Valley Oaks ribbon cutting and more

Valley Oaks had a ribbon cutting on Thursday evening, which was a bit strange because the office was built in 2001 and expanded in 2011. However, it has never had a ribbon cutting or open house and until the sign in the picture was erected earlier this year, it had only minimal signage.

 Valley Oaks is the new name for Wabash Valley Alliance. The organization is headquartered in Lafayette and the Rensselaer branch office serves both Jasper and Newton Counties. The local branch was very understaffed a year and a half ago and received some negative comments at a Commissioners' meeting. Since then they have increased their staff, hired a new CEO, and are undergoing a rebranding campaign, trying to correct their problems. The open house was part of that rebranding effort.

Before the ribbon cutting there were several short statements by employees, the Mayor, and Rein Bontreger, who is on their board. After the ribbon cutting, there were tours of the facility. It is not very exciting—most of the space is used for offices or small therapy rooms. The room below is used by case workers. They spend most of their time visiting clients but have desk space for paper work.

 Among the therapy rooms was this one for child therapy. Valley Oaks serves the schools in Jasper and Newton County. They also serve the county jails and get referrals from local doctors.

 The Rensselaer branch has 27 employees and an annual payroll of $1.1 million. They serve more than 400 individuals each month.

Also on Thursday evening there was a Jasper County Town Hall hosted by the Jasper Newton Foundation the marketing firm Crane + Grey (which happened to be the firm that advised on the rebranding of Valley Oaks). The firm was hired to help determine what can be accomplished to make Jasper County more attractive to those who live here and those who might consider living here as well as businesses who might locate here. This is a project that will extend over several years. The firm had previously conducted a survey (which you can still take here) and had talked to community and county leaders for their input. The purpose of this meeting was to give the general public a chance to provide input.

The program was supposed to get comments about eight areas (Healthcare, Education, Technology, Environment, Government, Culture, Infrastructure, Economy) but people were so willing to talk that several of the items were never addressed in the two hour meeting. I was surprised to hear that the County has numerous dead zones for cell phone reception. (If I used a cell phone I probably would have known that.) The lack of high speed Internet was also considered a factor discouraging new businesses. A gentleman from the DeMotte area who advises firms where to locate was highly critical of the County's high income tax. He stated that it killed the County's economic growth. Many of the things people cited as weaknesses are the result of low population and low population density. Places with bigger populations can support more varied services and retail businesses.

The brick work for the entryway into the Monnett-Staddon Park is finished and the workers are building a smaller entryway by the old Monnett building.

 Speaking of brickwork, a crew from Diadem in Kentland is tuck pointing the SJC chapel. Water was getting inside and damaging the plaster.

 The SJC sign is advertising office space for rent. I assume that means that the Phoenix Team will move onto the main campus soon because the office space for rent is Drexel Hall.

 More trees have been cut down in Weston Cemetery and there are still other dead ash trees along the Maxwell Ditch that need to be removed.

 The remodeling of the Horton Building continues. The back part of the building should be finished fairly soon and an insurance company is slated to move in.

Last weekend I asked a local farmer about crops. He said that Jasper County is in relatively good shape compared to the rest of the corn belt. A lot of corn was planted late and as a result it will have a lower yield. The life of the corn plant is determined by length of day, so the earlier the crop is planted, the more it yields.