Business Connection winter 2015

A publication of

WINTER 2015

Digging into the market

Made-Rite Fence Co. builds on opportunities for growth

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 1

Tipton Park PlazaStreet 436 Washington 380 Plaza Drive, Suite D Columbus IN 472501 Columbus, IN 47201 812-372-7892 812-372-7892

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WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 3

Contents Features

Made-Rite Fence Co.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Columbus Learning Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Multi-generation businesses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Housing market. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Economic Outlook Breakfast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 New and Small Business Education Center. . 30

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On the cover

Pablo Lopez operates an auger for Made-Rite Fence Co. | photo by April Knox

In every issue

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Mark McNulty column. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 On the Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Morton Marcus column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Around the Water Cooler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Business Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Business Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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Comments should be sent to Doug Showalter, The Republic, 333 Second St., Columbus, IN 47201 or call 812-379-5625 or dshowalter@therepublic.com.

Advertising information: Call 812-379-5652. Š2015 by AIM Media Indiana. All rights reserved. Reproduction of stories, photographs and advertisements without permission is prohibited. Stock images provided by Š iStock.

4 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 5

George Hege is the owner of Made-Rite Fence Co.

A decision

Made-Rite George Hege learns that good fences also make good business

A

By Jennifer Willhite n photos by April Knox

s a self-described realist, George Hege believes life is about taking advantage of every opportunity offered without questioning where it may lead because everything happens for a reason.

The Columbus resident has worked in the fencing industry for more than a decade, but says he didn’t intentionally start out on this journey. He joined the labor union right out of high school and took a construction job in Indianapolis. After three years,

6 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

the Columbus East High School alumnus decided to return home to work on his family’s 400-acre farm in eastern Bartholomew County.

To help pay for insurance on the farm, Hege drove a school bus for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. “I had some things I wanted to purchase and had to find a way to come up with the money,” he says.

After racking his brain he had an idea: fencing.

Installing agricultural fencing was something that

was in demand that he knew he was good at. Soon 42-year-old Hege discovered doing both jobs wasn’t going to work out, so the bus driving gig had to go.

Shortly after diving in to the business, Hege launched Made-Rite Fence Co. in 2008. For the first three years he hired contractual help here and there for bigger projects, but mainly worked solo.

“I seen there was potential there,” he says.

“There were so many of us who worked out of a garage or truck. When I started it, I started with what I knew. Then I networked and made friends and people asked me if I could do more things, and it just snowballed.”

Hege was soon installing fencing for more than just pastures. As business picked up, he branched out to offer fencing and containment options for residential, industrial and commercial properties.

In August 2011, Jami Graham hired on to help Hege with bookkeeping and the office part of things.

Graham wears many hats, among them customer service, payroll and even some footwork, including visiting sites to give estimates and help customers make informed decisions about what fencing options best suit their needs.

“Fencing is not something that I ever thought I would do,” she says. “I started out part time and quickly became full time.”

Just since Graham hired on, Made-Rite’s sales have increased 90 percent in four years. And it is that growth that’s contributed to the company’s recent growing pains.

Historically, Hege and Graham did a lot of legwork to get clients, from submitting company resumes to cold-calls, but now constant inquiry calls from potential and established clients have become testament of a demand for Made-Rite products greater than he ever dreamed.

They agree that business organization simply boils down to structure, from how you conduct product inventory to sending out crews to job sites. It’s a matter of making sure things don’t fall through the cracks, because what works for one type of project may not work for another, Graham says.

Despite having to re-evaluate his overall approach to meet growing demand, Hege says the business is certainly going the way he wants it to. He currently employs seven individuals who make up two crews that he sends out to complete jobs within the Columbus area and surrounding counties.

Hege moves lumber.

“It’s amazing how many more opportunities and doors you see during this long haul of a journey we are going on,” he says. “I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason.”

Hege admits that if someone told him 10 years ago he’d have a fencing company today, he wouldn’t have believed it.

One aspect that seems to have taken him by surprise is seeing what’s involved when reinvesting in the business. He admits that when you reach a certain point as a business owner you become limited because as a business grows it requires more resources, including time, manpower and money, to feed that growth.

Recruiting good help is certainly a challenge, Hege admits. But part of the allure of what his business does is the cool tools he and his crew use.

The days of posthole diggers and excessive physical labor are something of the past, he says.

Part of keeping employees happy is reducing the amount of physical labor they have to exert to complete a project, Graham says. see Made-Rite on page 8

An auger attachment WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 7

Made-Rite continued from page 7 “There’s an art to it,” Hege adds. “Tools are not invented to make jobs harder; they’re invented to ease the burden of doing the job at hand.”

Acknowledging he is “self-taught” in many areas, Hege says it’s easier for him to offer the numerous ways one should not go about a job than how to actually do it. It is his dedication to doing a job right the first time and training his crews to do the same that has led to his company’s ability to offer customers a product that speaks for itself.

Working nearly 80 hours each week juggling farming and the fencing business leaves Hege little room for leisure.

“One thing people don’t always readily understand is when you are a farmer with livestock, it’s a 24/7 job,” he says.

According to Hege, there is no “down time.” He says he often questions what people do in their free time, because when he isn’t managing his fencing business he’s caring for his livestock and maintaining the row crops of the family farm.

“I love looking back at the end of the day and reflecting on the day knowing I accomplished something,” he says. “I like to see progress. That brings me joy.”

Fencing supplies Hege says he has worked very hard to maintain the family farm and build the fencing business for his 14-year-old son, Elias, whom he believes will take over when the time comes.

“I want to leave him with a better spot than my folks left me,” Hege says. “It’s all about opportunity, and you make the most of what is given.”

Employees of Made-Rite Fence Co. are, from left, Blake Seckman, Bill White (crew manager), Elias Hege, Brandon Huber, Pablo Lopez, Jami Graham (sales/office manager), Dillon Adams, Alex Schaefer, Jason Weller and George Hege.

8 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

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collaboration Columbus Learning Center supports partnership of education and business

F

By Jennifer Willhite n photos by April Knox

or the past decade, Columbus Learning Center’s impact on community postsecondary education, business and employment has far exceeded expectations, say area business leaders and educators.

The nearly 130,000-square-foot facility designed

by New York-based architects Kohn Pedersen Fox and Kevin Kennon opened in May 2005 and was dedicated in September of the same year. Housing more than 20 classrooms, the facility also offers eight computer labs, a lecture hall and a library. CLC serves as a shared hub for general education classes between IUPUC and Ivy Tech.

Chris Beach, director of operations for CLC, says her involvement began when the facility was still on the drawing board in 2000. She describes the fiveyear long process of making the dream a reality as an exciting time. As then project manager, Beach came to know the building inside and out while working as a liaison between the various teams who made CLC a reality.

“The building has always been very close to my heart,” she says. “Once we got it up out of the ground, they said, ‘Since you know where everything is, all the nuts and bolts and light switches, you

10 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

MaKayla Marksberry, an IUPUC communications/business student, finds that the Vujovich Email Bar is one of the quietest spots to study. should stay on and take care of the building.’”

And so she has. She also works closely with the Community Education Coalition that helped spearhead the $25 million project. During its first 10 years, CLC has lived up to and exceeded expectations, Beach says. It has also stayed true to its original mission to make the surrounding campuses cohesive.

“Before this building was built, IUPUC was to the north and Ivy Tech was to the south, and there was no interaction between the two,” she says. “It was the mission to get the two- and four-year colleges to work together to remove barriers for the students. It truly was about what goes on in the building rather than the building itself.”

Not only has CLC worked to bring more students to the campus from surrounding counties, but it has also introduced more degree programs. “Students can start and finish here now,” Beach says. “What a gift to the community.”

Columbus Learning Center has certainly become a model for other post-secondary institutions and a destination for those looking to replicate it in their own communities. Stephanie Weber, director of outreach for the learning center, says her work with the CEC’s EcO15 project has allowed her the opportunity to travel to facilities across the country, and she’s never seen anything like what’s been done with CLC. At the core of this collaborative effort are IUPUC, Ivy Tech Community College and Purdue Polytechnic Institute. “There are those who are trying to figure out how this collaboration works,” Weber says.

“They have some bits and pieces, but I’ve never seen anything like what we’ve got here on this campus where three post-secondary institutional partners work so collaboratively together.”

IUPUC nursing student Alisha James studies between classes.

