May 21, 2007
Chris O\'malleyWhen property is scarce, mitigation becomes viable The plan to close Citizens Gas & Coke Utility's coke manufacturing plant
this year has already brought a few inquires about its reuse potential. But perhaps the biggest impact of the foundry fuel-maker's
demise will be stoking discussions over whether other environmentally scarred properties are ripe for redevelopment. Until
recent years, many developers regarded any property with even a tinge of environmental contamination as if a parcel in Chernobyl.
The coke plant "illustrates...
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May 21, 2007
Greg AndrewsJohn Delaney, a second-tier Brightpoint Inc. executive convicted of securities fraud last year, charges in a newly public
letter that upper management was in on the scheme. The 2004 letter implicates former Chief Financial Officer Phil Bounsall,
now executive vice president of locally based Walker Information.
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May 21, 2007
Greg AndrewsFour years after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Harcharik of committing securities fraud at Brightpoint Inc.,
he finally has his day in court. A civil jury trial is scheduled to start May 21 in Manhattan. It could last as long as three
weeks.
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May 14, 2007
Jennifer WhitsonStandard Change-Makers employs 118 people who make 3,500 change machines each year for self-service laundries, self-service
car washes and arcades nationwide. Local workers design, build and service change machines.
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May 7, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerA longtime sales representative for one of the roofing industry's largest manufacturers alleges his former employer defrauded
Indiana public schools out of more than $1.5 million. Brennen Baker charges that the company, Beachwood, Ohio-based Tremco
Inc., circumvented Indiana's public bidding laws for school projects; overcharged for its services; and billed for materials,
services and equipment it never delivered. Baker was a Tremco sales rep for southwest and central Indiana from 1991 until
January 2004. Baker, who later founded the Fishers-based...
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May 7, 2007
"Pat Miller is a classy dame." Michael S. Maurer, Indianapolis Star, Dec. 13, 2005 The above response to an Indianapolis Star
reporter on the occasion of Pat Miller's resignation as secretary of commerce was meant with all sincerity to be complimentary
but was morphed by Indianapolis Star columnist John Ketzenberger into a slur on the order of Don Imus or Howard Stern. The
Star piled on with a letter to the editor from someone who does not even live in...
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April 30, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerreporterWith $116.5 million in capital under management, Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co. Inc. is Indiana's largest private equity firm
focused on mergers and acquisitions. It regularly creates $5 million to $15 million deals to buy small and middle-market manufacturing
companies with low risk of technical obsolescence. Founded in 1903, HKW maintains its headquarters in New York, but the bulk
of its operations and activities are in Indiana. Its portfolio includes the Indianapolis-based centrifuge-maker CentraSep
Technologies and corrugated sheet manufacturer Flutes...
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April 30, 2007
Anthony SchoettleFulfilling a wish list was how Mike Fry came to found Indianapolis-based Fancy Fortune Cookies, by all accounts the only non-Asian-owned
fortune cookie operation in North America. Fry started Fancy Fortune Cookies near Fort Wayne in 1989. He moved the company
to Indianapolis in 1992.
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April 30, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerThe diversification of the state's two enormous public pension funds into private equity is transforming Indiana's venture
capital sector. And their $155 million Indiana Investment Fund is the largest factor in the equation. If it's successful,
the Indiana Public Employees' Retirement Fund and the Indiana State Teachers' Retirement Fund will save Hoosiers untold millions
of dollars and help launch a host of new high-tech companies. If it's not, taxpayers will one day have to foot the bill. Indiana
State Budget...
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April 23, 2007
Patrick BarkeyIt was 1980 when then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan asked audiences whether they were better off than four years earlier.
It was smart politics-1980 was a recession year. But politics aside, it's always a relevant question. For if the economy is
not growing the pie that we all share, then those who manage it, not to mention those in political leadership roles, have
cause for concern. But how do we answer such a question? With the due date for tax filings...
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April 16, 2007
Julie YoungWilliams Beck & Hess Inc. Demand fueled growing pains When quality suffered, Camby firm slowed down to work out the kinks
At 24, Harry Beals turned down a job working for a once-prominent petroleum tank company that had lost its luster following
its founder's retirement. Four months later, he bought it. After 30 years under Beals' control, Williams Beck & Hess Inc.
has grown into a business that generates nearly $1 million in revenue each year-not a bad return on...
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April 16, 2007
Roger SchmennerGlobalization, like all sweeping economic trends, provokes a widespread disquiet. Specifically, we fear that somehow, if it
continues unchecked, people in the United States will lose their high-paying jobs and we will devolve into a lowwage service
economy. As China gains, we lose. To borrow a phrase from Thomas Friedman, they're frightened that the flattening of the world
economy will flatten us. It is true that traditional manufacturing jobs are fewer now than before. And, lots of things are
made...
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April 16, 2007
Anthony SchoettleEven with the U.S. auto industry under pressure and the North American manufacturing market experiencing relatively slow expansion,
Indianapolis-based Hurco Cos. Inc. is on a tear. The maker of metal- and machine-cutting tools and software has stayed ahead
of the curve by growing aggressively overseas while keeping a lid on expansion costs. That double feat is easier said than
done, said Ananth Iyer, professor of operations management at Purdue University and director of the Dauch Center for the Management
of...
