Business

By: Mike Rhodes— Muncie, IN—All of us at MuncieJournal.com and the community at large are very saddened by the passing of our good friend and community leader, Pat Botts. Aside from touching the lives of every MutualBank team member he met during his 33 1/2 year tenure with the bank, Pat had a deep and passionate connection to the the rest of the Muncie community and East Central Indiana. He believed in Muncie and was often at the forefront of many initiatives that helped children. Like BY5, the Muncie Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers-Big Sisters and more. For these…

By: Stacey A. Shannon— Muncie, IN—Back in 1945, Gary Townsend’s father and uncle returned home to Muncie from World War II and started Townsend Tree Service. Since then, the business has grown to what is now The Townsend Corporation, which has about 2,200 employees in over 30 states. Headquartered in Muncie at 1015 W. Jackson Street, Townsend Corporation’s core business is working with electric utility companies to clear trees and vegetation away from power lines. According to John Roselle, Director of Marketing and Business Development, the company is the fifth largest utility tree trimming company in the country and second…

By: Karen Lloyd, Program Coordinator, Entrepreneurship Center, Ball State University— Muncie, IN— On October 11th, 12th and 13th, the 2019 Techstars Startup Weekend will make its return to Muncie. Do you have an idea you would like to pursue or a problem you would like to solve but don’t know where to start? Then Startup Weekend Muncie is just the event for you! Startup Weekend is a global organization powered by Techstars and Google where participants get together on a Friday evening to pitch and listen to ideas, form teams, and set off to build a business over the course of a weekend. Generally, participants…

By: Mike Rhodes, Editor-in-Chief— Muncie, IN— Magna Powertrain Muncie held a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony today to commemorate the establishment of a new walking track for its employees and their families at 4701 S. Cowan Road in Muncie. An identical track has also been constructed at Magna Powertrain’s adjacent facility on Fuson Road. According to Magna Powertrain Muncie General Manager Stephen Brand, the walking track requires an individual to walk 6 laps in order to complete a one-mile walk. “Magna’s Corporate Constitution and Employee’s Charter are the backbone for how all our employee’s work together,” Brand said. “One of our…

By: Alexis Dishman— Muncie, IN – The Innovation Connector of Muncie, Indiana is hosting the sixth annual BIG Idea Pitch competition for local entrepreneurs and innovators to “pitch” their business, business concepts, product or invention to a panel of judges from the business and investment community. There are many very creative and interesting concepts from people in our region, and this competition will showcase those ideas and offer what it takes to advance them. This event is for individuals in all phases of business, including startup or pre-startup. Jr High and High School students, as well as college students, are also…

By: Ted Baker—[print-me] Muncie, IN—The Innovation Connector is pleased to announce the formation of the new Capstone Connector initiative. While serving as the start-up technology hub for the greater Muncie community, the Innovation Connector recognized the opportunity to connect college students to local businesses and organizations to match technology talent with existing business software technology needs. For most college majors, students must complete a final course that is a culmination of their course work called a capstone course. “There has been a disconnect with local university and college computer science talent and the Muncie community,” states Ted Baker, Executive Director…

By: Nancy Carlson— Muncie, IN—The business owners in the Village, the eight block commercial area due south of Ball State University, are organizing for the first time in decades. The Village Merchants Association is re-forming to address issues common to all merchants, such as trash, parking, outdoor seating, event promotion, and relationships with the city and university. After a successful event called “$2 Tour of the Village” in August, sponsored by the Riverside/Normal City Neighborhood Association, the merchants decided to join together to form a unified voice. They believe it is in the interest to both the city and the…

By: David Huhnke— Muncie, IN– The Community Champions Fund is pleased to announce that it has awarded funds to ten organizations totaling $32,895.00.  This is the final disbursement of the Community Champions Fund, which was subsidized by Old National Bank’s 100 Men Who Cook event, to support organizations within the community to provide programming, services, and activities that endeavor to reduce violence as well as provide security and care for victims of violence.  Since 2015, Community Champions Fund has awarded over $410,000 to 47 different organizations. The Community Champions Fund has made financial support to not-for-profits, civic, business, and government…

By: Chad Mertz— Companies execute legal close following regulatory approvals in August Muncie, IN— First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ: FRME) and MBT Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: MBTF) have finalized a merger of the two companies. Following regulatory approvals last month, the companies consummated their legal closing through a 100% stock transaction effective September 1, 2019. As previously announced in late 2018, Monroe Bank & Trust will also merge with and into First Merchants Bank. Headquartered in Monroe, Michigan, MBTF operated 20 banking center locations in the southeastern Michigan area, all of which will remain part of First Merchants franchise. Since its founding in…