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Opportunity … .. or Albatross?: Winona bankruptcy creditors move toward sheriff’s sale

A sheriff’s sale to the highest bidder may be the fate of the once-bustling Winona Memorial Hospital. Bankruptcy creditors, frustrated that they haven’t found a buyer for the vacant near-northside property, plan to seek a foreclosure that clears the way for public auctions of the hospital and an adjacent nursing home. A sale and renovation of the properties could boost the neighborhood surrounding Winona, a part of town that has struggled but is riding a wave of good news the…

Private high school set: Cristo Rey to open downtown with 46 companies behind it

A private high school that relies on business participation, the first of its kind in Indiana, is set to open downtown in the fall of 2006. A work-study program designed to help lowincome students pay for tuition and give them corporate work experience is what will set Providence Cristo Rey High School apart from its private and public counterparts throughout the state. Corporate sponsors said it will also give promising students a local business connection, which could help keep them…

Libraries book on Plainfield duo’s automation software:

Rob Cullin and Rodd Cutler thought there must be a way to adapt their knowledge of factory-automation technology to libraries, even though the two industries appeared worlds apart. Turns out, automation is automation, Cullin says. By developing the right software, just about anything can be automated and made more efficient. Cullin, who had worked with Cutler for years, was downsized by the company they worked for about five years ago, but wanted to keep his hands in technology. “I had…

Giving office furniture a lift: Pointman Organizer provides users two desks in one

It looks like an average, yet stylish, office desk. But press a button and a hutch automatically rises from the back, exposing a flat-panel monitor, speakers, a printer and storage areas. Press the button again and the hutch descends, providing wide-open work space. The desk is the first product available from upstart Arise Innovations Inc. Partners Tom Doane, 39, and Jeffrey Hallal, 48, have a patent pending on the design and have sold production rights to Jasper based Inwood Office…

Interest high for soon-to-be-shuttered foundry: Size, location make redevelopment promising

When the workers at DaimlerChrysler Corp.’s Indianapolis Foundry clock out for the last time at the end of the month, they’ll leave behind 756,000 square feet of factory space, tons of equipment, and more than 52 acres of industrial land on the city’s west side. Rather than becoming a rusting industrial relic along Interstate 70, however, the buildings will be razed and real estate experts expect the land will soon find a new use, albeit likely not for a factory….

Sugar Buzz brings convenience to child care service:

Parents who need a few hours for themselves at the last second can’t take their toddlers to conventional daycare centers. But they can take them to the new Playcare program launched by Sugar Buzz in Broad Ripple. Longtime pals Wendy Reed and Pam Weaver are the brains behind the concept aimed at parents who might need time to shop, work out or attend a meeting. Unlike traditional child care services, however, there are no upfront contracts or commitments. Instead, Playcare…

Delivery service takes Web shopping to the next level:

Richard Cherry knows the 30-minute delivery concept isn’t new. Pizzerias have been promising to deliver pies to the door in 30 minutes or less for years. And grocery stores have tried something similar, delivering milk, eggs and bread, but generally promising next-day delivery. Cherry wanted to deliver groceries-and more-in 30 minutes, so he teamed with 30-minute pizzeria guru Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, and came up with 30MinuteMall. Using delivery employees known as CyberValets, virtual grocery stores and Web…

EYE ON THE PIE: Use property tax to boost investment

I walked a little more than two miles recently on the Monon Trail. This probably surprises those who know me. But even the most slothful will, on occasion, rise from the recliner and not go to the refrigerator. The Monon Trail runs from 10th Street in Indianapolis to 146th Street in Carmel. That’s about 20 miles. It follows the route the Monon Railroad abandoned in 1987. It has been identified as a model for other rails-to-trails programs. The trail is…

INVESTING: Price controls are not the answer to fuel woes

The cries for rationing are getting louder. About 4 percent of America’s daily oil consumption was taken out by Hurricane Katrina. It will take months to get this supply back, and gas prices at the pump showed immediate reactions. Now with gas over $3 a gallon almost everywhere in the country, some politicians are telling the government to establish price controls and actually take control of the supply chain. The horrors we put ourselves through during the Nixon administration when…

NOTIONS: Generosity of the moment, generosity over time

In an e-mail last week, my sister-inlaw, Carrie, shared a story about my nephew, Eric. It said: “Eric has been keeping abreast of the hurricane news (as much as a 13-yearold boy might do) and inquired last night if we had made any contributions to the relief effort. I told him that we had contributed online to the Red Cross, but that I truly didn’t know the amount of the contribution since Dave [his dad] had handled it himself. “Eric…

