Seven Indiana public companies not only own corporate jets, but also let their executives use them for personal trips. Cummins
Inc., Hillenbrand Industries Inc., Zimmer Holdings Inc., Eli Lilly and Co., NiSource Inc., WellPoint Inc. and 1st Source Corp.
all allow some personal use of company jets.
I just read the words “worm poop” in The Wall Street Journal. This is disturbing on a number of levels, some that have to do with journalistic integrity and others that have to do with general business practices. But mainly because it’s raised my interest in a classic underdog story. Tom Szaky, the 25-year-old CEO of TerraCycle, has gotten some good press over the last few years. He’s part of a growing green movement that is looking to offer improved…
But that axiom doesn’t seem to apply to Baldwin & Lyons Inc. The quiet trucking-fleet insurer headquartered in Indianapolis happily let its revenue slide last year 7 percent, ending a four-year run of rapid growth. Why? Because new competitors have aggressively entered Baldwin’s traditional trucking market with lower prices. The industry’s margins have been slashed by half or more. Most businesses would call that trend a threat. But not Baldwin. President Joe DeVito disdainfully calls these new competitors “naive capital,”…
A federal jury in Manhattan Friday afternoon found former Brightpoint Inc. manager Timothy Harcharik aided and abetted securities fraud at the company in the late 1990s. After a four-day civil trial, the jury found against Harcharik on three counts of aiding and abetting. The jury found in his favor on another aiding-and-abetting count and on […]
Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp. and Indianapolis Motor Speedway have signed a unique, exclusive deal that will allow Indianapolis 500 fans to answer trivia questions and make race and Carburetion Day predictions via their cell phones. Carb Day is Friday and the race is Sunday. Financial terms were not released, but sports marketers said it’s an […]
Jury selection was expected to begin late this morning in the civil trial of Timothy Harcharik, a former Brightpoint Inc. worker accused of helping orchestrate an $11.9 million accounting fraud in the late 1990s. Harcharik, 53, served as Brightpoint’s director of risk management from 1997 to 2002. The Securities and Exchange Commission says that in […]
John Delaney, a second-tier Brightpoint Inc. executive convicted of securities fraud last year, charges in a newly public
letter that upper management was in on the scheme. The 2004 letter implicates former Chief Financial Officer Phil Bounsall,
now executive vice president of locally based Walker Information.
Four years after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Harcharik of committing securities fraud at Brightpoint Inc.,
he finally has his day in court. A civil jury trial is scheduled to start May 21 in Manhattan. It could last as long as three
weeks.
Recently, I served as a moderator for a panel that included Indianapolis Colts President Bill Polian; Conseco Fieldhouse Executive Director and Indiana Pacers Vice President Rick Fuson; NCAA President Myles Brand; Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Joie Chitwood; and former Indiana Sports Corp. Chairman Jack Swarbrick. Except for the moderator, it was an all-star lineup, convened to discuss the impact sports has had on Indianapolis. It was both informative and inspiring as it captured the essence of the sports initiative and…
Nearly 60 people protested outside the Monument Circle offices of WellPoint Inc. this morning, calling for the government to replace insurers as providers of health benefits. Inside, where WellPoint shareholders gathered for their annual meeting, outgoing CEO Larry C. Glasscock showed a video titled “Why We’re Here.” He said the Indianapolis health insurer aims “to […]
Anger over “excessive salaries” and “bloated administrative costs” at WellPoint Inc. will bring a crowd of protesters to demonstrate outside the health benefits firm’s annual shareholder meeting tomorrow. Hoosiers for a Common Sense Health Plan hopes to draw about 50 people to the protest on Monument Circle, where WellPoint’s corporate headquarters is located. “They are […]
As veteran financial planner John Cooke rehashes the highlights of his venerable career, it’s evident that nothing can top the experience of working with his two sons. Close behind, though, are the accolades he’s picked up along the way, including several mentions in various publications as one of the nation’s top advisers. The latest recognition comes from Barron’s magazine, in which Cooke is the only money manager in Indianapolis to make its list of the nation’s top 100 brokers. His…
“Mandates are a form of love,” a state legislator once said, explaining a vote that added requirements to privately funded health insurance programs statewide. And our governments evidently love all of us-businesses, individuals, and even other governments-very much. Our legislatures tell us the lowest wage we can pay our workers, the questions we can and cannot ask during job interviews, and how many gallons of water we use to flush our toilets. To the admittedly narrow-minded thinking of an economist,…
Milwaukee native Trevor Ocock figures his interest in transit dates to age 3. At least that’s what his mother tells him. But the transit bug overtook him at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio, as he was earning a degree in business administration and human resources management. Soon, he was washing buses for Ohio State University’s transit line. Later, he drove an OSU bus-met lots of ladies that way-and eventually became its operations manager. “I have always liked to be around…
To some of the leisure-suited old guard at Kiwanis International, it must have seemed as if a biker gang member had rolled into the executive suite and popped a wheelie. One of the first things new CEO Rob Parker did was to trash an old lounge where managers reclined for a meeting every month or so. Out went the chairs-managers would now stand around the table during a “daily huddle.” And if they didn’t want varicose veins, they’d better keep…
When Conseco Inc. settled a class-action lawsuit two years ago, it was confident its insurance would cover “a substantial portion” of the $10 million payout. Think again. According to a securities filing May 9, RLI Insurance Co. was absolved of any further responsibility toward Conseco by U.S. District Court Judge Larry J. McKinney in Indianapolis. […]
Abnormal losses have been so common at Conseco Inc. lately that a huge earnings miss in its first quarter produced just a mild effect on its stock price. Conseco shares fell slightly this morning after the life and health insurer reported earnings per share 24 cents below analysts’ expectations. Carmel-based Conseco announced Tuesday night after […]
Central Indiana’s non-residential construction industry is growing faster than the nation’s. That’s one of several observations to be found in three sector-specific reports the Indiana Private Industry Council Inc. will release at a summit Wednesday at the Westin Hotel downtown. The “e3 summit” also will host panels of experts in each field to talk about […]
A longtime sales representative for one of the roofing industry’s largest manufacturers alleges his former employer defrauded Indiana public schools out of more than $1.5 million. Brennen Baker charges that the company, Beachwood, Ohio-based Tremco Inc., circumvented Indiana’s public bidding laws for school projects; overcharged for its services; and billed for materials, services and equipment it never delivered. Baker was a Tremco sales rep for southwest and central Indiana from 1991 until January 2004. Baker, who later founded the Fishers-based…
Interactive Intelligence Inc. has come full circle. On May 2, Marion County’s Metropolitan Development Commission was slated to review a 10-year property tax abatement for the communications software maker. If the incentive is approved, Interactive Intelligence plans to use it to hire 637 people at an average of $32.50 per hour. According to its filings with the city, the company also will build a $15 million, 154,000-square-foot building next door to its current headquarters near Interstate 465 and West 71st…
