One of the most exciting things about being a small business owner, according to many who are, is that you never know what lies ahead every morning when you rise to shine. Opportunity and challenges are around every corner, just like new faces. And, as Frank Ocean...

Ask Nic Allen about moving and he will agree with the majority who do not like doing it. Then, in the next breath, he quickly adds that the recent move of Allen Irrigation Company to its new location on Monroe St. is a positive move well worth it in several ways. The 16-year-old business has always been in Mooresville, but this new home provides more space for staff and training, a place for remote irrigation operation technology, and garage space to maintain and repair equipment during the winter. He sees it as opportunity to grow his business.

Allen Irrigation is a business that started like many others: a man bootstrapping from job to job out of his garage, with a truck, a trailer and a lot of determination. Allen had been in college pursuing turf science degree when a local golf club opened up a superintendent’s position. He started part-time, moved into full-time and found he loved the irrigation part of the job. Encouraged by a family friend that he says, “saw something in me that I myself didn’t see,” he left school, left the job, and, in his own words, “decided to try my own thing.”

Every adult, not just in Morgan County, but across the nation likely understands the fear that comes from feeling overwhelmed and lost. Churches in Mission began with the efforts of three ministers in October, 1987 to work together to serve those in poverty in Morgan County, those who live with fear and need every single day.

Today, Alice Cordes is the organization’s Executive Director. She took the position as interim director in 1997 after retiring as Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in Morgan County. She offered to help her mother, Marjorie Butler, who was the chairman of the board of directors, while they sought a director. She said, “I realized that this is where God put me and where I was supposed to be. It was the right fit.”

Because she feels it was the right fit does not mean it is not challenging. “This position is very humbling,” Cordes said. “We realize how very fortunate we are.”

Most people can remember fondly childhood friends and games, but not many can imagine a partnership that has its roots on an Evansville baseball field for two Little Leaguers in the early 1960s. At that time Roger Wathen and Mark Angermeier were probably more concerned about getting a hit or making a play than building an international business nestled in the hills of Morgan County, Indiana.

The two boys grew into young men together, attending church, taking classes, and pushing themselves in sports at Mater Dei High School in Evansville. The pair stayed in contact after graduation. Wathen went to Indiana State (now University of Southern Indiana) to study chemistry and Angermeier left for West Lafayette to study accounting at Purdue. Accounting didn’t present the challenge Angermeier sought which led him to change his major to chemistry. Throughout college, the pair would reconnect with friends to go boating and skiing and the friendship between the two continued to develop. Eventually conversations led to dreams of owning a business together.

From a vantage point 31-years later, it is
possible for Martin (Marty) James to look back
and describe how Martin James Investment &
Tax Management, LLC grew from scratch into
the unique firm it is today. It was an evolution
and each step along the way was made through
prayer and conscious decisions to remain focused
on family and doing what is right, and
best, for clients through financial planning.
Marty and wife, Cindy, were high school
sweethearts in Plainfield. Although his original
intent was to study advertising in college, he
realized that meant working in a big city and
he didn’t want that. He and Cindy both wanted
to stay in the area near family. He checked out
what industries were doing well in the sluggish
economy and saw that accountants were employed
and doing well. Accounting it would be.

It is just a few short months until the end of the year and a new beginning for Greg McKelfresh, the current president and CEO of SCI REMC in Martinsville. Effective January 12, 2018, McKelfresh will leave the organization that he has worked in since the summers of...

It is not uncommon for someone whose grandfather and father are at the helm of a law firm for the third generation son to become a lawyer, too. Rodric Bray grew up in a family environment was a consistent topic of conversation and public service was a tradition. Rod’s...

As a senior at Martinsville High School, Emily Seger feels prepared and confident as she graduates and sets her sights toward the next chapter in her life at Franklin College. Seger has grown up in Martinsville with her parents, Rob and Roxanne Seger and her brother,...

Few business owners get to engage in a semi-centennial celebration when it comes to their business, but David Keister is one of those people. His business, Mid-America Radio Group, Inc., or, more commonly known, WCBK AM and 102.3 on your FM dial, will celebrate 50...