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ATA struggles to survive:

ATA Airlines in 2005 was gutted into a shell of its former glory. On the upside, it ended the year with a $100 commitment from New York finance firm MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners. That could set the stage for the company to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, 16 months after it filed. But the price of restructuring was high for Indianapolis. The company, which just a year ago was the busiest carrier at Indianapolis International Airport, will discontinue…

The entrepreneur is in – literally: Venture Center program offers select firms expert advice

The return on investment couldn’t be any better. TGX Medical Systems CEO Michael Good brought Joe Muldoon on board in April to help his company land some venture-capital funding. A few months later, it had a check for $1.5 million in the bank. The cost of Muldoon’s help: zilch. As the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Indiana’s Venture Center, Muldoon spent seven months this year giving a handful of young, high-growth Indiana companies free advice on everything from budgeting to fund raising….

Hoosiers set to observe daylight-saving time in 2006:

Indiana lawmakers beat the clock during the waning minutes of the legislative session to narrowly adopt daylight-saving time. The DST bill passed the House by one vote, and only after failing to obtain a constitutional majority the first time it was voted upon. Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican who included the divisive issue in his campaign, intervened to muster more support. House Speaker Brian Bosma held the voting board open for several minutes during the second vote until Rep. Troy…

EYE ON THE PIE: Cost of living depends on how you live

“You can find warmer,” I said, “but I’m not sure you’ll find nicer anywhere.” “Well, if you don’t want to go, I could go myself,” Myrtle pouted. “I could be a muse anywhere; it’s a transferable skill and I don’t need a license to practice. I’d just find some nice writers or artists in another place, or even offer inspiration over the Internet.” “How much do you make a year, Myrtle?” I asked. “None of your business,” she said curtly….

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Patrick Barkey: Multiplying economic gains isn’t easy as it may sound

It’s an old, but primal, oath that doctors are supposed to take before they set out into the world of medicine: “Do no harm” to the patients they serve. Perhaps a few of us in the economics profession should do the same. Because some of our ideas-or more accurately, characterizations of our ideas-may be doing more harm than good. Of course, it’s great to see ideas that come out of your own specialized area of expertise find their way into…

Small biz preparing wish list: Lobbyists hope to repeat past legislative success

But that doesn’t mean the organization and its 16,000 Hoosier members will rest on their laurels for the short legislative session in 2006. The group will bring a full wish list to the Statehouse in January, lobbying against increased property taxes and health insurance mandates. It’ll also petition lawmakers to restrict eminent domain seizures. Still, observers don’t think the organization will have as much cause for uncorking the bubbly as it did last year. No different than last session, businessfriendly…

Guidant deal rides roller coaster:

Indianapolis-based medicaldevice maker Guidant Corp. spent most of 2005 shifting from one crisis to the next, as it endured national publicity over product defects, scores of shareholder and patient lawsuits, and marathon negotiations with potential buyers over its future. By the end of the year, it still had no clear vision for what that future holds. New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson agreed in December 2004 to buy Guidant for $25.4 billion in cash and stock. That deal quietly moved through…

NEWSMAKER Outspoken White takes charge at IPS:

NEWSMAKER Outspoken White takes charge at IPS Eugene White ruffled more than a few feathers early this year when he publicly called Gov. Mitch Daniels “a liar.” White, then the superintendent of Washington Township schools, didn’t care for Daniels’ claim that the state’s school administrators cared more about building projects than education. Like him or not, White doesn’t mince words. He has a stand-up style that this summer helped him land the job of superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools. The…

INVESTING: Employees too often stuck with onerous 401(k) plans

Since the early 1980s, nearly every U.S. employee has been exposed to the mighty 401(k) plan. I used to participate in one when I was a stockbroker in New York. The fact that I am in the business gives me a detailed look at what happens in the 401(k) world, and I am appalled. Here’s how it works. You start working for a firm and within six months you can participate in its 401(k) plan. You get all the paperwork…

New governor brings business mentality to state government:

As he took office in January, Gov. Mitch Daniels’ first order of business was just that: Apply a business mind-set to state government. That meant efforts to improve the efficiency and cooperation of state agen- Envisioned by Republicans as a publicprivate partnership, IEDC swallowed and replaced more than half a dozen boards and agencies such as the Indiana Depart cies. It also meant key changes to economic development. The creation of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. was one of his…

Web site stirs controversy: Watchdogs pan Insurance Department’s pro-business stance

