NOVEMBER 23-29, 2009
This week, find out how the Indianapolis Visitors Channel aims to help tourists come up with their to-do list and learn more about a new attraction that wants to drum up business. Technology columnist Tim Altom tackles a burning Facebook question--is it folly or fantastic? And in our Commercial Lending & Investing Guide, local money managers identify some attractive vehicles to hedge against stagflation.
Front PageBack to Top
Falling property prices fuel new wave of bank woes
The second and third quarters were brutal for Indiana banks, as they set aside big reserves to cover losses on commercial
real estate loans.
Airport retailers want relief from street pricing policy
Airport concessionaires stung by a 10-percent drop in passenger traffic have asked the Indianapolis Airport Authority to ease
a policy that was implemented more than 10 years ago to keep prices in line with what consumers pay outside
the airport.
Heavyweights may vie to manage venues for troubled CIB
An aide to Mayor Greg Ballard says he hopes a private operator can find “operating and maintenance savings in the millions."
Read MoreTop StoriesBack to Top
Remnants of failed Premier Properties finally hit market
CB Richard Ellis recently began marketing the most prominent of Premier Properties’ local properties, Metropolis. The
Venu site
at the southwest corner of East 86th Street and Keystone Avenue also is up for grabs.
NCAA, NBA launch iHoops to promote sport of basketball to future players, fans
One of the legacies left behind by the late NCAA President Myles Brand is a 10-person startup company tucked in a high-rise
office building in downtown Indianapolis that is just starting to make its mark on the basketball world.
Hotel TV program touts Indianapolis, helps businesses reach travelers
Indianapolis Visitors Channel, which airs on closed-circuit networks
in more than 6,400 area hotel rooms, highlights some of the city’s most popular attractions and promotes local businesses—both
through traditional advertising and sponsored features.
Debt-shedding efforts start to pay off for Brightpoint
The wireless phone wholesaler had survived two prior recessions and recognized the spoils in tough times go to companies with
the strongest balance sheets.
Local SBA lending dropped 17 percent in 2009
Local loans issued through the Small Business Administration’s popular 7(a) guarantee program plunged by an astonishing 64
percent for three of the city’s four largest banks during 2009, while overall lending in the program slipped 17 percent in
the metro area.
Denison light-replacement project shows expanding base of green vendors in region
Indianapolis parking garage operator Denison shuns sexy LED lighting for Fishers supplier’s induction lights.
Read MoreFocusBack to Top
Homeownership losing cachet due to housing bust, job losses
Multifamily housing may not benefit anytime soon from falling rates of homeownership.
Read MoreFledgling technology park is development bright spot
WestGate@Crane Technology Park is adding office buildings for defense contractors next to the secretive Naval Surface Warfare
Center at Crane.
RELLER: Refinancings likely to undermine prices for commercial real estate
Buyers armed with cash stand to snap up distressed properties for 40 percent less than their 2008 appraised values.
Read MoreThird-quarter commercial real estate stats
IBJ‘s Commercial Real Estate Focus sections include statistical snapshots of Indianapolis’ multi-tenant office vacancy
rates and the local industrial market.
OpinionBack to Top
EDITORIAL: Hardball tactics put City Market tenants in a bind
Mayor Greg Ballard can’t have it both ways with City Market.
Read MoreKATTERJOHN: Health care issues decades old
The unsustainable
system of health care that we now find ourselves participating in has been decades in the making. What makes us think we can
fix it—really fix it—overnight?
MARCUS: Citizens unite to halt progress
Herbert Hubert is an attorney with Hem Haw Hack and Hew. We met at the local Hot Java. He wanted to solicit my participation
in a variety of causes with a common theme.
FELDMANN: Put customer interest before revenue
Understanding the customer and his or her motivation is priceless, but it’s
old-school and just half of the solution. The other half, making it easy
for the customer to engage, is what sets growing organizations apart from stagnant ones.
ALTOM: Is Facebook folly or a fantastic marketing tool?
Companies are using Facebook as an alternative way of reaching a vast audience, not as a replacement for their own Web sites.
Read MoreHAUKE: Great ideas not as good as excellent timing
The market often stays wrong much longer than the early investors stay solvent.
Read MoreHICKS: Nutritional poverty plagues land of plenty
It is not sufficient merely to provide sustenance; we need to teach folks how and what to eat.
Read MoreEditorial unfairly portrayed schools
[The Nov. 9 editorial] was the most offensive, mean-spirited, inaccurate and biased piece of muckraking I’ve seen in
20 years as an IBJ reader.
You can have fun in smoke-filled bar
I’ve reached the zenith of my life—the esteemed publisher of IBJ has labeled me “clueless”
[in his Nov. 9 column].
Courtrooms indeed inspire awe
I enjoyed [Mickey Maurer’s Nov. 17] column. As an undergraduate student at IUPUI, working full-time and going to
school full-time, I visited the moot court room at the old law school building on New York Street from time to time for inspiration
and to remind myself of the goal.
It’s time to step up
Tough times are real
and challenging to navigate. But, if we are honest, we have to admit that those of us fortunate to have jobs have an advantage
in tough times.
Patachou should respect community
At 49th and Pennsylvania, Café Patachou seeks to expand, open a new pizzeria, and use much of the public sidewalk
for proposed outside seating.
In BriefBack to Top
Indianapolis looks to Cleveland, Philadelphia for City Market examples
The troubled Indianapolis City Market is looking East for a new direction. This summer, its executive director, Jim Reilly,
visited Philadelphia and Cleveland to observe their successful urban markets and seek pointers that might be applied here.
Lilly scientist Steve Paul hopes successor can finish what he started
The top scientist at Eli Lilly and Co. will have to trust a company outsider to see if his aggressive transformation of
Lilly’s research and development arm pays off.
Pizza restaurants in works; wine shop heading to Fishers
Hot Box Pizza plans to open a downtown location in the Harness Factory Lofts building, and WineTyme, a new local shop selling
wines, craft beers and gourmet food, is coming to Fishers.
Indianapolis lawyer to open bar and lounge in 3Mass building on Mass Ave
The bar, which isn’t yet named, will be Baker & Daniels lawyer Trevor Belden’s first bar.
Read MoreWestfield’s Truss Manufacturing Co. changes name, expands product line
Truss Manufacturing Co., a fixture along U.S. 31 in Westfield since 1959, in October changed its name to TMC Building Products
to emphasize its expansion into other supplies.
Horizon Wind Energy opens its first Indiana wind farm
At full tilt, the units of Meadow Lake I Wind Farm in Brookston can generate about 200 megawatts, enough
to power 60,000 average size homes in a year.
Just Marketing expands deal with Johnnie Walker
Indianapolis-based Just Marketing International recently signed a deal to handle public relations globally for Johnnie
Walker’s Formula One racing account.
NFP of NOTE: Heritage Place of Indianapolis Inc.
Heritage Place of Indianapolis Inc. provides older adults with comprehensive and coordinated human services to encourage
and promote healthy lifestyles, independence, well-being and quality of life.