| 7/4 | Cynthia Eckert | Okeechobee News |
| 7/4 | Stephen Chernek | West Valley |
| 7/4 | Robert Hurley | Delaware Printing |
| 7/7 | Angela Bridges | Okeechobee News |
| 7/9 | Kathleen Kotzbauer | West Valley |
| 7/11 | Michael Christensen | Valley Printing |
| 7/15 | Richard Sullivan | Delaware Printing |
| 7/16 | Shirley Jackson | Dorchester Banner |
| 7/17 | Benjamin Heck | Sussex Weeklies |
| 7/17 | Najman Najman | Valley Printing |
| 7/18 | Jennifer Antonik | Milford/The Journal |
| 7/22 | Allan Ryder | Delaware State News |
| 7/24 | Josephine Sudler | Dorchester Banner |
| 7/30 | Wanda Ford-Waring | Corporate Vice President |
| 7/30 | Zenaida Matute | Valley Printing |
Thursday, June 29, 2017
July Birthdays
July Anniversaries
| 7/1 | 31 YRS | Sylvia Windsor | Dorchester Banner |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Gina Sandoval | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Kevin Mahoney | Arizona Regional |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Christopher Pitts | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Lynda Ottersbach | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Juliann Segura | North Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Shelly Brooks | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Richard Bolas | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Charlotte Morin | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Terri Rodgers | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Steven Burks | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Richard Smith | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Cheryl Harden | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Jacob Stanek | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Mona Lisa Navarrette | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Erik Maurer | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Stephen Chernek | West Valley |
| 7/1 | 1 YR | Stephanie Ramos | West Valley |
| 7/2 | 31 YRS | Sandra Stokes | Dorchester Banner |
| 7/2 | 11 YRS | Donny Jacobs | Valley Printing |
| 7/4 | 45 YRS | Wanda Ford-Waring | Corporate Vice President |
| 7/4 | 1 YR | Chad Young | Valley Printing |
| 7/4 | 6 YRS | Timothy Menasco | Delaware State News |
| 7/11 | 10 YRS | Terrance Thornton | North Valley |
| 7/12 | 12 YRS | Gerald Bradshaw | West Valley |
| 7/16 | 1 YR | Thomas Mulligan | Delaware Printing |
| 7/18 | 1 YR | Brittany Taylor | Delaware State News |
| 7/20 | 2 YRS | Mauricio Garcia | Valley Printing |
| 7/21 | 20 YRS | Burkey Emmons | Delaware Printing |
| 7/21 | 20 YRS | Deborah Myers | West Valley |
| 7/21 | 15 YRS | Thomas Byrd | Delaware State News |
| 7/21 | 3 YRS | Matthew Bittle | Delaware State News |
| 7/24 | 11 YRS | James Hoesch | Corporate Service |
| 7/24 | 5 YRS | Katrina Sullivan | Delaware State News |
| 7/25 | 6 YRS | Tyrell Sullivan | Delaware Printing |
| 7/25 | 1 YR | Keith Barry | Delaware Printing |
| 7/25 | 1 YR | Theresa Rangel | South Lake |
| 7/27 | 2 YRS | Philip Haldiman | West Valley |
Independent Increases 401(k) Match
The 401(k) match limit will increase from $350 to $400 for the
plan year that begins July 1. Independent will match 50% of each
employee’s contribution to his or her 401(k) account up to the new limit.
This means the employee who contributes $800 or more for the plan year will
actually be investing at least $1,200 to their account.
Independent’s TPA and co-fiduciary, NFP Mid-Atlantic has conducted
webinars which showed a noticeable increase in interest of the 401(k)
Plan. The NFP group also provides one-on-one retirement advice to the
employees which is key for them in understanding how the Plan works.
