Business

You may have noticed a new though not totally unfamiliar name on the sign in front of one of Shelby County’s oldest farm supply facilities.
Miles Farm Center, the owner since 1999 of a plant that has served Shelby County’s agricultural community for decades, has been gobbled up Crop Production Services, one of the nation’s largest agribusiness companies.
CPS purchased the store on the corner of Taylorsville Road and Old Brunerstown Road in Shelbyville and 19 others from Miles Farm Supply, a Western Kentucky chain founded in 1960 by William Miles.

Gasoline prices continue to be on the rise, with some predicting per-gallon costs could reach $4 by summer, and Thorntons, the chain of gasoline/convenience stores, is taking a step that could reduce some customers’ reliance on fossil fuel – and help clean the air a bit, too.
Thorntons officials announced this week that it is rolling out E85, the Ethanol-based alternative fuel referred to by some as “flex fuel” that can be used in many new vehicles.

Adam Ruiz, 48, is the chief of staff at Citizens Union Bank, where he has worked for the past five years. He is a native of Texas and is scheduled to complete a doctoral degree from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary in May. His wife, Denise, is a chaplain at Norton Hospital. Recently Ruiz became involved in administering the Congressional Awards Program, which is designed to expand community service among young people. He talked with The Sentinel-News about the program and how businesses might become involved.

This is probably no big shock, but you paid slightly more for your food in 2010.
The latest survey by the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation shows that retail food prices grew about by $2.71 – that’s 2.5 percent – in December and were up about 3.9 percent from 2009.
Farm Bureau surveys 40 basic grocery items, and its sales ticket totaled up to $109.21.
Twenty-two items on the list increased in price, and 16 decreased. Two items – cucumbers and a 24-slice package of American cheese – remained the same.