ย FEATURED NEWSย
Evansville Water and Sewer Utilityโs GIS team received a Special Achievement in GIS Award from Esri, the global leader in geographic information system software, during a national conference in July. EWSU GIS Manager Ryan Key and Technician Aaron Krohn accepted the award from Esri co-founder Jack Dangermond for their work using GIS to improve government transparency and better serve the public.
ย NEW HIRES/PROMOTIONSย
Tucker Publishing Group has hired Chanda Ramsey as its art director in Aug. 2024. Ramsey has almost 30 years of experience and previously worked for Evansville Regional Economic Partnership and Courier & Press. She is a graduate of University of Southern Indiana and Ivy Tech Community College Evansville.
Stephanie Richard is the new director of Indiana Landmarksโ Southwest Field Office, based in Evansville. The Evansville native previously was a project manager with Architectural Renovators, and she has served on the Evansville Historic Preservation Commission since 2018.
The University of Southern Indiana has announced Betsy Jo Mullins as its director of housing and residence life. She most recently served as associate director of business operations and information technology. 2013 graduate Margaret โMaggieโ Carnahan has been named director of alumni engagement and Volunteer USI. She previously was the assistant director for major gifts at the USI Foundation.
USI has named the members of its presidential search committee, chaired by Christina Ryan, who is the first chair of the USI Board of Trustees. Other search committee members are Jean Blanton, Harold Calloway, Michael Dixon, Trent Engbers, Randa Gatling, Andrea Gentry, Fouad Hamami, Pamela Hopson, Kyle Mara, Troy Miller, Sudesh Mujumdar, Erin Reynolds, Nicholas Rhew, Ronald Romain, Patricia Tieken, and Abby Yates. Ex officio members are Nita Musich, Kindra Strupp, and Sarah Will.
Tri-State Orthopaedics has welcomed Blaine Manning, a spine surgeon, to its practice. A Springfield, Illinois, native, Manning attended Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois, and completed a five-year residency at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he was a resident surgeon for the universityโs athletics program.
The Henderson, Kentucky, Chamber of Commerce has named Jada Hamby its event coordinator. The Henderson native and University of Southern Indiana alumna previously worked with Terror on the Trail, Hometown Roots, and First Christian Church.
Jeff Ferguson has joined Right to Life of Southwest Indiana as its executive director. The Evangel University Seminary, Springfield, Missouri, graduate was ordained as a pastor in 2005 and, with his wife Rochelle, founded a parenting nonprofit called Not On My Watch, Inc.
CenterPoint Energy has promoted 24-year employee Mike Roeder to senior vice president of external affairs in Indiana and Ohio. He served as vice president of government affairs and chairman of the Employees Federal Political Action Committee for Vectren, CenterPoint Energyโs predecessor in Evansville. CenterPoint has named another former Vectren executive, Shane Bradford, its newest vice president of Indiana Electric. He most recently helped execute CenterPointโs long-term electric generation transition.
Old National Bank has appointed Matt Merkel to its Evansville Market President. Merkel began with Old National Bank as a credit analyst in 1996 and will continue serving as the companyโs Southwest Indiana Business banking director.
Moving and transportation company Atlas Van Lines has promoted Ryan Parmenter to chief information officer. Parmenter joined Atlas in 2001 as a software engineer and most recently served as vice president of information technology.
Easterseals Rehabilitation Center has welcomed Rob Henson as its new vice president of major gifts and planned giving. Henson has lead fundraising and capital campaigns for Ivy Tech Community College, the IU Medical School Consortium, and Ascension St. Vincent Evansville.
Banking institution Fifth Third has hired Marshall Byers as city president for its Evansville market. Byers, an Evansville native, will continue to serve as a wealth management advisor and will also lead the private bank team for the Tri-State.
