Featured News
Liberty Wealth Services financial professional Joe Kiefer II has been appointed to the Senior Advisor Leadership Team at TruStage Life Insurance. TruStage’s SALT team selects financial professionals at credit unions who demonstrate top qualities in leadership, client relations, and sales productivity.
New Hires/Promotions
Mayor Stephanie Terry has announced Sarah Dauer has joined her administration as in-house corporation counsel. The Evansville native was in-house counsel at Shoe Carnival for eight years and later associate counsel at Reckitt. She’s also been a member of the Evansville Board of Park Commissioners.
Ben Shoulders has joined architecture and engineering consulting firm American Structurepoint as a business development director. Shoulders, who worked in the banking industry for 23 years, most recently for Banterra Bank, resigned from the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners in January after seven years to accept the new role.
Taylor Price has been hired as executive director of Community Development Financial Institution’s Friendly Evansville Region chapter, a network of businesses, housing developers, and community organizations providing access to CDFI financing. The Evansville native and University of Southern Indiana graduate has 11 years of experience in the banking and mortgage lending industries.
Welborn Baptist Foundation has announced Candice Perry has been promoted to chief capacity building officer, while Andrea Hays has been selected as chief program and impact officer. Perry, a former executive director of Albion Fellows Bacon Center, joined the foundation in 2016 as its nonprofit excellence program officer. Hays has been with the foundation since 2008 and most recently was its healthy communities program officer.
The University of Southern Indiana has promoted Jennifer Garrison to director of the Center for Campus Life, which oversees the development of USI’s student organizations, fraternity and sorority life, gender and sexuality resources, leadership programs, and student traditions and events. Juzar Ahmed has been named director of academic and endpoint technology in the Information Technology Department, where he will provide leadership and management for various USI technology functions. USI also has announced Erin Hollinger as director of Educator Services. She will coordinate assistance to teacher candidates as they progress through educator preparation programs, as well as licensure for pending graduates and renewals for former graduates. Cameron Conner has been hired as director of athletic marketing and fan engagement, where he will seek to enhance the profile of USI athletics internally and externally.
Evansville Regional Economic Partnership has promoted Kali Mayes to director
of events. Mayes previously served as events manager. In this elevated role, Mayes will work with E-REP and the Evansville Regional Sports Commission overseeing events.
Oswald Marketing has welcomed Kelsey Dus as its new director of marketing. The Evansville native previously worked for SIGMA Group.
Rod Summers has joined The Arc of Evansville as the manager of business development. In the role, he will work with local businesses to fulfill their outsourcing needs. The U.S. Navy veteran previously was employed by C.H. Robinson, Atria, and Toyota.
Legence Bank has appointed Neal Hagan the business services relationship specialist of the Cross Pointe branch. As a member of the Legence Bank Business Services team, Hagan will focus on strategy, growth, and community development in the southern Indiana market. Rachel Johnson has been named a commercial banker, also at the Cross Pointe branch.
Blackstrap Media has hired Micah Braden as director of video and promoted Chris Vinson to account manager. Braden has been employed by several marketing agencies and media outlets over a 23-year career. Vinson started with Blackstrap in 2023 as an associate account manager and handles social and web-based projects.
Ashlynn Johnson has joined Indiana Members Credit Union’s Eagle Crest branch as a member development officer. The University of Southern Indiana alumna will focus on account development and business collaborations.
Architects Jennifer Kissel and Eric Rang have been promoted to principals at Hafer. The architecture firm also has promoted interior designer Rebecca Brady and architect Clay Ellerbrook to associates.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Evansville Welcomes a Warm Breeze
By John Martin
Evansville Regional Airport has announced two new low-cost, nonstop connections to Florida, including one on an airline making its debut in the Hoosier State.
Breeze Airways launched twice-weekly flights between EVV and Orlando International Airport this winter. Based in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area, Breeze representatives came to town on Feb. 23 to commemorate the company’s first Indiana flight.
EVV also recently said Allegiant Air will add twice-a-week flights to and from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport in Clearwater, Florida, beginning June 13. The airport had coveted a beach destination on Florida’s west coast, EVV Executive Director Nate Hahn says.
While celebrating those air service gains, EVV officials add that restoring daily service to Chicago, Illinois, and Detroit, Michigan, remains a priority.
“The team here at EVV works tirelessly with our airline partners, but it takes ultimately our passengers to choose EVV and fly EVV first and show that demand to those airlines,” Hahn says.
DEPARTURES
Capt. Robbie Hahn has retired from the Evansville Police Department after 35 years. He was employed by the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office for three years before joining EPD, where he held several roles, including assistant chief for eight years. He was a founding member of the Evansville Police Foundation and served on its board of directors.
AWARDS/RECOGNITION
Edward Jones Financial Adviser Roger Nurrenbern has qualified for the Edward Jones recognition conference known as Pinnacle, which celebrates contributions and achievements of the firm’s top 205 advisers out of more than 19,000. Nurrenbernworks at the Edward Jones office at 1923 W. Franklin St. and will attend the awards ceremony in April in Orlando, Florida.
Tucker Publishing Group has picked up an award at the 2024 American Advertising Federation of Greater Evansville ceremony. It earned a Silver Addy for editorial spread for “Enjoy Every Sandwich,” the feature story in the March/ April 2023 issue of Evansville Living.