Some of the barriers lying at the heart of the collaborative effort include streamlining the transfer process between two- and four-year institutions, lessening hurdles, and making degree attainment more economically affordable, she says. There are weekly visitors who come to Columbus to tour the building and try to “benchmark what is happening here.”

“What makes this community and model so unique compared to anywhere else is the number and diversity of partners who are so willing to collaborate on specific projects,” Weber says. “It is see CLC on page 12

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 11

CLC continued from page 11 targeted and addresses actual needs and leads to high in-demand jobs. This just happens to be the hub of that network here.”

Columbus Learning Center works closely with 28 area high schools, two career technology education centers, one of which is Columbus’ C4, the Department of Workforce Development, and various community foundations, including chamber and economic development officials in 10 surrounding counties.

The EcO15 program has helped facilitate a broader initiative on behalf of the CEC to help recruit and identify talent outside Bartholomew County and bring it here, Weber says. Those individuals then become better trained and educated and placed in higher-paying jobs.

“Our overarching goal has been to move everyone up a level in their job placement, education and/or training in a 10-county area in the eastern corner of the state,” Weber says. “What the CEC has always been focused on is bringing together local business and industry partners along with educators at secondary and post-secondary levels and then community leaders focused on the next needs of this community.”

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John Burnett, president of the CEC, says the learning center has become an amazing part of the Columbus campus.

“It has, in my estimation exceeded what any of us who were involved with the development of the project had envisioned,” he says. “I have no doubt things will continue to grow and change over time.”

Burnett says he considers himself very fortunate to be a part of the collaborative effort that has made CLC a reality. “It is a very special thing we have going on in Columbus, Indiana,” he says.

“I hope everyone involved knows how deeply grateful all of us are who are trying to carry on that relationship foundation that is the Columbus way of working together.”

Cummins Inc. is one of many area companies that utilize the CLC facility. It also offers tuition reimbursement to employees who attend classes.

The center’s degrees and areas of study help enrich training and supplement career advancement, says Steve Mackey, Cummins’ corporate responsibility leader for the distribution business unit in North America.

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Harold Wilson, learning development leader for Cummins’ technical and hourly employment for southern Indiana, participates in meetings at CLC several times each month and says it’s a place where numerous businesses and organizations meet.

“It’s definitely being utilized,” he says. “It’s going to continue to grow and be utilized more and more.

It’s just a very welcoming environment.”

Chris Lowery, chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College, describes CLC as a centerpiece representing the collaborative spirit in southeastern Indiana.

Education lies at CLC’s core, he says. The facility’s shared use has grown over the past decade to serve a variety of functions, he says. But it is through the leadership of the CEC and the partnerships among IUPUC, Purdue Polytechnic, Ivy Tech, WorkOne and the community that have shaped CLC into a “catalyst for positive change.”

“In its first decade, the Columbus Learning Center has dutifully served this region and earned statewide recognition as a symbol for intentional collaboration and community advancement,” Lowery says. “Its original promise is well-served, and this extraordinary facility will continue to provide a place for spectacular opportunities for generations to come.”

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WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 13

In front from left, Dylan and Brent Phillips. In back, Dick, Steve, Bert and Vern Phillips at Columbus Bowling Center.

Obvious

succession When family business is handed down, next generation gets to work

14 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

plan

W

By Barney Quick n photos by April Knox

hen younger generations come on board in family businesses, everyone plays a role in striking a balance between continuity and change.

The new faces often have their own sense of growth opportunities and how to pursue them, and they likely bring a degree of technological savvy that affects operations. How that plays out is unique to every such organization.

In the case of Brent and Dana Phillips, a third generation has assumed proprietorship of Columbus Bowling Center. Brent’s grandparents, Vernon and Roberta Phillips, bought the business, which was established in 1963, in 1990. They’d previously owned Phillips Glass Co., as well as Phillips Food and Fuel. Brent’s uncle, Dick Phillips, took over the bowling center in 1997.

Passion for the sport has been the motivation all along. Vernon had bought the glass shop with winnings from a bowling tournament.

“I come from a family of good bowlers,” says Brent, adding with a self-deprecating grin, “I’m undoubtedly the worst.”

Brent graduated from Columbus North High School in 1999, attended IUPUI and worked in Indianapolis for five years. He met Dana, a Noblesville native, during that time.

“Uncle Dick had hinted a couple of years ago about wanting to get out of it,” Brent says. “It was the last piece of the array of family businesses, and I wanted to keep it with us. The transition happened quickly. From the first conversation to closing, it was about 18 months.” see family on page 16

Joe, Kevin and Gilda Wettschurack, from left, of Kinney Paper & Chemical Co. WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 15

From left, Jenna holding Isabella, Gloria, Jeff and Grant Voelz with Vivian at Voelz Body Shop.

Janeen and Nick Sprague. | submitted photo

family continued from page 15 Leagues were by far the most prominent customer type through the years. While they’re still important to the strategy he and Dana are developing, Brent says, “I also want the nontraditional bowler to come in here.”

They are cultivating corporate associations.

Cummins Inc. has brought groups to the center for team-building activities.

“Word-of-mouth used to be a sufficient marketing method,” he says. “We’ve expanded beyond that by setting up a Twitter account and building a website.”

The new management has changed the center’s logo and put it on shirts and hats. It’s also visible through its sponsorship of a softball team and charity events.

Family continuity is still a factor, even in areas where change is underway. Brent wants the snack bar to be an attraction in its own right, but its signature offering, the tenderloin, is hand-breaded by his grandmother. His father, Steve, works for him as day manager, a reversal of their roles during the four years when Brent worked for Steve at the food and fuel business.

Yet another generation, son Frank and daughter 16 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

Veronica, are getting introduced to the Phillips way of life. “They love to visit Dad at work,” says Dana.

Janeen Sprague, CEO of the hotel development group Sprague Co., has several properties in the Indianapolis area and south-central Indiana. She’s prided herself on building a team known for its loyalty and esprit de corps. Her son, Nick, had been around the business all his life, but she never pushed the idea of joining it.

“I wanted him to be sure,” she says. “He could choose from a gamut of opportunities.”

Nick has childhood memories of weekends with his parents going to look at sites. His first official position was in housekeeping. From there he moved to the front-desk function and then into a supervisory and banquet-coordinating position at the Hilton Garden Inn between Edinburgh and the I-65U.S. 31 interchange. While pursuing his political science degree at Kenyon College in Ohio, he helped the company establish a social media presence.

The next step was the Robert H. McKinney School of Law at Indiana University. He passed the bar in April.

As Jan says, someone with such a background has

many options. But Nick chose to come on board at Sprague Co. full time as general counsel and director of business development.

For all his formal credentials, he says, “I’d never learn anywhere else what I’ve been able to learn from my mom, especially how to deal with people.

My job involves communicating with builders, contractors and hotel companies.”

He’s also learned a great deal about architecture and reading blueprints, immersing himself in such details as dimensions, signage and placement of HVAC equipment.

“Every situation is unique, so there’s still a lot of learning by doing,” he says.

Kevin Wettschurack of Kinney Paper & Chemical Co. spent 14 years elsewhere before returning to Columbus and joining the firm.

His parents, Joe and Gilda, bought the business from the Kinney family in 1979. They expanded the original scope of product offerings — paper products — to include cleaning supplies and safety products, among other lines.

Kevin graduated from Columbus North in 1990 and studied organizational leadership at Purdue. He then joined Tradesmen International, a constructionstaffing firm, starting in sales, then becoming a regional manager and eventually a vice president.

During that time, he was based in Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

He also married and had two daughters during those years, which was a motivation for moving back to Columbus. Kinney now has a new generation of a husband and wife team. Gilda has been training Kevin’s wife, Brooke, in the accounting functions she’d been handling.

Kevin is using his people skills as a marketing tool. An avid golfer, he has hosted an annual golf tournament for customers and vendors.

“They appreciate being put together to talk directly in a fun environment,” he notes. “The nice thing about this business is that, in the course of a conversation with a customer, you often discover new needs they have for which you can supply them.”

Jeff and Gloria Voelz founded Voelz Body Shop in 1980, after Jeff had learned the car-repair business working for Tom Aton at Quality Body Shop. Their son, Grant, swept floors when he was in high school.

He graduated from Columbus North in 2003.

“I did some internships when I was studying business at IU, but I knew I’d come back here when I graduated,” he said.

His parents are pleased that Grant grasps the rapid pace of change in the body-repair field. see family on page 18 WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 17

family continued from page 17 “It involves a lot more training now,” says Grant.

