Home » Authors » Peter Schnitzler

Peter Schnitzler

Articles

IU business incubator partners with Siberian school: Reciprocal visits could lead to high-tech opportunities

After unwrapping his luggage from its seal of shrink-wrap, Mark Long reviewed his notes for the upcoming seminar. He hardly needed them. Long, CEO of Indiana University’s Research and Technology Corp., has spoken many times about how academics transfer their research discoveries to the market. But this was the first time he ever delivered the speech in Siberia. The audience-a group of business and academic leaders-ultimately could help Hoosiers access a treasure-trove of Russian technologies. “They have a lot of…

Read More

Economy to be jittery, Fifth Third strategist says

The U.S. economy probably has avoided the likelihood it will slip into recession, a Fifth Third Bank strategist said today. But in 2008, investors face an uncertain environment where the fastest action will be found overseas. “In general, the fears of recession have now diminished,” Chief Investment Strategist John Augustine said this morning. “[But] it’s […]

Read More

St. Louis firm buys majority stake in DCL Medical

Central Indiana’s fifth-largest life science firm has a new majority owner. DCL Medical Laboratories today announced that St. Louis-based private equity firm Thompson Street Capital Partners has acquired controlling interest. Terms were not disclosed. Founded in 1983 and located at 9550 Zionsville Road, DCL has 209 employees. Specializing in women’s health, DCL provides diagnostic testing, clinical […]

Read More

UPDATE: Arcadia lured by central location

Arcadia Resources Inc. CEO Marvin Richardson, an Anderson native and Purdue University pharmacy graduate, said Indianapolis was chosen as the company’s new headquarters because its central location will create an advantage when it launches a new drug-packaging system. The system, called DailyMed, will help patients manage their prescription pills. The company plans to open a […]

Read More

Patent dispute threatens Suros Surgical Systems: Consultant claims key role in biopsy innovation

An intellectual property tussle dating back to the origins of Suros Surgical Systems Inc. is threatening to become more than a headache for the local medicaldevice maker. Founded in 2000, Suros was one of the fastest-growing high-tech startups in Indianapolis history. Its machine for minimally invasive breast biopsies now rings up more than $43 million in annual sales. Such success attracted deep-pocketed suitors, and Suros was acquired in July 2006 for a whopping $240 million by Bedford, Mass.-based Hologic Inc….

Read More

Jones taps friends nationwide for Daniels fund raising

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Jack Gill–and dozens like him–are being recruited from far beyond state lines to support Indiana’s incumbent governor. On Oct. 9, Gill will be in the crowd at technology entrepreneur Scott Jones’ Carmel mansion. Jones, who organized the event, aims to collect $1 million for Daniels in a single day.

Read More

Loss of institute may polarize Statehouse debate: Board considers shuttering respected government research organization

If the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute remains shuttered due to a lack of funds, the public won’t notice immediately. After all, the Indianapolis-based organization focused on long-term analysis of complicated communal questions, such as how to equalize property taxes, diversify state pensions or finance public schools. But taxpayers eventually will feel the impact. For 20 years, the institute has played a key role in Statehouse debate, helping frame major issues with hard facts and figures that conservatives and liberals alike…

Read More

Abatement could anchor software headquarters

In exchange for promises to keep its headquarters here, Marion County is considering providing an eight-year property tax abatement worth $17,659 for local parking ticket software-maker T2 Systems Inc. According to a Department of Metropolitan Development filing, T2 Systems is promising to add 115 jobs to its current work force of 43 as well invest […]

Read More

Chemical giant diversifies biotech portfolio: Acquisitions, research agreements poise Dow AgroSciences for growth

Jerome Peribere has a 10-year plan to diversify Dow AgroSciences LLC, Indiana’s largest agricultural chemical company. Biotechnology is the blueprint. And through a series of aggressive international deals, Dow AgroSciences is building the framework for its future. By 2015, Peribere hopes to oversee a balanced portfolio of agricultural chemical and biotech products. “We’re in the stone age of biotechnology,” he said. “Tomorrow, it’s going to be used to create products we have no clue about.” Formed in 1989 as a…

