Ohio Casualty readies bond offering

FAIRFIELD - Ohio Casualty Corp. plans to sell $200 million in senior notes in a bond debt offering by early July.

The Fairfield-based property and casualty insurer expects to collect about $197.4 million in proceeds from the sale.

It intends to use that money to repay previously issued convertible bond notes of $201 million, allowing the company to avoid diluting the interest of current shareholders.

Design Forum hired to redo O'Charley's

DAYTON, Ohio - Design Forum, a retail design firm, has been selected by O'Charley's to enhance interiors and exteriors of the casual dining chain.

Dayton-based Design Forum has 25 years of retail design experience, including restaurant projects with Subway, Olive Garden and Papa John's. The firm has eight other offices - from Los Angeles to Paris - where it offers integrated services including strategy, research, design, branding and architecture.

O'Charley's Inc. operates 214 O'Charley's restaurants in 16 states in the Southeast and Midwest.

Western & Southern unit launches fund

Touchstone Investments, part of the Western & Southern Financial Group, has expanded its mutual fund product offering with the launch of the Touchstone Micro Cap Growth Fund.

The fund primarily invests in equity securities of U.S. companies whose total market capitalization, at the time of investment, is between $30 million and $300 million.

With more than $2.6 billion in assets under management, Touchstone provides a variety of mutual funds. Touchstone Funds are distributed nationally through broker-dealers, financial planners and financial institutions by Touchstone Securities of Cincinnati.

Firm's soap sprayer singled out for award

HARRISON - Campbell Hausfeld, a Harrison-based compressor and accessory maker, recently won a Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Award for the third consecutive year at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas.

The magazine recognized the company's high-pressure soap sprayer accessory for pressure washers. Campbell Hausfeld, one of only 10 manufacturers among 2,200 exhibiting to receive the award, said previous sprayers were only able to dispense soap at low pressure for short distances.

The Editor's Choice winners will be featured in the magazine's October issue.

Drywall manufacturer cleaning nearby site

Lafarge North America, the Silver Grove drywall maker, is conducting a wetlands cleanup on 5 acres off Ky. 8 near its plant entrance.

The low-lying site, which has accumulated debris since the 1997 flood, is a habitat for native wildlife and water species, the company said.

A group of Lafarge employees and Rumpke Waste Services are volunteering for the cleanup, which the company said is part of its effort to improve community relations. Last week the plant dedicated a 9-story containment structure for raw materials stored outdoors that were the source of environmental lawsuits and resident complaints.