Northwest Indiana’s economy is performing well because its dominant steel industry is lean and efficient, and its riverboat casinos continue to attract revenue, according to Jack Ablin, executive vice president and chief investment officer of Chicago-based Harris Bank. Speaking at a luncheon this week, Ablin said steel will continue to prosper in global markets unless […]
Roche Diagnostics operating income plummeted 21 percent last year, to $1.1 billion, as expiring patents crimped royalties and costs to launch new products increased, its Swiss parent, Roche Holding AG, reported today. The Indianapolis-based division, which is a leader in blood-sugar test kits, limited the parent company’s overall increase in profit to 33 percent, or […]
Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Broadcasting Inc., the not-for-profit that operates WFYI public television and radio stations, is seeking a zoning variance to build a 150-foot microwave transmission tower at the former headquarters of Indiana Energy Inc., 1630 N. Meridian St. The MIPB board voted late last year to authorize buying the building, which is listed by […]
Greg Wathen has been named CEO of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwestern Indiana. The Tell City resident is the long-time executive director of Perry County Development Corp., an organization that markets the county bordering the Ohio River east of Evansville. The Southwester not-for-profit, created in June 2006, will market Gibson, Posey, Vanderburgh and Warrick counties to companies […]
The unincorporated Boone County town of Fayette received unanimous approval from county commissioners Monday night to officially become a town. Because Fayette is within two miles of Marion County, final approval of the incorporation awaits a vote by the Marion County’s City-County Council. City-County Council members were not immediately available to discuss a timetable for […]
The $15 million contribution to Crown Hill Cemetery’s perpetual care fund by Gibraltar Remembrance Services LLC stabilizes the cemetery’s future, said cemetery President Keith Norwalk. The contribution means long-term maintenance of the 550-acre cemetery is adequately funded, Norwalk said. “We are tremendously enriched,” he said. “Our fund has a very promising future.” […]
Hillenbrand Industries Inc. posted $51.9 million in profit in its first fiscal quarter, up 7 percent from a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose slightly to $483.2 million. The Batesville company said it is still considering separating the company’s health-care and funeral services business into two companies. Its largest shareholder, Franklin […]
Sidney Taurel, CEO of Eli Lilly and Co., earned $15.2 million in salary, stock and other compensation in 2006, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. On top of a base salary of $1.6 million, Taurel received a bonus of $2.8 million and $9.2 million in stock awards and options. Other compensation included $91,069 […]
Simon Property Group might have to work harder to buy Mills Corp., say analysts quoted by The Toronto Star. Indianapolis-based Simon, the world’s largest shopping mall owner, joined with Mills shareholder Farallon Capital Management yesterday to offer an unsolicited bid of $1.56 billion for the Chevy Chase, Md., mall developer. That was $210 million more […]
Daimler-Chrysler AG will eliminate 10,000 blue-collar jobs as part of a sweeping restructuring that will shrink Chrysler and integrate it more closely with its German parent, the Detroit News reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plan. Project X” aims to reverse losses that mounted to $1.2 billion for Chrysler last year. However, it is […]
Workers at Beta Steel Corp., a minimill in Portage, are upset about a new policy that forbids sticking decals to hardhats, according to The Times of Munster. Beta Steel thinks the blue hardhats promote a team image and doesn’t want them plastered with stickers. But International Longshoremen’s Association Local 2038, which represents about 325 workers, […]
Five hospitals in northeast Indiana have been bought by private equity arms of the Wall Street firms Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase for $6.4 billion, the seller, Dallas-based Triad Hospitals Inc., said Monday. The hospitals are part of Triad’s Lutheran Health Network. They include Lutheran Hospital of Indiana, St. Joseph Hospital and Dupont Hospital […]
Central Indiana residents set a television viewing record Sunday night by tuning TVs in droves to watch the Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl. An average of 79.4 percent of televisions that were turned on during the game period were tuned in to the event, according to the CBS affiliate […]
The $1.56 billion takeover offer that Simon Property Group unveiled this morning for mall owner Mills Corp. was long overdue, said a RBC Capital Markets analyst. Rich Moore, who follows the Indianapolis-based shopping mall owner for the Columbus, Ohio, company, told Bloomberg he was baffled why Simon hadn’t pounced earlier on Mills’ 38 regional shopping […]
Kite Realty Group Trust said today it will develop 26 acres owned by the University of Notre Dame. The mixed-use, 500,000-square-foot project south of the football stadium will include retail, hotel, office and condominiums, townhouses and apartments, the Indianapolis real estate investment trust said. The university is considering a technology park, single–family homes and more […]
Chambers of commerce in north-central Indiana have banded together to boost their influence with lawmakers on issues ranging from regional prosperity to full-day kindergarten, according to The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne. Other priorities include transportation and making local government more flexible. Members of the Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan Business Leadership Coalition include chambers […]
Simon Property Group today offered a competing bid for Mills Corp., a Chevy Chase, Md., shopping mall company that said last month it might have to seek bankruptcy protection. Simon’s offer of $24 per share, or $1.56 billion, is $3 per share higher than a January offer by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. of Toronto, Canada. […]
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and New Jersey Gov. John Corzine have asked advice from Indiana counterpart Mitch Daniels about leasing roads as Rendell and Corzine look to solve budget problems, according to the Post-Tribune of Merrillville. Also, Colorado is discussing leasing its state lottery and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm this week is expected to propose […]
Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc. said yesterday it is closing a plant in South Plainfield, N.J., that makes enzyme booster Adagen and the leukemia drug Oncaspar, and consolidating the work at a manufacturing site at 6925 Guion Road on the northwest side. The Bridgewater, N.J.-based company said 50 workers in South Plainfield are affected but didn’t specify […]
A private laboratory and federal and insurance investigators have concluded they cannot determine what caused the spectacular fire at National Magnesium and Aluminum Foundry Inc. in Fort Wayne, according to The Journal Gazette. The Aug. 1 blaze started in the back of the building, the investigators say, but evidence was scattered by exploding gas cylinders. […]
