June 20, 2005
Anthony SchoettleIndianapolis-based Global Shred Inc. plans to use a new federal rule that forces companies to destroy more documents as a
springboard to expand into other states. The document-destruction provision of The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act
of 2003 went into effect June 1, requiring all businesses to shred, burn or pulverize credit and consumer reports. While many
mom-and-pop shredding shops in the highly fragmented industry look to fortify their local position, Global Shred founder and
owner David Kantor thinks...
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June 13, 2005
Anthony SchoettleThe U.S. manufacturing industry has begun rebounding from its economic swoon, but some industry experts think more manufacturers
must become more efficient and eliminate waste if they are to compete in the current global climate. While the Manufacturers
Alliance, an Arlington, Va.-based business and public policy research group, projected manufacturing growth of 3.4 percent
this year and 3 percent in 2006, big challenges remain. One growing problem is the so-called shrinkage factor, defined in
manufacturing as the percentage by which...
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June 13, 2005
Chris O\'malleySix months after launching a carpooling and bus-riding effort, Central Indiana Commuter Services is still trying to convince
the city's car-cozy commuters to get aboard its vanpooling program. The first CICS van has yet to roll people to and from
work, even as 553 people have begun to carpool and 1,251 others wait to be matched with other carpoolers. Instead, the vans
have been motoring to office parks as part of a road show to win over employers and workers....
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June 13, 2005
Michael SnyderUnlike some other Hoosier economic initiatives, much of the required infrastructure to rapidly advance TDL into significant
growth is already in place. More Interstate highways cross the state An economic development analyst determining the physical
advantages of Indiana might initially be challenged. Indiana has no oceans. No mountains. No temperate climate. But the Hoosier
state does possess one singular unmatched physical plus: It is the state geographically closest to the bulk of most U.S. major
markets. For more than a...
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June 13, 2005
Scott OlsonThe construction of intermodal hubs in Indiana could add thousands of jobs to the state's transportation/distribution/logistics
industry, an area targeted by officials as an economic pillar to pursue. The General Assembly gave the Indiana Ports Commission
the authority two years ago to build the hubs-"dry ports" where cargo is transferred between train and truck. While the projects
remain in the planning stages, supporters cite Indiana's central location as a primary factor to build the facilities. At
least three locations are...
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June 13, 2005
Peter SchnitzlerPatrick Sweeney was the book's author. Most other books on RFID consider only the highly technical aspects of the technology,
Sweeney said. "RFID for Dummies" is aimed at businesspeople charged with actually implementing the technology, or for those
who determine its ROI. "This is really the first book of its kind that walks people through the logical process to deploy
an RIFD system," Sweeney said. The cost of implementing RFID is based For an up-and-coming new technology like radio frequency...
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June 6, 2005
Tammy LieberAn expansion of Indianapolis' foreign trade zone to include Duke Realty Corp.'s west-side industrial parks might not result
in a flood of new tenants for the local developer, but it's expected to help economic development officials lure firms that
ship goods by truck and rail. Officials of Duke and central Indiana economic development agencies were to announce on June
3 that the local foreign trade zone has been expanded from 5,500 acres around the Indianapolis International Airport to 7,100
acres....
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June 6, 2005
Peter SchnitzlerHer days as lieutenant governor are finished, but it didn't take Kathy Davis long to find a new management role. She's accepted
a job leading South Bend-based telecommunications connectivity provider Global Access Point. "After we lost [the election]
and I knew I'd be looking for a job, I thought it would be ideal if I could find some entrepreneur who was very technical
and needed some help on the management side," Davis said. "Then I was fortunate that opportunity came...
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May 30, 2005
Michael WellsThe Indiana General Assembly crusade to enact daylight-saving time legislation was legendary. The rising and falling fortunes,
near-defeats and ultimate success have been well-chronicled. It turns out, however, that one battle may be over, but the fight
still must go on. An amendment to the original legislation requires the General Assembly and Gov. Mitch Daniels to petition
the U.S. Department of Transportation to hold hearings throughout the state. The reason: to determine what time zone (Eastern
or Central) the 77...
