Manufacturing & Technology

Schneider Corp. has designs on big growth in Lawrence: Long-time engineering firm gets boost from state as it plans to make $4.4 million investment, add 140 workersRestricted Content

March 27, 2006
Scott Olson
The voluminous building the Schneider Corp. occupies on the former Fort Benjamin Harrison property was built as a barracks for enlisted men and later converted to a dormitory. So it's fitting that the locally based engineering firm has a vision to create a university-type setting on its nearly fouracre campus where employees can receive training without stepping foot off the property. "We've worked on a strategic plan for the last couple of years, and Schneider University is part of that...
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TechPoint names up-and-coming Mira nominees: Annual award celebrates excellence in innovationRestricted Content

March 20, 2006
Peter Schnitzler
TechPoint won't distribute its annual Mira awards until its banquet at the Indiana Roof Ballroom May 19. But the state's largest high-tech trade association has completed the nomination process for its top awards, pulling together a list of 49 innovative companies and educators in such categories as information technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing. About 750 people usually attend the Mira banquet. But the awards are meant to reverberate among a far wider population all year long as confirmation which...
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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Revised data shows state faring better than thoughtRestricted Content

March 20, 2006
Patrick Barkey
If you were watching this space to see what-if any-silver lining for Indiana could be found in the harsh blows about to fall on the high pay, full benefit, Big Three automaker production jobs I promised to talk about last week, I ask your forbearance. The Toyota Corp. has beaten me to the punch. The company's announcement that it plans to build its top-selling Camry in Lafayette says it better than any words I could come up with. The future...
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You can take it to the bank: Financial experts say state's economy is rising, merger mania isn't over and regulatory laws could take a tollRestricted Content

March 13, 2006
On Feb. 24, IBJ Publisher Chris Katterjohn, Managing Editor Greg Andrews and banking reporter Matt Kish sat down with four leaders from Indianapolis' banking and finance sector: Judith Ripley, director of the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions; Kit Stolen, CEO of Union Federal Bank of Indianapolis; Steve Beck, president and CEO of the Indiana Venture Center; and Keith Slifer, senior vice president of LaSalle Bank. Among the topics of conversation: How's the state's economy doing? Are more bank mergers on...
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BEHIND THE NEWS Auditor jabs Obsidian as it prepares to go private:Restricted Content

March 13, 2006
Greg Andrews
If all goes as planned, a Tim Durham-led investment group will take publicly traded Obsidian Enterprises Inc. private by the end of the month. The Indianapolis company's five-year run on Wall Street has been inglorious by any measure. Stock in the transportation and manufacturing firm has tumbled, from a split-adjusted $12 in 2001 to $1.80 today. Over the last three years, Obsidian has posted a combined $22 million in losses. As if that weren't enough, now the company's former outside...
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Emerging India: Indians explore prospects in Indiana: Delegation of 15 execs finds opportunities during tour of Indianapolis, Purdue tech parkRestricted Content

March 6, 2006
Peter Schnitzler
Indians explore prospects in Indiana Delegation of 15 execs finds opportunities during tour of Indianapolis, Purdue tech park J.V.V. Satyanarayana spent the last three years launching his Chennai, India-based software firm. But after only 24 hours in Indianapolis, he was ready to expand his operation. Satyanarayana was part of a delegation of 15 Indian executives who visited Indiana last week. His business, SVL Infotech, manages the IT end of medical billing. It has 100 employees and handles claims worth $100...
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Emerging India: Opportunity or threat?: Indiana businesses brace for growing global competitionRestricted Content

February 27, 2006
Peter Schnitzler
Opportunity or threat? Indiana businesses brace for growing global competition Next month, President Bush will make his first official visit to India. To most of the American media, it'll be just one more round of global terrorism discussions with a distant foreign nation, perhaps worthy of a brief. The Indian press knows better. Six weeks ahead of Bush's trip, banner headlines about it ran in every newspaper. Al Hubbard knows better, too. Friends with Bush since their days at Harvard...
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Roll the cameras: State cranks up efforts to court film industry under new task forceRestricted Content

