To refine your search through our archives use our Advanced Search
Christopher P. White is arguably the city’s most daring real estate developer. But an IBJ review of hundreds of pages of public
records shows White and his Premier Properties USA Inc. are facing major financial and legal challenges.
In recent months, MZD Advertising has landed six new clients, launched three new divisions and opened two new facilities. Despite the retirement of two of the three partners that make up the ad agency’s acronym moniker, MZD will not have a new name. When Harry Davis retired this year-following Robert Montgomery’s 2005 retirement-some within the industry speculated that remaining namesake principal Allan Zukerman might choose to change the firm’s name. “We have a lot of equity built up in that…
The recommendations of the Shepard-Kernan report are a tonic to anyone who cares about local government efficiency and improved local services. The commission r e c o m m e n d e d changes to the way Indiana’s government provides local services. Our current system looks much like a pre-statehood government, where services are provided in a disconnected fashion with budgetary decisions answerable to state bureaucracies, not local voters. It is this organization of government that has caused much…
Back in 1992, when I was a board member of Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, then-president Reid Williamson invited me to walk through a building slated for demolition. Given my passion for cars and history, Reid knew I would be intrigued by the place where the Stutz Motor Car Co. once manufactured the Bearcat and Torpedo Roadster. And I was. But it wasn’t just the longvacant Stutz Building’s legacy that got my attention; it was also its potential. Yes, the…
No wonder investors are jittery. The housing slump is stinging companies of all stripes these days, even those that would seem to be safe havens. A case in point: mall developer Simon Property Group Inc., which surprised investors this month by announcing it was taking a $26 million charge to write off its entire investment in what was to become a huge Arizona housing development. “Frankly, we had forgotten they had this Arizona thing,” said Lou Taylor, an analyst with…
While Hershey, Pa., may be considered the chocolate capital of the United States, Indianapolis is home to one of the fastest – growing and most fascinating makers of the sweet treat. Though it was founded in Oregon in 1993, Endangered Species Chocolate Co. has achieved most of its growth since being acquired and transplanted to Hoosier soil in 2005 by Wayne Zink and Randy Deer. Curt VanderMeer joined the company shortly after it came to Indianapolis; he became the third…
One hundred and one years ago, Cole Stickle convinced the Langsenkamp family to help him start a company based on a
technology few understood–turning water into steam power. Five generations later, the 15-employee operation continues to
thrive.
As high-density residential construction booms in downtown Bloomington and sprawl continues in surrounding Monroe County, a new development is offering an old-school alternative. The South Dunn Street development will include 38 bungalows, four squares and 1-1/2 story cottages-the same early 20th-century styles that occupy the rest of the surrounding Bryan Park neighborhood. Deep front porches fill much of the small front yards. There are no driveways in the front, only alleys in the back. Three street-front commercial buildings will create…
I love this time of year … the lights, the music, the hustle and bustle of shoppers rushing from optometrist to optometrist trying to use up their flex spending money before the year runs out. And then there are the holiday greetings. How meaningful and thoughtful they are, especially the ones that begin, “Due to lower-than-expected performance in the first three quarters, the traditional holiday bonus will this year be replaced with the enclosed certificate good for 50 percent off…
For me, shopping at any time, any place is an ordeal. However, from time to time, I am pressed into service by our household purchasing agent. My role is either to be a surrogate buyer or just the designated driver/hauler. When a surrogate I am sent out with lists of desired substances. These lists might work for a less conscientious, or more sophisticated, person. After all, five pounds of sugar or flour can mean only just that. However, I find…
The fiercely competitive local telecommunications landscape should get even more heated, following Cincinnati Bell Inc.’s
$18 million acquisition of Carmel-based eGix Inc. eGix provides bundled voice and data services, as well as high-speed Internet
access and messaging products, to about 17,000 commercial customers.
This week, thoughts on “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” at Clowes Hall,” new games from Indiana manufacturer Fundex, and a handful of holiday movie releases. The con game musical “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” jauntily bounced into Clowes Hall on Dec. 11 for a week-long stay and withstood a lifeless opening 15 minutes or so before at last making a connection with the crowd. Swinging charts, clever lyrics, relatively foolproof physical comedy moments and a patient crowd willing to chuckle at every smutty line…
Peering into a high-powered microscope in cramped, shared lab space at Indiana University Medical Center, Dr. Juan Carlos Grandin is trying to see a solution to a worldwide problem: a shortage of corneas available for transplants. If he’s successful, Grandin’s work could one day lead to a new biotech product for an Indianapolis company. Officials from Indianapolis-based EndGenitor are watching the project but currently have no stake in it. At the very least, Grandin’s work provides a bit of prestige…
Indianapolis-based ETS Tan Inc. is the world’s largest manufacturer of tanning beds, annually churning out twice as many as its nearest competitor. Yet, the company founded in 1984 by Trevor and Edna Gray has plans to boost production, thanks to new ownership that has the financial clout to make it happen. In August 2006, MH Equity entered the indoor tanning industry with the purchase of Sunshine Holdings, the umbrella company for ETS, Australian Gold and software provider Helios LLC. MH…
Eli Lilly and Co. will shrink itself with “great intensity” over the next few years, in part by
outsourcing. For other local life sciences firms, that’s a fat pitch for new business. But it’s not clear if non-Lilly firms
can grow fast enough to offset the jobs and wages Indianapolis will lose from Lilly.
Just when you thought plans for a new downtown convention hotel were set to go forward, four City-County
Council members want the full council to essentially force the new hotel to employ union workers after it
opens.
The City-County Council, which…
Backers of the $250 million convention hotel project slated for downtown are raising alarm bells about a City-County Council resolution they say would kill the deal between the city and developers. The resolution, sponsored by Democratic council member Joanne Sanders, requires the hotel to have a “labor peace agreement” to get city financing. The Bond […]
Former Purdue University President Martin C. Jischke and his wife, Patty, will co-chair a strategic planning committee charged with identifying service and programming priorities as well as funding opportunities for the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library over the next five years. The Jischke-led strategic planning process will begin in the first quarter of 2008. As part […]
Angel investors – wealthy people who toss money at fledgling companies – received about the average rate of return as other types of private equity investments, according to a survey of 539 U.S. angels. The average rate of return of angel investments was 2.6 times the investment over a period of 3.5 years. “This average […]
Republic Airways Holdings today announced plans to repurchase as much as $100 million of its common stock, a move that helps lift earnings per share for the company at a time merger rumors are swirling around its big airline customers. Republic shares late this morning were trading at $19.90, up 2.5 percent on the day. […]
