Tower Bank hired Jim Papagiannis as assistant vice president for cash management and Nathan Willis as mortgage originator. Papagiannis has 10 years of previous banking experience and Willis was most recently general manager at VSI Financial Solutions for seven years.
The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development provided grants to the following people and businesses for renewable-energy and energy-efficiency projects under the Rural Energy for America Program for their grain dryer projects: Michael Nelson of Burket, $19,988; Wayne Sholtey of Syracuse, $19,420; Paul Hosted of Albion, $20,000; Rex Holman of Angola, $20,000; Kyle Merrick of Wabash, $20,000; and R. Thrush Farms Inc., $38,155 and a $75,000 loan.
Celebrating Homes, a direct-selling company that provides home decorating and entertaining products, hired Etta Hamilton of Churubusco and Ruth Butcher of Fort Wayne. Hamilton can be e-mailed at rhamilton7@verizon.net and Butcher can be reached at ruthmunson@aol.com.
Steven Rhinehart, a cancer liaison physician at Lutheran Hospital, received the Outstanding Performance Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer for going above and beyond the scope of normal duties while serving as a liaison between the cancer program and the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
Sofia Rodriguez Mirwaldt joined the Allen County SPCA as executive director. Rodriguez Mirwaldt has been active in area’s non-profit sector for more than 10 years.
Mitchell Frederickson joined Frederickson Specialty Advertising Inc. as a sales associate. He will cover northern Indiana.
Ed McCutcheon, a broker with Century 21 Bradley, was recently named Top Individual Producer.
The following trustees of the University of Saint Francis were elected to three-year terms on the board: Charles Fisher, CEO, Rea Magnet Wire Co. Inc.; Sister M. Jennifer Henry, OSF, Mishawaka; Douglas G. McKibben, president, Glenbrook Dodge Inc.; Jeanne E. Mirro of Fort Wayne; Helen J. Murray, interim dean of the Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership, University of Saint Francis; William G. Niezer, senior vice president, Wells Fargo Insurance Services of Indiana LLC; Patrick W. Pasterick, president, Design Collaborative Inc.; and Ian M. Rolland of Fort Wayne.
John C. Reimbold and Terry L. Anderson of Reimbold and Anderson, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services Inc., attended the Ameriprise National Conference in Los Angeles.
Chris Kannel joined Kannel Superior Agency Inc. as a licensed resident insurance agent. He is the third generation of the Kannel family to join the business located in Montpelier, Ohio.
Rusty York, Fort Wayne police chief; Terry McDonald, New Haven mayor; Ed Lytal, New Haven EMS chief; and John Bennett, New Haven fire chief, all completed The Business of Public Safety series at the Public Safety Academy of Northeast Indiana. The series was hosted by the High Performance Government Network and designed to provide Northeast Indiana public safety leaders with a forum to learn new skills and tools, share ideas and collaborate with peers.
Jeff Lohser was named director of sales for Milford Valley Farms-brand chicken products. Lohser will be responsible for overseeing sales and market development.
Tony Flesch was named vice president of new business ventures for Maple Leaf Farms. Flesch will be responsible for overseeing the company’s international new-business ventures including its INDUX System and MLF Biotech Inc.
Grant J. Hilliard was promoted to sales manager at Thompson International Inc. Hilliard
has been with the company since 2006 as an intern and account executive.
Ashley Dickes and Stacey Till joined Arbor Mortgage Corp. as mortgage loan consultants.
Jim Stein joined K&K Insurance as a sales representative for the company’s Midwestern territory. Stein will work in cooperation with underwriters located in the home office in Fort Wayne. The hiring was made to develop new agent relationships while supporting existing K&K relationships with more than 6,000 agents and brokers across the country.
RE/MAX of Indiana recognized RE/MAX Results’ Jane Yoder, Patti
Couperthwaite, Penny Miller, Rob Harris, Patty Tritch, Steve Miller, David McDaniel, Kendrae Hilty, Ann Wisler, Neil Federspiel, Stacy Rofkahr and Anna Glick for individual sales in the top 100 through the second quarter and Tamara Braun, Mary Campbell, John Sullivan, Todd Stock, Ken Vaughn and Judi Pierson for team sales in the top 50 through the second quarter. John Sullivan of RE/MAX Results was awarded the Realtor Emeritus status by the National Association of Realtors, recognizing 40 years of continuous membership in the Fort Wayne Area Association of Realtors.
Community Action of Northeast Indiana hired Patricia Lopez, Amy Wicker and Gregory Witter to work in community services and Jose Hernandez to work in administration and development.
Crowe Horwath LLP, a public accounting and consulting firm, promoted Ashley Blythe to senior staff, Colin Gallagher to manager in the audit and financial advisory department and Robert Keim to senior manager in the tax department. It also hired Patrick McLeish as staff in the audit and financial advisory business unit in its Fort Wayne office
Allstate Insurance Co. honored local Allstate agency owners Justin Harkelroad and Steve Westrick with the Inner Circle Conference Award for demonstrating exceptional customer service skills and surpassed regional sales goals in 2009. Merle Maples was recognized as a Chairman’s Conference Award recipient for high standards in customer satisfaction, customer retention and profitable business growth in 2009. Susan Law and Darren Vogt were President’s Conference Award winners for demonstrating high standards in customer satisfaction, customer retention and profitable business growth in 2009.
Jennifer R. Tudor joined Barnes and Thornburg LLP’s Fort Wayne office as a staff attorney in the firm’s litigation department. Tudor’s primary experience involves assisting for-profit and non-profit business clients with entity formation, restructuring and regulatory compliance.
Wagner-Meinert Inc. hired Bob Knipper as senior service sales engineer, Dave Wenger as sales representative, Larry Graham as service group leader and Todd Poinsett as senior engineer and estimator.
M. Gail Hickey, professor of education at IPFW, presented a paper about the 1988 uprising in Burma at the 16th annual International Oral History Association Conference in Prague. Hickey’s presentation was titled “About a Thousand Students Were Killed: U.S. Burmese Refugees Recall the 1988 Uprising.”
DMS Health Technologies hired Michael Rago and Gary Ray as account executives and promoted Dave Northcutt to account executive. They are responsible for directing sales for the company’s diagnostic imaging services and for building and maintaining customer relationships by focusing on customers’ diagnostic imaging needs.
Robert B. Young was named CME Corp.’s business development manager. He will manage the business development, marketing and advertising activities for the company.
OrthoPediatrics sent 22 members of its sales team to a two-day advanced sales training event at the InMotion Orthopaedic Research Center in Memphis, Tenn. The event focused on how to handle different physician styles, how to achieve sales objectives and how to deliver a focused sales message to customers.
Christine Giant, a Snider High School teacher, won the Director’s Award for Community Leadership from the Allen County Solid Waste Management District for her leadership of Snider’s recycling program. Snider is the only high school in Allen County with such an advanced recycling program and a 90 percent student body and faculty participation rate.
