5 or 6. If a place like The Astra would open and have things in the evening, that would be great. That’s what people our age want to do. We want to make where we are the best it can be. We don’t want to just sit here with the status quo. Has coaching strengthened your relationship with the community? It’s nice to be in the community as something else other than, “Oh, he works for the city.” This is another venue for me
to get out there and do something else for the community besides working for the community. I want to be out there and be involved; being behind the desk is not the same thing. What does being involved in sports do for a person? As a kid, it gave me something positive to do. It’s healthy exercise and you can have fun with it. That’s what I want the kids I coach to get out of it, too. Let’s get them out of the house doing something, instead of just sitting there on a computer or an iPad. As a kid, I wanted to be better than anyone else out there. As you grow up, your focus changes. It’s more about going out there and helping the kids have fun, learn about the game and about respect and camaraderie. As a coach, you’re teaching that. Besides work and coaching, what else do you like to do? I listen to music, all sorts of music. I can listen to the big band, country, rap, rock, anything. I enjoy watching sports, hanging out with friends and reading historical books about wars and military leaders.
What makes a good day for a clerk-treasurer? When people pay their bills on time. That always makes a good day, along with no bounced checks. What do you enjoy about the job? Meeting new people. I’m a people person, so I love when people come in to pay their bills. What is it about Birdseye that you like? The community. People just come together and do what needs to be done without being told. What does Birdseye need going into the future?
I wish more young people would step up and do things in the community and also in the county. You have the ‘veterans’ who are of retirement age who are looking for young people to step up and take control. Anything you can’t do? I’m kind of a jack of all trades. I’ll try anything once. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Hopefully in this same position. What is something the public doesn’t know about you? I love to pitch horseshoes.
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Work in 3-D AT KIMBALL INTERNATIONAL, ENGINEER ALEX MLSNA OPERATES IN A REALM THAT HAS THE COMPANY AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION.
By JASON RECKER jrecker@dcherald.com
A
lex Mlsna is a Florida native who grew up splitting time in Chicago and Kansas City before settling on college at the University of Evansville. The engineer at Kimball International wasn’t sure where he’d end up or what he’d be doing, but his job as a member of Kimball’s research and development department includes various facets of technology. Perhaps the most intriguing part of his daily duties involve a $250,000 3-D printing machine of which Mlsna is the master. When you think about Kimball’s office and hotel furniture, Mlsna’s job isn’t what comes to mind. But there’s far more to local industry than most folks realize, and the 41-year-old Mlsna has helped Kimball use technology to improve production and outpace competitors.
ARIANA VAN DEN AKKER/THE HERALD
Alex Mlsna, left, senior research and design engineer at Kimball International, extracts 3-D printed chair pieces from nylon powder while working with intern and Jasper senior JohnPaul Luke at Kimball International’s research and design headquarters in Jasper. Mlsna was born in Florida and lived in Chicago and Kansas City before studying at the University of Evansville. First, how did you get here? (After UE), I had an opportunity to get a job in Indy for the world’s largest pneumatics and automation manufacturer. I was mentored by a Japanese transplant and took a faster path into product development. I was on teams that achieved two patents with product design. I was there nine years and I was in charge of group of 19 product engineers. I had a 2-year-old at the time. We asked ourselves, ‘Where do we want to go?’ My wife is from near Crane
south of Bloomington. She’s been more associated with the middle of nowhere. We moved to Plainfield for two years when a Kimball recruiter found me and was looking for a mixed materials engineer. Injection molding. Extrusion. Powder coatings. Stuff they didn’t have in a wood-based company. We moved here. We wanted land. We found out Dubois County schools have a good academic reputation. We found 5 acres in Bretzville off the beaten path. I got
to design the house. Tell me about 3-D printing. We ask ourselves what other things we can do, and 3-D printing is one thing. About 81⁄2 years ago, I was asked to help lead a group to find the first 3-D printer we got. We still have that today. Took us from pictures in computer-automated drafting to touching and feeling something you can use. We’ve used that off and on for production, for sales and marketing. What are the practical uses for the
THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
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PHOTOS BY ARIANA VAN DEN AKKER/THE HERALD
Above: Mlsna tested to see how 3-D printed chair pieces fit together while extracting them from nylon powder. Left: Mlsna uses an air compressor to clean nylon powder off of 3-D printed chair pieces. 3-D printer? We have expensive fixtures and when they break, it costs thousands of dollars to replace. Once we’ve scanned them, we can reproduce those parts on our machine for couple hundred dollars. We can run anything that fits into the build volume — 13 by 15 by 18 inches. (Recently), we had a request that came in for a whole new arm assembly. That will be made as a piece they can put on a chair in one to two days. If we didn’t have that machine, we could try three things. We could outsource it and wait seven to 10 days and pay a premium. We could try it in-house on (a CNC machine) and that’s two to four weeks because of production needs. We could have another 3-D printer or machine house make it and that’s two to four weeks and the cost is five to 10 times more. We did a big massive project last year with a new chair for National (Office Furniture, a division of Kimball). The outside lead time was three weeks and $27,000. We had it done in five days and it cost us $2,000. We’re looking at if we can go bigger with what we produce in-house. Other machines can do 39-by-39-by 20. Our machine cost $250,000. At that price, when we save
$25,000 in one example, it pays for itself really quick. It did in about six months. Are competitors adept at 3-D printing? That surprises me. A year ago at NEOCON, we did a big showcase on 3-D printing. We had people from other companies and competitors like Herman Miller, Steelcase and they had no idea. They haven’t embraced it as aggressively as we did. I hated the fact that we showed it and brought awareness to them because they’ll recognize the advantages of it. It’s been more than eight years since we’ve been using it and the value has been astronomical. It kind of stinks that we showed it off, but it was only a matter of time before they realized where it is. I’ve been asked to talk to a lead engineer at Cummins (the engine manufacturer in Columbus) to see if they can use something like we have to help them. We’re not afraid to brag. We’re not afraid to admit that we’ve messed up. But the advantages far outweigh any (mistakes). How exactly does 3-D printing work. Dumb it down. The idea in traditional manufacturing is that I take something and start cutting
away material to get down to my shape. With 3-D printing, I know what the material is going to be and instead of taking away material, I bond material into the shape I want. I’ve never taken away anything. It’s there and these pieces of dust or binder or filament, I just want you to adhere in this particular shape. But there’s a different process in how we get there. There’s an extrusion base where it’s like a glue gun and builds up the base. There’s another (method) where you have powder and liquid binder or a laser that causes it to bond. I’ve heard about robots running the show. Is that part of what you do? Does that scare people? People think if I put a robot doing work, I can reduce head count. Well, no because there are other areas that are manually intensive we don’t have manpower for, so if we can have robot do basic, repeated tasks, we can use labor to do other stuff. That’s different than I’m used to. The Japanese way is to go faster, reduce head count. We want to free up people to get into something else. We show stuff going on and people out there aren’t afraid of tech. They can see how their jobs get easier, or the
benefits of it. A lot of places look at it as it’s automated so I lose my job. So employees are receptive to technology? Generally speaking, we have people between their late 50s and early 20s. Older ones say, “It’s new technology and I’m interfacing with a computer screen, changing programs and having something come out of it.” It’s something they weren’t accustomed to seeing. The younger ones pick it up quicker. We are trying to make sure we cross-train different generations. How can you improve? We have (Vincennes University Jasper Campus). Can we work with them to partner or offset each other in terms of tech and what we have in-house? They have things we don’t. We have things here. We haven’t figured out how to cross that yet. We could fill a void and share resources. That’s a nice thing to being in this area. We have the ability to share information. You think of Kimball as furniture and wood. But you get behind the doors and see that we have state-of-the-art scanning tech and add that to manufacturing we’ve been doing for years and how we’re using it and they’re just blown away by it.
