Economy Blog Posts

Boone incomes edging Hamilton

April 30, 2008
Comments(6)
Hamilton County is where the wealth is, followed by Boone County, right? Not necessarily, anymore. The average person in Boone County now makes more money than the average person next door in Hamilton County. In an upcoming column in IBJ, Morton Marcus, who...
More

The sum of IU and Purdue

April 25, 2008
Comments(0)
It wasnâ??t so long ago that the thought of Indiana and Purdue universitiesâ?? doing anything of consequence together was a nonstarter. Then they began working on economic development together, and later life science projects. But the person who dreamed up Indianaâ??s first...
More

The next Fortune 500 companies

April 23, 2008
Comments(3)

Conseco has dropped off the Fortune 500, leaving WellPoint, Lilly, Cummins and NiSource as the only Indiana companies remaining. Several Indiana firms are closing in on the elite list, though. One is Steel Dynamics, the Fort Wayne company that recycles scrap metal....

More

Thompson's plan for poor counties

April 10, 2008
Comment(1)
One piece of Jill Long Thompsonâ??s economic development platform calls for the stateâ??s offering greater incentives in counties with lower incomes and other measures of well-being. Under her tier system, the less affluent the county, the greater the incentives available to...
More

Where are you from?

April 2, 2008
Comments(4)
The terms we use to describe local geography are changing. â??Central Indianaâ?? is cropping up more often for television stations, Central Indiana Corporate Partnership and other organizations that extend well outside of Indianapolis. The term can sweep in as much as...
More

What ails Brown County?

March 25, 2008
Comments(4)
What Hoosier hasnâ??t been to Brown County for the fall colors, to shop in Nashville or tromp on the trails at Brown County State Park? Yet, as IBJ correspondent Jonathan Hiskes reported in this weekendâ??s edition, prosperity is coming harder and...
More

Indiana's forgotten corridor

March 21, 2008
Comments(8)
Draw a line from Richmond in east-central Indiana toward the Chicago area, and youâ??ll find some of the most depressed space in the state. The stretch includes the once-mighty manufacturing centers of Anderson, Gas City, Muncie, Kokomo and Logansport. Factories and...
More

Valuing the FFA convention

March 19, 2008
Comment(1)
The National FFA put out a release today saying its national convention in Indianapolis in October created a $40 million impact. Lump out suppliers from outside the area, and the local impact amounted to $34.5 million. Global Insight Inc., a respected...
More

Ticket to the middle class

March 17, 2008
Comments(2)
Forget outsourcing. A Michigan research group says the larger problem for manufacturing will be finding enough domestic workers to navigate the complexities of modern factory floors. The Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor contends in a recent report that while...
More

Importing workers to Indianapolis

March 13, 2008
Comments(5)
Hereâ??s something that might surprise you, considering that Indiana is sometimes viewed by people outside the state as insular and unwelcoming to strangers. Indianapolis has a higher percentage of income earners at least age 15 who were born in another state...
More

Newcomers to suburban counties

March 13, 2008
Comments(3)
Lots of people are flocking to the eight suburban counties that surround Indianapolis, a new report from the Indianapolis Private Industry Council says. More than 16,000 showed up in 2005 alone, said the report, which tracks the work force. But the council...
More

Local IKEAphiles in mourning

March 12, 2008
Comments(11)
So much for IKEA dropping one of its stores in the Indianapolis area anytime soon. A store opening today in a Cincinnati suburb is about as close as Indianapolis is going to see, at least for a while, IBJ Associate...
More

Energy and farmland values

March 5, 2008
Comments(3)
You probably arenâ??t begrudging farmers and others for the record farmland prices theyâ??re enjoying. But those prices wouldnâ??t be so high if the ethanol plants popping up across Indiana and elsewhere in the Midwest werenâ??t using so much corn. Now weâ??re...
More

Indiana avoids budget shortfall list

March 4, 2008
Comment(1)
A new report by a Washington, D.C., think tank shows 25 states expect budget shortfalls in their 2009 fiscal years. Illinois and Kentucky are on the list issued by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, but Indiana isnâ??tâ??at least...
More

University foundations and tuition

March 3, 2008
Comments(2)
College and university foundations have been raking in the dollars in the past few years due to big investment returns. Millions of dollars have flowed in. As IBJ reporter Tracy Donhardt wrote in this weekendâ??s paper, critics say more of...
More

Oppose Daniels, oppose change?

