Linton Business Reporter

Linton company lands spot on Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 list

LINTON, INDIANA -- Inc. magazine today ranked Lewellyn Technology, Inc. NO. 2412 on its fourth annual Inc. 5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. Only  The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. This achievement puts Lewellyn Technology in rarefied company, especially if you consider that over 27 million businesses are registered in the USA. Music website Pandora, convenience store chain 7-Eleven, Brooklyn Brewery, and Radio Flyer, maker of the iconic children’s red wagon, are among the prominent brands featured on this year’s list.

“The leaders of the companies on this year’s Inc. 5000 have figured out how to grow their businesses during the longest recession since the Great Depression,” said Inc. president Bob LaPointe. “The 2010 Inc. 5000 showcases a particularly hardy group of entrepreneurs.”

Lewellyn Technology, located in Linton, Indiana, was founded in 1993 by current President and CEO Daryn Lewellyn as a company specializing in electrical maintenance training. As a former electrical maintenance worker, Lewellyn saw the need to fill a void in the training profession by starting a company offering practical training to maintenance people, taught by practical instructors.

With a staff of 46, Lewellyn Technology now offers an expanded line of industrial and maintenance training courses and has become a national leader in Arc Flash Hazard Analysis and NFPA 70e training. Using the tagline “We improve workplace safety & performance”, Lewellyn Technology strives to provide the knowledge and services that maintenance workers need to accomplish their job tasks safely and efficiently.

“We are very proud to be included in this list and very proud of our employees that made it happen”, says Daryn Lewellyn, founder and President of Lewellyn Technology.

To date, Lewellyn Technology has improved the staffs of many companies and organizations through their arc flash and maintenance programs including the White House, Coca-Cola, and The Boeing Company. Onsite training solutions and arc flash hazard analysis services are offered nationwide.

Learn more at Lewellyn Technology at www.Lewellyn.com

This was a contributed report.

Pizza Villa applies for permit to sell alcohol

We were recently informed that Linton's Pizza Villa, owned by Rob Turpin, has applied for a 210 three-way liquor license with the Indiana State Alcohol & Tobacco Commission. Rob said that a hearing is scheduled for October with the local Alcoholic Beverage Board to find out if the permit will be approved.

Rob said he has no plans yet as to what types of beverages would be served, but a bit of remodeling could be in the restaurant's future if the permit is approved.

A 210, three-way license is designated for restaurants and allows the sale of beer, wine and liquor.

Learn more about ATC permits at www.in.gov/atc

Longtime local business applies for three-way liquor license

 

Want to know which one? We'll tell you about it later this week. Stay tuned!

New workwear store to locate in Linton

 Southern Indiana Workwear will be opening soon on Highway 54 in the former Bender Lumber buidling next to Larry Kinnett's Auto Sales. The new store will offer a variety of quality, brand name workwear & safety apparel for both men and women.

According to their website, Southern Indiana Workwear will carry boots from Timberland, Muck, Rocky, and Georgia Boot. They will also carry clothing from popular manufacturers like Dickies and Carhartt.

A post on the SIW Facebook page promises that the store will be open soon and lists a Brittnee Roberts as the store manager. Southern Indiana Workwear is currently accepting applications for both full time and part time salespersons and is an employee owned company.

*UPDATE* - A Whois search on DomainTools.com shows that the domain name siwonline.com is registered to Bender Lumber Company of Bloomington, Indiana.

Store Info:

Location: 689 A Street NW in Linton

Phone: 812-847-0844

SIW Website

SIW on Facebook

Dirtbuster Car Wash to open in Linton

Yesterday our suspicions about the new construction on the corner of 11th Street NE and Highway 54 were confirmed after a sighting of the Dirtbuster Car Wash company's trailer at the construction site.

Public records indicated that the A Street property, formerly occupied by the Calvary Baptist Church, was purchased by Dirtbuster Car Wash, LLC of Newton, Illinois in August of 2008, but our contact attempts to the company to confirm the opening of a new car wash were never returned.

Dirtbuster Car Wash has 15 locations throughout Southern Indiana and Illinois. Learn more about the company at their website.

We hope to update this story with more details.

www.dirtbustercarwash.com

Want to own your own restaurant/bed & breakfast?

 

The property located at 190 N. Main Street in Linton that is currently home to The Heritage House was recently listed for sale on LoopNet for a mere $425,000. According to the listing, the Victorian-style building, built around 1880, is nearly 15,000 square feet and the lot is listed at 19,000 total square feet. Featuring a full-service restaurant, banquet hall, and bed & breakfast rooms, the Heritage House was opened last year and many improvements have been made to the property since it was operated as a banquet and catering center in the early 2000's.

View the listing yourself here.

View the Heritage House Facebook page here.

Downtown restaurant closes doors, business opportunity for sale

Effective today, The Original Double Dog; a hot dog and sandwich shop located at 40 East Vincennes Street in Linton, is officially closed. A sign on the door notified customers of the news.

Opened in April of 2008, The Double Dog was the second new eatery introduced to Downtown Linton that year, following the creation of the Francisco de Borja coffee shop on Main Street. It was, what some citizens had hoped would be, the beginning of a revitalization with new businesses moving in to serve Downtown visitors. With sea foam green walls, tin ceiling, and nostalgic atmosphere, The Double Dog brought a bit of history back to life of the former Daisy Cigar Store building, allowing patrons, young and old, to sip on marshmallow colas and flavored sodas.

The onset of a poor economy in the Fall of 2008 made for tough competition to the newly opened restaurant. As consumers hunkered down and braced themselves for a recession, expenditures at restaurants like The Double Dog were the first to be nixed from family budgets. As people opted for value menu items at fast food chains, the premium chicken salad sandwiches and all-beef hot dogs served at The Double Dog were simply forgotten.

Despite an upward swing in sales for 2010, the current owners felt that the best decision was to close the restaurant, which has been, and currently is, for sale.

If you are interested in this business opportunity, call 812-847-8939 to schedule a showing.

Linton's Movie Gallery store to close

Linton's most popular movie rental emporium, Movie Gallery, will soon be closing its doors. Movie Gallery, Inc., the nation's second largest movie rental store behind Blockbuster, filed bankruptcy for the second time in February. They initially closed hundreds of stores but recently announced to employees that it will close the 1,906 stores that remain. The Movie Gallery store in Sullivan surprised local citizens last week when it announced its closure and started running a liquidation sale.

This information comes as no surprise with the popularity of Netflix, online video, and $1 DVD rentals from Redbox. Expect to see lots of great DVD's for sale soon at Movie Gallery.

For more information on Movie Gallery's bankruptcy, visit www.moviegallery.com

Local Jobs Currently Available

LINTON:

Teller @ Regions Bank

General Manager @ Taco Bell

Truck Driver @ New Fashion Pork

 

CARLISLE:

Psychologist @ Wabash Valley Correctional Facility

 

SULLIVAN:

Universal Banker @ Harris Bank  

 

Linton's Census participation below State, National rates

According to the U.S. Census website, the participation rate for Stockton Township (the area in which Linton falls) is currently 69%. This is below the Indiana State average of 78% and the National average of 72%.

For those of you following Mayor Tom Jones' Linton vs. Bedford return rate challenge, Bedford is currently at 75% participation.

Census data is important because it helps decide how $300 billion per year in federal and state funding is spent in communities across the U.S.