February 13, 2006
Scott Olson
North Carolina offers a 15-percent tax credit to filmmakers to help offset production costs. The credit recently helped sway a national retailer to shoot an in-store commercial there instead of in Indiana. While the $600,000 production hardly compares to a multimillion-dollar motion picture, losing it was a big deal for local companies that didn't get the work. Holli Hanley of Grand Illusion Lighting Inc. in Zionsville, which rents lighting equipment to production companies, lamented the loss. "Everyone in the entire...
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VIEWPOINT: Our schools let talent go to wasteRestricted Content

January 30, 2006
Ginny Burney
We have two kinds of schools: those that encourage each child to be all he/she can be and those that focus on being efficient institutions for groups of children. The first kind of school finds ways to help each child who struggles, meets each child's educational needs, and finds ways to provide each child with the context to achieve as much as he/she can at the most appropriate pace. The second kind of school is focused on making sure as...
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Firm retools after CEO exit: Norwood gives up on sale, to close 2 plantsRestricted Content

January 30, 2006
Anthony Schoettle
In recent months, Norwood Promotional Products has settled a lawsuit with its distributors, lost its CEO, put itself up for sale, and then taken itself off the block. Last week, the 2,000-employee company announced plant closings in Iowa and Pennsylvania. The swirl of activity is no cause for concern, according to Norwood officials, who say the No. 2 player in the promotional products industry is doing fine and will stay in Indianapolis. The privately held company-known for making customized products...
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EYE ON THE PIE: Let's revisit the State of the StateRestricted Content

January 30, 2006
Morton Marcus
Quite appropriately, Gov. Mitch Daniels did not make any claims about "a revitalized Indiana economy" in his recent State of the State speech. He stuck to the theme that we are on track to turning the economy around rather than proclaiming any victory. This restraint was well-warranted. Indiana ranked 45th among the 50 states in its rate of employment growth for the past year (November-to-November figures). The nation added jobs at a 1.5-percent rate. Our 0.3-percent increase beat out only...
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Firm retools after CEO exit: Norwood gives up on sale, to close 2 plantsRestricted Content

January 23, 2006
Anthony Schoettle
In recent months, Norwood Promotional Products has settled a lawsuit with its distributors, lost its CEO, put itself up for sale, and then taken itself off the block. Last week, the 2,000-employee company announced plant closings in Iowa and Pennsylvania. The swirl of activity is no cause for concern, according to Norwood officials, who say the No. 2 player in the promotional products industry is doing fine and will stay in Indianapolis. The privately held company-known for making customized products...
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EYE ON THE PIE: Let's revisit the State of the StateRestricted Content

January 23, 2006
Morton Marcus
Quite appropriately, Gov. Mitch Daniels did not make any claims about "a revitalized Indiana economy" in his recent State of the State speech. He stuck to the theme that we are on track to turning the economy around rather than proclaiming any victory. This restraint was well-warranted. Indiana ranked 45th among the 50 states in its rate of employment growth for the past year (November-to-November figures). The nation added jobs at a 1.5-percent rate. Our 0.3-percent increase beat out only...
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VIEWPOINT: Our schools let talent go to wasteRestricted Content

January 23, 2006
Ginny Burney
We have two kinds of schools: those that encourage each child to be all he/she can be and those that focus on being efficient institutions for groups of children. The first kind of school finds ways to help each child who struggles, meets each child's educational needs, and finds ways to provide each child with the context to achieve as much as he/she can at the most appropriate pace. The second kind of school is focused on making sure as...
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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: The new economic reality: It's all about the work forceRestricted Content

January 16, 2006
Patrick Barkey
Since these words usually find their way out onto the Internet, I thought I'd work in the following phrase to get the hit counters for the new year off to a good start: Evolution vs. intelligent design. Ah, that should do it. I can hear the sounds of computer mouse clicks already. And, believe it or not, there's an economic angle to that debate. Not literally, of course. Economics is pretty important, but I will concede that the creation of...
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From FFA to DNA: Businesses view convention as more than a gathering of corn growersRestricted Content

January 16, 2006
Matthew Kish
Don't call it the Future Farmers of America. That went out of style with pastel suits and parachute pants. The organization is now known as the FFA. And it's no longer just a gathering of crop jockeys. The change in moniker partly illustrates why business leaders are so excited for the first of at least seven annual conventions the organization will stage in the Circle City starting in late October. "FFA is a premier, if not the premier, youth organization...
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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: We want to spur economy, but what's the best way?Restricted Content

