Articles by Mike Rhodes

Business October 5, 2020

First Merchants President & CEO Michael C. Rechin Announces Retirement

COO/CFO Mark Hardwick to become CEO; CBO Michael Stewart to become President; SVP Michele Kawiecki to become CFO MUNCIE, Ind. – After more than 13 years of leading significant growth and success for First Merchants, President & CEO Michael C. Rechin announced today he will retire from his position effective December 31, 2020. Rechin will remain on the First Merchants Board of Directors and will serve as an advisor to First Merchants going forward. Charles Schalliol, Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated, “Mike’s retirement caps an outstanding period in which he led First Merchants Corporation to unprecedented growth and…

Education October 3, 2020

State Partners With Ivy Tech to Get Help to Hoosiers Affected by COVID-19

By Dr. Sue Ellspermann, President, Ivy Tech Community College, Teresa Lubbers, Commissioner, Indiana Commission for Higher Education , Fred Payne, Commissioner, Indiana Department of Workforce Development Muncie, IN—We know that Hoosiers are facing many challenges due to COVID-19. Some have lost their jobs and others may not be able to return to the position they once had because the job requirements have changed. “In This Together” is the charge we often hear to collectively fight this virus. In that spirit, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD), the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE) and Ivy Tech Community College are partnering to…

Carlson October 2, 2020

John Carlson: The Workers Get ‘Er Done!

By John Carlson— Watching hard-working men or women go about their jobs never gets old for me. This is a reaction to my own newspaper career, I suppose. In thirty-nine years of journalism, my greatest level of physical exertion came from hitting the “shift” key on my word processor a couple hundred times a day. Well, unless you count my frequent trips to the vending machines for Cheez-Its and Hershey bars. But recently we hired Steve Massie and his guys from Specialty Tree Care to take down a Crimson King Maple in our front yard that had, sadly, given up…

Health September 30, 2020

Brad Edmondson Joins IU Health Foundation

By Courtney Thomas— Muncie, IN– Brad Edmondson has joined the IU Health Foundation as East Central Region Philanthropy Director. He will manage development activities for IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, IU Health Blackford Hospital in Hartford City, and IU Health Jay Hospital in Portland. Previously, Edmondson worked in development for Ball State University for 10 years, most recently as director of athletics development and, before that, as director of development for the Miller College of Business at Ball State. During that time, he served on leadership teams for the Ball State University Foundation and the Cardinal Commitment capital…

Health September 29, 2020

Delaware County Weekly COVID-19 Update, September 29th

Editor’s note: The following COVID-19 update is brought to you through a collaboration of healthcare partners including Delaware County Health Department, Delaware County Emergency Management Agency, Delaware County Office of Information, and other major healthcare providers. Muncie, IN—Last week, the Indiana State Department of Health reduced Delaware County’s COVID-19 ranking from “orange” to “yellow,” indicating that the county’s COVID numbers are improving. Local health officials expect the county to remain in the yellow category in the state’s next update to the dashboard on Sept. 30. “The orange status was expected due to the arrival of Ball State University students and…

Non-Profit September 29, 2020

Fields of Faith 2020 To Be Held on September 30th

By Jeff Mosier— Muncie, IN—Fellowship of Christian Athletes of East Central Indiana has been approved for a crowd size variance for Fields of Faith 2020. The event will take place Wednesday, September 30thon the Shawnee Heights softball/football Field, 1600 E. Fuson Rd., Muncie, IN 47302. Gates open at 6:15 p.m. Music begins at 6:40. Program begins at 7:00. Bring your ticket, your friends, and your chairs or blankets. Masks and social distancing will be required and enforced throughout the evening. Attendance will be limited. Pre-registration is required, so register today! To register and print your free ticket, go to www.ecinfca.org….

Non-Profit September 29, 2020

Shafer Leadership Academy to Serve Up Largest Training in 14-year History

By Kate Elliott— Muncie, IN — Muncie non-profit Shafer Leadership Academy is providing 144 hours — or 45 hours per employee — of leadership training for supervisors and front-line leads at Tyson Foods in Portland, Indiana. Fueling this virtual partnership is a workforce grant facilitated through Eastern Indiana Works, which provides employers and job seekers a range of resources and services. Mitch Isaacs, executive director of Shafer Leadership Academy, said investment in leaders matters most when times are tough. “Companies like Tyson Foods that invest in leaders now are helping their people weather the storm and positioning their companies to…

Non-Profit September 28, 2020

MPL Ready Readers Program Went Virtual in 2 Weeks

By Katie Lehman Ready Readers Supervisor, Muncie Public Library— Muncie, IN—If 2020 has taught us anything it is that a lot can change in a very short amount of time. For Muncie Public Library’s Ready Readers program, that amount of time was two weeks. In two weeks, we took a program that emphasized the power of individual face-to-face instruction without the use of technology, and made it entirely virtual. Since its creation in 2016, MPL’s Ready Readers program has provided free one-on-one individualized literacy and reading tutoring sessions to local children, both at the library and in the participants’ homes….

Government September 25, 2020

County Commissioners Provide Implicit Bias Training

By Arrick Garringer— MUNCIE, IN —The Delaware County Commissioners recently contracted with Shafer Leadership Academy to provide the workshop “Understanding Implicit Bias and Microaggressions” for their staff, other County employees, and other elected officials. The two-hour workshop, which was facilitated by Ball State University Professor of Sociology Dr. Melinda Messineo, provided participants with an understanding of unconscious bias, its origins, and its connection to micro-aggressions, along with tools and proactive everyday strategies for positive outcomes. Dr. Messineo explains “We used to think there were ‘biased people’ and ‘unbiased people’ and that ‘good’ people were not biased. Over time, cognitive science…

Carlson September 25, 2020

John Carlson: An Ominous Awakening

By John Carlson— This morning I woke up seventy-years-old. All I could think was, “Uh–oh.” As ages go, seventy seems a sobering one. If you die at seventy, people who liked you will say, “Well, he lived a good long life.” People who didn’t like you will say, “It’s about time that nitwit bit the big one.” Either way, your mortality won’t surprise anybody. Also at seventy, you are acutely aware of time’s passage. Not that I haven’t already been acutely aware of time’s passage. I remember being seventeen when my college buddy Charlie turned twenty. The fact I had…

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