Business briefs

0
359

Company honors New Palestine woman

INDIANAPOLIS — Sandy James, a Hancock County resident, has been recognized by OneAmerica as an ASPIRE honoree as a result of her performance on behalf of the life insurance, retirement and employee benefits organization.

James was one of 10 employees to be honored at the company’s fifth annual ASPIRE awards banquet on Feb. 20. The ASPIRE principles — Achievement, Stewardship, Partnership, Integrity, Responsiveness and Excellence — guide more than 2,000 OneAmerica associates in all work endeavors. This year, 217 individuals were nominated by peers, supervisors or project partners for the annual honor.

James, senior software quality analyst, IT, was honored for Outstanding Team Impact. Nominators cited the 25-year associate’s strong commitment to the company and her team, willingness to push people to greatness, ability to explain the big picture to peers and her willingness to call out others’ success.

James has been a New Palestine resident for 29 years.

Hancock County housing inventory up 5 percent

Home inventory in Hancock County rose 4.9 percent in January 2019 compared to January 2018 — the highest increase in central Indiana — according to F.C. Tucker Company.

In January, pended sales in Hancock County increased 12.6 percent compared to January 2018. The average year-to-date home price increased 8.8 percent to $216,188 compared to year-to-date 2018.

January pended sales for the 15-county central Indiana region increased 6.5 percent compared to January 2018 while the average year-to-date sale price increased 6.9 percent to $205,534.

The new year began on a high note for sellers with more homes sold and an increase in sale prices. In January 2019, 2,594 central Indiana homes were purchased, up from 2,435 sold in January 2018.

Inventory decreased in all but two counties, with 1,107 fewer homes listed than January 2018. In January 2019, inventory stood at 5,247 homes, a decrease of 17.4 percent compared to the same month in 2018.

Edward Jones branch adds adviser

Edward Jones financial adviser Crystal Starkey announced that her daughter, Clara Starkey, has joined her office in Greenfield as a second adviser.

Clara will work alongside Crystal for two years, then will continue serving investors throughout the area from her branch office.

The branch office is located at 704 N. State Street, Suite C.

The preceding item, which was first published last week, contained an error.

Has your business reached an important milestone? Have you hired a new employee or promoted a current one into a new leadership role? Send your business news to [email protected], where we chronicle local business accomplishments in this space every week.