Latest news with #Whiting
Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
SSCVA ups Pierogi Fest sponsorship amid dustup with Hammond
The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority is giving Whiting's Pierogi Fest an extra helping of sponsorship dollars this year, but the gesture likely won't smooth over bad feelings between the SSCVA and the City of Hammond. The SSCVA board at its Wednesday meeting voted 10-0 to give Pierogi Fest a $10,000 sponsorship after finding an extra $5,000 in its budget. The SSCVA in April voted to give the wildly popular festival $5,000 while giving Festival of the Lakes $15,000, the Post-Tribune previously reported. During discussion before the vote, Board Member Bernie Grisolia said that Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. had given back the $15,000 for Festival of the Lakes and wants to see it given to Pierogi Fest. McDermott did that because 'there were hurt feelings between Whiting and Hammond' over the money, Grisolia said. 'If we take the $15,000 back, we'll be giving Pierogi Fest $25,000,' SSCVA Board President Andy Qunell said. 'Are we not sponsors for Festival of the Lakes, then?' asked Board Member Chris Cash, who's the general manager for the Ramada Conference Center in North Hammond. 'I don't want people to think we're not supporting Festival of the Lakes.' Qunell then moved to approve the $10,000 for Pierogi Fest and said Hammond should still accept some of the money and that he would call McDermott even though the SSCVA's relationship with him is 'strained right now.' SSCVA Treasurer Matt Malony added that Qunell should make clear it the SSCVA never intended to slight Whiting. McDermott, however, told the Post-Tribune on Wednesday that Qunell's effort would be a 'loaded proposition.' 'This whole thing was botched, completely mishandled from the beginning,' McDermott said. 'I love Whiting, and we never wanted to take any sort of money away from them, so (SSCVA) can keep the money. 'We pay $2.5 million to the CVA each year — that's 50% of their budget — and they want to give us $15,000? That's a pretty crappy return.' This year's smaller SSCVA sponsorships for the two prompted President and CEO Phil Taillon in April to consider changing the process by which festivals asked for sponsorships, the Post-Tribune reported. Having previously paid $20,000 for a high-level Festival of the Lakes sponsorship, the organization's vote to give $10,000 to it this year and $5,000 to Pierogi Fest was directly tied to the SSCVA's lawsuit between it and former President and CEO Speros Batistatos. Grisolia at that meeting asked whether the board would consider giving Festival of the Lakes $15,000 since $10,000 is 'kind of an insult.' Chief Financial Officer Nicole Wolverton concurred with Taillon that the money isn't there right now. In other business, CFO Nicole Wolverton said the SSCVA collected $398,000 of Innkeeper's tax for March, about $33,000 less than last year. So far, the SSCVA has collected $1.6 million, or $100,000 less year-to-date. Some of the lower revenues, at least on Hammond's end, could be attributed to a function BP Whiting hosted where many of their contractors were staying in hotels, Cash said; as such, revenues are 'hard to make up' at the start of the year. But Taillon wasn't too concerned yet. 'Tourism is down all over, so to be where we're at right now isn't a bad place,' he said.
CBS News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
"Five for Fighting" performing at 2025 Pierogi Fest in Whiting, Indiana
"Five for Fighting" will perform on the main stage at this year's Pierogi Fest in Whiting, Indiana, in July. Pierogi Fest, the wackiest festival in America, runs from July 25 to July 27 and honors Eastern European culture through food. Starting as a small festival in 1993, Pierogi Fest now sees millions of visitors each year. The "Five for Fighting" singer John Ondrasik will perform on the main stage on Saturday, July 26th, at 8:30 p.m. The singer is known for his chart-topping songs "Superman," 100 Years," "Chances," and "The Riddle." CBS News Chicago is a proud media partner of the event.
