IBJ Staff

Purdue University trustees voted unanimously to choose France Cordova as the next president, the university announced this afternoon. Cordova, chancellor of the University of California Riverside, will replace Martin Jischke after he retires June 30. Today’s decision ends a seven-month search. In a statement, Chairman Tim McGinley said Cordova’s resume was “truly out of this […]

Hours before this afternoon’s anticipated announcement that she will be named Purdue University president, France Cordova toured the West Lafayette campus this morning meeting faculty and students, according to the Journal & Courier of Lafayette. Neither Cordova nor Purdue trustees would confirm her appointment prior to the trustees’ 2 p.m. meeting, where they are expected […]

Indianapolis-based IT disaster recovery firm n/Frame said today that profit rose 21 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier. Actual dollar figures for profit or revenue were not disclosed. But n/Frame Chief Operating Officer Robert J. Alcorn said his firm expects to exceed the 21-percent growth rate in 2007. n/Frame […]

 Indiana exporters have more good times to look forward to if the value of the dollar continues to decline. The dollar is at $1.368 against the Euro-a record low, according to Bloomberg. And at least two economists-Jay Bryson of Wachovia Corp. and Kenneth Rogoff, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist-say it’s likely to shrink […]

WellPoint Inc. CEO Larry C. Glasscock plans to sell about $13.5 million in stock holdings over the next 10 months, the company announced late Friday. The plan to diversify his holdings comes less than a month before Glasscock will resign his CEO post and hand the reins of the Indianapolis-based health insurer to Angela F. Braly. […]

Darden Restaurants is closing seven restaurants in Indiana-including the Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill locations in downtown Indianapolis, Avon and Bloomington, plus the recently opened Rocky River Grillhouse in Castleton. Other Indiana restaurants slated for closing are in Mishawaka, Merrillville and Evansville, the Orlando, Fla., company said Saturday. The company is closing 54 Smokey Bones […]

Toyota Industries Corp., a Japanese forklift manufacturer, has started a new unit, Indiana Hydraulic Equipment Corp., to make hydraulic valves and will build its first plant in Franklin. The $12 million, 58,000-square-foot facility will open in June 2008 and ramp up to employ 35, Toyota Industries announced today. The new unit will be advised by […]

Layoffs widely expected in Fort Wayne after Lincoln National Corp. bought Jefferson-Pilot Corp. of Greensboro, N.C., a year ago for $7.5 billion haven’t materialized. Instead, Lincoln National has added 150 workers to the 1,500 who remained in Fort Wayne after the financial services company moved its headquarters to Philadelphia in 1999. Forty more positions remain […]

Marsh Supermarkets Inc.’s owner is breaking off the Village Pantry subsidiary to create a separate business unit.   Both businesses will continue to be owned by Florida-based Sun Capital Partners.   The Village Pantry convenience store chain had long been a subsidiary of Marsh. Marsh operates 105 groceries, while Village Pantry runs 148 convenience stores. […]

Eli Lilly and Co. said today it has hired Alex M. Azar II as senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications. Azar comes to Lilly from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he was a deputy overseeing the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the National […]

German luxury carmaker BMW is struggling to convert its successes in recent years into long-term gains that leave Mercedes, Lexus, Audi and other rivals in the dust, according to a Bloomberg report. BMW overtook Mercedes in May 2005 as the largest luxury car maker in the world as sales of its Mini Cooper gained traction […]

Bank of America has asked a New York court to stop Dutch bank ABN Amro Holding NV from selling LaSalle Bank to other buyers, according to Bloomberg. ABN Amro announced April 23 that it had sold Chicago-based LaSalle to Bank of America for $21 million. The same day, ABN Amro also said it had agreed […]

Four Honda workers and their families have committed to buying homes in Shelby County in the past two weeks, and dozens more have visited, according to the Shelby County Development Corp. The economic development group attributes their interest to the advertising campaign and Web site it launched in early April. That campaign ran advertisements in […]

In a first for Indiana, Italian motorcycle maker Ducati plans to open a new dealership in Zionsville. The 5,800-square-foot Ducati of Indianapolis dealership is slated to open this spring near 106th Street and Michigan Road, across from SuperTarget, Kohl’s and Home Depot. NAI Olympia Partners Principal Mark R. Figg represented Carr Moto LLC in the purchase […]

The Indianapolis Airport Authority is ending its contract with airport manager BAA Limited in December—one year earlier than the agreement was set to expire, the authority announced today. The British company had notified the authority that, based on current corporate strategy, it would not pursue a new or extended contract at the end of the […]

Warsaw-based prosthetics maker Zimmer Holdings Inc. this afternoon is scheduled to announce an expansion that will result in adding 100 to 200 jobs in the company’s production and distribution areas, according to Joy McCarthy-Sessing, president of Kosciusko Development Inc. Approximately 2,300 of Zimmer’s global work force of 4,700 is in the northern Indiana city. Governor Mitch […]

Columbus-based Cummins Inc. is closing a 4-year-old facility in Waynesboro, Ga., that makes exhaust systems and other components for small engines like those in lawn and garden equipment. Cummins said three years of losses in the segment is forcing the closure of Cummins Filtration. About 250 workers will lose jobs.

An Illinois law set to go into effect Jan. 1 bans smoking in casinos and other work places, and that has Illinois Gaming Association Executive Director Tom Swoik predicting revenue at Illinois casinos will fall 20 percent. Casino’s usually suffer when states implement smoking bans, according to The Times of Munster. However, casinos in northwest […]

The document imaging and data conversion company Prescient Information Systems Inc. has bought a long-time partner, enChord LLC, for an undisclosed price. The combined company will be better able to deliver and manage network-based services as well as telephony, the transmission of digitized sound. Both operate on the northwest side.