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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Speculators aren’t to blame for pain at the gas pump

Speculators are blamed for a number of bad things-lately, even high gas prices. It is fun to find villains. In fact, casting blame has replaced baseball this summer as the official sport of Congress. But it might do some good for the soul to ask just who these speculators are, and how they might affect gasoline prices. To begin with, it is worth understanding that the price of gasoline is largely determined by the price of oil today. Refinery capacity,…

SURF THIS: Finding a stray $500-a hint of what Mint can do

I received an email the other day offering some suggestions to save about $500 a year through a variety of basically painless financial moves. Most consisted of suggestions like “move this account, which is making next to nothing, to this bank where they’ll pay you 4 percent.” The email also recommended that I build an emergency fund, provided a list of all my account balances (everything from banking to credit cards to investments), pointed out the top purchases of the…

BEHIND THE NEWS: News from the front lines: More tough times ahead

The past 12 months have been hard to take, with all the gloom-anddoom headlines about the weak housing market, subprime credit crisis and softening economy. We’re all ready for some good news. Unfortunately, I can’t provide it here. That’s because executives on the front lines of Indiana business-those most tuned in to the twists and turns of the state’s economy-aren’t ready to call a turnaround yet. In second-quarter conference calls with analysts, the executives are trumpeting their firms’ ability to…

VIEWPOINT: Here’s what inclusion looks like

Diversity of people is a fact. Look around you on the street, in a store or at work. According to diversity experts at Roosevelt Thomas Consulting, diversity is “any collective mixture characterized by differences, similarities and related tensions.” Acceptance of our diverse reality is the first step toward creating a highly productive, inclusive workplace. Inclusion is an act. The object of inclusion management is to embed inclusion into management practices and the culture, since culture is “how we do things…

Startup NICO reassembles Suros’ management team: Medical-device maker aims to launch product soon

Medical-device maker Suros Surgical Systems was one of the fastest-growing companies in Indianapolis history. Just six years after forming it in 2000, founders sold it for $248 million. Is it any wonder they want to work together again? In late July, former Suros Chairman Jim Baumgardt and former Vice President of Sales Jeff Hanthorn joined locally based NICO Corp., the startup launched early this year by former Suros CEO Jim Pearson and Joseph Mark, one of Suros’ founders. The mission…

Marketing veteran Ray Compton unveils Webcasting venture at State Fair

Local radio icons Big John Gillis and Jeff Pibeon will be broadcasting live this year from the Indiana State Fair. But
you won’t find their show on any radio station. Gillis and Pigeon have been hired by locally based Compton Strategies to create
audio-only, Internet-based shows for area events, companies and entertainment venues.

State Fair brings in bounty of corporate sponsorships

An economic dry spell may have corporate America praying for rain, but tough times have led to a bountiful year at the
Indiana State Fair. Two weeks before the fair’s Aug. 6 start date, corporate sponsorships were running 22 percent ahead of
2007, surpassing $1.5 million for the first time.

SPORTS: NASCAR ill-prepared to race on hallowed ground

It would be piling on if I were to join the chorus of displeasure and disapproval following the 15th running … and stopping … and running … and stopping … and running … and stopping … and running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Aw, the heck with that. Clear the way while I pile on. For the second time in three years, the good folks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway-without throwing a punch-received a black eye from a…

Brightpoint moving HQ back to Indianapolis from Plainfield

Wireless-device distributor Brightpoint Inc. is moving its headquarters from Plainfield to northwest Indianapolis, near
where it was founded almost 20 years ago. The company, which has about 65 headquarters employees and about
1,000 workers in Indiana, plans to share a new building with software developer Interactive Intelligence
Inc. and engineering firm Woolpert Inc. along Interstate 465 north of West 71st Street.

