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Peter Schnitzler

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Database saves needy folks shoe leather: Salvation Army, Goodwill among groups joining Central Indiana Community Network

Central Indiana boasts hundreds of altruistic churches, agencies and not-forprofits. On their own, they each manage to lend needy folks a helping hand. But advocates for the disadvantaged know service providers could do much more working together. That’s why four years ago they began planning the Central Indiana Community Network, an online system that allows human service and work-force development organizations to securely share information. CICN launched in 2003 and recently added two not-for-profit heavyweights-the Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries…

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Succession plans overlooked by biz owners: Preparing for inevitable difficult but necessary

Go ahead. Ignore the inevitable. Refuse to imagine a future where anybody else could take over that corner office of yours with the big mahogany desk. You won’t be the only one. But you’ll regret it. “The biggest mistake people make-they don’t let go soon enough. They need to get other people involved along the way, maybe get them some equity along the way,” said Glenn Scolnik, CEO of locally based Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co. Inc., the state’s largest…

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Winning the wallets of the ultra-wealthy: Local investment firm enters fight for lucrative market

City Securities has placed attorney Stephan Hodge, a former Indiana state securities commissioner, and Kenneth Klabunde, a certified financial planner, at the helm of its recently established three-person Wealth Advisors division. Their goal is to offer portfolio management, tax planning, trust preparation and a host of other financial products to folks with at least $3 million to $5 million in assets. But they plan to deliver it with a level of personal attention few Hoosiers receive. And much of their…

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Economic developer for hire: Miller’s brain trust spreads advice from town to country

It’s about soybeans and high hopes. Clinton County has only 34,148 residents, nearly half of them living in the county seat of Frankfort. Most of the labor force works in either farming or auto-parts manufacturing. Neither is generally considered the field of the future. Enter economic development consultant Thomas P. Miller & Associates. Since Clinton County is the state’s fifth-largest soybean producer, TPMA counseled a strategy based on what it already does well. Starting next year, federal regulators will require…

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Startup Web venture gives sales reps an edge: Internet forum allows anonymous contact exchange

In literature and on stage, Arthur Miller’s tragic salesman Willy Loman has come to symbolize the American dream gone sour. But for the founders of locally based WillyLoman.com, an online forum for anonymous exchange of business contacts, the moniker has a simpler meaning: Willy Loman is instantly recognizable. The title character from “Death of a Salesman” is still the best-known name in marketing. “Have you ever felt like Willy Loman?” asked WillyLoman.com cofounder and CEO Bill Johnson. “The idea is…

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Pension fund opens coffers: $506M could be boon for venture capitalists

The Public Employees’ Retirement Fund, Indiana’s largest pension system, is preparing to unleash half a billion dollars into venture capital, real estate and other privateequity investments. And the fund’s managers aim to put the bulk of it to work inside state lines. Hoosier venture capitalists are salivating at the prospect. T h a t ‘s t h e equivalent of nearly seven BioCrossroads Indiana Future Funds. “If there are excellent opportunities to invest in Indiana, we ought to be looking…

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Former Chamber of Commerce CEO launches firm: Christopher LaMothe leaves Oxford Financial Group

For a decade as Indiana Chamber of Commerce CEO, Christopher LaMothe pressed to enhance Indiana’s business climate. Then he spent several years leading Oxford Financial Group Ltd.’s team of advisers for wealthy clients. But the whole time, LaMothe aspired to be a dealmaker. Now, he’s done something about it. This summer, he founded the one-man Ascendanci Ventures LLC and is on the hunt for prospects. “I’m doing what I have dreamed about for the last 10 or 15 years,” LaMothe…

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Haverstick lands DWD’s controversial IT contract: Original award to India-based Tata was election issue

Last year, it was the contract that helped turn the gubernatorial election. Now, it’s a nice piece of business for Carmel-based Haverstick Government Solutions. When Indiana awarded a multimilliondollar project to an India-based information-technology developer, Gov. Joe Kernan, a Democrat, endured intense criticism. By November, Kernan had canceled the agreement with Bombay-based Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. He also introduced “Opportunity Indiana,” an initiative for government-procurement reform. But the political damage had already been done. Republican Mitch Daniels triumphed at the…

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Rising star in GOP recasts job agency: New chief uses secret shoppers, dress code to shake up state’s work force development

Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Ronald Stiver says the world is flat, with the United States no longer having mountainous advantages over other nations. And Stiver knows Hoosiers must prepare for it to get even flatter. “You’re talking to the converted,” Stiver said. “I believe in the 21st century, the major lever for economic development will be work-force development.” Stiver, 31, is reorganizing DWD with the new flat world in mind. He envisions an agency that moves beyond doling…

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Interactive Intelligence posts profit, again: Communications software-maker nets modest earnings

Its profit may be modest. But after years of struggle, Interactive Intelligence Inc. knows the value of small gains. They sure beat massive losses. Last week, the Indianapolis-based software company reported a second-quarter profit of $290,000 on sales of $15.6 million. That compares with a profit of $304,000 on sales of $13.6 million posted during the same quarter last year. It was the company’s sixth consecutive profitable quarter, for a total of $1.4 million. That’s a big turnaround for the…

