Articles

Co-founder leaves Resource Commercial Real Estate

Indianapolis real estate veteran Chris Carmen left Resource Commercial Real Estate Jan. 30 to resurrect his own firm, Carmen Commercial Real Estate Services. Carmen, 48, moved to Indianapolis in 1985 to work for what later became Duke Realty Corp., first in industrial then in office leasing. In the early 1990s, he left to start Carmen […]

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It’s Bears over Colts in Wal-Mart T-shirt sales

Chicago Bears T-shirts are outselling Indianapolis Colts T-shirts by 55-45 margin at Wal-Mart, according to MarketWatch. The figures for NFL-licensed T-shirts are derived from the two weeks leading up to the kick-off. Wal-Mart says the sales have accurately predicted winners of three of the last four Super Bowls.

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Hoosier CPAs: Indiana to match U.S. economy

Indiana’s economy will perform slightly better than the U.S. economy this year, according to a survey of 89 members of the Indiana CPA Society. They also think the Indiana economy will be somewhat stronger than last year’s, and that wages are more likely to rise than they were last year. The organization’s second annual survey […]

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There’s hope for Connersville after Visteon, experts say

Connersville has more problems than Visteon Corp.’s announcement yesterday that it will close its 890-worker automotive heating and air-conditioning components plant in September. The small city east of Indianapolis also no longer has an economic development director. Charlie Dibble, who led the Connersville-Fayette County Economic Development Group, left just one week ago by mutual agreement […]

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Columbus retains ArvinMeritor emissions office

ArvinMeritor Inc. has sold its Emissions Technology group for $310 million to the New York investment firm One Equity Partners, but the auto exhaust group will have dual headquarters in Columbus and the Detroit area. The dual offices trace to Meritor Automotive Inc.’s 2000 acquisition Columbus-based Arvin Industries Inc. ArvinMeritor, of Troy, Mich., wants to […]

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Simon funds from operations rise 7.5 percent in 4th quarter

Funds from operations increased 7.5 percent, to $450.4 million, in the fourth quarter for Indianapolis-based shopping mall owner Simon Property Group. For 2006, funds from operations rose 8.9 percent to $1.5 billion. Real estate investment trusts like Simon commonly use the funds from operations measure rather than net income.

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Guide workers ratify compensation, closing agreement

United Auto Workers members have “overwhelmingly” approved a plan that attends to labor concerns as Guide Corp. shutters its Anderson and Monroe, La., plants six months ahead of schedule. Employees can pick from seven options that include transfers, buyouts, layoffs and retirement, according to The Herald Bulletin of Anderson. The Pendleton-based maker of car taillights […]

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LaPorte County tries to short-circuit NIPSCO sale

NiSource Inc. won’t comment on a report that it’s negotiating to sell its NIPSCO electric business, but LaPorte County officials nevertheless are lobbying state lawmakers to temporary stop sales of electric utilities, according to The Times of Munster. The northwest Indiana county wants a public-power authority formed to buy the Merrillville-based utility to prevent an […]

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UPDATE: Visteon closing is massive blow to Connersville

Visteon officials informed employees in their Connersville plant today that the facility will close Sept. 1. All 890 employees at the Connersville plant about 60 miles southeast of Indianapolis will be affected, said Kimberley Goode, spokeswoman for Michigan-based Visteon. Goode said it is not clear if those employees will be terminated, given severance packages or […]

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ICC Business Products buy NBS Office Supply

Indianapolis-based office supplier ICC Business Products has acquired NBS Office Supply of Goshen in northern Indiana for an undisclosed price. ICC, which supplies print cartridges, printers, and other office supplies, is retaining NBS president and owner Sylvan Schwegman and several key NBS workers. NBS has a satellite office in Warsaw. Schwegman, 64, said the sale […]

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Super Bowl volunteers? No problem for Indianapolis

Lining up the roughly 8,000 volunteers needed to stage a Super Bowl would be the least of Indianapolis’ worries as civic leaders launch an official bid for the 2011 event, local sports organizers say.   Not only would Indianapolis be able to find warm bodies, but the workers almost certainly would be seasoned veterans of […]

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Harman-Becker laying off 84 in Martinsville

Harman-Becker Automotive Systems Inc. is eliminating 84 of its 500 workers in Martinsville as the maker of car speakers moves production to Juarez, Mexico, according to The Reporter-Times of Martinsville. Remaining workers fear more jobs will be lost when other production is moved to China at an unspecified date.

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Woodwind & Brasswind to be bought by Guitar Center

South Bend musical instrument maker Woodwind & Brasswind is being acquired out of bankruptcy by a unit of California-based Guitar Center Inc., which has stores in Indianapolis and Greenwood. A bankruptcy court accepted a $29.9 million bid from Musician’s Friend Inc. after another potential buyer withdrew its offer.

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Indianapolis is 14th-stingiest city, report shows

Only 13 other large cities are cheaper than Indianapolis when it comes to charitable donations, according to a list compiled by TurboTax, the tax-preparation software sold by Intuit Inc. Indianapolis residents donated an average of $1,023 in the 2004 tax year; the national average was $1,230. Salt Lake City, Utah, was tops among the 50 […]

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Delta Faucet cuts 70 jobs due to slowing housing market.

Delta Faucet, which is headquartered in Carmel, laid off 70 full-time and temporary workers at its sprawling Greensburg plant due to anticipated softness in house construction. The action followed a December layoff of 59 Delta temp workers in the city between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. The company, owned by Masco Corp. of Taylor, Mich., attempted to tamp […]

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Delta Faucet cuts 70 jobs due to slowing housing market

Delta Faucet, which is headquartered in Carmel, laid off 70 full-time and temporary workers at its sprawling Greensburg plant due to anticipated softness in house construction. The action followed a December layoff of 59 temp workers. The company, owned by Masco Corp. of Taylor, Mich., attempted to tamp down festering fears of an outright closure […]

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Vectren profit slips on lower gas sales, special charge

Vectren Corp., the Evansville-based natural gas utility that serves much of central Indiana outside of Marion County, said profit fell 31.3 percent, to $34.9 million, in the fourth quarter. The decline was blamed on customers using less gas and settling a lawsuit with ProLiance Energy LLC. For the year, profit fell to $108.8 million from […]

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Esco giving 140 workers day off after Super Bowl

Esco Communications Inc., which is installing the sound system in Lucas Oil Stadium, is showing its blue-blood support of the Indianapolis Colts in more ways than sponsoring a Blue Friday this Friday. The Indianapolis company is offering its 140 workers a paid day off after the Sunday’s game.

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Same old story: Indiana incomes lag

New government figures show wages earned by Hoosiers are not growing as quickly as Americans’ wages as a whole. Average compensation per job in Indiana increased 2.9 percent in 2005, to $44,095, according to Morton Marcus, formerly director of the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University. The figures are the latest available for a […]

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Old National, St. Joseph merger vote nearly unanimous

Virtually all—99.8 percent—of St. Joseph Capital Bank shareholders voted in favor of merging with Old National Bancorp of Evansville, according to the South Bend Tribune. Old National offered $75.6 million for the Mishawaka institution, which has $500 million in assets and 70 full-time equivalent positions.

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