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April 9, 2007
Patrick BarkeyWhat's the news on Indiana employment? Odd as it might seem, that phrase is almost a contradiction in terms. For while we
do receive very timely, detailed information on how many jobs are carried on Indiana employers' payrolls each month, the practical
challenges in keeping close tabs on the latest zigs and zags in the 3 million-strong Hoosier labor force make the interpretation
of the fresh data difficult. Only after the data have sat on the shelf for half a...
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April 9, 2007
Scott OlsonThe professor of cytomics-the study of cell systems-is leading an effort to develop a low-cost device that would help more
Africans get tested for the deadly disease. His goal, bolstered by his Cytometry for Life not-for-profit, is to build thousands
of units that can be delivered to third-world countries around the globe. Robinson has completed the prototype and returned
in March from a weeklong trip to Nigeria, where he and fellow university researchers met with government and health care officials...
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March 26, 2007
Anthony SchoettleAmid sagging profits, locally based Delta Faucet Co. has parted ways with two of its top executives. And some analysts think
Delta's parent corporation--tiring of its sagging performance--is considering selling the faucet manufacturer.
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March 26, 2007
Scott OlsonPlaying guitar seems much more alluring than building one-unless you're a member of the Instrument Manufacturing and Testing
class at Purdue University. The course is the creation of Mark French, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering technology,
who introduced it just last year. It is already striking a major chord with students. Eighteen are enrolled now, which is
as many as the professor can handle, and the waiting list for next spring's session is full. French is teaching the class...
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March 26, 2007
Don AltemeyerMention modular housing and the first image that comes to mind is probably a TV reporter standing in front of a devastated
trailer park in Tornado Alley. The "double-wide" with the screened-in porch somewhere in Florida may offer a much more comforting
image. Nonethe- Americans their first chance at homeownership by manufacturing houses in factories and shipping the prepackaged
kits to home sites. The visionary homes featured open floor plans, modern appliances, lighting fixtures and mechanical equipment.
Sears sold more...
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March 26, 2007
Anthony SchoettleAfter almost 60 profitable years that saw Elliott-Williams Co. install walk-in refrigerators and freezers in almost every
Indiana school, hospital and hotel, the venerable firm was brought to its knees last year. But an unlikely savior, a new locally
based venture capital firm, bought EW out of bankruptcy for $507,000, about the cost of 10 EW walk-ins.
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March 19, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerIndiana's automotive manufacturing employment for the last decade peaked at 142,000 in 1999. Since then, the sector has shed
20,300 jobs-a staggering one-seventh of its total. Another 5,220 are slated to be cut soon. And there's no end in sight.
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March 12, 2007
Don't rest the chopsticks on your food. Don't blow your nose during the meal and never pour the soy sauce on your rice. These
and other tidbits of Japanese dining etiquette had to be digested before our first trade mission to Japan in 2005. That 74-person
mission, led by Gov. Mitch Daniels, was the largest delegation of Indiana business leaders and state and local officials ever
on foreign shores. Indiana is the No. 1 manufacturing state in the union. More...
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March 5, 2007
Dave GilreathA few weeks ago, I heard Ben Stein speak about politics and the economy. The noted lawyer, writer, actor and economist spouted
off various positive statistics about the U.S. economy and then lamented that the public seemed morose about the financial
sunshine. Even though our standard of living is at an all-time high, it seems as if Americans like to grovel and complain.
Stein said, in his best Ferris Bueller drone, the American public was the most "unhappy happy society"...
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February 26, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerOn Feb. 20, Plainfield-based cell phone distributor Brightpoint Inc. announced a blockbuster deal to buy Dangaard, its largest
European rival, for $308 million, a reversal of fortunes from five years ago between the competitors.
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February 19, 2007
Cory SchoutenGoodwill Industries of Central Indiana supports its job and educational programs by reselling used clothes, household items
and even cars. But the virtues of reuse and recycle aren't confined to the not-for-profit's 34 local thrift stores. Goodwill
has adapted its headquarters several times since it was built in 1960, to fill a variety of needs. Some of the same space
within the 195,000-square-foot building has served as a retail store, an office full of cubicles, an industrial packing facility
and...
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February 19, 2007
Anthony SchoettleAs struggling General Motors Corp. tries to raise cash by unloading Allison Transmission, the fate of the city's third-largest
manufacturer hangs in the balance. But analysts say its market dominance, strong management team and abundance of private
equity could spare it the fate of other auto plants here.
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Laura-the festivals and tastings are free. What does is strengthen the sense of community with activities. What are those empty lots doing for the Village? it's sad you can't see the good that this progress can do for the area. No one is requiring anyone to shop there. I guess you'd rather see a Dollar store move in or no, we'd rather see the property stand empty b/c change is out of the question.
Read down to the part about Brizzi. Someone needs to subpoena his "purchases" of Red RockPictures and Cellstar and his corresponding bank records, I mean c'mon, I'd like to see his alcohol usage records, too. http://diana-vice.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html
Wonder if my neighborhood can advertise our "retention" pond and act like it is a beach too?
a new record at the '11 salebration until they realized that it was a futile effort to get their crapwagon moter and crapwagon car up speed. And then they just quietly slunk off into the night and never spoke of it again. Nothing to see here folks.
millions for putting a company's bumper sticker on one of its Lolas. But you gotta take what you can get.