FEATURED NEWS
Steven S. Hoar, an attorney with Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn, LLP, has been tapped to chair the Indiana State Bar Association’s House of Delegates for 2025-26. Hoar’s tenure will include service on ISBA’s board of governors and executive committee. ISBA has more than 10,000 members.
NEW HIRES/PROMOTIONS
Evansville Regional Economic Partnership has appointed Ashley Diekmann as its River Vision Advancement Director. Diekmann, who prior served as development director of the United Way of Southwestern Indiana, is tasked with leading the implementation of the Ohio River Vision Strategic Master Plan, a multi-county initiative to deliver new investment along a 50-mile stretch of the Ohio River from Newburgh to Mount Vernon, Indiana.
Aalaa Shahin has joined Ohio Valley Eye Institute in Evansville as a primary eye care provider for patients of all ages. Shahin is a graduate of William Henry Harrison High School, University of Southern Indiana, and Indiana University. She completed her residency at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Kristin Comer is the new director of institutional advancement at Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden. The Benjamin Bosse High School and USI alumna has more than 20 years of fundraising and leadership experience from working with the Old Courthouse Foundation and Homeless Connect. She also was an aide to the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners.
Cheyenne Miller has been hired as the new Virginia Schroeder Curator of Art at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History, and Science. The 2022 University of Southern Indiana graduate earned dual bachelor’s degrees in art history and studio art, and world languages and cultures. She was a James A. Sanders Gallery Fellow during her undergraduate studies and also completed two internships at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History, and Science and the Evansville African American Museum.
Scott Roberts was named vice chancellor for administration at Ivy Tech Community College Evansville. Roberts has more than 10 years in the financial services industry, most recently serving as chief financial officer with United Way of Southwestern Indiana.
Brant Kennedy has been named CEO-elect of Harding, Shymanski & Company, P.S.C., effective Jan. 1, 2026. Kennedy has worked with the Evansville-based CPA and advisory firm since 2003. He will succeed Scott Olinger, who will continue in his present role as CEO through Dec. 31, 2025. After that date, Olinger will serve as chairman of the board and president of the firm’s Louisville region.
DEPARTURES
Alexis Berggren will leave her role as president and CEO of Explore Evansville at the end of this year to become general manager of the Charlotte (North Carolina) Convention Center. Berggren was with Explore Evansville for three years after previously serving as general manager of Old National Events Plaza for four years.
Parri Black will retire as Youth First’s president and CEO in May 2025. The Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native joined Youth First in 2004 after a career in television production in Tennessee and at WNIN in Evansville. She has lived in Evansville since 1998.
AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS
Dennis Lamey has received the Dr. William Wooten Champion of Youth First award at Youth First’s 2024 Breakfast of Champions event. Lamey, who retired in 2016 from Norman Backues/CLA as executive vice president, was a driving force behind Youth First’s growth and development as a longtime advocate and board member.
Deaconess Health System has been recognized in the 2024 Digital Health Most Wired Survey for its use of technology. The Level 8 recognition for acute and ambulatory care means that Deaconess ranked above peers in areas such as analytics and data management, population health, infrastructure, and patient engagement. The survey evaluates how technologies are used across health care organizations.
Silver Birch Living, which has facilities in Evansville and four other Indiana cities, announced its certification as a Great Place to Work for 2024, recognizing its dedication to a positive and engaging workplace culture. Great Places to Work is a global workplace culture tracker.
USI Interim President Steven Bridges received the Romain College of Business Distinguished Accountant Award. Bridges has served as vice president for finance and administration since 2015 and worked in numerous other USI capacities since receiving his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the university in 1989.
Indiana Humanities, a statewide nonprofit engaging Hoosiers through thinking, reading, and talking initiatives, has added two board members with Evansville ties: Del Doughty, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at USI; and Jonathan Weinzapfel, general counsel for the Indianapolis Airport Authority and a former mayor of Evansville and member of the Indiana House of Representatives.
