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Lucas owner says skeptics off base: ‘Small company’ big enough to handle major deal, he says

The Indianapolis Colts had to be convinced that California-based Lucas Oil Products Inc. was the right company to buy its stadium naming-rights package. Football franchise executives were quickly converted, but the deal still has its detractors. A month after the 20-year, $121.5 million agreement was announced, sports sponsorship experts remain skeptical it will pan out. “This is a heavy investment for such a small company,” said William Chipps, senior editor of Chicago-based IEG Sponsorship Report. “I can tell you it…

Turned away, twice: Hot biotech inventor scores coastal cash after local VCs say no

When a proven Indiana life scientist invents a promising medical technology, you’d expect local venture capitalists would snap to attention. So when Lafayette-based Ash Access Technology Inc. announced March 14 it had landed $6 million in venture capital, it was surprising to note the names of the investors in the deal. None were based inside state lines. But Dr. Stephen Ash wasn’t shocked. After all, he’s been through this before. “I don’t know what happened,” Ash said. “I was disappointed….

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Copyrights can help protect your architectural designs

According to the American Institute of Architects, the intellectual property created as a result of a professional’s design capability is the most common proof of worth in terms of talent and experience. In light of its importance, many design professionals might wonder what tion of copies of an architectural work and to create a new architectural work based on the original. In practical terms, these rights give an owner control over such matters as who can construct a building based…

Purdue to award $50,000 for biz plan:

One of the finalists in the various 2005-06 business plan competitions sponsored by Purdue University and Lilly Endowment Inc. will win a special $50,000 award to further develop its enterprise. The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship contacted the finalists in the three Opportunity for Indiana Business Plan Competitions and February’s Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition asking them to write letters describing how they would use the sec ond-phase money. “We’ll award the money to the company or team that…

Hearthview becomes church’s reluctant savior: Developer chooses ‘significant’ financial hit over wrecking ball

Condominium developer Hearthview Residential Inc. came out of a news conference this month looking like something of a hero for converting a former church at 802 N. Meridian St. into condos, but company officials must have been grinning through clenched teeth. Locally based Hearthview initially tried to demolish the 1905 structure, quietly seeking a demolition permit for the entire building. When the permit was discovered at the 11th hour by city and state historic preservation officials, the wheels were set…

EYE ON THE PIE: Waiter shines light on education

I spent most of a recent weekend in the hospital, but no one seems to want to hear that story. It wasn’t much of a story, as it turns out, but the bill, which will fall on you, will be enormous. My part of the bill will be small because I am covered by Medicare and private health insurance. This means you will see my use of the health care system reflected in your future taxes and in your future…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Patent-tying accusations get more difficult to prove

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the boundaries between patent and antitrust law in Illinois Tool Works Inc. v. Independent Ink Inc. This decision has important implications for all companies that use the patent system to protect their intellectual property rights. It raises both the legal and financial stakes for businesses that wish to use the antitrust laws as a weapon to break into a market dominated by a competitor’s patented product. The case involved a claim of…

More students seek degree online: Working, career-hopping adults drawn by flexible degree format

ITT Educational Services Inc. may nearly double by the end of this year the number of degree programs it offers entirely through online instruction as the school seeks to enroll students who can’t make class because of work or family obligations. Six online bachelor degree programs and two online associate degree programs are in various stages of regulatory and accreditation review, according to the Carmel-based technical education provider, which has 38,800 students enrolled at schools in 28 states. President and…

BANKRUPTCIES:

Romo’s Pizza Muncie Inc., dba Romo’s Pizza Peruvian Style, 2109 S. Scatterfield Road, Anderson, 46012. Chapter 7 liquidation. Assets: none; liabilities: $14,299. William W. McGinnis Investments Corp., 3951 S. Meridian St., 46217. Chapter 11 reorganization. Assets: n/a; liabilities: n/a.

Mega-hotel on city agenda: Pan Am Plaza possible site for 800-room development

The city is looking for developers interested in adding 800 hotel rooms downtown, a project that could be accomplished by building a massive, new hotel or augmenting several existing facilities. Insiders say a new hotel is most likely. They picture it on Pan Am Plaza. If that happens, the hotel would become the city’s largest-eclipsing the Indianapolis Marriott by almost 200 rooms. Ideally, the rooms would be available by 2010, when the wraps come off the expanded Indiana Convention Center….

