Dubois Chamber honors local businesses and individuals for supporting the community

The Dubois County Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual luncheon on Wednesday at Venue 1408.

The event highlights the organization’s members and programs while recognizing businesses and individuals nominated for the Young Professional of the Year, Business Person of the Year and Business of the Year awards.

Young Professional of the Year Award

Three outstanding candidates competed for the 2025 Dubois County Young Professional of the Year award.

Lauren Mundy, an IU Kelley School graduate from Ferdinand, serves on multiple boards, including the Dubois County Community Foundation and Tri-County YMCA. She also recently served as president of Framing Ferdinand, the town’s Main Street program.

Steffi Schmucker, a Purdue Business Management graduate and German American Bank commercial banker, actively participates in various community organizations, including the Pfaffenweiller Partnership Commission, Framing Ferdinand, Junior Achievement, Strings, ALASI and The Next Act.

Austin Welp, a University of Southern Indiana graduate, has had a passion for service since his time as a YMCA summer camp counselor. His passion has led him to serve as president of Community Chew and the Teen Outback. He is also a member of DC Multisport and the Rotary Club of Dubois County. He currently works as the assistant director of special projects at VUJ. He helped corridinate the Jasper Strassenfest Half-Pot fundraiser that supports students at VUJ.

Business Person of the Year

The Business Person of the Year category featured three distinguished community leaders.

Mike Ackerman leads third-generation family businesses —Ackerman Oil, Southern Indiana Propane, and Quikco —supporting numerous community causes while preparing the fourth generation for leadership. Mike’s commitment to community runs deep, supporting projects like the YMCA and countless local causes from school sports to festivals. He’s an active volunteer with Precious Blood Church, the Jasper German Club and the Strassenfest Committee.

Kyle Lueken of Jasper Engines and Transmissions and is credited with bringing Jasper Innovated Solutions to the area. Kyle’s passion for community service shines through his work with Will Read and Sing for Food, helping raise nearly $150,000 for area nonprofits. He serves on the Next Act board where he was president in 2023 and 2024. He’s also active in Jasper Endows Today and Tomorrow, raising funds for organizations like Dove Recovery House and Anderson Woods.

Kathy Tretter has served for over three decades as publisher and editor of Ferdinand News and Spencer County Leader, earning recognition including the Rotary Club’s Athena Award and induction into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame. She was recently awarded a Sagamore of the Wabash. She has served on the board for Crisis Connection, Dubois and Spencer County Historical Societies.

Business of the Year

Three exceptional businesses competed for the prestigious Business of the Year award.

The Next Chapter, a downtown Jasper coffee and bookshop, operates with a community-focused mission, highlighting local nonprofits monthly through their Impact Focus program and donating profits and tips to featured causes.

Mann Enterprises, founded by Susan and Rick Mann in 1997, expanded from a single McDonald’s franchise to operating 11 locations across Southern Indiana, supporting numerous charities including Ronald McDonald House, Night to Shine, Mercy Ships, Young Life and more.

Uebelhor & Sons, a fourth-generation family business serving Southern Indiana since 1929, represents multiple automotive brands while maintaining its “where customers send their friends” philosophy through extensive community support.

Chamber Board President Amy Gehlhausen emphasized that every nominee demonstrated exceptional merit and community impact, making the selection process highly competitive.

The ceremony concluded with the introduction of guest speaker Dave Fischer, who owns and operates Fischer Farms near St. Anthony with his wife, Diana. He outlined the company’s history and commitment to the land and the quality of its products.

Fischer Farms has come a long way since selling meat at farmers’ markets in 2004. Today, the operation processes 35 to 50 beef and 80 to 115 hogs each week for about 200 restaurants, universities and retail stores across Indiana and neighboring states, Fischer said.

The farm covers 750 acres and partners with a network of 35 area farmers who follow the company’s regenerative agriculture practices.

Fischer explained that he decided to change career paths and leave his job as a consultant after his son reminded him of how much time he spent away from home. He recalled a day he returned from working away from the area when he and his wife were discussing plans for the weekend. “And my little two and a half year old son stood up on his chair. He was all excited and said, ‘I know daddy, you can sleep at our house,'” he said.

He knew things had to change. They decided to commit to building a business around the family farm, concentrating on regenerative farming practices.

Eventually, he invested in cattle, but when he went to auction, he learned that buyers were less worried about quality and more interested in quantity. “Something’s wrong here,” Fischer said. “The guy who’s buying 75% of the cattle can care less about quality. That’s not really a market I’m want to be in.”

So they decided to begin selling direct and began seeking out customers who valued the quality of their product.

“I knocked on 17 restaurant doors in Bloomington,” Fischer recalled about his early sales efforts in summer 2005. “I got one yes. He’s still a good customer of ours, Chef David Tallent, who’s now the executive chef at IU. But I always tease him—if you wouldn’t have said yes, I wouldn’t be in this business.”

Fisher Farms now supplies major clients, including many restaurants and multiple universities such as IU, Butler, Wabash, and Rose-Hulman, as well as retail customers and direct to consumers.

The operation opened a 6,000-square-foot facility in St. Anthony in 2021, tripling capacity from its previous arrangement at Sanders’ Celestine plant. Sanders processes the beef in its adjacent 11,000-square-foot facility with 25 employees, then delivers it to Fisher Farms for packaging and distribution.

Fisher Farms operates on a made-to-order model with minimal finished goods inventory. The company processes animals after receiving customer orders and attempts to maintains a balance across all cuts, pairing every 10 pounds of filets with 350 pounds of ground beef. Fischer said this means they have to find customers for those 350 pounds of beef when someone calls in for the filets.

Fisher Farms is also planning a 12,000-square-foot expansion in 2026 to automate further processing, which is currently the company’s biggest labor cost. The addition will include automated burger-patting equipment capable of producing four burgers per second and a touchless ordering system that processes orders from entry through packaging without human intervention.

All this while maintaining what Fischer said customers demand, the high quality and clean nature of their products.

At the end of the luncheon, Director Angela Sanchez Hostetter thanked everyone for coming and encouraged them to look forward to receiving the listing invitation for the newly updated website that is in the works.