{"id":23974,"date":"2012-05-04T04:47:25","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T09:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=23974"},"modified":"2012-05-04T04:47:25","modified_gmt":"2012-05-04T09:47:25","slug":"bank-honored-by-white-house-usda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2012\/05\/04\/bank-honored-by-white-house-usda\/","title":{"rendered":"Bank honored by White House, USDA"},"content":{"rendered":"

LIMA — Kettle Creations, a manufacturer of mashed potatoes and side dishes, and First Financial Bank were recognized by the White House and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) at a recent event in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

John Klausing, CFO of Kettle Creations and Kent Phares, commercial relationship manager for First Financial Bank, attended the event held in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House.\u00a0 Judith A. Canales, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Business and Cooperative Service, recognized Kettle Creations among 46 other rural manufacturers representing 30 states for their success and contributions to the economy and job sustainability in their communities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Shown are (from the left) Judith A. Canales, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Business and Cooperative Service; John Klausing of Kettle Creations; and Kent Phares of First Financial Bank. (FFB photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The businesses honored at the event have been supported by USDA Rural Development\u2019s Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, which helps provide capital and technical assistance to create jobs and spur economic development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese companies demonstrate that U.S. manufacturing — through innovation, dedication and tireless hard work — will continue to create jobs that keep Americans working and our rural communities thriving,\u201d said USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite an honor to be invited to this USDA event in Washington,\u201d Klausing said. \u201cWe are proud of what we have been able to accomplish in west central Ohio with our new manufacturing facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Formed in 2008, Kettle Creations is a second-generation business that is focused on innovation and quality products that provide value and convenience to consumers.\u00a0 \u201cMade from scratch\u201d products include mashed potatoes and side dishes including macaroni and cheese, pasta, rice and vegetables.\u00a0 Kettle Creations provides their products to food service organizations, the institutional market as well as to consumers through retail channels.<\/p>\n

To make the company\u2019s vision a reality, Klausing worked with Phares at First Financial Bank to review financing programs and options to expedite construction of Kettle Creations\u2019 new 100,000 square foot, state-of-the art manufacturing facility in Lima.<\/p>\n

Kettle Creations secured funding from the bank with a guarantee provided through the USDA Guaranteed Loan Program, as well as a loan from the Small Business Administration, to get the necessary start-up capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful for the success our company has enjoyed over the past several years especially during the economic downturn,\u201d Klausing added. \u201cFirst Financial played a pivotal role in helping us get the start-up capital that we needed.\u00a0 We feel good about creating employment in the Lima area and providing a high-quality product to our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phares agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst Financial continues make commercial loans and help businesses with capital for start-ups as well as growth and expansion of their business,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a great relationship with Kettle Creations, and we are pleased that we could help them achieve their vision and be a part of their success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LIMA — Kettle Creations, a manufacturer of mashed potatoes and side dishes, and First Financial Bank were recognized by the White House and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) at a recent event in Washington, D.C. John Klausing, CFO of Kettle Creations and Kent Phares, commercial relationship manager for First Financial Bank, attended the event […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-13 19:03:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23974\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}