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Need for truck drivers moving at high speed By WYATT STAYNER wstayner@dcherald.com
One day, your kid could grow up to be a truck driver. That’s what Dubois County business leaders, educators and politicians would like to see, as truck driving is Indiana’s biggest profession. But before the county expands on the business, it will have to fight the stigma associated with the job. “Everybody who doesn’t know anything about trucking and thinks it’s a bunch of biker gangs running drugs. That’s not the case,” said Matt Schaick, the national credit manager for Meyer Distributing, a local logistics company based in Jasper. “It’s a highly professionalized field with lots of responsibility.” To fight that stigma, Vincennes University Jasper Campus is working on developing a class that will train students for truck driving and help them acquire their commercial driver’s license for truck driving. Local leaders and companies have called for the instruction. It will start out as a small class of about four students, said Ed Cole, president of Dubois Strong, the county’s economic development group. The class doesn’t yet have a start date and still has to some final details to settle before plans are finalized. “We see (the class) taking off like a rocket once we get that started,” Cole said. Jim McFaul, director for continuing education at VUJC, said the class still needs to find an instructor and acquire its state and federal approvals. McFaul did note that the class would mimic Vincennes University’s program in Plainfield, where students receive “classroom instruction, lab practice and on-the-road driving,” according to VUJC’s website. Those lessons include pulling loaded trailers in various conditions and different roadways. “We have had wonderful cooperation and input from several local companies,” McFaul said. “They have a critical shortage of drivers and we recognize that this is a workforce development issue. We have also received support from the Dubois County Commissioners, Dubois County Park Board
Chris Hart-Epley of Jasper double-checked a list of parts to make sure he had all of them before loading them in a delivery truck at a Meyer Distributing warehouse. Meyer Distributing owner Mike Braun said that his company doesn’t have much issue filling open positions, but finding truck drivers can be difficult. He said a larger pool of drivers would benefit the local manufacturing companies since you have to be able to ship what you make. HERALD FILE PHOTO
and the (Dubois County) 4-H Council to gain access to the fairgrounds parking lot for the practice range for the CDL training. It is truly a collaborative effort.” Meyer Distributing owner Mike Braun said Meyer Distributing doesn’t have much trouble filling most open positions, but noted that finding truck drivers can be difficult. It’s federally illegal for minors to cross state lines as a truck driver and Braun said he’d like to see that law change. It would help. By 2017, there could be more than 250,000 unfilled trucker jobs, according to a forecast by FTR, an industry research firm. Braun said a bigger pool of drivers would benefit the plethora of local manufacturing companies, since you have to be able to ship what you make. “We’ll have more logistics businesses here than we will manufacturing one day,”
Braun said. “And manufacturing benefits from wherever logistics are good.” Cole added that eventually Dubois Strong would like to look into a high school class for training to get students ready even earlier. While minors can’t cross state lines while driving big trucks, they can operate within the state of Indiana and there is proposed federal legislation that would change the age limit from 21 to 18. Braun said lowering the age limit would allow young folks to sooner enter what can be a lucrative profession. Meyer Distributing starts drivers at 45 cents per mile, with an average of about 115,000 miles driven a year. That puts the salary near $50,000 for a job that doesn’t require a traditional four-year college degree. “I can’t think of another job out of high school that would pay that much,” Braun said. While the job doesn’t require four years
of school, Cole said it’s still a respectable profession with highly specialized skills such as operating the GPS, computers and tracking logs that come with trucking. Or as Cole said, “It’s more than just pointing a truck down the road.” Cole also added that he thinks an emphasis on teaching truck driving is part of a bigger trend as the state looks toward more than merely the mainstream route of higher-education. “This is another type of training where you can earn a living and you don’t have to have a four-year degree,” Cole said. “There’s nothing wrong with a four-year degree if that is what you aspire to. But if that’s not what you want to be or what you want to do, there’s other professions that you can make a living in and I think that’s what this is pointing to.”
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Electrical Engineer Matthew Gadlage, left, and scientist Matt Kay, work in Global Deterrence and Defense Department’s cutting-edge SPECTRA lab at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. The two Dubois County residents are among the 5,500 people coming to work every day at NSWC Crane, which is southern Indiana’s secondlargest employer. PHOTO PROVIDED
Region’s economy hooks wagon to cutting-edge Crane By BILL POWELL bpowell@dcherald.com
CRANE — Indiana’s largest military employer employs 123 Dubois County residents, pays out $567 million annually in salary and benefits and pumps an estimated $2 million a day into the Hoosier economy.
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division is actually southern Indiana’s second-largest employer (Indiana University is No. 1) but the only place locally to pick up trusted microelectronics for a ship’s strategic missile system or specialty weapons and ammunition for special operations warriors.
Two of the Dubois County residents who are among the 5,500 people coming to work every day at NSWC Crane and its tenant activities like Crane Army Ammunition Activity are scientist Matt Kay and electrical engineer Matthew Gadlage, who has a doctorate from Vanderbilt University. Kay and Gadlage work at something
called the Global Deterrence and Defense Department’s SPECTRA Lab with an arsenal of equipment like an advanced scanning optical microscope used to keep the microelectronics right in the latest weapons See CRANE on Page 20
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Crane
(Concluded from Page 19) systems. “Let’s say you buy a cell phone or a laptop,” Gadlage said. “The electronics in it have to last maybe two or three years, but when you put electronics in a military or space system, it could have to last 40 or 50 years in extreme environments. “We want to take the latest and greatest commercial technology that you find in cell phones or laptops and see if we can use those in defense systems.” Gadlage was the first graduate of NSWC Crane’s PhD Fellowship Program, which helps employees complete doctoral studies in technical knowledge, advanced theories and techniques. Kay is enrolled in the same program, completing his degree through Purdue University. “In southern Indiana, we’re typically seen as an agricultural, rural community but Crane’s motto is ‘Harnessing the Power of Technology for the Warfighter’,” Kay said. “Our division works with microelectronics — it’s like a micro Silicon Valley.” Kay and Gadlage say the most important part of their work with microelectronic devices is knowing they are ensuring the security of men and women protecting the nation. “I like that I’m helping our country while working on the latest technology and interacting with scientists and engineers across the country,” Gadlage said. Kay said NSWC Crane proves young people in the region do not have to relocate to find satisfying careers working with cutting-edge technologies. “Crane is always looking for young, intelligent individuals who are interested in science and technology and want to make a real impact on their communities and their country,” he said. “One of the things I really enjoy about Crane is the potential — if you’re willing to work hard and you want to make a difference, the sky is the limit at Crane.”
Another person recognizing their potential at NSWC Crane is Lawrence County’s Angie Lewis, the installation’s first female chief of staff. On Sept. 30, she received Indiana’s most prestigious recognition for women in the state. The Indiana Commission for Women presents Torchbearer Awards to those who have stepped forward as leaders by breaking down barriers to women’s full participation while demonstrating achievement in the areas of their professional careers, community leadership and/or public service. Lewis joined the ranks of those honored for their contributions and pioneering spirits. NSWC Crane Commanding Officer Capt. Jeffrey Elder credited Lewis for playing a major role in increasing diversity. “She has worked diligently in increasing the percentage of female engineers and managers,” Elder said, “and her support of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Program has encouraged young women in southwestern Indiana to pursue careers in the sciences.” Lewis works with youth development on NSWC Crane and created the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence County, serving as board president for the club. That work, she said, “really helps me to understand that you have to invest in these kids during their formative years to get them on a path where they will be able to fill the technical jobs available on base and in the surrounding communities.” NSWC Crane has at least one employee from each of Indiana’s 92 counties and there are also 1,000 contractors at the base supporting the mission of developing and maintain weapon support systems for the military. Crane spokeswoman Pamela Ingram says the 100-square-mile facility in Martin, Greene and Lawrence counties — it is larger than the District of Columbia — has $225 million in contracts within Indiana and Hoosier pride that shows. “Each and every military visitor comments on the Indiana work ethic and the pride our people take in talking about and performing their work,” Ingram says.
