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INDOT chief’s changes altered contract decision: Insider alleges Nicol favored Kernan contributor

Former Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner J. Bryan Nicol changed official recommendations of INDOT’s design division, according to an INDOT source, a move that sent millions of dollars of work to major contributors to former Gov. Joe Kernan’s campaign. Two days after last fall’s election, INDOT consultant services manager Jeffrey Clanton said he was ordered by then-commissioner Nicol to make a number of changes to a July 29, 2004, selection list. On seven of the 24 different projects on the…

St. Vincent buys land near Lafayette for hospital: Market has long intrigued Indianapolis-based network

St. Vincent Health paid Arnett Health-System $3 million to $4 million for land Arnett owned along Interstate 65 in Tippecanoe County, said Rebecca Carl, Arnett vice president for marketing and communications. The two sides closed the deal in mid-February. Lafayette-based Arnett includes a health care plan and a physician group of 150 doctors, and covers a 14-county area centered on Lafayette. Its leaders want another hospital there even though Lafayette already has two, Home Hospital and St. Elizabeth Medical Center….

Bill keeps mandate debate swirling: Biz community favors stripped-down option

Small-business owner Gail Piltz, who is paying 31 percent more this year than he did a year ago to insure himself and his four employees, has a somewhat radical philosophy regarding health care insurance. His suggestion: Everyone should be responsible for his or her own health care plan, just like they are with their automobile and homeowner’s insurance. That way, he said, people might abuse the system less and make coverage more affordable. Piltz’s proposition has failed to gain traction…

Banks find niche with small loans: Three new arrivals affecting local lending community

The city’s small-business lending market is a bit more crowded now that three out-ofstate competitors have entered the fray. McLean, Va.-based Capital One Federal Savings Bank, Oakland, Calif.-based Innovative Bank and Providence, R.I.-based Charter One Bank are wasting no time letting fellow lenders know they’re serious about serving the small-business community. Capital One, Innovative and Charter One ranked second, third and fourth, respectively, in the number of U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) loans they dispensed during December. The leader for…

Midfield may alter hotel-biz flight path: Hendricks County could gain from new airport terminal

Airport Expressway won’t live up to its name for much longer. When Indianapolis International Airport’s midfield terminal opens in 2008, the fast track to flight will be a dedicated entrance off Interstate 70. The move will shift travelers a few miles to the south and west-and take away the direct access that now drives them to expressway hotels. Observers predict hotel development along I-70 will take off as the midfield project nears completion, most likely creating a new hospitality hub…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Michigan’s job pain is felt throughout the Midwest

At the end of last year, the unemployment rate in Michigan was 7.3 percent. That was more than 2 percentage points higher than Indiana’s. No state in the country had a higher jobless rate. That’s not a big story in the Hoosier State. We have our own economic challenges, after all. But perhaps we should be paying a bit more attention. We’re not exactly immune to the forces that are dealing such harsh blows to the Michigan economy right now….

Villaggio condos aim high: Proposed eight-story project targets downtown’s SE side

A developer with deep roots in the Fletcher Place neighborhood is setting its sights on an ambitious eight-story condominium project on the southeast side of downtown. Villaggio at Page Pointe calls for 65 condos ranging in size from 1,600 square feet to 4,300 square feet. Most units will sell for $265,000 to $530,000, with three penthouse units listed for more than $900,000. The first floor of the building will house about 20,000 square feet of retail space. A parking garage…

NOTIONS: Collateral killing: It’s good for business!

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge … “Business!” cried the Ghost …”Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business.” Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” Sunday night, about 10, I was watching the movie “Collateral” in the basement. I was trying, sans success, to get my mind off work and my wife Pam’s bout with cancer for a few hours. Pam was one floor…

Ex-execs fly solo: Horn, Shoopman, others trade big firms for small

As president of The Dura Cos. Inc., Paul Shoopman was responsible for a 155-employee company that brought in $75 million in revenue in 2003 and built as many as 700 homes a year in Marion and the surrounding counties. Last year, Shoopman won an Ernst & Young national Entrepreneur of the Year award and sold his company to publicly traded California-based KB Home. This year, he’s starting over. Shoopman, 51, opened Indiana Land Development Co. in early January. From his…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Setbacks smudge image of Obsidian CEO Durham Stock is down Snapping up firms

Tim Durham tells reporters he wants to be the richest man alive. His office sits atop the Bank One Tower, the state’s tallest building. For fun, he adds to his collection of four dozen collector cars. But behind the glitz, Durham is trying to untangle what’s become a real mess at Obsidian Enterprises Inc., the publicly traded manufacturing and transportation firm he controls and leads. In a regulatory filing last week, Obsidian’s independent accounting firm, Minnesota-based McGladrey & Pullen, expressed…

Art screens proliferating: Simon’s Landmark multiplex to threaten tiny Key Cinemas

When Simon Property Group Inc. and Landmark Theatres open their art multiplex in December, it’ll boast seven movie screens, stadium seating and a full bar, all under the Fashion Mall’s roof. The local art film crowd is palpably excited that the edgy indies, daring documentaries and foreign films usually found in New York or Los Angeles will be just a stone’s throw from their favorite stores and restaurants. Those films already are shown at Key Cinemas on the south side….