Read More

Public policy research organization shuttered

The Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute, Indiana’s only statewide organization devoted to independent government research, is on the cusp of collapse. Steve Johnson, its CEO, told IBJ this morning he has stepped down due to lack of funding. “I was just not able to sufficiently raise the dollars to keep the institute going,” Johnson said. “Oftentimes, […]

Read More

City paves way to redevelop Bush Stadium site

Indianapolis has initiated the redevelopment process for Bush Stadium, its shuttered sports landmark. The Metropolitan Development
Commission has hired a pair of local firms for $25,000 to appraise historic Bush Stadium–a first step toward reuse or, more
likely, at least partial demolition.

Read More

Aprimo prepares $50 million IPO pitch for Wall Street: Marketing software-maker’s sales reach $51.6M

Fast-growing local marketing software-maker Aprimo Inc. already has done much of the heavy lifting to ensure its $50 million initial public offering is successful. Now comes the most grueling part. Over the last four years, the company nearly quintupled its sales. In 2006, Aprimo turned its first profit. After lining up Morgan Stanley & Co. to serve as lead underwriter, Aprimo on Sept. 10 filed a preliminary prospectus for the IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Next up: the…

Read More

MCL spending $1M to freshen its image

After 12 months of market research, MCL cafeterias discovered younger folks and families aren’t familiar with the taste of
the Mayfield’s Value Plate or the Noon Special. So the company has launched a $1 million campaign to reposition its brand.

Read More

UPDATE: IPO could gain Aprimo an edge

If Aprimo Inc.’s $50 million initial public offering plan is successful, the local marketing software-maker should increase its ability to compete against its largest rival. But a longtime Aprimo analyst said going public also would intensify the firm’s short-term pressure to perform. The rival, Waltham, Mass.-based marketing software-maker Unica Corp., staged an IPO in August […]

Read More

Nurse shortage feeds online-training startup

By the year 2020, the United States is expected to face a nationwide shortage of at least 1 million nurses. Fishers-based
Orbis Education Services Inc. CEO Dan Briggs sees a potential profit center. Founded in 2003, IT startup Orbis aims to provide
the link between universities and hospitals for online delivery of nursing courses.

Read More

Power broker Miles calling shots again in city

In the less than two years since Mark Miles, 53, took over the CEO-driven Central Indiana Corporate Partnership in 2006, he’s
transformed it into an economic development powerhouse for life sciences, information technology and advanced manufacturing.
How so fast? He started networking with Indiana’s political heavyweights more than 30 years ago. And he never stopped.

Read More

Deals give Brightpoint world lead in wireless logistics: Cell phone distributor begins integration of former European rival

For wireless phone distributor Brightpoint Inc., CellStar was the appetizer. Dangaard was the main course. The next nine months will be all about avoiding indigestion. Brightpoint CEO Bob Laikin is ready. He’s been preparing for the meal for more than a decade. “In the mid-’90s, it was ‘shoot, shoot, shoot and then aim,'” Laikin said. “Now it’s ‘aim, aim shoot.'” On March 30, Plainfield-based Brightpoint completed its acquisition of the U.S. and Latin American operations of Texasbased rival CellStar Corp….

Read More

Property-tax reassessment may not be fix-all

The property-tax reassessment process that Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered last month will take five months and cost up to $3 million.
But don’t expect it to significantly alter the property-tax equation, warns Franklin Township Assessor Becky Williams, who
also serves as president of the Indiana Assessors Association.

Read More

Software startup Vyante measures online chatter: Two-man firm lands $200,000 in grants, readies for product launch through beta tests with corporations

To make money on new software, sometimes you have to give it away. Thanks to that counterintuitive approach, tiny local IT startup Vyante Inc. has persuaded companies like Eli Lilly and Co., Roche Diagnostics, Dow Agro-Sciences and 5MetaCom to test the beta version of its new software, which tracks and measures the impact of their brands online. Vyante hopes eventually to convert the companies into paying customers. “We’ve persisted against the odds,” said Vyante Senior Technologist Benjamin Ranck. “It was…

Read More