Conseco Inc. has won another round in court against former Merchants National Bank CEO James D. Massey this month, ringing
up a $29 million judgment against him in a court in Illinois. But Massey shows no sign of throwing in the towel in the years-long
litigation over millions he borrowed to buy Conseco stock. Massey was a director of Conseco from 1994 to 2000.
Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art of ending. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Next week, a moving truck will pull up at the Carmelite Monastery on Cold Spring Road. The hired hands will load the simple possessions of the nine remaining nuns and their dog, Lucy. Then Sister Jean Alice, Sister Terese, Sister Betty, Sister Ruth, Sister Helen, Sister Marcie, Sister Rita, Sister Anna Mary and Sister Rachel will lock the massive wood door, climb into cars and…
Joe Ruffolo learned a great deal over 35 years as an executive at PepsiCo., Squibb Corp., Reynolds Aluminum and North American Van Lines. Now running his own investment banking company, Fort Wayne-based Ruffolo Benson LLC, Ruffolo also holds seats on a halfdozen company boards. Executive compensation experts say that’s too much on one plate. Ruffolo is one of a handful of Hoosiers who serve as independent board directors of more than one Indiana-based public company. Experts say it’s an increasingly…
More random thoughts from the American Theatre Critics Association conference in Washington.
* If the powers that be in Carmel–or any other place that aspires to be an arts destination–hasn’t already made contact, they should reach out immediately and speak to…
Carmel-based auto auction Adesa Inc. said yesterday that it intends to buy the 82 percent of Live Global Bid Inc. it doesn’t already own. Headquartered in Moose Jaw in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Live Global Bid offers software Adesa uses to broadcast auctions over the Internet. The sale price was not disclosed. Adesa said […]
In the late 1980s, Lafayette native Robert Meitus set off for Los Angeles with his band East of Eden in an attempt to make it in the music business. The group that shared management with Guns N’ Roses [singer Axl Rose grew up in Lafayette] never reached a sliver of its fame, however fleeting. But the experience did give Meitus an introduction to what ultimately would lead to a burgeoning career as an intellectual property lawyer. Capital Records came calling,…
No doubt, the Daniels administration will trumpet the fact that Indiana was the ninth-fastestgrowing state in the first quarter of this year. That’s right; personal income in the Hoosier state grew at an annual rate of 5.1 percent, while the nation advanced 4.6 percent. But, as noted by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which generates these data, Indiana was among the fastergrowing states because of dramatic increases in the prices of corn and soybeans. North Dakota came in first,…
Facebook and MySpace have harnessed the Internet to revolutionize how Americans keep in touch. Could providers of health care do the same? Indianapolis-based Community Health Network is trying to find out. It has opened its Web site to allow its patients to create their own MySpace-like pages to keep their family and friends informed about their treatment or about their new baby. Community’s Web site also hosts discussion forums for various groups of patients, such as new moms, cancer patients,…
In late May, Darrell Bowman launched Lounge Hats LLC, an Indianapolis-based company that makes fabric covers that fit over
beach or pool-side chaise lounges to make one thing clear: This seat is taken. Bowman withdrew $20,000 from personal savings
and added another $50,000 from an investor, his friend Mike Oswalt, to start the company. He runs Lounge Hats out of his garage,
hiring a Chinese company to sew the hats and contracting with a local printer to finish them off.
As motorists rush to buy antacid pills with each $4.25-a-gallon fill-up, the same car dealers who got pudgy five years ago selling SUVs with $6,000 profit margins are scrambling to profit from Aveos or anything else with decent mileage.
A resilient service economy kept the Indianapolis-area office vacancy rate stable in the second quarter, according to Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. The vacancy rate inched up to 17.2 percent from 17 percent in the first quarter. A year earlier, the rate stood at 16.8 percent. The area absorbed a net 403,000 square feet of office […]
Carmel-based telecommunications firm Telamon Corp. announced this morning that it plans to add 250 jobs by 2012 and invest $3 million to update its local operations. The expansion would roughly double the 259 employees now at Telamon’s Carmel headquarters. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered $1.25 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $230,000 […]
Carmel-based American Med-Scan has been acquired for an undisclosed price by Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc., Wells Fargo announced today. American Med-Scan’s operations will be merged into the insurance brokerage’s local offices. The deal brings Wells Fargo Insurance operations in the state to 38 banking stores, 10 mortgage stores and 15 consumer finance stores, a regional commercial […]
Angie’s List CEO Bill Oesterle has paid nearly $1.5 million to buy Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood and is renting it to the Indianapolis Opera to use as a multi-function center offering rehearsal space, classes and small performances. “I would have been hard-pressed to tell you much about the Indianapolis Opera before all of this. But I think they’ll be great neighbors,” said Oesterle, who lives on Washington Boulevard, directly north of the church parking lot….
With supreme overconfidence garnered as a result of the Finish Line investment return discussed in my March 24 column, I instructed my retirement plan to purchase shares of Steak n Shake at $6 and change. Steak n Shake owns and operates full-service restaurants with counter and dining room seating. It also has drive-through and carryout service. I have enjoyed Steak n Shake for years, particularly the double steak burger platter and genuine chili. The place is always clean, the food…
When she accepted a job three months ago at Greenwood-based Tilson HR Inc., Kristen Shingleton received not only the usual array of employee benefits but also the assurance that she could work from home two days a week. While the concept of telecommuting still may seem a bit radical to many companies, it could become as common as vacation time and 401(k) plans if gas prices continue to climb. “It’s saving me about $200 a month,” said Shingleton, a senior…
At least 12 local Starbucks stores are slated to close by early next year as part of a 600-store nationwide purge. The chain is closing eight stores in Indianapolis and stores in Carmel, Greenwood, Beech Grove and Plainfield. About 200 people in central Indiana could lose their jobs in the move since each location employs […]
Carmel’s play for the arts Some fear it will come at Indianapolis’ expense The $80 million-plus Carmel Performing Arts Center, a neo-classical-styled concert hall designed to be an acoustical masterpiece, is still two years from opening. But it’s already the source of some dissonance in the Indianapolis arts community to the tune of Mozart’s String […]
Spotlight on Hamilton County Named for Alexander Hamilton, a member of the Continental Congress and a framer of the U.S. Constitution 5 LARGEST CITIES/TOWNS population Fishers ………………………………………61,840 Carmel ………………………………………60,570 Noblesville …………………………………40,115 Westfield ……………………………………13,444 Cicero …………………………………………4,400 5 LARGEST EMPLOYERS employees Sallie Mae…………………………………….2,300 Conseco Inc. …………………………………2,300 Marsh Supermarkets Inc………………….1,650 Resort Condominiums International ….1,600 Thomson Inc………………………………….1,600 COUNTY MSA* […]
BOONE COUNTY County prevails in land standoff Whitestown and Boone County have been instructed by the Indiana Supreme Court to play nice and share the responsibility of granting tax abatements in an area coveted by both. The decision means developers who want tax abatement must get approval from both entities. It also overturns a state […]