INVESTING: Energy stocks had their run, but they may storm back

People don’t seem to spend as much time talking about high oil costs today as they did a year ago. Perhaps we’ve gotten used to them. Maybe the negative effects will be felt later. But one thing seems obvious: Energy stocks have recorded at least a short-term top. Let’s see what happens next. The incredible rise in oil over the last three years has turned up the volume in the debate over solutions. Washington passed an energy bill last summer,…

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: ‘Dallas’-like TV hit in our future?

Just as the popular prime-time soap opera “Dallas” emerged from Texas oil-industry lore, “Indiana” someday could become a mega-hit on television. After, that is, the state becomes the “Texas of biofuels” and the lurid, steamy tales of Big Biofuel begin to play out. I’m not sure who came up with “Texas of biofuels,” but the analogy surfaced after the recent announcement that the world’s largest soybean processing plant and biodiesel facility will be built in northern Indiana. With this project,…

TechPoint names up-and-coming Mira nominees: Annual award celebrates excellence in innovation

TechPoint won’t distribute its annual Mira awards until its banquet at the Indiana Roof Ballroom May 19. But the state’s largest high-tech trade association has completed the nomination process for its top awards, pulling together a list of 49 innovative companies and educators in such categories as information technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing. About 750 people usually attend the Mira banquet. But the awards are meant to reverberate among a far wider population all year long as confirmation which…

Federal patent legislation could mean major changes: Proposed reform act could cut down on ‘trolling’ and litigation by switching approvals to a first-to-file system

Pending federal legislation could bring sweeping changes to a patent system critics say is broken and in need of repair. The Patent Reform Act-before Congress since last year-presents the most substantial overhaul in decades. Significant changes include creating a process to challenge patents after they are granted and awarding a patent to the first person to submit paperwork. Patents currently are granted to the first person who hatched the invention, regardless of when documents were filed. Time frames, though, can…

Verdict a ray of light for local tanning firm: Court agrees with Australian Gold’s trademark suit

Australian Gold Inc.’s gamble to sue an Oklahoma family that it believed was selling its indoor tanning lotions illegally over the Internet paid off handsomely, in more ways than one. A federal appeals court last month upheld a lower court’s ruling, in which a jury awarded the Indianapolis-based company $5.23 million in damages relating to the infringement of its trademark. More critical than the award, which executives do not expect to fully collect, is the fact that a permanent injunction…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Behold the upcoming Vista of Microsoft operating system

Microsoft has announced how it’s going to package and sell its brand new operating system, now called “Vista,” but long code-named “Longhorn.” The company has devoted a big chunk of its home page to a single link to more information about Vista (www.microsoft.com). Of course, you can’t buy it yet, because it hasn’t been released, but you can look at screen captures of it. Be ready to read a while. Vista is coming in six flavors, two of which are…

BULLS & BEARS: Stop-loss orders might cost you in long run

Every fortnight, my firm sends out a newsletter to clients, prospects and friends. In it, we opine on the stock market, the economy, pop culture and politics. If you read this column, you have a general idea of the tone of the letters. This week, we got “fan mail” from neither a client nor a friend, but from a gentleman we had presented our services to about 18 months ago. He started his letter stating he found our writings “informative,…

Mooresville hospital plans next expansion: $33 million project would add emergency department, boost other service areas

St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville might finally land the emergency department town leaders want, thanks to a proposed $33 million expansion and renovation. Plans for an emergency department surfaced in bond paperwork the hospital filed recently with the Indiana Health and Educational Facility Financing Authority. The filing said the hospital also plans to add private rooms and renovate its surgery, joint and colorectal care facilities. Adding an emergency department also was mentioned in a lawsuit St. Francis officials filed last year against…

Hospitality madness: City wants to grow reputation as Final Four’s ideal site

Bill Evans’ phone rang at 11 p.m. It was a basketball team. The players wanted milkshakes. He popped up like he was bouncing on one of those mini-trampolines mascots use to dunk basketballs at halftime. He tapped his partner on the shoulder. They rolled two coolers to the downtown Steak n Shake. He ordered milkshakes. Large ones. Two for each player. They put the shakes in the coolers and rolled them through the downtown night to the team hotel. The…

VIEWPOINT: Business is a dog-eat-dog world

Has our approach to competition helped us create more successful companies? I have found it interesting to study competition and the related business paradigm within which we operate, to see what brought us here, and to see the effects of that paradigm on industries and companies. Like most of us, I learned about competition as a child. It was a natural progression to go from playing with friends and just having fun to playing to win at something. Almost without…