Henderson Community Collegeโs Foundation has appointed three new board members. Stephen Arnett is a 1973 graduate and practices law in Morganfield, Kentucky. Lindsay Durbin is an HCC and USI graduate and practices law in Dixon, Kentucky. Brian Newman serves as the vice president of commercial banking for German American Bankโs Henderson location.
Evansville Regional Airport has named Kylie Weaver-Poe its director of finance and administration. Prior to joining EVV, Weaver-Poe was the director of business affairs at Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation and a senior accountant at SS&C GlobeOp, a division of SS&C Technologies.
ย DEPARTURESย
Suzanne Draper is stepping down after 22 years as CEO of Vanderburgh County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). Her position at CASA caps a 34-year career in child and family services. Draper will retire at the end of the year.
Escalade Inc. announced Aug. 14 that CEO Walter Glazer will retire at the end of the year. Glazer has led the sporting goods and recreational equipment manufacturer since late 2021 and served on Escaladeโs board of directors since 2015.
Zach Garcia is leaving Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve after two years as executive director. Garcia joined Wesselman Woods in 2019 as director of education. He is transitioning to Faith in Place, an organization that empowers people of diverse faiths and spiritualities in work on environmental and racial justice issues, as Indiana outreach director.
ย AWARDS/RECOGNITIONย
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has named the City of Evansville Indianaโs latest Clean Community. The Clean Community program rewards communities for having proactive environmentally friendly policies. The program has three tiers, and Evansville received Bronze Tier recognition, along with Merrillville, Fortville, and New Chicago. In all, Evansville is Indianaโs ninth community to earn the Clean Community designation, and the largest by population.
Dr. Michael Miller has been named the 2024 Ascension St. Vincent Evansville Physician of the Year. Miller has been a radiation oncologist with the health system for 25 years.
First Bank has been granted Preferred Lender Status by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the highest bank designation reserved for top-tier lenders. This status provides First Bank authority to process, close, service, and liquidate most SBA-guaranteed loans without prior review to provide faster financing to businesses in Southwest Indiana and Southeast Illinois.
Boston IVF at The Womenโs Hospital, a fertility and family-building care provider, has been designated a Center of Excellence by Optum for the third time. The recognition, which also was received in 2021 and 2023, is only given to the highest-rated IVF providers in the United States. Boston IVF at The Womenโs Hospital opened in 2013.
Deaconess Midtown and Deaconess Gateway hospitals have received Electrophysiology Accreditation and Cardiac Cath Lab Accreditation from the American College of Cardiology, which recognizes expertise and commitment in treating patients who come to an electrophysiology lab and cardiac cath lab for care. The accreditations were based on onsite evaluations of staffโs ability to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients in those areas.
Deaconess Health System was named to the Forbes list of Americaโs Best Employers by State 2024, a list which includes 1,294 organizations across the nation. Forbes creates the list by using survey data of more than 160,000 workers with companies of at least 500 people. U.S. News & World Report also has named Deaconess the second-best hospital in Indiana for 2024-25, its seventh consecutive such honor.
Cavanaughโs on the River, the upscale steakhouse at Ballyโs Evansville, has been awarded OpenTableโs 2024 Dinersโ Choice Award. The accolade recognizes Cavanaughโs as a top dining destination for its steak and seafood and riverfront setting. Ballyโs Evansville also earned several Best of Gaming awards from Casino Player Magazine, which for 29 years has polled readers about their favorite casino locations and amenities across the U.S. In the contestโs Southern Indiana division, Ballyโs Evansvilleโs hotel and casino earned top marks for Best Hotel Staff, Best Suites, Best Casino, and Best Players Club, among other honors.
Evansville Police Department honored several officers at its July 15 appointment, promotion, and award ceremony. Michael DeBlanc, Jacklyn Holden, Corey Nutt, and Darren Richardson were promoted to sergeant. Aaron Fair was promoted to Lieutenant. Officers Nick Meeks and Kyle Campbell received the Life Saver Award.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc., a broker-dealer subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp., has ranked No. 1 in the employee advisor portion of J.D. Powerโs 2024 U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction StudySM for the second year. Stifel also ranked No. 1 in three individual categories: leadership and culture, products and marketing, and operational support.
