Business

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…

By: Mike Rhodes— Muncie, IN—The 86th Annual Fall Conference of the Indiana Criminal Justice Association (ICJA) was held at the Horizon Convention Center October 9-11, 2019 in downtown Muncie. Over 160 association members from across the state attended the conference. The Indiana Criminal Justice Association (ICJA), formerly the Indiana Correctional Association, is a statewide professional member association with the mission of enhancing the continuum of criminal justice in Indiana by focusing on the enrichment of the criminal justice professional and the Criminal Justice System as a whole. The association serves members of the Department of Corrections, probation, parole, community corrections,…

By: First Merchants Corporation— Muncie, IN—First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ – FRME) has reported third quarter 2019 net income of $36.8 million compared to $41.1 million during the same period in 2018. Earnings per share for the period totaled $.71 per share compared to third quarter 2018 results of $.83 per share. Included in the third quarter results are $11.2 million, or $.17 per share, of one-time charges related to the closing of our acquisition of Monroe Bank & Trust on September 1, 2019. Total assets equaled $12.3 billion as of quarter-end and loans totaled $8.3 billion. The Corporation’s loan portfolio…

By: Amanda Price, MITS— Muncie, IN—MITS, Muncie’s local transportation provider, is excited for Muncie to see the newest wrapped bus out on the streets. The new wrapped bus made its debut on Saturday October 19th during the 2019 BSU Homecoming Parade, following behind the Ball State Cheerleaders and Code Red dancers.  The bus represents the on-going partnership between MITS and Ball State Athletics. After many years of successfully transporting incoming freshman to the Meijer Back to School event, MITS staff and Ball State Athletics representatives wanted to introduce a new element to their long-standing partnership. The resulting 40’ New Flyer bus…

By: Stacey A. Shannon— Muncie, IN—Almost 30 years ago, Jason Struble was a Ball State student who decided to open a music store in the summer before his senior year. The business did so well that he didn’t go back to school. Sight and Sound Music Center has only continued to grow. Along with Sight and Sound’s McGalliard storefront selling and renting instruments and other music-related products, the company also has a warehouse for its e-commerce business, offers A/V equipment rental and recently purchased Diamond Guitars. Struble said the various sectors used to be in different locations around Muncie but…