October 2014 Newsletter - Galion

CCEEDP Expands
Frankhouse, Jr. to serve as Economic
Development Coordinator
BUCYRUS, Ohio - The Crawford County Partnership for Education
and Economic Development (The Partnership) announced the addition of a new member to its team. Beginning October 1st, Gary Frankhouse, Jr. will serve Crawford County as Economic Development Coordinator.
"Over the last year, Crawford County has experienced an increase in
activities that are strengthening businesses within the county and
drawing interest from businesses looking to prosper here," said The
Partnership's Board of Trustees President Steve Crall. "Adding a coordinator will allow The Partnership to build on this momentum. Gary's
primary role will be to support and grow existing businesses in Crawford as well as to attract and promote the area to prospective businesses," he added.
"Gary will play a critical role in the growth of Crawford County," said
Dave Williamson, The Partnership's Executive Director. "We're excited to have him on board, and for the opportunity to further expand our
economic development efforts in the county."
Frankhouse, Jr, is a good fit for the job, Williamson added, because
"he knows the community-- he's passionate about it, involved in it,
and brings significant entrepreneurial experience to the table."
A Galion High School alumnus (1989), Frankhouse, Jr. graduated
from Miami University's Farmer School of Business in 1993, is a Certified Public Accountant and has nearly 20 years of entrepreneurial
retail experience with family-owned business, My Floors Flooring
America in Galion. Frankhouse, Jr. said his entrepreneurial background and his relationships with mentors, teachers and coaches has
given him a great appreciation for traditional values and work ethic.
"I am excited to join The Partnership's growth-oriented team," he said.
"I am passionate about ensuring the success of Crawford County and
assisting in restoring its recognition on a State and Regional level," he
said.
Already entrenched in these efforts, Frankhouse, Jr. founded the
Galion Community Education Foundation and serves as its chairman,
he is also the treasurer of the Galion Youth Baseball Board and a
member of the Crawford: 20/20 Vision Committee-- The Partnership's
community-driven plan to make Crawford County a better place to
live, work and do business. When he heard of this opportunity to do
even more for his community, he was inspired.
"It's something I felt I needed to be part of," he said. "I want to assist
in highlighting the advantages of our County and differentiate Crawford from other counties in the State."
CHAMBER MOVING
TO NEW LOCATION
The chamber will be moving to 419 Harding Way W. at the end of October.
The relocation has been made possible by the Carter Family Foundation
who is purchasing the building from Firelands Federal Credit Union. Interestingly enough, Juanita Carter owned the building back in the 80’s where
she operated her travel company called, “Total Travel”.
On behalf of the new owners, Annie Carter said she anticipates the building
being a resource center for the area that will house offices and conference
space for other non-profit organizations.
Accompanying the chamber in the move will be United Way of Crawford.
Amber Wertman, UWCC Director said, “"The United Way of Crawford
County is looking forward to a move that will give us additional space and
resources. The building is set to become a community resource center, thus
promoting collaboration and partnerships between various organizations.
That is what United Way is all about and we are excited to be a part of this
move. We would like to thank the Carter Family Foundation and the GalionCrestline Chamber of Commerce for this opportunity."
The plans are to have the chamber in the east side of the building, united
way will occupy the west side and there will be a conference area between
the two businesses. There are three other offices available for non-profit
organizations. Interested parties should contact Annie Carter at 419-4683530.
Chamber President-CEO, Joe Kleinknecht said he is excited about the
move, because of the better visibility, more parking, a private conference
room and being essentially located between the two Galion business districts.
The moving is scheduled for the end of October.
HISTORY OF THE BEALL HOUSE
The house was built in 1926 by Edgar Beall. Mr Beall was the president of
both the Commercial Savings Bank and the Guaranty Savings & Loan
Company. As was common in those days, the Savings & Loan operated out
of the bank and had mostly the same board of directors and bank officers.
This bank was located at the current site of the city utility office, in the first
block south of the square. The savings bank closed in the early 1940s and
Mr. Beall continued to operate the savings & loan until his death. He later
changed the name to Tri-County Savings & Loan and moved the office
across the alley to the 2nd floor space above what is now the Evergreen
store. Sometime later he moved the savings & loan to his house. He died in
1974 and the savings & loan was sold to a firm in Columbus. 419 Harding
Way then became the law office of Charles R. Garverick (Debbie Garverick’s dad). Later on Annie Carter’s mother opened the travel agency there
called Total Travel. Annie’s parents sold the property to United Bank in the
fall of 1989 and the branch office opened in January 1990. United sold the
property to the credit union maybe in the late 1990s?