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Translating success: Network of language experts key to Pangea Lingua’s growth

Good translations are seldom noticed. But bad ones can become infamous. And Tamra Lewis has heard them all. There’s the “Got Milk?” slogan, which in literal Spanish means “Are you lactating?” Or classic examples, such as the name of Chevy’s Nova automobile-understood as “No go” in Latin America. As the CEO of locally based Pangea Lingua, Lewis, 38, aims to keep her clients’ translations from becoming the next Internet joke. Now and then, that means nudging a company away from…

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Manufacturers struggle with China’s risk, opportunity: Currency valuation one of many competitive issues

Eighteen months ago, 110 people worked for Swiss Plywood Co., a Tell City-based cabinet-maker in business since 1945. The average tenure was 17 years. Today, only 65 employees are left at the controls of Swiss Plywood’s machines. Chairman Bill Borders blames China. “We’ve weathered storms over the years,” Borders said. “But nothing approaching this.” Manufacturers in Indiana and across the nation have long complained about what they call Chinese currency manipulation. It’s one of a litany of grumbles about Chinese…

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Forum tops local list of largest credit unions: $25M headquarters expansion caps decade of growth

This year, for the first time, Forum has passed Indiana Members Credit Union on IBJ’s annual list of the largest Indianapolis-area credit unions (see page 28). What’s more, with $913 million in assets, 84,159 members and 11 branches, Forum has a market foothold on par with some well-known local banks, such as the National Bank of Indianapolis and Plainfield-based Lincoln Bank. On Aug. 9, Forum will formally dedicate the latest symbol of its financial services firepower, a $25 million expansion…

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An old-school approach: Woodley Farra Manion takes its large-cap strategy into the institutional market

Circa 1999, high-tech growth stocks were going up, up, up. Professional investment advisers hardly seemed necessary. And a strategy focused on unadventurous large-cap value sounded downright old school. “There were clients at the cocktail parties,” remembered Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. cofounder and principal George Farra. “They heard about their friends who had [quickly] doubled their money, and it all looked pretty easy.” But today, most investors still feel the sting of their recession-induced losses. Ironically, the dot-com bust…

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Tech-park program tightens guidelines: Daniels administration hopes grants spur more innovation

In Shelbyville, home of the state’s third certified technology park, economic development officials are excited. They just broke ground on a promising new park business: A Santa Fe Steakhouse. Since 2003, the state has approved $1.2 million for Shelbyville to help develop its technology park-one of 17 now scattered across Indiana, each meant to modernize the state through the attraction and development of high-tech companies. In total, the state has approved $9 million in grants since the certified technology park…

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Speculator’s personal bankruptcy may tinge spouse: Trustee sorting through assets of real estate investor Marten, jeweler wife

A real estate speculator whose wife owns a prominent Carmel jewelry store has filed for personal bankruptcy, spawning an inquiry into whether her assets should be available to repay his creditors. On April 27, Christopher Marten filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, listing assets of $1.03 million and liabilities of $2.56 million. The case is pending in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis. Marten’s 26 creditors include six banks and credit unions. Christopher Marten is married to Jan Marten, owner of…

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Mayor: police merger certain: Key leaders line up to negotiate cop consolidation

The stars have finally aligned for a police merger. The key stakeholders are aboard and Mayor Bart Peterson, who has always qualified his cop consolidation plan as hypothetical, now openly predicts its success. S p e a k i n g directly on the subject for the first time, Peterson, a Democrat, told IBJ the General Assembly wrote a “blank check” allowing a merger between the Indianapolis Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Department. He intends to see it…

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Jail plan calls for speedier courts: Prosecutor still seeking more beds

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi’s colleagues say relieving jail overcrowding is a question of efficiency. Since jail is meant to be a temporary stop for alleged criminals, they argue, improvements in the process from booking to trial can largely eliminate the need for early release. So why is Brizzi the lone wolf still clamoring to add more jail beds? “Everyone says that you can’t build your way out. How do you know that?” asked Brizzi, a Republican. “We seem to…

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VC tax credit rarely used by startups: Less than 17 percent of incentives tapped

Last year, Indiana approved tax credits worth nearly $16.3 million to encourage speculation on local high-tech startups. Investors left most of the credits-$13.5 million worth-on the table. The highly touted Indiana Venture Capital Investment tax credit program debuted in January 2004. It allows investors in approved startups to write 20 percent of their outlay off their state taxes. Indiana certified 42 young companies last year as eligible for its venture capital credit. According to the Indiana Economic Development Corp., investors…

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Rose-Hulman looks ahead: Search for new president could take a year

But trustees currently have a higher priority: Let the dust settle. “It’s only been a couple of days,” said Rose-Hulman Chairman Robert Bright. “Nothing’s been established for sure yet.” It took the Terre Haute engineering school 10 months to find and narrow the field of 60 candidates that produced Midgley-nearly the length of his presidential stint. Most expect the search for his successor to last at least as long. In the meantime, Rose-Hulman has a more pressing task. It must…

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