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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Have surging gas prices lost their stinging power?

Have you checked out the satellite radios that are showing up everywhere nowadays? They’ve got a button and a station for just about everything. If you want to hear music from the 1960s, or the 1940s, it’s yours at the press of a button. If the radio gave you economic news, and you hit the button marked 1980s, you might get something like this: Oil prices skyrocket, inflation roars, car sales plummet and the economy plunges into recession. But hit…

BULLS & BEARS: A little market history can predict your future

A baby-boomer client told me the other day that his wife was concerned whether they were going to have enough money for retirement 20 or 25 years from now. This couple’s retirement income concern is common and is one of the top worries boomers have, even ranking above their fear of sponge baths. To address this fear, you could pay a financial planner a few hundred bucks to do a whiz-bang, multi-page retirement projection using “Monte Carlo” simulation. The planner…

Diversity marketing gains steam in central Indiana: Ad agencies helping convey cultural revelancy

Ethnic or diversity marketing, once confined to major cities such as Dallas, New York and Los Angeles, is taking hold in Indianapolis. “We have seen a gradual but growing response among clients to communicate to a multicultural audience,” said Clyde Bodkin, president of locally based Bodkin Associates Inc. “Not everyone is in the same place, but smart companies are finding culturally sensitive, culturally relevant ways to communicate to their target markets.” Diversity marketing is the fastest-growing sector of Bodkin’s 14-person…

EYE ON THE PIE: Can policymakers take the truth?

We met across the street from the Statehouse, a place where smokers are still welcome. In a deep doorway, unseen from office windows or by pedestrians, stood my friend, Sore Throat. “After Deep Throat was unveiled, I didn’t know if you would show up,” I said. He gave a guttural laugh. “Hey, I’m still here. You can change the parties, but the Webees remain.” “The Webees?” I queried. “Yeah,” he growled. “They put in their new people at the top,…

Travel firm says aloha to ATA deal: Hawaii pact with Southwest may ease loss of business from Pleasant Holidays

ATA Airlines Inc., plotting a new business plan that includes “maintaining and possibly expanding scheduled service to Hawaii,” has lost a key contract that had bolstered its lucrative lift to the Aloha State. The end of the agreement with the travel service Pleasant Holidays, starting in January, will be eased partly by a new code-sharing deal the Indianapolis carrier reached with Southwest Airlines last month, according to the increasingly Southwest-dependent ATA. West Lake, Calif.-based Pleasant Holidays pre-purchases tickets on ATA….

Major Hospital brings physician practices into the fold: Smaller doctor groups find health systems attractive

Major Hospital went on a buying spree toward the end of last year, and it had nothing to do with the holiday season. The Shelbyville hospital purchased three physician practices as part of an effort to help doctors and to make Major a “physician-friendly hospital,” Major Hospital CEO Tony Lennen said. “I’ve always felt if our physicians do well, we’ll do well,” he said. “Our goal down here is, ‘Is there some symbiotic way we can coexist?’ “We’ve always been…

Colts tout new stadium: Zupancic adds muscle to sales and marketing efforts

A multifaceted sales and marketing effort is being executed amid a front-office reorganization that includes replacing the team’s longtime marketing mastermind and adding nine positions to bolster ticket and sponsorship sales. The offensive is being quarterbacked by former strength and conditioning coach Tom Zupancic, who took over for Ray Compton when Compton left this off-season to form a consulting firm. The team says its sales and marketing initiative is already putting up big numbers, but today’s good news will quickly…

Degree combines medicine, business: IU grads put in 5 years to earn combo MD/MBA

Tell people you have your MD and they’ll likely be impressed. Tell them you also have an MBA-well, now you’re just showing off. For four recent Indiana University graduates, however, impressing others had nothing to do with their decision to pursue simultaneous medical and business degrees. It’s all about making their way in the increasingly complicated field of health care, where being a good doctor is about more than having the highest grades in medical school. The four students received…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: My city is bigger than your city, or is it?

Does anyone remember the World Almanac? Perhaps not. But in the Barkey household of many years back, it was a well-worn little book. Especially those pages where populations were listed for every city in the country. That’s where we could proudly look up our own hometown and see where we stood against everyone else. We’re still doing that, of course. The paper books are gone, naturally, replaced by Web pages from the Census Bureau that pop up at the click…

Historic battle settled: Prairie pact lays out plans without judging past practices

But whatever Earlham College puts in the 41-year history of credits and debits, it will have no bearing on the resolution of a decades-long dispute over control of the Hamilton County attraction. That deal is largely done. Carter and Earlham board Chairman Mark B. Myers ended nearly two years of negotiation July 5, putting quill-topped ballpoint to paper in front of a cheering crowd in the museum’s Welcome Center. The agreement-which frees Conner Prairie from Earlham’s control and calls for…

Women find niche leading credit unions: Unique nature of those financial institutions may explain why females thrive there

Karla Salisbury started her career at a savings and loan that was later purchased by an out-of-state bank. After a few years, she foresaw that she might have to relocate to advance in the company, “and that was not part of my plan,” Salisbury said. So she did some research to see where her best opportunities might be. One thing she investigated was how many women there were in upper management in banks vs. credit unions. She found the top…

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: The Prairie is saved at last!

