Business

By: Mike Rhodes— Muncie, IN—From November 25th through the 27th, 1,000 poinsettias were delivered to local nursing home residents through Woof Boom Radio’s 3rd annual Project Poinsettia. Numerous community-minded organizations and local businesses participated in and helped sponsor the project. (See their names below.) Sponsoring businesses had their logos printed on a greeting card that was inserted into each poinsettia, so residents would know who the poinsettia was from. The beautiful poinsettia flowers were provided by Wasson Nursery and Foister’s Flowers and Gifts. Lindsay Stafford, local and national sales manager for Woof Boom Radio, said, “This is our 3rd year…

By: Amanda Price— Muncie, IN—MITS, Muncie’s local transportation provider, wants to speak with your group/neighborhood association. MITS learned a lot from a recent Market Research Study. We appreciate all the input we received.  In particular, we have learned that many people recognize our name, but don’t how much about our organization. If the riders in our community don’t feel that they know MITS that well, then chances are MITS doesn’t know our riders well enough. In an effort to rectify this situation, MITS would be delighted to attend your (council, community, neighborhood, etc.) meeting.  The Assistant General Manager and one…

By: Mike Rhodes, Sheena Peters, Kyle Evans and the Innovation Connector— Muncie, IN—The Innovation Connector’s 5th Annual Excellence in Innovation Awards were held on November 13, 2019 at a celebration event at the Horizon Convention Center in downtown Muncie. The evening’s events lead up to the introduction of the 5 finalists from the Innovation Connector’s Big Idea Pitch Competition. Each of the 5 finalists pitched live, in front of over 350 people in the audience. Ms. Kirsten Smith, Associate Director at the Center for Information & Communication Sciences at Ball State University served as the Master of Ceremonies. In addition, Scott Wise, Entrepreneur…

By: Becky Tumidolsky— Company Hosts Evening Event to Honor Its Co-founders, Reflect on Its Journey, and Announce New Muncie Community Fund Muncie, IN– Ontario Systems, a leading provider of enterprise software that automates complex workflows and accelerates revenue recovery for clients in the healthcare, accounts receivable management (ARM), and government markets, hosted a community event at its Muncie headquarters Thursday evening to celebrate the company’s nearly 40-year history and announce a new community fund to help improve quality of life for area residents. Members of Ontario Systems’ current company leadership, current and past employees, and members of the Muncie community…

By: Mike Rhodes— Muncie, IN—Entrepreneurs and small business owners seem to have a million things to juggle every day: Sales. Marketing. Business Development. Customer service. Getting the actual work or product of the business completed and out the door. Of course there’s one other fun little task that is extremely important to a business:  Bookkeeping. For many entrepreneurs, that skill is frequently at the bottom of the “Things to get done this month” list. Sometimes, the financial aspects of running a business can take a back seat to other priorities. Clearly, the financial aspects of running a small business is important…

By: Symone Skrzycki— Indianapolis, IN —Today, Muncie’s Casey Stanley was honored by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce with a 2019 Samuel C. Schlosser Volunteer of the Year award. “Casey is a valued board and committee member at the Indiana Chamber, willing to speak out to represent both his company, the broader business community and his Muncie home,” says Indiana Chamber President and CEO Kevin Brinegar. “I would like to thank him and all the volunteers who share their time and talents with us. Their leadership and expertise benefit all Hoosiers as we work together to accomplish the mission of the Indiana Chamber,…

By: First Merchants Corporation— Muncie, IN—First Merchants Corporation, a $12.3 billion financial holding company, has elected H. Douglas Chaffin to the Boards of Directors of First Merchants Corporation and First Merchants Bank. Chaffin, who recently announced plans to transition from his day-to-day leadership role, served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Monroe Bank & Trust and MBT Financial Corporation beginning in 2004. First Merchants and MBT Financial finalized a merger of the two companies in September. “The First Merchants Board of Directors is proud to welcome Mr. Chaffin,” said Board Chairman Charles E. Schalliol. “Doug’s financial services expertise and commitment…

By: Brian Watson— Muncie, IN—At an intimate gathering on Muncie’s northeast side last Thursday afternoon, Vickie Copley named award winners from the Soup Crawl event held earlier last month and presented a fundraising check to C.S. Hendershot, Sunni Matters, and Dianne Hovermale of Second Harvest Food Bank. The Soup Crawl on October 3th in downtown Muncie raised $23,192.77 for Second Harvest’s school food pantry program. The People’s Choice Award, was presented to Elm Street Brewing Co for their Smoked Gouda & Tasso Ham with Wild Mushrooms. Elm Street Brewing Co also claimed the trophy called “My Bowl Runneth Over”, for…

WARREN, PA and MUNCIE, IN— Northwest Bancshares, Inc., (“Northwest”), (NASDAQ: NWBI) and MutualFirst Financial, Inc., (“MutualFirst”) (NASDAQ: MFSF) jointly announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Northwest will acquire MutualFirst, the Muncie, Indiana-based holding company and parent of MutualBank, in an all-stock transaction valued at $39.89 per share (based on Northwest’s 15-day volume weighted average closing stock price ending on October 23, 2019), or approximately $346 million in the aggregate. The transaction is immediately accretive to Northwest’s earnings per share, excluding merger costs, and increases its stand- alone earnings per share by over 10% on a…