May 15, 2006
For years, Indiana politicians-at least the smart ones-have talked about the importance of economic growth and development,
and behind the scenes business leaders have replied, "Duh. How about coming up with some kind of plan?" This was always a
hot button for Dave Goodrich, retired real estate executive and former head of Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. In his
days at CICP, Goodrich would bend the ear of anyone willing to listen about the need for a plan. Well, how does...
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May 8, 2006
Scott OlsonThe University of Indianapolis used to forfeit thousands of dollars in tuition from students studying abroad in the shadows
of the Acropolis in ancient Greece. That is no longer an issue, however, because U of I assumed full ownership of its branch
campus in Athens two years ago from separate management that previously received tuition from students spending a semester
there. "That's one way we can cut back on the loss, because they're still enrolled with us," said Mimi Chase,...
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May 8, 2006
During times of high gasoline prices, the investment made by the Daniels administration in six ethanol plants would seem prudent.
The touted benefits of ethanol plants are that they create jobs in rural communities, support Indiana corn growers, improve
air quality, and lower dependence on foreign oil. As an Indianapolis resident with little exposure to our farm economy, my
first question was, "How do you make ethanol?" Ethanol is made by fermenting and distilling simple sugars like those found
in...
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May 1, 2006
Chris O\'malleyTwo school districts have received pivotal funding for "early college high schools" to prepare secondary students for the
rigors of college and give them the opportunity to earn college credits before setting foot on campus. The initiative also
could be a plus for area employers to the extent it improves the pool of qualified workers locally. Indianapolis Public Schools'
Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet/Early College High School and the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township's Early College
High School each received...
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May 1, 2006
Chris O\'malleyScott Jones could probably afford to buy the 1,800-space parking garage at Indianapolis International Airport, as one who's
earned millions of dollars in patent income from voice mail technology he invented. But why buy the garage? The Indianapolis
multimillionaire shows up on a list of nearly 400 politicians and other VIPs entitled to free parking at the airport, a review
of airport records shows. Begun as a courtesy to a handful of elected officials decades ago, the free parking list...
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May 1, 2006
Indiana life sciences initiative BioCrossroads wants to improve the science and math skills of Indiana's elementary and high
school students. To figure out how, it's asking the public for ideas. BioCrossroads released a "request for interest in participation"
in the creation of a new K-12 Indiana Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education Resource Center. Patterned after
the North Carolina Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center, BioCrossroads' STEM is meant to be a Web-based, largely
virtual organization. It would coordinate math...
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May 1, 2006
Patrick BarkeyHave you ever plunked down a lot of money for something and worried if you made the right choice? You have plenty of company.
To cope with that insecurity, some of us try to persuade our friends to follow our footsteps. We put forth convincing arguments
why our brand of car, or our new electronic gizmo, is really the best thing, and feel comforted and vindicated when they make
the same choice we made. For too many years, that simple...
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May 1, 2006
-Della PachecoPROFILE STEPHEN AND JAN SMITH Love of wildlife leads attorney to make new friends Steve Smith, a partner with Indianapolisbased
law firm Krieg DeVault LLP, and his wife Jan, a former grade school teacher, are the proud parents of two children-Nick, 20,
and Sarah, 25. They are also foster parents of little Wendi, an orphan from Kenya. But Wendi isn't your typical toddler. Weighing
in at birth at nearly 200 pounds, Wendi is an African elephant-one of dozens that have...
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April 24, 2006
Chris O\'malleyDespite a high-profile raid against IFCO Systems on April 19, Indianapolis employers have little to fear in hiring undocumented
aliens or those who present questionable identification. Rarely do immigration cops bust an Indianapolis-area workplace. Until
federal agents led away about 40 allegedly undocumented Mexicans and Guatemalans at the south-side pallet plant this month,
the last high-profile raid was more than a decade ago. In 1995, customs officials raided the former Simpson Race Products
shoe factory in Speedway, nabbing 66 illegal...
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April 24, 2006
Scott OlsonIndiana real estate agents and brokers need not venture outside the comforts of their homes to complete continuing-education
requirements, thanks to a rule change allowing providers to offer courses online. Licenses expire every two years, and 16
hours of continuing education must be completed in that span for professionals to remain in good standing. The Indiana Real
Estate Commission adopted the change that took effect April 1. "Rather than having to go to a hotel room or a physical classroom...
