Transportation, Distribution & Logistics

IPS seeks property swap: School district will trade prime Mass Ave land if deal is rightRestricted Content

September 12, 2005
Tracy Donhardtreporter
But an unusual component of the soon-to-be-released request for proposals by Indianapolis Public Schools, the property's owner, has many wondering if anyone has what it will take to win the coveted piece of real estate. What it'll take is the offering of a replacement facility where IPS can move its central transportation facility and other school district operations. "That's the general concept," said SteveYoung, chief of facilities management for IPS. "We're not looking to sell it. We would have to...
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Basic utility vehicle rolling ahead-slowly: Assembly would happen in developing nationsRestricted Content

September 12, 2005
Chris O\'malley
A not-for-profit group developing vehicles for use in the Third World plans to open a "micro-factory" next month near 65th Street and Binford Boulevard. But the Institute for Affordable Transportation site won't mass-produce its diminutive vehicles, powered by lawn tractor engines. Rather, the donated space will become a lab for working out methods to help those in developing countries assemble the so-called "basic utility vehicles." The facility "is to basically prepare the way for this technology transfer package so it...
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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Façade of confidence saves us from anarchyRestricted Content

September 12, 2005
Patrick Barkey
You may not know this, but every banker and policymaker does. If every one of us got out of bed tomorrow morning, drove to our banks or financial institutions, and tried to withdraw our money, the system that seems so solid today would suffer a complete collapse. The same thing would happen to the electrical grid if every device that could draw power were switched on at once. In fact, if every one of us decided today to fill up...
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Can ride sharing retain your distant workers?: Companies look to car- and van-pooling to counter high gas prices that may increase employee turnoverRestricted Content

September 12, 2005
Chris O\'malley
Most concerned about higher commuting costs are employers on the periphery of Indianapolis, where there is little or no bus transportation for workers who live in Marion County. "At some point, for an hourly worker, it becomes cost-prohibitive to drive to Plainfield for work," said Kim Woodward, director of human resources for Brightpoint Inc. The wireless phone distributor has a warehouse in the Hendricks County town that employs 611, plus about 100 contract workers. "Public transportation is not readily available,"...
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Storm's local impact mixed: Katrina's aftermath will take toll on business, but rebuilding efforts might offer opportunitiesRestricted Content

September 5, 2005
Chris O\'malley
Hurricane Katrina will be both a curse and a blessing to Indiana companies, which will cope with higher fuel costs and shipping problems but find themselves awash in opportunities to sell materials and machinery for rebuilding Gulf cities. Besides weathering the immediate impact of higher fuel prices, Hoosier firms will pay more for a range of goods, because of the trickle-down effect of higher shipping costs. "Our biggest concern continues to be on the ever-increasing cost of fuel. That's s...
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Fuel hike might ground ATA plan: Fleet-cut savings nearly wiped outRestricted Content

September 5, 2005
Chris O\'malley
On the expenses line of ATA Airlines Inc.'s battered books, the savings associated with a fleet reduction might have been accounted for as a tailwind that accelerated its flight to financial solvency. Paring 35 of its 82 aircraft in the first half of this year saved the Indianapolis carrier $49 million in jet fuel and oil expenses. That's big money for the bankrupt airline: half of what it's trying to raise from investors to pull out of Chapter 11 and...
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Chamber head could come from afar: Greater Indy Chamber taking more corporate than clubby approach to searchRestricted Content

August 29, 2005
Chris O\'malley
The No. 2 man at the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce isn't necessarily a shoo-in to succeed retiring president John S. Myrland, according to directors of the city's primary business advocacy group. It's not that Executive Vice President Roland Dorson might not well be the best candidate and ultimately picked as president, as was Myrland when holding Dorson's job 14 years ago. Some chamber directors say Dorson is the strongest internal candidate. But, in a departure from years past, the...
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Trio use experience to start consultancy: State-government veterans met while at FSSARestricted Content

August 29, 2005
Scott Olson
Three veterans of state government have pooled their years of management experience to launch the women-owned business consultancy Engaging Solutions LLC. Led by Venita Moore and Debra Simmons Wilson, the company set up shop in the Indiana Black Expo building on North Meridian Street this spring to provide fiscal management, strategic planning, outreach, training and economic development services. They and part-time principal Tammy Butler Robinson say the firm's focus on serving government agencies, not-forprofits and faith-based organizations fits their backgrounds....
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Pension fund opens coffers: $506M could be boon for venture capitalistsRestricted Content

