The series of podcasts featuring Hamilton Southeastern School Board candidates continues….on this podcast, I talk with Matt Molter, running in District 2

Fishers-based Ultimate Automation on Wednesday has announced the acquisition of Electronic Evolutions to form Ultimate Technologies Group.  According to my news-gathering partners at the Hamilton County Reporter, the new entity will be headquartered in Ultimate Automation’s existing offices as well as expanding into the IoT Lab facility in Fishers.

Ultimate Technologies Group offers audio-visual, information technology, building controls and technology integration capabilities.

Ultimate Automation has built the standard in customer responsiveness and service for customers around the world. Founded in 1985, Electronic Evolutions provides a rich heritage in audio-visual technology solutions together with an impressive list of long-standing customers.

According to Ultimate Automation’s founder and president, Will O’Brien, Electronic Evolutions’ customer base will be a perfect fit with his team’s service-oriented business model.

“Ultimate Technologies Group provides a significant opportunity for our existing and future customers through an unmatched, four-hour response time service offering, remote monitoring service to proactively solve 75 percent of technology issues and comprehensive and innovative technical capabilities,” O’Brien said. “As organizations see how technology empowers employee performance which in turn drives business results, Ultimate Technologies Group is well positioned to help support companies on that empowerment journey.”

According to Ultimate Technologies Group owner Tiffany O’Brien, “Merging a stable, 30-year-plus company with an innovative, customer-centric one is a win-win-win for our customers, employees and the market.”

“We have been impressed with Ultimate Automation’s industry knowledge and skilled staff, as well as their commitment to customer satisfaction,” said Electronic Evolutions CEO Daniel Knotts. “The more I learned about them, the more I knew this was a great fit for us. The extended business, Ultimate Technologies Group, will serve hundreds of well-known companies.”

“Ultimate Automation has rapidly become a true innovator and technology leader not only in Fishers but throughout our state due in part to their dedication to service and strong leadership in Will O’Brien,” said Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness. “Their latest growth acquisition of Electronic Evolutions, in addition to their rapid organic growth is a prime example of our smart, vibrant and entrepreneurial business community. We are thrilled they will not only remain headquartered in Fishers, but continue their growth and innovation at the Indiana IoT Lab.”

Effective immediately, the two companies have rebranded and will operate as Ultimate Technologies Group.

Eric Moeller represents the North Central District on the Fishers City Council, and he is inviting Homeowners Association & business officials from his district to a meeting Tuesday, October 23rd.

Councilman Moeller has invited Troy Woodruff of RQAW, who will provide the latest update on the State Road 37 construction plan, which will start next year.  Also, newly sworn-in Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart is expected to be on hand.

The meeting is set for 7:00-8:30pm in the new Pavilion building, located between City Hall and the Amphitheater.

UPDATE: On 10-04-18, the Hamilton County Public Safety Communications Department was notified that Frontier Telephone customers in Westfield, portions of Carmel, portions of Noblesville, Eagletown and Jolietville now have restored 9-1-1 service from a landline. Frontier Telephone investigated the situation and reestablished connectivity.

Any Frontier customer who experiences an emergency may dial 9-1-1 from any landline or wireless device as usual.

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Customers of Frontier Telephone Company in Hamilton County started experiencing problems contacting 911 Wednesday morning.  According to my news gathering partners at the Hamilton County Reporter, this glitch impacts Westfield, portions of Carmel, portions of Noblesville, Eagletown and Jolietville.  Those dialing cannot reach 911 if dialed from a Frontier landline.  This does not impact the Fishers area.

Frontier Telephone is investigating the reason for the issue and is working to rectify the situation. As of Wednesday evening, Oct. 3, there is no known resolution time.

Any Frontier customer who experiences an emergency may dial 911 from any wireless device or may call 317-773-1282 to report the situation. A notice will be provided when the outage has been corrected.

I continue with my series of podcasts with candidates for the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board.  In this edition, I speak with Brad Boyer, running in District 1.