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April 24, 2006
Chris O\'malleyAfter growing its enrollment 75 percent the last decade, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana is shifting its focus to student
retention. A top administrator also wants to expand the number of training courses offered at businesses, as a way to supplement
the system's $253 million annual budget. Some who've studied the state's educational system have recommended that Ivy Tech
spend more to hire additional full-time faculty to strengthen its effectiveness. The school's five-year student retention
plan calls for doubling...
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April 24, 2006
On April 14, as part of its Power Breakfast Series, the Indianapolis Business Journal gathered a panel of commercial real
estate and construction experts to discuss industry conditions in the local market. In a discussion moderated by IBJ Editor
Tom Harton, panelists took on a wide range of issues, including tax incentives and the status of downtown's residential and
retail markets. Power Breakfast guests were Mike Curless, executive vice president and principal with Lauth Property Group;
Mike Wells, president of...
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April 24, 2006
Peter SchnitzlerIn the past two weeks, central Indiana's two fastest-growing high-tech companies have announced their sales to larger out-of-state
firms. Local leaders are of two minds about it. On the one hand, there's the enormous payday for investors. Massachusetts-based
Hologic Inc. is buying Indianapolis-based medical-device maker Suros Surgical Systems Inc. for at least $240 million. And
St. Louis-based TALX Corp. scooped up Carmelbased Internet testing firm Performance Assessment Network Inc. for $75 million.
Optimists hope to see much of that money...
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April 17, 2006
Della PachecoInstead of using her elementary education degree from Ohio State University to teach youngsters, Stephanie Boehm chose to
teach managers as a corporate trainer for Olive Garden restaurants. She's never regretted that decision. Boehm's background
and on-the-job training as manager of a local Outback Steakhouse led to her current career as owner of CR Heroes Family Pub
in Fishers. Boehm moved to Indianapolis from Ohio in 1994, when her husband was transferred here. After spending time as a
stayat-home mom,...
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April 17, 2006
Peter SchnitzlerVIDE GAME with a message Local game designer Gabriel Entertainment mixes health education with virtual fun Few teen-agers
would thrill at the prospect of an anti-smoking lecture. But if the same message were embedded in a video game, they might
perk up and take notice. Indianapolis-based Gabriel Entertainment is counting on it. The company is just a few weeks away
from completing the prototype of its new title, "Ocean Secret." Aimed at pre-teen and teenage girls, the game is a...
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April 17, 2006
Chris O\'malleyThe federally funded Central Indiana Commuter Services has finally won over a dozen workers to share a van to and from work-somewhat
of a feat in a region where a vanpool might as well be a bathing option for a conversion van. Besides a vanpool program that
runs between Cloverdale and Indianapolis, CICS recently signed on a handful of Fishers residents to share a seven-passenger
van between the Hamilton County town and downtown Indianapolis. Lately, CICS has been trying to...
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April 17, 2006
Scott OlsonThe locally based Certified Electronics Designers & Installers Association recently selected Don Gilpin as its new executive
director. Gilpin, 42, is an eightyear veteran of the trade group and had served as executive vice president. The Minnesota
native and Franklin College graduate spoke with IBJ about his appointment and the issues facing the organization. IBJ: As
executive director of CEDIA, what is your role? GILPIN: CEDIA has different departments within it, and they range from expo
to marketing to legislative...
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April 17, 2006
Morton Marcus"Why," I asked myself, "do I write so much about politics when my interests are in economics?" "That's easy," I answered myself.
"As an economist, I am interested in the decisions that determine who gets what. Many of those decisions are made by politicians.
They decide which roads are repaired, whose children get a good education, who gets good medical attention, and who gets mediocre
services. They decide who pays how much in taxes, thereby deciding how much we have...
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April 17, 2006
Andrea MuirraguiIndianapolis-based USA Funds is a large, complex organization, and members of its governing board are busy people. Same goes
for the NCAA, another local not-for-profit with a national reach, a nine-figure budget and directors who are anything but
professional volunteers. The two organizations have one key difference, though: USA Funds pays its board members. The NCAA
does not. "It's simply the nature of the world," said Norm Lefstein, an Indiana University law professor who chairs the compensation
committee at student-loan...
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April 17, 2006
Tom MurphyDerica Rice started figuring out his future the day he glanced in his mother's refrigerator and actually paid attention to
the insulin vials stored there. Eli Lilly and Co.'s new chief financial officer recalled being home at the end of a summer.