ย GROWTH/DEVELOPMENTย
SVN The Martin Group announced its acquisition of Summit Real Estate Services. According to SVN The Martin Group, the move will strengthen the commercial real estate companyโs presence and capabilities in the Tri-State region and beyond. SVN The Martin Group is a third-generation, family-owned company founded by John and Steve Martin in 1977.
Nix Industrial of Poseyville, Indiana, announced a merger with another family-owned business, Huncilman Sheet Metal Fabrication of New Albany, Indiana. Itโs the largest acquisition to date for Nix Industrial and makes the combined company one of the largest metal fabricators in the state and one of the nationโs 40 largest. The two companies have a combined workforce of more than 200.
Indianapolis-based real estate firm @properties has expanded into Southwestern Indiana. Realtors Wayne Ellis, Kristen Hoeppner, Marc Hoeppner, Beau Johnson, Jess Meeks, Katie Ritter, Will Ritter, Chris Schaefer, and Tammy Wargel have established an @properties office in Newburgh, Indiana. @properties is a national company with markets in Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, and the Washington, D.C., area.
University of Evansville announced that its FORWARD capital fundraising campaign has eclipsed $100 million of its $125 million goal. FORWARDโs contributions to UE thus far include the transformation of Wheeler Concert Hall and the creation of the Mental Health and Wellness Clinic and the Emily M. Young Assessment Center, as well as endowed faculty chairs, baseball and softball facility improvements, academic program support, and more than 34 new endowed scholarships.
UEโs Center for Innovation and Change and Circular Venture Lab received a $100,000 Community Energy Innovation Prize from the U.S. Department of Energy. The prize is for the IMPACTT-Technology Transfer for Impact Ventures program, and it allows the IMPACTT team to recruit students through the ChangeLab program, which helps identify new uses for materials and products through Circular Venture Labโs mentorship.
The Old National Bank Foundation awarded a $200,000 grant to the UEโs Mental Health and Wellness Clinic and Emily M. Young Assessment Center, which opened in November 2023. Staffed by a licensed psychologist and a physician assistant with certification in psychology, as well as students from UEโs Doctor of Psychology clinical degree program, the clinicโs mission is to enhance mental health care.
USI on Aug. 27 dedicated a $16 million expansion and renovation of its Recreation, Fitness and Wellness Center. Features include a larger footprint for the USI Deaconess Clinic, a meditation room and new office space for Religious Life, technology upgrades and a storm-safe dispatch room for Public Safety, an expanded game room, a new front desk, and more.ย ย
The USI Foundation received a $100,000 grant from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to fund scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the Administrator-in-Training residency program or any academic major, minor, or certificate program in gerontology. Preference will be given to students who have demonstrated financial need, according to USI officials.
Evansville Regional Airport on Sept. 4 celebrated the return of direct, twice-daily service to Chicago, Illinois, OโHare International Airport with the first flightโs departure. The restored service is via American Airlines.
German American Bank, based in Jasper, Indiana, and Heartland Bank of Whitehall, Ohio, have announced a merger agreement. Heartland will merge into German American and will operate under a co-branded name in Ohio markets. As of June 30, 2024, Heartland operated 20 full-service banking offices and had about $1.9 billion in total assets. The combined organization will have more than $8.1 billion in assets and a branch network of nearly 95 locations across communities in Southern Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.
Indiana University School of Medicine is expanding its Bachelor of Science Medical Laboratory Scientist Program to its campus at the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences in Downtown Evansville. The expansion is in response to a national shortage in the field, and it is funded through a collaboration between the IU School of Medicine Department of Pathology and Deaconess Health System. The expanded program is directed by Dr. Nick Brehl, with an inaugural class of four students starting in the fall 2024 semester.