JANUARY 25-31, 2016

Score one for Indianapolis tourism officials, who just secured a long-term contract for the city to host the NFL Scouting Combine as a major competitor entered the fray. Anthony Schoettle has the details of the deal. Also in this week’s issue, Lindsey Erdody reports on the Pittman family dispute that could delay progress on multiple mixed-use real estate projects in Hamilton and Boone counties. And in Focus, Jared Council goes behind the scenes of four major venture capital deals.

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Indy fends off rivals, signs multiyear NFL Combine pact

January 21, 2016 |

Indianapolis has hit pay dirt with a multiyear deal intended to keep the lucrative NFL Scouting Combine here through 2020, just as competition to host the high-profile event intensifies.

Pittman family estate dispute entangles real-estate projects

January 21, 2016 |

A family dispute over the estate of a well-known heart surgeon and developer in Carmel could delay progress on multiple mixed-use real estate projects in Hamilton and Boone counties.

Key lawmaker wants state to buy GM site for green space

January 21, 2016 |

Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, wants the state to buy the 102-acre General Motors stamping plant site on the western edge of downtown and turn it into an expansion of White River State Park.

Lawsuits deluge operator of towing business

January 21, 2016 | John Russell

Brian Fenner, owner of Sperro Towing and Recovery and a former repo man, has been sued at least 14 times since October 2014 in Marion and Hendricks county courts, with lenders demanding he give back dozens of cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Assertive analyst takes Klipsch owner to woodshed

January 21, 2016 |

The stock market value for Voxx today is just $118 million—far less than it paid just for Klipsch, one of a long list of acquisitions it made dating back a decade.

Indiana House Republicans consider tolls on existing highways

January 21, 2016 |

There’s no question that tolling one of Indiana’s interstates could generate serious cash to help maintain the state’s roads. But are taxpayers willing to pay a few bucks to travel highways that now are free?

Angie’s List hires ad firm that created Progressive’s Flo

January 21, 2016 |

Angie’s List Inc. is rejiggering its marketing strategy, a move that includes hiring a new branding agency to help get the home-services giant growing rapidly again.

INSIDE THE STATEHOUSE: Broad support not enough to save work-share bill

January 21, 2016 |

Big business and labor both support legislation that would let companies cut workers’ hours during downturns but let the employees collect partial unemployment. But Gov. Mike Pence’s administration says it would be expensive to implement and so the bill will die.

Eiteljorg museum makes layoffs as attendance, revenue fall

January 19, 2016 |

The dismissal of five full-time workers marks the first layoffs for the downtown museum since 2009. But the Eiteljorg is preparing to launch a 5-year campaign to boost its $20 million endowment, a move that could stabilize operating revenue for future years.

Lids co-founder leaving as part of sale of sports-uniform division

January 20, 2016 |

Scott Molander, who launched the chain as Hat World with a single store in Tippecanoe Mall in Lafayette in 1995, is joining the Tennessee-based company that's buying Lids' sports-uniform business.

Executives, networking helped make 2015 a watershed year for VC funding

January 21, 2016 |

Many startups, here and elsewhere, secure venture capital funding by touting their market traction, revenue growth and other statistics, all in an effort to prove to investors that they’re good bets. However, a look behind the scenes of High Alpha and three other big venture deals last year suggests that, oftentimes, landing capital has more to do with relationships and luck than with metrics.

Fund aims to ‘elevate’ tech commercialization statewide

January 21, 2016 |

With a new leader at the helm, Elevate Ventures has plotted a course for 2016 that includes forging more partnerships with universities and communities to help entrepreneurs commercialize intellectual property.

MORRIS: As milestones approach, the best is yet to come

January 21, 2016 |

A big birthday and a couple of significant anniversaries are cause for reflection, anticipation.

WILLIAMS: Lessons learned from our friend Denver Hutt

January 21, 2016 |

Hutt was the change we wanted to see, and there is plenty of wisdom that can be drawn from her work helping build Indianapolis’ innovation community.

KENNEDY: Religious liberty—one more time

January 21, 2016 |

The U.S. Constitution protects citizens’ right to believe anything. It does not, however, protect an untrammeled right to act on the basis of religious doctrine.

SKARBECK: As gloom-and-doomers fret, the wise go bargain hunting

January 21, 2016 |

The S&P 500 has fallen 10 percent in the first 11 trading days of 2016. It’s as if someone flipped the sell switch on Jan. 4 and left it on. Predictably, the gloom-and-doomers are out in force.

BOHANON & STYRING: Ethanol has lost its glow, but subsidies live on

January 21, 2016 |

Ethanol, the wonder fuel, has turned out to be a wonder flop. But corn ethanol has powerful interests protecting the subsidy, such as corn farmers and ethanol companies. Those who bear the costs of the ethanol subsidy are the widely dispersed and disorganized members of the general public.

Indianapolis Business Journal