Carol McClintock, an Evansville real estate agent and namesake of F.C. Tucker Emge’s Team McClintock, received the first Deaconess Foundation Legacy Award for her efforts and support on behalf of the foundation’s Nursing Scholarship Program.
The University of Evansville has been designated a top veteran-friendly school for 2024 by U.S. Veterans Magazine. UE supports veterans through a variety of programs such as the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program. UE waives any veteran student’s tuition not covered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The College Board has honored Evansville Day School for student success by naming the institution to the 2024 Advanced Placement Program School Honor Roll. Schools earn this recognition by maximizing college readiness opportunities. EDS offers 20 AP courses taught by six instructors.
Seven people and organizations were honored by the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission on Nov. 1 at the Mayor’s Celebration of Diversity Awards. Trinisia Brooks, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp.’s Director of Community Schools and Family Engagement, and the late Philip Siegel shared the Sadelle Berger Award. Ivy Tech Community College Evansville’s Executive Director of Diversity, Equity & Belonging, Wendy Chinn, was recognized with the Willie Effie Thomas Development Award. Misty Hartmire, an APRN at Matthew 25 AIDS Services, and LaToya Johnson, Sales & Marketing Director at Heritage Woods of Newburgh, both earned Sue Woodson Community Relations Award. Community Action Program of Evansville was honored with the Leadership Award. Deaconess Health System earned the Workforce Diversity Award.
Forbes has included Donaldson Capital Management as one of American’s top registered investment advisory firms in 2024. The Evansville company is independently owned and manages more than $3.2 billion in assets. It was selected for Forbes’ 2024 RIA list from 46,2000 registered firms.
Indiana University’s College of Arts and Sciences has honored 1975 English graduate and Evansville attorney Pat Shoulders with an alumni award. Shoulders, a partner with the Evansville firm Ziemer, Stayman, Weitzel & Shoulders, LLP, also earned his law degree from IU in 1978.
GROWTH/DEVELOPMENT
Liberty Federal Credit Union and USI have announced a $10 million, 20-year donation from the credit union to USI Athletics. As part of the donation, Screaming Eagles Arena on the USI campus is being renamed Liberty Arena.
Berry Global Group, Inc. has announced a merger with Zurich, Switzerland-based Amcor, PLC. The all-stock transaction will make Berry a wholly owned subsidiary of Amcor. Berry shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 7.25 Amcor shares per each Berry share they held at closing, giving Amcor and Berry shareholders ownership of approximately 63 percent and 37 percent, respectively, of the new company. At the time of the merger’s announcement, Berry Global’s common stock was trading at $73.59 per share. Berry Global also recently completed a merger between the Evansville-based company’s Health, Hygiene, and Specialties Global Nonwovens and Films business and Gladfelter Corporation. This results in the creation of Magnera Corporation, the largest nonwovens company in the world with a broad platform of solutions for the specialty materials industry.
Civil engineering company Lochmueller Group Inc. has expanded its national footprint by acquiring Fort Worth, Texas-based Multatech Engineering Inc. The addition strengthens employee-owned Lochmueller’s portfolio of railroad and utility infrastructure and transportation and municipal design experience. Lochmueller officials say Multatech will continue to operate under its own name and current vice president and COO Paul Padilla for the immediate future.
USI has announced that a $49 million renovation of the Health Professions Center, which houses the Kinney College of Nursing and Health Professions, is underway and will add more than 48,000 square feet for classrooms, updated labs, and state-of-the-art equipment for growing health care programs. The building’s updated exterior also will give a fresh look to the entrance to campus.
Mayor Stephanie Terry and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 73 have agreed to a new three-year contract for Evansville Police Department officers, which the City Council later approved. The contract takes effect Jan. 1 and includes raises of 7 percent in 2025 and 4 percent in 2026 and 2027.