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Emerging Leaders provides avenue to philanthropy By SAM STITES sstites@dcherald.com At its foundation four years ago, Dubois County Emerging Leaders had only four or five members. Today, the group is comprised of nearly 45 members whose shared goal is to network and promote philanthropy in Dubois County. The main focus of the group, which operates as an arm of the Dubois County Community Foundation, is to provide opportunities for Dubois County business and community leaders who are interested in giving. Involvement in Emerging Leaders includes monthly meetings and quarterly events that include presentations and group discussion with key community leaders across business, government and philanthropy in Dubois County. The group is co-chaired by Courtney Knies, executive director of Mentors for Youth, and Jessica DeLorenzo, organizational development manager at Kimball Electronics. Knies said all members contribute $120 or $10 per month. That moneys goes into an endowment that is then given as grant to a nonprofit. “Last year, we had 20 nonprofits nominated, then each of the members shared for two minutes on that nonprofit and why they’re passionate about it, so it’s amazing to learn about all the nonprofits and see your peers excited about something they’re engaged,” Knies said Last year, Emerging Leaders gave $5,000 to Mentors for Youth, an organization dedicated to facilitating mutually beneficial re-
ALISHA JUCEVIC/THE HERALD
Co-chairs of Dubois County Emerging Leaders, Jessica DeLorenzo, left, and Courtney Knies and member Josh Gunselman, all of Jasper, discussed member recruitment during the Emerging Leaders’ October steering committee meeting at the Dubois County Community Foundation in Jasper. lationships between youth and volunteers for the purpose of enhancing individual lives and the community. The grant was used to upgrade software that tracks the matches between youth and mentors in the program, allowing Mentors For Youth to improve service and better monitor outcomes. Knies said that at first, most of the members were 40 or younger, but today’s membership repre-
sents a wide range of ages and backgrounds. “We like to say that we’re for people who are new at philanthropy or young philanthropists” Knies said. “People who are just starting out on their journey of philanthropy. That could be someone who’s fresh out of college or someone who’s much older. We’re trying to not do so much as age as we are in life’s journey.” The events Emerging Leaders
have held include keynotes from former Dubois County Community Foundation President Bill Kaiser, Finishing Touches store owner Maureen Braun and a meetand-greet luncheon with Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner and Jasper Mayor Terry Seitz during which members got the chance to ask the mayors about their communities, working together, their dreams and their lives. “It was a really cool format.
(Seitz and Spinner) said they often don’t get asked things like that, they’re told to come and speak and they’re supposed to share whatever’s on their minds, so it was a cool and intimate experience,” Knies said. For DeLorenzo, Emerging Leaders is all about building community. “We’re building around family, working with our peers and the business leaders we connect with to build around that common theme of philanthropy and giving back to dubois county,” she said. DeLorenzo said one of her fondest memories of being involved with Emerging Leaders was two years ago when the group selected her pitch to give the grant to the Family Scholar House — a program from the Sisters of St. Benedict that supports single parents looking to further their education. DeLorenzo believes her peers are what keep her coming back year after year to help run the group. “I think it’s the people (that keep me involved),” she said. “It’s people like (Knies) and others, and getting to network with my peers,” DeLorenzo said. Knies and DeLorenzo are excited about the prospect of growing Emerging Leaders even more than it has over the past four years. They said it’s easy to find people passionate about philanthropy, but hard to find those with the time to spare. “I think the hardest thing for people to do is to commit, and we have a lot of people on the fence,” DeLorenzo said. “I’d tell anyone interested to come out to one of our events. If we fit, you’ll know. But first you need to come see what we’re about.”
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Jaycees still leaders in community service By BILL POWELL bpowell@dcherald.com JASPER — Indiana’s tally of Junior Chamber of Commerce chapters is down to eight, with only Jasper’s and Lanesville’s clubs located south of Indianapolis, but Jasper Jaycee President Jason Messmer said that doesn’t mean Dubois County’s chapter is slowing down. Jasper’s chapter is 67 years old, having been started in 1948 by founder Robert Gramelspacher as a way to develop leaders through community service. There were 37 men who signed the chapter charter in the beginning and there are 33 members today. Messmer, 38, estimates membership was between 125 and 150 members when he joined in 1999. He’s not going to lie, being involved with the Strassenfest Beir Garten — one of the chapter’s major projects to this day — enticed him to sign up. Then, he says, he helped on charity drives and Junior Pioneer campouts and, well, he was hooked. “Then I got going,” said the member now serving his second stint as president. Messmer is also a Junior Chamber International Senator, one of 26 to have achieved that status in the Jasper chapter’s history. “The Jaycees are huge in other states and other countries,” Messmer said. “You go overseas, it’s huge. Japan. China. Philippines. I have met people from everywhere.” Jasper’s chapter started out meeting in a bank basement but has since graduated to its well-known clubhouse at Jaycee Park near the 15th and Bartley streets and the Jasper Municipal Pool. Through the years, the Jasper Jaycees have tried their hand at dozens of projects. They shined shoes on the Square, sold popcorn at Jasper High School basketball games and helped the city sign up homeowners to buy garbage disposals in the 1950s. They started championship wrestling fund raisers, built permanent restrooms at a Little League field and stocked Beaver Lake with
Christine Rue and Matthew Blessinger, both of Jasper, joked around while loading pots with 15 to 16 dozen eggs in March at the Jasper Jaycees clubhouse at Jaycee Park in Jasper. The Jaycees dyed a total of 150 dozen eggs for the Easter egg hunt at the park. ARIANA VAN DEN AKKER THE HERALD
crappie in the 1960s. The 1970s ushered in the Strassenfest and the 1980s found women included as full voting members. The 1990s included Red Cross blood drives, circus fund raisers, bowling events and, with the Indiana State Police, those Junior Pioneer campouts. Some long-running events, like the distinguished service awards that ran from 1951 to 2011, have been discontinued but others — including the fest beer garden, annual Easter egg hunts, the sponsoring of Junior Pioneer campouts and Christmas decorating and lighting contest judging — continue to this day. Jasper Jaycees also form teams to take part in community events, like this year’s Holy Trinity Catholic School Cardboard Boat Regatta.
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The Jasper chapter awards a scholarship each year to one Jasper High School boy and one girl, with the fest beer garden serving as a major fundraiser. Last year, Messmer said, Jasper Jaycees started a Halloween lighting and decorating contest that is continuing this year. The chapter also gives $2,000 worth of food to 20 families each Thanksgiving. A program at Christmas to benefit needy children usually gets tweaked each year. Many of the projects could not continue without community support. For example, Messmer says, Farbest Foods donates the turkeys at Thanksgiving and Holiday Foods puts the food baskets together. Tom Seger and Wabash Valley Produce annually donate 150 dozen eggs for the chapter’s Easter
egg hunts. The Jaycees are geared for those between the ages of 18 and 40. Those who reach that upper limit are said to “rooster out,” Messmer said. “The age of 40 is the last year you can be a voting member,” Messmer said. “You can still come to the meetings and do things” and many of the chapter’s roostered out members are doing just that. In two years, Messmer said, when it’s his turn to rooster out, he will be like other former members in that he never plans to leave. Anyone wishing to become a Jaycee member can contact the chapter on Facebook or address written correspondence to P.O. Box 292, Jasper, IN, 47547-0292.
THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
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Junior Achievement builds business awareness By LEANN BURKE lburke@dcherald.com Third graders at Tenth Street School in Jasper built their own city and elected their teacher, Lori Kunkel, mayor during their first Junior Achievement class Oct. 2. Junior Achievement is a nonprofit dedicated to teaching students — kindergarten through seniors — principles of financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness. The program places local volunteers inside classrooms to instruct students at no cost to the school. Junior Achievement has classes in each of the four school districts in Dubois County and most of the schools. “It’s pretty prevalent,” said Ruth Wilson, program manager for Junior Achievement of Southwestern Indiana. Wilson reaches out to teachers to see if they’d like to use Junior Achievement in their curricula, and she matches each classroom with volunteers. The programs for the 2015-16 school year are just getting underway. In Kunkel’s third-grade classroom, the students learn about city structures and how financial institutions help businesses. The five-week program begins with students building a model city complete with zoning regulations and ends with students opening a restaurant in their city. Jane Merder, director of human resources for Servus, the Jasper-based company that owns and operates more than 130 restaurants, teaches the class. “Our company has volunteered with (Junior Achievement) for many years,” Merder said. “It gives them good life skills and teaches them how to save money.” Diane Brescher uses Junior Achievement in her first-grade classroom at Fifth Street School in Jasper. The first-grade course focuses on different kinds of communities and how family members contribute to the community through their jobs. “It gives the students awareness of what other communities are like,” Brescher said.
Tenth Street Elementary thirdgrader Daniel Sipes placed city hall in the business zone while learning about city planning zones from Jane Merder, director of human resources at Servus, on Oct. 2. Merder was scheduled to visit the class each Friday for five weeks to teach other lessons. ARIANA VAN DEN AKKER THE HERALD
“It shows them that (Jasper) is our community, but it’s not everyone’s community.” Junior Achievement courses fit with the Indiana state standards teachers are required to teach. In elementary school, the courses are part of the social studies curriculum. In middle school, the programs match math and English standards because students build résumés and model their own businesses. In high school, the programs fit best with economics or personal finance classes, but Wilson pointed out that the programs will link in some way within any curriculum. Kunkel appreciates how
well Junior Achievement programs work with state standards. “We concentrate so much on teaching to test, but this is something different and fun,” Kunkel said. “It’s nice for the kids to get a break.” Junior Achievement also reaches beyond the classroom to help students find the career that’s right for them. Eighth-graders can participate in Entrepreneurs in Action, a job shadow program in April. “It’s an awareness thing to say, ‘Hey, these are the careers that are available in Dubois County,” Wilson said. “But also it’s hoping that they’ll get matched with their
career interest so they can see if it’s something they really want to do or not.” In the spring, students from all four Dubois County high schools attend a career fair at Pike Central High School organized by Junior Achievement of Southern Indiana. The career fair shows the students careers available in their area and lets them practice networking and interviewing. For Kunkel, the best part of Junior Achievement is showing students what their own community has to offer. “It’s important for students to get to see community members in the classrooms,” she said.
