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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Textbook cases of entrepreneurism

You get an idea; you build a business; you sell it and make a bundle. So it was with the recent deals that took out IBJ’s No. 1 and No. 2 fastest-growing companies from 2005, Performance Assessment Network and Suros Surgical. We can bemoan the loss of headquarters, but let’s face it, these are the kinds of payoffs most entrepreneurs dream of. In just a little over five short years, PAN investors put up $7.5 million in capital and sold…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Former Brightpoint worker gets boost from defender

B r i g h t p o i n t Inc.’s former director of risk management, Timothy Harcharik, doesn’t have a high-powered legal defense team. His federal public defender, James McKinley, is accustomed to representing people accused of drug crimes, not those charged with participating in a multimillion-dollar accounting fraud. But McKinley has done right by Harcharik so far. On April 20, federal Judge Larry McKinney of Indianapolis dismissed the indictment against Harcharik, siding with McKinley in a months-long…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: New rules could change equity-compensation planning

Equity compensation has long been a topic of great interest to company managers and private equity investors alike. Recent changes in tax laws, accounting rules and securities laws may lead to new ways of thinking about this type of compensation. Stock options tra er, with a grant of restricted stock, the holding period for which begins on the date of grant (if an election is made) or at the time of lapsing of the restriction (if no election is made)….

Jazz Fest loses pair of sponsors: This year’s show will go on, but future events in danger

Until late April, fund raising for the annual musical event was on track. But then a pair of major sponsors revealed they would no longer underwrite the festival. Now its future may be in doubt. “We really need to have the festival fully funded to sustain its business model,” said Indy Jazz Fest Producer Helen Small, who also is president of the Indianapolis-based American Pianists Association. “In no way is it guaranteed that the festival will be here forever for…

Land drove Marsh sale: Sun Capital has backup in real estate if grocery biz fails

When Marsh Supermarkets Inc. put itself on the block in November, the company’s stock dove. When it cut future executive compensation $28 million a month later, the stock continued falling. When it terminated 25 executives and closed two groceries and six convenience stores, shares slipped yet again. Nothing, it seemed, could stop the downward spiral. Then a footnote appeared in the Fishersbased company’s fiscal third-quarter financial report Feb. 21. It said an appraisal showed the company’s real estate was worth…

BioCrossroads seeks help teaching math and science: Education center to bolster students’ careers

Indiana life sciences initiative BioCrossroads wants to improve the science and math skills of Indiana’s elementary and high school students. To figure out how, it’s asking the public for ideas. BioCrossroads released a “request for interest in participation” in the creation of a new K-12 Indiana Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education Resource Center. Patterned after the North Carolina Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center, BioCrossroads’ STEM is meant to be a Web-based, largely virtual organization. It would coordinate math…

Emmis fights radio doubt: CEO Smulyan defends his struggling industry as stock price continues to slide

Emmis Communications Corp.’s stock has fallen 80 percent in six years. Revenue from its radio stations is falling short of Wall Street expectations. And its bid for Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals is running third in a three-horse race. But Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan is as optimistic as he’s been in months. “I’m upbeat because I think this industry is ready to turn the corner, and Emmis is turning the corner,” Smulyan told Wall Street analysts after his company released…

IEDC hopes to establish regional venture capital funds: Counties may balk at spending tax money elsewhere

It is the kind of business stimulus program that few oppose on paper, but to get the idea off the drawing board, IEDC must convince counties to relinquish their parochialism and ingrained spending habits. That’s likely to be tricky. “One of the things we’re trying hard to do as a state is to break down county borders where you have infighting, wasted resources and missed opportunities,” said IEDC Executive Vice President and General Counsel Nathan Feltman. “We want to make…

EYE ON THE PIE: Mysteries abound in Indiana

There is so much I do not understand about Indiana. After living here for 35 years, after visiting every county and traveling almost every mile of state highway, after making friends with thousands of Hoosiers, I am in the dark on so many issues. Here are three examples: Example 1: What do Mitch Daniels, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, and Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana have in common? They are all governors who have massive approval deficits. According to Survey USA (and…

INVESTING: Role reversal: Oil is the Amazon.com of yesteryear

On Saturday mornings when I was a kid, I watched the “Superheroes” cartoon and I soaked up all its greatness. Superman, Aquaman, The Green Lantern, the whole crew. And sometimes, my heroes had to battle a group of bad guys who were evil opposites of themselves. It was like some kind of twisted alter-ego thing. I wonder if the executives atop the favorite tech companies of 1999 are feeling like Superman when he had to fight his evil twin Bizarro….

