APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2022
Public comments by Eli Lilly and Co. CEO Dave Ricks examining the state’s shortcomings as a potential destination for new companies and investment have sparked conversation and debate across Indiana’s business community. Reporters John Russell, Susan Orr and Emily Ketterer asked business leaders to address the question of whether the state is doing enough to keep Indiana growing and what an effective strategy might look like. Also in this week’s issue, Dave Lindquist dives into one of the most ambitious and revealing exhibits in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum: “Roadsters 2 Records: The Twelve Years That Revolutionized the Indianapolis 500.” And our political team has a preview of the most consequential races on Primary Election Day.
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Lilly CEO has leaders talking about whether state is doing enough to grow Indiana
David Ricks’ lunchtime speech to The Economic Club of Indiana—repeated on social media by those in attendance and reported by IBJ and local TV stations—has reverberated across the state.
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‘Roadsters 2 Records’ is new-look IMS Museum exhibit
The museum’s latest exhibit spans 1960 to 1972, when car designs changed radically, international drivers made a big impression, and the race arrived on television sets across the United States.
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Clerk’s race could carry consequences for Marion County Democrats
A longtime feud among local Democrats has come to a head in the contentious race for county clerk, pitting county recorder and party chair Kate Sweeney Bell against former state senator and two-time county auditor Billie Breaux.
Read MoreTuesday’s primary to feature spirited local contests
Indiana’s first Election Day after pandemic-related complications comes Tuesday, and a few hotly contested primary races are in the spotlight.
Read MoreRepublican candidates line up for Indiana House races in northern suburbs
Two newly redrawn Indiana House districts in Indianapolis’ northern suburbs have attracted a total of six Republican candidates looking to advance to November’s general election.
Read MoreBrad Chambers: Indiana is in a ‘state of continuous improvement’
While discussions about opportunities for improvement are important, they should also be framed in context of relative strengths. Indiana is strong and getting stronger.
Read MoreBill Oesterle: ‘We are going to have to innovate ourselves’
David Ricks called on government for help fix Indiana’s business climate. I think we will have to do more—a lot more. State government simply lacks the technological sophistication, budgetary discipline and political consensus to do enough.
Read MorePete Yonkman: Core business resources can drive community change
Government and policymakers have a large role to play in addressing the state’s economic challenges. But they can’t do it alone. Nor should we expect them to.
Read MoreQ&A with Shannon Schumacher, CEO of The Villages of Indiana
This is a particularly challenging time for the statewide not-for-profit, which helps place children with foster-care families and provides a wide gamut of services to help support vulnerable parents and children, facilitate adoptions and prevent child abuse.
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Mike Lopresti: Like to be scorned? Become a youth sports referee
The next time your child or grandchild has a game canceled because there are no officials or umpires—and that’s beginning to happen more and more—remember “Mother of the Year” from Mississippi.
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Home furnishings retailer plans to turn DeHaan estate into giant showroom, restaurant
National retailer RH is teaming with a developer to take over Linden House—the 152-acre Indianapolis estate of late businesswoman and philanthropist Christel DeHaan—and turn it into a huge home furnishings showroom, interior design gallery, upscale restaurant, wine bar and outdoor furniture gallery.
Read MoreLilly Endowment gives $25M grant to expand city trails, greenways
The Central Indiana Community Foundation on Tuesday announced the grant, which is meant to support the six-year-old Connected Communities Initiative collaboration with the city of Indianapolis.
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CORRECTED: Roche gets city’s OK to project messages on side of north-side HQ building
In a statement to IBJ, Roche said it hopes to display “supportive and inspiring messages” visible from I-69 as part of a new corporate initiative.
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Mark Emmert to step down as NCAA president in ‘mutual agreement’ with board
The decision comes at a rocky time for the NCAA, which for decades has controlled college sports. But in recent years, universities, athletics conferences and individual athletes have tried to wrest some of that control away, dragging the NCAA into a series of changes.
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Indiana not-for-profits are starting to find ways to accept donations of cryptocurrency
The Indianapolis-based Indiana Sports Corp., Purdue University’s Purdue for Life Foundation and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology are among the organizations that have already accepted their first crypto donations—and some community foundations around the state are also eyeing the opportunities they see in cryptocurrency.
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First Internet leans into banking-as-a-service trend
Under the relatively rare model, a bank offers its expertise and capabilities to a fintech, allowing the fintech to provide iservices that require the involvement of a federally regulated and insured institution.
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Editorial: Being tax-friendly just isn’t enough for Indiana to compete
We suggest a more comprehensive approach to making Indiana the best place in the U.S. to do business. That means more intense focus on why workers would want to be here, how we can keep more college grads in the state, and how to encourage greener energy sources.
Read MoreLesley Weidenbener: Awards can boost confidence, morale
Congratulations to IBJ staff and contributors who won awards, and thank you to all of the IBJ and Indiana Lawyer staffers who make our news organizations better. We appreciate you all.
Read MoreKate Pangallo: Consider this if you want to enlist a top-tier workforce
The next generation has the experience, knowledge and skill set to come alongside some of your more seasoned employees and usher in new ways of doing things.
Read MoreWayne Winegarden: Coerced pricing is price controls by another means
Sustainably addressing the problems of rising prices and declining quality requires reforms that empower patients and doctors, improve price transparency and eliminate the perverse incentives of our current health insurance system that drive up costs and limit care.
Read MoreJalene Hahn: Taking advantage of the qualified charitable distribution
One advantage of using a QCD to make a charitable contribution is that the money comes out of the IRA tax-free.
Read MoreGarrett Mintz: How to measure performance for remote teams
As more teams continue to work remotely, we must find new leadership methods that can ensure productivity without relying on visibility without context.
Read MoreCecil Bohanon & Nick Curott: Too much ado about Elon Musk and Twitter
Ongoing access to resources is necessary for any broadcast, publication or communications network to be viable.
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Cummins to spin off filtration business into separate public company
Columbus-based Cummins has confidentially filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering for its filtration business. Cummins announced last summer that it was looking at “strategic alternatives” for the business.
Read MoreRecord gift to launch new Krannert real estate program at Purdue
The Krannert School of Management at Purdue University has received a nearly $21 million gift from the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation, the largest gift in the school’s history.
Read MoreIndiana life sciences companies landed $15B in funding in 2021
The funding included 39 Indiana life-science companies raising $433.5 million last year in venture capital, an increase of almost $200 million compared to 2020, according to a report issued by BioCrossroads.
Read MoreIndiana poet named first Black editor of Poetry magazine
Adrian Matejka, who grew up in Indianapolis, is the Ruth Lilly Professor of Poetry at Indiana University Bloomington.
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Downtown Indy Inc.’s top executive to step down
Sherry Seiwert, who has served as president and CEO of the Downtown Indy since 2012, said she believes it is “time for new leadership.”
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