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Under 40 pushes Jasper Engines over the top By LEANN BURKE lburke@dcherald.com
Jasper Engines & Transmissions likes promoting young professionals. Three of the company’s vice presidents are younger than 45, several managers are younger than 40, and the company has a sixmonth training course called Jasper Leadership Challenge that is specifically targeting employees with leadership potential and training them for a specific leadership role. “That’s the only way this company is going to grow,” said Doug Bawel, chairman and CEO. Or continue to grow, as the case may be. Jasper Engines just opened a new transmission plant on Power Drive in Jasper, and Transmission Division manager Sara Schmidt, 31, could use more manpower. “We can’t keep up,” she said of the company as a whole. “My goal is just to stabilize (the transmission division) in growth.” Schmidt, a Ferdinand native, began considering a career with Jasper Engines while attending Forest Park High School. The company often visited the school’s career readiness classes. Schmidt started her career with Jasper Engines in a human resources internship when she was a senior at Indiana University in Bloomington. Since then, she has worked in human resources and on the factory floor at the Crawford County facility and as transmissions manager at the Willow Springs, Mo., building. She returned to Jasper in 2010 when she became the transmission division manager. “I had always thought about (a role in leadership), but when I saw the people in leadership when I started, it interested me more,” she said. She liked how the leaders she worked under fostered a family feel. “It’s a very family-oriented company,” she said. “And the people I work with make it fun every day.” Jasper Certified Components Division manager Shari Gress, 31, agrees with Schmidt’s assessment.
Transmission division manager, Sara Schmidt, center, quizzed transmission inspector Lilia Anguiano, both of Jasper, to make sure she could look up the correct safety documents for the chemical she was using on the morning of Oct. 9 at Jasper Engines & Transmissions’ new plant on Power Drive in Jasper. Schmidt says she makes a point to quiz different workers on the floor each day who have recently started a new position. ALISHA JUCEVIC THE HERALD
“They’re a very people-oriented company,” she said. “It’s not uncommon that people come in with all sorts of problems — single parents, whatever— and I think JET really tries to work with them so they can have a good work-life balance.” Gress began her career in internal auditing at a time when JET wasn’t actively hiring, and she didn’t have the specific goal of rising through the ranks. “But they liked me and thought I’d be a good fit, and I was fortunate they saw something in me early on,” she said. “I think Jasper is good at picking out people early on and training them up.” Luke Bawel, vice president of Jasper Integrated Logistics and vice president of innovative solutions, is excited about the company’s growth. At age 31, he’s JET’s youngest VP. Luke grew up around JET after his father, Doug, and Gervase Schwenk pur-
chased the company from the Ruxer family in 1987. He studied business management at Indiana State University in Terre Haute and started working on the floor while still in school. After graduating, he moved to Pennsylvania to work with Jasper Innovative Solutions before the branch relocated to Crawford County four years ago. “Part of me always wanted to come back home and work for the company that helped my family get where we are today,” Luke said. Like Schmidt and Gress, Luke likes the family feel Jasper Engines promotes. “It’s more than just coming to work; it’s coming to work with your family,” he said. “When I come here, I know everyone’s husband, wife, kids.” Part of that family atmosphere likely stems from the fact that many of the Schwenks and Bawels work for Jasper Engines, although a famous last name isn’t
enough to get hired. “Just because you’re part of the family doesn’t guarantee you a position,” Doug said. “You have to work for it.” Luke thinks that’s a good thing. “The best thing is JET not only pays based on performance, but you get put in your position based on performance,” he said. “If someone’s willing to come here and work hard, the sky’s the limit. We do have a lot of young leaders — a lot of them are under 30 — and that’s simply due to the fact that they’re intelligent, dedicated and willing to work hard. I think that sets us apart from other companies.” For Doug, preparing the next generation of leaders is the most important part of his legacy, and he personally mentors 70 young people. “We believe you’re not measured on what you accomplish, but on those who you train,” Doug said.
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Lange family has Best interests in mind By LEANN BURKE lburke@dcherald.com
FERDINAND — When Clement “Clem” Lange and friend Ernie Prechtel founded Best Chairs in 1962, the furniture empire that is now Best Home Furnishings wasn’t on anyone’s mind. “We never would have thought we’d be this big when I was growing up,” said Brian Lange, Clem’s son and president of Best Home Furnishings. Throughout its 53-year history that included a buyout of Ernie Prechtel, Best Home Furnishings has grown to produce chairs of all sorts, sofas and a line of office furniture. The company also purchased one of its suppliers, Jasper Woodworking, and began manufacturing some of its own parts, and created a separate shipping company, Best Chairs Transit, to transport products nationally. The company has won several awards including the Reader’s Choice award from Baby and Children’s Product News and 2010 Supplier of the Year from Furniture Today, and Clem has been nominated for the Furniture Hall of Fame. Now a handful of Clem’s grandchildren are taking on roles at the company, ensuring Best Home Furnishings lasts through at least three generations. Clem’s oldest grandson, Bradley Wendholt, 33, is division manager of stationary sofas and power reclining chairs and always knew he wanted to work at Best. “I kind of wanted to stay close to home,” he said. He earned a degree in management from University of Southern Indiana in Evansville. His favorite part of his job is training employees. “I like working with the people and teaching people how to assemble the product,” he said. Like Brad, Sarah Lange, 22, knew she’d come back to Best after getting her degree in marketing and international business from Butler University in Indianapolis.
Tyler Wendholt is a member of the third generation of Best Home Furnishings co-founder Clement Lange’s family to work for the Ferdinand company. Wendholt, 33, attended Indiana State University to become a pilot and has since returned to fly company tours. Wendholt performed a preflight check of the company plane before a flight Oct. 1. DAVE WEATHERWAX THE HERALD
“It was just a matter of when,” she said. Sarah works in the marketing department as an analyst. “I like that it’s a mixture of facts and creativity,” she said. “It’s also fun to research the competition and figure out where Best needs to go.” Like a few of her cousins, Sarah worked on the factory floor before graduating college, so she likes to stop by and visit. Every so often, she brings cookies. “I like to go back and see people I worked with in the factory,” she said. “It’s just cool to see people you’ve worked with and know everything about all the departments.” Bradley’s brother, Tyler, 30, fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a pilot at Indiana State University and came back to fly company tours. “(Flying) was always something I wanted to do,” Tyler said. “Just growing up around it — we lived near Huntingburg Airport — it was a dream of mine. And traveling is fun.”
His favorite stop depends on the season, but heading to Florida during the winter is on the list. Brian’s daughter Janae, 24, works in the marketing department as the social media coordinator, and she designs some of the Accent chairs. She graduated from Purdue University in Lafayette with a degree in advertising and public relations. She decided to return to Best while she was in school. “It comes with a sense of pride, following in your father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and having a say in something your family has built from the ground up,” she said. Janae currently lives in Portsmith, N.H., with her boyfriend, Justin Wendholt, a sales representative for MasterBrand Cabinets of Jasper. The couple plans to move back to Ferdinand in a few years. She likes having her own space to get work done, but said the distance can be a challenge. “I mostly work through email and phone calls,” she said.
For the Langes, communication is key when it comes to working with family. “It works out pretty good,” Brian said. “We all get along. We all have communication with each other so we aren’t stepping on each other’s toes.” Of course, it helps that not every family member works in the family business. “We have a lot of family,” Bradley said. “There are quite a few of them that are not really involved with Best, and I very rarely work with any of my cousins.” Even without the whole family in the company, running Best is more complicated than it used to be. Unlike the grandchildren, Brian and his siblings, Glenn Lange, CEO, Joey Lange, executive vice president and Sheila Wendholt, vice president of public relations, didn’t have to interview when they started at the company. “Dad just gave us jobs,” Brian recalled. “It was a little bit easier back then. We weren’t near the company we are now.”
