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NOTIONS: A poem to honor positive and interesting ideas

My former boss loved to challenge our ad agency’s staffers with the wheelbarrow test. Developed by Professor Edward de Bono of Cambridge University and published in David Campbell’s book, “Take the Road to Creativity and Get off Your Dead End,” the instructions read: “Below is a side view of a proposed design for a new wheelbarrow. Write down five comments about the design.” If you’re like most adults, you’ll say the wheel’s too small or the handle too short. That…

Pottery by You: Firing up the entrepreneurial spirit Pottery shop owner puts love for art to work

Pottery shop owner puts love for art to work “Don’t sell this place without telling me first,” Katie Laux implored Pottery by You founder Liz Welter as they wielded brushes together late one night last fall. As they discussed the fun of owning a small business, Laux shared her enthusiasm for the paint-your-own pottery shop where she’d worked off and on since 2002. She loved the friendly atmosphere and the pleasant surprise when customers discovered their own creativity, and she…

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Newspapers face whole new era

Every newspaper in the world with an interest in surviving long term is rethinking its long-term strategy these days. IBJ is no exception. The most obvious trend prompting this global gut check is the exponential growth in Internet use-fueled by the broadband services that make it easier-and the proliferation of news and information services available on the Web. Why bother to read a newspaper if you have the world at your fingertips via your personal computer at home and in…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Hoosiers are wallflowers as housing party rocks on

Have you heard about the wild party that’s going on? It’s not one of those parties with wine, women and song. It’s all about buying and selling, and making lots of money. And, for some Americans, at least, it’s being done from the comfort of their own homes. It’s called the housing market, and in some corners of the country, it’s a rowdy affair. In coastal California and Florida, the price of homes is going up so fast it is…

TAWN PARENT Commentary: It takes a village to save a marriage

Divorce is a costly proposition-for families, for the courts, for business and for society. And it’s especially costly in Indianapolis. We have more divorced residents than any other major Midwestern city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. As a result, companies suffer. Nationally, divorce costs companies an estimated $11 billion a year, according to the Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Grief Recovery Institute, an educational foundation. Employees going through a divorce typically are confronting emotional, financial and legal challenges. In surveys of…

All-in-one discount pass sells well in opening year: Park officials hope to boost sales of child tickets

Nearly a year after White River State Park created a seven-venue park pass, the group is deeming the program a success. The pass provides one-time admission to White River Gardens, the Indianapolis Zoo, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, NCAA Hall of Champions, the Indiana State Museum, an Imax movie and an Indianapolis Indians game. The park sold 518 adult passes at $38 each and 42 child passes at $27 each. It sold out its original number…

Riverview Hospital opens health care, fitness center:

Riverview Hospital opened a Health Care Pavilion July 5 at 146th Street and Hazel Dell Parkway. The 15,000-square-foot facility is the first building to open in the new $5.2 million health and fitness complex. The pavilion will be home to Hazel Dell Family and Immediate Care, as well as several physicians specializing in such areas as women’s health, preventive medicine and sports medicine. The second building in the complex, the Riverview Health and Fitness Center, is slated to open in…

ABDUL-HAKIM SHABAZZ Commentary: Render unto the county what is the county’s

Well, not really. They should, however, fork over a few bucks to the government in the form of user fees. Like I said, this may be heresy, but I’ve never been mistaken for a true believer. As anyone who’s picked up a newspaper in the past few months knows, the city and county are facing huge budget shortfalls. And depending on whom you believe, it totals between $10 million and $35 million in the upcoming fiscal year alone. Mayor Bart…

MSA redevelopers set to make another run at tower: Project takes on new moniker as it rolls out redesigned condominium plans

With a new name, new floor plans and a new marketing team, the developers of the former Market Square Arena site are gearing up to make another go at building a high-rise condominium tower on the east side of downtown. Developers hope the new designs, crafted with the assistance of Chicagobased Mesa Development LLC, will jump-start the tower, now more than a year behind schedule and saddled with a lien from a former key player. The first phase of One…

City planners seek ways to replace PRI convention: Annual event was big money maker each December

Indianapolis hospitality leaders have launched a campaign to make up for the loss of a huge racing industry convention that is taking a hiatus from the city for the next half-decade. The Performance Racing Industry, or PRI, trade show has been a major event for the Indianapolis’ convention business for seven years, annually bringing up to 40,000 visitors to the city who spend more than $26.7 million. This event was especially valued because it typically took place in early December,…

SPORTS: Lance Armstrong miracle started here…or did it?

