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INVESTING: Process of deleveraging creating lots of carnage

The deleveraging of America continues with unpleasant consequences for consumers and investors who are overextended. One problem with a mass deleveraging is that the repeated selling of an asset to repay a debt burden leads to further declines in the price of that asset. That, in turn, forces others to sell, as the lower asset values no longer support their debt obligations. It’s otherwise known as a vicious circle. The Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury and Congress are scrambling to…

Finish Line escapes one crisis, but challenges abound: Indianapolis-based athletic-wear retailer now shifts its attention to reinvigorating sales after prolonged slump

Executives at locally based The Finish Line Inc. felt a weight lifted after escaping a potentially ruinous attempt to acquire Genesco Inc., a company more than twice its size. But there’s no time for rest: They now must focus on a core business that was floundering even before Finish Line bid $1.5 billion in June 2007 for the Tennessee-based parent company of mall chains Hat World, Lids and Journeys. Finish Line this month reported its eighth consecutive quarter with declining…

College Summit’s goal is more skilled workers

Business leaders and educators agree on what’s needed to improve Indiana’s economic health and enhance its place in the global
economy: a larger pool of skilled workers. Toward that end, a group of notfor-profits is expanding a program to get more low-income
Indianapolis students to further their education after high school.

Museum of Art fashion show to highlight local designers

It’s not easy to make a living in high fashion, especially in a city where the “garment district” extends only to the nearest
Hancock or Jo Ann Fabrics. Still, Indianapolis has a little something up its sleeve–more than a dozen designers who are prepping
their collections for “Project IMA,” a fashion show modeled after Bravo’s reality hit “Project Runway.”

Businesses eager for canal to be a ‘selling point’ again: Water should be back – and sparkling – soon

For nearly five months, leasing agents at Canal Overlook Apartments have relied on photos and visual aids to show potential renters what a perk a canal view can be. If the would-be renters take a gander now, all they get is a view of a drained Central Canal and workers scraping out decades worth of slime. “It is usually a selling point, but [the cleanup] has been long and it smells bad,” said Lynn Grine, leasing manager for the 125-unit…

NOTIONS: Variations on the theme of March Madness

March Madness is upon us-that glorious season born in a Springfield, Mass., peach basket and now headquartered, literally and spiritually, in the Hoosier state. That means, of course, high-pressure conference tournaments; Big Dance brackets and pairings; controversial selections and exclusions; friendly wagers; blowouts; upsets; scoring runs; dry spells; lead changes; come-frombehind victories; heartbreaking defeats; and last-second, game-winning three-pointers. But in only the first week of the third month of the Gregorian calendar, it’s clear-from personal life, to the recession (er…

Oprah’s beau advises struggling Pacers on image management

Best-selling author Stedman Graham says professional athletes should think of themselves as “a corporation unto themselves.”
Graham–perhaps best known as television star Oprah Winfrey’s boyfriend–brought that message to the Indiana Pacers during
a three-hour private seminar in late January designed to get the players to rethink the importance of their individual images.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: How the property tax reform plans stacked up

As this year’s short legislative session comes to a close, I want to recap the property tax proposals that were bandied about. I probably should begin with the problem. Though Hoosiers pay less in state and local taxes than most Americans, the growth in state and local tax bills has been way out of sorts with income growth. Also, in some places, property taxes are astoundingly high-and in the most expensive places, taxpayers are not getting anything like the value…

Students finding robotics irresistible: Competitions promote interest in technology

On the same day this month when high school boys’ basketball teams compete to advance to the state finals, another event showcasing the talents of Indiana’s youth should be just as climactic. Only this contest emphasizes academics over athletics. The three-day Boilermaker Regional at Purdue University that culminates March 15 will host roughly 40 high school robotics programs, including 26 schools from Indiana. Students will apply their engineering and computer programming skills to design and build task-performing machines. The winning…

IU follows Purdue lead, overhauls business-development strategy

Indiana University President Michael McRobbie calls it “Innovate Indiana.” His ambition is to corral all of IU’s strengths
under one new branded initiative to boost the Hoosier economy. Purdue University already has leveraged a similar strategy,
promoted with “Go BusinessMakers!” billboards, to national acclaim.