August 22, 2005
Peter Schnitzler
The Public Employees' Retirement Fund, Indiana's largest pension system, is preparing to unleash half a billion dollars into venture capital, real estate and other privateequity investments. And the fund's managers aim to put the bulk of it to work inside state lines. Hoosier venture capitalists are salivating at the prospect. T h a t 's t h e equivalent of nearly seven BioCrossroads Indiana Future Funds. "If there are excellent opportunities to invest in Indiana, we ought to be looking...
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Youth, law enforcement pair up to reduce crime: Local companies providing money, rewards and timeRestricted Content

August 22, 2005
Tracy Donhardt
One of Marcus Ballance's cousins is in prison for shooting another man. Another was recently shot after serving a prison term of his own. Ballance, a 12-year-old who attends Margaret McFarland Middle School, lives with his mom, her boyfriend and a baby sister on the city's east side. He's been exposed to crime and drugs his entire life. Some would say that means Ballance has a good chance of ending up either a victim of homicide or in prison. But...
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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Let's emulate user-friendly PortlandRestricted Content

August 22, 2005
I travel a fair amount for both business and pleasure, and I've been to several major U.S. cities. Most of the time, I return from these adventures thinking that wherever it was I visited had nothing on Indianapolis. In fact, I usually think those cities can learn a lot from us. This time, it was different. I've just returned from a place that's doing a lot of things right ... a place that has employed some ideas and programs our...
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Museum deflects pork perceptions: Policy wonks decry grant of $12.5M in transportation fundsRestricted Content

August 22, 2005
Chris O\'malley
"Why are taxpayers in California and Texas and Massachusetts paying for a museum in Indianapolis?" David Boaz, executive vice president of the Washington-based Cato Institute, wrote on the think tank's Web site in May as the bill was coalescing. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis landed the grant under the $286 billion transportation bill signed by President Bush this month. The grant was included in the bill courtesy of Rep. Julia Carson, D-Indianapolis. "Congress constantly uses the Department of Transportation's budget...
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Special Report: Buying blind: Lack of oversight leaves state in dark on real estate deals The state of Indiana knows how much it's spending to lease property statewide -nearly $40 million a year. But it doesn't know if that's too much.Restricted Content

August 15, 2005
Tammy Lieber
The state of Indiana knows how much it's spending to lease property statewide -nearly $40 million a year. But it doesn't know if that's too much. State contracts for third-party real estate services give government officials few safeguards to ensure they're paying a fair price for office, laboratory and storage space outside of state-owned buildings, those in the industry say. And state administrators have no control over seven-figure commissions paid to two Indianapolis real estate brokers in the past decade,...
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VIEWPOINT: Signs of economic recovery all around usRestricted Content

August 15, 2005
Barbara Branic
After weathering some difficult times over the last few years, there are encouraging signs that central Indiana has turned the corner on its road to economic recovery. The Indianapolis metro area added 22,000 jobs in the year ending in March-a 2.4-percent increase-and in May, the Indiana unemployment rate dipped below the national average for the first time since December. All signs point to continued modest growth. Patrick Barkey, IBJ contributor and Ball State University economist, says, "We should expect to...
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GERALD BEPKO Commentary: State's bulk-sales law should be repealedRestricted Content

August 8, 2005
Law is an important part of the infrastructure for our economy. It can be just as important as highspeed information networks, transportation systems or capital formation. And like all infrastructure, law has to be modernized to take account of changing conditions. Although much law regarding commerce comes from Congress, the states have an important role through something called the Uniform Commercial Code. The UCC reflects the best contemporary thought and is uniform in that it has been enacted in all...
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Smaller-sized meetings bring in big bucks for city: Hospitality group sees value in events of all scalesRestricted Content

August 1, 2005
Tracy Donhardtreporter
Even event planners hire event planners. When Cynthia Howell needed to plan an event in the city for a state health care organization, she called Betsy Ward, a member of the meetings team at the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association. With what Howell calls minimal effort on her part, the Indiana Primary Health Care Association Inc. will stay in 50 rooms for two nights at the Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel and Suites at Keystone at the Crossing this fall. The group...
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BEHIND THE NEWS: Neither SEC, Dick in rush to bring fraud suit to trialRestricted Content