The City of Evansville will receive a $729,809 Community Crossings grant from the Indiana Department of Transportation. Awarded twice each year, the grant will fund road paving projects in the city. Those upcoming projects will be on Stringtown Road from Morgan Avenue to Keck Avenue; Boeke Road from East Virginia Street to Morgan Avenue; West Mill Street from First Avenue to the city limit; Oak Grove Road from Enterprise to the Est Bridge Limit; and North Green River Road from Constellation Drive to Davis Lant Drive.
The USI board of trustees has approved two online Master of Science in Education degrees in mathematics leadership and special education. The 30-credit program offers accelerated seven-week courses to support working professionals. Part-time students can finish in under two years, while full-time students can complete the degree in one year.
HeartSaver has donated 14 Automated External Defibrillators to all schools in Henderson County, Kentucky, in a tribute to Lucy Nash, a fourth-grader at Cairo Elementary School who passed away in August after collapsing at recess.
ECHO Housing and Community Development has received a $308,322 capital grant from Indiana United Ways in support of the Promise Home, a new supportive housing project at 313 Read St. The new building features 27 one-bedroom apartments for individuals who have experienced homelessness for more than a year. Those individuals will be connected to case management and other services. Construction was completed in July, and leasing was expected to begin in November.
The D-Patrick family of auto dealerships has announced charitable donations. D-Patrick Honda contributed $1,500 to YWCA Evansville’s Live Y’ers program, which works with at-risk students at Lodge Community School and Glenwood Leadership Academy; D-Patrick Boonville Ford presented $1,000 to the Warrick County Chamber of Commerce; and D-Patrick Ford/Lincoln donated $2,500 to Ballet Indiana.
Bally’s Evansville participated in the Bally’s Corporation Pink Your Drink campaign, which raised $12,500 for the American Cancer Society’s mission to end breast cancer. During October, each Bally’s property donated $1 to the cause for every Pink Your Drink cocktail or mocktail sold, on top of a $10,000 donation from Bally’s Corporation.
UE has received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women to fund and create Project Safespace, an initiative focused on preventing and addressing sexual assault, domestic and dating violence, and stalking on campus. UE officials say the project will benefit students, with a special focus on supporting LGBTQ+ students, students with disabilities, and international students.
UE announced that its Center for Innovation and Change has a new Downtown Evansville presence at Innovation Pointe, on Main Street, and the university also unveiled its Legacy Courtyard project in the 300 block of South Frederick Street, which includes a patio, hammock village, two sand volleyball courts, and an open green space slated for future phases of development.
UE and USI have begun a new partnership to provide USI students direct-entry pathways into UE’s Master of Science in Athletic Training and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs.
West Side Nut Club Fall Festival’s half-pot ticket sales eclipsed $2 million for the first time. The club on Oct. 22 introduced Al Lindsey of Evansville as the winner of just over $1 million. The remaining $1 million will support local charities.
Plaza Tire Service has added a new location at 9809 Pointe View Drive, Newburgh, Indiana. Founded in 1963 and based in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Plaza Tire Service is part of the Sun Auto Tire & Service portfolio of companies.
UE is the recipient of two significant financial gifts. A gift to UE from John C. and Diane Schroeder and Richard A. and Patricia Schroeder established the Dr. Beverly Brockman Study Abroad Award. It will be given to students in the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration who wish to study at UE’s Harlaxton campus in Grantham, England, with financial need being a primary consideration. The estate of the late Melvin Peterson also bequeathed $5.3 million to fund an endowed faculty chair and a scholarship in the Department of English. Peterson, with late partner William Ridgway, purchased Harlaxton Manor in 1978 and donated it to UE eight years later. Peterson also is the namesake for an endowed chair in literature and writing at UE.
Ports of Indiana is launching a new Ohio River partnership with general cargo stevedore Superior River Terminals Indiana. The program, titled “Indiana River & Rail Terminals,” will manage all the general cargo facilities at the Jeffersonville and Mount Vernon ports – including six docks, six warehouses, several rail transload facilities, and logistics services – for 40-plus customers. The port in Mount Vernon is the busiest inland port in the nation, shipping 27.7 million tons of cargo via barge annually.
