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The office was abuzz when I walked in on a Monday morning in late August 2006. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. staff was upset and it didn’t take long to find out why. The Indianapolis Star had published their names and salaries as part of a lead story launched from the front page of the Sunday edition. “Is it the solemn civic duty of the Star to let the world know what I make?” our receptionist asked, crying. A member…
In the 10 years since Indiana’s property-appraisal system was ruled unconstitutional, taxpayers have spent perhaps $1 billion to remedy the situation. That’s more than $350 per household, and more than we spend on environmental protection each year. “Wowser” is the only printable exclamation I can muster. Among other things, Gov. Mitch Daniels’ tax plan proposes the elimination of the township assessors (there are 1,008 offices statewide). According to a 2004 Chamber of Commerce study, streamlining the system would result in…
Retail pundits are trotting out all the downbeat analogies these days, as they fret that high gas prices and the slumping housing market will crimp consumer spending the rest of the year. As Carl Steidtmann, chief economist at Deloitte Research, put it, “The holiday season will be somewhat Grinch-like.” So it may come as a surprise that some analysts are almost gushing about the prospects for Simon Property Group Inc., the nation’s largest mall owner. As Rich Moore, managing director…
For Mike Wyman, a devastating fire that gutted the family home during his teen-age years laid the foundation for a rewarding career in construction. The 41-year-old Wyman climbed from carpenter to become a leader of projects at two of the city’s largest commercial developers before launching his own company in 2005. WDG Construction & Development Services Inc. on East Washington Street downtown has since grown into a firm that expects to top $30 million in revenue next year-double this year’s…
If the idea of building a $50 million, 7-1/2-mile pedestrian and biking trail through the streets of downtown Indianapolis
is indeed crazy, Brian Payne might be considered the Indianapolis Cultural trail’s mad scientist. His leadership, persistence
and passion for the project are the key reasons the first leg of the trail is due to open this month along Alabama Street.
I have no idea who will get the job of mayor of Indianapolis come Nov. 7. But whoever it is can make a real difference in this town by tackling its most pressing issue: public schools. Good schools are the lifeblood of any community. They increase property values, lower crime and make your municipality more attractive to companies looking to relocate. Marion County schools haven’t had the best track records. Whether it’s Indianapolis Public Schools and its academic performance, Washington…
I had hoped for more when I stopped into the Indianapolis Art Center to see “Freedom’s Struggle: The Underground Railroad along the Ohio River in Kentucky and Indiana.” The photos by Willie Johnson-featuring, real-life locations with, occasionally, models portraying slaves-are accomplished, up to a point, but evoke little beyond what is presented. Where, I found myself asking, is the artist? More powerful by far are the sculption just down the hall. “Fresh from Julieanne’s Garden: Bronzes from Preston Jackson” offers…
Through persistence and sheer pluck, Rod Ratcliff has become a player in the gambling industry–one many businesses try to
break into, most without success. On Oct. 30, his Indianapolis-based company, Centaur Inc., closed a $1 billion financing
deal that will fund gambling projects in three states.
Most fine arts students used to exist in a bubble-running to class in paint-splattered clothing and practically living in their studios, channeling their muse and honing their craft. Once they graduated, those who were driven enough to try to make a living off their talent still had a lot to learn about running a business. But now many universities are doing more to make sure art students graduate with the business skills they need. Local photographer Ginny Taylor Rosner graduated…
Public entities, like school districts and universities, are not known for being risk takers. Some even call them “risk averse.” So, those in the architectural and construction industries aren’t surprised that a state law passed two years ago allowing public entities to use the design-build process is only now taking hold. Design-build lets the owner hire one team to carry out both the design and construction of a project-unlike the traditional design-bid-build process in which the owner commissions architectural plans,…
A long-neglected neighborhood south of downtown called Babe Denny suddenly is in the spotlight, attracting attention from
city planners, code enforcers, land speculators and a politically connected attorney.
The writing has been on the wall that Indianapolis might lose the headquarters for ATA Airlines and/or parent Global Aero
Logistics ever since April, when Global said it was buying Georgia-based World Air Holdings. Now, the writing is on paper:
Indianapolis has lost another headquarters.
Roundpeg Narrowing its focus helped Roundpeg find the right hole Networking also makes a difference for marketing firm Lorraine Ball is a human energy bar who seems to have more ideas than there are minutes in a day. She left her job as vice president of creative services for Conseco Inc. in early 2002 to start her own business focusing on team building and strategic planning for large companies-only to discover that in the post-9/11 world, big companies weren’t investing…
In the face of a slumping local economy in the early 1980s, several national construction firms packed up and left Indianapolis. One locally based salesman, Len Liotti, was given a choice-move to St. Louis along with his job at tunneling contractor Affholder Inc., or set out on his own. Seeing the void the big players would create when leaving, Liotti started Midwest Mole Inc. in 1982 to fill it. Twenty-five years later, the privately held firm is thriving thanks to…
Twenty U.S. cities have some form of light rail systems in operation, and about 40 more are constructing or seriously considering light rail systems. While the list of cities with active systems isn’t really all that surprising (you can see it online at w w w. a p t a . c o m ) , are other cities so busy building or extending them? Imagine a trolley system with regular stops within a city, but it has the ability…
On the morning of Oct. 30, just five days before the NFL’s Game of the Century, Regular-Season Variety, I imagine-but don’t know for certain-that New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was hunkered down in some office bunker at the Patriots training complex, bags under his eyes, hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head, scowl on his face. Certainly, he was poring over game films of the Indianapolis Colts, searching for clues that would help his team continue on its scorched-earth mission…
What do you think of the Circle Truss proposal? The 280-foot-tall, $10-million stainless steel structure, designed by Kevin K. Parsons & Associates Inc., would be lined with LED lights lit with colors…
The popular “Morning Mess” radio show, which has been pushed out of Indianapolis’ WNOU-FM 93.1, will start airing on a Top 40 station in Atlanta early next year. WNOU owner Emmis Communications Corp. last month changed the format on the 93.1 frequency and sold the “Radio Now” intellectual property to Radio One, but its morning […]
Long-time WTHR-TV Channel 13 General Manager Rich Pegram has left the station. Yesterday was his last day, WTHR spokesman Jeff Dutton confirmed. Reasons for his departure were unclear. WTHR officials would not elaborate, and Pegram could not be reached for comment. “It was a mutual decision between Rich and the company,” Dutton said. Other sources […]
HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, a startup in Newton, Mass., said today it has received $20 million in funding from Lilly Ventures, De Novo Ventures of Palo Alto, Calif.; and Forward Ventures of San Diego. The amount of the investment by Lilly Ventures, the venture capital arm of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., wasn’t specified. HemaQuest is developing […]