He is dedicated to sending his technicians to classes in Bloomington and Indianapolis, hosting classes at the Voelz facility, or making them available online. The shop belongs to the Indiana Auto Body Association and the Automotive Service Association, and Grant attends those groups’ events.

“You have to keep reinventing this business,” says Gloria.

Grant notes that a lot of the office staff consists of friends who have known each other since childhood.

“There’s a vibrant energy to our team.”

Doug Foster, president of Burt’s Termite & Pest Control, has brought his son, Brandon, who goes into the field, and his daughter, Autumn, who works in the office, into the team, although he considers himself “still very much involved.”

“We’re trying to bring both of them into a leadership role, preparing them to see the whole picture and not just the technical end,” says Doug. He notes that the company works with area agencies such as Thrive Alliance, Housing Partnerships and the Department of Child Services.

Autumn is currently participating in the Leadership Bartholomew County program and learning

Doug Foster, owner of Burt’s Termite & Pest Control. more about how the business can partner with community resources.

Time, of course, doesn’t stand still, and people with successful businesses have to think about those businesses’ futures. If there’s an emerging generation in the family that appears to have a passion for the field in question, the matter is well on the way to being resolved. Still, since every person, family and company is unique, there are as many styles of transition as there are cases of passing on the legacy.

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coach’s corner

Mark McNulty

Prioritizing for success As we approach the end of one year and the start of another, it is time for that annual process called goal setting. Some business owners are great at setting goals, others struggle to think beyond escaping the current situation as their primary goal.

One of the challenges I see with annual goal setting is the tendency to set too many goals, which makes them harder to share with our teams and even harder to keep track of and actually achieve.

In his book “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits,” author Verne Harnish teaches you to start with setting your company’s top priorities, defining your Top 3 to 5 priorities (also sometimes called themes) followed by identifying your Top 1 of 5 priority.

These priorities then become the themes for the year, the rallying cry for your team, and are much easier to remember and associate with than the 14 annual goals you set across every function in your business.

Once you have identified your Top 5 priorities, you can then identify the objectives (results) you are looking for in each of the five areas, and cascade the accountability and responsibility for achieving these results to the different functions in your business.

Each department or function should then develop its goals to match the part it plays for the company related to the themes. For example, a client of mine had its top priority for the fourth quarter of “Drive Top Line Revenue,” since we are in our slowest and least profitable season.

For the operations department, this translated to a goal of accepting every single job requested, no matter the size. For the client service department, this meant supporting operations in the job bidding process and working with the sales department to call on clients to find every possible opportunity that existed to bid on new jobs and win them at all costs.

These priorities/themes also need to become part of the everyday conversation in your company in order to serve you well. They are the business

portion of the why you do what you do, and by talking about them regularly and measuring your progress toward achieving them, you make them part of your company’s DNA for the quarter or year or whatever time period you have set.

I recommend creating annual Top 5s and then reviewing/updating them quarterly to reflect your progress and/or changing conditions in your marketplace. Having priorities that the goals can be related back to will help your entire team, from the top down, to better understand the motivation behind the team level goals that are set and measured.

It is not always easy or obvious to understand how department goals fit into the corporate big picture without creating this higher level context for your team to use as their big picture corporate view.

To make these priorities really work for your team, your No. 1 job now is to bring them up every chance you get. At your weekly staff meetings you should talk about the priorities. Your staff ’s weekly and monthly reports to you should be organized by the priorities, helping them to remember that these concepts are the most important focal points for their work. Your company and department goals should all point directly back to one or more priorities, and your key measures of success should be derived from them as well.

I have written before about the importance of making things “part of the conversation.” Setting top priorities that you can discuss with your staff and that they can take to their teams allows you to create a buzz related to your themes. You know it is catching on when you hear team members having theme-related conversations, which will be followed by theme-related results for the company.

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

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 19

Demand is

building Housing market continues to be strong

Many new homes are being built on Coneflower Court in Wildflower Commons.

T

By Barney Quick n photos by April Knox

here has been an uptick in building permits issued by the Bartholomew County Office of Technical Code Enforcement for new-home construction, particularly spec homes.

Certain trends within this spike are discernible.

The main conclusion one can draw is that it’s a response to a shortage of housing for those looking to settle into a home on a long-term basis.

Local builders have a bright outlook regarding the current local construction climate.

“The past two years have been very good for us, almost as good as before the recession,” says Andrew Skaggs, vice president of field operations for Skaggs Builders. “If interest rates hold, I think it will continue to be good.”

“I’d say we’re as busy as we’ve ever been,” reports Joel Spoon of Spoon Construction. “I know a lot of local custom builders from before the recession aren’t around now. The landscape has changed in the last few years.”

While Spoon is pleased with the current situation, he points out the danger that it could reverse and

20 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

home construction would outpace demand.

“I know there are some large corporations with deep pockets that can build a lot of homes really fast,” he says. “We’re a little nervous to see these big companies building so many.”

Katie Aciukewicz of Joli Development says that her company will probably pull 12 permits this year.

Nine will be in Wildflower Estates, an area near Southside Elementary School that is in its seventh phase of development.

She attributes the surge in spec homes in large part to the fact that “a custom-built house can be overwhelming, especially for couples with kids. If people stop by while we’re framing a spec home and want to buy it, I can say, ‘OK, help pick out the cosmetics.’”

It happens with some frequency, she notes.

“As soon as the crew gets the windows in, I slap a blueprint up there.”

Spoon says that the appeal of spec homes has increased due to the busier, more transient lifestyles of Columbus residents over the past couple of decades. He’s seeing more “people who move here see Housing on page 22

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WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 21

Housing continued from page 20 from out of town and want to move into something fast. When I started doing this 20 years ago, you didn’t see nearly so many spec homes on the market. We built a lot more custom homes. I think today’s customer is more inclined toward instant gratification.”

He notes that the downside is that the customer forgoes choices regarding many details. “It’s essentially like driving a new car off the lot.”

For the time being, though, business is good, and both the market demographics and buyers’ preferences are varied. Skaggs sees a “good mix of young and old. The average size of what we’re building is 2,000 square feet of living space, but we’ve built houses ranging from 1,300 to 4,500 this year.”

M/I Homes is an out-of-town addition to the mix of builders active locally, having arrived in 2011. M/I sales consultant Sherri Spiker-Cowan says that using spec homes as a marketing tool was something the company did only after making some observations about the Columbus market.

“We hadn’t been able to do a lot with them, because our sales were so aggressive,” she says, “but we looked at buyers in our market and realized a lot of them were first-time buyers. Our customers had an unusually high education level for first-time

Employees of Newlin Construction work on a new home.

22 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

buyers and could decide quickly what they wanted since they made a point of being informed. We’d been incredibly busy, but when we stepped back and took a breath, we realized it could be quite effective to build spec homes.”

As of early November, M/I Homes had sold three spec homes since late September.

Spoon says his customers tend to prefer bigger yet distinctive homes, although he says that it’s probably due to the type of business he cultivates. “Some of your production-style builders put up big houses and their per-square-foot costs are lower than those of a company such as ours, but some customers are more interested in the quality of the square foot.”

Spiker-Cowan says that most homes her company is building are in the 3,000- to 3,500-square-foot range. “I know that in our industry it’s often said that buyers are downsizing, but that has not held true for the Columbus market.”

Aciukewicz says prospects she talks to are both long-term residents of the area and new arrivals.

Many are first-timers moving out of apartments, and while rents have been increasing in the area, mortgage rates are favorable, generally in the 3 to 5 percent range.

The builders have observed some trends in amenities preferences. Skaggs and Aciukewicz both

note an interest in granite as a countertop material, and Skaggs says that “in the kitchen, customers are looking for solid-surface counters.” Skaggs and Spoon are seeing a lot of requests for tile walkin showers. Three-car garages are also commonly mentioned. Aciukewicz notes as well that “very dark or white cabinets and painted trim and walls in tones of tan and gray are very popular now. People want an open floor plan with space for entertaining and a basement with an extra bedroom and bath for guests. In a lot of families, both the husband and wife are working, so no-maintenance exteriors are increasingly popular.”

She also stresses that today’s homebuyers take utility costs into consideration more than ever.

Joli enlists TSI Energy, a Carmel-based company that offers inspections of new homes, to conduct an audit of each newly finished house, not only to ensure compliance with Indiana laws pertaining to energy efficiency enacted in 2012, but to determine adherence to Joli’s own standards.

