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Party concept finds oodles of followers: Oogles n Googles franchises could hit 40 this year

Anxious to get their unproven enterprise off the ground, Kevin and Danya Mendell offered their first customer a price of $50 to organize a child’s birthday party. That was just three years ago. This year, the Mendells’ Carmel-based company, Oogles n Googles, is expected to reach $1 million in revenue. The venture has been so successful that parents now shell out $325 to let them entertain their offspring, and up to 12 friends, for a few hours. But the firm’s…

Cancer society scouts Clarian property for development: Former retirement home may serve as a Hope Lodge

An empty retirement home near Methodist Hospital may turn into a lodge that gives cancer patients a place to rest while they receive treatment in Indianapolis. The American Cancer Society is talking with Clarian Health Partners about planting a Hope Lodge on the site of the former Indianapolis Retirement Home, which sits across from Methodist on busy North Capitol Avenue. The cancer society operates 23 of these lodges in several states, but this would be the first Indiana location, according…

Furnace maker picks Indy as hot spot for distribution: Lennox to move Illinois, Ohio operations to east side

Lennox Industries Inc. is giving Indianapolis a vote of confidence as a logistics hub with plans to move distribution of its commercial heating and cooling products from facilities in Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, to the east side of Indianapolis. Although the distribution center is relatively small at 60,000 square feet, Lennox is one of a few companies that have abandoned distribution centers in other cities in favor of Indianapolis’ low cost of real estate, central location and interstate access. Last…

NOTIONS: Does principal or principle matter more?

A few weeks ago, my friend John and I treated our three 17-year-olds to a boys’ night out. We started off at Bazbeaux downtown, inhaling guy pizza (read: pepperoni and sausage) and dissecting the big news of the day-Michael Jackson’s acquittal on charges that he shared alcohol, porn and a little night groping with a teen-age boy. Our teen-age boys, news junkies all, then rattled on about kids getting paid to play online video games and the proliferation of “cheats”…

BULLS & BEARS: Investors should run from variable annuity plan offers

There are many ways to invest your money in the stock market and no shortage of convincing salespeople preaching the best way to do it. The “can’t-beat’e m- s o – j o i n – ‘e m ” crowd thinks index funds are the way to go. Some think actively managed mutual funds are best, while others go for individual stocks. All the above ways have merit, pluses and minuses, and different levels of involvement from you, the investor….

Taking the pulse of life sciences: Experts weigh in on whether Indiana is keeping up in the economic development race

IBJ: Is Indiana gaining ground against other states in the race to grow as a life sciences hub? What are some specific benchmarks that underscore your opinion? JOHNSON: Indiana is gaining ground, but Indiana already starts on really very substantial ground. There are a lot of outside validations of that and I think it’s important for this audience to hear a couple of them because there is nothing like having people on the outside pay attention to what we’re doing…

VC tax credit rarely used by startups: Less than 17 percent of incentives tapped

Last year, Indiana approved tax credits worth nearly $16.3 million to encourage speculation on local high-tech startups. Investors left most of the credits-$13.5 million worth-on the table. The highly touted Indiana Venture Capital Investment tax credit program debuted in January 2004. It allows investors in approved startups to write 20 percent of their outlay off their state taxes. Indiana certified 42 young companies last year as eligible for its venture capital credit. According to the Indiana Economic Development Corp., investors…

Clinic predicts Hamilton County will be fertile ground: Doctors relocate reproductive practice to growing area

Surgery centers and a heart hospital are among a host of health care facilities that have risen in burgeoning north-suburban Hamilton County in recent years. Now, a new fertility clinic could contribute to the population surge by helping couples conceive children. The 6,400-square-foot Follas Center for Reproductive Medicine opened late last month on East 146th Street in Noblesville in a collaboration between several Indianapolis reproductive medicine innovators. The center is a partnership between Dr. David McLaughlin, a local pioneer of…

Light dims for U.S. Grand Prix:

What started out as a technical problem for one tire company here at the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix blew up into a catastrophic F1 public relations pandemic that could very well kill the U.S. event. Fans immediately wanted to know if they were going to get their money back, not whether F1 was coming back. It is every businessman’s nightmare to have so many things go wrong in public all at once, and it will be interesting-maybe even instructive-to…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Use of commissioned staff sets Gregg apart from rivals

