PORTAGE

Portage Toll plaza major makeover starts

Eastbound motorists on the Indiana Toll Road will see a big change at the Portage Toll Plaza today, with toll tickets being given out at temporary toll booths 375 feet prior to the existing toll plaza.

The temporary booths are being used to allow construction to proceed at the Toll Plaza with a minimum of interruption. That construction will also require that three toll lanes be closed during certain phases of the construction.

The construction will include installation of electronic tolling, a new canopy, a new plaza building, three additional tolling lanes and all new toll booths. The construction will increase the capacity of the Toll Plaza, a frequent source of bottlenecks, by 25 percent. Restrictions due to the project will remain in effect through the end of the year.

CROWN POINT

Small business seminar set for Aug. 28

"Create the Business of Your Dreams" is the title of a seminar for small business owners and management associates scheduled for 8 to 9 a.m. Aug. 28 at First Financial Bank, U.S. 231 and Broadway. It will be presented by Valparaiso business coach and consultant Larry Galler.

A continental breakfast will be served. There is no charge to attend. For reservations, contact Judi Mariola at (219) 226-2066 or at judi.mariola@bankatfirst.com, or Andrew Kyres, branch manager, at (219) 226-2062 or andrew.kyres@bankatfirst.com.

FRANKFORT, Ind.

Company to break ground on $90 million biodiesel plant

Indiana Clean Energy LLC, plans to break ground this fall on a $90 million biodiesel plant that will turn soybeans into the alternative fuel.

Work on the 80-million-gallon plant will begin within the next 60 days at a 40-acre site at Frankfort's industrial park, said Murray Gingrich, the company's CEO. Work should be done by April.

Although Indiana Clean Energy was formed in September 2005, the plant will be its first.

The site was chosen because it is close to ADM and it has good access to railroad transportation and utilities. ADM will serve as the plant's primary supplier.

CHICAGO

McDonald's agrees to sell Boston Market chain to Sun Capital

McDonald's Corp. said Monday it agreed to sell its meat-and-potatoes Boston Market restaurant chain to private equity firm Sun Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.

"This is consistent with our successful strategy to focus on brand McDonald's, a strategy that continues to deliver results," McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker said in a statement.

Richard Hurwitz, a spokesman for Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sun Capital, confirmed the agreement but declined further comment. Riker said the transaction will likely be completed in several weeks.

The transaction was first announced in a regulatory filing made by the world's largest restaurant company on Monday. In that filing, McDonald's said it had signed a definitive agreement to sell Golden, Colo.-based Boston Market in "early August."