Spiker-Cowan says that buyers often request a bedroom on the main floor “because Columbus is such an international community. Families may have an out-of-country family member staying with them

STATE OF LOCAL REAL ESTATE MARKET The local real estate market has experienced a trend seen in some other areas of the country lately: more buyers than available houses, which results in multiple offers.

“If a property is priced correctly, we’re finding ourselves in a multiple-offer situation,” says Cheryl Stuckwish of the Columbus Berkshire Hathaway office. “We definitely have more buyers than sellers in Bartholomew County.

Interest rates are low, and lots of people are interested in home ownership. It’s gotten tighter in the last few years, starting in 2012. Remember that real estate is cyclical, and people tend to buy up.” for an extended period or a younger sibling studying in the United States who needs a place to stay.

She says that regarding energy forms, gas is by far the favorite. “I rarely build an electric home,” she says.

It’s clearly a good time to be a builder of new homes in the Columbus area. It’s not a bad time to be a resident who wants to move into something soon after making the decision to buy, either.

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 23

E

By Barney Quick n photos by Mike Wolanin

conomic prospects for the coming year are not only easier to ascertain but more upbeat as one moves from the global level to the local level. That was the sum total of the messages of the four panelists at this year’s Economic Outlook Breakfast, hosted by IUPUC and the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, and held at the Columbus Learning Center on Nov. 12.

Kyle Anderson, clinical assistant professor of business economics at the Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis, provided the examination of U.S. and global trends. He began by asking for a show of hands regarding whether audience members saw the nation as being better off in late 2015 than it was a year earlier. His assessment was that a “small majority” deemed it better off.

He noted that income per person in the U.S. was growing at about 3 percent for the last five years, adding, “Of course, that doesn’t tell us about distribution issues.” He said that forecast growth for the next year was “historically weak.”

Similarly, he said that the current 5 percent unemployment rate hasn’t been seen since December 2007, but that the flip side was a labor force participation rate of 62.4 percent. He attributed some of that to baby boomers retiring and young people staying in the education pipeline longer.

“Why has economic performance been so disappointing?” he asked. “Chinese and European weakness and the strength of the dollar making exports less attractive.” He also pointed out that the decline in oil prices meant that there was a commensurate decline in investment in domestic energy production.

He pointed to the automotive industry “doing quite well” as a positive development. Cheap gasoline is encouraging people to buy “big American vehicles.”

For 2016, he looks for that industry to continue to do well and also the housing industry. He expects interest rates to stay low.

He was pleased that the recent congressional budget agreement “takes us out another year. We can

24 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

Frank Wadsworth, a professor of marketing and international studies at IUPUC, moderates the Indiana Business Outlook Panel with experts from the IU Kelley School of Business. disagree about whether it’s good policy, but at least there won’t be a government shutdown.”

The portion of the discussion led by Charles Trzcinka, professor of finance at Kelley, was characterized by a tone of uncertainty. He noted the current liquidity in the stock market and the incentive for companies to buy back their own stock.

“We’re in a world where we’re guessing whether the Federal Reserve will raise market rates or not,” he said.

He said that both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s Index have been on the uptick recently, with “more companies beating their forecasts.” Regarding earnings, he said that “the problem is that they have to be driven by economic growth, and, as Kyle said, that is not expected to be great.”

He said the current levels of the federal debt and

deficit will have long-term effects, but that they are not an immediate threat.

Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana Business Research Center at Kelley, called the state’s economy “challenging to predict because of world and national trends.” State GDP growth has been lower than expected, more workers have been added than expected, and while income growth has been better than that of the nation and is expected to be that way, it will be at a lower rate.

He pointed out that exports are more important to Indiana than to most states, with Indiana ranking eighth in how dependent the state is on them.

Its major exports include aircraft components, pharmaceutical products, agriculture and medical devices. Europe, not economically robust but expected to experience some growth next year, is a large purchaser of the state’s exports.

He said that growth projections for emerging nations, including some well-developed nations such as India and China, have been scaled back quite a bit.

The Indiana housing picture is positive. Sales and median prices are up. Building permits are starting to rise again.

One factor of uncertainty he stressed was the Clean Power Plan, a federal Environmental Protection Agency initiative that would require Indiana to reduce its carbon output by 38 percent by 2030. “That would mean we’d have to burn a lot less coal in Indiana.”

The state ranks No. 2 behind Pennsylvania in industrial coal consumption, and No. 2 behind Texas for power generation.

Ryan Brewer, assistant professor of finance at IUPUC, said that 2,100 jobs had been added to the local economy in the last year. Unemployment was at 2.9 percent as of September.

Auto sales were expected to peak in 2016 above 2015 levels. “People might hurry up and buy a car or house before interest rates Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana Business go up,” he said.

Research Center, talks Columbus fares about Indiana’s well among peer cities economic outlook for 2016. in Indiana, but has a tendency to suffer more than most during times of retraction, according to Brewer.

He said that “multinational companies have had to adjust according to slow global growth.” The Chinese markets for Cummins are not growing as

expected. Heavy-duty and midrange engines and distribution business have been strong, but “how long can that continue given the downshift in mining markets abroad?”

Brewer said that the changes at City Hall resulting from this year’s election will surely have an impact on the community’s economic prospects in the coming year.

The Q&A period after the panel’s remarks provided some interesting insights. In response to a question about how 2016’s presidential election might factor in, Anderson replied, “I’m more interested in how the 2016 economy will affect the election, because there is a good chance the U.S. will experience a recession.” A question about the recent political change in Canada elicited this response from Trzcinka: “Canada’s still going to be exporting stuff. They’re still our major trading partner. I don’t think a new administration will make major changes.

When Anderson was asked how to get more dollars into middle-class pockets, he said, “From an economic point of view, we can look at an aggregate level and say we’re better off, but from a policy standpoint, it’s important not to harm economic growth overall as we try to address inequality.” He also called the Earned Income Tax Credit a better tool in that effort than the minimum wage.

Anderson said, regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, “A lot of analysis I’ve seen suggests there are easy ways for countries to get around it. Countries can still keep currency valuation low for competitive advantage.”

The general takeaway was that Columbus is relatively well-positioned for a positive year economically. That said, some factors still hanging in the balance nationally and globally could have significant impact on whether that positive outlook is a lot or a little.

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 25

on the move

Liz Worthington has joined the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce as director of education and engagement.

She will assist chamber member businesses by connecting them to potential customers, marketing opportunities, training, online tools and other resources.

Liz Worthington She also will oversee the Maverick Challenge, a business plan competition for more than 200 high school students in a 10-county region and serve as staff liaison to Columbus Young Professionals.

A graduate of Ball State University with a dual degree in journalism and marketing, she most recently worked as a financial representative with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance.

Warren Scheidt, co-owner and operator of 12 Cork Liquor Stores in and around Columbus, was recently elected to a two-year term as president of the American Beverage Licensees Board of Directors. He will lead the Warren Scheidt association in advocating for independent beer, wine and spirits retailers and strengthening the collective voice of bar, tavern and package store owners.

He has been a member of the ABL board since 2006, serving as an at-large representative, vice president and treasurer as well as chairman of the communications and finance committees of the board.

Columbus Regional Health’s Rehabilitation Centers in Columbus and Nashville have been awarded Outcomes Excellence Certificates from Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes, a nationwide outcomes database and reporting service for health care providers.

The certificate is awarded to only top rehabilitation facilities in the U.S. in recognition of a facility’s continued ability to improve patients’ function in fewer visits and less time compared to the national average. Columbus Regional’s outpatient rehabilitation centers are ranked in the top 10 percent in the country for Chris Ertel functional improvement and have a 98 percent patient satisfaction level.

Ray Eakins

Scott Poling

26 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

Old National Bank recently announced the promotions of Chris Ertel to market president, commercial relationship manager for the North Vernon market; Ray Eakins to market president, banking center manager for Seymour; and Scott Poling, market president, commercial relationship manager for the Columbus market.

Ertel has been with Old National 33 years in several roles in both retail and commercial banking.

He is a graduate of Indiana

University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Eakins will continue to serve as banking center manager for the Seymour locations in addition to his new role as market president. He has 29 years of experience with ONB as banking center manager and loan service manager. He is a graduate of Olivet Nazarene University and is pursuing an MBA in the leadership program through Olivet.