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May 30, 2005
Patrick BarkeyWhen you study economic statistics for a living, it's easy to lose perspective on a lot of things. Take the labor market,
for instance. In any given month, millions of American workers are hired and fired, promoted, demoted and transferred. Some
drop out of the labor force to raise children or to go to school, while others retire altogether or begin new careers. When
the smoke clears after all those changes, the statisticians in Indiana and in Washington tally it...
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May 23, 2005
In late April and early May, two things happened. The Legislature adjourned on time and Forbes magazine released its seventh
annual list of the best (and worst) metro areas to develop businesses and careers. Forbes based its ranking on business costs,
living costs, education levels of the work force, qualityof-life issues as well as job and income growth and migration patterns.
Indianapolis ranked 33rd out of 150 of the country's largest metro areas, and there's some good news in that...
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May 2, 2005
Anthony SchoettleA low-profile Indianapolis research firm is emerging from the shadows to raise its profile and grab more business. Wolf Technical
Services Inc., which until earlier this year had focused on forensic studies and accident re-creation, enlisted former University
of Indianapolis President Ben Lantz last year to launch a new division that is winning contracts that focus on the future
rather than re-creating the past. Already, Wolf's new division to develop problem-solving technology has done work for IndyGo,
Riley Hospital for...
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May 2, 2005
Chris O\'malleyOne solution for a city bus system struggling to lure riders might be academic-get college students on board. The Indianapolis
Public Transportation Corp. is in talks with colleges and vocational schools about the potential of discounted fares for students
who opt to take the bus to and from campus. The push also has a longer-term goal of conditioning students to use public transportation
after they graduate to the work world. Financially sputtering IndyGo, which finished 2004 in the black only...
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May 2, 2005
Chris O\'malleyIndiana University officials say they're shopping for a site near the airport or in Plainfield for a laboratory to help grow
the state's transportation-distribution-logistics industry-known as TDL. The IU Supply Chain Control Center would evaluate
for companies the feasibility and cost benefits of new technologies that could be used to improve sourcing, production and
product distribution. The service would be provided at no or little cost. But the center faces a logistics challenge of its
own-a delivery of cash. IU...
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April 25, 2005
IBJ: Is your sector of the construction or real estate industry better or worse off than a year ago and why? BURK: Overall,
I think the Indianapolis office market is better off than it was a year ago. The occupancy rate for the 29-million-plus square
feet of multitenant office properties in the market increased by about 2 percent last year, to 82.5 percent. There was positive
net absorption of about 600,000 square feet, most of which occurred in the suburbs....
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April 25, 2005
Anthony SchoettlePros Consulting, an Indianapolis-based firm with a national reputation in the parks and recreation industry, has hired one
of the biggest local names in sports and event management to help grow its firm in a new direction. Dale Neuburger, who stepped
down as president of the Indiana Sports Corp. earlier this month, joined Pros as vice president of sport strategy and development.
Neuburger, who headed ISC for 12 years, carries international clout-especially in Olympic sports. Pros founder and President
Leon...
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April 25, 2005
Scott OlsonOfficials from the towns of Plainfield and Avon are negotiating to share annexation of a large parcel of unincorporated land
that a mammoth industrial and distribution park will be built upon. Locally based developer Browning Investments Inc. has
much of the 1,100-acre tract north of its Plainfield AirTech Business Park in Hendricks County under contract. When finished,
the decade-long project will boast 15 million square feet of space, almost equaling the entire Plainfield industrial market.
It dwarfs the 5.5-million-square-foot AirTech...
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April 25, 2005
Ed FeigenbaumTypically, when lawmakers are this near to reaching agreement on a state budget, it's some time in early or mid-May, and we're
trying to pepper this column with analogies to the Indianapolis 500. However, we started the year with a race analogy-the
one about Mario Andretti suggesting that if you felt like you were under control you weren't going fast enough-and since the
Indiana Pacers seemed destined for a brief playoff run this year, we probably ought to stick to...
