Vernon wants to create a town seal as part of its upcoming bicentennial celebration and is offering that chance and a cash prize to entice artists to submit entries in its design contest.

The winning image will be used as the official town seal and will be displayed on all future official letters, flags, medallions and memorabilia, according to an announcement by Vernon Mayor Dan Wright.

Artists of all ages may participate in the contest, but several rules must be followed in the design. Those include:

The winning design must incorporate a recognizable pair of scales, a beam and the words “Corporation of the Town of Vernon.”

The design should incorporate some symbols of Vernon’s history.

Entries should be submitted on a nonmatted 8.5-by-11-inch medium that is less than one-quarter inch thick.

Entries must be the artist’s own original hand-drawn creation. No photographs or omputer-generated designs will be accepted.

An entry may be multicolored, black and white or single color. The design may be done in pen, ink, paint, crayon, marker or pencil, but not chalk.

The artist’s name should not be shown within the design.

To learn about Vernon’s history, go to the websites for Vernon (vernonindiana.org) and the Jennings County Historical Society (jenningscounty.org). For a complete list of rules, go to vernonindiana.org.

A panel of judges, composed of artists, historians and government officials, will evaluate all entries and select a first- and second-place winner, Wright said. The winners will be announced in March, and the awards will be presented at the Sassafras Tea Festival on April 25. The first-place winner will receive $100 and the second-place winner $50.

The winning artwork and other selected artwork from the competition will be on display with the artists’ names during the Sassafras Tea Festival, Wright said. Submitted artwork will also be on display on Vernon’s website, at Vernon Town Hall and during the bicentennial grand celebration in Vernon, July 25 and 26.

The deadline to enter the contest is March 15. Artwork can be delivered in person to the Vernon town office, 28 N. Perry St.

For additional information about the contest, adult artists should call Wright at 812-592-1410.

Student artists should consult Karen Chilman at the Jennings County High School art department.

Staff Reports

Jan Hexamer-Gardner, president of Century 21 Breeden Realtors, has announced promotions for several longtime agents and staff members.

• Scott Taskey, Janet Brinkman and Dean Doughty have each been promoted to the position of senior vice president.
• John Wischmeier and Karen Dugan have been promoted to the position of vice president.
• Larry Henry has been promoted to chief financial officer of Breeden Inc.

Taskey, Brinkman, Wischmeier and Dugan will continue to focus on selling residential real estate, representing buyers and sellers as they continue to be totally involved in listing and selling of residential properties.

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“We hope to take advantage of their knowledge and experience as they advise us occasionally on management in various areas, but they are outstanding residential agents and will continue to sell and list residential real estate full time,” Hexamer-Gardner said.

“These particular individuals have led our sales effort for several years and raised the bar for our future. But in addition to these four agents, we feel very fortunate to have an entire team of residential agents who are well-trained professionals and work diligently to continue the Breeden philosophy and enhance the company reputation,” she said.

Taskey joined Breeden in 1994. He began his relationship with Breeden as a buyer of his first home. Originally with the railroad, Taskey then founded his own pool business, Caribbean Clear. Taskey has been honored as the No. 1 agent in the Century 21 system in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky in 2012 and 2013.

He was No. 3 agent in Indiana and Ohio in 2011 and No. 1 agent in Indiana in 2007.

Brinkman, who has been with the firm for 26 years, holds professional designations Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI), Leadership Training Graduate (LTG) and Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES). She served as president of the Columbus Board of Realtors in 1994 and again in 2004 and was a vice president of Region II of the Indiana Association of Realtors, serving on its Directors Council 1997-2004.

She also served as state president, governor, regional vice president of the Women’s Council of Realtors and state chairman of the political action committee. She was the No. 1 agent for Century 21 in Indiana Ohio Region in 2011. She was also honored in 2012 by Century 21 with the International Hall of Fame award. She currently serves on the board of Tipton Lakes Community Association. A graduate of Hanover College, she received an Alumni Achievement Award in 1988 and also served two terms on the Alumni Board of Directors.

She also holds a master of science in education from Indiana University.

John Wischmeier joined Century 21 Breeden in 2003. John founded Wischmeier Nursery in 1986 in conjunction with his parents after graduating from Vincennes University. He serves on the Bartholomew County Historical Society board and is a member of Columbus Rotary and Business Networking and Referrals (BNI).

Karen Dugan is a Bartholomew County native and joined Breeden in 1995. She holds professional designations as a relocation and new construction specialist as well as the ABR. Karen was the No. 1 agent in Indiana for Century 21 in 2010. A graduate of Indiana University, Breeden also was a graduate of Leadership Bartholomew County.

