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Manufacturing & Technology
Century-old manufacturer cleans up on dirty water
December 17, 2007
Anthony SchoettleOne hundred and one years ago, Cole Stickle convinced the Langsenkamp family to help him start a company based on a
technology few understood--turning water into steam power. Five generations later, the 15-employee operation continues to
thrive.
MoreETS turns city into world's tanning-bed capital: Company produces 24 models for home, business use
December 17, 2007
Scott OlsonIndianapolis-based ETS Tan Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of tanning beds, annually churning out twice as many as
its nearest competitor. Yet, the company founded in 1984 by Trevor and Edna Gray has plans to boost production, thanks to
new ownership that has the financial clout to make it happen. In August 2006, MH Equity entered the indoor tanning industry
with the purchase of Sunshine Holdings, the umbrella company for ETS, Australian Gold and software provider Helios LLC. MH...
MoreIndesign LLC: Engineers designed firm after losing corporate jobs Ownership stake gave workers even more motivation to succeed
December 17, 2007
Marc D.Eleven years ago, AT&T/Lucent Bell Laboratories announced it was closing its wired consumer product design division in Indianapolis
and consolidating operations in New Jersey. That left about 90 employees here with a choice: Move or find another job. Most
went or joined other companies. But 34 decided to stick together and start their own business here-Indesign LLC. Today, the
high-tech electronic design and development company near Fort Benjamin Harrison is a $6 million-a-year business with 53 employees
and clients that...
MoreBEHIND THE NEWS: Cash infusion propels pioneering battery firm into future
December 10, 2007
Greg AndrewsEnerDel, an Indianapolis company pioneering a new kind of battery for hybrid vehicles, has just received a badly needed jolt
of juice. EnerDel's parent, Florida-based alternative-energy firm Ener1 Inc., late last month wrapped up $32 million in equity
financing from a group of investment heavyweights, including JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse. The investors received warrants
giving them the right to invest another $43 million within 180 days, boosting the total capital commitment to $75 million.
"The investors we have gotten...
MoreECONOMIC ANALYSIS: How globalization benefits Hoosier companies
December 10, 2007
Mike HicksThe debate on globalization most often focuses on imported goods. This is natural, for it is the sole source of pain associated
with increasing international trade. The pain accrues to workers and investors in businesses that cannot compete internationally.
Of course, the net impact is positive, in part because trade reallocates workers and capital to more productive activities.
These more productive activities pay better and so are ultimately better for the economy-both here and abroad. One often-overlooked
element of the...
MoreFull incubator widens reach: Tech center to help non-tenants
November 26, 2007
Scott OlsonThe "no vacancy" sign hanging at an Indiana University business incubator has prompted officials to launch a program in which
startup companies can gain access to support services without renting space. IU's Emerging Technologies Center, on West 10th
Street near the Central Canal, houses 25 companies in about 44,000 square feet of space. The center has been operating at
full capacity the past two years and has a waiting list of four companies. For those who can't get into the...
MoreVOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Technology, life sciences creating new Hoosier jobs
November 26, 2007
Sally ByrnWhile other states strive to find their places in today's international economy, the Hoosier state has made a reputation for
itself in the life sciences arena. It's an important effort, especially when you consider that our state's past successes
were in the field of manufacturing. Con sidering that the 2007 Indiana Manufacturers Directory reports Indiana lost more than
17,000 manufacturing jobs in the past year, this new economic model built upon technology and life sciences is important,
if not essential,...
MoreAcquisitions fuel growth for Consona: Former Made2Manage roars back after struggling as public company
November 26, 2007
Scott OlsonBuilding Consona Corp. into a billion-dollar company is well within the sights of CEO Jeff Tognoni. But for now, he's content
with a recent growth spurt that is earning national recognition. Indianapolis-based Consona, formerly known as M2M Holdings
Inc., grew at a clip of 131.4 percent last year, landing it on Software Magazine's annual list of the 10 fastest-growing software
firms in the nation. While Tognoni is proud of the achievement, he's reticent to toot the company horn too loudly....
MoreSTATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Tax reform to take center stage on Organization Day
November 19, 2007
Ed FeigenbaumIn this column 10 years ago, we told you that, typically, our "short" electionyear legislative sessions are swift and relatively
sweet. With the biennial budget the priority of the long, odd-year sessions, significant fiscal matters are usually untouched
in the short, even-year session. Major issues that threaten to divide often are left undebated as the two major political
parties avoid issues making them look bad in the eyes of voters. Only a decade ago, lawmakers prepared to enter just such...
MoreVOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Existing work force is our biggest education challenge
November 19, 2007
Carol D\'amicoAs Hoosiers, every time we open our wallets and pocketbooks, we should think about going back to school. For the last three
decades, Indiana's per capita income growth has lagged the rest of the country, to the point where the average Hoosier earns
less nized for work force development use a combination of state and local dollars and even lottery funds (as in Georgia).
Private management of the Hoosier Lottery, as proposed during the last legislative session, could provide the...
MoreCarrier carrying on in cool housing market
November 19, 2007
Chris O'MalleyWith steep declines in new-home construction and existing home sales, market conditions in the Indianapolis-based North American
residential business of Carrier Corp. "are clearly challenging," according to George David, CEO of Carrier's parent, United
Technologies.
MoreMedical-device startup lands venture capital: Symbios bringing orphan Biomet technology to market
November 5, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerWhen large companies make innovations that don't fit their business plan, the discovery often ends up gathering dust on a
shelf. But entrepreneurs are eager to build new companies around these orphaned technologies. Four years ago, Jeffrey Alholm
spotted just such an opportunity. Warsaw-based Biomet Inc. had tabled a promising anesthetic-dispensing device. So Alholm
formed Symbios Medical Products LLC and cut a deal to secure its rights. Now, Symbios has a chance to commercialize the device
widely, thanks to a...
MoreNot your father's car lot: Auto dealers grab attention with livelier designs
November 5, 2007
Chris O\'malleyThe three-tiered floor gives a commanding view of the flick playing on the big screen. Down the hall, other guests sit entranced
behind flat-panel TVs in a spacious lounge, or check their e-mail courtesy of the building's wireless signal. Not far away,
20 kids and their parents celebrate a birthday party. It's not a movie theater, a Hilton or a Chuck E. Cheese's: It's Burd
Ford's new facility at 10320 E. Pendleton Pike. These days, almost every new or remodeled...
MoreEDITORIAL: Tough love for struggling park: State's high standards deserve praise
October 29, 2007
Tough love for struggling park State's high standards deserve praise It would be easy for the state's certified technology
park initiative to degenerate into a handout program with little or no accountability. If communities in all corners of the
state get a park, along with the accompanying tax benefits and grants, everyone's happy, right? Perhaps. But for the Indiana
Economic Development Corp. to deploy resources in the most potent manner, it must focus on the parks with the potential to...
MoreBank's plans unclear after LaSalle buy: Bank of America unlikely to grow local retail biz, but lending office should stay,
industry observers say
October 29, 2007
Scott OlsonBut here in Indianapolis, where LaSalle's lone location is a downtown commercial lending office, banking observers don't expect
Bank of America retail outlets to follow. "I don't think [Indianapolis] will be a primary focus, at least not in the near
term," said Tom Kersting, an Edward Jones analyst in St. Louis who follows the bank. "Their main purpose in making the purchase
was getting the Chicago presence. That was the last major market they were lacking." Even so, observers say...
MoreEmbattled city to get lift from resurgence of Remy:
October 22, 2007
B e a t e n - d ow n Anderson finally has some good auto-related news: Remy International Inc., headquartered in the industrial
city of 60,000, is poised to survive- perhaps even thrive-thanks to a bankruptcy reorganization plan that halves its debt,
along with other moves that make it more competitive. "Frankly, I think this is a great piece of information for Anderson,"
Anderson Mayor Kevin Smith said of the company's trip through bankruptcy court, which is expected to...
MoreIndia deal boosts Bastian
October 22, 2007
Anthony SchoettleLittle more than a decade ago, Bastian Material Handling had annual sales of less than $35 million. Since 2000, its revenue
has doubled, to $80 million, and its business interests don't just cross the state, they circle the globe.
MoreEYE ON THE PIE: This may not be beginning of the end
October 15, 2007
Morton Marcus"The sky is falling, the sun may not rise tomorrow, the eternal verities are in doubt." So said the Prophet standing in the
public park. Lunch-hour office workers and shoppers strolled past or relaxed on benches. The speaker was seen as a nut, an
unfortunate member of the homeless class, driven by drugs to disgrace and dissolute dialogue. But I knew better. This was
Phil Prophet, formerly one of the leading mortgage lenders in the state, a regular Rotarian, a...
MoreECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Perceptions of manufacturing don't match reality
October 15, 2007
Mike HicksThere's no way to miss the dramatic loss of manufacturing employment Indiana has experienced in the past generation. Since
about 1980, there has been a roughly 60-percent drop in the number of manufacturing workers in the state. Why is this so?
Many Hoosiers blame globalization for these job losses (even if they support free trade). There's plenty of anecdotal evidence
by way of Chinese-made toys. But once you get past this anecdote, the data tells a very different story. The...
MoreIU, state pushing regulators to halt sale of I-Light vendor
October 8, 2007
Chris O'MalleyIndiana University and the state's Office of Technology have sought an emergency order from regulators to halt a Colorado
company's further assimilation of an Indianapolis fiber provider it bought Oct. 1.
MorePatent dispute threatens Suros Surgical Systems: Consultant claims key role in biopsy innovation
October 8, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerAn intellectual property tussle dating back to the origins of Suros Surgical Systems Inc. is threatening to become more than
a headache for the local medicaldevice maker. Founded in 2000, Suros was one of the fastest-growing high-tech startups in
Indianapolis history. Its machine for minimally invasive breast biopsies now rings up more than $43 million in annual sales.
Such success attracted deep-pocketed suitors, and Suros was acquired in July 2006 for a whopping $240 million by Bedford,
Mass.-based Hologic Inc....
MoreECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Why the nation's union movement is in decline
October 8, 2007
Mike HicksThe recent United Auto Workers strike against General Motors Corp. provides a good backdrop for considering the collapse of
the union movement, and its causes. Back in the early 1970s, about one in four workers belonged to a union. Unions and union
interests were powerful. Then, as now, unions came in two flavors-trade and industrial. Trade unions serve a critical role
in the functioning of markets. Employers of carpenters, welders, masons, plumbers and a host of others rely upon unions...
MoreEYE ON THE PIE: Good news about Indiana economy
October 1, 2007
Morton MarcusWhat do most people concerned with economic development want to see? More jobs at better pay. How can we tell if we are getting
there? Simply by looking at what is happening to earnings. Earnings divided by the number of jobs equals average earnings
per job. Hence, with elementary school arithmetic, we can say that earnings equals the number of jobs multiplied by the average
earning per job, exactly the two indicators of economic development that most folks want to...
MoreVIEWPOINT: Avoiding Chinese 'fifth-shipment' follies
September 24, 2007
Benjamin A.The recent announcement by the Indianapolis company Gilchrist and Soames that it would recall its privately branded toothpaste
because of concerns regarding its diethylene glycol content is a small part of a larger global concern about the quality standards
of goods made in China. The same week, Mattel recalled more than 9.5 million U.S. toys over concerns about the use of lead
paint. Many Indiana firms rely on a steady stream of qualified products from China, so now seems a...
MoreHilbert taking on tanning niche
September 24, 2007
Anthony SchoettleLess than two years after New Sunshine LLC was bought by a group led by former Conseco Inc. CEO Stephen Hilbert, its Australian
Gold division has acquired its top two competitors, amassing 80 percent of the indoor suntan lotion market.
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Saw the Indy Men's Chorus "Music of Gilbert & Sullivan" at the Indiana Historical Society on Sunday evening.
Temporary workers are not "tools" they are people and companies that keep large amounts of temp staff are cheating.
I miss having them around. I hope one of their stores is in the general Meridian/86th Street area. I will make good use of it.
The Fringe! Plus, the simple fact that there are so many local faves in such close proximity to each other.
I remenber, watching the toll road, being built, through South Bend, when I was 10 years old. I believe, back then that it was estimated, that the toll road, would be paid for in 20 years and then it would be free. I am now 71, what happened? Since the power is in the people, by that, I mean that, we the people are in total control of everything. I, suggest that no one ever use the toll road again, let it go broke. We the people can control the price of everything, from groceries to gas, if we would just do it. If we don't pay the asking price, the sellers will lower the price and if we wait awhile, they will lower the price to what we accept as reasonable. I would like to know why a highway like interstate 94, is so well maintained, a much better highway, than the toll road, but has no tolls. I would also like to know why, a sitting governor, with a term limit, maximum of eight years, can lease, public property, for 75 years. Even though I have transponders in both of my trucks and will not be affected by the increase, I have been and will contine to avoid using the toll road. I make many trips from northern Indiana to Chicago, every year, and I prefer the better highway, I94!