One interesting story about the house. In the late 1930’s the Commercial
Savings Bank was held up. The bandits were apprehended and it was the
eye witness testimony of Edgar Beall that put them in prison. Turns out they
were connected with John Dillinger indirectly. Every year at Christmas time,
the leader of the robbers sent Mr. Beall a Christmas card saying how many
years he had until he got out. When it got close to that time, Mr. Beall
moved his family out into the country because he was afraid that the guy
would kill him.
Welcome New Chamber Member
Life Support Team, Chris Kennedy,
PO Box 111, Ontario, Ohio 44862,
(419)-462-1911
Fake Utility Storm
Scams and Other Alerts
FIRST: Several area police departments are warning that the heavy
rain and storms will probably take out power to many homes. They caution
about fake "utility" workers who may come to homes and offer to re-connect
service for a cash payment! They may claim that the utility's computers are
out, so they can't process payments. These people may look and sound
legitimate, and may even have realistic-looking ID badges or uniforms. We
warn; legitimate utility company employees never ask for cash. Report such
people to your local police!
NEXT: The Las Vegas BBB is receiving complaints against Scholastic
School Supply, which is trying to scam school systems around the
country. It sends false invoices to schools and school districts for $647.50
for a bulk purchase of text books that were never requested or received.
The only contact information available on the invoices is an email address
which does not respond to messages, a useless phone number, and mail
drop addresses in either Sewell, New Jersey or Las Vegas. Although the
entity lists addresses in New Jersey and Nevada on its invoicing, the BBB
has been unable to locate any documentation for it in either state to obtain
a physical location.
BBB has received scores of complaints from consumers and school administrators in 22 states, as well as over 2,300 inquiries regarding this scam
operation. Schools and school districts are urged to not pay the invoice, but
instead to contact the Nevada Bureau of Consumer Protection at (702) 4863132 www.ag.nv.gov.
NEXT: ARE YOU GETTING A REFUND FROM THE FTC? A federal district court has shut down a robocall operation that impersonated the FTC in
an attempt to trick consumers into turning over their bank account information and other sensitive personal data. They made illegal robocalls that
played a prerecorded message telling consumers that money had been recovered for them and to visit the website ftcrefund.com. During the message, they gave consumers a phony "seizure ID number."
The Cuban Exchange, also doing business as CrediSure America and
MyiPad.us, and its principal, Suhaylee Rivera, deceptively claimed
they could help consumers obtain refunds from the FTC, in an effort to trick
them into providing their personal information and bank account numbers.
The company falsely told consumers it has helped "more than 13,000" people get refunds. It also "spoofed" the FTC's Consumer Response toll-free
phone number, so that the FTC's number appeared on consumers' Caller
ID devices. They also used a website address - ftcrefund.com - designed to
confuse consumers into thinking it had a connection with the FTC. The
website has since been shut down.
NEXT: Email frauds to businesses are constant! Rocky Roemer
(Roemer Insurance) received a bogus email that said:
"Hello, My name is marc Gluckman i will like to know if your company can
help me pick up my items at the international airport and have it deliver to
my house address...and also let me know if you accept credit card for payment. and i will also like to know the closest airport to you....i hope to hear
back from you soon."
Con artists like this - often from other countries - use stolen credit card
numbers to get businesses to ship them merchandise. Some firms lose
thousands of dollars worth of products if they fall for the scam. Beware!
FINALLY: Another Reminder on Customer Reviews! Don't forget that
BBB takes verified customer reviews on your business! Consumers love to
read customer reviews about a business. Tell your satisfied clients or customers to visit your BBB Business Report and post a review. We are the
only major internet service that verifies reviews, unlike most others that post
anything. They only need to go to www.bbb.org, click on the Customer Review box, and tell the world how great your company is!
