Bloomfield News Blog

BLOOMFIELD - The long wait is finally over.
After a nail-biting year of waiting and wanting for a fire truck, Bloomfield’s newest engine arrived at the station at about 6:53 p.m. Monday.
The new American-LaFrance pumper engine is fully-functional and is currently being outfitted with the necessary equipment, according to Fire Chief Eric Alano.
The truck should be in service on the streets of Bloomfield soon.
The engine has the capability of pumping 1,500 gallons of water per minute and is equiped with a front-mounted fire hose for smaller fires - such as vehicle blazes.
Although the truck will pump off the hydrant system in Bloomfield, it also features a 1,250 gallon water tank.
The fire department is planning a Chicken and Noodle Dinner on Saturday to thank the community for its support.

Bloomfield New Fire Truck

Bloomfield’s new fire engine is all dressed up and ready to roll at the fire station after being delivered Monday evening. (R.M. Johnson photo)

March is tentative opening date for restaurant on West Main Street Depending on the winter weather, Bloomfield diners will get yet another option sometime next March.
Brothers Harkavel and Soni Singh, owners of Subway Restaurants in Sullivan, Ind., and Farmersburg, Ind., have purchased property on West Main Street near the Bloomfield Town Park and have already demolished the home there in anticipation of building the new restaurant.
The property is adjacent to the Holtsclaw Standard on the western edge of Bloomfield.
“There are almost 3,000 people in Bloomfield,” said Harkavel Singh. “We thought this would be a good location for a new Subway.”
The new restaurant will feature the sandwich franchise’s newest decor - Tuscany II - and will be a full sit-down type establishment, similar to the Singh’s other two Subways.
The site has been approved by Subway corporate officials and the Singh brothers have secured the permission of other area Subway franchise owners to locate in Bloomfield.

Posted Friday, October 10, 2008, at 2:07 PM
by Nick Schneider
Greene County Daily World

Well, the preliminary news is encouraging coming from MLE officials concerning the joint contract bid they recently partnered with Hi-Lift Jack Company and submitted to the U.S. Army.

The two Bloomfield-based businesses have collaborated on a bid and are trying to land a government contract that could put nearly 100,000 Hoosier-state produced jacks on U.S. Army Humvee vehicles around the world.

The bid was submitted last week.

If the solicitation bid is successful, the initial shipment will be for 10,000 Hi-Lift Jacks manufactured in Bloomfield with the potential to supply a minimum of 108,243 jacks over a five-year period, according to Steve Dowden, who serves as High-Lift Jack’s vice president of sales and marketing.

MLE spokesman Ray Darnell admits it’s too early to celebrate, but said the Greene County bid is still under serious consideration.

That’s real good news.

“What we have heard is this, that the Army Technical Command has accepted the proposal on behalf of MLE and Bloomfield Manufacturing Company. Eric Harrah’s group combined with MLE have put forth a completely compliant proposal that is accepted by the Army for competition. That’s the first step. A lot of company’s submit proposals and they (the Army) doesn’t just reject them, they throw them in the trash because you can’t re-submit. If you fail the compliance test, you are not in consideration. We’ve received word that the first step is complete and we are completely compliant,” Darnell told me this week. “We submitted the 48-inch jack as one proposal and the 60-inch jack as a second proposal. Two proposals were submitted for the Army to consider and they are supposed to call us next week because they are going to have us come up to Livonia, Mich. and demonstrate that the jack can do what we say they can do. Once we pass that test, then we are in the mix on seeing who wins the contract. We’ll hear that in about a month.”

Bloomfield Manufacturing’s trademark Hi-Lift jack — which has become a global standard in the 4 x 4 industry — was founded in 1905. The company has sales representatives all over the world in places like the United Kingdom, most of the European countries, Australia, South Africa, Israel, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and Russia.

For years, Bloomfield Manufacturing Company has sold its Hi-Lift jacks to the military in small quantities — particularly for vehicles that are over in the combat zones of Iraq and other places in the Middle East.

This order would be much bigger and could open the door for big things to come in the future.

Dowden and company CEO Eric Harrah say it’s too early to predict how the contract — if successful — will affect the employment numbers at the Bloomfield manufacturing plant.

Currently, less than 50 production workers are employed at the plant working one shift daily. The plant has the capacity to manufacture about 1,200 jacks daily.

But everyone involved is hopeful this could be a real spark for the local economy.

Darnell lauded the help that has been given to MLE and Hi-Lift Jack from another successful area defense contractor, SIAC — which maintains a host of offices in Bloomfield and on NSWC Crane base.

“SAIC has been very, very cooperative to us in the style of Greene County pulling together. SAIC doesn’t have much to gain in the sense of helping MLE and Bloomfield Manufacturing, but that doesn’t matter. They are Greene County people. They have Humvees like the ones we’ll have to test with and they have provided them to us to make sure our demonstration will work and so we are familiar with it. They offered it (the vehicle) right up in just a wonderful Greene County spirit.”

Darnell said it’s encouraging also that the two local companies are finding ways to be competitive in a global market — during really tough economic times.

“Given all of the times here at the grassroots in a small county heartland we’re doing all we can to move forward with high technical and competitive wage jobs and we are trying to battle the (financial) currents that are out there rushing against all of us,” he said. “We’re hoping to grow and do things in a way that if the credit crunch rolls down to the smallest businesses — which is the direction it is coming — and that will affect everybody. We’re hoping to have had enough success to maintain ourselves.”

MLE Enterprises, based in Terre Haute, conducted a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 25 at WestGate at Crane Technology Park for the construction of a 7,000 square feet, $200,000 mixed-use building with space for offices, work stations, training and warehouse areas.