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April 18, 2005
Patrick BarkeyIn case you've ever wondered what it is like to look at life through the eyes of an economist, here are some questions to
ponder: Has anyone else noticed that public schools these days are in the transportation business, the sports entertainment
business, the restaurant business, the health care business, not to mention the day care business? It's no wonder their jobs
are so difficult. To those who decry the risk of diverting Social Security revenue towards personal accounts in...
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April 18, 2005
Be who you are. Conversely, don't try to be somebody you're not. Focus on what you do best, and you'll succeed. When we think
of people who excel at anything ... Joshua Bell playing the violin, Reggie Miller shooting three-pointers, Dr. Lawrence Einhorn
treating cancer ... we understand they have achieved their success by focusing on their God-given talents, developing them,
and practicing, practicing, practicing. Communities are much the same, though the philosophy could be amended to read a more...
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April 18, 2005
Scott OlsonZietsman is one of several employees of PricewaterhouseCoopers who are in the United States to temporarily help the global
accounting firm complete client audit work created by the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-accountability law. One rule, Section
404, requires corporations to assess the internal accounting controls they have in place to ensure their financial reporting
is accurate and reliable-and requires accounting firms to vouch for those controls. Many public companies had to devote thousands
of employee hours and millions of dollars to...
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April 11, 2005
Ed FeigenbaumThis is about the time each year when I write about the advent of the conference committee process, the black hole that not
even the Stephen Hawkings of the legislative process can fathom. Just when you have figured out the session dynamics-leadership,
partisan mischief, interconnections between issues and bills, and the relationships among key lawmakers-conference committees
begin and all your presumed understanding flies out the window. Regardless of all the pablum you may hear about rules, what
issues may be...
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April 11, 2005
Kathy MaeglinDr. Mary Reilly sometimes gets emotional on the job. But the emergency physician also knows how to turn it off. "In the middle
of a 'code,' I can't be breaking down in tears," said Reilly, who works with Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Emergency Physicians
Inc. "I put a wall up in some situations and try not to think about these people as people. That's the only way emotionally
I can get through [it]." Reilly is among the many women who've learned...
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April 11, 2005
When my grandparents took the interurban from Rushville to Indianapolis to see the 1920 Indianapolis 500, they probably didn't
appreciate how lucky they were to live in a state that was a leader in public transportation. Indiana had one of the earliest
and most extensive interurban systems in the country. The state's electric railway network converged at the Indianapolis Traction
Terminal, thought to be the largest interurban station in the world. The massive building on West Market Street served 462...
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April 4, 2005
Chris O\'malleyA top Indiana economist will study whether an emerging class of aircraft known as "very light jets" could fuel an economic
boom, especially in the state's smaller, more isolated communities. Morton J. Marcus, director emeritus of the Indiana Business
Research Center at Indiana University, will gauge the potential impact of VLJs in six communities, including Mount Comfort
Airport in Hancock County. Several aircraft makers next year plan to launch the diminutive jets, which can whisk up to six
people as...
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Sounds like angie's list could have benefitted from some sort of internet based service that rates various providers of services...anybody know of any?
These are the same CEO's who complain about working-class people who unionize and negotiate decent pay and benefits for the people who make businesses run.
Are millions in Angie's List advertising expenses going into CEO Bill Oesterle pocket also? http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2013/05/ibj-exposes-self-dealing-by-angies-list.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
This is actually worse than is being reported. The properties were gifted to Oesterle with more than $4.6 million dollars in taxpayer money. So not only is he screwing his shareholders with inflated sale prices, but he is double dipping considering Mayor Ballard gifted him all the money to buy the property. Guess being politically connected (Campaign chairman to Mitch Daniels) gives you a license to steal and a get out of jail free pass. http://www.ibj.com/city-will-give-angies-list-46-million-for-real-estate/PARAMS/article/28944
A non-compete clause is expected to keep Buchman from appearing on-air at WTHR for a year from the WISH contract’s expiration.