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NOTIONS: Learning what matters in the ultimate survivor game

When I was 21, I went to work for a mayor. I was an intern. I wrote speeches, letters, news releases and proclamations; took photographs; set up chairs for news conferences; poured coffee for reporters; sipped tea with sister-city delegations; photocopied documents; scheduled guests for radio and TV shows; produced an audio-visual presentation; showed it to scores of neighborhood associations; told them how great the mayor was. Things like that. I made minimum wage, learned from some wise mentors and…

Rehab specialists learn value of flexibility: Historic building projects require contractors who can adjust on the fly

For the ideal construction project, building owners and architects carefully develop a budget and a set of plans, then hire contractors to follow the plans to the letter, the budget to the dollar, and the schedule to the day. But when the building is old-old enough to have been through several owners and multiple uses-throw the ideal out the window, owners and contractors say. Yes, the budget constraints are still there. And the result-new housing, hotel or offices-is the same,…

BULLS & BEARS: Furniture-maker Kimball may be solid investment

It can take a while to rein in investor expectations after a time like the high-return 1990s. As Jeremy Grantham of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo notes in his quarterly letter, “Even today, with long bonds at 4.5 percent and the earnings yield (on stocks) at under 5.5 percent, the assumption for longterm pension returns is still showing its bullish bias at over 8 percent.” So what does an investor do in an environment that requires more humble expectations for investment…

Ice Miller experiment turns financial corner: IMSS is only area sports agency licensed by NFL, NBA

At a time when many sports agents are getting squeezed out by mega-agencies with Shaquille O’Neal’s mass and New York Yankee-like resources, a small Indianapolis firm is becoming a real player. A curious experiment launched in August 2001 by local law firm Ice Miller has become a profitable venture despite long odds and a slow start. “It’s fair to say that launching this effort has been harder than we thought,” said IM Sports Services LLC Chairman John R. Thornburgh. “After…

S.S. Purdue taking on water:

Rome may have been burning but, in West Lafayette, Purdue University is leaking. The university has proposed a complex funding plan to address crumbling infrastructure resulting from declining state funding. Purdue President Martin Jischke proposes that Purdue set aside $15 million annually for repairs, money that would come from sources including $60 million in bonds to address half of the $120 million deferred repair backlog. The bonds would be paid off through budget reallocations and revenue from student fees for…

Rental businesses enjoy heavy equipment demand: Volvo Rents sees big opportunity in local market

As central Indiana’s construction market continues to gain momentum, Volvo Construction Equipment Rents Inc. hopes to get up to speed by opening as many as three franchised Volvo Rents stores by the end of 2006. The stores rent small to medium-size equipment from Volvo Construction Equipment and other manufacturers to a range of customers-from professionals to do-it-yourselfers. And Indianapolis has it all. “Between 2005 and 2008, Indianapolis [construction spending] is projected to grow 5 percent,” said Nick Mavrick, Volvo Rents’…

Critics want IPL answers: Utility cut $10M settlement after agency suggested accounting was misleading

Groups representing Indianapolis Power & Light Co. customers want to know if the utility has deliberately underreported income to regulators and overcharged customers. Their concerns were sparked by a cryptic settlement IPL reached with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor on Oct. 28 that took IPL customer groups by surprise. IPL agreed to provide each residential customer with a $25 credit early next year, “a time when the costs for heating their homes will be at their highest,” IPL…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Putting construction, engineering into laymen’s terms

Sometimes those of us in the construction industry-like many other professions-forget we have our own technical vocabulary that many laymen simply don’t understand. Like some of my colleagues, I have occasionally started tossing around the lingo of our industry before business and civic leaders from other fields and have seen the confused look that comes over their faces. I have to stop and define my terms. With that situation in mind, I thought it might be helpful to put together…

TOM HARTON Commentary: Creativity is right around the corner

Don’t know what to make of the city’s new focus on public art? Talk to the hand. Or rather, talk about the hand. That’s what people here should be doing later this month when a blackand-white image of a care giver’s outstretched hand starts popping up on cultural institutions and billboards around the city. The work of art, “Untitled (for Jeff),” by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, is on loan from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and it’s evidence…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Feds say exec pilfered passport, but judge isn’t convinced

Here’s a new twist in the already surreal saga of James T. O’Neal Jr., the Carmel native preparing to stand trial in Orlando on charges he swindled millions of dollars from executives here and in Florida. In late September, a new court filing charges, the 59-year-old Orlando resident swiped his passport and the Social Security cards for himself and his family from a repository of court records in Indianapolis. “It is a reasonable assumption that he will continue to take…