He was fresh off an internship with another company and was in casual job talks with Lilly representatives. He had seen the
clear vials his mother, Inez-a Type II diabetic-stored in her fridge, but he never read the...
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April 10, 2006
Scott OlsonA spacious home near Stony Creek in Noblesville once known as the Hare estate has been transformed into an intensive treatment
facility for young women struggling with severe eating disorders. Dubbed Lotus House, the three-story residence began hosting
patients in October. Partners Patrick Hall, 40, and Misty Rees, 33, founded the facility to provide an inpatient alternative
to standard care. The facility, which offers therapies for anorexia nervosa and bulimia, is just the second in the Indianapolis
area to treat...
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April 10, 2006
Ed CallahanLaunched in 1998 by consultant Aaron Wilson, the training firm is cashing in on the national demand for continuing education
programs. Revenue topped $5 million last year, a significant jump from the $200,000 the company collected the first year it
offered classes. Financial Strategies found its focus in 2000, when the state began requiring loan officers in Indiana to
take continuing education classes-even though there weren't any classes here for them to take. Wilson jumped on the opportunity.
"In one...
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April 10, 2006
Bruce HetrickThe Lenox Hotel, Boston-My son, Austin, doesn't remember this, but we've stayed here before. Last time around, he and his
twin brother, Zach, posed in the buff for a Beantown photographer. Now, don't get the wrong idea about my sons. That was 17
years ago. And they're nearly 18 today. So we're talking infant shots here. Baby pix. Neophyte photo fare sans Pampers. Back
then, I worked for an East Coast ad agency. One of our clients, a Massachusetts hospital,...
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April 10, 2006
Andrea MuirraguiAt least two large Indianapolis not-for-profits have been investigated-and cleared-as part of an Internal Revenue Service
examination of compensation practices at tax-exempt organizations. Preliminary results of the nationwide inquiry aren't expected
until fall, but the scrutiny already has increased the volume in an ongoing debate over how not-for-profit executives should
be paid. Some observers have called for setting limits on not-for-profit compensation, citing the charitable nature of the
work. Others insist sixor seven-figure pay packages are not out of line...
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April 3, 2006
Morton MarcusStrange it is that Indiana newspapers are atwitter with concern about changing the clocks. One would think this is some terrorist
threat. All Indiana counties will go to daylightsaving time, which will be a novelty for the majority of us. Some counties
now on Eastern time will switch to Central time and not have to change their clocks until October (Central Daylight Time being
the same as Eastern Standard Time). The time switch is a non-event. It is an unnecessary...
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First, the Athenaeum is going to have to get past the hurdle with the Lockerbie residents and the agreement that the parcel would be residential. Second, and in my opinion, this prime piece of property should include parking, PLUS, a black box theater(s), some market rate and affordable artist housing and a plan to renovate and reconfigure the second story theater. I would negotiate to add the DeHaan property surface parking lot into the development mix, place a one story surface parking garage on the DeHaan lot on the street level (for the Dehaan tenants use during the daytime) and add a second story to the garage that would become an addition to the current second story theater and then change the direction of the theater by moving the stage across the alley and on top of the DeHaan lot parking. You can add all the stage elements that are currently missing from the Athenaeum stage to make it more attractive for use by Ballet, Opera and traveling productions. Plus, the theater changes would probably help solve some of the soundproofing issues. Alas,it does not seem to be a part of the strategic plan to conduct a study to determine best use of the property. Seems like the current plan is a quick and easy move that ignores the property best use/potential and any strategic property planning for the effect on future generations.
I recall that MSA's pilings are still in the ground and hard to remove. It’s not likely any proposal will include significant underground construction/parking because of this. Start adding 2 floors of retail, 8 floors of parking and 5-10 floors of possible hotel, and/or 10-20 floors of residential, and you are at 30 floors already with possible expansion of all the uses. But then again I could be wrong.
Accoriding to their website there is no deadline to the Do Not Call list. What is this article referring to??
On what planet are they entitled to this largesse from the stockholders? These people make multi-million dollar salaries: Pay for your own personal travel.
It matters because they're already paid enormously fat salaries: Pay for your own personal travel. Being "taxed on it" isn't a valid excuse--so what? They're still being gifted a raft of luxury perks from somebody else's money on top of an enormous, lavish salary.