A new contract ratified by General Drivers, Warehousemen & Helpers Local 89 at Jeffboat LLC calls for an average wage increase of 11 percent over three years. About 95 percent of 900 eligible Teamsters members voted in favor of the contract, according to Jeffboat parent American Commercial Lines Inc. The Ohio River shipyard, located in […]
Ice Miller is a legal powerhouse and lands plum assignments all the time. So few were surprised when Emmis Communications Corp. last month hired the firm to lead its legal assault on industry heavyweight CBS Radio. But Walter Berger-the man at the center of the legal tangle-sure was. Berger had been Emmis’ chief financial officer before he took the same post a year ago at New York-based CBS Radio. The departure rankled Emmis, and over the summer it sued CBS,…
When Rod Webb moved to the United States from Mexico in 1982, his plan was to make a career as a salesman for an Indianapolis industrial chain manufacturer. But a short stint volunteering for a group that aided migrant workers planted another seed that’s now bearing fruit. After eight years running a temporary employment firm that specializes in offering Hispanic employees alternatives to field work, Webb is embarking on an ambitious plan to transform a dilapidated east-side warehouse complex into…
Each month, leaders of some of the city’s most promising life sciences companies gather to share lunch, but they are more interested in getting an extra dollop of advice that might contain the ingredients for a thriving company. These 14 chief executives sharing their experiences with one another represent the city’s roster of life sciences firms that have received outside financing from venture capitalists. That means the fledgling enterprises are high-risk investments with the potential for above-average returns. And with…
When I stop and think about my own life, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched. I went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant near my office last week, and most of the people in line were Indian. Driving through my formerly whitebread neighborhood, I see buildings painted in bold yellows and reds with signs saying, “Tienda Morelos,” “Supermercado” and “Estetica Latina.” My son’s elementary school celebrates Chinese New Year with a big parade and lessons about eating with chopsticks and keeping…
Since the inception of the state’s Venture Capital Investment Tax Credit in late 2003, investors have claimed only about one-third of the $37.5 million in credits available, according to an IBJ analysis of the program.
SMALL BUSINESS PROFILE MILESTONE ADVISORS CFOs for hire: Company fills financial gaps Consultants provide expertise small businesses may be lacking Tom Gabbert and Glenn Dunlap started Milestone Advisors three years ago with a couple dozen clients already in tow, parlaying their previous experience and contacts into a new venture. They’ve been using it to help other businesses shore up their financial foundations ever since. Milestone Advisors provides financial management, strategic planning and related services to small to medium-size businesses with…
When Emmis Communications Corp. Chief Financial Officer Walter Berger bolted in January for the same post at CBS Radio in New York, the Indianapolis company said little publicly. But it’s now apparent Emmis officials were more than a little peeved. In recent weeks, they’ve filed an arbitration case against Berger in hopes of recouping some of his compensation, and they’ve sued CBS alleging tortuous interference with his contract. “I think this case is very clear-cut,” said David Barrett, vice president…
The leanest aspect of lean manufacturing is moving from the shop floor to the accounting office, where a new recordkeeping system is gaining a following. Proponents of so-called lean accounting say it’s better than traditional accounting at measuring the cost savings and efficiencies of lean manufacturing, a business-improvement strategy that shortens the time between customer order and shipment. Instead of simply looking at inventory levels and sales numbers as traditional accounting does, lean accounting measures things such as worker productivity…
For the last half-decade, Indianapolis has shown greater job gains than any other large city in the Midwest. During the same period, the Indy Partnership has been responsible for the area’s economic development.
The role of knowledge in business is familiar to all of us. Wisdom, however, is more elusive and its usefulness less wellknown. Knowledge can best be defined as “acquired facts.” Wisdom, however, is a way of seeing reality. To “the best knowledge of seller” is a familiar term in business transactions, referring to what the seller knows-sometimes after diligent inquiry. Then there’s “knowledge of the law,” something lawyers specialize in. Or knowledge of numbers, which is accountants’ expertise. The list…
As I write this, the stock market has fallen off a ledge and given up, depending on the index, between 7 percent and 12 percent in a bit over a month. After that kind of fun, you might be ready to throw yourself off a ledge, or at least cash in what’s left of your portfolio. Yes, the last few weeks have been trying, but being an investor in U.S. stocks since the beginning of this decade has been no…
Standard Life Insurance Company of Indiana has much to celebrate as it passes the one-year anniversary of its sale to Capital Assurance Corp. Profitability, a rating upgrade and product launches all are among the positives the company can tout since it gained new life and left behind old owner Standard Management Corp. last June. Standard Life notched a $15.8 million profit last year, due mostly to a gain from the sale of its life insurance business. Subtract that, though, and…
Derica Rice started figuring out his future the day he glanced in his mother’s refrigerator and actually paid attention to the insulin vials stored there. Eli Lilly and Co.’s new chief financial officer recalled being home at the end of a summer. He was fresh off an internship with another company and was in casual job talks with Lilly representatives. He had seen the clear vials his mother, Inez-a Type II diabetic-stored in her fridge, but he never read the…
The largest hospital network in Indianapolis will start stretching its reach once again next month, this time south of town, where it could challenge the dominance of St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers. Clarian Health Partners is embarking on a five-year development agreement with Martinsville’s Morgan Hospital & Medical Center that could place more building projects on Clarian’s already crowded construction agenda. The two systems plan to focus their relationship on improving patient care and research, but representatives of both…
The value of Don Marsh’s stake in the Indianapolis company that bears his family’s name has diminished more than $1 million a month since the company declared Nov. 29 that it was seeking a buyer. Don Marsh, the CEO, owns almost 750,000 shares of Marsh Supermarkets Inc.’s Class A and Class B stock, making him the company’s largest individual shareholder. The price of both stocks has plummeted since the announcement, making his stake worth less than $5 million. It was…
Subodh Karnik slowly backed up to his chair at ATA Airlines Inc. and slumped into it. His 46-year-old back was killing him. One of his elementary-age sons back home in Atlanta used him like a trampoline over the weekend. The injury got worse when Karnick ran through the airport, like O.J. Simpson in an old Hertz commercial, to catch a flight back to Indianapolis. “I was born a masochist,” said Karnik, a 6-foot-4-inch native of Mumbai, India, who sports a…
Corporate attorneys aren’t paid to write riveting prose. But the battle to buy Guidant Corp. is so drenched with drama that even the company’s normally bonedry regulatory filings make compelling reading these days. Here’s one gem in a recent filing: Just hours after Guidant sued Johnson & Johnson the morning of Nov. 7-an in-yourface tactic aimed at forcing J&J to close on its $25.4 billion purchase of the Indianapolis company-Guidant CEO Ron Dollens phoned a top J&J executive in an…
Would you spend $20 and 122 minutes to dramatically enhance your net worth? The money is for what I feel is the greatest book since 1949 on how to pick stocks. It will take you 120 minutes to read the book, and two minutes to finish this column. In 1949, Benjamin Graham, then a 55-year-old professor at Columbia University, wrote “The Intelligent Investor.” It was a sequel to his 1934 tome on investing titled “Security Analysis,” which has long been…
In India, where cricket is the sport of choice, telling an employee he knocked the ball out of the park with his latest proposal most likely would confuse him. The communications gap and other cultural contrasts between the United States and a country such as India can be as vast as the 10-hour time difference. So, as local software developer Sigma Micro Corp. prepared to launch operations at what it refers to as an off-shore development center in the city…