In addition to the increase in the company match, the following
changes have also been made to the 401(k) plan effective July 1:
- Automatic
Enrollment: When employees have satisfied the eligibility period (has
been the company for a year, worked 1,000 hours and is at least 21 years
of age), they will be automatically enrolled in the company’s 401(k)
Plan. The contribution will be set up at 3%. The deferred
monies will be placed in the American Funds Balance Fund. The
employee can always make changes to their investments from the defaulted
fund. If the employee does not wish to participate, a request must
be sent to inipayroll@newszap.com
within 90 days after the first withheld contribution. The employee monies
deferred will be refunded. Any company match will be returned to
Independent.
- The
401(k) Plan will allow only one (1) loan from the plan for hardship
reasons as defined under ERISA. Any existing loans within the plan
will continue to be administered until each has been paid off accordingly.
These actions were recommended by the 401(k) committee members ---
CEO/President Ed Dulin, Vice President and Plan Trustee Wanda Ford-Waring, and
Accounting Manager/Treasurer Toni Jackson. The recommendations were
approved by Independent’s board of directors.
We want the employees to continue to have confidence in the
company’s stability. By increasing the match will demonstrate Independent’s
desire to grow the participation to its retirement plan. Investment in
your retirement is very important now days and the Plan is one of the most
powerful tools to use to put aside monies. A benefit is that the
employees’ contribution is not taxed until it is withdrawn. In fact, the
contribution reduces your salary before taxes are withheld, meaning you pay
less in taxes today. Secondly, money held in the 401(k) plan grows.
The investment earnings on plan assets are not taxed as long as they remain
inside the Plan.
For
2017, you can contribute up to $18,000 to the Plan on a pre-tax basis. If
you will be at least 50 years old by December 31, 2017, you can contribute an
additional “catch-up” contribution of $6,000. You may change the amount
of your Elective Deferral contributions at any time. Any changes in
contributions, including stopping your deferral contributions can be done by
click SELF SERVICEor by sending an email to inipayroll@newszap.com .
If you have questions about the 401(k) Plan or how to invest, contact
the NFP team at 800-826-7859 or email Kadedra.Warren@nfp.com. Email inipayroll@newszap.com for a copy of the
401(k) Summary Plan Document.
AZ publisher to lead Peoria Chamber
Arizona West Valley
Publisher Charlene Patti Bisson was officially sworn in as president of the Peoria
Chamber of Commerce during the chamber's annual awards banquet held June 28.
Charlene has a long history of working with both the Peoria and Surprise
chambers of commerce. She will lead the Peoria Chamber Board of Directors
during the 2017-18 year. As publisher of the West Valley division,
Charlene oversees the Daily News-Sun, as well as five weekly publications and a
monthly magazine.
INI says farewell to Diane Runion!
Diane Runion, the
circulation manager for the Arizona North Valley office, recently retired after
22 years with the company. Diane, who is moving to Oregon to live with her
daughter, has over the years worked in all three of Arizona's newspaper offices
and with every one of its publications. Her fellow employees celebrated her
career with a special farewell party recently. Helping her cut the cake are
Josh Martinez, Bret McKeand and Sandi Perry.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
This Bud's For ........
This bud's for Diane Runion. This is Diane's last week as
circulation manager for Arizona and we sure will miss her. I met Diane years
ago when I first joined INI as news editor for the Town of Paradise Valley
Independent and have enjoyed working her ever since. It was a real joy to see
her again after I had rejoined the INI family to cover Apache Junction and
Queen Creek. Diane visited our office almost every week and it was a real
pleasure to have her here. Always professional, always pleasant -- she was part
of our family. Please keep in touch, Diane. We wish you all the best in your
new adventure! -- Wendy Miller
Local Staffer Wins Four Awards
News Services Assistant Arianna Grainey, who
works for the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek Independent
newspapers, brought home four awards from the Arizona Press Club: first in
photo story, first in sports-action photo, second in feature photo and
honorable mention in sports-feature photo, according to http://azpressclub.org/2017/05/30/winners-2016-arizona-press-club-photo-awards/#more-1939.
The photos she won for have not yet been released.
Arianna was named
Arizona Newspapers Association Photographer of the Year earlier this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)