THE PAPER
of Wabash County Inc.
www.thepaperofwabash.com
September 19, 2012
Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977
Rusty and Karol Jack open Wabash Allstate office By J.D. Sparks There’s a new insurance agent in town that couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the Wabash County community. Rusty Jack, along with his wife Karol, recently opened an AllState Insurance office on 1005 North Cass Street next to Taco Bell. “I’ve been around Wabash, just haven’t opened a business here before now,” Rusty said to The Paper. “It’s going to be great. We also come here and eat at some of the places downtown. We’re really looking forward to it. “We really want to be involved. We’ve networked with the mayor and with the Wabash County Chamber of Commerce and we are going to be a part of the Chili Cook-off. We can’t wait.” Rusty has been an
insurance agent since 1980 and has been with All State since 1984. He started with Commonwealth Insurance, where he led his territory in sales for two years before a promotion to sales manager. He said he made the transition to AllState because of brand recognition. “I tell people I’m with AllState, and they’re instantly like ‘Oh, you’re the good hands guy,’” Rusty said. “It’s a well-branded company.” He also likes All State because of how user friendly it is for customers. “The big thing is that it’s a name brand company that pay claims on time like it’s supposed to,” he said. “There’s also plenty of service all over the nation. The cool thing is that, if a customer is on vacation or
something, an office anywhere in the U.S. can help them service. Before he became licensed in insurance, he worked at Cashway Lumber in Wabash. Rusty grew up in Converse and graduated from Oak Hill in 1977. “Since I’ve opened this office, I’ve met a couple of people I knew way back when I used to work around here and that’s been great,” Rusty said. With roots around Wabash, when the opportunity came to open an office here, Rusty jumped at the chance. “It’s just a good opportunity,” he continued. “Ken Wilson has been with AllState for 30-plus years and now he wants to semi-retire. Ken and his wife Sandy and Karol and I have been friends for a long time. Our kids grew up together. So, he asked us to open an
MEMBERS OF THE NEW WABASH ALLSTATE OFFICE include (front row, from left) Karol Jack, Rusty Jack, (back row) Val Houser and Laura Cooper. Karol and Rusty own the Wabash office and also own an office in Marion. (photo by J.D. Sparks) office here and we thought it would be a great idea. It’s close to home.” Karol and Rusty also have an office still open in Marion. Karol, who is also a
fully licensed insurance agent, will probably split time at each of the branches. “Once we have the scheduling down, once we’re settled, we’ll be pretty easy to
keep track of. We’re really looking forward to it. From where we live, it’s a half-hour drive to Wabash and a 15minute drive to Marion.”
We have an outstanding staff at the Wabash office. Laura Cooper and Valerie House. “Laura, she’s been around Wabash forev-
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Acme Bookbinding and The HF Group to merge
ACME BOOKBINDING and The HF Group recently announced the two businesses would merge, effective immediately. The individual plants of the newly merged company will continue to operate under the current names. (photo by Eric Christiansen)
Index Classifieds ......................35-39
Weekly Reports ..............23-25
D&E ................................21-22
Sports..............................19-20
Acme Bookbinding Company (Acme) and The HF Group (HFG) are pleased to announce a new partnership and that, effective immediately, these two established family businesses have merged. Acme and HFG are industry leaders in the fields of trade & edition binding, library binding, prebinding, digital printing and binding, print on demand (POD), deluxe leather hand binding, book and paper conservation, digital conversion of books and paper documents, and records & data storage and management. The merger of Acme and The HF Group brings their combined resources, vision and commitment to new opportu-
nities created by recent market transitions. “The book manufacturing industry has experienced rapid change as the Internet Revolution has necessitated new products and services. With this merger, Acme and HFG not only leverage their strengths in mature markets, but increase their capacity in growing markets. Acme and HFG, while growing and investing in these new markets will continue to preserve historic treasures, build tomorrow’s collectible, convert analog to digital for wider access, store and secure data, deliver a book that memorializes a life, or a creative dream, and with
In Memoriam Martha Biehl, 86 Paul Black, 89 Joshua Conliff, 35 Brian Marks, 50
Catherine Marks, 75 Eddie Morris, 58 Tony Moyer, 53 James Ramey, 86
a product that always brings a smile,” said Paul Parisi, President of Acme. The focus of the new company will be to provide affordable products that exceed client expectations in its core book and binding markets, while growing in emerging markets. Jim Heckman, Vice President of The HF Group, said, “By joining forces, our new company will increase manufacturing scale so that we can be the best provider for the continuing demand for high-quality traditional book products, but more importantly, strengthen our capability in growth areas such as short-run dig(continued on page 5)
Vol. 35, No. 27
Diana Rebholz, 47 June Rodocker, 89 David Shepherd, 70 Bertha Snell, 83
PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326