Dean Doughty, Council of Real Estate Brokerage Managers (CRB), GRI, who has served as sales manager and director of relocation since 2008, originally joined the company in 1999. He has more than 25 years of experience in real estate management, agent coaching, training and corporate relocation development. Doughty has been recognized nationally for exemplary performance in relocation and received The Century 21 Cartus Relocation Award. He also served as residential sales manager for real estate companies in the Cincinnati and Indianapolis markets.

Larry Henry joined Breeden in 1997 as controller. He previously served as controller for Crystal Flash Petroleum Corp. Henry graduated from Hanover College with a degree in economics and has an MBA from Indiana University. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the Indiana Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Century 21 Breeden Realtors and Breeden Inc. were established in 1951 by the late Rex E. Breeden. The companies are owned by Jan Hexamer-Gardner and Mark A. Pratt.

Bartholomew County Democratic Party leaders are thinking about slating a mayoral candidate after the city’s May 5 primary, chairwoman Priscilla Scalf said.

No Democrats filed by Friday’s primary deadline to run for mayor, but one can be slated by the party prior to June 30 — to be placed on the general election ballot.

Three Democrats did file for City Council positions, but won’t have opposition until the general election.

Christopher Rutan is seeking the Democratic nomination for Columbus City Council District 1, Elaine Wagner for City Council District 2 and Tom Dell for an at-large council spot.

Scalf said she’s excited about the early slate of Democratic candidates, vowing that party leaders will add more candidates before the general election.

“We’re doing some candidate training and some young Democrat training,” she said. “Elaine Wagner is perfect example. They’re really the next leaders in the community.”

Wagner said she would like to engage younger residents and get them involved in the city’s future. She thinks she can bring a fresh perspective to the council that will allow for new ideas.

Scalf admitted that the party has struggled to get Democratic supporters to the polls during past elections and to field candidates for city and county positions.

By recruiting new Democrats and educating existing Democrats on the importance of community involvement, she thinks the local party could get more Democrats elected to office.

Some of the top issues for Democrats are envisioning a plan for Columbus’ future and getting younger residents involved in politics, she said. Those are issues the party can tackle by getting out in the community and talking to people, she said.

Rutan said the current city council has good a done job, but he thinks there could be improvements. Rutan said he wants to be a voice for residents living on the east side of Columbus and in the Ninth Street neighborhood.

Removing blighted structures and increasing safety in Columbus neighborhoods are issues Rutan said he will address.

Dell said the top issues he would like to work on are economic development, job growth and city infrastructure.

Even though none of the Democratic candidates have challengers, Scalf said it’s important they begin campaigning before the May primary.

“They still need to get people to know them. You still need that time frame,” she said. “We’re going to be encouraging them to be doing things like going door-to-door.”

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Here is a list of the Democratic candidates who filed for the May primary election:

• Christopher Rutan, City Council District 1
• Elaine Wagner, City Council District 2
• Tom Dell, City Council At-Large

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A proposal to refinance the 2006 Bartholomew County Jail renovation could result in a property tax cut.

With current historically low interest rates, taxpayers can save up to $1.5 million during the next 12 years by refinancing the loan, a financial adviser told county officials this week.

“It would decrease the tax rate needed for payment,” added Jason Semier, a partner with H.J. Umbaugh and Associates of Indianapolis.

Nine years after issuing $24.9 million in insured bonds for the jail project, the outstanding principal on the loan is now about $18.3 million with payments scheduled to continue until 2027, Semier said.

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Under terms of the original bonds, refinancing would normally be prohibited until July 2016. But by utilizing a practice known as advanced refunding, the county could act now to save taxpayers money, he said.

In advanced refunding, investors agree to purchase the original bonds with money obtained through low market rates. Savings from the lower interest would then be shared by both the investor and the county, Semier said.

Instead of new bonds, payments would go into a separate account for the investors, he told the county council.

“These bonds will be off your books, and you will no longer be responsible for them,” Semier said.

The question of whether to refinance was described by Mark Gorbett, a new council member and the former sheriff, as “a no-brainer,” an assessment similarly shared by others during Monday’s work session.

Earlier, the Bartholomew County Commissioners formally agreed to the general concept of refinancing the jail renovation bonds during their regular meeting.

However, council members were advised to consider a little risk-taking. Part of the gamble is whether to refinance now or refinance later.

If interest rates stay the same over the next 17 months, the county could save $95,000 annually by refinancing now — or $145,000 a year if it waits until July 2016, Semier said.

“But if you wait and the rates go up even a half-percent during that time, your savings would drop back to $90,000 annually,” Semier said.

And if rates go up by 1 percent under the same scenario, savings would be reduced to only $40,000, he said.

“There’s a pretty good chance rates will go up between now and next July,” Semier told the council.