Consumer watchdogs are howling over a revamped state Insurance Department Web site that pitches Indiana’s “positive regulatory climate” and other business-friendly attributes. The site’s new look debuted a few weeks ago and aims to make companies think about moving to Indiana, Insurance Commissioner Jim Atterholt said. But critics say a regulator should never play the role of recruiter, and the approach sends the wrong message to consumers seeking help. “It raises some questions-you know, who’s your first master?” said Julia…

Conner Prairie set free; will control own destiny:

The once-fierce battle over Conner Prairie came to a peaceful end in 2005 when Earlham College agreed to relinquish control of the living history museum and about $125 million in assets. Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter brokered the cease-fire, negotiating a settlement to the years-long dispute that has taken a toll on the Hamilton County institution. Carter entered the fray in mid-2003, following Earlham’s ouster of the museum president and 27 of its 30 board members. As the state’s not-for-profit…

BULLS & BEARS: After a disappointing 2005, get ready for ‘bang-up year’

Exactly one year ago in this column, I predicted what 2005 would bring for the stock market and guesstimated a “bang-up year with double-digit gains.” I came up with the projection based on the fact that most market strategists weren’t too optimistic and, as a group, usually have been wrong. I also threw in that mutual fund money was flowing into foreign funds instead of domestic funds and that mutual fund investors usually pile into funds at the wrong time….

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Merry Christmahanukwanzakah!

Have you seen the ads for Virgin Mobile at the movie theater? Decidedly tongue-in-cheek and inyour-face, the ads from the upstart cell phone company take a wellaimed potshot at our obsession with political correctness. In an apparent attempt to make everybody happy, the company has created Christmahanukwanzakah, a new holiday, taking Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa-the Christian, Jewish and African-American end-of-year celebrations-and rolling them into one. Among other things, the movie-theater ads re-create a politically incorrect telethon, featuring a number of…

SPORTS: At Rose-Hulman, a great sports story that won’t sell

The Indianapolisbased NCAA generated more news Dec. 19 with the announcement of the new Graduation Success Rate, which measures the graduation rates of Division I studentathletes. The news was predominantly positive. The NCAA is doing a much more accurate job of tracking studentathletes, in particular those who transfer at some time during their collegiate careers. Previous measurements taken by the federal government automatically counted a transfer as a failure, even if that student-athlete departed his first school in good academic…

NEWSMAKER: Jischke praised, while Herbert taking heat:

NEWSMAKER Jischke praised, while Herbert taking heat Confidence in the job performance of the two leaders of the state’s largest universities headed in opposite directions this year. At West Lafayette, Purdue University President Martin Jischke, 64, continued to receive high praise for elevating the university’s status as a player in the state’s economic development mission. Meanwhile, his colleague at Indiana University, Adam Herbert, found himself fending off a barrage of critics calling for his ouster because they don’t think he…

NEWSMAKER: Dealmaker Hilbert starts private equity firm:

NEWSMAKER Dealmaker Hilbert starts private equity firm Five years after his ouster as CEO of Conseco Inc., the acquisitive insurer he founded, Steve Hilbert is back in the deal-making game. IBJ reported in November that Hilbert has launched MH Private Equity Fund LLC, a private-equity firm that plans to buy firms in specific industries and consolidate them. Consolidation will bring economies of scale and cost savings, the thinking goes, and also will create marketleading companies positioned to thrive in their…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY Tim Altom: Here is list of the worst tech foibles of 2005

Well, happy holidays again, my brethren! It’s once more time for my holiday gift to you, a compendium of technological disasters that test the assertion that we’re happiest when we read about those who have been more humiliated than we were. As military pilots used to say about their own missteps, “Man, that’ll leave a crater.” The most recent example in this hall of horrors is Mizuho Securities, as reported by CNN Dec. 9. Massive, Tokyo-based Mizuho switched two numbers…

Finally, a new stadium, and not just for football:

After years of angling and months of negotiating, city and state officials finally came to an agreement with the Indianapolis Colts to build a $625 million retractableroof stadium south of the RCA Dome. With a drum roll and a crowd of 1,200 fans and dignitaries counting down-three, two, one-Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mayor Bart Peterson and others shoveled a little dirt on the future home of the city’s new stadium in a formal ground breaking Sept. 21….

VIEWPOINT: Indiana: The Cyber Crossroads of America?

Can a state whose identity as the “Crossroads of America” in the 20th century maintain that distinction in the 21st century? Can Indiana, with numerous railroads and highways passing through it, find a competitive advantage in a world that increasingly bypasses rails and roads in favor of the virtual marketplace? Absolutely-if it is willing once again to serve as a central hub for the thoroughfares so important to the virtual marketplace and purposefully sets out to build them. Not so…