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Area construction employment surging: Workers stay busy as industry experiences 15 consecutive months of job growth

May 22, 2006

Building tradesmen in central Indiana don’t need a mind-numbing jobs report to tell them construction workers are in high demand. They need not look any further than their apprentice programs and union halls to gauge the industry’s health. The way the barometer works is simple: Full apprentice classes mean contractors are hiring and empty union halls mean they’re working. “When the benches are empty, that’s a good thing,” said Mike Kerr, a principal at locally based contractor F.A. Wilhelm Construction…

Beer permit battle brews: Convenience stores scurry to sell alcohol, worrying liquor shops

May 29, 2006

Gas station and convenience store owners are seeking permits to sell alcohol at an unprecedented clip this year, alarming operators of traditional liquor stores. The Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, which represents liquor stores, counts 102 permit applications in the state so far this year, d o u b l e t h e n u m b e r f o r all of 2005. Speedway gas stations alone have filed 40 permit applications, including 19 in Marion County,…

Marsh merger muddied: Federal filings show grocer wants to ponder richer offer, but legalities might prevent it

June 5, 2006

A new federal filing suggests Marsh Supermarkets Inc.’s board wants to negotiate with a second potential buyer, even though it’s already agreed to be sold to a Florida private equity firm. The original buyer, Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sun Capital Partners, says merger talks with the new suitor, a partnership between Dallasbased Cardinal Paragon Inc. and New Yorkbased Drawbridge Special Opportunities Advisors LLC, would violate the agreement already in place unless Sun Capital grants Marsh permission to enter the discussions. And…

Market Square project in doubt: Two months before deadline, condo developer won’t talk, scales back its sales effort

June 26, 2006

The city of Indianapolis already has twice pushed back the deadline for closing a deal with the developer of a high-rise condo project slated for the former Market Square Arena site. Now, with the latest deadline of Aug. 31 looming, officials with developer Market Square Partners LP are incommunicado amid signs they’re struggling to find enough buyers to get the project off the ground. The sales office, once staffed daily, now apparently operates on an appointment-only basis. The developer hasn’t…

BIZ BASICS: Legal help doesn’t have to cost a fortune

June 26, 2006

We’re a start-Q: up and constantly need answers to basic legal questions about business structures, the hiring process, contracts, wages, safety, trademarks and more, but can’t afford expensive lawyers. What are some options? Legal issues often present a dilem-A:ma for cost-conscious small businesses, especially startups. You want the best information but paying legal professionals for every little thing gets expensive. The range of legal issues facing entrepreneurs is immense, from naming a business and obtaining licenses to complying with tax…

Six sites named ‘Shovel Ready’: State program designed to speed permit process for fast-track developers

August 14, 2006

State officials have added another arrow to their quiver of economic-development incentives meant to attract companies to Indiana. A new pilot program, known as Shovel Ready, certifies land that can be rapidly developed. The aim is to make the properties more attractive to companies by cutting the time it takes to navigate the permitting process. “The ability to expedite a company’s development will make us more competitive than perhaps we have been in the past,” said Chris Pfaff, director of…

Home builders facing tougher-than-expected downturn: Local building permits down 18 percent from last year

September 4, 2006

Alan Goldsticker, president of Ryland Homes of Indiana, said builders have a mound, not a mountain, confronting them. The walls might not be caving in on the Indianapolis housing market, but the current softening in home building is expected to continue for months. That’s the prospectus from Steve Lains, CEO of the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis. While the outlook is not as bad as it could be, it is worse than most experts expected entering 2006. BAGI predicted then…

Green roofs slow to take root in Indianapolis area: Despite an array of environmental and other benefits, initial costs and lack of incentives put lid on their use

November 6, 2006

Green roofs color the skylines in Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto and other North American cities, but Hoosiers have to look high and low to find similar examples of the plant-filled building tops in Indianapolis. “Most green roofs [in other cities] are on the tops of existing buildings, where here they are [more likely to be found] above an underground parking garage that you might not even be aware is there,” said Mark Zelonis, director of the gardens and grounds at the…

EYE ON THE PIE: We all could use a dose of civility

November 6, 2006

Whenever life seems too gloomy to endure, there is relief to be found in the antics of the Bloomington City Council. That body of jokesters recently voted to permit households within the city limits to keep up to five chickens. These chickens will help supply fresh eggs, thereby reducing the community’s dependency on unnatural food sources. (No, dear reader, I did not make this up.) We will not claim the City Council of Bloomington is sexist because it permits egg-laying…

State offers red carpet to ethanol plants despite environmental concerns

November 20, 2006

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management proposes a change in regulations that could reduce the time it takes to approve air permits for ethanol plants. The change would establish industry-specific control standards for emissions.

