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Dixie Chopper survives declining mower market: Zero-turning-radius pioneer rebounds with new units

This year was not kind to Dixie Chopper, the company near Greencastle known for making the “world’s fastest lawn mower.” Selling season is over, and Dixie Chopper sold 12,000 mowers, 3,000 fewer than forecasted. But company founder Art Evans said 2006 wasn’t as bad as rumored in the industry. “We’re not going bankrupt, we’re not upside down financially, and we’re not being bought out,” Evans said. Dixie Chopper laid off 10 to 15 employees, temporarily cut its workweek from 40…

FUNNY BUSINESS: Being your own boss doesn’t save you from idiots

I work at home. Well, I call it work, but really it’s just sitting around making fun of things. Which is the same “job” description I used when I “worked” (boy, this is going to date me) at what used to be known as The Daily Newspaper. Nowadays, it’s The Manually Delivered User Operated Lifestyle Enhancement Information Platform. Anyway, the good thing about doing whatever I do at home is that I’m free from the tyrannies of the workplace-meetings, idiot…

RCA ends 15-year run as sponsor of tennis tournament

After a 15-year run–the longest on the ATP Tour’s North American Circuit–Thomson Consumer Electronics’ RCA brand is ending its title sponsorship of Indianapolis’ professional men’s tennis tournament.

SPORTS: You can’t fathom ‘the Luke’ until you’ve been inside

Growing up, my brothers and I had the usual constructiontype toys: Lincoln Logs, an Erector Set, Tinker Toys and-if memory serves me-this kit from Kenner you could use to assemble the plastic skyscraper of your imagination. Among the things I tried to build, however, were gymnasiums and stadiums, because I always was fascinated with places that brought together large numbers of people. But since I had the attention span of a gnat and the conceptual engineering skills of an eventual…

TAWN PARENT Commentary: Is your company wasting its talents?

Organizational development isn’t usually my bag, but when I heard people using words like uplifting, inspiring, astonishing, cool, infectious and dynamite to describe an up-and-coming method, I decided to check it out. The method is appreciative inquiry, which is billed as a way of transforming organizations by trying to build on what’s right instead of analyzing what’s wrong. “You motivate people more through engaging in what’s positive,” said Ruth Purcell-Jones, president of Trustee Leadership Development Inc., a local organization that…

Taking apart PCs, rebuilding lives: Workforce Inc. recycling program helps ex-prisoners prepare for employment

Timothy Smith spent 22 years behind bars for committing a violent crime he’d rather not talk about. The Indianapolis native released from prison just two months ago cannot stop praising the transitional program meant to help him and other former inmates find jobs and rebuild their lives. “This place has been a godsend for me,” Smith said. “Coming out of prison, you don’t have much of a job history. It gives you something to look forward to.” Smith, who entered…

From blankets to burials, trustee work never ends:

You can turn to a township trustee for help if a fire leaves you homeless or a hospital stay leaves you penniless. You also look to the office if a dog devours your livestock or you need a fence dispute resolved. Indiana’s 1,008 trustees make up the state’s largest single group of elected officials, and their lengthy list of duties ranges from the conventional to the odd. Some are charged with destroying “noxious weeds” and “rank vegetation,” according to the…

Company offers recipe for waste disposal: Sanitec plans to microwave local medical refuse

A Washington, D.C., company hopes to introduce a method of cooking medical waste with microwaves to the Indianapolis market, which now trucks much of that refuse out of state for safe disposal. Sanitec Industries Inc. has filed plans with the city to install one of its wasteprocessing systems in an empty west-side building. It plans to hire as many as 20 people at the facility to process the redbagged medical waste that flows regularly out of hospitals, and doctor or…

INVESTING: Investing opportunities remain, but pick your spots

Only about a month and a half is left in the year. It feels as though under-invested managers are pushing to make things happen so they can catch up to the market. Today, we are going to get into where the strength should be the rest of the year, and some of it is coming from unsuspecting places. We’ll also look at what should be avoided. It won’t come as any surprise where the weakness lies. The markets have been…