Jason Pennington is a man with lots of private sector experience and tech savvy, which made him a perfect candidate to become Executive Director of the Indiana Internet of Things Lab here in Fishers.  I spoke with Jason about the Lab, 5G wireless technology and the Internet of Things itself.

When you cover news around Fishers on a regular basis, you cross paths often with people involved in the arts.  One person I have seen often over the past couple of years of Shari Knox, helping out with the many activities of the Fishers Arts Council (FAC).

Ms. Knox will now be assuming the job of Fishers Arts Council President, according to my news gathering partners at the Hamilton County Reporter.

The Fishers resident has been on the FAC board for three years, most recently as its vice president. Her goal is to ensure that the FAC remains vibrant and reflects the needs of both the community and artists to add more visual and performing arts in Fishers. Knox sees the need for art in public venues and in business venues as well.

Ms. Knox has been active in a number of civic organizations locally and has been instrumental in partnering with GAI Consultants to have artists exhibit work on a rotating basis at its Fishers location. The current exhibit at GAI Consultants features artwork by James Anderson. The FAC seeks to expand these opportunities.

You can find out more about the Fishers Arts Council at its website found at this link.

The council also has a Facebook page, which you can access at this link.

The series of podcasts featuring candidates for Hamilton Southeastern School Board continues.  Here is my conversation with Janet Pritchett, running in District 2

I first met Jamie Follis briefly at a screening of last year’s HSE High School student film Iris.  Last July, Adam Aasen & I invited him to appear on our weekly film podcast “Hamilton County Goes To The Movies.”  It was during that interview that I learned Mr. Follis was more than a film making  adviser for high school students, he also worked on the side as a sculptor.

All that led to Jamie Follis being named Arts Educator of the Year” by Nickel Plate Arts, according to my news-gathering partners at the Hamilton County Reporter.

For 20 years, Follis has been educating and creating a passion in students for film by teaching an after-school film studies course. In 2013, he decided to use his experience in filmmaking to create Olio Road Productions, a fully-functioning film group that seeks to connect the most talented students at HSE and turn the school into a film studio. Follis guides and oversees the students as they create original, feature-length films. Follis says the students create every aspect of the project, including writing, producing, directing,
acting, filming, lighting and editing. In addition to teaching at Hamilton Southeastern, Follis works as a professional sculptor, selling his work at art gallery shows and on a commission basis.

Follis has also worked as a producer and in production design for Disney/Lucasfilm,
Supernatural, Seth Meyers, Patton Oswalt and Stephen Colbert. Most recently,
Follis was the art director for The Storyteller, which won the Audience Award
at the 2018 Heartland Film Festival.

Follis says he will proudly display his award, made from copper, wood and stained glass by DeMaris Gaunt of Mud Horse Art, a former Fishers resident. Each Nickel Plate Arts’ nominee received a gift of a locally-made item. Follis was also given a hand-turned wooden pen made by Fishers resident Chris Hayes of AskCheese Woodworks.

You can view the full-length feature film produced by his students last year, Iris, at this link

Yo can listen to the podcast interview with Jamie Follis (along with Fishers resident Andy Murphy, mother of famed director Ryan Murphy)  at this link.

Hamilton County Reporter

Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson recently said the Indiana Democratic Party mailed out thousands of “defective” absentee ballot applications to voters.

According to Lawson, the applications did not include a mandatory box with deadlines and instructions on how to apply. Lawson said a lawyer for the Democratic Party contacted her office Thursday to tell her about the mistake.

Locally, Hamilton County Elections Administrator Kathy Richardson said her office received about 300 of the defective ballots that are currently being processed.

“We first received a directive from the Secretary of State to not process the altered and invalid forms. We immediately started contacting the voters who had filed on the altered
forms and sent them a valid form to fill out,” said Richardson. “On Friday, we received a resolution from the co-directors of the Election Division and the Secretary of State indicating they had reached an agreement to accept the altered forms for this election only. Once we received this notice we began processing the original forms.”

Richardson said her staff has been working overtime to get all the ballots processed and should be caught up this week.