University of Evansville Professor Kristie Daugherty’s paper titled “Rooting for the Anti-Hero: Taylor Swift’s Lyrics and the Contemporary Female Protagonist” was presented at February’s Swiftposium, an international conference dedicated to the pop singer’s impact on popular culture, at the University of Melbourne in Parkville, Australia. The paper expands on Daugherty’s previous work discussing Swift in academic circles; in November 2023, she presented at “Taylor Swift: The Conference Era” at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Four Evansville companies have landed on the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s “Best Place to Work in Indiana” list for 2024 among 193 companies. Included are three small companies (15-47 U.S. employees), Brackett Heating, Air & Plumbing, and ESC Solutions; one large company (250-999 U.S. employees), Lochmueller Group, Inc.; and a major company (more than 1,000 U.S. employees), Warehouse Services, Inc.
D-Patrick auto dealerships have donated to several area organizations. D-Patrick Honda donated $1,500 to Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden and EVSC’s Hangers as a part of its “Honda Helping Kids” initiative. The Warrick County Community Foundation received $1,000 from D-Patrick Boonville Ford as part of its “D-Patrick Boonville Ford Brings Hope” initiative. D-Patrick Boonville Ford also donated $1,000 to Youth First Inc.
The Papa John’s Foundation for Building Community has awarded $32,500 to five Tri-State nonprofits, including $5,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Evansville; $7,500 to Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana, Owensboro, Kentucky’s Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club, and Junior Achievement of West Kentucky; and $5,000 to Junior Achievement of Southwestern Indiana.
Ritzy’s Fantasy of Lights, a fundraiser for Easterseals Rehabilitation Center, raised $186,117 between Nov. 23, 2023, and Jan. 1, 2024. Around 15,340 vehicles — including horse-drawn carriages — visited last year’s display, an increase of 20 percent from 2022. The money raised will help underwrite therapy sessions for people with disabilities and early education programming.
University of Evansville has awarded this year’s High School Changemaker Challenge scholarships. For first place, Jacob Barnwell and Elie Duff of New Tech Institute will receive full tuition for their SolarLens streetlight project. Second place went to Claire Deardorff and Jennifer Vazquez of Signature School for their UpLift18 project raising awareness about human trafficking; both will receive $27,000 per year in scholarships. In third place was Kris Lau, Abdul-Aleem Mohammed, and Parth Patel of Signature School for their Boomerang Learning post-COVID-19 remedial education program; all three will receive $23,000 per year in scholarships.
Laci Hasenour Scourfield, vice president of global marketing for Berry Global, was a “bridge builder” honoree at Ragan Communications’ Top Women in Communications Awards Luncheon on Feb. 29 in New York City.
Bryan Ruder of Stifel Financial Corp. has qualified for the firm’s 2023 President’s Council, a group of 217 financial advisers out of 2,300 nationwide recognized for their work production. Ruder serves as the first vice president/ investments in the Private Client Group of the firm’s broker-dealer subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company Incorporated. Ruder joined the firm in 2015 with the opening of its Evansville office.
GROWTH/DEVELOPMENT
The Orr Fellowship, a two-year postgraduate program for entrepreneurial and business-minded young professionals, is expanding from Central Indiana to the Evansville region with help from the Evansville Regional Business Committee and E-REP. The Evansville region chapter will welcome its inaugural class in June 2025.
Ports of Indiana shipped 12.6 million tons of cargo in 2023, the second-highest tonnage in its 63-year history and a six percent increase from 2022. The year’s largest single cargo increase was in coal exports from the port at Mount Vernon, which jumped 78 percent. Fertilizer shipments grew more than 11 percent, with double-digit gains at Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville, Indiana. All three ports increased rail shipments by 28 percent in 2023, with Mount Vernon leading with 39,909 rail cars, up 42 percent from 2022.
The Joint Chiropractic has opened an office at 4428 W. Lloyd Expressway. Known as The Joint Chiropractic-Evansville West, the clinic seeks to provide affordable access to routine chiropractic care. The Joint Chiropractic is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and has more than 900 clinics nationwide.
Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper, Indiana, became an affiliate of Evansville-based Deaconess effective Feb. 1. The Jasper facility had been sponsored by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary since its start more than 70 years ago. Both health care companies and the Catholic Diocese of Evansville worked together on the affiliate agreement, and an approval from the Vatican will allow Memorial to affiliate with Deaconess and remain a Catholic health care facility.
The University of Evansville and Reitz Memorial High School have announced a new partnership to allow juniors at Memorial to earn college credit in courses such as education, chemistry, biology, Spanish, and psychology. The credits are transferrable to UE or any institution accepting UE transfer credits. The partnership allows Memorial students to attend courses on UE’s nearby campus as part of their daily class schedule.
The University of Southern Indiana is expanding its Master of Business Administration online programs to include a concentration in supply chain management beginning with the fall 2024 semester.
Ivy Tech Community College Evansville has added two new trustees. Roland Shelton is the chief strategic business partnership officer and executive vice president at Old National Bank. David Smith is the superintendent of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation.
Churchill Downs, owner of Ellis Park Racing in Henderson, Kentucky, has announced plans to open Owensboro (Kentucky) Racing & Gaming in the first quarter of 2025, at U.S. 60 and Wrights Landing Road just east of the city limits. The property is projected to employ 150 workers and offer 600 historical racing machines, a retail sportsbook, simulcast wagering, and several food and beverage options.
Atlas Van Lines has acquired The Suddath Companies subsidiary Suddath Moving & Storage LLC, which was an Atlas agent and stockholder partner from 1950 to 1981.
BUSINESS CLOSING/REDUCTIONS
Global beverage producer Refresco is closing its Evansville facility at 1100 Independence Ave., according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed in February with the state. The announcement impacts 45 workers. Refresco has more than 70 production facilities in 13 countries.
