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J.J.B. Hilliard W.L. Lyons Inc., a unit of Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc., is being sold to Houchens Industries Inc., a Bowling Green, Ky., holding company that owns businesses in construction, insurance, recycling, warehousing and grocery retailing. Financial terms were not disclosed. Hilliard Lyons is a Louisville, Ky.-based investment firm with 10 offices, including […]
Two decades ago the southern Indiana town of Seymour suffered from double-digit unemployment, a degraded tax base and an outflow of residents. Today, the town, located between Indianapolis and Louisville, is adding jobs along with housing, hotels and restaurants. The key was a 1986 decision by Toyota supplier Aisin Seiki to locate its first U.S. […]
One of New York’s premiere poster designers is featured in a solo show at the Dean Johnson Gallery, while one of the most popular stand-up comics in the country stops at Conseco Fieldhouse. Last week I wanted to tell you about the Paula Scher show at Dean Johnson Gallery. Alas, space was short and there wouldn’t have been room to show you any of the work. Where’s the fun in that? Now, with more space, we can show you some…
You gotta love Steve Hilbert. He conceived of an idea and had the strength and focus to achieve an extraordinary result that he sustained over a number of years. … He will undoubtedly return to the grand game of entrepreneurship. If given the opportunity, I would be inclined to invest in his next venture. -July 10, 2000 I penned the above prediction in this column on the anointment of Gary Wendt as CEO and savior of Conseco Inc. After Stephen…
Susan Brooks seems to have returned to her roots in her new role with Ivy Tech Community College. The former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana began Oct. 1 leading the post-secondary educational institution’s work force and economic development functions, as well as becoming its general counsel. Brooks spent her growing-up years in Fort Wayne watching her father, a high school teacher and football coach, push his students and players on the football field and in the classroom….
Entertainment is a big part of a $480 million development proposed for the south side of downtown–plans include a 3,400-seat
theater to attract the likes of Bruce Springsteen and first-run tours of Broadway shows such as “Wicked.” The question is
whether the city can support another midsize venue.
If you are among those who believe-and I am among them-that the University of Notre Dame treated Tyrone Willingham unjustly three years ago when it fired him as its football coach just three seasons into his tenure, then you probably share my sense that what goes around has come around in South Bend. If you also are among those who believe-and, again, I am among them-that one of the reasons Charlie Weis is a chunky fellow is because he’s so…
Two years ago, Indianapolis insurance broker Greg Wright started hawking an old kind of health insurance in a new way. He calls it a mini med. Others call it a limited-benefit health plan. It allows employers or their employees to pick coverage from a menu of items and receive insurance for only those items. If they don’t pick emergency room visits, for example, they’re not insured for them. It’s the kind of bare-bones benefits some retailers and restaurants, such as…
When I graduated seven years ago with a minor in leadership development, I really thought I knew it all: Leadership theory, group stages of development, change management tactics, etc. My professional career has always been tied to “leadership,” but the more experience I have in the field, the more I struggle with what “leadership” really means. I get frustrated daily when I hear phrases such as “we build leaders,” “we develop leaders for tomorrow,” “leadership is our mantra.” What do…
In a case with huge financial implications for Indianapolis Power & Light and Virginia parent AES Corp., a labor union and
16 IPL retirees have asked regulators to force the utility to pay up to $115 million to back-fund a retirement plan it spun
off in 2001.
Ten times a year, for 24 hours, a select group of executives leaves the comforts of career to embark on an experience meant to mold the participants into better leaders. They gather on Thursday evenings for dinner, bunk overnight at a hotel, and spend the following day listening to the likes of Dennis Perkins, author of “Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition.” Or, they may travel to Saint Meinrad in southern Indiana…
The Indianapolis Newspaper Guild Local 70 filed a grievance Nov. 9 on behalf of fired Indianapolis Star editorial writer RiShawn Biddle. Guild officials expect to meet with Star management this month to discuss Biddle’s dismissal. Biddle was fired Oct. 31 by the Star for using a racial slur in reference to City-County Council President Monroe Gray in an online blog. “We’re acting to protect the contract, and due process,” said Abe Aamidor, a Star reporter and guild president. “We’re not…
According to the article titled “Traffic Transformation?” in the Oct. 15 IBJ, the Indiana Department of Transportation is working on a roughly $600 million plan to relieve traffic congestion in the area of interstates 465 and 69. Hold on a second! What is really broken here? I contend little to nothing. Yes, roadways need maintenance and upkeep, but these roadways operate just fine. Because this area is congested at the morning and evening rush hour, the perception exists that these…
Few economic topics get more complicated than those about the U.S. dollar. The interrelated causes, effects and ramifications of changes in the value of the U.S dollar can make anyone’s head swim. Because the dollar has been the “reserve currency” for the world-the currency held in store by foreign central banks and used to settle economic trade in things like oil-the prolonged slide in the dollar’s value is of concern to many around the world. For example, the greenback has…
Embattled Finish Line Inc. has quietly sent the family that founded and ran its Man Alive chain packing. The company on Nov. 12 announced the appointment of former Haggar Clothing Co. executive Lou Spagna as president of the struggling 96-store urban apparel chain. Tucked in the press release was a quote from Finish Line President Glenn Lyon expressing “our appreciation to the Bublick family for the service they have provided.” It was a major overhaul. Gone are Jeff Bublick, 47,…
Students complained about Greg Ballard when he taught college business courses. The man they called “the Colonel” had strict
rules and high expectations. Frustrated, undergraduates sometimes tried to go over his head. His boss, Indiana Business College
administrator Marc Konesco, encountered them in his office. But students never got far. Konesco refused to overrule the Colonel’s
decisions. “I always said, ‘That’s his classroom,'” recalled Konesco, the college’s vice president of marketing and enrollment.
“His style was one where the students…
What started as Jim Brothers’ search for an assisted-living facility for his mother could end up as the region’s most comprehensive retirement “resort.” The president of The Bradford Group, an Indianapolis residential developer, has been working several months to get the zoning he needs for Copper Leaf. The 177-acre community on the east side of McCordsville would be home to 400 to 600 residents and sport a nine-hole public golf course. About 30 acres would be set aside for restaurants,…
If Circle Centre mall were built today, it would cost $420 million. Throw in another $60 million, and you’ve got the price
of Legends District-SoDo, a proposed mixed-use development on the south edge of downtown.
In this column 10 years ago, we told you that, typically, our “short” electionyear legislative sessions are swift and relatively sweet. With the biennial budget the priority of the long, odd-year sessions, significant fiscal matters are usually untouched in the short, even-year session. Major issues that threaten to divide often are left undebated as the two major political parties avoid issues making them look bad in the eyes of voters. Only a decade ago, lawmakers prepared to enter just such…
Like a lot of people-which is to say, most Indiana residents-I have long greeted going to the license bureau with the enthusiasm customarily reserved for dental surgery. The difference, of course, is that you get drugs for your root canal, but not even a double helping of nitrous oxide could make a fun afternoon out of getting new license plates. Well, hold on to your hats. I had to go to the license bureau twice last month, once for a…
