Business briefs

Board of Realtors holds annual party

The Morgan County Board Realtors held its Christmas party on Dec. 7 at Bradford Woods.

Among the holiday festivities, the 2006 board members were sworn in. Sharilee Gray of Carpenter Realtors was sworn in as chair, Damon Rautenkranz of Home Bank was sworn in as a co-chair and Angie Kath of Citizens Bank was named secretary and treasurer.

Gray was also named the Morgan County Realtor of the year. Kellie Homeier of the Salon Group was named the Morgan County affiliate of the year and Karen Bain of Century 21 AABA received the Morgan County Distinguished Service Award.

The board gave donations to the Morgan county Habitat for Humanity, the Realtor Foundation in memory of Karmin Wellspring and Betty McKinney, the Manna Mission and Churches in Mission.

Miller’s names

resident services director

Keith Mostrog, Administrator, recently announced the promotion of Lisa Gall, LPN to the position of Resident Services Director for Miller’s Senior Living Community of Mooresville. As Resident Services Director, Gall’s duties center on all issues related to resident life in the newly-opened assisted living complex, and begin prior to moving day with an in-home health review. In addition, Gall oversees the day-to-day operations at Miller’s Senior Living Community, including staff direction and oversight.

Prior to her new position, Gall worked for Miller’s Merry Manor for four years, beginning as a Certified Nursing Assistant. During this time, Gall attended Ivy Tech State College where she earned her L.P.N. Diploma. Gall states that her relationship with the residents at Miller’s gave her the desire to continue her education, and she is presently studying to complete her Registered Nurse Degree. Gall lives in Mooresville with her husband and two daughters.

Miller’s Senior Living Community offers catered living for Mooresville-area seniors. For more information about Miller’s Senior Living Community, and the services offered to their residents, contact Gall by calling Miller’s Senior Living Community of Mooresville at (317) 834-6892, or by email at MooresvilleALFRSD@millershealthsystems.com.

Bank announces

hirings, promotions

First National Bank and Trust announces the promotion of Crystal D. Gordon within its Commercial Lending Division. Located at the Indianapolis Financial Center, Gordon will be responsible for the origination of new commercial loans and handling existing commercial business relationships.

Gordon has more than 13 years of banking experience with the past three spent at the bank’s Special Assets unit. Gordon obtained an Associates Degree in 2004 from Kaplan University and will receive a BA degree in Business Management in November 2006.

“We are pleased to have Crystal on our commercial banking team,” said John Loeber, Executive Vice President commercial banking, “Crystal’s experience will help take First National Bank & Trust to the next level in business banking.”

The bank also announces the addition of two new commercial real estate lenders for its Indianapolis metropolitan market. Ken Sexton and Chris Shaw have joined First National Bank and Trust as vice presidents strengthening the banks growing commercial real estate team.

Sexton comes to First National Bank and Trust with a broad range of commercial lending experience. His previous employers include Mainsource Bank, Irwin Union Bank, Key Bank and Wayne Bank and Trust.

Shaw joins First National Bank and Trust from Ameriana Bank & Trust where he served as a commercial banking officer. His experience also includes managing construction loans for Union Federal Bank.

“The addition of these two gentlemen will help First National Bank & Trust serve the commercial real estate market in the Indianapolis metropolitan area,” said John Loeber, Executive Vice President commercial banking, “We are looking forward to their contributions as we continue to grow our commercial business.”

First National Bank & Trust (www.firstnationalbank.com) is one of Indiana’s largest privately held banks. Headquartered in Kokomo, Indiana, First National Bank & Trust has nearly $1.5 billion in assets and 27 full-service banking offices located throughout central Indiana. First National Bank & Trust operates financial centers in 20 communities, including: Brazil, Carlisle, Carmel, Clay City, Farmersburg, Fishers, Geist, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Logansport, Marion, Martinsville, Mooresville, Noblesville, Plainfield, Richmond, Shelburn, Sullivan, Terre Haute, and Tipton. First National Bank & Trust is a full financial services provider including retail and commercial banking and trust services. Hasten Bancshares is the parent company of First National Bank & Trust and its two subsidiaries, First National Investments and First National Insurance.

Lincoln Ban announces new hires

Lincoln Bank announces the hiring of John Ehrhart to the Business Development position at the Mooresville branch at 590 South State Road 67. Ehrhart is responsible for all aspects of business development for the bank within the Mooresville community and establishes relationships with commercial clients to help meet their financial needs.