Poling will continue to serve as commercial relationship manager for the Columbus area in addition to his new duties as market president.

A finance graduate of Millikin University, he has been an ONB commercial relationship manager the past three years and also served as a commercial underwriter from 2005 to 2007.

James D. Hutton has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Harrison College, succeeding Jason Konesco.

Hutton comes to Harrison from Keiser University, where he was managing director of the Center for Career Education and Leadership and also was a professor.

Erica Hamilton has been promoted to assistant vice president and banking center leader at the Jackson County Bank Clover Center Banking Center, where she will assist customers with retail lending needs.

She is a graduate of Indiana University Kelley Erica Hamilton School of Business, with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and Indiana Wesleyan University, with a master’s degree in business administration.

State architect Jason Larrison, a native of Columbus, recently received the Young Architect Award from the American Institute of Architects chapter in Indiana. The award recognizes a licensed Indiana architect under the age of 40 who has demonstrated proficient knowledge and exceptional accomplishments in, and contributions to, architecture. He is the first Indiana state architect to receive the award.

He has managed a variety of high profile projects, such as the Indiana World War Plaza Memorial Historic District and the Soldiers Monument project, leading a team in removing the 30-foot bronze “Victory” sculpture from atop the 300-foot tall limestone

memorial for restoration and ensuring it was re-installed in time for Indianapolis to host the 2012 Super Bowl.

Austin Schultz, assistant vice president of commercial banking at Jackson County Bank, graduated from the Indiana Bankers Association Commercial Lending School in June. IBA is a professional trade association that provides educational, legislative, communications and Austin Schultz research services for the commercial banking industry in Indiana.

KORN Country program director and morning show host Joanna Ryan has been named a recipient of ReelWorld’s inaugural “Rising Stars Awards” for 2015. Ryan was selected from several nominees throughout the United States. KORN is owned by Reising Radio Partners Inc. Seattle-based ReelWorld, in conjunction with MSBC 27, announced the awards Aug. 7 in Chicago. Ryan and nine other recipients were honored for their exceptional talents and uniqueness in their markets. ReelWorld specifically chose personalities who are relatively unknown outside their markets.

Ryan started working for RRPI in January 2014 as an on-air personality. She quickly moved to KORN Country 100.3 full time as the co-host and producer of the KORN Morning Show before being promoted to the position of KORN Country program director and morning show host.

Doug Westerfield has joined Dallas-based residential mortgage originator PrimeLending as a mortgage loan originator at the company’s office at 1427 Washington St. With 17 years of mortgage industry experience, he comes to PrimeLending after working Doug Westerfield as a practice administrator at Accu Doc Urgent Care and will work with residents on purchase and refinance mortgage loans in the greater Columbus area. see on the move on page 28 WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 27

on the move continued from page 27 Phillip Jackson has joined the Columbus office of Blue & Co. public accounting firm as a senior manager.

Michael Nolan and Chad VanLiew are new staff accountants in the firm’s Seymour office.

MainSource Financial Group has been recognized by Sandler O’Neill + Partners as a 2015 “Sm-All Star,” a designation that recognizes 34 top-performing small-cap banks and thrifts out of 435 institutions in the United States, based on performance in credit quality, growth, profitability and capital.

With headquarters in Greensburg, MainSource has offices in Columbus, Hope, Edinburgh, North Vernon and Westport.

Brian Russell and Marshall Royalty have been elected to the board of directors of Jackson County Bank and its parent company Bancorp of Southern Indiana.

Russell, a native of Columbus, is a graduate of Indiana University Kelley School of Business with a Bachelor of Science in finance. He is founder, owner and president of Russell Development Co., which focuses on central

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Royalty earned a Bachelor of Science in finance at Franklin College and is owner of three Seymour businesses, including Crane Hill Machine & Fabricating. Originally from Paris Crossing in Jennings County, he began his career as a JCB loan officer and served 10 years as director of real estate and facility engineering with JayC Food Stores.

Lora R. Mount, an elder law attorney with Voelz, Reed & Mount LLC, recently served as a faculty member of the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum Elder Law Institute in Indianapolis.

Dr. Mark Guffey has joined the medical staff at Columbus Regional Health. He is a graduate of Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a residency in emergency medicine and internal medicine at Chicago Osteopathic Hospitals and Medical Center.

In Columbus, he will practice with Emergency Physicians Inc. at Columbus Regional Hospital Emergency Department.

— Staff Reports

Eye on the pie

Morton Marcus

Cheerfulness is no substitute for substance Pompeiia Pompom is an economic cheerleader extraordinaire, exhorting participants to greater effort and stimulating observers to excesses of enthusiasm. Recently she was the guest speaker at the Bluster County Business Banquet. Her topic was “Changes in the American economy thus far in this century.”

“Hasn’t it been great?” she asked her audience of 27, three of whom were clearly awake. “We’ve had our ups and we’ve had our downs, but it all averages out to a solid 1.7 percent annual increase of real gross domestic product.”

Under my breath I said, “A long-run average increase of GDP of 1.7 percent, after adjustment for inflation, is nothing to cheer about.”

“And do you know what’s thrilling about that?” she pointed to one of her listeners. With no response, she continued, “The increase in personal consumption expenditures was nearly 80 percent of all the growth in GDP.” Pausing for effect, she said, “You know what that means?” Silence. “It’s clear. America is getting greater all the time, achieving its destiny. Consumer spending has gone from 65 percent of GDP in 2000 to 68 percent last year. That’s what we value, growth in consumer spending, an economy geared to satisfying the wants of households.”

“What did we give up to get that gain?”

I asked myself.

As if she heard me, Pompeiia continued, “Basically, with 80 percent of the growth in GDP coming from consumers, the balance came about equally from just two sectors: business investment and government spending.”

She beamed with delight. I frowned. Her

ecstasy was based on slower growth in our national economy for public and private investment, plus a reduced role for government services.

“And this is good for Indiana,” she exclaimed, bouncing on her feet and raising her arms in the air.

“Yes,” she exalted. “What is the base of Indiana’s economy? Why, it’s durable goods manufacturing, and nearly a quarter of the increase in consumer spending came from just that – durable goods.”

“Oh,” I sighed to myself, “now she is playing with the data. Durable goods grew by an average annual rate of 4.4 percent nationally, but that growth was not in industries of Indiana’s strength; new motor vehicles, one of our strengths, grew by only 1.5 percent.

“By contrast,” my ruminations continued, “the big growth sectors involved things we don’t make in Indiana: video, audio, photographic and information processing equipment (up 15 percent annually over the 14-year period) or telephone and fax equipment (up 16 percent annually).”

While I was thinking about this, Pompeiia was saying, “There will be ongoing, accelerating growth in spending for nursing homes, gambling and places where people eat away from home. It’s a bright future.”

I left at this point. I’d heard it all before. I knew the real growth in each of those areas, over the past 14 years, had been 2 percent or less annually despite previous bullish expectations.

Happy people can be dangerous when their joy overwhelms their knowledge and judgment.

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

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 29

State program offers information for new owners

By Greg Seiter

From funding and fallout risk to proprietorship and payroll, there are many challenges associated with launching a new business venture. In recognition of that, the Indiana Department of Revenue created its New and Small Business Education Center in 2009 and continues to market the mostly online tool as a means by which new business owners can learn about things such as state laws, the tax-filing process and what types of services are available to help ensure success.

The education center was launched in response to the fact that, according to the Small Business Administration, 49 percent of businesses fail within their first five years of existence.

“The need for something like this came about because we recognized one of the toughest challenges new businesses face is understanding

30 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

the tax process,” said Amanda Stanley, director of public relations for the Indiana Department of Revenue. “We noticed that, for the most part, any time a business owner had issues, it was primarily due to a lack of understanding rules and regulations. So, the challenge was to provide them with easy-to-understand resources where they could obtain information.”

Accessible at smallbiz.in.gov, the education center is intended to be a storehouse for a variety of things, including individual and business-related tax forms, clarification on business classifications such as corporation and nonprofit status, and even information on Indiana’s sales tax.

“The site was very popular early on, and businesses continue to utilize it,” Stanley said.

“Because it is a self-service center, we don’t have any way of being able to track who is using the site, but we do know that we have more than 1,900 subscribers to the page.”

According to Stanley, website information is updated frequently in order to reflect ongoing policy and procedural changes.

“We always make sure the information there is current and up-to-date,” she said. “As laws and regulations change, we update accordingly.”

