40 Years Ago
June 1978
According to the Iola Industries, Inc. annual report, all of the industries in the area appear to be prospering and creating new jobs. Noted actions include: Recent efforts to sell the Lehigh quarry to the state for a fishing lake were unsuccessful; half of the medical clinic Iola Industries built and owns adjacent to the Allen County Hospital is rented by Dr. David Hanson and Dr. Willis Dick and the other half is leased to the hospital for use as office and storage space, but the rents do not provide enough income to retire the debt, and the bankruptcy of FEEM, Inc. die-casters cost Iola Industries $35,000, which it paid to the Small Business Administration in a settlement of the debt on the building and equipment. The SBA decided to cancel $117,862 of the debt. The corporation has property leased to several firms. General Portland Cement is on its second year of a five-year lease of the storage silos; Richman Industries occupies the old bag building. T & E Manufacturing occupies the clinker storage building. Three of the buildings formerly occupied by FEEM are leased to Iola Metal Fabricators. Berg Manufacturing is using the former storage building for a remanufacturing operation on an experimental basis. Iola Industries continues to serve as an agent to facilitate construction of new buildings for existing industries and is now involved in the office building for Quality Packaging and is helping Columbia Metal Products in its plans to build a new manufacturing plant on the North Industrial Park.
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A feature story by Susan Lynn recounts the 45 years that Dr. Lyle Schmaus has spent as a family physician in Iola.
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Teresa Blanchard, the Iola girl who found and turned in $6,929 in cash and checks Tuesday, is $20 richer because of a businessmans coffee club. John Lawrence brought the money to the Register and asked that it be sent to Teresa along with any other contributions readers might care to make to put additional meaning to the old truism, Honesty is the best policy.
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An 80,400 square foot south wing is being constructed at Gates Rubber Co. to allow them to expand sales of their hydraulic hose and couplings to the entire country, plant manager Burt Hoefs said today. The expansion will require 12 to 15 additional employees, he said.
