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I hate e-mail. I love the speed. I hate the carelessness speed often breeds. I love the informality. I hate the sloppiness. I love brevity. I hate it when brevity is seen as brusque. I love brevity. So I hate it when brevity is blown off For e-mails that go on, And on, And on, Asking me to address five major points, And 17 sub-points And 53 sub-sub points By “simply” hitting REPLY. I love brevity. So I hate having…
Indiana Ice owner Paul Skjodt is rolling out a plan to build a 5,000-seat hockey arena in Hamilton County to keep his team skating into the black. If he pulls it off, he could be the first franchise owner to achieve long-term financial stability in Indianapolis’ seven-decade hockey history. To fortify his effort, Skjodt recently hired a vice president of sales and marketing-someone with experience launching new arenas-and launched a grass-roots marketing campaign he hopes to parlay into profitability. Skjodt,…
Conservative estimates put the amount of money Hoosiers are bilked by investment fraud scammers at $100 million a year. The high-end estimate for victims of pyramid scams, bogus gas and oil ventures and unscrupulous mortgage practices is closer to $800 million. Those involved in catching and prosecuting the scammers say proactively educating people about investments in general and scams in particular would go a long way toward helping the problem. “Our financial illiteracy is high,” said Mark Maddox, managing partner…
We know that, relative to the United States, Indiana is neither a rich state nor one growing with vigor. Two weeks ago in this space, I discussed our more recent employment experiences. A friend read the column and asked, “How much of our lack of job growth is due to the slump or collapse in manufacturing jobs?” Nationally, only three states (Nevada, and the Dakotas) had any gain in manufacturing jobs between May 2001 and May 2006. Alaska and Wyoming…
Team USA gathered in Las Vegas this past week to begin its attempt to reclaim America’s rightful place-which would be first place-in international basketball. Imagine, American hoopsters with a hill to climb. Who’d a thunk it? Well, me, for one. Anyone who was paying attention to international hoops-and I happen to be an aficionado-could see that America’s dominance, so pronounced when the 1992 Olympic Dream Team pounded hapless opponents on its way to the gold medal, was slip, slip, slipping…
Here’s an update from the American labor market: Paying attention in school really does matter. Getting good grades and going to college is a big deal. What you study and what you learn will affect the rest of your life. Parents have been telling their kids that for a long time, and some of us even listened. But the message above isn’t from a speech or a lecture. It comes from evidence provided by the U.S. economy, in particular the…
Toothpaste. Laundry bleach. Cat food. Banking services. Despite the hopes of many bank executives, vast numbers of consumers rarely elevate their banks beyond everyday commodity status. Through traditional advertising and marketing, many banks attempt to differenti ate themselves as the bank of choice or the bank that makes a difference. Repeat the tag line often enough and hopefully potential customers will start to believe it. One fact underscores this unfortunate commodity service status: According to recent market research, the No….
Russ Dodge is used to scaling cultural barriers. For 17 years, Dodge, who is white, was a sales manager at WTLC, one of Indianapolis’ top radio stations targeting blacks. Dodge was central in numerous community outreach efforts at WTLC. As the new general manager of two Indianapolis Hispanic radio stations, Dodge is attempting to hurdle not only another cultural divide, but a language barrier to boot. Dodge, 54, took the helm of WEDJFM 107.1 and WSYW-AM 810 in April, and…
Honda Motor Co.’s decision to build a massive auto manufacturing plant near Greensburg has the small Decatur County town abuzz with excitement. But a company already entrenched there is making some noise of its own. MainSource Financial Group Inc. has increased assets an impressive 50 percent during the past year largely due to four acquisitions made by the publicly traded bank holding company. “We’re a little opportunistic,” admitted MainSource President and CEO James Saner. “We really want to grow, give…
When Jim Carpenter opened the first Wild Birds Unlimited in Indianapolis 25 years ago, his goal was to bring people and nature together–a combination that has brought him "unimaginable" success.
City Securities Corp., one of the largest investment firms based in Indiana, has purchased Columbus, Ohio-based ReCasa Financial Group LLC, a specialty lender focused on rehabs of dilapidated houses.
One of the great things about being a newspaperman is that you get the inside scoop on everything. Even more so than reporters, editors have a unique perspective because they are in on the details of all the big news that’s breaking. They are also privy to lots of information and background that doesn’t end up in print for one reason or another. So it is with a sense of collegial empathy that I highly recommend an upcoming book by…
I don’t like to shop. I do know, however, that I am in the tiny minority in this regard. We’ve elevated shopping in this country to a level that probably ranks higher in importance than family, religion and health. The American consumer is such a force that we make up 20 percent of global GDP. That’s right, for the entire world! I should think, then, that slowdowns announced by companies like Wal-Mart and Target would be headline news. Of all…
No layoffs. No seven-figure budget cut to sweat through. IU School of Medicine Dean Dr. Craig Brater had many reasons to raise a toast this month, when a new fiscal year began and the school left behind an old one marked by the worst budget cuts in decades. Indeed, Brater said he is breathing a little easier as the school starts fiscal 2006-2007 with a budget of more than $815 million. An increase in clinical revenue and grant money helped…
Ivy Tech Community College will train students in mortuary sciences, filling a void left when Indiana College of Mortuary Science kicked the bucket several years ago.
Ball State University is preparing to stake a big claim in downtown Indianapolis, where it will offer classes and graduate degree programs at a new satellite facility.
An East Coast investment-banking firm is opening an Indianapolis office and has recruited three high-profile professionals who bring a wealth of experience to manage operations. Towson, Md.-based The Riderwood Group Inc. wants to help midsize companies raise $5 million to $200 million in capital, a range largely ignored here by outside rivals, firm executives said. “There really is not a national mid-market investment bank [in Indianapolis],” company President Mitchell Fillet said. “This is a place where the big firms have…
Imagine that your customers are so eager to hear from you that you don’t even need to send them newsletters or e-mails, that they check each day, or even several times a day, to see if you have anything to tell them. What a dream marketing campaign, eh? There are catches, of course. Lots of them. But in the right circumstances, this come-and-get-it approach can work. It’s known as “podcasting,” a name that’s a linguistic weld job so common in…
The Federal Trade Commission recently slammed the Austin Board of Realtors for how the Texas organization runs its multiple-listing service, charging that a policy change barring certain homes from Web search engines runs afoul of federal antitrust laws.
