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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Web conferences have come a long way, baby

I can change my mind. It’s painful, like yanking off my right arm for a slightly upgraded replacement. But it happens. For a long time, I resisted holding Web conferences. As the name implies, Web conferences are held over the Web, rather than in person. For years, most of the ones I’d been in were videoconferences with grainy, slowly updated images of talking heads where it was difficult even to know who was speaking. I didn’t like the document-centric online…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Property tax reform will change development landscape

As the country faces the “subprime crisis” and its effect on the availability of financing, we know local real estate markets have seen brighter days. Fortunately, we also know this crisis will pass. If you are a real estate developer or land-use professional, there will be many opportunities ahead. However, it is important to consider that the regulatory landscape in Indiana relative to land-use development will not be the same as the one you knew prior to the current market….

As politics finds new mediums, local firms are along for the ride

In this year’s election cycle, the policy watchword is "change." But amid the partisan debate, another type of
change is revolutionizing the way candidates track voters and spread messages. Communication tools like
text messaging, social networking and YouTube are increasingly integral to successful politics.

‘BE PICKY’: LESSONS LEARNED

At Bjava Coffee & Tea, owner Bj Davis stocks the joint with as many local products as she can find, regularly auditions different roasters, and tries not to sigh when her customers order the spiced macchiato to go-even though she says it’s best drunk from an open bowl, for the “aromatics.” Davis is picky when it comes to taste, which is all the more impressive considering that she didn’t even drink coffee until she began working part-time in a coffee…

SPORTS: Tony Dungy is much more than a football coach

Of this, that and the other: It was my pleasure to co-moderate (with IBJ’s Anthony Schoettle) last week’s IBJ “Power Breakfast” featuring Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy. This was the third year I’d shared the stage with Dungy, the Super Bowl-winning coach who most of us know by now is also a best-selling author, a man of deep faith, and a committed social activist, the latter best exemplified by his involvement with his mentoring program, All-Pro Dads. A Westin Hotel…

EDITORIAL: Preparing for vote will make it count: Educate yourself before election

Preparing for vote will make it count Educate yourself before election Barring a repeat of the 2000 presidential election debacle that took more than a month to sort out, we are a little over a week away from finding out who will become our country’s next commander in chief. Although IBJ has a policy of not endorsing candidates, we do have some other recommendations as central Indiana heads into the homestretch of this hotly contested race. For weeks, political pundits…

INVESTING: Don’t get complacent; stocks may fall again

Hurricane season in the tropics is coming to a close. Some damaging storms came through, but nothing Katrina-like, and for that everyone is grateful. No, the real devastation this year wasn’t in the tropics. It came on Wall Street in the form of the stock market crash. And there is no denying that a crash is exactly what happened. The scientists at the National Weather Service have a system of rating the strength of a hurricane. Sustained winds of 74-95…

Despite subsidiaries’ sales, Ontario struggles with debt: Lawsuit sheds light on tech holding company

Over the last five years, Daleville’s Ontario Corp. has successfully divested two of central Indiana’s larger high-tech firms. It’s had less luck resolving its debts. This month, a federal court in Indianapolis reopened a lawsuit filed three years ago by Charles Craig-one of Ontario’s former executives-and his wife, Barbara. Their complaint alleges Ontario defaulted on $1.3 million in promissory notes. According to court documents, the company east of Anderson provided the couple a series of 10-year notes in 2001 on…

No perfect fit for Main Street: Small-business owners fall on both sides of political line

Joe the Plumber has been getting plenty of attention in recent weeks, but what about Kimberly the Merchant or John the Manufacturer? For all the talk about whether this year’s presidential candidates favor Wall Street or Main Street, there’s little discussion of the fact that neither Democrat Barack Obama nor Republican John McCain may be perfect for all small-business owners. Indianapolis manufacturing firm owner John Raine is backing McCain because of his stance on taxes and labor unions. Local shop…

Surviving the season: Retail landlords worry that tight holiday budgets could doom some retailers