H.H. Gregg may be a pipsqueak compared to goliath Best Buy Inc. But a peek into the Indianapolis company’s financial statements shows it’s no alsoran when it comes to profit margins. In its latest fiscal year, the electronics and appliance retailer posted an operating profit (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of 4.8 cents for every dollar in revenue, according to IBJ’s analysis of the private company’s financial statements. That margin is just shy of the 5.2 cents reported…

Schools follow different flight paths: Aviation programs see contrasting demand

Two aircraft maintenance programs in close proximity to each other are far apart when it comes to successfully filling classrooms with budding mechanics. Times are so tough for Vincennes University’s struggling aircraft maintenance program at Indianapolis International Airport’s Aviation Technology Center that it asked for permission to conduct three non-aviation degree programs there. The aviation program, which enrolled about 300 students in the mid-1990s, now has about 75. Vincennes officials blame the United Airlines Maintenance hub closure, which displaced 1,200…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Patrick Barkey: Intelligence isn’t only factor that sets earnings potential

Do we have a passion for economics? Judging from the numbers of economics majors at colleges and universities across the country, the answer is probably no. The world of graphs and statistics we inhabit is not everyone’s cup of tea. But if few of us like to study the economy, we all have to live and work within its borders. And the most important interaction most of us will ever have with the economy occurs when we venture into the…

Holding serve: Racquet Club rallies through tennis slump

Born during boom times and volleyed through the bad, the Indianapolis Racquet Club, though a little leaner than in the 1980s, has survived four decades while many of its competitors have double-faulted. IRC officials said they’ve survived tennis industry tumult by adding instructors and programs, expanding the pro shop to become one of the biggest in the Midwest, and staying focused on the club’s core business. “It’s simple, really,” said Ed Brune, who has been general manager and tennis director…

Global mission: destroy, conquer: New law good news for shredding firm

Indianapolis-based Global Shred Inc. plans to use a new federal rule that forces companies to destroy more documents as a springboard to expand into other states. The document-destruction provision of The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 went into effect June 1, requiring all businesses to shred, burn or pulverize credit and consumer reports. While many mom-and-pop shredding shops in the highly fragmented industry look to fortify their local position, Global Shred founder and owner David Kantor thinks…

BULLS & BEARS: Fed policies encourage post-bubble hangovers

Economists teach us that too much money chasing too few goods causes inflation. As consumers, this supply-demand imbalance leads to rising prices on the everyday items we purchase. A similar phenomenon can occur in financial assets. Too much money chasing stocks, bonds and real estate can create financial asset inflation. Pension funds, institutions and wellheeled individuals are throwing money into “alternative investments” in the hopes of earning high returns. There are now an estimated 8,000 hedge funds that manage more…

SPORTS: The game is on: Academics vs. big-dollar sports

Give NCAA President Myles Brand and his Task Force on the Future of Intercollegiate Athletics their due. If you will pardon both the pun and the cliché, they’re going to give it the old college try. Putting the paste back into the tube won’t be easy. It will require a dramatic change in our sports culture-American in general, on campus in particular-to view intercollegiate athletics by any measure other than the one posted on the scoreboard. That is especially true…

Charitable sector rides on road to recovery: Giving makes big jump for the first time since 2000

Americans gave more money to charity last year than ever before, signaling a return to the pre-9/11 philanthropic heyday. Contributions were up 5 percent, to $248.5 billion-the first significant increase after adjusting for inflation since 2000. “Things have been kind of flat,” said Eugene Tempel, executive director at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. “This … tells us things are getting a little stronger. This is a good sign.” Researchers at the center compile data each year and write…

EYE ON THE PIE: Our state has twisted priorities

No recent column has aroused so much outrage as my remarks concerning our state government’s investment in tourism. I argued that it was a waste of money and that, if such expenditures are to be made, they should come from the private sector exclusively, not from tax dollars. Kaboom! An entire industry wants to educate me, if they cannot eradicate me. At the same time, a worthy landmark is about to disappear. The Randolph County Courthouse, in Winchester, is scheduled…

NOTIONS: Standing face to face with the end of the universe

Editor’s note: Bruce Hetrick this month won first place for best bylined commentary in a national competition conducted by the Alliance of Area Business Publications. The winning entry, about Hetrick’s wife, Pamela Klein, was first published in IBJ on March 1, 2004. It is reprinted here. Klein died March 5, 2005. It’s Saturday morning. I’m sitting on the window ledge in my wife, Pam’s, room at Methodist Hospital. Outside, the February sky is as gray as my spirit. While Pam…