EYE ON THE PIE: Waiting for evidence of recession

Save the date: March 27. That’s when the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the latest data on Indiana’s economy. At that time, we’ll get the first estimate of personal income for the last three months of 2007, plus revisions of previous quarters. If there is a recession, that’s where we will see the first clear indications. If? Yes, it is still not clear if there is a recession because the data, our photos of economic performance, are not…

Telamon on the rebound: Diversification puts Carmel technology firm back on fast track, prevents layoffs

In 2003, Carmel-based Telamon Corp. hit rock bottom. So, founder Albert Chen returned to his roots. Taiwanese native Chen, 63, had spent two decades building his firm to serve telecommunications giants. But when the dot-com bubble burst, the telecom industry tanked along with it. Telamon-then Indiana’s largest minority-owned business-saw its annual revenue plummet $300 million, down from $456 million in 2001. Most managers would have chosen to shrink Telamon to reflect its new reality. But Chen doesn’t do mass layoffs….

Citizens drops plan to use synthetic gas: Indianapolis utility says it can tap other suppliers and pay favorable prices

Citizens Gas has closed the valve on plans to buy synthetic natural gas from a $1.5 billion coal gasification plant slated for southwestern Indiana, leaving two other Indiana utilities as the initial customers. The Indianapolis gas utility attributed the pullout to the diversification of its gas supply since the Indiana Gasification LLC project was announced in October 2006. Citizens also signaled it would look at buying more supply through a gas purchasing authority it and two other municipal utilities created…

SPORTS: In defense of the indefensible blue and gold

Yes, I’m writing about the Indiana Pacers. Their struggles-and, yes, the scrapes with the law and bad judgment exercised by a few-have exposed an ugly underbelly that says as much about us as it does about them. It’s a cautionary tale for those riding-high Indianapolis Colts because (1) Peyton Manning won’t play forever, (2) Tony Dungy won’t coach forever, (3) Bill Polian won’t be the decision-maker forever, and (4) the law of legal averages eventually will catch up to any…

Commentary: Why are we so afraid of immigration?

Indiana Senate Bill 335 is a poorly crafted public policy that fails to reflect the totality of immigration and the societal and economic issues associated with it. Hispanics are the nation’s largest minority group, numbering 47 million. About a quarter of Hispanic adults, roughly 11 million, are unauthorized immigrants. The Pew Hispanic Center estimated Indiana’s unauthorized immigrant population at 65,000, roughly 1 percent of the population. In 2004, 93 percent of unauthorized men age 18-64 were in the labor force,…

Creditor pursues Premier property

Wachovia Bank has begun foreclosure proceedings on one of Premier Properties USA Inc.’s most prized developments, a giant
Ohio lifestyle center anchored by Target and J.C. Penney. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank also is foreclosing on a vacant former
Wal-Mart store in front of Premier’s Metropolis mall in Plainfield.

Borshoff is latest communications company to diversify: Firm known for public relations seeks creative growth

An Indianapolis-based firm long known for public relations and crisis communications work is now trying to make its mark as a full-service advertising agency. Borshoff, formerly Borshoff Johnson Matthews, last month hired Art Haynie, a veteran Los Angeles-based creative director, to bolster the effort. “Public relations has been our handle for a long time,” said company founder Myra Borshoff Cook. “Now, we have to get the word out that we’re just as strong in other areas. To grow we feel…

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Thorny tax issues remain as scheduled adjournment nears

The closer we get to March 14, the date the 2008 legislative session is scheduled to end, the less optimistic people seem to be about reaching agreement on a property tax relief and reform package that will attract sufficient bipartisan support and be structured in a way that meets the requirements of Gov. Mitch Daniels for his signature. The biggest problems in private legislative negotiations appear to revolve around how to fund local government and school shortfalls, as well as…

BEHIND THE NEWS: With benefit of hindsight, some sales look savvy

S o m e t i m e s , being a good businessperson means knowing when to get out of the business. That truism comes to mind because of the recent carnage in banking. Shareholders in First Indiana Corp., it turns out, cashed in at the right time, as did investors in privately held Union Federal Bank and its parent, Waterfield Mortgage Corp. Last July, just before the subprime mortgage crisis threw credit markets into disarray, the board of…

Commentary: When is the right time to sell?

Like the song says, “You gotta know when to fold ’em.” But how do you know when it is the proper time to sell a business? Age and health issues aside, I suggest the “trigger” moment is when there is a looming fundamental adverse change in the industry. One should not sell needlessly. The government imposes a harsh penalty for those transactions. It’s called a longterm capital gains tax. I would not fault anyone, however, for a premature exit that…