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MADISON COUNTY Production has begun at Nestlé in Anderson After nearly two years of planning, construction and hiring, Nestlé Corp. has begun churning out Nesquik Ready-to-Drink and Coffee-mate liquid products from its $360 million plant in Anderson. The Swiss company announced in July 2006 that it would build the 880,000-squarefoot plant and create 300 jobs. […]
Two executives with longtime ties to The Steak n Shake Co. have joined a dissident Texas investor in his quest to overhaul
the Indianapolis-based restaurant chain. Shareholders who have agreed to work with Sardar Biglari include a former board member
the company once described as a “modern-day founder” of the restaurant chain, along with a former partner in Kelley & Partners
Ltd., the investment firm led by company patriarch E.W. Kelley before his 2003 death.
When Kathy Fitzgerald has a group of 85 day-camp kids to entertain, she needs someone who can hold their attention-easier said than done considering they range in age from 6 to 13, not counting the 12 young adults who work as camp counselors. If an act bombs, the result can be chaos. That’s why Fitzgerald, assistant park manager for Broad Ripple Park, has locally based FamilyTime Entertainment Inc. on her speed dial. FamilyTime can deliver a fully produced magic show,…
A weak dollar. Lost jobs. Liquidity challenges. These and other perceived barriers tend to unfortunately mute short-term considerations for Indiana businesses thinking about international expansion. The reality? Globalization of U.S. businesses is alive and well, and proceeding at a breakneck pace. In fact, America and the world remain embroiled in likely the greatest commercial transformation since the Industrial Revolution with the full integration of U.S. markets in an open era of innovation and productivity. How does this play out in…
One of the great struggles of the day-Airlines vs. Human Beings-has taken some interesting turns lately, but the score remains the same as it has been for years: The human beings are not winning. Consider these touchdowns, so to speak, just from the last couple of weeks: A piece of a wing detaches itself from a US Airways jet and smacks into several of the plane’s windows before falling to the ground somewhere in Maryland. “May I have your attention,…
Purdue and Indiana universities have become magnets for international students. Purdue is third in foreign student enrollment among all U.S. private and public colleges and universities. Indiana is No. 15. Another Big Ten school-the University of Illinois-is No. 2. The University of Southern California is the leader, with 7,000 foreign students. Purdue currently has 4,994 foreign students enrolled in graduate and undergraduate programs, while IU has 4,027. This year, overall, there are about 39,102 students enrolled at Purdue’s main campus…
On ATA, you’re on vacation. That catchy tag line from the past has taken on new meaning to the 600 or so Indianapolis employees who were abruptly and unceremoniously terminated April 3 when the airline shut down for good. The singsong melody that accompanied those words in ATA’s marketing is now a dissonant tune for them and the thousands of ticketed passengers who were left stranded. The airline whose name and jingle once evoked images of fun in the sun,…
Economists call it a “virtuous cycle” when successful entrepreneurs plow their gains into new businesses. Jim Pearson calls
it another day on the job. The former Suros Surgical Systems Inc. CEO is attempting to repeat what he already has done: Build
a company to bring a promising medical device all the way from the drawing board to the market.
The first time Herb Simon ever met Jim Morris, it was to ask him for money. Fifty grand. To be fair, it wasn’t Morris’ money. It belonged to Lilly Endowment Inc. Simon was at the endowment, which Morris directed at the time, to ask for a grant to support the Jewish Community Center. He got the money. This past week, Simon had another request of Morris … to replace Donnie Walsh as president of Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Again, Morris…
I recently visited the town of Concord, Mass., known not only as the site of the “shot heard ’round the world,” but also as home to many influential authors during the 1800s. Just outside town is Thoreau’s Walden Pond, and in Concord you can visit the homes of other writers of the era, including Emerson, Alcott and Hawthorne. If any of these literary transcendentalists were around today, it is doubtful they would care much, if anything, about the evolution of…
The owners of Market Tower–the city’s fourth-tallest skyscraper–tried to sell the 31-story building this month but apparently
were unable to generate bids that met expectations. The timing of the sale–at a point when financing large deals is difficult–suggests
the owners may be eager to unload the asset.
“I moved to Indiana on purpose,” I’ve been telling people since the move from Florida last August. The Indianapolis area attracted me and my business for a number of reasons-reasons which, I’m more convinced each day, Hoosiers take for granted. Someone might want to consider the good that’s right in front of our collective noses: Unlike Florida, whence I emigrated, people here know who can get things done, where businesses are, and whose reputation is good. A state full of…
Less than a week after ATA Airlines Inc. filed for bankruptcy and shut down April 3, Barbara Greene, a 24-year employee, was feeling good about finding a new job. The 52-year-old former government affairs worker coordinated the issuance of permits planes needed for landing in or flying over other countries. Her years with the airline included work with international agencies and travel to foreign locales. She credits her positive outlook to the help she’s receiving from a WorkOne training center…
One thing that virtually every bit of serious research on education has revealed is that parents play the biggest role in educational outcomes. My own work in this area found that more than 90 percent of the differences in regional educational attainment can be attributed solely to the educational history of parents. Families play a far bigger role in educational success than any differences that occur across schools. So, what then does this mean for public policy? In my last…
As the U.S. dollar continues to weaken against foreign currencies, it actually benefits many Indiana companies that are actively pursuing sales abroad. M a n u fa c t u r e r s should pursue crossborder sales and supply-chain relationships to capitalize on the improved price points resulting from the lower dollar. However, manufacturers should be aware of the reach of U.S. patent law, which U.S. courts are regularly extending to cover activities performed outside our borders. Capitalizing on…
Andy Fry has played in five bands in the past 10 years or so, serving in various capacities, including singer/songwriter.
He and his seven bandmates of Indianapolis-based Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s have just recorded their second album,
“Animal!”
HHGregg Inc.’s audacious expansion strategy is about to get its biggest test. Since 1999, the Indianapolis-based electronics and appliance retailer has charged into eight new metro areas, adding 78 stores in such markets as Atlanta; Knoxville, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Charlotte, N.C. The company doesn’t tiptoe in. It starts with multiple stores to justify the cost of building distribution infrastructure and launching an advertising blitz. The strategy has allowed it to swiftly build major market shares everywhere it’s gone. Now,…
Nearly 30 years ago, former State Sen. Katie Wolf appeared at a “women in politics” conference in Gary. Afterward, Jill Long Thompson, then 25, marched up and asked for advice. Thompson had her sights set on joining the Valparaiso City Council. Wolf offered her phone number. She soon found Thompson waiting on her doorstep, bursting with questions about how a female Democrat should campaign in a conservative, rural area. “What struck me was her determination to win,” Wolf remembered. “After…
This is not a political endorsement. It is, however, a cry of outrage that a candidate for president is attacked for speaking the truth. Barack Obama has been quoted as saying, “You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And it’s not surprising then [that local residents] get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy…
Michael Grueninger, president of Grueninger Travel Group, has learned since his company bought Ambassadair in 2005 from now-defunct
ATA Airlines that many travelers once enamored with dirt-cheap fares they can book online want something more than low price.
They are willing to pay for service.