Ehrhart holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. He is also an active member of the Mooresville community serving as director for the Morgan County Community Concert Association. He also holds director posts at Kendrick Hospital Foundation, Overton & Son Tool & Die Company and is director and past president of the Mooresville Kiwanis Club. Ehrhart is also secretary of the Mooresville Plan Commission. He can be reached at (317) 834-4100.

Mooresville residents William “Bill” Boyd and David W. Maxwell have also accepted positions with Lincoln Bank. Boyd has joined the Lincoln Bank staff at the Plainfield/Southfield Drive branch as a Mortgage Originator. Boyd is responsible for providing service to customers who need a mortgage to purchase a home or need to refinance an existing mortgage. Maxwell joined Lincoln Bank’s Brownsburg branch as a teller. Maxwell is responsible for handling and posting transactions, accepting payments and verifying funds.

In other hirings, Lincoln Bank announces:

— Janna Kruml has been promoted to Branch Supervisor at the Plainfield branch located at 905 Southfield Drive. Kruml supervises branch operations, oversees tellers and customer service representatives and maintains proper audit controls for the branch. Kruml has received several recognition awards from Lincoln Bank in recent years including Teller of the Year in 2002.

— Julie Goforth is a new member of Lincoln Bank’s Plainfield/Southfield Drive team. She serves as an Administrative Assistant in the Commercial Lending Department. Goforth assists the Commercial Lending Team.

—Lori Tomey has been named Branch Manager at the Brownsburg branch. Tomey is responsible for day-to-day operation of the branch. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bellevue University in Nebraska. Tomey can be reached at 317-852-3134.

— Rebecca Lloyd has been hired at the Avon branch as a Teller. Lloyd is responsible for handling and posting transactions, accepting payments and verifying funds.

Lincoln Bancorp and Lincoln Bank are headquartered in Plainfield with 17 branches in six central Indiana counties including Brown, Clinton, Hendricks, Johnson, Montgomery and Morgan. Lincoln Bank received the Governors Century Business award for companies in existence for 100 years or more that give back to their community. Since 1999, Lincoln Charitable Foundation has donated over $900,000 to charitable organizations in the counties they serve. Lincoln Bancorp is traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange, symbol LNCB.

Diana Rice-Wilkerson joins Charter One Mortgage

Diana Rice-Wilkerson has joined Charter One Mortgage, a full-service residential mortgage lender, as a community loan officer in the company’s Indianapolis branch office. Charter One Mortgage is a trade name for CCO Mortgage Corp.

Rice-Wilkerson specializes in working with low- and moderate-income families. “I enjoy the opportunity to help families improve their quality of life by exploring ways they can become homeowners,” she said. “Charter One Mortgage offers a variety of affordable lending programs, including 100% financing options, that meet the needs of many first-time homebuyers.”

Before joining Charter One Mortgage, Rice-Wilkerson was a loan officer at Irwin Mortgage and Huntington Mortgage Group. She began her career in mortgage lending in 1978 and has experience not only in loan originations, but also as a loan underwriter, processor and closer.

Rice-Wilkerson has also served as director of mortgage programs for the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, where she managed homebuyer education, credit counseling and the lending process. She also served as executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis.

CCO Mortgage Corp. is among the largest retail mortgage originators in the country, with loan offices in 21 states. CCO Mortgage does business in most of Citizens Bank’s New England and Mid-Atlantic retail footprint as Citizens Mortgage of XX (state abbreviation), and as Citizens Home Loans in New York. It operates within Charter One Bank’s retail footprint and outside of both banks’ footprints as Charter One Mortgage. CCO Mortgage’s Web site is ccomortgage.com.

CCO Mortgage, headquartered in Richmond, Va., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Charter One Bank, N.A., of Cleveland, Ohio. Charter One Bank is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $148 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). Citizens’ Web site is citizensbank.com.

Wall Street Journal quotes local CPA

In at least two recent articles The Wall Street Journal quoted local CPA Martin James. The articles appeared in the Journal on Nov. 20 and Dec. 4. James is a Certified Public Accountant with an office in Mooresville and is a columnist for the Mooresville-Decatur Times. He can be reached by e-mail at mjames@mjamescpa.com or by phone at (317) 834-2276.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.