Business Upturn
12-06-2025
- Business
- Business Upturn
Wabash Recognizes Outstanding Suppliers for 2024
LAFAYETTE, Ind., June 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wabash (NYSE: WNC), a leader in end-to-end supply chain solutions for the transportation, logistics and infrastructure markets, recognizes 38 of its top suppliers with 2024 Wabash Supplier Awards for supply chain excellence. Each year, Wabash presents awards to top suppliers for excellence in supply chain performance, considering criteria such as innovation, quality, delivery, cost and service. The company's highest honor is its Pinnacle Award, which recognizes the company's supplier of the year. This year's Pinnacle Award winners are Fastenal of Winona, Minnesota, and Whiting Door Manufacturing Corp of Buffalo, New York. 'Our ability to deliver innovative solutions for our customers depends on strong, collaborative supplier relationships,' said Richard Mansilla, vice president, global supply chain for Wabash. 'Partners like Fastenal and Whiting Door exemplify what it means to go beyond transactional support. They bring ideas to the table, help us solve complex challenges, and contribute meaningfully to the performance and reliability our customers expect. We're proud to recognize their outstanding contributions with our highest supplier honor.' With more than 3,600 in-market locations spanning 25 countries, Fastenal supplies a broad offering of fasteners, safety products, metal cutting products and other industrial supplies to customers engaged in manufacturing, construction, warehousing, wholesale, and state and local government. By investing in local experts and inventory, customer-facing technology, wide-ranging services, and best-in-class sourcing and logistics, they offer a unique combination of capabilities to help their customers reduce cost, risk and scalability constraints in their global supply chains. This high-touch, high-tech approach is reflected in their tagline, Where Industry Meets Innovation™. This award marks Fastenal's third overall Wabash supplier award and its first Pinnacle Award. Founded in 1953, Whiting Door is the leading manufacturer of dry freight, insulated and specialty roll-up doors for the transportation industry. A fourth-generation, family-owned company, Whiting has built its reputation on quality, innovation and customer support—underscored by ISO-certified processes and a commitment to continuous improvement. With three manufacturing locations, Whiting is well-positioned to efficiently serve customers from coast to coast. This year marks Whiting's seventh overall Wabash supplier award and its first Pinnacle Award. 'When Fastenal began its partnership with Wabash three years ago, we asked a simple but important question: What does success look like? The response was clear — Wabash needed Fastenal to operate as if we were part of the Wabash team, bringing forward ideas that would drive efficiencies and reduce costs,' stated Bryce Burgess, Fastenal's National Account Business Manager. 'Being presented with the Pinnacle Award is a testament to the hard work and commitment both teams have invested in developing this strategic relationship. We are truly honored and excited to continue growing together and exploring new opportunities for shared success.' 'Our relationship with Wabash spans many years and is built on shared goals and a mutual commitment to serving our end-user customers,' said Ben Whiting, Vice President of Corporate Development at Whiting Door. 'From manufacturing to in-the-field support, we're proud to be a trusted partner that delivers reliable solutions and adds value throughout the supply chain. Being honored with the Pinnacle Award is a meaningful recognition of the dedication our team brings to this partnership every day.' Twenty-nine companies earned Platinum Awards for excellence in supply chain performance. These select group of suppliers have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to excellence and logistics optimization that support Wabash's growth and accelerating innovation. Platinum Award winners are (in alphabetical order): Alcorn Industrial Lafayette Steel Sales All State Fastener Landstar System, Inc. American Logistics Service, LLC dba KTB Global Maxion Wheels AMT Trucking Old Dominion Freight Line CDW Phillips Industries Clarience Technologies Pink Team Constellium Process Development & Fabrication Crossroads Galvanizing R2X LLC Dayton Freight Spurlock Transport LLC Dow Chemical The Sherwin-Williams Company Hendrickson Topshelf Wood Packaging Hydro TransLand Hynes Industries Venture Logistics Jost International Webb Wheel KW Plastics Recycling In addition, Axel Logistics, Creative Producers Group Agency, Elliott Company of Indianapolis, ESAB México, GardaWorld Security Services, Topper Industrial, and Wiley Metal Fabrication received Distinguished Supplier Awards for outstanding customer service, business responsiveness and performance. Wabash: Changing How the World Reaches You Wabash (NYSE: WNC) combines physical and digital technologies to deliver innovative, end-to-end solutions that optimize supply chains across transportation, logistics and infrastructure markets. Headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, Wabash designs, manufactures, and services an extensive range of products supporting first-to-final mile operations, including dry and refrigerated trailers and truck bodies, platform trailers, tank trailers, structural composites and more. In addition, through the Wabash Marketplace and Wabash Parts, customers gain access to a nationwide parts and service network, Trailers as a Service (TaaS)℠, and advanced tools designed to streamline operations and drive growth. By enabling businesses to thrive today and prepare for tomorrow, Wabash is Changing How the World Reaches You®. Learn more at Media Contact: Heidi Murphy(312) 248-8856 [email protected]
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How £7 pints are destroying Britain's pubs