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: It’s time we get started on a new state economy

Have you ever plunked down a lot of money for something and worried if you made the right choice? You have plenty of company. To cope with that insecurity, some of us try to persuade our friends to follow our footsteps. We put forth convincing arguments why our brand of car, or our new electronic gizmo, is really the best thing, and feel comforted and vindicated when they make the same choice we made. For too many years, that simple…

Angie adds Big Apple, Miami, Denver to the list: Locally based publisher of consumer directories on growth spurt, on schedule to hit 50 markets within year

So in the quest to find a roofer or landscaper who can provide a happy ending, thousands of Hoosiers let their fingers do the walking through Angie’s List each year. And now homeowners in Texas, Florida and New York can do the same. The Indianapolis-based company launched city-specific versions of its home-service business directories in New York and Miami this spring, and more are on the way. By summer, Angie’s List expects to offer the customer-based ratings in its 40th…

Cleveland tech firm going west: Parker Hannifin falls short of employment promises, plans to leave Intech Park

A Cleveland-based technology giant plans to move its Intech Park operation next month, leaving behind some attractive office space and a broken promise to create jobs. Parker Hannifin Corp. will consolidate its Indianapolis location into a California site, spokesman Jim Cartwright said. It should empty its 30,700-square-foot offices in the park’s Intech 10 building by the end of June. The move will have no impact on Parker Hannifin’s Tell City production facility, which employs about 100 people who make industrial…

Stadium off diversity mark: Some minority, female contractors say they’re being left out

Black businessman Lorenzo Gibson is optimistic that AFI Manufacturing Group will still get a chance to participate in the construction of the $950 million Lucas Oil Stadium and Indiana Convention Center expansion. But like Indianapolis Colts reserve quarterback Jim Sorgi, the owner of the Kokomobased metal fabricator has spent most of his time observing from the sidelines. “To watch a project of this magnitude go right by us is very disappointing,” Gibson said. “It’s very disheartening because you have companies…

Tan Mart Inc.: Tan ‘fad’ pays off for salon supplier But owner looking to add services to make it through slower months

When Dane Laster told his mother he wanted to distribute tanning-salon goods and services, she told him it was a fad that would never last. He has proven her wrong. “It’s the fad that never died,” he said, and the business he once dreamed of now supports him, his wife and their three kids. After his 1994 graduation from Perry Meridian High School, Laster went to work as a pharmacy technician before trying his hand at sales. Eventually, he made…

BULLS & BEARS: We have a long way to go bolstering financial literacy

It’s the first of May, hip-hip-hooray, American investors are smarter today! Why are they smarter? Well, they must have improved their financial acumen because Congress designated last month as Financial Literacy Month. In fact, April 25 was Financial Literacy Day in America. Do you mean to tell me the big day came and went and you didn’t even know it? That’s OK. If you subscribe to this periodical, you have a higher net worth and income than the average American,…

Foundry forges growth by displaying creativity: After struggling for clients, upstart ad firm hits stride

Mark LeClerc, Matt Ganser and Jeff Morris started Foundry advertising agency in October 2004, with a five-figure bank loan and the promise of a lucrative account from an international mailorder retailer. But when their Lands’ End deal fell far short of expectations, the trio was forced into cold-call mode. Because of non-compete clauses with their former employers, Foundry suddenly found itself with no active clients. “One of the first lessons we learned is that not everything promised to you comes…

PROFILE STEPHEN AND JAN SMITH: Love of wildlife leads attorney to make new friends

PROFILE STEPHEN AND JAN SMITH Love of wildlife leads attorney to make new friends Steve Smith, a partner with Indianapolisbased law firm Krieg DeVault LLP, and his wife Jan, a former grade school teacher, are the proud parents of two children-Nick, 20, and Sarah, 25. They are also foster parents of little Wendi, an orphan from Kenya. But Wendi isn’t your typical toddler. Weighing in at birth at nearly 200 pounds, Wendi is an African elephant-one of dozens that have…

At age 2, Future Fund still work in progress: So far, 7 startups have received investments from BioCrossroads

For two years now, the $73 million Indiana Future Fund has been at work in the Indiana life sciences market. BioCrossroads, Indiana’s public-private life sciences economic development initiative, is pleased with the results so far. “When we put the Indiana Future Fund together and surveyed the landscape, there were only two or three [local venture capital] firms that really identified themselves as in [the life sciences] area,” said BioCrossroads President David Johnson. “Now we see much more traffic than we…

ABDUL-HAKIM SHABAZZ Commentary: It’s the uninformed voters, stupid

May 2 is the primary in Indiana. A lot of Hoosiers will come out and cast their ballots for the men and women they want to represent them in the general election. As of late, however, we’ve been hearing a lot about problems with Indiana’s voting system. Marion County has been the poster child for When Good Election Testing Goes Bad. The county has had nothing but problems with Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software Inc. The problems have ranged from…