New suitor sees future in Standard: Investor says he’ll leave life insurance arm in Indy

John Franco left Kentucky-based ARM Financial Group Inc. more than a year before it imploded, and he sees Standard Life Insurance as his ticket to re-enter the insurance market. ARM Financial sank a few years ago under the weight of enormous losses, bankruptcy, shareholder lawsuits and insurance downgrades. Franco and others say he had nothing to do with the demise of the company he helped found. “After I left, the company pursued a very different path and the rest is…

BULLS & BEARS: Seeing profits in markets means seeing beyond now

I have been ranting like a broken record for the last several columns about how stocks are cheap and should provide great returns for the next few years. Over the past six weeks, I’ve explained why the Dow Jones industrial average should crack 19,000 by the end of this decade, why the “five-year three-peat” should usher in a bull run, and how the “global synchronized boom” should propel earnings and stock prices. All those long-term “shoulds” may make you think…

Law would improve oversight of not-for-profits: Attorney general says he needs enforcement options

Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter thinks there’s room to improve oversight of the state’s 60,000-plus not-for-profit organizations, a task that happens to fall under his purview. So two months into his second term as Indiana’s top lawyer-and nearly two years after becoming embroiled in a highprofile charitable dispute-Carter is backing legislation that would strengthen existing laws and allow his office flexibility in dealing with problems when they arise. “We’re not proposing to give ourselves a magic wand,” said Brent Embry,…

Carpenter moving forward as independent brokerage: Execs confident of success without GMAC affiliation Name has value

Armed with a stack of market research chock full of industry sales figures, Tom Prall says he’s certain Carpenter Realtors will carry on just fine without any outside assistance. Prall has led the south-side residential real estate agency the past 30 years and recently guided its divestiture from national franchise GMAC, a division of Detroitbased General Motors Corp. With the contentious split behind him, the former Marine first lieutenant, who served in South Vietnam, is poised to navigate Carpenter through…

Artsy edge propels Y&L: Agency shows its creativity with 2nd Globe

But Indianapolis-based Young & Laramore needed more than the “I think I can” mantra of bedtime stories to make tracks for the big time. It needed a plan. The four-part strategy was simple in concept, if challenging in execution: Attract the talent necessary to do national-caliber work, put it to good use, get results and earn widespread recognition. “I’m a big believer in developing plans for growth and working hard at them,” said Paul Knapp, a lawyer by training and…

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Legislative action heats up, but end-game still elusive

Last week was busy for members of the Indiana General Assembly. A budget was moved to the House floor, the daylightsaving time initiative was fully debated for the first time in years, slots for the state’s two pari-mutuel horse-racing tracks received a committee vote, the Indianapolis Colts stadium issue was at the forefront of hallway debate, the Indianapolis Works program was the subject of some debate, and some controversial charter school issues received an airing. But while there was a…

Companies abuse certification to nab contracts: Critics wonder if they truly are ‘disadvantaged’

Indiana companies are playing the system to get millions of dollars in federal highway funds by posing as and receiving state certification as economically disadvantaged, minority or women-owned businesses. Under federal law, a prime contractor bidding on a federally funded project has to subcontract a certain percentage to businesses that are certified by the state as disadvantaged. The idea is to ensure that these companies have an equal opportunity to become successful. Files at the State Department of Administration show…

Mann seeks larger digs as growth strategy pays off: Busy developer eyes property for new headquarters

On Bash Street, off the beaten path from often-congested East 82nd Street, Mann Properties has quietly built a commercial real estate development business that is outgrowing its cozy quarters. The location in the developer’s secondoldest office park has served Mann well since the mid-1980s. But flanked on both sides by other companies, the space offers virtually no chance to expand, let alone any opportunity for increased visibility. So Managing Partner Brian Mann, 37, has brokered a deal to purchase 20…

Auctions bucking tradition: Sales method no longer last resort in real estate

In the not-so-distant past, a real estate auction meant one of only two things. “It used to be who died or who went bankrupt,” said Bob Getts, local director of auction services for Indianapolis-based commercial real estate brokerage Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. But over the last decade or so, real estate auctions have come out of the shadows, and are no longer viewed as a last resort for owners desperate to unload a property. These days, no property is considered…