Indianapolis shoe and clothing retailer Finish Line Inc. reported today that it took a charge of $6.7 million to $7.8 million in its fourth quarter ended March 3 for impairments to assets on 17 to 19 underperforming stores. The company also said overall sales rose 7.5 percent, to $429 million, partly due to strength from […]
Cummins Inc. announced a two-for-one stock split today to make the shares more attractive to investors. Shares in the Columbus diesel engine maker are trading at $135.60, and will be worth half their value when the split goes into effect March 26. Cummins also said it is holding to guidance issued Jan. 29 of $11 […]
An old question has cropped up for shopkeepers in touristy Nashville, namely whether they should keep doors open past the common closing times of 5 to 6 p.m. Some in the Brown County community say customers wouldn’t come, while others maintain that they would, according to the Brown County Democrat. Chamber of Commerce Director Paul […]
Hancock County residents wanting to stop the proposed Indiana Commerce Connector have formed Hancock Coalition for Rural Preservation, according to The Daily Reporter of Greenfield. In February, a similar organization started in adjoining Shelby County after backers in the county southeast of Indianapolis formed their own group. After clearing the Senate, the House is considering […]
Economic development officials are expected to announce tomorrow morning a $2.15-million package of incentives for fast-growing e-mail marketing software-maker ExactTarget, which plans to add about 100 jobs. Formed in 2000, ExactTarget ranked 56th on Inc. magazine’s 2006 list of the 500 fastest-growing U.S. firms. Sources say the company, which already employs 160, will expand […]
Much of the Midwest, including the northern two-thirds of Indiana, expanded modestly in January and early February, according to the Federal Reserve Bank’s Beige Book report on the economy. The pace of economic expansion in the Chicago Fed district was similar to activity in late 2006, with hiring as well as consumer and business spending […]
A contract Rolls-Royce Corp. has landed to supply helicopter engines to Robinson Helicopter Co. of Torrance, Calif., isn’t likely to create jobs at Rolls-Royce’s facility in Indianapolis. But the deal to supply several hundred gas turbine engines in coming years likely saved at least some positions, said Rolls-Royce spokesman George McLaren. Rolls-Royce views the contract […]
Honda Motor Co. has been deluged with 5,000 applications for 18 positions at the plant the Japanese automaker is building at Greensburg, according to the Greensburg Daily News. Most of the 2,000 positions will be filled as the fall 2008 opening nears. Honda has received so many applications that it has withdrawn all but 14 […]
Home Federal Bank in Columbus has temporarily stopped financing a hotel that an arm of Fishers-based Dora Bros. Hospitality Corp. is building in the southern Indiana city. The bank pulled back March 2 after Sears, Roebuck & Co. asked that a federal court give fast-track status to a lawsuit it filed Nov. 22, according […]
Workers at Modern Die Systems in Elwood are asking owners Robert Davis and Dan Neuendorf to lower their wages to help the company recover from losses of at least $555,079 that allegedly was embezzled since 2000 by ex-employee Melissa Hazelwood. Investigators are still determining the total amount the Jonesboro woman is accused of taking from […]
The fire at Knauf Insulation in Shelbyville cost the fire department $62,000 and the police department $5,000, according to The Shelbyville News. Fire costs included wages and damage to hoses and other equipment. Police were paid extra to guard the site. The Feb. 16 fire, which could be seen for miles, caused little disruption in […]
Ag One Co-op of Anderson and Harvest Land Co-op of Richmond will merge Sept. 1 to gain economies of scale at a time agricultural suppliers and farmers themselves are consolidating. The new entity, to be based in Richmond, will have a combined 7,300 farmer members and $200 million in sales, according to The Herald Bulletin […]
Conseco Inc. this morning reported a $3.7 million loss and a 3 percent decline in sales in the fourth quarter. The loss contrasted with a $67.6 million profit and about $89.8 million in sales a year earlier. The Carmel-based insurer warned in late February that profits might be wiped out by having to spend heavily […]
Manufacturers that survive in the future will replace workers with technology, meaning the long-term trend toward fewer workers is likely to continue, according to John Stafford, who directs the Community Research Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Despite ongoing factory closings and layoffs, most manufacturing job loss is driven by technological advancements, Stafford told […]
Layoffs and factory closings make plenty of headlines, but Midwestern states are quietly making admirable progress in exporting more manufactured products, according to Bill Testa, chief economist of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Manufacturing exports likely increased 11 percent last year, Testa said in a new blog posting. That would be the third consecutive […]
A Greenfield distribution center operated by M&M Restaurant Supply will close by Memorial Day as the work is spread to other M&M warehouses, according to the Daily Reporter of Greenfield. The facility employs 83 serving Indiana and Kentucky McDonald’s restaurants. M&M is owned by privately held Keystone Foods LLC, headquartered in the Philadelphia suburb of […]
Emmis Communications Inc. announced yesterday that it made the first in a series of small investments in new technology by buying a “significant” stake in a Vancouver, Canada, developer of online interaction for sports and entertainment. Exponentia Communications Corp. also develops applications for sports and entertainment, and recently signed National Hockey League rights to connect […]
Chris Hamm will leave his post as director of economic development for the city of Noblesville to start a consulting firm called NorthStar LLC. Hamm, whose last day is March 14, has worked for the city 11 years.
Chances could be as high as one-in-three that federal transportation officials will put on a fast track a request by Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio to add special truck lanes along Interstate 70. This summer, the U.S. Department of Transportation plans to pick as many as five projects for its Corridors of the Future program. […]
A proposed study that would look at adding special lanes for trucks on Interstate 70 has cleared its first hurdle at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and now is competing with 13 other projects for a final nod from the federal government. Indiana along with Illinois, Missouri and Ohio applied to the federal Corridor of […]