It is 10 a.m. on July 24 and, from several thousand miles and an ocean away, it is being reported that Lance Armstrong has, indeed, won his seventh consecutive-and last-Tour de France. I pick up the telephone and dial Dr. Lawrence Einhorn at his home here in Indianapolis. “What a way to go out,” says the doctor, the pleasure obvious in his voice. “And it still gives me goose bumps.” What a championship pairing: Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor. Lawrence Einhorn,…

Event targets greener vehicles: Fleet operators to discuss emission-reduction methods at downtown conference

More sparks have been flying from city garbage trucks lately than a City-County Council meeting over police and sheriff’s department consolidation. Mechanics have been cutting out sections of garbage truck exhaust pipes and splicing in tubes filled with precious metals. When the “diesel oxidation catalyst” heats up, combustion gases blowing through it are cleansed before coming out the tailpipe. So simple and quick is this approach to curbing air pollution that John Chavez hopes the humble trash truck project will…

Baby doctors ready to bolt: Clarian North’s new north-side med center to lure business from St. Vincent, Community

Storm clouds are gathering to the north as St. Vincent Health applies the last coat of polish to its $19 million Women’s Hospital renovation. The Indianapolis hospital will lose an obstetrician-gynecology group that delivers as many as 1,440 babies a year shortly after it completes its expansion in September. The 10 doctors of Women’s Health Alliance plan to move offices and shift 80 percent of their practice to a new competitor, Clarian North Medical Center, a $285 million project scheduled…

Interactive Intelligence posts profit, again: Communications software-maker nets modest earnings

Its profit may be modest. But after years of struggle, Interactive Intelligence Inc. knows the value of small gains. They sure beat massive losses. Last week, the Indianapolis-based software company reported a second-quarter profit of $290,000 on sales of $15.6 million. That compares with a profit of $304,000 on sales of $13.6 million posted during the same quarter last year. It was the company’s sixth consecutive profitable quarter, for a total of $1.4 million. That’s a big turnaround for the…

INVESTING: Investment strategies abound, many fraught with risk

One of the advantages of living in the world’s best free-market economy is the incredible number of choices we have. It is astounding how many types of places there are to eat in New York City. Rome has the best Italian food in the world, but that’s all you can get there. In America, you can get nearly the best the entire world has to offer, and people keep coming up with new things all the time. The stock market…

BEHIND THE NEWS Marsh shares stage rally, despite firm’s challenges:

Marsh Supermarkets Inc. might be a great place to shop, but it’s been a long time since the embattled Indianapolis grocer has been a great place for investors to park their money. That’s why the recent runup of Marsh shares is raising eyebrows in the investment community. Both the company’s Class A and Class B shares are up more than 25 percent since early June, and better than 20 percent for the year. What’s driving the increase? In part, probably…

Translating success: Network of language experts key to Pangea Lingua’s growth

Good translations are seldom noticed. But bad ones can become infamous. And Tamra Lewis has heard them all. There’s the “Got Milk?” slogan, which in literal Spanish means “Are you lactating?” Or classic examples, such as the name of Chevy’s Nova automobile-understood as “No go” in Latin America. As the CEO of locally based Pangea Lingua, Lewis, 38, aims to keep her clients’ translations from becoming the next Internet joke. Now and then, that means nudging a company away from…

Counties, cities welcome food/beverage tax: Suburbs see extra funds as way to balance budgets

Several suburban cities and counties that have approved new food and beverage taxes view the windfall as a panacea for their budget woes. Six of the seven counties surrounding Marion County, excluding Morgan, have OK’d the 1-percent surcharge to help fund a new stadium for the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Convention Center expansion. Morgan County councilors turned down the measure at a June meeting. The legislation, approved during the past session, directs counties to contribute half the food and beverage…

Reviving a legacy: Grandson of Best Access Systems founder builds security firm that plans to go national

In some ways, Richard Best has never gotten over his departure from his family’s business, Best Access Systems. Some memories he’d rather forget. But others he carries with him like treasures carefully secured under lock and key. “That was a very difficult time,” Best said in halting tones, referring to 1995, when his youngest brother, Russell, acquired control of the company and used his leverage to buy out him, his father, Walter, and brothers Robert and Marshall. “It was our…

BULLS & BEARS: Some companies lose way when they reinvest profits

In a previous column, I described “free cash flow” as the earnings remaining after a company makes the necessary expenditures to keep the business viable in its industry. Executives at companies that generate unrestricted earnings, or free cash flow, have critical decisions to make on how to allocate those funds. One choice is to pay out dividends to shareholders. Decades ago, dividends composed a significant portion of the overall return achieved by investing in common stocks. Following the post-WWII economic…