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Mixed bag for tech parks: Facing heavy competition for tenants, some developments thrive while others struggle

The stretch of land along Interstate 74 near Shelbyville lies mostly vacant, save for a couple of buildings and a network of roads and other infrastructure snaking through the property. This barren look is not what Intelliplex Park organizers had in mind more than two years ago, when their project became one of the first to receive the state’s certified technology park designation. “This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be,” said Tony Lennen, CEO…

ITT Educational Services rebounds from federal probe: With stock at 52-week high, company plans growth

After rebounding from a federal criminal probe that uncovered no wrongdoing, ITT Educational Services Inc. is proceeding with an ambitious growth plan in hopes of building upon a bullish earnings run. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston, which led the investigation into whether the Carmel-based private provider of postsecondary degree programs had falsified student records, acknowledged in June that it did not turn up evidence justifying the charges. “It was very, very disruptive and very distracting to the organization,” ITT…

Higher stadium price looms: Hurricanes likely to blow up costs for construction projects

The Gulf Coast hurricanes may push construction costs sharply higher for several years, experts say, potentially adding millions of dollars in costs to the $625 million football stadium as well as other public projects in their early stages. “Even a 1-percent cost increase on a project like [the stadium] is significant, and the effects from these hurricanes is likely to be higher than that,” said Patrick Barkey, an economist and director of economic and policy studies at the Miller College…

NOTIONS: It’s crazy, but I’m still thankful after all these tears

It’s a Saturday night in late October. I am at ease, in the arms of a woman, among 700 swaying souls. We’re at a place called the Music Mill. We arrived a few hours ago with six friends, only two of whom I knew just seven months before. (You must forgive me, for I still measure time from March 5, the day my wife, Pam, died and my world shattered and started anew.) Amos Lee, a young singer-songwriter, is at…

TAWN PARENT Commentary: Go beyond the turkey on Thanksgiving

Too much enthusiasm can do you in. Three years ago, my family volunteered to deliver Thanksgiving dinner for Meals on Wheels. In a moment of excessive gusto, I decided we should throw ourselves into the holiday spirit for the occasion. We spent days practicing “Over the River and Through the Woods,” with which we planned to enchant recipients at each stop. On the big day, I stuffed my 2-year-old into a fringed Indian costume, against his will. My husband, reluctantly,…

Questions fly over trading in Guidant stock: SEC among regulators scrutinizing share sales

A Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and a fresh batch of lawsuits are prompting more questions about whether anyone used inside information to unload Guidant Corp. shares before the company’s stock began to slide. The Indianapolis-based medical-device maker, which is riding a wave of bad news dating to last spring, disclosed Nov. 7 that the SEC launched “a formal inquiry” into certain product disclosures and stock trading. That means the commission has questions about insider trading, and it’s armed with…

Grant Communications Inc.: Cellular merger brings growth to local retailer Business expansion beats owner’s initial expectations

Cellular phones may be ubiquitous today, but they weren’t in 1987 when Elkhart-born Adam Grant spotted an Atlanta neighbor talking into a two-way radio that doubled as a phone. The communications device was introduced by Nextel, which rolled out a mobile phone that same year. Intrigued by the innovation, Grant began a journey taking him from Atlanta to Houston and back to his home state. He opened his first central Indiana mobile-phone store in April 1998, and now Grant Communications…

Incentive search shot down: University Loft eyes Tennessee after Hancock County spurns request to create a TIF district

Hancock County Commissioners’ unwillingness to consider creating a Tax Increment Financing district has sent a growing Indianapolis-based manufacturer looking for a new expansion site, possibly out of state. University Loft Co. CEO James N. Jannetides said he was continually rebuffed over a months-long process to get the tax incentives his company needed to bring 200-plus jobs to the county directly east of Marion County. Now Jannetides said he might look to consolidate manufacturing in Tennessee where he opened a plant…

MASTER OF THE PLAN: Ultra-prepared president has Purdue primed for ‘pre-eminence’

It’s half-past eight on a Monday morning and Martin Jischke is at his desk, poring over notes. This is how Purdue University’s president spends his days and most of his nights-preparing to be prepared. At any time, Jischke could be interacting with students, alumni, faculty, legislators or business leaders. He wants to be ready for their questions with clear, articulate answers, no matter the subject. His responses seem off-thecuff, but make no mistake: Jischke has studied and considered his position…

What’s up with kids (us) today? CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary:

News flash: Many kids today show little respect for or fear of authority, or anything else for that matter. Did you catch Ruth Holladay’s Nov. 8 column in The Indianapolis Star about the vandalized deer sculpture on the DePauw University campus? A life-size sculpture of an eightpoint buck was created by New York artist Marc Swanson and donated to the school by the Butler Family Foundation at a cost of five figures. It was a beautiful piece of public art,…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Hilbert’s next act: Jumping into private equity game