July 25, 2005
Greg Andrews
The Securities a n d E x c h a n g e Commission didn't file its civil-fraud suit against former Conseco Inc. Chief Financial Officer Rollin Dick until 2004, four years after he resigned under pressure. Under a timetable approved by federal Magistrate Judge V. Sue Shields July 14, Dick won't stand trial until May 2007 at the earliest. By then, he will have turned 75, and the transactions challenged by the SEC will be more than seven years...
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Researchers seek fuel-cell answers: Universities, companies see long-term potential in alternative power deviceRestricted Content

July 18, 2005
Scott Olson
The figure-eight slot-car track in the basement laboratory at IUPUI looks out of place amid the expensive computer equipment surrounding it. But when research assistant Alan Benedict fumbles with a few wires and the cars come to life, it becomes clear the racetrack is more than just a toy. The miniature cars operate on fuel cells and are part of Purdue University's exploration into the alternative power source. Scientists across the country are studying the clean power alternative, stoked by...
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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: My city is bigger than your city, or is it?Restricted Content

July 11, 2005
Patrick Barkey
Does anyone remember the World Almanac? Perhaps not. But in the Barkey household of many years back, it was a well-worn little book. Especially those pages where populations were listed for every city in the country. That's where we could proudly look up our own hometown and see where we stood against everyone else. We're still doing that, of course. The paper books are gone, naturally, replaced by Web pages from the Census Bureau that pop up at the click...
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EYE ON THE PIE: Court decision opens barrel of wormsRestricted Content

July 4, 2005
Morton Marcus
The U.S. Supreme Court has now ruled again that the public good supersedes conventional private property rights. Some critics have argued that this is something new. It is not, but this decision is a major extension of existing government powers. The case in question, if you missed it, involves seven homeowners in New London, Conn., who refused to move so their land can be part of an urban redevelopment effort. The city wants to transfer the properties to private firms...
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Growth in big supply at 3-year-old Milor: Entrepreneur taps experience to land big clientsRestricted Content

July 4, 2005
Tracy Donhardtreporter
Michelle Taylor's first customer was a north-side hotel that ordered 3,000 janitorial gloves a month. She got up at 3 a.m., processed the order out of her garage, and delivered the gloves in her car. Less than three years later, Indianapolisbased Milor Supply Inc. delivers 36,000 gloves a month, plus janitorial equipment and supplies and safety equipment, to universities, city and state governments, hospitals and a host of other industries across the country. The 35-year-old black female entrepreneur has moved...
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EYE ON THE PIE: BMV closings raise bigger issueRestricted Content

June 27, 2005
Morton Marcus
The closing of several offices of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles involves serious issues that are worth attention. Just after the end of the legislative session, the BMV commissioner announced that a few smaller offices would be closed. The number of patrons these offices serve was deemed insufficient to maintain and staff the facilities. In an age of increasing use of electronic transactions, this makes sense. One of these facilities was in Hope, a small Bartholomew County town in...
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Cancer society scouts Clarian property for development: Former retirement home may serve as a Hope LodgeRestricted Content

June 27, 2005
Tom Murphy
An empty retirement home near Methodist Hospital may turn into a lodge that gives cancer patients a place to rest while they receive treatment in Indianapolis. The American Cancer Society is talking with Clarian Health Partners about planting a Hope Lodge on the site of the former Indianapolis Retirement Home, which sits across from Methodist on busy North Capitol Avenue. The cancer society operates 23 of these lodges in several states, but this would be the first Indiana location, according...
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Furnace maker picks Indy as hot spot for distribution: Lennox to move Illinois, Ohio operations to east sideRestricted Content

June 27, 2005
Tammy Lieber
Lennox Industries Inc. is giving Indianapolis a vote of confidence as a logistics hub with plans to move distribution of its commercial heating and cooling products from facilities in Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, to the east side of Indianapolis. Although the distribution center is relatively small at 60,000 square feet, Lennox is one of a few companies that have abandoned distribution centers in other cities in favor of Indianapolis' low cost of real estate, central location and interstate access. Last...
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Schools follow different flight paths: Aviation programs see contrasting demandRestricted Content

June 27, 2005
Tracy Donhardtreporter
Two aircraft maintenance programs in close proximity to each other are far apart when it comes to successfully filling classrooms with budding mechanics. Times are so tough for Vincennes University's struggling aircraft maintenance program at Indianapolis International Airport's Aviation Technology Center that it asked for permission to conduct three non-aviation degree programs there. The aviation program, which enrolled about 300 students in the mid-1990s, now has about 75. Vincennes officials blame the United Airlines Maintenance hub closure, which displaced 1,200...
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