Racquet Club Pro Shop continues record growth: Team sales pushing specialty retailer’s expansion

In the midst of a down economy and tepid interest in tennis, the only problem the Indianapolis Racquet Club Pro Shop has is where to expand next. Pushed by double-digit-percentage sales growth in nine of the last 12 years, the IRC Pro Shop has expanded from a 750-square-foot shoebox to become an industry giant in the specialty tennis category. Most tennis club pro shops are breakeven operations, but IRC officials said they have seen profit grow each of the last…

Budget cuts loom for arts, parks as mayor tries to lessen deficit

After Mayor Greg Ballard’s upset victory at the polls last November, local arts leaders were in a panic. They worried the
no-nonsense former Marine would put public safety on a pedestal and slash Indianapolis’ funding for cultural groups.

Commentary: Please copy this column

(In deference to ’60s radical Abbie Hoffman and his 1971 cult paperback “Steal This Book,” I hereby relinquish our copyright to this column and give you permission to copy it. I’ll tell you what to do with it later.) Silly me, I thought Mitch Daniels had really shaken things up and done a great job in his first four years as governor. To hear his Democratic opponents in the upcoming election tell it, you’d think he had provided uninspired leadership…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: What you might not know about messengers

I’d like to put in a kind word for one of the most underused tools in business. It lets you stay in contact with lots of others online, send and receive files, make phone calls, keep in touch with things at home, and even hold Web videoconferences, after a fashion. It’s known generically as “instant messaging,” but you may know it under any number of trade names: MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, AIM and many others. I use both MSN…

Hotels feeling travel slump: City occupany rates fall, but downtown operators performing well this year thanks to convention biz

Staggeringly high gasoline prices and a sputtering economy are preventing scores of would-be travelers from packing up their thirsty sport-utility vehicles and heading to their favorite vacation destinations. Nationwide, hotel occupancy rates slipped to 68 percent through June of this year, down from 71 percent the same time last year, according to the most recent data from Tennessee-based Smith Travel Research. For the most part, local hotel operators are feeling the same pain. Through the first six months of the…

INVESTING: Financials are way down; don’t be tempted to buy

They say the bodies are piled high on Wall Street of those who were right at the wrong time. Well, with all the soured predictions about financial stocks the last year, the grave diggers have been especially busy. It began around a year ago when Bear Stearns began to plunge, and a famous currency trader from England put a few hundred million dollars into the stock. It was at about $120 at the time. Then, Bear fell to $100 in…

Hat World shows sign of recovering from lackluster year

The locally based headwear retailer Hat World made a name for itself by snatching up competitors and opening hundreds of
stores around the country. However, after sluggish sales in the fiscal year that ended Feb. 2, the company–a
unit of Nashville, Tenn.-based Genesco Inc.–says it plans to open fewer stores than usual this year so
officials can put their focus back on existing operations.

A&E: On stage, the kids are alright

Last year, American Cabaret Theatre’s young adult production of “High School Musical” was, well, a very good high school musical. If you happened to be talked into going because your niece was in the cast, you would have had a surprisingly good time. This year ACT’s young adult “The Wiz” (running through Aug. 17) is similar. If this were a high school show, you’d be amazed at the vocal talent. If you approached it as children’s theater, you’d be impressed…

IU names Crean to AD search team

Indiana University President Michael McRobbie announced this afternoon that the school has formed a 13-person search committee to find a replacement for athletic director Rick Greenspan. The search committee will include faculty members, administrators and alumni. The search committee will be…

Law practices merge into 7-attorney firm

Two area law firms, Coleman Stevenson LLC and The Montel Law Firm PC, have merged. Coleman Stevenson specializes in corporate law, real estate, governmental services and civil litigation. The Montel Law Firm specializes in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and real estate and land development. The new firm, which has seven attorneys and three support […]

Tracy, Subway could be back in IRL

Open-wheel race driver Paul Tracy may not be done this year on the Indy Racing League circuit. This morning, Walker Racing officials told IBJ they continue to work with Subway Restaurants and other…