Company officials expect to be in their WestGate building in about 90 days.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed on this one — knowing the High-Lift Jack can do the job as promised in the contract proposal for our troops around the world.

This is a good example of several local companies working together for the economic good of the entire county.

Thursday, October 9, 2008
By Anna Rochelle, Staff Writer
Greene County Daily World

Looking for a unique way to honor a veteran, or someone currently in the armed services, as a hero?

The Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Public Library is going to offer the opportunity to take part in the “Our Heroes Tree” Initiative sponsored by the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University.

Library Director John Helling said participating libraries across the state will be displaying a tree in October and early November and community members can create handmade ornaments to add to the tree from now until Veterans’ Day.

“Starting now, we are participating and have a tree up on display in the library. We’d like to get as many ornaments as possible onto the tree before Veterans’ Day. Members of the community can help decorate the tree with their own ornaments that commemorate friends or family that have served or are currently serving in the armed forces,” said Helling.

The program is designed as a way to honor those who have served as well as provide resources to help communities provide support and understanding to local servicemen and women and their families.

To participate in the Our Heroes Tree initiative, simply create a handmade ornament honoring a service member from past or present wars, conflicts or peacetime operations. Bring the ornament to a participating library and it will be placed on the tree with other ornaments. In addition, stories about individual service members may also be submitted and they will be displayed in a binder near the tree.

The Initiative also includes a Heroes Tree online — all ornaments submitted to a local library will become a part of the Virtual Indiana State Heroes Tree. The online version will be organized by the library were the ornament was submitted.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008
By Nick Schneider, Assistant Editor
Greene County Daily World

A new business is opening Friday in downtown Bloomfield that will feature healthy, organic food products as well as gift items manufactured in the state of Indiana.

Joe Fleetwood, co-owner of United Contracting, a Bloomfield-based construction company, will open the doors of Living Greene at 23 North Washington Street — a half block off the courthouse square.

Hours of operation will be 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Monday-Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

“The 100 percent natural or organic and going green is just something that I think is starting to weigh heavily on some people’s minds. And I’m just trying to give people in Greene County a place to go locally to get to vendors from throughout Indiana all in one place. I would like to support the local Indiana economy more by being a distributor for these vendors,” Fleetwood commented.

The store’s mission statement points to its product line.

“It has to be 100 percent natural or organic or manufactured in Indiana,” he said.

He said touting organic products is a smart thing to do for the environment and for personal health.

“The organic means basically that you plant it, you pick it and you don’t use any preservatives when you package it. It’s a very green process. The real definition of organic is nothing at any part or any stage of the manufacturing process touches any man-made chemicals and the like,” Fleetwood, a 1996 graduate of Bloomfield High School, said.

The store also has plans in the next 30 days to open Seven Soups and Salads Cafe — in the same location — that will be selling a dessert menu items and what Fleetwood called “simple lunches.”

The eatery will feature a variety of recipes from his mother, Pat Stoelting, who has won the annual Bloomfield Apple Festival Baking Contest more than 10 times. Fleetwood himself is no stranger in the kitchen having won five area baking or cooking contests himself.

The entire family clan is well-known for their cooking and baking prowess.

Fleetwood’s aunt — his mother’s sister Mary Godsey — claimed the title at this year’s Apple Baking Contest this past weekend.

“There was like a five-year span where my mother, Pam Deckard, which is her sister, Mary Godsey, who is her sister and Margie Burgess, who is her also a sister … all four of them won and my cousins won in the under 35 year categories.”

Fleetwood said he is excited to bring a new product line to the Greene County business community.

His store will feature Watkins Food products and a variety of food items from the Greenfield Mills operation from the northern Indiana community of Howe.

Speaking of Greenfield Mills, Fleetwood said, “They are like one of six water-powered mills left in the United States.”

Living Greene will offer more than two dozen varieties of organic flour mixes by the bag, 15 different popcorn products from Indiana Amish country and five kinds of gift boxes or baskets — all from Greenfield Mills — that can be shipped anywhere in the United States.

“We also have candles that are made in Indiana and we have soaps and decorative gifts made here in Indiana and many more gift items,” he said.

A grand opening for the store is planned with a ribbon cutting by the Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce at 10 a.m. on Oct. 25.

“We look forward to joining the Chamber of Commerce and we look forward to doing business in Bloomfield.”

Fleetwood said if business goes well, he wants to expand the store to other locations in the area.

“If the store does do well, our future plans are to put one in Linton and eastern Greene County. We are looking forward to doing a chain, depending on the response.”

Wednesday, October 8, 2008
By Timberly Ferree, Staff Writer
Greene County Daily World

Bloomfield’s downtown revitalization project is tentatively set to begin next spring, the Bloomfield Town Council announced Tuesday night.

Fleis and Vandenbrink Engineering, Inc. provided the explanation on the project which will make over Franklin, Main and Washington Streets.

The project is being funded by a $500,000 grant whicnnh was awarded in May, after a second attempt at the grant was made.

The grant will fund updates on lighting, curbs, sidewalks and minor storm drainage to the north (Main Street), west (Franklin Street) and east (Washington Street) blocks which face the courthouse square.

According to engineering reps Edwards Biskis and Jocques K. Plothow the project will/can include:

* Color accent to the outer edge of the sidewalks.

* Better curb exposure.

* Single bulb lighting that is similar to the lighting used when downtown was initially formed.

* Recommended omni-directional lighting which is more radiant and lights the sidewalk, street and parking areas.

* Recommended steel or cast iron lamp poles in black because the color green tends to fade easier.

* Light poles have the option of banner arms for flag display.

* Lamp poles include an 120 volt outlet option — which is on a separate circuit to allow for decorative lighting.

* New posts for parking meters.

Bids for the project will be taken the week before Thanksgiving.