Dick Eppstein, BBB
Several BBB Scam Alerts
FIRST: Johnny's Roofing (Perrysburg) got a scam email that he wanted to warn others about. The guy emailed that he wanted to hire John to do
a roof. Then he sent this message:
I emailed you the signed contract the favor i need from you is 1 will give you
my card to charge for sum of $4,250.00 plus the extra credit card company
charges AFTER THE FUNDS CLEAR INTO YOUR ACCOUNT you will deduct the sum of $2,250 as deposit for your service and help me balance the
plumber by sending the remaining $2,000 via cashdeposite to the plumber`s Bank of America Account because he does not have the facility to accept credit cards when he get the funds he would send you the authorization letter to the house. After workis complete, you will also charge my card
for the balance.
Knowing that credit card numbers are stolen, John was not about to fall for
this scam and send $2,000!
VARIATION. The Akron BBB and Beacon Journal report on an identical scam hitting an Akron plumbing company. Agosta Plumbing accepted a
call through the telephone relay services. These services, also called TTY,
are usually used by the hearing impaired to make a phone call. The caller
through an operator told Agosta that he had just bought a house in the area
and needed some plumbing work done. He then asked for an email address
so that he could communicate directly with Agosta. She agreed. The person
sent her the address of his new home and descriptions of what plumbing
work needed to be done. Agosta said her company could come in and give
an estimate. But then it got weird and raised a red flag for Agosta.
The person said the movers would be there on Thursday and asked if
Agosta would do her a favor. The movers wouldn't accept credit cards, so if
the person gave Agosta a payment of $3,500 to run as a credit card, could
she go to the house, give $3,000 in cash to the movers and keep $500 as a
deposit for the plumbing work? That's when Agosta knew something was
awry. She looked up the address the man had given and saw that the
house had been foreclosed and hadn't been sold or bought recently. "It's
probably an empty house, I'm going to guess," "They wanted it all to happen, like today."
Agosta said that if the business had fallen for the scam, it would have lost
out on valuable money. "We're a small family business; five people work
here. $3,500 is a huge deal," she said. Agosta sent back an email to the
person and said she wasn't running a credit card and giving money to anyone. She has not heard again from the scammer.
Telephone relay service (TTY) scams are not new; BBB released a national
alert about them in 2009.
The lesson? Never accept overpayments from an individual or business, no
matter how convincing the story sounds. If a consumer insists on doing business, ask for the three- or four-digit verification code on the back or
front of the credit card and tell the consumers that you will check with the
bank and call them back. If a consumer objects to providing the information,
end the conversation and report to us at BBB.
Here are some other tips from the FTC for red flags that could crop up during a TTY relay call scam:
*** Caller is happy to order "whatever you have in stock."
*** Caller supplies multiple credit cards as one or more are declined.
*** Caller cannot provide the three digit verification code number on the
back of the card.
*** Caller wants the goods shipped through a third party and/or to an overseas location.
*** Caller will not identify himself or give a company name.
*** Caller changes delivery or payment method after the order has been
approved.
NEXT: Scam Billing Hitting Dental and Medical Offices! IDBS (Internet
Data Solutions), Atlanta, GA or Saint Paul, MN. They state their nature
of business is "web design." Consumers allege receiving an invoice for
$599 for "business listing optimization." BBB has confirmed that the
majority of complaints have come from dental or medical clinics throughout
the U.S. All complainants disputed the charges stating they had never contracted with the company nor authorized any charges or received any services. BBB has 158
complaints from 39 states. The company has an F rating with BBB for failure to respond to 27 of the complaints, while 2 complaints remain unresolved. We are not sure where this company is actually located or if they
have an actual physical location. They have responded to some complaints
indicating the following: "Our files indicate that we spoke to (customer). We
have a verbal recording of him/her authorizing the invoice on (date). However it is our company policy total customer (sic) satisfaction therefore we
closed the account and put the company on our do not call list."
We have examples of these fake invoices if you wish to see them. Call or
email me and I will send them to you.
NEXT: "Business Coaching Scam." The Federal Trade Commission is
mailing more than $4.4 million in refund checks to 2,004 consumers harmed
by the Ivy Capital business "coaching" scheme, which falsely claimed that it
would help them develop their own Internet businesses.
