Tag Archives: southern indiana

Dialing Change Coming Early in 2015

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119905820We, and many others, have told you about the new area code coming to the southern third of our state. The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, and its IN 812 industry group, prepared the following update (including effective dates and equipment upgrade procedures, if necessary) for Indiana Chamber members and the broader community.

To ensure a continuing supply of telephone numbers, the new 930 area code will be added to the area served by 812. The new 930 area code will serve the same geographic area currently served by the existing 812 area code, which generally covers the southern third of the state of Indiana serving communities such as Bloomington, Columbus, Evansville, New Albany and Terre Haute. This is known as an area code overlay.

What is an area code overlay?
An overlay is the addition of another area code (930) to the same geographic region as an existing area code (812). An overlay does not require customers to change their existing area code.

How does this affect Chamber members?
As a result of the overlay, a new local dialing procedure requires callers to dial area code + telephone number. This means that all local calls in the 812 area code that are currently dialed with seven digits will need to be dialed using area code + telephone number.

Chamber members that have services and equipment currently located in the 812 area code and programmed to dial only seven digits must be updated or reprogrammed to dial area code + telephone number for all calls in the 812/930 area code.

What will be the new dialing procedure?
To complete local calls, the new dialing procedure requires callers to dial area code + telephone number. This means that all calls in the 812 area code that are currently dialed with seven digits will need to be dialed using area code + telephone number. The same dialing procedure will apply to telephone numbers assigned to the new 930 area code.

When will the change begin?
Beginning February 7, 2015, you must use the new dialing procedures, as described above for all calls. After this date, if you do not use the new dialing procedures, your calls will not be completed and a recording will instruct you to hang up and dial again.

Reprogramming of alarm equipment should take place between March 1, 2014 and February 7, 2015. This period allows either the old or new dialing procedure to be used to complete calls. All chamber members must make their programming changes during this period.

To enable you to verify that equipment can complete calls to the new 930 area code, a special test number, 930-930-1930, will be in service beginning July 7, 2014 and it will remain active through April 7, 2015.

Beginning March 7, 2015, new telephone lines or services may be assigned numbers using the new 930 area code.

What will remain the same?
• Your telephone number, including current area code, will not change.
• The price of a call, coverage area, or other rates and services will not change due to the overlay.
• What is a local call now will remain a local call regardless of the number of digits dialed.
• You can still dial just three digits to reach 911.
• If 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711 or 811 are currently available in your community, you will still dial these codes with just three digits.

Who may you contact with questions?
Customers with questions about the dialing procedure change should be directed to their local service provider, or they can visit the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) web site.

812 Area Code Changes on the Way

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It doesn't seem that long ago that communications in our state was defined by the following trio of three-set numbers: 219, 317 and 812. I was an 812 guy as a younngster, having grown up in St. Leon (near the Ohio border and Cincinnati), and later switched to 317 during college and early working years.

But it's been a full 17 years since the first expansion of Indiana's three area codes. Geographic splits took place in 1996 (765 was added in the former 317 territory) and 2001 (219 in the north saw a three-way divide with 574 and 260 coming into play). Now it's Southern Indiana's turn. The 812 area code was originally forecasted to run out of numbers in 2004, but conservation efforts put off the inevitable until the current projection of 2015.

For those "812ers," it's time to weigh in. Geographic splits have been replaced by "overlays" in many instances. Overlays allow everyone to keep current phone numbers but requires 10-digit dialing for local calls. The geographic split keeps the seven-digit local dialing but would require many to switch to numbers with a new area code.

The first of 10 public hearings throughout the region takes place Monday in Terre Haute. Other locations are Bloomington, Jeffersonville, Evansville, Vincennes, Bedford, Springs Valley, St. Meinrad, North Vernon and St. Leon. Comments can also be submitted by various other methods.

The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor has all the details on the meeting and much more. Check out the informative web page.

Company, Universities Make Eco-Impact in Evansville

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Alcoa and the universities of Evansville and Southern Indiana took part in a nationwide recycling contest, with great results for those institutions and the community:

The University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana recycled more than 67,000 pounds of material during the 8-week long RecycleMania contest, which was sponsored nationally by the Alcoa Foundation.

In total, 630 colleges and universities competed in the nationwide contest, which is meant to bolster on-campus recycling rates. This year, 91 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials were recovered during the challenge, which prevented the release of nearly 270 metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions from 53 million passenger cars.

Locally, Alcoa Warrick Operations encouraged the two universities in this challenge through the donation of recycling bins and a $1,500 prize to the school that performed the best on a per capita basis.

The University of Evansville won the local contest, collecting 15.45 pounds of waste for every student, compared to USI’s 5.64 pounds per student. The University of Evansville also finished first in the state of Indiana among the 10 Hoosier schools, and it also placed in the top tier of schools nationwide on a per capita basis, finishing 119th out of 630 schools.