Retailers usually get that Christmas-morning feeling of anticipation for the holiday shopping season. This year, many are just hoping to survive. As consumers tighten their spending to cope with higher prices and shrinking savings, stores big and small are feeling the pinch. Some stores, including Linens ‘n Things, have filed for bankruptcy and plan to liquidate. Others, like Circuit City, still are fighting for survival. The holiday shopping season is looking more like a make-or-break period than the annual windfall-an…

Flat passenger counts not seen as threat to paying debt on midfield terminal

The big debt payments on the $1.1 billion midfield terminal at Indianapolis International Airport start coming due in January–just
as a recession hits and the battered airline industry cuts capacity. Despite the likely prospect of fewer passengers than
projected in the next year or two, airport managers say they don’t anticipate problems shouldering the roughly $40 million
a year in debt burden over the next 30 years for the new facility.

VIEWPOINT: Throw crooks in jail, fire dummies

The $700 billion bailout of our country’s financial system may be necessary, but it ultimately will prove useless unless real change is enacted to prevent a repeat performance of this fiasco. What the American people should be demanding is for someone to give them a clear explanation of what really happened to create the financial mess. Remember, after the market crash of 2000, the Wall Street research scandal (where nearly every Wall Street firm admitted to lying to clients through…

Ousted mayor guides local up-and-comers: Peterson named moderator for prestigious group

Voters decided last Election Day that they’d had enough of Bart Peterson, but the former mayor is in demand with academics, a think tank, and now the city’s premier leadership network. Peterson is moderator of the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series, which introduces “emerging leaders” to Indianapolis and its problems. “It’s something I never went through as a class member. I’ve always envied those who did,” Peterson said of the series, which accepts just 25 applicants each year. “It’s…

NOTIONS: Lessons learned from the candidates’ communications

Have I told you about my e-mail from Sarah Palin? Did you know that Obama campaign manager David Plouffe briefs me on campaign strategy? I’ve let slip, haven’t I, that Bill Clinton invited me to his place to munch on potato chips and watch Hillary’s televised debate? I receive streaming video from Gov. Mitch Daniels letting me look in on campaign stops statewide. His opponent, Jill Long Thompson, connects via Facebook. And at 3 a.m. one Saturday, Barack Obama texted…

For funding, developers may need to think outside box: Amid tight credit markets, getting a project built often takes alternative financing sources, creative approaches

Although the spigot of bank financing has slowed to a trickle, money to fund commercial development projects remains available from alternative sources. Just ask David Amick, executive director of Premier Capital Corp., a local lender that uses federal funds to help finance expansions. “We’ve got money to lend,” he said. “I’ve got that [message] hung on the door.” The fragile credit markets have nearly diminished the ability of companies to borrow. But lenders such as Amick insist the money is…

MARKETING: Take ethical high road and set good example

A student bartender explained that the bar owner requires his employees to serve cheap liquor in place of the more expensive liquors listed on the menus. “The customers don’t know the difference. So who’s hurt?” she asked. What difference does it make that customers pay for a top-quality product and actually receive a low-quality substitute? Let’s see. What kind of ethical standard is the bar owner setting for his young employees? How many businesses down the road will be tainted…

You-review-it Monday

There was a lot to choose from this weekend.

Did you pick Hubbard Street Dance or David Byrne at Clowes? Or Gregory Hancock’s “Oh My Goth”? Stop in at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, or the…

Daniels drops lottery privatization plan

Gov. Mitch Daniels said today that he is dropping the idea of privatizing the Hoosier Lottery as an option of funding a college scholarship program after the U.S. Department of Justice said such a move would not comply with federal law. The Oct. 16 opinion, which Daniels’ office said was requested by Indiana and New […]

Markets down after another rough week

Wall Street has ended the week with another sharp loss, joining stock markets around the world that fell on the growing belief that a punishing economic recession is at hand.It was a dramatic day, with the Dow Jones industrials falling more than 500 points soon after trading began, and – following the pattern of recent […]

Titans turn Polian’s policy on Colts

The Tennessee Titans are willing to pay what the Indianapolis Colts would not for three players, and now hope to use the trio against the AFC South rival Colts when the teams square…