Few things in the not-for-profit world have gotten my dander up more than the ongoing saga of Conner Prairie the last two years. More to the point, I have been dismayed by the disrespect and lack of gratitude shown by Earlham College toward a dedicated board and CEO who worked so hard to put the museum on the map before being summarily fired by the school in 2003. Thanks to reporter Andrea Muirragui Davis, our newspaper has led the local…

Employers promoting fitness: To battle steep insurance costs, businesses help employees get healthier

Wearing a pedometer, Kelly Dircksen treads 2,000 or so steps a day at the office, racking up her highest counts in her treks to the photocopier. Her 2-1/2-mile daily goal entails after-work walks, as well. The 34-year-old quoting specialist said her company pays 50 percent of any fitness-related costs for her and her family, including a Weight Watchers program, running shoes for her kids, and the entry fee for her son’s marathon. “I’m definitely healthier,” said Dircksen, who celebrates incremental…

CIWBC director has worked in both the corporate and small-business worlds:

If Sharon O’Donoghue isn’t the most ideal person to run the Central Indiana Women’s Business Center, she has to at least be in the top five. O’Donoghue’s varied background, which includes working for a Fortune 500 company, as well as running a small business, is one of her primary assets. But her passion for helping women business owners identify and reach their goals is almost palpable when she talks-enthusiastically and endlessly-about what she’s doing as director of the CIWBC. “I…

SPORTS: If heroes fail as role models, put yourself in the game

– Luke 12:48 In light of the above Scripture, many would agree that among the most blessed creatures on this Earth are professional athletes. As has been noted often, they receive handsome compensation to play games, and it doesn’t really get much better than that, does it? Along with the fortune, however, comes celebrity, and from celebrity comes attention. That means there are no non-public public moments. The spotlight illuminates both the good and the bad. These thoughts come to…

South downtown parking lot eyed for mixed use: Project slated to include ground-floor retail, with residential or office space above

A Lafayette developer has a parking lot on the southeast corner of Meridian and South streets under contract with plans for a mid-rise, mixed-use building. Developer John Teibel plans to purchase the 1.4-acre lot from local investors Robert and Karen Dittemore, who have owned the lot for several years, said Scott Langdon, who is representing the couple. The lot is across the street from Eli Lilly and Co.’s Faris/Brougher complex. Plans call for the first floor of Meridian Overlook to…

INVESTING: Profiting from the current market takes hard work

The stock market is having a great year. (You just checked the latest info, though, and you saw the Dow is down over 4 percent for the year. I must be nuts, right?) I’m not crazy. Remember that since August 2004 I have been pounding the table for the midcap stocks. While the Dow is down 4.5 percent so far in 2005, the midcaps are up 4.01 percent. Throw in a few higher-performing issues, and bam! It’s a great year….

Education programs provide job opportunities: Career Connections aims to curb turnover at entry level

When Luvinia Hollis moved to Indianapolis from Kentucky about five years ago, the then-42-year-old had few skills, so landing a job was difficult. She lived with her sisters and got some help from her ex-husband, but trying to make ends meet on $100 a week was nearly impossible. “It was so horrible for me, you wouldn’t believe,” Hollis said. She worked odd jobs for the next few years, making barely more than minimum wage. Eventually, she found her way to…

GERALD BEPKO Commentary: Unusual students offer hope for future

GERALD BEPKO Commentary Unusual students offer hope for future I often say this is the best time in the history of the world to be alive and that Indianapolis is among the best places. I believe this devoutly, but every now and then my sanguine outlook is put to the test. For example, I heard that author Jim Collins recently opened a discussion by asking if America had gone from “great to good.” Usually, I’m able to stay focused on…

Educating entrepreneurs: Women’s Business Center offers basics as well as individual counseling services

Joann Robinson was unhappy working in corporate America, so she started her own business, Balloons by Design, which delivers balloon bouquets and does on-site balloon decorations. The Indianapolis woman had been in business for about a year when she sought assistance in January from the new Central Indiana Women’s Business Center. Since then, with CIWBC help, Robinson has gone from having about 15 customers to about 50. Robinson is one of many women who have benefited from the services offered…