“By building the first two LEED-certified buildings in Vanderburgh County, the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building and the Ridgway University Center, the University of Evansville has proven itself to be a community leader on issues of sustainability,” said UE President Thomas A. Kazee. “We’re proud to continue that role with our outstanding performance in RecycleMania.”

The University of Evansville also finished 29th as the Grand Champion – an achievement based on both source reduction and recycling.

The University of Southern Indiana won in one state-wide category to see which school could divert the largest amount of food service organics per person.

 Todd Wilson, an assistant Vice President at USI , said the university increased its recycling during the RecycleMania program. “And we plan to keep up that trend year-round.”

“We’d like to offer our congratulations to UE on their win in the competition,” Wilson said. “But it’s a win-win-win for USI, UE, and the community, as less material went into the waste stream as a result.”

Paula Davis, President of the Alcoa Foundation, said the program was a great success nationally, encouraging tomorrow’s leaders to focus even more on sustainability and waste reduction.
 

Alcoa Behind Major Recycling Effort

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Great story here out of the Evansville area. As part of Alcoa Foundation’s global plan to assist the communities in which it resides, it’s joining Keep America Beautiful (in participation with the Universities of Evansville and Southern Indiana) enhance the environment through recycling. Read the details: 

The Alcoa Foundation has joined forces with Keep America Beautiful to encourage greater recycling among tomorrow’s leaders by sponsoring RecycleMania, an intense, 10-week competition between colleges and universities.

In addition to the Alcoa Foundation’s support of the nationwide program, which includes more than 600 schools, Warrick Operations is sponsoring a local competition between the University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana. The local university performing the best in Recycle Mania will receive a $1,500 donation from Alcoa Warrick Operations to further assist the school’s on-campus recycling programs.

“By supporting KAB’s RecycleMania, we want to educate students, professors and the entire campus community about the importance of recycling and inspire people to take that extra step in the dorm, at the library and after class,” said Paula Davis, Alcoa Foundation President.

French Lick/West Baden Resort an Indiana Marvel

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Earlier this week, the French Lick Resort served as host for the Association of State Chamber Professionals (ASCP) annual meeting. I had the privilege of being asked to attend the conference and speak on social media, so, while I had been to the casino before, this was my first opportunity to stay at the hotel as a guest and truly explore it.

As a fan of history — especially Indiana history — I believe both the French Lick and West Baden facilities serve as living monuments and tributes to the very best of Hoosier history and lore. In fact, I invite you to learn more about both French Lick and West Baden Springs via the resort’s web site and learn some pretty remarkable facts. For example, how many people know this site played such a significant role in FDR launching his candidacy for President in 1931?

What’s more, it should be noted that ASCP generally targets some of America’s most scenic destinations, with the past two meetings landing at Bar Harbor, Maine and Greenbrier, West Virginia. So I pretty overtly asked most of the colleagues I interacted with what they thought of French Lick. I received nary a negative remark, with "amazing" being the most consistent adjective used.

If you live in Indiana or the region and have yet to experience this, take a day or two and indulge in one of the state’s most ornate, yet endearing gems — not to mention an amazing golf destination and concert venue.

Economic Development in Southern Indiana

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Jim Plump of the South Central Indiana Economic Development Group discusses ongoing projects and the status of the region with our very own Tom Schuman on Inside INdiana Business:

I also wrote an article on this topic in the latest edition of BizVoice that you might find useful if you’re interested in Southern Indiana, which, in addition to being one of the most beautiful parts of the country — in this observer’s opinion — also may have a very bright economic future.

Corydon an Ideal Weekend Get-Away for Those On a Budget

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My ladyfriend and I took advantage of some lovely late summer weather last weekend and headed down to Indiana’s former state capital — Corydon. We stayed at the Kintner House, a well-known bed and breakfast. We felt like royalty in the William Henry Harrison room, which serves as an homage to our former President (although his stint at the helm was brief).

While in Harrison County, we toured the first capitol building and an early Governor’s mansion (I even bought an artistic rendering of the scene from a local consignment shop for my new home).

In the afternoon, we took a cave tour at Squire Boone Caverns — an Indiana Chamber member. The tour was quite enlightening as we meandered through stalactites and stalagmites nearly nine stories below the ground. Seeing rock formations formed over millions of years is quite humbling — a feeling most of us don’t experience nearly enough (if my hours of watching reality television — or watching Kanye West do anything — are any indication). We also sported a serious glute burn on the 60-foot climb up a spiral stair case back to the surface.

All told, if you’re on a budget and looking to get away on a one-tank trip — to borrow vernacular from Bob Gregory — I highly recommend the Corydon area, especially as fall approaches. Visit Indiana’s blog has a more detailed post highlighting the history and allure of our former capital, as well.