Articles

Indianapolis firm to roll out lithium car battery

Indianapolis-based EnerDel Inc. this morning plans to unveil at a news conference a “cool running” lithium-ion battery pack it has developed specifically for the U.S. hybrid electric vehicle market. EnerDel CEO Charles Gassenheimer said the company could grow to $450 million in annual revenue by producing 300,000 of the battery packs a year. Automakers have […]

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Expect economic malaise, IU forecaster says

A group of Indiana University economists who forecast the state’s economy say they’ve become more pessimistic than they were in August, when they issued their most recent quarterly forecast. Woes in the nation’s housing market will cut growth and incomes the rest of this year and possibly into 2008, said one of the economists, Bill […]

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Plainfield apartments sell for $29.5M

Indianapolis-based Flaherty & Collins said it has sold its Central Park Metropolis apartment complex in Plainfield to the Chicago investment group Becovic for $29.5 million. The property has 264 units, bringing the price to $111,000 per unit.

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UAW might strike Chrysler on Wednesday

The United Auto Workers has set Wednesday as the deadline to reach an agreement with Chrysler on a new four-year contract, reports The New York Times, citing people with direct knowledge of the negotiations. The sides were reported to be in talks over the weekend. Discussion is expected to continue today. Chrysler employs about 6,400 […]

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West Lafayette to get $60M mixed-use project

Atlanta-based Collegiate Ventures LLC plans to build a $60 million mixed-used project on 6.4 acres in West Lafayette. The project would include 80 to 100 hotel rooms, 115 condos, and retail and office space. Construction of Champion’s Centre could begin in the spring and take up to 16 months to complete. The project will be […]

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GM workers in Fort Wayne barely ratify pact

Only 50.7 percent of union workers at General Motors Corp.’s Fort Wayne pickup truck assembly plant ratified the tentative United Auto Workers contract, according to The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne. Approximately 90 percent of eligible workers voted on the national contract. The plant has roughly 3,000 workers; 2,860 are hourly. The contract appears to […]

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Johnson County councilman sells golf course

Ron West, a member of the Johnson County Council, has sold Royal Oak Golf Course in Greenwood to locally based Divine Investment Group for an undisclosed price, according to Leading Edge Commercial Real Estate Services, the brokerage firm representing both parties. The 350-member club, at 2080 S. State Road 135, was owned by R.H. West […]

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UPS Freight workers ratify initial contract

By a vote of 107-1, workers at UPS Freight in Indianapolis have ratified their first contract with the trucking unit. The deal, which calls for higher wages, more benefits and improved working conditions, was reached Sept. 30. Local 135 represents 125 dockworkers and drivers. The Teamsters intend to use the agreement as a pattern to […]

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Court green-lights liquidation of Benicorp

Indiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Atterholt can begin liquidating the assets of Indianapolis-based Benicorp Insurance Co. after winning approval today from Marion County Circuit Court Judge Theodore Sosin. Sosin put Benicorp into receivership two months ago. Atterholt and his staff at the Indiana Department of Insurance took over Benicorp’s business as the company was three months […]

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Central Library grand opening set for Dec. 9

Central Library downtown will reopen in a ceremony Dec. 9. The glass-and-steel expansion was to have opened two years ago, and is $50 million over budget due to faults discovered in concrete in the parking garage. Two lawsuits over the construction are pending. The project will house more than 700,000 books and audio-visual materials.

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Butler snags $10M from foundation, alum

Butler University‘s $125 million fundraising campaign has received $5.3 million from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation and $5 million from 1975 graduate Frank Levinson, the university said today. The donation from Indianapolis-based Fairbanks is earmarked for science. Levinson, a technology entrepreneur, asked only that the university use his money to set the university apart from […]

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Alcoa puts four Indiana sites up for sale

New York-based Alcoa Inc. said today it has resumed its attempt to sell its packaging and consumer unit, which includes the headquarters in Indianapolis and three plants in Crawfordsville. The Indianapolis operation on the northwest side in Park 100 includes a plastic bottle cap plant. Alcoa also said it is nearing a definitive agreement to […]

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Emmis profit plummets on weak radio sales

Continued weak sales in its radio segment caused profit from continuing operations in Emmis Communications Corp.’s second fiscal quarter to plunge to 3 cents per share from 6 cents per share a year earlier, the Indianapolis media company reported today. Revenue in the quarter ended Aug. 31 also slumped, to $96.4 million from $99.9 million, […]

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Gold dealers seeing rush of new business

News of gold prices soaring above $700 an ounce is prompting people in the Indianapolis area to sell rings, necklaces and other jewelry, gold dealers say. Business has doubled in the past few weeks for Matt Dinger, who owns Lost Dutchman Rare Coins near Fort Benjamin Harrison. Part of the business surge is resulting from […]

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Councilman Gray ordered to pay $43,514

A Marion County Superior Court judge has ordered a company owned by City-County Council President Monroe Gray to pay $43,514 in unpaid bills. The judgment resulted from a suit filed against Mid Regional Concrete Inc. by Charlotte, N.C.-based Sunbelt Rentals, formerly NationsRent Inc. Gray could not be reached for comment. The decision is the latest […]

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Columbus plant to gain work from Ohio site

PMG Indiana Corp. will create 73 jobs at its plant in Columbus as a result of closing a plant it operates in Dayton, Ohio. The Columbus site employs 250 and turns out parts made from metal powder for domestic and foreign carmakers. PMG is owned by Plansee Mitsubishi Materials, which is based in Luxembourg. PMG […]

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Office vacancy inches up

Downtown Indianapolis had a 15.5-percent vacancy rate for multi-tenant office buildings at the end of the third quarter, down 0.2 percent from the prior quarter, according to Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. Government and medical buildings are excluded from the data. The vacancy rate for suburban office space was 18 percent for the quarter, up 0.5 […]

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Kissingers receive $400,000 severance

Bioanalytical Systems Inc. disclosed yesterday that it is taking a $400,000 charge due to the settlement agreement reached with founder Peter Kissinger and his wife, Candice. Peter Kissinger early last month stepped down as chairman and chief scientific officer of the West Lafayette contract research company. A year earlier he resigned as CEO. He remains […]

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Natural foods company to create 1,000 jobs

A New York company specializing in natural and organic foods will build a national production and distribution site in Cambridge City in east-central Indiana. Really Cool Foods will spend $100 million to build the location and hire 1,000 permanent employees over the scope of the project, according to the Indiana Economic Development Corp. The location […]

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Bridgestone unit signs big lease in Plainfield

Carmel-based BFS Diversified Products LLC has agreed to lease 226,000 square feet in a new building at Plainfield Business Center at Airwest. BFS is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holdings Inc. that manufactures building and roofing products, along with other items. The company will move into a building developed by Rosemont, Ill.-based Opus North Corp, […]

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