TOM HARTON Commentary: Where business, disaster meet

We don’t do weather. Business newspapers don’t ask reporters to stand in bitter cold to demonstrate that it’s uncomfortable. We don’t warn our readers about the dangers of a storm by assigning a reporter to stand in the middle of one. When the wind and rain send things crashing down around us, we become consumers of news just like everyone else. Last week, we broke our rule. No, we didn’t brave the elements, but what happened in New Orleans and…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Noble Roman’s pays up to sever ties with vulture

The pizza-andsub business is tough enough without also having to worry about your largest creditor stabbing you in the back. I n d i a n a p o l i s – based franchiser Noble Roman’s Inc. has rid itself of that looming threat by paying $8.3 million to buy out nearly all the interests of a vulture investment firm that may have been scheming to control the company. The deal settles a lawsuit Noble Roman’s filed in March…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Making public speaking a better cultural experience

Unless I’m just too persnickety, public speaking as a means to influence and inform seems to be in a state of decline these days-a diminishing art form if you please. My credentials for this assessment are not infallible, but they do go back well over four decades-more than 30 years as one of the team members responsible for programs of the Economic Club of Indianapolis and 14 years helping to fine tune the pulpit skills of United Methodist clergy across…

Economic developer for hire: Miller’s brain trust spreads advice from town to country

It’s about soybeans and high hopes. Clinton County has only 34,148 residents, nearly half of them living in the county seat of Frankfort. Most of the labor force works in either farming or auto-parts manufacturing. Neither is generally considered the field of the future. Enter economic development consultant Thomas P. Miller & Associates. Since Clinton County is the state’s fifth-largest soybean producer, TPMA counseled a strategy based on what it already does well. Starting next year, federal regulators will require…

IPS seeks property swap: School district will trade prime Mass Ave land if deal is right

But an unusual component of the soon-to-be-released request for proposals by Indianapolis Public Schools, the property’s owner, has many wondering if anyone has what it will take to win the coveted piece of real estate. What it’ll take is the offering of a replacement facility where IPS can move its central transportation facility and other school district operations. “That’s the general concept,” said SteveYoung, chief of facilities management for IPS. “We’re not looking to sell it. We would have to…

BULLS & BEARS: Conflict of interest arises when valuing companies

When two companies engage in an acquisition, within the proxy documents delivered to shareholders a “fairness opinion” is routinely provided. The fairness opinion is an analysis of the transaction typically conducted by an investment bank. Corporate boards hire these “third-party” advisers to satisfy their fiduciary duty to shareholders and to protect against legal challenges over a decision to do a deal. These opinions may be delivered by investment banking firms who have no other role in the deal. But they…

Bomar Industries: Metal fabricator builds on expertise Bomar Industries’ owners started without a business plan, but succeeded anyway

Bomar Industries’ owners started without a business plan, but succeeded anyway Brothers Bob and Mark Buchanan have parlayed their passion for drag racing and metal bending into a $3 million enterprise with only growth on the horizon. The brothers started Bomar Industries like a lot of entrepreneurs-with no business plan and their own money and equipment. The Buchanans already had lathes, mills, welders and other supplies for their work on dragsters and other hobby projects. Bob, 50, was an engineer…

Flexibility important for balancing careers, kids: Local partners say developing support system, staying organized helps at work and at home

Managing partner and mother of two Pat McCrory wishes she had invented the simple, no-frills storage shelves and baskets that Pottery Barn Kids sells that make her life easier and more organized at home. For McCrory, a partner at the Indianapolis law firm of Harrison & Moberly, being organized is a vital part of balancing her work schedule and responsibilities as a mother of a 5-yearold son and 2-year-old daughter. But as a female partner, McCrory isn’t exactly among familiar…

GERALD BEPKO Commentary: FFA is important to our future

What major, national, student-oriented not-for-profit organization with deep roots in Kansas City moved its headquarters to Indianapolis in the last decade and now has made commitments to bring a huge number of visitors to Indianapolis each year into the future? If you think the answer is the NCAA, you would be half right. The complete answer is that there are two such organizations: the NCAA and FFA. Both the NCAA and FFA brought economic benefits along with their headquarters. Through…

ROUGH ROAD AHEAD?: Chrysler foundry’s closing a warning sign for other plants

Chrysler foundry’s closing a warning sign for other plants The closing of DaimlerChrysler Corp.’s foundry west of downtown at the end of this month signals more than the end of nearly 900 jobs there. “There’s a fundamental change occurring in the automotive industry right now,” said Matthew Will, director of the University of Indianapolis’ graduate business program and associate dean in the School of Business. “Unless local manufacturers in this sector don’t reposition, I would certainly expect to see more job…