IBJ Staff

Indianapolis-based Angie’s List has received $9 million from current shareholders and bond financing that it will use to expand into 25 U.S. cities this year and Europe in 2008. Angie’s List already provides a listing of consumer opinions about businesses in 124 cities. The company said it planned to expand internationally this year, but has […]

IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz and Purdue University Provost Sally Mason are two of the four finalists vying to become president of the University of Iowa. Bantz, who has led the Indianapolis campus since 2003, will interview today and Friday, the University of Iowa said in a release. Mason, who has been provost at Purdue since […]

A Fishers couple has bought the franchise rights to open boxing-themed men-only hair salons in Indiana. The Texas-based franchise chain, called Knockouts Haircuts for Men, provides haircuts, message therapy, manicures and hair waxing by female stylists wearing boxing uniforms. The couple, Alan and Marena Boyton, are expected to open their first stores late this year. […]

Jeffersonville-based American Commercial Lines Inc. has lowered its earnings projection for the year to $1.45 to $1.65 a share, from the $1.75 to $1.95 it projected earlier in the year. The company reduced its projection on continued weakness in the spot grain markets and lower-than-expected productivity in the manufacturing industry. The marine transportation company also […]

Focus Group Inc. of Valparaiso plans to build a hotel and water park adjacent to the Cabela’s outdoor-goods store slated for the southeast corner of Interstate 65 and County Line Road. Nebraska-based Cabela’s this afternoon confirmed that it plans to build a 125,000-square-foot store at that location. Cabela’s has a deal to buy 104 acres […]

Most of an entire housing development going up just west of Muncie will be auctioned at a Delaware County sheriff’s sale, and the developer says a weak housing market is to blame, according to The Star Press. M&M Construction of Muncie, the developer of Laurel Meadows, said 38 undeveloped lots will be auctioned; 15 homes […]

The town of Schererville has approved the rezoning of 30 acres for commercial use, setting the stage for a proposed 350,000-square-foot lifestyle shopping center that would create about 2,800 jobs, reports the Times of Northwest Indiana. The developers of the Lake County outdoor mall are Jacksonville-based Regency Centers Corp. and Billings, Mont.-based Boyer Properties LLC. […]

As Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels prepares for a likely second run for office, two prominent historians say he already has accomplished enough to go down in history as a change agent who raised controversy by ramrodding through an agenda that included passage of daylight-saving time and the $3.85 billion lease of the Indiana Toll Road. […]

Attendance at Conner Prairie’s first two events of the summer has shot up, boding well for total attendance numbers in 2007-the museum’s second year of independence from Earlham College. More than 8,000 guests showed up for Civil War Days, a two-day reenactment event, in late May, a 166-percent increase over the previous year, when rainy […]

The Metropolitan Plan Commission in Muncie last night unanimously approved rezoning 35 acres for a life science facility that would cost $70 million and create up to 170 jobs. However, the identity of the company or organization planning the project wasn’t made public, according to The Star-Press of Muncie. Speculation is circulating in the city […]

Chuck Schalliol, the state’s first budget director, will join Baker & Daniels next month, the Indianapolis law firm said today. The former Eli Lilly and Co. executive and BioCrossroads president, who is trained as a lawyer, will focus on life sciences, venture capital and corporate finance.

A group of private equity firms has upped its offer to buy Biomet Inc. after a Maryland shareholder advisory firm urged shareholders to reject the original bid of $10.9 billion. Biomet said today it accepted the $11.4 billion offer from LVB Acquisition LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co., Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Texas Pacific Group. The […]

Minor injuries sustained by Poindexter Excavating Inc. employees on Friday resulted in the Indianapolis company stopping site work at the Honda Motor Co. assembly plant at Greensburg until Tuesday. A piece of equipment hit a truck, although the exact cause couldn’t be determined, according to the Greensburg Daily News. Work has resumed on the $550 […]

First-quarter sales at stores open at least a year fell 3.9 percent for Finish Line, the Indianapolis shoe and clothing retailer reported today. However, its Man Alive stores saw a 0.6-percent increase. Finish Line said it anticipates reporting a loss of 9 to 11 cents per share when it reports on June 28 financial results […]

Commissioners in Shelby County have voted unanimously to not pay $1,431 in matching funds to Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization. One commissioner, Tony Newton, told the Shelbyville News that Marion and Hamilton counties “created their own problems up there, and they are trying to get other counties to bail them out.” The organization, which is studying […]

Verus Partners LLC of Rosemont, Ill., has filed a request to ask the Hancock County Area Plan Commission to rezone 228 acres near Mount Comfort Airport to light industrial from institutional. The Chicago-area commercial real estate development company said the property no longer fits into the airport’s long-term plans, and that it wants to launch […]

The warring partners in the $382 million French Lick Resort and Casino are parting ways. Locally based Lauth Property Group has agreed to sell its 50-percent interest in the venture to an affiliate of Bloomington billionaire Bill Cook, the companies announced Wednesday night. The deal would give Cook affiliates full ownership of French Lick Resort […]

First Indiana Corp., the parent of First Indiana Bank, has fired KPMG LLP as its external auditor and hired BKD LLP, the bank said today. There was no disagreement with KPMG that would have resulted in a reference in financial statements for either 2005 or 2006, the bank said in a statement. Spokeswoman Beth Copeland […]