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Menke children put stamp on OFS Brands By SAM STITES sstites@dcherald.com
HUNTINGBURG — The story of OFS Brands is as much tied to the city of Huntingburg as it is a family tradition, and the same can be said for its future. Hank Menke, CEO and president, has built upon the legacy of his parents’ achievement and turned a small venetian blind and residential furniture company into a commercial contract furniture giant that operates five brands, employs nearly 1,600 people and exports its products around the globe. But OFS Brands’ continued success doesn’t rely solely on Hank’s shoulders; that’s where the family tradition comes in. Hank Menke’s four children — Ryan, 38, Jon, 37, Cory, 33, and Molly, 30 — all work at OFS across various departments including sales, logistics, operations and marketing. “We all have our own role in the company, and obviously my father is active president and CEO of the company since he moved back (to Huntingburg) in the mid-’70s,” said Cory Menke, OFS Brands director of operations. “We always knew in the back of our heads that we’d potentially come back here one day, not only for the business aspect, but more for an environment we knew we’d want to raise our children in.” All graduates of Southridge High School, each of the four Menke children left Huntingburg upon completing high school to pursue higher education and jobs outside the family business. “We have a family rule: You have to work for someone else for four years minimum,” said Ryan Menke. “I don’t think anyone necessarily saw themselves coming back, it wasn’t like we were getting groomed. There’s just this innate calling to come back.” After graduating from Southridge in 1995, Ryan attended the University of Evansville to complete his bachelor’s in marketing before moving to Atlanta, where he sold insurance door-to-door. “(It helped me) learn the appreciation of
ARIANA VAN DEN AKKER/THE HERALD.
Every morning, Cory Menke, left, director of operations at OFS, makes rounds through the company’s facilities in Huntingburg. He checked in with Jeff Verkamp of Birdseye, who is a supervisor at Plant 18. a dollar, that’s for sure. I worked in some interesting neighborhoods,” he said. After coming back to Huntingburg to help OFS Brands with enterprise resource planning for the Y2K switch, Ryan worked for a furniture dealership in St. Louis for a little more than two years, eventually landing a spot with OFS Brands’ service division in 2003. “I was 24 or 25, running a trucking company. I had no idea what I was doing,” he laughed. Nearly 12 years later, Ryan was promoted to senior vice president of sales and marketing, working directly for his father. Jon took a slightly different route. After graduating from Southridge in 1997, he worked in construction in both Nashville, Ind., and Bloomington until moving back to Huntingburg with his high school sweetheart, Allison Haller Menke, in 2005 to work for OFS Brands’ trucking division, Styline
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Logistics. Today, Styline Logistics is one of the largest for-hire furniture carriers in the United States. With Jon at the helm, Styline operates more than 180 tractors and 500 trailers that ship OFS Brands’ products as well as other local and national brands. Cory’s path to becoming director of operations at OFS Brands started by leaving Huntingburg in 2001 to attend Millikin University in Decatur, Ill. He landed a position with a furniture dealership in South Carolina, where he and his wife, Kelsey DeCoursey Menke, lived for five years before returning to the family business. Molly left Huntingburg in 2003 for Tallahassee, Fla., to attend Florida State University, double majoring in marketing and multinational business operations. After earning her degrees, she moved to Charleston, S.C., to work for a freight and logistics company before relocating to work for a
furniture dealership in Atlanta. An opportunity to expand her sales and marketing training at OFS Brands brought her back to Huntingburg in 2013, and she is now brand manager for First Office, a commercial division of OFS Brands. All fiercely independent, each of Hank’s children say they were attracted back to OFS Brands by family, opportunity to grow professionally and the small-town atmosphere of their beloved Huntingburg. “I think there’s a lot of good values you can pick up living in a small, tight-knit community like ours is,” Cory said. The Menkes believe their father has built something special at OFS Brands, and that is a family culture that transcends the Menkes themselves and encompasses each employee. “The thing I love most about this company, and I think it always has been this way and I was raised this way, is that I know that every employee here is my family,” Molly said. “It’s been my family since I was a kid. That’s just what my dad taught me. He instilled that in all of us.” While each of the four is excited about the positions they’re in, they all have bigger aspirations for themselves and the company as a whole. They point to their father for instilling a mentality to never be satisfied and always keep pushing forward. With that in mind, none of them expect to assume their father’s role as CEO and president. At least not anytime soon. “I can say with a lot of confidence that I don’t think my father will ever be entirely retired,” Cory said. “He’s got too much invested here. He’s very much tied into what we do.” Ryan believes it will be have to a cross-section of their talents that fills the void when their father does finally decide to retire. “The company’s gotten so much bigger that it has to have multiple heads on a single body,” he said. “We all have totally different skills and we’re completely different people. It’s going to take all of us together to fill what he’s done as a leader.”
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Young minds at heart of Meyer’s national growth By WYATT STAYNER wstayner@dcherald.com The flip-flops and polo shirts. That’s all a part of Mike Braun’s master plan for Jasper-based Meyer Distributing. The business, which Mike purchased in 1995, has grown into one of the most successful specialty-product marketing and distribution centers in the country, with 54 locations in 50 states. The reason for Meyer’s success can be found in its strategically placed locations, which makes distribution quick and reliable, but just as important is Mike’s openness to embracing outside-thebox thinking and young employees. “It’s about getting the job done more than anything,” said Jason Braun, Mike’s 36-year-old son and Jasper native who works as the company’s chief information officer. “If you want to wear ugly shorts and flip-flops to work, great.” Matt Schaick, 34, the national credit manager, said a vast majority of Meyer’s upper-management employees are younger than 40. The creative ideas and loose atmosphere at Meyer even extend to job titles. Mike said he leaves those designations up to the employees, not sweating the small details. He’d rather look at the big picture. “Executive vice president. Senior vice president. Vice president. I don’t care which one of the three you choose,” Braun said. “It better be very productive VP.” Meyer’s vice president of sales and marketing is Nick Gramelspacher, 37, a Jasper native who’s been with the company since 1999. He said Mike’s casual attitude has been around the whole time. Gramelspacher was about 19 when he started at Meyer and he said the prevalence of young people at the company made it easier to be confident, relax and have fun. The conversations flowed easier and it was not uncommon to form friendships with co-workers. “If you’ve got a lot of peers at work that are close to your same age, you’re not nearly as intimidated,” Gramelspacher said.
Nicholas Gramelspacher, vice president of sales and marketing, discussed sales during a morning meeting Oct. 8 at Meyer Distributing in Jasper. Gramelspacher, 37, is a Jasper native who’s been with the company since 1999. ALISHA JUCEVIC THE HERALD
The plan to surround himself with young folks wasn’t always part of the plan for Mike, but over time the nature of the business just made it the natural progression. Braun likes to be surrounded by young people because they bring a different perspective to the company and makes sure that Meyer continues to advance. “It just naturally evolved,” said Mike, 61, who also serves as a state representative in the Indiana Legislature. “This is a highoctane, quick-paced business. Not to say that those of us who are older couldn’t keep
pace, but it’s certainly appealing to somebody who is quick on their feet. Young folks seem to like it here.” Mike thinks the lack of rigidity at Meyer is appealing to young people. There’s not really a dress code, Mike has never worn a tie to work and if you walk through the Jasper warehouse, you’re likely to hear every kind of music imaginable mixed in with the sounds of forklifts beeping. Mike plans to keep his business that way as it undergoes more and more expansion. Meyer has never had a layoff for economic
reasons, Mike said, and a big reason for the company’s financial success is due, in part, to how younger employees have helped Mike forecast the future and stay one step ahead. With so many young people around, it’s easy to wake up and go to work every day. “They’ve got a lot more energy than folks who might be my age,” Mike said. “When you’re young, you’re looking at all the possibilities that lie ahead and that’s part of what keeps you engaged and interested in the present.”