Coming attraction: Imax theater in Noblesville: Technology lets theaters show Hollywood blockbusters

November 27, 2006

Once upon a time not so long ago, Imax films were nearly synonymous with museums. In Indianapolis and elsewhere, the largeformat movie screens-some as big as the side of an eight-story building-featured 40-minute films that took viewers to exotic places like outer space or the top of Mount Everest, and were usually attached to educational and cultural institutions. But technology that debuted in 2002 is bringing Imax screens to suburbia-including to Noblesville in 2008. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Goodrich Quality Theaters…

Showing WAL MART some love: New statewide group supports oft-criticized retailer

November 27, 2006

Several Hoosiers are at the forefront of a fledgling effort to deflect a growing barrage of criticism lobbed at retail giant Wal-Mart Stores by organized labor and worker’s rights advocates. The Indiana chapter of the Working Families for Wal-Mart formed earlier this month and includes in its membership local elected officials such as City-County Councilor Ron Gibson and State Rep. Vanessa Summers, D-Indianapolis. The national not-for-profit, which launched a year ago, is backed by the Arkansas-based retailer and also boasts…

Shoopman ready to build again

December 11, 2006

Paul Shoopman put 33 years into Dura Builders Inc. before selling his residential construction firm to national player KB
Home Inc. as the local housing market boomed. Two years later, he’s getting back into the business even as KB and others retrench.

SPORTS: Keady takes on a job much harder than coaching

December 11, 2006

“Nursing’s a lot harder than coaching, I can tell you that,” Keady, 70, said from his Tippecanoe County home, not far from Purdue University where the basketball court in Mackey Arena bears his name. After 25 years on the Purdue sidelines in a storied career that had almost everything except the storybook ending, Keady signed on last year as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. This year, Raptors management changed and his contract was not renewed. Just as…

Fortville firm’s helmet pads protect U.S. troops

January 8, 2007

Fortville-based Genesis Manufacturing makes helmet pads for U.S. troops through Colorado-based Skydex Technologies, which
won a contract this fall with the U.S. Air Force for 120,000 helmet pad kits. Most of the helmets have wound up in Iraq, where
the military has discovered soldiers need something more than Kevlar-lined helmets to survive roadside mines and exploding
Toyotas.

College targets dropouts with new program: Ivy Tech offers high school failures chance to get degree, pursue higher education

January 15, 2007

Ivy Tech Community College this month launched a pilot program that allows high school dropouts to earn their diplomas while simultaneously working toward a certificate or associate’s degree in college. Intended to improve the state’s labor pool, and as a lifeline to dropouts facing a dismal life in the earnings underclass, it will first be rolled out in Bloomington, Lafayette and Terre Haute. The Indianapolis campus also will offer the program aimed at those 19 or older, although a date…

Collector betting comic-book heroes draw crowds to downtown museum

January 15, 2007

A museum in the
works for downtown would feature one of the world’s largest collections of super hero memorabilia, including a Batmobile and
costumes worn by every actor who has played Superman on TV or in the movies.

Mega-dairy developer favors Indiana over Ohio

February 13, 2007

Speedy approval of permits makes Indiana more desirable than Ohio for huge dairy farms, according to a company that specializes in settling Dutch dairy farmers in the United States. Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development LLC, based in Wauseon, Ohio, told the Dayton Daily News that Ohio agencies are understaffed. Therefore, Vreba-Hoff applications in Indiana jumped […]

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Battle brewing between big business and the Web

March 5, 2007

The Web has always been viewed with suspicion by many people, but now it’s become nothing less than the cause of copyright lawsuits against Ellen DeGeneres for letting a guest dance the Electric Slide, against the Girl Scouts for doing the Macarena a satire Web site about Barney the purple dinosaur for making fun of the big guy, and against the online deal-finder site Black Friday for publishing prices from retailer Best Buy. Back in the old days, copyright holders…

Getrag plant site narrowed to Kokomo, Tipton, report says