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Jury selection was expected to begin late this morning in the civil trial of Timothy Harcharik, a former Brightpoint Inc. worker accused of helping orchestrate an $11.9 million accounting fraud in the late 1990s. Harcharik, 53, served as Brightpoint’s director of risk management from 1997 to 2002. The Securities and Exchange Commission says that in […]
Patrick Industries Inc. has completed its purchase of Adorn LLC, another Elkhart maker of recreational vehicle and manufactured house components. The price was not disclosed. Publicly-traded Patrick generated $348 million in revenue last year and Adorn, $240 million. Patrick said the acquisition will add synergies in logistics, personnel, purchasing and other functions.
Because of the three-hour time difference between Indianapolis and Las Vegas, I won’t have much to say until this afternoon. I promise it’s the time difference and not that party last night at The Palms. I was working, promise. Asked…
Miasa Automotive LLC, which makes transmission parts, plans to open its first U.S. plant in Muncie. The Spanish company will hire 12 workers to make gearbox components. The company received nearly $90,000 in tax credits and other incentives from the state and Delaware County, according to Indiana Economic Development Corp.
This year’s TechPoint Mira Award winners included Indianapolis-based ExactTarget, ChaCha, of Carmel, and West Lafayette life science company Quadraspec Inc. The awards are given out annually by the not-for-profit to promote Indiana technology-based companies. This year’s winners, announced Friday, include: -Information Technology Company: ExactTarget, Indianapolis -Information Technology Gazelle Company: ChaCha, Carmel -Health & Life Sciences […]
John Delaney, a second-tier Brightpoint Inc. executive convicted of securities fraud last year, charges in a newly public
letter that upper management was in on the scheme. The 2004 letter implicates former Chief Financial Officer Phil Bounsall,
now executive vice president of locally based Walker Information.
A recent article in Strategy+business magazine estimated that “the world’s urban infrastructure needs a $41 trillion makeover” between now and 2030. The article explained that $41 trillion is roughly equivalent to the “2006 market capitalization of all shares held in all stock markets in the world.” Some experts think that “new technology” will be the answer, and it may be when nanotechnology takes over the world. For now, however, the trend usually reinforces the trend, and we do the same…
Virtually unnoticed in the spate of bills that emerged from the 2007 session of the Indiana General Assembly was creation of a new officer in state government who can be extremely helpful in the state’s economic development efforts. The law creating a Geographic Information Officer, or GIO, gives official status to an important discipline that has been blossoming over the last 25 years and is increasingly relied upon in business and political decision-making. A Geographic Information System is a collection…
This year’s recipients of Techpoint’s Mira awards include some of the area’s best-known technology startups as well as lower-profile firms that have racked up big achievements. On May 18, the technology trade group was scheduled to acknowledge the accomplishments of Hoosier entrepreneurs in information technology, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and education with its eighth annual gala at the Indiana Roof Ballroom downtown. “It’s always good to recognize companies and give them a pat on the back, put them on the…
Campaign finance records through the first quarter of 2007 show Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, has raised $176,950
in Indiana. That’s more than twice as much as one-time Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, his closest Republican rival.
The Indy Racing League is overhauling its sales effort, an initiative industry observers said could lead to an eight-figure annual title sponsorship and exponential growth for the league and its teams. Officials for the company tabbed to lead the revolution said there isn’t any sponsorship deal that won’t be considered by Speedway brass, including a title sponsorship for the Indianapolis 500, a sacred property once thought untouchable. Race fans have been focused on the Brickyard’s 2-1/2-mile oval this month. But…
We’re heading into the Summer Travel Season, and travel this year likely will be even more ridiculous than usual. Gasoline will be more expensive, traffic will be heavier, roads will be messier. Tempers will flare and danger will lurk at every intersection. And that’s just driving across town to pick up those spare suitcases from Mom. In this country, we are given two choices for summer travel, driving or flying. The train is kind of a non-starter, which is a…
If you’re thinking of getting a job as a researcher, you should know it is a lonely life we lead. The world outside our offices sees issues in black and white that appear to us as infinite shades of gray. And when we occasionally emerge from our cubicles to deliver our results to the public, we are told either that we have a stranglehold on the obvious or that we have no concept of the real world. But the world…
The dreaded bank workout department isn’t what it used to be for marginal borrowers, say two Indianapolis veterans who have watched the industry for decades. Until a couple of years ago, banks still were willing to help struggling companies through tough patches by restructuring loans and offering guidance in finding their way out of the woods. Now, banks are much quicker to cut off borrowers, said Dave Hamernik, a partner in Hamernik LLC. Hamernik, one of the region’s most seasoned…
I once spent a day serving as an Allen County election official. I was 20-something. I worked for Fort Wayne’s mayor. And on Election Day, the mayor expected us to work the polls. For the sake of nostalgia and monotonyinterrupting conversations, I got myself assigned to the precinct at my high school. On the appointed Tuesday, I showed up at 5:15 a.m., did my voter-watching/guardagainst-shenanigans-by-the-other-party thing for 12 hours and helped with votecounting for two hours after that. Then I…
After a stint in public accounting, Whetzel went to work for Fleming Packaging Co., a firm that duplicated and distributed videotapes. After taking some losses on a couple of projects, the owners of Fleming didn’t see the potential for video duplication and distribution, so Whetzel and business partner Charlie Seldon bought the company in 1991. Doing the deal wasn’t easy. “I borrowed from family, refinanced the house, and took everything out of savings,” he said. “I was dead broke and…
Seeking to take advantage of a growing statewide welder shortage, the area’s first school specializing in advanced welding opened this month. Photon School of Welding Inc. Director Charles Garinger and a silent partner have invested more than $300,000 to open the school at West 84th Street and Zionsville Road. The operation is financed through the founders’ savings and a loan from National City Bank. It opened this month in a 6,000-squarefoot facility with a capacity of 52 welding booths. Many…
Four years after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Harcharik of committing securities fraud at Brightpoint Inc.,
he finally has his day in court. A civil jury trial is scheduled to start May 21 in Manhattan. It could last as long as three
weeks.
More needs to be done to improve minority involvement in the construction industry than simply employing a certain percentage of the companies on projects. That’s the consensus of the Indiana Construction Roundtable, an organization made up of some of the biggest users and providers of construction services. Its diversity outreach initiative aims to increase minority participation within the trades by rewarding contractors who support education and training, employ minorities and women, and mentor small minority- and women-owned businesses. The initiative…
Previously, we were discussing Jeremy Grantham’s brash newsletter about global bubbles (found at www.gmo.com). His frank talk is a bit stunning to me. Grantham’s expertise is in analyzing the relative values of various asset classes and arriving at estimates of their future returns. And he has reached an unprecedented conclusion: Over the next years, higher-risk investments will earn poorer returns for investors than lower-risk investments. Historically, investors have been compensated with higher returns for taking on more risk. In the…