Next year, Larry and Betty Hanselman will celebrate 55 years as the proprietors of the Schnitzelbank Restaurant. With the help of their six children, and now a new generation of grandchildren, the Hanselman’s businesses now includes the Schnitzelbank Restaurant, Schnitzelbank Catering, the Jasper Hampton Inn, and KlubHaus 61. Recently, the dream of owning a Brewery & Pub came to life with the opening of Schnitz Brewery & Pub. The Hanselman Family thanks everyone for their support and patronage throughout the years! R E S TA U R A N T
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Art plays big part in everyday life in county
By CANDY NEAL cneal@dcherald.com
Arts play a prominent role in Dubois County, even if the average person doesn’t always view their activities as artistic. In March, families flock to Krempp Gallery to see their children’s artwork on the gallery walls. They may look at it as supporting their children, which is true. But it’s also viewing artwork created by lots of budding artists. On any given Friday or Saturday night, partygoers visit their favorite bar and hear a band play. They may see it as just hanging out, but what they’re doing it taking in musical compositions created or interpreted by that band. That’s art. People visiting Schroeder Soccer Complex or sitting at the intersection of Newton and Sixth streets or cruising on State Road 56 just west of Precious Blood Church see massive outdoor sculptures. For them, it might be just normal. But it is art. Dance classes, music recitals, cheer competitions, band performances, school plays, dances at the VFWs and American Legions — the arts are all around us in varying capacities. Dubois County is saturated with art. It’s just a matter of picking the kind of art that’s to your liking. The most obvious place for indulging in the arts is the Jasper Arts Center, which opened in 1977. The Jasper Arts Department, which runs the center, was created in 1975. The charge to establish an arts center started in 1971 with a group of people — including Stan Krempp, then president of Aristokraft, jewelry store owner Lenny Newman, Bob McCarty, who owns a photography studio in the city, and Jack Rumbach, then publisher of The Herald — who saw the need for such a place. Before then, various art groups and troupes performed wherever they could — public parks, St. Joseph Parish’s Kundek Hall, the 4-H Fairgrounds cattle barn. The group formed Jasper Auditorium Corporation as a nonprofit that existed for the sole purpose of collecting money for and building a community auditorium,
ARIANA VAN DEN AKKER/THE HERALD
Kayli Hoffman of Jasper, 11, left, Abbi Hall of Huntingburg, 11, Grace Jarboe-Bartley of Jasper, 9, and Gabrielle Goodwin of Jasper, 11, rehearsed a scene from “Sleeping Beauty” with Ashley Whitsitt of Jasper, 15, in June at the Jasper Arts Center. then went door to door to asking for donations. As they did so, they discovered another benefit of having a center, and the arts. “As we approached people for money, we told them that the auditorium would be a good recruitment tool,” McCarty recalled. “One of the biggest expenses an employer has is recruiting, training and keeping employees. If you train an employee and that employee leaves, you’ve lost that investment. It’s gone.” That still holds true. As the City of Jasper created a master plan for its downtown and riverfront area, consultants shared with the community the important role the arts play in recruitment. “The City of Jasper is — with good reason — proud of a decades-long tradition of supporting the arts and culture,” the plan reads. “The breadth and quality of the arts programming in a community the size of Jasper is impressive, and the arts are firmly embedded in the culture and character of the community.” In fact, the plan suggests that more public art be incorporated into the community,
with part of that blending the city’s woodworking history through innovative street furniture. The idea is being researched. Meanwhile, the Friends of the Arts, in which McCarty is actively involved, is looking at incorporating and supporting the arts. At the moment, the organization is planning to donate to the arts center a sculpture that is being made in New Mexico — a sculpture of composer Ludwig van Beethoven playing a piano. The Friends of the Arts supports art endeavors not only at the arts center, but also at other venues in the county. For instance, the friends was a sponsor of the Rosenvolk Medieval Festival last month at Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand. More communities in the county are leaning on the arts as a mechanism to attract people to their areas. The artistic vein has been spreading, as communities are adding various festivals and concerts to the artistic scene. Music plays a prominent role at festivals in places like Huntingburg, Haysville, Schnellville and all points within the county’s
borders. Arts and craft fairs are held. People attend canvass painting classes at local stores or hold painting parties in their homes. Summer music series are popular in the cities. “Lots of people like to create and be creative. And they’re doing that through these different venues,” Jasper Arts Center Director Kit Miracle said. “So it’s a win-win situation for our county.” Ferdinand held its annual folk festival in September. Huntingburg had its annual jazz and wine festival in April and held a blues festival last month. The Actors Community Theatre hosts an adult theater show every fall in Huntingburg. In Jasper, Next Act Inc. is actively raising money to purchase the Astra Theatre, with a goal of reopening the downtown venue. The Jasper Arts Department would manage the center and hold varied programs there, as will Next Act. The theatre would also be made available for rentals for other programming. Selena Vonderheide, who is a member of Next Act and the Jasper Community Arts Commission, which oversees the city arts department, said reopening a venue like the Astra will benefit the next generations who will want to return to Dubois County. Restoring and re-purposing landmarks is a way to move toward the future while respecting roots, she said. “We need to honor our roots and our legacy in the county and while honoring that, we also have to recognize that we have to evolve and grow,” Vonderheide said. “If you don’t, you go away.” The arts center is working together with the Jasper Public Library Board to use the former Hoosier Desk site at Third and Mill streets. The library board is looking to move the library to the site while the arts center would use part of the site for arts events and offices. “It’s one of those things that feeds off each other,” Miracle said. “You have different events and activities, and people get caught up in the excitement. They want to see things happen elsewhere, and they want to be a part of it.”
THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
ARTIST RENDERING COURTESY CITY OF HUNTINGBURG
Downtown development in Huntingburg, which includes a complete overhaul of Fourth Street, is tied directly to the city’s Stellar Community initiative.
Developing A Downtown By CANDY NEAL and SAM STITES cneal@dcherald.com, sstites@dcherald.com
J
asper has been actively working on its downtown area for the last three years, crafting a master plan for the downtown and riverfront area in 2013. The plan is divided into five sections: Courthouse Square, enhancing the city’s relationship to the river, reuse of the former industrial properties, downtown connectivity and integrating art in the public realm. The plan for Courthouse Square strives to make the Square more vibrant. To do that, the plan proposes: ■■ Reducing the amount of pavement around the square by diminishing the width of the street on all four sides in order to provide additional sidewalk right-of-way. ■■ Establishing a continuous vegetative zone around the square. The welllandscaped buffer will reduce stormwater runoff and create a handicapped accessible liner between the cars and sidewalk. ■■ Creating “activity nodes” at the four corners of the Square, which would provide opportunities to relax and gather, eat, listen to music and watch the activity occurring in and around the Square. ■■ Providing additional seating, street trees and pedestrian-scaled lighting throughout the Square. ■■ Emphasizing greater programming opportunities within the square itself by capitalizing on Jasper’s arts and cultural community. Enhancing the city’s relationship to the river includes: ■■ Creating a new River Road that extends East Second Street in both directions. The new right-of-way — designed to equally accommodate pedestrians and cars — should parallel the train tracks and create a new “address” for existing buildings and future development. ■■ Dedicating a public right-of-way along the north side of the river, located to the south of Jasper Cabinet, which expands the existing Riverwalk trail. ■■ Constructing a second pedestrian bridge at the end of Main Street that spans the river and connects the north and south sides of the Patoka. ■■ Using the construction of the north Riverwalk to assist with bank stabilization and as a means to link the former
■■ DUBOIS COUNTY CITIES TAP LONG-TERM PLANS, COMMUNITY INPUT AND LOCAL AND STATE FUNDS TO MAKE THEIR DOWNTOWNS DESIRED DESTINATIONS. industrial area to Dave Buehler Plaza. ■■ Establishing a bridge-to-bridge zone for new programming opportunities along the river. ■■ Extending Mill Street south to Patoka River as a public, pedestrian promenade that connects the German American Boulevard to the river. Reusing former industrial properties includes: ■■ Initiating the redevelopment of one or more of the former industrial properties by tapping into state and federal historic tax credits and seeking tenants for renovated spaces. ■■ Capitalizing on the zoning ordinance update to allow for mixed-use that increases flexibility and innovation for site redevelopment. Connecting the city’s downtown to the river area includes: ■■ Redesigning Main Street to serve as the primary connection between the Courthouse and the riverfront. ■■ Initiating the process of converting one-way streets in the downtown area back to two-way streets. ■■ Enacting public policy initiatives that place pedestrian and bicycle use on par with vehicular travel. ■■ Encouraging development of locales that generate activity between the Square and the riverfront. ■■ Integrating art in the public realm means: ■■ Initiating a street furniture program that includes chairs, benches and desks that celebrates Jasper’s wood manufacturing heritage. ■■ Creating an opportunity for numerous pieces of sculpture and public art throughout the downtown and riverfront area as well as the approaches to the community. ■■ Designing “conversation nooks” at the four corners of the Courthouse Square to incorporate these public art elements ■■ Working with the Jasper Community Arts Commission and others to encourage frequent temporary public
