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NOTIONS: Modest proposal to make regional officials heroes

TO: Elected officials in Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Madison, Morgan and Shelby counties FROM: Bruce Hetrick, Marion County Center Township peon Years ago, I wrote an advertisement for my boss. Under the headline “A different drummer,” it began: “One way to lead is to find a parade and step before it. A better way is to start the parade and keep it going.” Well, my friends, as stewards of central Indiana’s suburban communities, you face an unprecedented opportunity to…

BEHIND THE NEWS: REIT run leaves analysts ‘worried and optimistic’Ex-executive settles with SEC

Mall developer Simon Property Group Inc. and many of the nation’s other top real estate investment trusts have earned investors huge returns since 2000, so huge that continued gains seem unlikely. Or do they? That’s the million-dollar question as investors close the book on 2004, one of the best years in the history of REITs. For the 12 months, Simon posted a total return of 47 percent, while REITs overall returned 31 percent. It was the fifth straight year REITs…

Cancer plan enters action phase: State health initiative unveils multi-pronged strategy to take on deadly disease

But Dr. Greg Wilson, the department’s commissioner who stepped down Jan. 25 due to the change in administrations, realizes it’s going to take more than money to snuff out unhealthful habits, such as smoking. “Three-hundred-thousand dollars will not cure cancer in Indiana,” Wilson said. “We really have to utilize the private sec- tor and we really have to involve all the participants.” Those participants include 110 organizations that make up the Indiana Cancer Consortium, an effort initiated in 2001 to…

Making room for art: Renovated northeast-side factory to target artist tenants

An Indianapolis native with an interest in troubled real estate has set his sights on creating an arts center in a former factory in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood. Investor Robby Richards has purchased the former Atlas Engine Works at 2045 Andrew J. Brown Ave. and is in the process of cleaning it up to lease to artists and others interested in the space. Richards hasn’t formally marketed the space and only recently hooked up with a broker, but he said word…

Legal limelight:

Counsel from an Indianapolis law firm will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court in April that an annual truck fee charged by the state of Michigan should be struck down. If the high court agrees, trucking firms in Indiana and around the nation could see more than $70 million in fees paid since 1995 refunded. Trucking firms have a lot riding on Scopelitis Garvin Light & Hanson. A ruling upholding the Michigan fee could embolden other states to adopt similar…

INVESTING: Ebay still shines among techies despite poor quarter

So Ebay Inc. got clocked last week. The stock dropped 20 percent in one day after reporting earnings that missed the consensus estimate. Money managers all over were shaking their heads after getting so used to the company’s easily beating estimates, then raising the bar for the next quarter. Ebay’s story is amazing and I am impressed by the management of the company and the still-dominating stock price. Ebay is one of the most recognized brands around and the company…

EYE ON THE PIE: Income tax surcharge to hit only 1 in 20

Gov. Mitch Daniels in his Jan. 18 State of the State address called for many changes. He sought to put aside partisan differences and private calls for privilege. Immediately he was abandoned by many in his own party. The idea that drew the most attention was the governor’s request for a one-year, 1-percent surcharge in taxes on those with income above $100,000. There might be some confusion about what the governor meant. Are we going to tax that part of…

Advocacy office leader will keep job with state: Daniels administration retains Kernan appointee, who took new position in July

Amid all the resignations and terminations in state government recently, at least one holdover appointed by the previous administration is remaining on the job. And small-business advocates could not be more pleased. David Dorff, whom former Gov. Joe Kernan tabbed in July to lead the state’s new Office of Small Business Advocacy, received word from Gov. Mitch Daniels in early January that he would remain on staff. Kernan unveiled the agency last summer as part of a series of initiatives…

Duke scratches spec itch on far north side: Nine Parkwood doesn’t signal new building boom

A strong leasing year in the Meridian corridor Class A office submarket led Duke Realty Corp. to break ground on a speculative office building, but local experts don’t expect other developers to follow Duke’s lead anytime soon. Site work has begun on Nine Parkwood Crossing, the final building in Indianapolis-based Duke’s project on 96th Street east of Meridian Street. Completion is set for January 2006. Minnesota-based American Family Insurance will occupy 45,000 square feet of the building, moving its offices…

WellPoint gets warm welcome on market: Analysts see many reasons for stock’s attractiveness

The new year dawned bright for WellPoint Inc., with the freshly formed company’s stock price in the middle of what one analyst called “somewhat extraordinary” growth. Shares for the insurer jumped nearly $8 apiece on Dec. 1 to close at $109.10 the first day they traded under the WellPoint Inc. name. Before that date, the shares traded under Anthem Inc. Steady growth continued from there. The price hit a 52-week high Jan. 19 when it closed at $123.60, according to…