Other services beyond the New and Small Business Education Center website are also available to those in need.

“We have 12 district offices that aren’t specifically intended for new and small business, but people can certainly obtain information from them,” Stanley said. “Also, if we’re noticing particular areas of need, beyond addressing those through the website, we can do so through business outreach presentations in which we partner with entities throughout the state to hold face-to-face sessions.

“In addition, we do presentations called Start Strong to make sure people know, from a tax perspective, what they’ll need to do to be in compliance with regulations. We also do general tax presentations.”

The list of other advertised programs available for free includes: • Automobile Dealer Tax Seminar • Business Tax: Common Errors • Convenience Store Tax Requirements • Hotel Transactions

• Obtaining a Utility Sales Tax Exemption Webinar • Obtaining a Utility Sales Tax Exemption for a Nonprofit Organization Webinar The New and Small Business Education Center website is the one-stop-shop where business owners can either find the information they’re seeking or gain access to other sources, such as the Internal Revenue Service, through which specific needs can be addressed.

“We even have a Frequently Asked Questions section and links to handbooks,” Stanley said. “Areas on the site are also divided by business type, so you can find the most relevant way to access the information you need.”

But Stanley also emphasizes that Indiana Department of Revenue personnel are available for assistance if specific issues cannot be addressed through the New and Small Business Education Center site.

“The education center is meant to be a selfservice tool. But at any point while going through the process, we always have individuals to help,” she said. “We have specific phone numbers for questions regarding sales taxes, withholding taxes and even Indiana-specific taxes. We hope people will take advantage of this because we truly want to make sure business owners have the information they need to be successful.”

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 31

Around the WATER COOLER The Republic gets new owner

The parent company of The Republic and The Business Connection has sold its newspapers and related properties.

Home News Enterprises, based in Columbus and owned by the Brown family, announced it reached an agreement to sell The Republic and its other newspapers, online and commercial printing properties to a company that owns community newspapers in Texas.

The new owner is AIM Media Indiana LLC, an affiliate of AIM Media Texas LLC. Both companies are managed by AIM Media Management of Dallas, where Jeremy L. Halbreich serves as chairman and chief executive officer and Rick Starks is president and chief operating officer.

Chamber to push for expanded civil rights law

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors announced that it has voted “overwhelmingly” to support expanding the state’s civil rights law to include protection for sexual orientation and gender identity.

The board is composed of more than 100 business executives and civic leaders from throughout the state.

“We believe this expansion is a necessary action for the General Assembly to take,” Indiana Chamber President and CEO Kevin Brinegar said in a written statement. “After the negative perception of our state generated by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in the spring, we need to get this right in order to secure the reputation of Indiana as a hospitable and welcoming place.”

The vote took place at the group’s annual fall meeting, where it establishes public policy 32 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

positions it will support during the upcoming General Assembly.

“The time has come for Indiana to expand protections against potential discrimination,” Brinegar said. “This action will increase the state’s future business competitiveness in the recruitment, attraction and retention of talent, as well as enhance respect for all employers and employees.”

Gov. Mike Pence and some of his advisers have been discussing possible changes that will calm the debate between Hoosiers who want clear protections for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people and the religious community that wants the freedom to preserve its conservative principles.

Company to expand into Indiana

EAST CHICAGO — A company that makes forklifts has reached a deal to move its manufacturing operations from Illinois to East Chicago, creating about new 500 jobs in the northwestern Indiana city.

Real estate services firm Transwestern announced that Hoist Liftruck Manufacturing Inc. has purchased a building in the East Chicago Enterprise Center and would move its headquarters and manufacturing operations there in January from the Chicago suburb of Bedford Park, Illinois.

The (Munster) Times reports that Hoist Liftruck will occupy about half of the 550,000-square-foot building that was once a factory that made parts for military tanks. It plans to lease the rest of the space to existing tenants.

Hoist Liftruck has obtained tax breaks and other incentives, including more than $8.4 million from the state.

Indiana farm deaths increase

WEST LAFAYETTE — Statistics from Purdue University show an increase in farm fatalities in Indiana last year.

The school released data from its 2014 Indiana Farm Fatality Summary. It says there were 25 farmrelated deaths in Indiana last year, up from 18 from the previous year.

Even though there was an increase, the university’s Agricultural Safety and Health Program says a downward trend has continued since 1970.

Experts say that’s likely because of a decline in the number of people working on farms. The Indiana farm fatality rate is an estimated 17.5 per 100,000 workers compared to 25.4 per 100,000 nationally.

About a third of the Indiana farm deaths were attributed to overturned tractors, and 16 involved farm machinery. Other fatality causes included fires, smoke inhalation, drowning and falling trees.

Auto parts plant will close

Indiana Marujun LLC, an east-central Indiana auto parts manufacturer, has told its more than 750 employees it will close its doors by mid-November 2016.

A company vice president, Eric Fields, told the Star Press of Muncie that the closure is a result of a changing car-manufacturing industry.

The plant in Winchester, east of Muncie, has been the North America branch for Japanese manufacturer Marujun since 1999. It makes fuel lids, steering hanger beams, hand brakes, hood locks, fuel filler pipes, and other body parts for Honda automobiles.

It supplies plants in Indiana, Ohio, Alabama, Canada and Mexico.

Economic development officials said Marujun is the largest employer in Randolph County. The company previously operated under the names MEC Indiana and Tomasco Indiana LLC.

Indianapolis manufacturing plant and distribution center. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to be finalized before the end of the year.

Purdue to house cybersecurity center

Indiana state officials say Purdue University will become home to a new cybersecurity operations center.

It will be the new steward of Indiana’s data, The Journal and Courier of Lafayette reported.

Graig Lubsen, communications and marketing director for the Indiana Office of Technology, said the center will be located at Purdue Research Park and staffed by students, faculty, and state and corporate partners.

It will be the first hub of the Indiana Information Sharing and Analysis Center in Indianapolis. The center is a public-private partnership among the state, Purdue University and Intel Security. It is expected to monitor and defend state systems and networks from cyberattacks. It will also help Indiana see watercooler on page 34

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Heartland acquires Splenda

Heartland Food Products Group announced that it plans to acquire low-calorie sweetener brand Splenda, creating the need for a major expansion at its Indianapolis-area operations.

The Carmel-based company, which produces low-calorie sweeteners, drink mixes, coffee and nutritional beverages, said it entered into an agreement to acquire the brand from McNeil Nutritionals LLC, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

The acquisition is expected to create more than 100 jobs at Heartland’s corporate offices and at its

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WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 33

watercooler continued from page 33 recruit and retain top young talent in the field of cybersecurity.

About a dozen part-time jobs will be created.

University spokesman Steve Tally said that number could grow. The plan is to build a pipeline of students who can enter government and gain experience in cybersecurity activities while still in school.

State in top 10 in business ranking

Indiana finished eighth in Forbes’ 10th annual “Best States for Business” rankings. It’s the first time the Hoosier state has finished in the top 10.

The ranking evaluates 40 data points across six categories, including quality of life, business costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, economic climate and growth prospects.

The state received high marks in several individual rankings: regulatory environment (second), quality of life (sixth), business costs (12th), economic climate (15th) and growth prospects (16th). It received low marks for health of the population (46th).Forbes cited Indiana’s triple-A bond rating and regulatory climate as the biggest positives for the state.

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34 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

Utah was ranked No. 1 on the list, followed by North Carolina, Nebraska, North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and Virginia. After Indiana, South Dakota and Washington rounded out the top 10.

AM General wins ambulance contract

SOUTH BEND — The Army has awarded a $428 million contract to AM General to build Humvee ambulances for domestic disaster relief efforts by the Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard.

The Indiana company announced it will receive $89.5 million to build 654 vehicles for the National Guard under the initial phase of the multiyear contract.

The contract follows an announcement by the Defense Department that AM General had not been awarded a major contract to build a new combat vehicle to replace a large share of the U.S. military’s Humvee troop carriers. That $6.7 billion contract went to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Corp.

AM General recently began making MercedesBenz R-Class SUVs at its Mishawaka plant.