art installations as well as pop-up initiatives. The city is starting to move on some parts of the plan. The city’s redevelopment commission is seeking a company that will craft specific designs for the Square. Plans are being put in place to use the former Hoosier Desk site at Third and Mill streets into the Jasper Cultural Center, which would house the city’s public library and space for the city arts department. A separate group, Next Act Inc., is raising money to buy and reopen the Astra Theatre for art events and activities, which the city supports. When the time is right, the city’s arts department will likely manage the theater and hold events inside. Jasper is also participating in a contest to win prize money to help with work on the Square and the Jasper Cultural Center. The city is one of 50 communities in the America’s Best Communities contest, having been named a quarterfinalist this past spring. The contest is geared at revitalizing small towns and communities and carries a $3 million grand prize investment for the first-place community, $2 million for second place and $1 million for third place. Huntingburg In Huntingburg, downtown development is tied directly to the city’s Stellar Community initiative awarded to the city by the Officer of Community and Rural Affairs in 2014. Projects range from a complete overhaul of downtown Fourth Street, the addition of a new park at Market Street and the placement of a walking trail that will connect Charles C. Niehaus Memorial Park and the Huntingburg City Park via a route that will pass right through downtown. The idea is to reinvigorate the look and feel of what is already a classic downtown sector. The renovation of downtown Fourth Street is in the beginning stages of planning, with a public forum held in June to heard feedback on preliminary design work on for the street layout as well plans for the Market Street Park from Indianapolis-based design firm Taylor, Siefker and Williams. The layout of Fourth Street includes a “flex” option where the city can change the arrangement of on-street parking or close it off entirely for public events. The proposed brick street is aimed at giving new life to the atmo-
sphere of Fourth Street while preserving its historic feel. As for the new Market Street Park, the design includes an amphitheater with a stage capable of being used from the front (facing the amphitheater seating) or back (facing into the park) in order to host a diverse range of community events. It’s easy to see events like community movie nights or the Haunted Huntingburg Blues Fest — which had its inaugural run this October — held here. The design also features a number of aesthetically pleasing features such as a covered terrace for hosting events like the weekly farmers market that currently takes place on Saturday mornings in the spring, summer and fall in the parking lot at Huntingburg Memorial Gymnasium. The Heritage Trail walking path is the proposed cherry on top of the city’s downtown revitalization efforts. The trail would connect Charles C. Niehaus Park, 403 W 6th St., to Huntingburg City Park, 203 S Cherry St., with a path that would utilize the renovated sidewalks of Fourth Street, bringing increased focus and traffic to Huntingburg’s downtown sector. Ferdinand While Ferdinand doesn’t have a downtown, per se, there are some who are looking to create a central hub of activity at the historic Wollenmann House, which currently houses Monkey Hollow Winery. Diane Hoppenjans, owner of Tin Lizzy’s in Ferdinand, is one of several Ferdinand residents who helped save the house from demolition by purchasing the building and donating it to the Ferdinand Historical Society, believes the Wollenmann House could be a bustling epicenter of culture and commerce, serving as a base for several other local artisan food and beverage companies. Hoppenjans also would like to see the building become another venue for live music, bringing added revitalization and attraction to Ferdinand by building off the success of the Ferdinand Folk Festival. For Town Councilman Ron Weyer, the key to attracting young folk and new laborers to make the move to Ferdinand is by continuing to offer events like the folk festival, a plan that fits in with private interest in bringing added focus to the Wollenmann house.
THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
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THE HERALD ■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Connectivity ‘will save time, improve quality of life’ ■■ JASPER AND HUNTINGBURG ARE MOVING TOWARD HIGHSPEED INTERNET SERVICE THE CITIES’ LEADERS SAY WILL BE A MAJOR BOOST. By CANDY NEAL cneal@dcherald.com Jasper is becoming a “Gigacity,” but what does that really mean for the average person? It could mean a lot, if the average person chooses to take advantage of the lightningfast service to run Internet and upload and download information on home, business and handheld devices. Almost all of us do that. “Having gigabit connectivity means having access to very high speeds of service. But it means much more than that,” said Cullen McCarty, CEO of Smithville Telecom, the company near Bloomington that’s leading a project to outfit Jasper with the next step in connectivity. “Many new applications for education, advanced health care, improved business productivity, are all in development for fiber-based gigabit connectivity. The application will help us all save time and improve our quality of life.” Access to gigabit fiber means being able to download information 10 times faster than cable. Multiple devices can run simultaneously without slowing each other down. High-definition television is crystal clear. Internet connections work faster, which can increase productivity and efficiency for businesses. According to Smithville, the average time it takes to download a webpage via cable is 1.37 seconds; with the gigabit fiber, that time is decreased to three-hundreth (.03) of a second. Downloading an album takes 85.42 seconds on the average; with gigabit fiber, that time is cut to 1.59 seconds. A movie that takes 58.31 minutes to download regularly will take 1.08 minutes on
Brian Redman of Mitchell laid line in September for a new high-speed internet service that will turn Jasper into a “Gigacity.” ARIANA VAN DEN AKKER THE HERALD
gigabit fiber. “In addition to our 21st-century fiber, we are installing new technology that will allow gigabit speeds to be accessed by a new wireless router and desktop,” McCarty said. “Previously, gigabit connectivity could only be fully harnessed by personal computers through an Ethernet cable.” “Jasper residents will have access to a full gigabit fiber network, which will feature high-speed in-home and business wireless gigabit connectivity,” Jasper Mayor Terry Seitz said. The service “will enable virtually all businesses and residents of Jasper to have access to extremely high-speed connectivity for both uploading and downloading information, receipt of entertainment and for day-to-day communications.” This was made possible through the city using as leverage its plan to create a fiber network to the city’s nine municipal buildings. That project replaced the city’s
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decades-old and failing phone system and cabling and allowed the city to upgrade its email system. The city’s service has been installed. Smithville is now working on the citywide build out. The approximate $7 million investment is being paid for by Smithville, not by taxes or tax-increment financing. The first neighborhoods that connect to the service should be able to do so before the year’s end. The project will take three years to complete, and Smithville has not yet announced how much the service will cost customers. Jasper isn’t alone in its move to add high-speed connections. In October, Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner and Perry-Spencer Communications CEO Jim Dauby announced a project to bring high-speed fiber-optic Internet to 100 percent of Huntingburg residents over the next two years. The project, dubbed
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No matter age, variety makes libraries appealing By LEANN BURKE lburke@dcherald.com It might be the digital age, but that doesn’t mean libraries can shut their doors. Libraries offer myriad programs and services for people of all ages, many that don’t even include books. In addition to the traditional shelves upon shelves of books, libraries offer free DVD and CD rentals. On the website for both the Huntingburg and Dubois Contractual libraries, patrons can find eBooks, music downloads, genealogy resources and databases of newspaper, magazine and academic journal articles. As the future of the Jasper Public Library remains unresolved more than a decade after debate began, folks in Ferdinand and Dubois can enjoy new libraries. Birdseye has a bigger space and Huntingburg has its own library, too. The facilities are used, and the patrons are often times young. “The relevance of libraries in the digital age lies in their ability to offer media in all forms,” said Jordan Schuetter, a 27-year-old Jasper native studying for a masters degree in library science from IUPUI. “And librarians have proven to be adaptable.” Activities and programs are also a big part of a day at the library. In addition to book clubs and author visits, librarians in Dubois County teach computer classes, lead craft clubs, organize shows for local musicians and proctor tests for college students taking classes online or commuting. And that’s not an exhaustive list. “A lot of people are like, ‘Oh it’s a library, it’s just a bunch of books,” said Emily Huddleston, 15, a volunteer at the Jasper Public Library. “But it’s not. There’s a knitting club at the high school now, and they have one here.” One of the most popular activities is children’s story time. Whether it’s at the Huntingburg Library or a branch of the Dubois County Contractual Library, librarians can count on at least 10 families attending. Story times include a story, a craft and games. Mitzie Kiefer of Jasper brings sons,
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Vickie Campbell of Ferdinand helped her son Jack, 5, with his homework during a recent evening visit to the Jasper Public Library. Miles, 5, and Orion, 2, to story time so they can enjoy the activities. “It’s a chance for the kids to do activities we may not do at home,” Kiefer said. Story times are also resources for children who aren’t in school yet or who don’t attend traditional schools. “I home school, so this is an outing for him and a way to socialize with other kids,” said Yvonne Lueken of Jasper. The Luekens recently moved to Jasper from Huntingburg, so Lueken continues to take her 5-year-old son, Tobias, to activities at the
Huntingburg Library. Of course, story time also offers social time for the parents. “After you start coming and you enjoy coming, you get to know the other moms,” Lueken said. At the Huntingburg Library, the moms often chat in the children’s section while they wait for their kids to finish digging through the shelves. As they grow up, the kids from story time might lose interest in books, but Huddleston thinks they’ll still use the library if
they’re anything like her peers. “I don’t really see a lot of people checking out books that are my age,” she said. “They pretty much go straight to the computers.” In Schuetter’s mind, libraries will always be relevant. When he hears someone say libraries aren’t necessary for the digital age, he figures they haven’t been inside one in a while. “It’s more than books and a bank of computers,” he said. “Libraries offer services and products that level the intellectual playing field.”