HVAC specialists see rise in energy-saving interest: Anticipated price spikes spur demand for revamps

Many plant managers consider it a lost cause to combat thermostat wars, factoring it in as a normal cost of doing business. Or they just don’t think about it all. Even before hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused natural gas prices to soar, an energy price problem was already in full swing. Engineering, construction and energy management firms were already addressing concerns from clients over how to combat rising energy bills. While soaring prices are expected to wreak havoc on residential…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: How we all pay the price for things that seem free

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, goes the familiar cliché about economics. That old phrase is meant to impart the simple idea that anything that consumes resources imposes a cost, which is certainly true. But a little tweak of the wording produces a much more powerful insight. That’s to say-to an economist’s way of thinking, at least-nothing should be free. Those dour sentiments doubtless explain why economists don’t get invited to many parties. Free goods abound in our…

Liquor chain looks online for growth: 21st Amendment to launch e-commerce site

Jim James drinks scotch. Just don’t pour him a tumbler from the well at the local tavern. Reach for the bottle on the top shelf with the Blue Label. And make it neat. Connoisseurs don’t waste a good single-malt on a frozen tongue. James should know. The tall, broad-shouldered CEO of Indianapolis-based 21st Amendment Inc. has built an 18-store kingdom selling spirits to everyone from lint-pocketed college students to Riedel-toting executives. The company, which began with a lone location on…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Talent, education are keys in competitive field of design

“Individuals with little or no formal education in design, as well as those who lack creativity and perseverance, will find it very difficult to establish and maintain a career in the occupation,” warns the department through its currently posted Bureau of Labor Statistics Outlook. While I do suggest that designers of the future should take their career outlook seriously given the current and expected competition, I certainly would not want to discourage them. Creativity and perseverance are among those traits,…

Groceries go global: Ethnic food stores surge in popularity, number

Salsa outsells ketchup. Tortillas fly off the shelves almost as fast as white bread. And if you’re looking for these new staples of the American diet, Indianapolis is increasingly a good place to find them. Sixteen years ago, there were three Latino grocery stores in Indianapolis, according to Manuel Gonzalez, president of the Indiana State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Today, there are more than 40. And that’s just the places that specialize in products like milpero tomatoes and serrano chilies….

Dan Wendorff PC Eye Care: Optometrist has vision for growth Not content with status quo, doctor-turned-businessman sets his sights on expansion

Not content with status quo, doctor-turned-businessman sets his sights on expansion When Dan Wendorff was a kid, he thought he wanted to be a pharmacist like his father. But, “I was always interested in the eyes and excelled in physics and sciences,” so when a high school friend suggested optometry, it stuck, said Wendorff, owner of Dan Wendorff Eye Care. His practice leases space and provides eye care services at two area offices of LensCrafters, an Ohio-based franchise. Wendorff, a…

Construction materials costs set to soar: Hurricanes, other factors lead to current or predicted shortages, price jumps in PVC pipe, copper wiring, cement

A building boom in China and India is exacerbating the crisis, and further squeezing the profits of contractors and developers, including those in Indianapolis. The situation could become worse when rebuilding efforts begin. “I’ve talked to big commercial developers and we’ve all seen our margins shrinking,” said Greg Small, chairman and CEO of Indianapolis-based developer Equicor Cos. LLC. “As a businessperson, you’re going to have to be sharper at dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s.” Because the majority of…

ABDUL-HAKIM SHABAZZ: Why not consider ‘intelligent designers’?

I should fully disclose my religious beliefs before going any further. I was raised Islamic, but have become more agnostic in my older age. So I guess that means I still pray five times a day, but I’m not quite sure when to do it or what direction to face. I find it necessary to bring this up because I am about to tread into the waters of religion and politics, in other words, into “intelligent design.” Intelligent design is…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: It’s high time for us to seek alternative energy sources

The Ghawar oil field is the jewel of the Saudi treasure chest. Sometimes called “The King” because of its oil production, this field has yielded more than 55 billion barrels of oil since the early 1950s-more than half of all Saudi oil exports. Today, it still produces about 5 million barrels of oil each day, or about 6 percent of the world’s daily supply of petroleum. But all’s not well at Ghawar. In August, The New York Times Magazine featured…

SPORTS Bill Benner: Peyton on paychecks and his final pass

Part II of my no X’s-and-O’s interview with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning: Benner: Conseco Fieldhouse could be called the House That Reggie Miller Built. Obviously, a great number of people have been involved in the new stadium. Yet it could be known as the House That Peyton Built. How do you feel about your role in elevating the franchise to the point where the stadium became a necessity? Manning: It gets me excited. That we can have a state-of-the-art…