Business roundup

State joins settlement with Raymond James

The Indiana Secretary of State’s Office announced last week that it has joined a multi-state settlement with Raymond James & Associations and Raymond James Financial Services.

The settlement requires the financial firms to pay at least $8.2 million in refunds to clients and $4.2 million in penalties and costs to the states.

The firms were accused of charging unreasonable commissions on trades.

“We are committed to ensuring large brokerage firms protect all investors regardless of how big or small the transaction,” said Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales. “I am thankful for our team and how hard they work each day to protect the hard-earned money of all Hoosiers.”

New look debuts

Walmart held a ribbon-cutting Friday for its renovated store at 950 W. Votaw St., Portland, along with the unveiling of a mural by artist Barbara DiLorenzo.

Changes to the store include:

•A reorganized grocery department with expanded Hispanic food options

•New registers with additional self-check-out lanes

•Expanded pick-up with 31 spaces dedicated

•Renovated restrooms

•A room for nursing mothers

•Updates to flooring, paint, signs and the parking lot.

There are also new “digital touchpoints” throughout the store.

“These updates will allow our associates to better serve our local customers,” said manager Kellen Schott in a press release. “Our Portland shoppers are our top priority and these improvements will go a long way in making shopping our store even easier.”

Agreement signed

NextEra Energy Resources has signed an agreement to provide more than 300 megawatts of energy to Steel Dynamics.

NextEra, which owns and operates Bluff Point Wind Energy Center in southern Jay County and northern Randolph County, will supply the energy from a planned wind farm project in Scurry County, Texas. The facility is expected to produce 1.1 million megawatts of energy annually with a goal of being operational by the end of 2024.

“Large energy consumers, such as Steel Dynamics, are well suited to benefit from the development of large renewable energy projects,” said NextEra president and chief executive Rebecca Kujawa in a press release. “We are committed to leading the decarbonization of the US economy, and meaningful collaborations like this will be key to meeting corporate, industry, and national carbon emissions reduction goals.”

Training available

Indiana Chamber of Commerce will offer two safety courses in August.

The chamber will offer 10- and 30-hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration courses beginning Aug. 22. They will be held at the chamber of commerce conference center in Indianapolis.

Participants in the workshop can receive credits toward their Safety Compliance Specialist Certificate.

Other upcoming courses include Safety Leadership Principles on Sept. 21 and 22, Safety for Maintenance and Machine Operators on Oct. 4 and Forklift Safety: Train the trainer on Oct. 5.

For more information, email [email protected] or call (800) 824-6885.

Hospitals recognized

The American Heart Association recognized both IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital and Reid Health among the 40 Indiana Hospitals that participate in the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines.

The association recognizes hospitals that “consistently following up-to-date, research-based guidelines to ensure all patients have access to lifesaving care.”

IU Health Ball in Muncie and Reid Health in Richmond were both recognized as Gold Plus, Target Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll and Target Stroke Elite Honor Roll.

“Every 40 seconds, someone in America has a stroke or heart attack,” said Dr. William Gill, a cardiologist on the American Heart Association’s Indianapolis board of directors, in a press release. “Get With The Guidelines program helps ensure all patients can access high-quality care amid adversity.”

Ardagh investing

Ardagh Group S.A. on Wednesday announced an investment of $5 million Ardagh for Education program over 10 years in communities where its Brazilian facilities are located.

Ardagh, which operates glass manufacturing facilities in Dunkirk and Winchester, launched similar initiatives in the U.S. in 2021 and Germany in 2022. It will partner with the Brazilian Social Service for Industry to provide STEM education to teachers and students in primary and secondary schools.

“Ardagh for Education is at the core of our social sustainability strategy,” said Paul Coulson, chairman of Ardagh Group, in a press release. “We recognise the critical role education, and access to education, plays in ensuring equal opportunities and in building successful, vibrant communities ...”

CVS laying off

CVS announced plans last week to lay off about 5,000 employees, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The company said in a statement that the cuts will be in “non-customer facing positions” and mostly affect corporate staff.

“We do not expect there to be any impact to our customer-facing colleagues in our stores, pharmacies, clinics, or customer services centers,” CVS said in a statement.

The announcement comes two years after CVS announced it would be closing 900 stores.

Planning to open

O’Reilly Automotive recently announced it plans to reach a total of 180 to 190 new stores opened this year.

The company, which has locations in Portland, Winchester, Hartford City and Berne, currently operates 6,071 stores.

“We have opened 100 net new stores across 34 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Mexico so far in 2023 and are on pace to meet our goal of 180 to 190 net new store openings in 2023,” said O’Reilly CEO Greg Johnson. “We continue to be very pleased with our new store performance, driven by our well-trained and technically proficient Professional Parts People. We are also excited to celebrate the expansion of our distribution network with the opening of our first O’Reilly distribution center in Mexico in July.”

Lawsuit filed

A law firm last week announced it has filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly and fellow drugmaker Novo Nordisk, claiming their weight-loss and diabetes drugs can cause stomach paralysis and severe vomiting.

Morgan & Morgan said it had field a suit on behalf of a 44-year-old woman from Louisiana after she took Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Novo Nodisk’s Ozempic, Financial Times reported. The firm said it had signed up 400 clients who had taken the drugs.

“Patient safety is Lilly’s top priority, and we actively engage in monitoring and reporting safety information for all our medicines,” Eli Lilly told Financial Times.

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