Small Street Journal: April 19, 2019

Local Sales Professional Phillip Swiler recently joined the Print Production team at EO Johnson Business Technologies where he will be responsible for selling EOJ’s Canon’s Wide Format Line, as well as the Oce PlotWave Hardware and Service Solution.  Swiler has 27 years experience in sales and marketing, he is a long time Chamber Ambassador and attended the Disney Institute in 2006.  Swiler stated he is very excited to be working at EO Johnson as well as with the clients he serves.  In his free time, he owns a DJ business and likes to spend time with his family.
 
Merchants Financial Group, Inc. (MFGI) announced first quarter net income of just over $3,470,000 according to MFGI President & CEO Gregory M. Evans. 

“We are on target for a strong 2019 and we’re pleased with both our financial results and progress on key strategic initiatives,” said Evans. 

As a result of continued profitable performance, the MFGI Board of Directors authorized a semiannual dividend of 70 cents per share to shareholders during its April meeting. Dividends will be paid in June to shareholders of record as of May 17. 

Net income is ahead of MFGI’s plan for 2019 by $442,818, but is behind performance of a year ago by $476,827. One impact on year-over-year earnings was a necessary contribution of an additional $240,000 in loan loss reserve put aside to cushion against possible future loan stress. Contributing to the overall positive first quarter performance, three of the Bank’s four regions exceeded their 2019 first quarter plans. Additionally, MFGI saw year-over-year growth in total loans of $80 million and total deposits of $53.2 million. 

“Our commitment to provide exceptional service to our customers and support our communities is what continues to make us a unique player in the financial industry,” notes Evans. “It’s our stakeholders – everyone from our customers, employees, boards and shareholders – recognizing and valuing this commitment that has helped us achieve a solid start to 2019.” 

The ownership of Merchants Financial Group is made up of its more than 440 employees and its shareholders, mostly individuals and families from southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin. 

Merchants Bank is a full service community bank with 21 branches in southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin. Headquartered in Winona, MN, the Bank has more than $1.76 billion in assets and was founded in 1875. Member FDIC. 
 
“Writers Read” will hold an open mic at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire on Thursday, May 9 at 6 p.m. in the Eau Claire Room. The program will celebrate the summer travel season. Bring a travel-themed story or poem, or any other original you’d like to share (5 minutes or less). Sign-up starts at 5:30 p.m. Listeners are welcome.
 
The program will be hosted by Eau Claire’s Writer in Residence, Karen Loeb. Loeb is a Professor Emerita of the UW–Eau Claire English Department. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Fiction Southeast, Hanging Loose, New Ohio Review, and other magazines. Her poem “In the Science Museum,” won the 2016 Wisconsin People & Ideas contest. 
“Writers Read” is a monthly library series organized by Eau Claire’s Writer in Residence. Each reading features original poetry and prose written by writers living and working in the Chippewa Valley. 
For information, stop at Information & Reference on your next visit to the library, call 715-839-5004, or email the library at librarian@eauclaire.lib.wi.us. To learn more about library programs, check the library website atwww.ecpubliclibrary.info.
 
The Friends of the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library will host their annual meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1, in the Eau Claire Room on the library’s lower level. The Friends will recognize Nancy Sowls with the Distinguished Service Award, elect new Board members, hear a report from the Executive Board, and recognize the 174 volunteers that provided over 5,400 volunteer hours for the Friends and the library in 2018. At 6:30 p.m. the meeting will adjourn to the Chippewa Room to enjoy substantial appetizers.
Following the annual meeting, guests are encouraged to attend the One Book, One Community presentation at 7 p.m. entitled “Our Magnificent and Vulnerable Great Lakes.” The presenter will be Jane Elder, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, and U.S. Co-lead on the Great Lakes Water Quality Board Emerging Working Group. The program is co-sponsored by Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters.

Both events are free and open to the public. Registration is recommended for the One Book, One Community program.  To register, please visit www.ecpubliclibrary.info/onebook.
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For information, call 715-831-5301 or email friendsofthelibrary@eauclaire.lib.wi.us. To learn more about the Friends of the Library,https://www.ecpubliclibrary.info/friends.