— Staff and Wire Reports

BUSINESS LEADS COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS 4945 N 330 W COMMERCIAL ADDITION $10,140 CROWN CASTLE, OWNER VERTICAL TECHNOLOGY SOL, CONTRACTOR ANTENNA ADDN TO CELL TOWER 527 WASHINGTON ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $60,000 LIPIKAPORN, GREG, OWNER WANG’S CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL/THAI CONNECTION 330 8TH ST FOUNDATION ONLY $85,500 MOOSE LODGE 398, OWNER DRIFTWOOD BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR MOOSE LODGE/CANOPY ADD 1457 CENTRAL AVE COMMERCIAL REMODEL $1,500 VAZQUEZ, GERARDO, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR LAS MANGONADAS REMODEL 2085 W JONATHAN MOORE PK COMMERCIAL REMODEL $44,000 H & R BLOCK, OWNER S.A. RIDGEWAY CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR H & R BLOCK REMODEL 1245 MCCLURE RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $25,000 FIRST CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE, OWNER STAMPER CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR CHURCH REMODEL 1250 N NATIONAL RD DEMOLITION $0 K B CAPITAL REALTY, OWNER CASEY-BERTRAM CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR DEMO GOLDEN CORRAL 11405 E SR 7 NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $140,000 FAITH HOPE & LOVE CHURCH, OWNER HEARTLAND SOLUTIONS, CONTRACTOR NEW CELL TOWER 244 WESTWOOD BLVD NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $836,500

BREEDEN INVESTMENT GROUP INC, OWNER DRIFTWOOD BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR NEW COM BLDG BREEDEN 5000 SF 7480 N SR 9 NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $116,000 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, OWNER S & B CONSTRUCTION GROUP, CONTRACTOR FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PAVILION 2725 W 450 S COMMERCIAL REMODEL $1,800,000 CUMMINS INC, OWNER FORCE CONSTRUCTION CO I, CONTRACTOR CUMMINS CAFETERIA REMODEL 7122 SF 3888 MIMOSA DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $48,878 COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT, OWNER CRG RESIDENTIAL LLC, CONTRACTOR REROOF COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT 4050 CENTRAL AVE COMMERCIAL REMODEL $678,000 COLUMBUS INTERNAL MEDICINE, OWNER DRIFTWOOD BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL/COL INTERNAL MED ASSOC 301 WASHINGTON ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $1,031,100 CUMMINS INC, OWNER TAYLOR BROTHERS CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR COMM REMODEL 5555 INWOOD DR COMMERCIAL ADDITION $14,000,000 TOYOTA INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT, OWNER FORCE CONSTRUCTION CO I, CONTRACTOR TIEM COM ADDN 62920 SF 1460 N NATIONAL RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $100,000 CUMMINS FUEL SYSTEMS PLANT, OWNER TAYLOR BROTHERS CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR CUMMINS REMODEL 2412 SF 735 WHITFIELD DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $197,788 WALMART STORES INC, OWNER

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER

R & B ROOFING LLC, CONTRACTOR WALMART/ROOF 1865 N NATIONAL RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $3,900 TARGET CORPORATION, OWNER OSTLUND A SERVICE COMPANY, CONTRACTOR TARGET/PLUMBING 148 LINDSEY ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $50,000 MORAVEC REALTY, OWNER/CONTRACTOR ROOF PUMP HOUSE/ REM 11700 N US 31 COMMERCIAL REMODEL $11,000 CESAREO, ARIEL, OWNER INDIANA TECHNICAL SERVICES, CONTRACTOR HOOD AND FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS 1021 25TH ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $1,700 JS&MM CORPORATION, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR INSTALL 8 FT DOOR 2035 W JONATHAN MOORE PIKE COMMERCIAL REMODEL $350,000 BUFFALO WILD WINGS, OWNER DIMENSION BUILDING GROUP, CONTRACTOR BUFFALO WILD WINGS REMODEL 6025 SF 3860 W CARLOS FOLGER DR STE#101 COMMERCIAL TENANT UP FIT $55,000 SPECKS PET SUPPLY, OWNER HARLAN DEVELOPMENT, CONTRACTOR 3828SF TENANT BLDOUT 1250 NATIONAL RD NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $700,000 CHICK-FIL-A, INC, OWNER W.H. BASS, INC, CONTRACTOR CHICK-FIL-A, INC 1425 N NATIONAL RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $83,000 AT&T, OWNER MARKSMEN CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR 2,896SF COMM 4555 CENTRAL AVE COMMERCIAL REMODEL $775

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 35

BEACH, CHRIS, OWNER MATLOCK PLUMBING, CONTRACTOR PLUMBING 810 DEPOT ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $165,000 DAIEI INC, OWNER FORCE CONSTRUCTION CO I, CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL DAIEI 7200 SF 3620 COMMERCE DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $50,000 DAIEI INC, OWNER FORCE CONSTRUCTION CO I, CONTRACTOR COME REMODEL DAIEI 1500 SF 6320 E STATE ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $322,000 ROUTE 3 LLC, OWNER REPP & MUNDT INC, CONTRACTOR ROUTE 3 LLC/REMODEL 148 LINDSEY ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $100,000 MORAVEC REALTY, OWNER BREEDEN, GEORGE, CONTRACTOR HVAC PUMP HOUSE 1120 WASHINGTON ST DEMOLITION $0 ALMARALES, MELISSA, OWNER TAYLOR BROTHERS CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR DEMO BLDGS 2875 W 800 N COMMERCIAL ADDITION 02 $160,000 DRUG PLASTICS CLOSURES, OWNER DUNLAP GENERAL CONTRACT, CONTRACTOR COM ADDN DRUG PLASTICS CORP 430 SF 2100 10TH ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $22,773 FIRST ASSEMBLY OF GOD, OWNER ROYALTY COMPANIES, CONTRACTOR FIRST ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH/ RE-ROOF 1000 N NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $30,000 DANZER FOREST INC, OWNER WG ABEL LUMBER SALES, CONTRACTOR REPL POLE BLDG 2964 SF 2415 JONATHAN MOORE PIKE COMMERCIAL ADDITION 02 $45,000 CIRCLE K MIDWEST, OWNER

36 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

ONESON CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR COM BLDG ADDN/CIRCLE K 1130 WASHINGTON ST NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $1,450,000 ALMARALES, MELISSA GSH ASSET, OWNER TAYLOR BROTHERS CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR NEW COM BLDG 10351 SF

NEW 4055 SF RES/BMT/GAR $175,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC. OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2551 DAFFODIL CT E NEW 4546 SF RES/BMT/GAR $200,000 JOLI DEVELOPMENT, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

13000 E 200 S COMMERCIAL ADDITION 02 $1,430,000 BCSC/ROCKCREEK SCHOOL, OWNER FERGUSON CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR RICKCREEK SCHOOL ADDN 6850 SF

14930 E HAWK CT 6557 SF 1ST/RES/BAS/GAR $400,000 WAGNER, KENT CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR SHELTON, JEFF & KAREN, OWNER

1500 CENTRAL AVE COMMERCIAL REMODEL $350,000 ORINOCO PROPERTY INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL 34366 SF

3182 GRAY HAWK DR SINGLE FAM RES/NEW $420,000

6030 S 175 E NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING $175,000 HORVATH COMMUNICATIONS, OWNER MIDWEST UNDERGROUND TEC, CONTRACTOR NEW CELL TOWER 7945 S INTERNATIONAL DR FOUNDATION ONLY $0 RIGHTWAY FASTENERS, OWNER REPP & MUNDT INC, CONTRACTOR RIGHTWAY FASTNERS ADDN 8100 SF

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS 4666 BAYVIEW DR NEW 2132 SF RES/GAR $145,500 DAVIS HOMES, CONTRACTOR GARCIA, LILIANA, OWNER 1996 CREEK BANK DR NEW 3775 SF RES/GAR $204,300 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2076 CREEK BANK DR NEW 2083 SF RES/GAR $149,900 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2086 CREEK BANK DR NEW 3178 SF RES/GAR $176,300 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2096 CREEK BANK DR NEW 3847 SF RES/GAR $196,200 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2536 DAFFODIL CT E

842 KNOLLWOOD DR NEW 1824 SF RES/GAR $110,000 COLUMBUS CUSTOM BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR POWERS, MARIE, OWNER 8085 N 330 W NEW 3718 SF RES/GAR $190,000 MIDWEST AFFORDABLE HOMES, CONTRACTOR RAY, EDDIE, OWNER 3234 RED FOX TRL NEW 5105 SF RES/BMT/GAR $388,000 DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 10900 S JONESVILLE RD NEW 5456 RES/BMT/GAR $180,000 DAVIS BUILDING GROUP, CONTRACTOR MIJARES, MARK, OWNER 2458 SHADOW BEND DR NEW 2549 SF RES/GAR $147,300 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2553 SHADOW BEND DR NEW 2304 SF RES/GAR $144,400 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2563 SHADOW BEND DR NEW 2549 SF RES/GAR $158,800 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 5715 VICTORY DR NEW 2494 SF RES/GAR $150,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 5725 VICTORY DR NEW 2467 SF RES/GAR $175,000

PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 5735 VICTORY DR NEW 2443 SF RES/GAR $150,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 6726 WESTBROOK DR RES/NEW $375,000 SPOON CONSTRUCTION, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 1936 WOODLAND PARKS DR SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $90,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2036 WOODLAND PARKS DR SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $90,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4696 CLAIRMONT DR SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $160,000 DAVIS BUILDING GROUP, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2530 CONEFLOWER CT SINGLE FAM RES NEW $319,000 M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2575 CONEFLOWER CT NEW 2574 SF RES/GAR $200,000 JOLI DEVELOPMENT, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2011 CREEK BANK DR NEW 3724 SF RES/GAR $185,000 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2051 CREEK BANK DR NEW 3178 SF RES/GAR $178,800 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

6096 HORIZON DR NEW 5612 SF RES/BMT/GAR $425,000 THOMPSON HOMES OF COLUMBUS, CONTRACTOR BREEDEN, KATHY, OWNER 4658 MAPLELAWN DR NEW 3415 SF RES/GAR $107,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4662 MAPLELAWN DR NEW 2165 SF RES/GAR $80,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4666 MAPLELAWN DR NEW 2523 SF RES/GAR $95,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4855 PINION CIR NEW 3415 SF RES/GAR $120,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 3869 RED FOX RUN NEW 4877 SF RES/BMT/GAR $338,000 DREES HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 3450 S WHITEHORSE RD NEW 3635 RES/BMT/GAR $200,000 KLEINHENZ, LARRY, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2508 SHADOW BEND DR NEW 2331 SF RES/GAR $136,300 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 148 WESTBROOK CT SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL $360,000 SPOON, JOEL/SPOON CONSTRUCTION, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

2161 CREEK BANK DRNEW 3219 SF RES/GAR $170,900 BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/CONTRACTOR

4660 WILLOWBROOK DR NEW 1682 SF RES/GAR $80,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

2591 DAFFODIL CT E NEW 4627 SF RES/BMT/GAR $225,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

4664 WILLOWBROOK DR NEW 2082 SF RES/GAR $87,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

3371 FALL VALLEY DR NEW 1940 SF RES/GAR $90,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

4717 CLAIRMONT DR SINGLE FAM RES NEW $150,000 DAVIS BUILDING GROUP, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

5995 CONIFER CT SINGLE FAM RES/NEW $275,000 SKAGGS BUILDERS INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2013 DEER CREEK CIR SINGLE FAM RES $400,000 PRATT, TIM/BREEDEN INC, CONTRACTOR HALE, RON, OWNER 16310 E MAIN ST NEW 4450 SF RES/BMT/GAR $203,688 HALLMARK HOMES, CONTRACTOR COMSTOCK, JOHN & DEBRA, OWNER 5226 GOELLER RD NEW 4946 SF RES/BMT/GAR $450,000 SPOON, JOEL, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 4988 IMPERIAL DR SINGLE FAM RES/NEW $265,000 SKAGGS BUILDERS INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4679 MAPLELAWN DR NEW 3094 SF RES/GAR $95,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 4683 MAPLELAWN DR NEW 2523 SF RES/GAR $95,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 5626 POPLAR WOODS CT NEW 4264 SF RES/BMT/GAR $200,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 5705 VICTORY DR NEW 4102 SF RES/BMT/GAR $200,000 PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2901 W CARR HILL RD SINGLE FAM DWELLING NEW $650,000 SKAGGS BUILDERS INC, CONTRACTOR SKINNER, RUSSELL, OWNER 8180 W NASBY TRL NEW 4944 SF RES/BMT/GAR $190,000 JCJ BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR MARTIN, SHANNA, OWNER 9815 W RAINTREE DR N SINGLE FAM RESIDENTIAL NEW $300,000 SMITHERMAN CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR ELLISON, ZACK, OWNER

WINTER 2015 The Business Connection 37

BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

9691 W SHORE DR SINGLE FAM RES/NEW $400,000 SHOAF, JAMES A CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR TUCKER, GRANT, OWNER 2705 WILD ORCHID WAY 4686 SF RES/BAS/GAR $250,000 JOLI DEVELOPMENT, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 3640 WOODFIELD PL NEW 6305 SF RES/BMT/GAR $550,000 BANISTER CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR ROBERTS, JANE, OWNER

CERTIFICATE TO DO BUSINESS UNDER ASSUMED NAME

Theresa Creecy DBA Homeboyz Fried Chicken and Fish (take-out restaurant), 1451 Washington St., Columbus

TAMMY (TAMELA) APPLE DBA TAMMY APPLE DESIGN (GRAPHIC DESIGN), 2470 LAKECREST DRIVE, COLUMBUS

Chris Ross DBA Online Construction (general contracting), 2232 Wallace Ave., Columbus

DIANA BURTON DBA EXTREME CLEAN AND LANDSCAPING (SERVICE–CLEANING AND YARD WORK), 371 CHESTNUT ST. APT 3, COLUMBUS

Cheryl Arford DBA Cheryl Arford Consulting (health care consulting), 2900 N. State Road 9, Columbus

DUSTIN WEBER DBA DUSTIN WEBER TRAINING (SPORTS AND FITNESS TRAINING), 3441 LIMESTONE LANE APT. 134, COLUMBUS

1895 WOODLAND PARKS DR NEW 2363 SF RES/GAR $90,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

ARIEL CESAREO DBA SABOR DE LA VIDA (RESTAURANT), 11700 N. U.S. 31 SUITE C, EDINBURGH

1915 WOODLAND PARKS DR NEW 3394 SF RES/GAR $93,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

Joyce A. Stamper DBA Hunter’s Heroes (fundraiser), PO Box 384, North Vernon Amanda M Helt DBA Heartstring’s Massage by Mandy (massage therapy), 12904 N CR 1250E, Seymour

2016 WOODLAND PARKS DR NEW 3041 SF RES/GAR $95,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

Richard Phillips and Roberta Phillips DBA Midwest Recyclers (auto parts sales), 3565 N. National Road, Columbus

2076 WOODLAND PARKS DR SINGLE FAM RES $95,000 BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR

James Myers DBA 24-7 Property Services (general contracting/ construction), 2052 E 550S, Columbus

2096 WOODLAND PARKS DR NEW 3415 SF RES/GAR $95,000

James St. John DBA Indiana Sports. com (sports broadcasting website), 3891 S. Poplar Drive, Columbus

Ismael Serrano DBA Right Call Roofing, 2819 Doup Drive, Columbus

Steven Neil Von Fange DBA Embedded Realities (consultant, computer and systems engineering), 1053 Erin Drive, Apt. 3B, Columbus Matthew N. Coy DBA Matthew Coy Photography, 2662 Sycamore St., Columbus Matthew C. Wiegman DBA Omega Management Group (IT/computing), 1839 Jolinda Drive, Columbus Michael N. Fox and Richard W. Shipley DBA Hurt Bird Window Cleaning LP, 1604 18th St., Columbus Andrea Carlile and Stephen Carlile DBA Happy Nest (retail/resale), 1630 and 1640 Home Ave., Columbus Komal Hirapara DBA Rajani Therapy Services (health care staffing company), 816 Yorkshire Drive, Columbus Eric Burton and Courtney MillerBurton DBA X-Treme Design (media services), 2525 Franklin St., Columbus

Business Indicators for Bartholomew County

Jun 2015

Jul 2015

Aug 2015 Sep 2015

Labor Force % Chg from Year Ago

43,603 44,323 44,284 43,968 0.65% 2.11% 3.17% 2.74%

Employed % Chg from Year Ago

42,004 42,747 42,862 42,665 1.44% 2.97% 4.42% 3.87%

Unemployed % Chg from Year Ago

1,599 1,576 1,422 1,303 -16.46% -16.79% -24.28% -24.33%

Unemployment Rate 3.7 3.6 3.2 3.0 Chg from Year Ago -0.7 -0.8 -1.2 -1.0

— Center for Business and Economic Research, Ball State University

38 The Business Connection WINTER 2015

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