NOTIONS: A call for cooperation in a deep purple nation

It’s election night. The hour is late. Political junkie that I am, however, I’m propped up in bed, the television blaring before me, the laptop perched on my legs. Remote in hand, I flip TV channels between CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, C- SPAN and Comedy Central. With the flick of an index finger on my computer, I bounce between Web sites of The Indianapolis Star, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Marion County Election Board,…

To the victors go the things they spoiled THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW Ron Gifford:

I know self-government can be a messy thing. I’m well aware of Winston Churchill’s statement that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” But why is it that every time I voted Nov. 7, I felt like I needed another shower? (What? You don’t vote early and often?) Well, the bad news is that the next campaign cycle began Nov. 8. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be Groundhog…

Emmis’ landmark deal with Apple paying big dividends: Locally based radio group now No. 2 iTunes affiliate

Emmis Communications Corp. has a new mantra when it comes to emerging technology some say will kill the radio industry: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Emmis entered a relationship with California-based Apple Computer Inc. nine months ago that is paying big dividends. Since launching one of the radio industry’s first iTunes storefronts on its stations’ Internet sites, Emmis officials said they have become the No. 2 iTunes affiliate based on sales. Only Internet behemoth Yahoo Music sells more….

BULLS & BEARS: Aging investors won’t lose taste for stocks

A popular theory is swirling around the investment community. It posits that in a few years stock markets will fall because of selling by the baby boomers. The theorists believe the baby boomers will become increasingly conservative with their savings, selling stocks to buy bonds and other income-producing investments. From my experience, this is a load of hooey. I’m guessing the theorists are in academia and not actually doing investment management with real people. The firm I co-founded manages investment…

Techies push for education initiatives: Daniels administration trying to heed call to build a better-equipped work force with ‘Accelerating Growth’ plan

The numbers are daunting. According to Gov. Mitch Daniels’ economic development plan “Accelerating Growth,” Indiana ranks 35th out of 50 states for the proportion of its population with at least an associate’s degree. Worse, it ranks 47th for bachelor’s degrees. A full million Hoosiers “lack the basic skills necessary for 21st century employment,” according to the plan. That’s about a sixth of the state’s population. High-tech leaders are increasingly focused on reversing the trend. They know the availability of a…

Stations enjoy election: Political advertising bounty surprises TV, radio executives

More than $10 million poured into Indianapolis broadcasters’ coffers this year, experts said, as politicians took to the airwaves in hopes of swaying voters. A fierce battle over control of Congress and a hotly contested Marion County prosecutor’s race contributed to the impressive total, which outpaced 2002 election sales by nearly $3 million. “It was a surprising year,” said Don Lundy, general manager of WRTV-TV Channel 6, which sold more than $1.3 million in political ads. Despite attempts to forecast…

Merger would consolidate technology initiatives under CICP

Technology advocate Techpoint is considering merging into the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership–a move that would leave CICP CEO Mark Miles atop all three of Indiana’s major business-development initiatives.

Newspapers and civic responsibility CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary:

Lately, a bunch of wealthy, hotshot CEOs and politicos have made noises about buying some well-known metropolitan daily newspapers that are considered in play. The names are Hollywood producer David Geffen and the Los Angeles Times; retired General Electric CEO Jack Welch and the Boston Globe; and Baltimore civic leaders Walter Sondheim Jr. and Ted Venetoulis and the Baltimore Sun. What’s going on here? The business is dying, isn’t it? Circulation of major dailies has been in a downward spiral…

Are women equal in law firms?: Local firms examine ways to retain female employees

A new survey shows that women are still scarce at the top levels of the legal profession, a phenomenon that local firms are working hard to change. Most of the nation’s 200 largest firms participated in the survey by the National Association of Women Lawyers. The survey was designed to collect information not only about how many women are employed by law firms, but also how many women are in the higher ranks of firms, such as governing groups and…

BEHIND THE NEWS: After taking blows, bank repairs relations with Lilly family

No bank wants to leave a customer steamed, especially when that customer is the mighty Lilly family. Great news for National City Bank of Indiana: It’s finally back on the family’s good side. Court papers filed in Marion Superior Court in recent months show the six nieces and nephews of heiress Ruth Lilly are increasingly satisfied with the bank’s handling of her financial affairs. Lilly, 91, is the sole surviving greatgrandchild of the pharmaceutical firm’s founder. The bank, part of…