Employers target obesity through wellness programs: Overweight workers contribute to higher health costs

Companies enjoy seeing an increase in their bottom line as a reflection of positive growth. They don’t, however, like to see growth in employee “bottoms,” as evidenced by a national obesity epidemic that is becoming a public health crisis and is cutting into corporate profits through increased health care costs. A study by the not-for-profit, nonpartisan Trust for America’s Health reported that nearly 119 million American adults-65 percent-are overweight or obese. The group warns that obesity may soon overtake tobacco…

Carter avoids blame game-so far: Museum proposal doesn’t pass judgment on past practices

Now he’s proposing a solution that’s focused on the future-even as it tacitly endorses past spending practices at the Hamilton County living history museum. His plan to establish an independent Conner Prairie and equip it with a $94 million endowment may well resolve the immediate issue, but it won’t answer the questions that drew him into the matter in mid-2003. “There have been serious claims brought to my attention about potential misallocation of trust funds that warrants review by this…

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Boards and commissions moratorium prompts concern

Expect House Bill 1188, authored by Rep. Rich McClain, R-Logansport, and awaiting a hearing in the new Committee on Government and Regulatory Reform, to provoke a lot of questions and controversy. In fact, the measure already has caused some panic among assorted business, professional, trade and local government interests. McClain’s measure, which should receive a favorable reception in the new panel chaired by red-tape-busting Rep. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo, would place a one-year moratorium on the operation of all-yes, all-statutorily created…

Roche CEO search continues with no end in sight: Sudden departure of Madaus last October opened up broad search for successor

Roche Diagnostics Corp. is still searching for a CEO to lead its North American headquarters in Indianapolis, and the company has cast a wide net. Roche is searching “internally, locally, nationally and internationally” for the right executive to replace Martin D. Madaus, spokeswoman Doyia Turner said. Madaus, 45, left in October to become president and CEO of Millipore Corp. in Massachusetts, Turner said. The search is going well, she said, but the company has no time frame for completing it….

Telecom bill would cut power of state regulators:

Legislation backed by SBC Indiana would dial down the state’s authority to regulate telecommunications in the face of new competition from wireless and cable TV providers. House Bill 1518 likely faces static from regulators and consumer interests in its call to block the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission from setting pricing and terms on basic phone service after 2007, and to strip the agency’s leverage over broadband services. As a practical matter, the IURC already lacks authority on broadband, given previous…

Malpractice proposals clash with Indiana law: Federal reform efforts could create confusion

President Bush’s proposal to lower health care costs by capping medical malpractice awards could create questions in Indiana, where state lawmakers passed similar legislation 30 years ago. Bush made his case to reform health care earlier this month in Madison County, Ill., across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. The American Tort Reform Association has called the county the “judicial hellhole” of the nation because of a reputation for huge jury awards won by plaintiffs. The president wants to place…

BULLS & BEARS: Investors do well to avoid asset-allocation infatuation

Asset allocation is a term regularly used in the investment industry. A close cousin of diversification, it refers to the division of an investor’s dollars between a variety of different “asset classes,” and is generally considered to be a tool to control risk. The two most basic asset classes are simply stocks and bonds. There was a time when simple “models” were employed by institutional investors, such as pension funds, with the rule of thumb formula being a portfolio of…

Retail beginning to take hold on Michigan Road: Browning eyes 100 acres for retail or mixed-use

Browning Investments Inc. has nearly 100 acres under contract in the rapidly growing Michigan Road retail corridor. The locally based developer hasn’t yet cemented plans for the land, but they could include purely retail or a mixeduse development with multifamily, flex/office and retail components, said Vice President of Development James W. Browning. Most retail on the site would likely be highway-oriented, such as hotels or outlets of national chain restaurants, he said. The parcel, under contract from various owners, lies…

VIEWPOINT: Lack of basic skills hurts competitiveness

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? There is a businesseducation slant to the age-old argument. The business community contends that the state’s colleges and universities are not producing enough graduates to meet their needs. Highereducation advocates, on the other hand, say the qualified graduates are in place, but a lack of jobs within Indiana sends them packing to other states. We’ll leave that argument for another day. There is another major workplacepreparedness issue, however, that is rightfully drawing…

Studies praised, panned in convention, stadium debate: Proponents say marketplace provides more evidence

Numbers may well tell the story about the need for a larger convention center and new stadium in Indianapolis, but the question remains: Is it fact or fiction? Even as proponents work to sell lawmakers on a plan to expand the Indiana Convention Center and replace the RCA Dome, some skeptics aren’t sold on all the information used to make the case. “There are a lot of questions [decision makers] ought to be asking,” said Rick Eckstein, a Villanova University…