Ivy Capital Inc. and 29 co-defendants allegedly took more than $130 million
from people who paid thousands of dollars - some paid up to $20,000 - believing they would earn up to $10,000 per month. But the promised coaching program was worthless. Most of the defendants agreed to settle FTC
charges that they misrepresented the program and its earning potential,
and failed to fully disclose and honor their refund policy. A district court
granted summary judgment against five defendants. Litigation continues
against Benjamin Hoskins, Dream Financial, and three relief defendants,
Leanne Hoskins, Oxford Financial LLC, and Mowab Inc., who filed an appeal.
NEXT: Scam High School Diploma Mill. A U.S. district court in Florida
has temporarily halted a diploma mill that allegedly grossed more than $11
million from marketing and selling fake high school diplomas online to consumers nationwide. The court imposed a temporary restraining order to halt
the business operations of Diversified Educational Resources, LLC (DER),
and Motivational Management & Development Services, Ltd. (MMDS),
and freeze their assets. The government alleges DER and MMDS have
sold online high school diplomas since 2006 using multiple names, including "Jefferson High School Online" and "Enterprise High School Online."
Their websites claimed that by enrolling, consumers could obtain "official"
and accredited high school diplomas and use them to enroll in college, join
the military, and apply for jobs. Students paid $200 to $300 for a diploma,
and the companies have taken in more than $11 million since January
2009.
BBB warns employers to verify credentials of job applicants. We see multiple Internet high school and college diploma mills selling high school, bachelors, masters and PhD degrees for a few hundred or thousand dollars.
Consumers listing these on their resumes are giving false information, may
not have the training they claim, and have questionable ethical issues.
FINALLY: Another Reminder on Customer Reviews! Don't forget that
BBB takes verified customer reviews on your business! Consumers love to
read customer reviews about a business. Tell your satisfied clients or customers to visit your BBB Business Report and post a review. We are the
only major internet service that verifies reviews, unlike most others that post
almost anything. They only need to go to www.bbb.org, click on the Customer Review box, and tell the world how great your company is!
Dick Eppstein, BBB
Dear Ohio Chamber member,
Today, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee announced the endorsement for the re-election of Governor John Kasich and
Lt. Governor Mary Taylor. Our state has made great strides since Gov.
Kasich and Lt. Gov. Taylor took office in 2010: jobs have been created, taxes have been cut, the rainy day fund has returned and burdensome regulations have been curtailed. Clearly, our state is better off now than it was
four years ago which warrants the endorsement of returning Gov. Kasich
and Lt. Gov. Taylor back to the Statehouse.
To read our endorsement press release, click here.
Sincerely,
Andrew E. Doehrel
HOT DOGS ON THE SQUARE
The last “Hot Dogs on the Square” of the season was held on September
12th and was sponsored by Galion Building & Loan.
Two hundred hot dogs along with all the fixings were enjoyed by a large
crowd on a beautiful sunny day on Park Square.
A “Big Thank You” goes out to all of our sponsors for all of our hot dog
events for 2014 in Galion and Crestline. Sponsors were, Firelands Federal
Credit Union, United Bank, First Federal Bank of Ohio and Galion Building
& Loan Bank.
Efficiency Smart Introduces Tom Coyle
as its Liaison to Galion Electric
Division Business Customers
Efficiency Smart, the City of Galion’s partner in providing energy-efficiency
services for its electric customers, would like to introduce Tom Coyle as the
new primary contact for Galion Electric Division Business customers considering energy efficiency projects.
Tom brings nearly 25 years of experience in sales and account management to his role in serving the Galion community. He is committed to helping your business save energy and money by assisting with any energy efficiency needs or questions you may have. Feel free to reach out and contact Tom at tcoyle@efficiencysmart.org or at 614-468-4999 x4924
And while Tom is always available to answer any energy efficiency questions you may have for your business, additional Efficiency Smart staff will
be in Galion on Friday, October 17 during an incandescent-trade in event
for Galion Electric Division residential customers.
During the event, Galion Electric Division customers will be able to exchange up to 10 working incandescent light bulbs for an equivalent number
of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), while supplies last. Customers of
Galion Electric Division or other electrical municipal systems that participate
in Efficiency Smart should bring a copy of a utility bill for eligibility verification.
For information about the event and services and incentives available to
Galion Electric Division customers, visit www.efficiencysmart.org or call 877
-889-3777.
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~Thanks, the Chamber Technology Staff