Stephen Hilbert suffered another legal defeat last week. But don’t bet the founder and ex-CEO of Conseco Inc. is sitting around feeling sorry for himself. In fact, this fall Hilbert, 59, is quietly launching a major new business, one that will get him back into the acquisition game, a field he savored during his two decades atop Conseco. Details are sketchy, because Hilbert isn’t talking. But here’s what a little snooping turned up: Attorneys in July filed papers with the…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: We need to push harder to foster a tech economy

You have to give the folks at Techpoint, the advocacy group for technology-oriented business in Indiana, plenty of credit for stamina. For eight years, these f o r wa r d – l o o k i n g folks have been carefully measuring the state’s progress in what was once called the high-tech economy. And for each of those eight years, the message has been depressingly consistent: We remain at the back of the pack. That’s not for lack…

Database puts 800 technology researchers in reach: Indiana Information Network hopes to link businesses with industry expertise through extensive online portal

A Web-based melting pot of intellectual resources intended to aid technology transfer to the market boasts 800 researchers in 40 fields that businesses can tap for help. Indiana Innovation Network is an offshoot of Access Technology Across Indiana, or ATAIN, which was formed about 12 years ago as an alliance of universities, research institutions and businesses statewide. The alliance, led by John Schneider, assistant vice president for industry research at Purdue, helps research facilities commercialize their technology. IIN, founded by…

State revamps I-Light expansion project: Funding restored, but network limited to universities

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has given high-speed Internet project I-Light the green light, but with a twist from its original intent. He agreed this month to support the final stages of funding for the project, which began in 1999 and connected supercomputers at Indiana University, Purdue University and IUPUI. The aim was to expand Indiana’s digital infrastructure by connecting 15 cities via a fiber-optic network. Under his directive, though, only universities and related research parks can tap into the network,…

GERALD BEPKO Commentary: Another reason I’m proud to be a Hoosier

Ashley Crouse was an attractive, talented, 21-year-old junior at Indiana University’s flagship campus in Bloomington who was filled with passion for good causes. On April 12, in one of those events that shake our beliefs to the core, she lost her life in an auto accident. At the time of her death, Ashley was a leader of IU students in efforts to raise funds for the Riley Hospital for Children through a dance marathon. These efforts began in 1991 when…

Another chapter added to Central Library debacle: Firm accused of flawed garage design sues library

The New York City firm that performed structural engineering for the world’s tallest building has filed suit against the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, which last year accused it of inept engineering on the parking garage beneath the six-story Central Library addition. Thornton Tomasetti Engineers, the structural mastermind behind the 1,483-foot Petronas Towers in Malaysia, said it is still owed more than $750,000 for services it performed for the library project. The suit was filed Oct. 17 in Shelby Circuit Court,…

SPORTS: IU sneaking up on Purdue, but not on its leader

One year ago, I used this column to be critical of my alma mater, Indiana University, while lauding upstate rival Purdue. In the nearly five years I’ve been writing for Indianapolis Business Journal, no column of mine has received as much reaction as that one. And while 90 percent of that piece was devoted to the athletics programs-football, in particular-the 10 percent in which I referred to the respective images and leaderships of Indiana and Purdue received the most attention….

Auto firms steer clear of a trial: Automotive Finance Corp., Dealer Services settle suits, sidelining 12 employees

Vehicle auction giant Adesa Inc. and a firm founded by ex-employees have halted a demolition derby in which each alleged the other tried to wreck its competing vehicle finance business. Prominent in the settlement reached last week in Hamilton Superior Court between Adesa’s Automotive Finance Corp. and newcomer Dealer Services Corp.-both based in Carmel-is a requirement that a dozen DSC employees take paid leaves of absence ranging from two to six months. A u t o m o t ive…

INVESTING: Use tax laws to your advantage, but don’t go overboard

Taxes may be one of two guarantees in life. But that doesn’t mean we have no control over how much we pay. History shows we’ll go to great lengths to trim our tax bill. Since the U.S. government enacted the income tax shortly before World War I, Americans have been changing their behavior to avoid paying taxes. In most cases, people act in ethical and legal ways because the government creates a tax incentive to do certain things. IRA retirement…

Crown Hill’s land in play: Cemetery negotiating 66-acre property sale with local developer

Carmel-based Brenwick Development Co., known for luxury residential developments in Hamilton County, has struck a deal to buy 66 acres of land at the north end of Crown Hill Cemetery. Brenwick has signed a letter of intent to purchase the wooded land, cemetery President Keith Norwalk confirmed. Negotiations between Brenwick and Crown Hill are in the early stages, Norwalk stressed. He said there won’t be a closing of the transaction anytime soon. “There will be significant negotiation before it’s a…