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The ethanol industry, which is mushrooming in Indiana, could get a massive push from President Bush in his State of the Union speech tonight, according to The New York Times. Bush might call for increasing ethanol to as much as 10 percent of total gasoline consumption by 2012. Such a ramp-up could require producing 15 […]
Louisville struggles to attract high-end white-collar jobs because it’s stuck in a high-density, “almost European” neighborhood of competing cities that includes Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Nashville, says Paul Coomes, a University of Louisville economist. Indianapolis attracts engineers, scientists and other professionals because its downtown is vibrant and, unlike Louisville’s, isn’t dissected by freeways, Coomes said in […]
British plumbing and heating supplier Wolseley Plc said today it will eliminate 2,000 jobs in the U.S. because the soft housing market has weakened profits. Its Stock Building Supplies arm, which is based in Raleigh, N.C., in the U.S., is laying off 1,500 jobs at 22 locations in addition to 2,000 positions it already has […]
Pfizer’s insulin-production plant in Terre Haute was not on a list of plant closings the New York pharmaceutical giant announced today. Pfizer said it would shutter one plant each in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Omaha, Neb., along with research two facilities in Ann Arbor, Mich., and one in Kalamazoo, Mich. The company cited the closings as part […]
Health care startups in Indiana attracted $37.2 million in venture capital last year—up 61 percent from the $23.1 million in 2005, according to BioEnterprise, a Cleveland not-for-profit that offers management counsel and support services. The increase outstripped the 25 percent growth experienced by the Midwest. The Indianapolis area landed six deals worth a total of […]
Players starring in the Super Bowl can cash in big time, and the Colts have several who could break out in Miami on Feb. 4, sports marketers say. "A Super Bowl MVP can increase players’ market value considerably, not only as a player, but as a corporate spokesman," said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp Ltd., […]
A Chrysler Group four-speed transmission line at a Kokomo plant may be sold to China’s Chery Automobile Co. if a deal between the two automakers is finalized. Chrysler and Chery previously announced an agreement in principal for Chrysler to distribute Chery-made small cars globally. A story today in AutoWeek says Chery wants to move the […]
Approximately 130 workers at Daimler-Chrysler’s transmission operations in Kokomo were laid off last week after slow sales of gas-guzzling pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles prompted the automaker to cut production. About 100 of the jobs were at Kokomo Transmission and 30 at Kokomo Casting, according to the Kokomo Tribune. The company employs about 6,000 in […]
Author Solutions Inc., the Bloomington parent of self-publisher AuthorHouse, has been sold to Bertram Capital of Palo Alto, Calif., for an undisclosed price. Author Solutions, which published one of every 30 U.S. book titles last year, was owned by Carmel-based Gazelle Tech Ventures. AuthorHouse CEO Bryan Smith said he expects Bertram to expand deeper into […]
About 85 percent of the 565 state employees working on the Indiana Toll Road applied for jobs with the Spanish-Australian consortium that’s leasing the road, and nearly all were hired, according to The Elkhart Truth. Those not hired were offered vacant positions with the state, many in the Department of Transportation. The figures were released […]
There is conjecture that the hosting of the AFC Championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots is the biggest/greatest/most significant-choose your superlative-sports-related event in the city’s history. That got me to thinking. Is it greater than the 1911 Indianapolis 500, which led to the other 88 500s that, in their current form, generate far more annual economic impact than even a Super Bowl? Is it greater than the 1946 Indianapolis 500, when Tony Hulman took ownership of…
A couple of years ago, I quoted legendary market analyst John Mendelson, who predicted the “mother of all short squeezes,” causing a market “melt-up.” So far, nobody would say we’ve experienced anything resembling a melt-up. In the two years since Mendelson’s report, I haven’t seen the words “melt-up” used. That is, until the last couple of weeks, when I saw it twice. In early January, Barron’s columnist Michael Santoli was describing the state of the market. He said valuations by…
I’ve been accused of being both technology-besotted and technology-averse. I’m neither one. I’m just interested in using technology in appropriate ways. I’m fond of reminding people that a pair of scissors is perfect for a job that a pair of scissors can do. Scissors don’t need Tim Allen-style enhancements. An example popped up from reading “The Soul of a Chef,” by Michael Ruhlman, where I ran across the statement by a young chef that a computer system made the difference…
When local IT entrepreneur Mark Hill sold his banking software company in August 2005, he emphasized the potential upside for the area entrepreneurial community. Now he’s making good on his word. Not content to bask on a beach somewhere, Hill has organized an Indianapolisbased private investment company called Collina Ventures. With $10 million under management-all provided by Hill-Collina already has made its first investment. This month, it risked $5 million in startup cash to organize Indianapolis-based Blue-Lock LLC, a computer-hosting…
The year started off with a bang for the arguable leader of industrial design, Apple Inc. At the annual MacWorld expo, Apple CEO Steve Jobs prowled the stage in his normal turtleneck-andjeans combo and literally changed the game for wireless phone companies around the world. Jobs was demonstrating the new iPhone, Apple’s first entry into the ultracompetitive market with razor-thin margins. Why would Apple, which has long been a bit player in the computer industry as far as market share…
Five years ago, when the BioCrossroads initiative debuted, pundits compared its challenge to a foot race on a track crowded with competitors. And they noted a handful of traditional biotech hub cities like San Diego or Boston enjoyed a huge head start. Today, a better analogy might be a rising tide that lifts all boats. “The pie is getting bigger. It’s not a zero-sum game,” said Walt Plosila, vice president and leader of the technology partnership practice for Columbus, Ohio-based…
At least five companies are scouting locations for dozens of new health clubs in a blitz that could help the city shed its
reputation for high rates of obesity. The fitness club business is booming nationwide, and several chains are betting Hoosiers
are among those looking for more convenient opportunities to get in shape.
NAPLES, Fla.-Here I am more than 1,000 miles from Indianapolis and yet feeling right at home. Seems like everywhere I turn, there are signs of the city. The first night I was here, I ate dinner at a restaurant where six Indianapolis people I know were sitting at the table next to ours. During the course of my stay so far, American United Life Insurance Co. held a board retreat here and the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation threw a fund-raiser…
It’s Martin Luther King Monday. The clock is pushing 5 p.m. And a bitter breeze bites my face as I pump petrol at a Speedway station on Binford Boulevard. I look around at the drab Indiana sky and the drab leafless trees and the drab flat landscape. And I wonder whether the world is really this drab or if it’s just me. Behind me, somewhere on Interstate 69, my sons Austin and Zach are heading northeast in their little Saturn…
Ice Miller is a legal powerhouse and lands plum assignments all the time. So few were surprised when Emmis Communications Corp. last month hired the firm to lead its legal assault on industry heavyweight CBS Radio. But Walter Berger-the man at the center of the legal tangle-sure was. Berger had been Emmis’ chief financial officer before he took the same post a year ago at New York-based CBS Radio. The departure rankled Emmis, and over the summer it sued CBS,…