Public records show the county — now obligated to provide $1.9 million in debt service payments each year for the bonds — has been paying 4.25 to 4.5 percent interest for the past nine years.

A recent informal offer from an investor could lower the interest rate to as low as 2 percent, resulting in the projected total savings of $1.5 million, Semier said.

As council members began pondering their choices, yet another option was introduced by county treasurer Pia O’Connor that she said could result in even larger savings.

O’Connor is proposing that assets from current county investments be utilized to buy the next five years of the bonds, leaving just seven years of financing left to be funded by investors.

“We’ve always got about $9 million as a financial cushion (in the investment portfolio),” O’Connor said.

The treasurer’s idea was shared with at least two investors who indicated they are willing to work under that type of arrangement, Semier said.

However, it’s possible current investments might earn more money if left intact, financial legal adviser Rick Hall told the council.

It’s unknown what type of impact a mixed blend of refinancing might have on lowering property taxes, Hall said.

The council asked both Hall and Semier to work with O’Connor to provide detailed pros and cons of each option to consider at Tuesday’s county council meeting.

For the second time in four months, a company within the Woodside Business Center’s industrial parks will celebrate a major facility expansion.

The CLAAS of America Parts Warehouse expansion ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 18 at 3030 Norcross Drive, according to the company.

While the expansion will not immediately bring new jobs, the company expects to fill an additional 15 full-time positions over the next five years, according to Roger Parker, CLAAS North America parts vice president.

The ribbon-cutting comes after Sunright America — located directly across Interstate 65 from CLAAS — finished its third expansion in 12 years last October with a $34.6 million investment.

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CLAAS holds a unique place in local business history as the first manufacturing plant built in Bartholomew County by a foreign corporation (today, there are 34, according to the Columbus Economic Development website).

During a time when our new president was Ronald Reagan and our Mayor Brown was Nancy Ann, CLAAS in 1981 chose Columbus over 61 other cities for its first U.S. manufacturing facility.

Today, CLAAS KGaA, headquartered in Harsewinkel, Germany, has 24 production and parts facilities worldwide and more than 9,000 employees. Servicing over 100 countries, CLAAS is now the world’s fourth-largest agricultural machinery manufacturer.

In 1981, about 60 people in south-central Indiana were hired to work in the 56,000-square-foot CLAAS building — the first tenant in the Woodside Business Center.

Today, 32 companies are located in the Woodside business area, providing a combined total of 6,626 jobs, according to Columbus Economic Development Board statistics.

However, much of CLAAS’ U.S. manufacturing growth shifted to Nebraska after CLAAS of America moved its headquarters to Omaha in 2003, Parker said.

There are still about 60 local CLAAS workers who are involved almost exclusively in parts distribution, Parker said.

In its first expansion, CLAAS invested $2 million to add another 42,000 square feet to the Bartholomew County facility.

With this second major expansion, the Columbus facility will now exceed 180,000 square feet, marking a 75 percent increase in space, Parker said.

Company officials acknowledge the expansion comes at a shaky time for global agribusiness.

Worldwide reductions in commodity prices have noticeably reduced the willingness of the agricultural sector to invest in new equipment, business analysts report.

According to CLAAS officials, its growth had remained subdued in Western Europe while the Eastern European and Latin American markets had deteriorated as a result of economic and political uncertainty.

Another overseas problem cited by company officials are increased costs resulting from the switchover to new engine emission standards in eastern Europe.

Nevertheless, the company has been able to remain financially stable. In December, CLAAS reported net sales of $4.25 billion (3.82 billion euros) for 2014 — essentially the same as the previous year.

Due to declining commodity prices, all planned CLAAS facility expansions worldwide were placed on hold last year — except the local parts distribution facility, Parker said.

The Woodside facility now has 18 new shipping docks and over 35,000 parts numbers in stock.

It is the need to efficiently ship a large quantity of parts throughout the United States and Canada that makes Columbus the ideal site for expansion, Parker said.

The international headquarters for UPS is in Louisville, and a major FedEx hub is in Indianapolis, he explained.

A short presentation will be made during the Feb. 18 ribbon-cutting event, followed by facility tours and refreshments.

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CLAAS is an agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in the German state of North Rhine Westphalia. The company began when August Claas developed the company in Clarholz, Germany in 1913. Six years later, the business was transferred to the city of Harsewinkel, Germany.

After decades of product expansion, CLAAS opened its first factory outside of Germany at Metz, France in 1961. Its first U.S. facility was opened south of Columbus in 1981. However, the CLAAS of America headquarters was moved from Bartholomew County to Omaha, Nebraska in 2003.

Today, the company’s product range includes combine harvesters, forage harvesters, balers, mowers, rakes,  and other harvesting machines.

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