Brian Whiting can still remember the first time he had to charge more than £5 for a pint of Guinness in one of his pubs. 'There was a regular who would come in most days and read the paper,' he says. 'The day I put it up to £5, he turned around, walked out and never came back.' The reaction of his former customer just goes to show the depth of feeling about the price of a pint in Britain. However, for publicans, incidents like this are becoming increasingly common. What was once an easy-to-afford commodity has, for many households, become too expensive. Pub owners have been forced to repeatedly raise their prices in recent years after sharp increases in the cost of everything from beer itself to food, fuel and labour. Many fear this has thrust them into a doom-loop, where they must keep raising prices to stay afloat despite the risk of driving away cash-strapped customers. 'It's becoming very toxic,' says Whiting, who runs a string of pubs across the South East. 'You're so frightened, you've got to put prices up ... but you've got no choice but to do it. 'I worry that people think that landlords and publicans are just creaming it and making money. We work on tiny margins and we're trying to survive ... No one wants to charge those prices. 'I'm not sitting on a yacht anywhere.' According to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), the average price of a pint across the UK rose above £5 for the first time this year. But for pub owners like Whiting, that figure seems strikingly low compared with what they actually have to charge. The days when he could sell a pint for £5 and turn a profit are now a distant memory. 'You'll get a 'cooking lager' for mid-£6, but anything premium now is going over £7 for us,' he says. James Ratcliffe, co-owner of The Black Bull in Sedbergh, Cumbria, agrees: 'Premium lager? We're at about £6.70 a pint now. 'When we first opened [in 2018], we had a pint on sale that was £4.95 ... We were worried about going over the £5 mark. 'The dilemma is that, yes, I can put [the price] up, and yes, people understand why it's going up, but there's a certain point where people say, 'I'm not going to pay it.'' Some large brewers have also been criticised for asking pubs to pay more. Diageo, the parent company of Guinness, was accused of unfairly imposing price rises on the hospitality industry earlier this year. Whiting warns the pint price doom-loop is pushing customers out of pubs and into the supermarkets, where alcohol is significantly cheaper. 'It's not made life easy with supermarkets being able to sell booze so cheap,' he says. Even though pint prices are typically much higher in London, the situation is worse outside the capital and other cities, Whiting believes. 'A lot of people go into a pub in a city and don't even know what they're paying,' he says. 'They tap with their card and off they go. In a village, everybody wants to know how much the cost of a pint is.' It comes amid a deepening crisis in Britain's pub industry. Nearly 300 pubs shut down across England and Wales in 2024 – the equivalent of six per week – according to the BBPA. Nic Sharpe, director of the St John's Tavern in Archway, north London, highlights the barrage of costs facing landlords. 'My energy costs went up by £40,000 last year,' he says. 'Across the board, my wages are £25,000 more. The business rates have just gone up. 'It's like, f------ hell, I'm up on revenue from last year, but it's wiped out by the amount of costs.' Sharpe's prices are approaching the £7 mark too. He currently sells a pint of Estrella Galicia lager for £6.50, which is cheaper than rival venues where he says he has been charged as much as £7.80 for the same brand. Higher taxes have compounded problems. Wage bills have become a particular worry in recent months after Rachel Reeves increased employer National Insurance rates. The changes, announced in her October Budget, took effect in April and have hit the hospitality sector hard. According to a survey by the major hospitality trade bodies, one third of firms in the sector are now operating at a loss. The Telegraph also recently revealed that some pubs have even had to start calling last orders as early as 9pm to save money on staff costs. 'We're living with [higher NI costs] now and we're passing it on, and we're having these conversations and I hate it,' says Whiting. 'The last thing I want to do is increase my beer price, I want my pub to be full of people.' Ultimately, Sharpe believes swathes of smaller businesses will simply go bust. However, as many search for a stay of execution, one thing is certain – further price rises for punters. 'We're knocking on the door of the £10 pint,' says Whiting. 'It's inevitable.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
New York Post
07-06-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Jack Daniel's maker reveals surprising reason why Americans are drinking less whiskey
Executives from Jack Daniel's parent company, Brown-Forman Corp., warned that the business is seeing pressure from cannabis, weight-loss drugs and lackluster demand from Generation Z. Brown-Forman CEO Lawson Whiting told analysts on an earnings call that the 'same big three' is the reason that there has been lower demand for liquor. 'We've been saying that for 1.5 years now. And I know on the sell-side that the world seems to be a little bit split on the extent of the pressure that it's putting on our category. We'd be naive if we didn't say that there isn't some pressure coming from those,' Whiting told analysts. The economy is also playing a factor, with Whiting noting that consumers don't have as much dispensable income and are prioritizing vacations and lodging. They go to the grocery store, I think in some cases, spirits has fallen out of the basket a little bit. And that isn't obviously great,' Whiting said. Brown-Forman Corp. is Jack Daniel's parent company. AP However, he said that spirits are still taking market share from beer and wine. He also noted that while premiumization isn't the same as it was, 'it's been kind of stagnant a little bit,' which he said is mostly good news. 'I think the consumers – they haven't traded down necessarily,' he said. Brown-Forman CEO Lawson Whiting blamed lower whiskey demand on cannabis, weight-loss drugs and Gen Z. Brown Forman However, Brown-Forman CFO Leanne Cunningham said the company projected that the operating environment will remain volatile in fiscal 2026. 'We believe that through all of that continued kind of uncertainty that the consumer is going to remain at that sustained level that it is now,' Cunningham said.