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Head brewer Wayne Patmore of Celestine climbed inside a brewing vessel to clean protein from its wall after brewing a batch of beer recently at the Schnitz Brewery & Pub in Jasper. The brewery produces 217 gallons of beer at a time. Below: Patmore raked used grains from the mash tun following a recent brew. The grains are given to local farmers to feed to cattle. Bottom: Patmore used a mixture of Willamette hops and yeast nutrient in a batch of beer recently.
Brewing Up Community ■■ JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, LOCAL BEER CHOICES WERE DOMINATED BY BUD, MILLER AND COORS. NOW, THANKS IN PART TO A TRIO OF NEW BREWERIES IN THE AREA, FOLKS ARE SIPPING ALL KINDS OF ALES.
Story by Sam Stites Photos by Erica Lafser
T
en years ago, it was Miller, Coors or Budweiser. That was it. Those were the only beers a majority of people drank or cared to talk about in Dubois County, according to Alan Hanselman — co-owner of the recently opened Schnitz Brewery & Pub in Jasper. Today, Hanselman is one of the several business owners and beer lovers looking to bring the explosion of the craft beer industry to Dubois County. Hanselman believes the increased attention to craft beer across the country has finally caught up to southern Indiana, and he wants to be on the forefront of the cultural and economic boon of artisan brew. “I think right now, with the explosion of the craft breweries and stuff like that, we knew if we didn’t do it, someone eventually would here in Jasper,” Hanselman said. As co-owner of the Schnitzelbank restaurant, Hanselman has seen the demand for locally brewed beer increase tremendously in the past couple years. He said people from outside the area always ask if the Schnitzelbank serves local beer, which until now, had not. “It used to be a lot of the German beers that we have on draft, the imports and stuff like that, but we’re starting out selling just about everything (we brew) down there,” he said. The mad scientist behind Hanselman’s new venture is friend and head brewer
Wayne Patmore, a local homebrewer turned professional after Hanselman recruited him to head up operations at the Schnitz. Over the past two years, Hanselman has been planning moves and purchasing equipment to start the Schnitz Brewery & Pub. The business has six, 217-gallon fermenters on a constant cycle producing approximately two, seven-barrel batches of beer per week. Hanselman and Patmore decided to go with four flagship beers to start — a hefeweizen, a blonde ale, an India pale ale and a porter. Patmore was heavily involved in the Dubois County Suds Club, a local homebrew club, before Hanselman approached him about leaving his day job, and he credits his days brewing in garages and backyards with friends as the training behind his passion. “The community was ready for it,” Patmore said. “The homebrewer community is very tight-knit, and the popularity of craft brew in the area has grown tremendously.” Patmore believes the increase in exposure and popularity of craft beer in Dubois County in part stems from local establishments carrying a variety of beer from all over the country. But it was really local competitors and fellow homebrewers Ben Nowotarski and Zach Lichlyter, the duo behind Basket Case Brewery, who Hanselman and Patmore thank for paving the way. See COMMUNITY on Page 40
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Community (Concluded from Page 39) “Basket Case was really the test market to actually see that people wanted (craft beer),” Hanselman said. Nowotarski said he and Lichlyter kicked around the idea of starting their own brewery for a while, but after years of friends stealing their home brew at parties and being told they should use their talents professionally, they finally started Basket Case Brewing in December 2012 with the help of friends Kim and B Joe Aull, owners of the Mill House restaurant in Jasper. “Zach and I sit around most Saturdays brewing, and you’re having beer while you’re making it, and we’d say to each other, ‘Man it would be so cool to do this (professionally) someday,” Nowotarski said. Basket Case started with just two beers — a nut brown ale, named “Busta” after rapper Busta Rhymes, and an English pale ale called “Revolution” for The Beatles song of the same name. The duo has since continued with the musical theme, naming their brewery after the 1994 Green Day song “Basket Case” but also an homage when they’d bring their homebrew to parties in a wicker basket. They’ve added two more flagship brews — “Maneater,” a blonde ale, and “Hoppy By Nature,” an IPA. They also have a few seasonal brews including “Ramble On,” a Belgian blonde ale. For the Basket Case guys, a new brewery in town isn’t seen as a threat. In fact, they see it as an opportunity to help each other grow and bring even more attention to craft beer. “A lot of people would think of it as competitive, but I’ve learned that a lot of breweries are willing to help each other,” Nowotarski said. “There’s a lot of camaraderie in the business because there’s not a lot of businesses that do what we do.” Nowotarski said that if a customer tries a beer at Basket Case and likes it, they’re more apt to try a craft beer when they visit the Schnitz and visa versa. He said he’s about the potential cross-pollination of their customers, but also intrigued at the
Schnitz Brewery & Pub in Jasper has six, 217-gallon fermenters in its brewery that are on a constant cycle producing approximately two, seven-barrel batches of beer per week. fact Patmore’s efforts will push them to try new things and create better beer. “I guess there is a certain competitiveness because it keeps us pushing,” Nowotarski said. “It makes us up our game as much as we possibly can. The better the beer, the better for everyone.” Twenty minutes south, another new brewery, St. Benedict Brew Works, is getting its start at Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand. Co-owners and brewers Andy Hedinger and Vince Luecke opened their doors last month, and are thrilled to be a part of Dubois County’s growing craft beer scene. Because of the smaller capacity of their system — about 35 gallons per batch — Luecke and Hedinger have to brew more often to keep a steady output, but they like that it allows them to experiment without huge risk of failure. “We’ve tasted all of our beers and we’re very happy with them,” Luecke said. “As a smaller system, it’s an advantage because we can try new things, and if something goes wrong, we’re not out huge sums of
time and money.” Like Patmore, Nowotarski and Lichlyter, Hedinger and Luecke are also self-trained homebrewers. After more than 15 years of homebrewing, Luecke and Hedinger decided it was time to follow their dream of becoming brewery owner-operators. “We started honing recipes a little over two years ago. That’s when we started getting serious and we ended up approaching the Sisters about the possibilities,” Hedinger said. “We called the Sisters out of the blue and asked for a meeting to discuss a business venture, and while we think they were surprised by the proposal, there was also this overwhelming support and energy that came from it.” Within the next year, Ferdinand is rumored to have a second brewery — a jointventure between Brent Sicard, wife Amanda and friend Aaron Trafton. The three are expected to open sometime in 2016. Hedinger’s family also owns and operates Monkey Hollow Winery since its inception in 2011. Hedinger believes St. Benedict Brew Works adds not just another craft
brewery to Dubois County, but another artisan attraction to Ferdinand. The last brewery to operate in Ferdinand, according to Hedinger, was Ferdinand Brewing Co., which closed nearly 100 years ago. St. Benedict has nearly 10 beers including a hefeweizen, sweet stout and cream ale. But not all are on tap, Luecke said. He noted they’re particularly proud of their hefeweizen, which won top awards during a contest at the Jasper Strassenfest two years ago. Hedinger and Luecke agreed that the craft brewing community fosters a sense of friendliness and fellowship that transcends competition. “Brewers are passionate about beer and we converse often. I’ve gone to (the Schnitz and Basket Case) with questions and they’ve been very helpful,” Hedinger said. “It’s a pay-it-forward kind of camaraderie to help each other out. Just a few weeks ago, (Patmore) was kind enough to let us use their keg washer to clean a few kegs until we got ours up and running. It’s that kind of willingness and generosity that brings us all together.”