January 9, 2006
Patrick Barkey
If you want to get an idea just how hot the topic of economic development is in Indiana these days, take a stroll over to the Department of Insurance's Web page. Instead of finding notices of regulatory proceedings or a lineby-line listing of the insurance code, you'll get a spirited, enthusiastic rundown of all of the reasons Indiana is a great state in which to locate your insurance company. If you happen to own one, that is. That's a little...
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Education, work force key hurdles to new economy:Restricted Content

January 2, 2006
Mark Miles
Having recently returned to Indiana after a 15-year absence, I see a region filled with both challenges and opportunities. The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, the organization I've returned to serve as president and CEO, is focused on long-term economic prosperity for our region. To this end, our people are our most valuable resource. Unfortunately, central Indiana faces a significant challenge in making our human capital match our goal of a knowledgebased, 21st-century economy. Indiana ranks 46th in the educational attainment...
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Drug costs on chopping block: M-Plan introduces pill-splitting programRestricted Content

January 2, 2006
Tom Murphy
Indiana's second-largest insurer, M-Plan Inc., welcomed some of its customers to the new year with a pill-splitting program that can chop prescription drug costs in half. The Indianapolis-based health maintenance organization became part of a growing crowd of insurers endorsing a money-saving concept long practiced by doctors and patients. However, pill splitting still stirs a healthy dose of concern over safety in some corners of the pharmaceutical world. "I've had arguments with insurance companies about this for years," said Skip...
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In the new year, building on the successes of 2005:Restricted Content

January 2, 2006
Bart Peterson
This past year was one of the most active and successful in our city's history. We pushed through legislation to fund an expansion of the Indiana Convention Center and build a new multi-purpose stadium, both of which will be tremendous boons to our region's economy, pumping in more than $2.25 billion in investment and creating more than 4,200 permanent jobs over the next 10 years. In addition, through the leadership of the governor and legislature, a one-of-a-kind regional funding solution...
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2006: Making Indianapolis a family affair:Restricted Content

January 2, 2006
Isaac Randolph
What's the most pressing issue facing Indianapolis now and in the future? Depending on a pundit's passion, answers can range from maintaining a professional sports team to supporting the cultural and arts community, from improving the quality of public schools and parks to making affordable housing available, from low taxes to a state-of-the art public mass transit system. Yet each of these areas, while they may reflect an interest group's unwavering and at times irrational fixation, taken at face value...
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VIEWPOINT: Indiana: The Cyber Crossroads of America?Restricted Content

December 26, 2005
Cameron Carter
Can a state whose identity as the "Crossroads of America" in the 20th century maintain that distinction in the 21st century? Can Indiana, with numerous railroads and highways passing through it, find a competitive advantage in a world that increasingly bypasses rails and roads in favor of the virtual marketplace? Absolutely-if it is willing once again to serve as a central hub for the thoroughfares so important to the virtual marketplace and purposefully sets out to build them. Not so...
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A game competitor: Sales surge for maker of Gnip Gnop, What's in Ned's Head?

December 19, 2005
Anthony Schoettle
The atmosphere is lighthearted at the westside headquarters of Fundex Games Inc., where ideas sketched on cocktail napkins become award-winning games like What's in Ned's Head? and Alfredo's Food Fight. And why not be happy at a company whose more tasteful games, such as Gnip Gnop and Phase 10, have helped grow revenue from $4.6 million to $20 million in the last decade? If there's any nail-biting at Fundex it's because this is the most important time of the year....
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EYE ON THE PIE: Security depends on flexibility, not stabilityRestricted Content

December 12, 2005
Morton Marcus
In one word, what do we want? I suggest that word is security, physical and financial security. We want to live without fear for our lives or our livelihoods. The atrocities of 9/11 made Americans more fearful about their physical security than they had been since the early days of World War II. Our economic condition feels insecure as jobs drift to other nations, as health care costs soar, and as both public and private pension plans are threatened. To...
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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Economy is doing great, but what about next year?Restricted Content

December 12, 2005
Patrick Barkey
Here's a question the visually oriented news media face all the time-what does a strong economy look like? Belching smokestacks and humming assembly lines are the clichés of yesteryear, now that we've entered an era when knowledge and services account for more output than do physical goods. But somehow the picture of an office worker tapping on a keyboard or a group of executives huddled around a conference table doesn't quite convey the vitality and power of the world's largest...
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