February 26, 2008
Comments(2)
A new statewide poll shows a high correlation between registered voters who intend to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and incumbent Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. Obama and Daniels are almost polar opposites philosophically, so what gives? Mostly...
More

Business journalists and recession

February 22, 2008
Comments(0)
Forbes Publisher Rich Karlgaard thinks business journalists are stirring up recession talk. In a column this week with a takeout headlined â??Business press incompetence and fear,â?? Karlgaard advises against believing everything one reads. Hereâ??s what he writes: â??Want to know the truth about...
More

Contrasting United Way, Wheeler

February 20, 2008
Comments(4)
Businesses and their employees opened pockets last year to enable United Way of Central Indiana to hit a record $39 million in contributions. The not-for-profit attributed the good news to hustle by campaign co-chairmen who offered money from their...
More

Do you feel poorer?

February 20, 2008
Comments(5)
Inflation is speeding up and wage growth is slowing down, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said this morning. Blame rising oil prices for the inflation and the slowing economy for the sluggish wage growth, says the Economic Policy Institute, a...
More

Affordable housing...again

February 19, 2008
Comments(0)
Indianapolis is now the most affordable large market in which to buy a house 10 quarters running. Thatâ??s according to an index the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo put out this afternoon. In the past quarter, 46.6 percent...
More

Fear grips donors to charity

February 19, 2008
Comments(2)
Wheeler Mission Ministries broke the unsettling news yesterday that it is laying off 13 staff and shifting its ministries for youth and families to another charity in order to minimize an anticipated operating deficit. Why? Donors are worried about...
More

Is film tax break a bad idea?

February 15, 2008
Comments(2)
Gov. Mitch Daniels had sharp words for legislators after they finished overriding his veto of tax breaks for the film industry. â??Itâ??s truly an irresponsible decision, and I canâ??t imagine what they were thinking,â?? he fired off in a statement yesterday. Are...
More

Kentucky as gambling competitor

February 15, 2008
Comment(1)
The developing story in Kentucky about its new governorâ??s attempt to legalize casinos isnâ??t getting a lot of play in Indianapolis, but the fallout could be huge if he succeeds. Steve Beshear wants a dozen casinos to try to stop gamblers...
More

Seeking your take on the markets

February 4, 2008
Comments(0)
You IBJ readers are a wealthy lot. Our latest survey, taken in September of last year, shows that you had a $170,700 median household income and the median value of your investments came to $679,700. Three of four had corporate stocks...
More

Adding to the life science corridor

February 1, 2008
Comments(2)
For years, dreamers have envisioned a life sciences crescent stretching from West Lafayette down Interstate 65 to Indianapolis, then along State Road 37 to Bloomington. The thinking was, this corridor would take advantage of Indiana and Purdue universities and IUPUI as...
More

Page  << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> pager
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVANCED SEARCH
Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT

  1. Doug Henning!

  2. These guy were thugs — they grew up in freaking Haughville! Smh, sigh. If the mayor needs/wants "quality" Black Hoosiers who are NOT corrupt, give me a call — I know plenty. Land bank info here - http://www.kubepharm.com/indylandbank/IndyLandBank.html

  3. Magician and illusionist!

  4. The basic idea of nice apartments with parking and retail is a good one, but this design seems overwhelmingly big/tall for Broad Ripple. The size could be disguised a bit with lots of big trees/landscaping, but the complex is too massive to blend in easily. That section of canal between College and Westfield will also need to be upgraded on both sides. Nice apartments facing onto a nice promenade with shade trees/plantings could bring together the canal towpath/Monon recreation, the outdoor seating at existing restaurants, and this project into something that upgrades the whole area. A plan for the whole stretch makes more sense than facing nice new housing onto what looks like a ditch. Is there a plan? Does the public have input? Who pays? The apartment idea seems to be reasonable, but Whole Foods is not a good idea for appropriate retail. Besides the store being physically too big, there are already Fresh Market at 54xCollege and Whole Foods in Nora for fancy groceries. Good Earth and Kroger are within walking distance of the Shell site. There are at least 7 grocery stores within a safe bike ride. Whole Foods would add nothing but traffic congestion. This design is on the right track, but there needs to be more work done to ensure that it blends in with and enhances the existing community. A project that large will set a tone for that whole part of town. It could be a real asset, but only if done right.

  5. I did not move to Zionsville to live in Carmel. This and the subsequent developments to follow will ensure a vanilla uniformity of strip malls and apartment buildings as we seek to bring our town down to the least common denominator. We were warned before recent elections that pro-development council members would make sure their friends (landowners and developers) would be able to make their millions off of the exploitation of Zionsville. Why in God's name would we sell out the best preserved small town in the State of Indiana?

ADVERTISEMENT