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IRL traveling bumpy road: Despite successes, sponsors are walking, teams are folding and top drivers lack rides

The Feb. 4-7 auction of locally based Panther Racing hangs over the open-wheel series like a dark cloud at a time when IRL officials have been crowing about its 2005 successes. Television ratings soared 53 percent from 2004 to 2005, attendance increased 9 percent, merchandise sales were up 75 percent, and Web traffic on the series’ site rose 162 percent. According to Joyce Julius and Associates, an independent Ann Arbor, Mich.-based media research firm, sponsors got 57 percent more exposures…

INVESTING Don’t just suffer stock-market losses; learn from them:

If you recently got hammered with big losses in Google, Yahoo or Intel, here are a few pointers to help you avoid making the same mistakes again. Every trader and investor experiences losses, but the great ones learn from their mistakes and move on. Two weeks ago, Yahoo and Intel released earnings that were below analysts’ estimates and the stocks were crushed. They each fell about 20 percent in only a few days. If you own these stocks, that money…

The TIES that BLIND?: Experts say links between company, directors may have taken toll

The Arkansas-based goliath has been on a rampage in central Indiana the past five years, building its market share in the local grocery business to 26 percent. When Marsh announced last N ove m b e r that it had hired Merrill Lynch & Co. to explore a s a l e , m a ny o b s e r ve r s attributed the steady decline of the state’s sixth-largest employer to inroads by discount rivals. But a…

Compensation takes stage in state leasing contracts: Meridian Asset, Resource to cap fees on state leases

New contracts between the state of Indiana and two local commercial real estate brokerages signal the beginning of an overhaul of how the state handles its real estate. Resource Commercial Real Estate and Meridian Asset Development will, at least for the next year, broker leases on behalf of the state. State agencies pay nearly $40 million each year to lease space in nearly every county. In many cases, agencies or the Indiana Department of Administration handle leasing duties, but IDOA…

EYE ON THE PIE Who says Indiana isn’t progressive?:

You probably don’t know Gary Price and never even heard of him, but he is at the center of important changes in the construction industry. Don’t get me wrong; Price is not doing this by himself. He is part of a remarkably progressive set of activities that are demonstrating how social objectives and private interests can be integrated. Price has an association management company; as such, he is the executive director of several organizations. He specializes in construction-related associations. The…

NOTIONS Playing both sides against the political middle:

Last weekend, I took my sons to see Woody Allen’s “Match Point.” It’s about a former tennis pro named Chris who gets himself into a jam. Chris is working at an upscale London tennis club when he meets a wealthy fellow named Tom. Tom introduces Chris to his sister, Chloe, with whom he falls in love (or, at least, “in like”). To help enhance Chris’ social stature and bank account, Chloe gets Chris a cushy job with her daddy’s firm….

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS:

You can tell that economists as a group don’t have a marketing bone in their bodies. How else can you explain the incomprehensible name we’ve given the measure of economic activity we watch more closely than any other? Gross domestic product. If I were a comedian, I could probably do a sketch on what images those words conjure up. But I’m an economist, so there’s little chance of that. Instead, like the rest of my brood, I am diving into…

Home construction spreads growing pains into country: Shelbyville, county struggle with housing growth plan

Developers grabbed 286 permits to construct single-family residential units in 2005, up from 204 the year before, according to the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis. Shelbyville Mayor Scott Furgeson, whose city captured most of that growth, said his municipality issued only about 30 permits a year before 2004. “It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I think people finally realize that Shelbyville is, I guess, reachable from anywhere.” A congestion-light commute to Indianapolis, acres of developable land and some tweaked building laws all…

ABDUL-HAKIM SHABAZZ: Indy Works, part deux (the sequel)

As someone who enjoys a good film, I always worry when Hollywood tries to produce a sequel. The producers figure they raked in millions on an idea, so they run it again and again until it’s run into the ground. Mayor Bart Peterson is hoping to pass Indianapolis Works ’06 through the Indiana General Assembly this session. How successful will this sequel be? Let’s look at all the players and find out. Last session, GOP lawmakers gave the mayor police…

SPORTS Count your blessings, depressed Colts fans:

OK, as you read this, the Super Bowl is about to occur, or has just taken place, depending on when you get your IBJ. And you are, perhaps, gloomy. Depressed. Still nursing that emotional hangover. You’re blue … Colts blue in hue and psyche. The Horseshoes didn’t make it, and that brings to mind another expression beginning with “horse”. So, as a public service to all those still suffering an extended case of dejection and despair-to be compounded by hours…

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Major Moves displays short-session political mastery

A combination of arm-twisting, dealmaking and the sheer brute force of the Office of the Governor came together the last week of January in a way Hoosiers seldom see. All the pressure was enough to keep Republican House members in line at just the right time in the legislative process to keep the governor’s Major Moves transportation plan moving. There was a lot of deep exhaling at week’s end, some from those in the Governor’s Office doing the heavy lifting…

IPOs take minor dip in 2005: Analysts stay optimistic; 3 Indiana companies set to go public in early ’06

Three Indiana companies took the plunge to go public last year, two less than the number that did so in 2004. The state’s slight dip in initial public offerings mirrors the slump in activity nationally. But Indiana appears to be off to a fast start for 2006. Three other Hoosier companies filed to go public late last year, but had yet to complete their IPOs by year’s end. Overall, the number of companies that went public on the major U.S….

SPORTS: Crazy-with-grief Colts fans, you’re now on the air

Welcome to WIBJ Radio. I’m Beebee, your host of “Sports Geeks.” Our first caller is Fred from Franklin. Fred? Beebs, man, here’s how we handle those low-life, stomp-onour-hearts, marshmallow-soft Indianapolis Colts. We take their new stadium away. I mean, they are not worthy. So until they reach the Super Bowl, I say keep ’em in the Dome. Fred, what do we do with that big hole? Fill it in with water so the bean company can have beachfront property. Let’s…

Appliance biz heads north: Clark to open Castleton store, compete with H.H. Gregg Fine Lines for high-end customers

The high-end appliance retailer Clark Appliance Showcase will open a store practically in the back yard of its closest competitor in early March. Does the move signal a turf battle between two local retailers that cater to homeowners willing to pay luxury car prices for a kitchen? Not really. The local market for products such as $10,000 Viking ranges is growing so fast that executives at Clark and H.H. Gregg think there’s room for both on the northeast side. “It’s…

Landing ad revenue: Airport charged up over sponsorship of electrical outlets

Advertisements for mutual funds, watches and kolaches. Now as you wait at the gate for your flight, you’ll even see ads on electrical outlets. The Indianapolis Airport Authority on Jan. 20 was expected to approve a $65,000 marketing partnership with Chase in what is the latest and certainly the most electrifying of all advertising schemes at Indianapolis International Airport. These are desperate times for marketers. Too many ads are getting lost in the shuffle. And barraged consumers have figured out…

African-American museum pushes back opening date: Group starts public fund-raising campaign Feb. 4

Civic leaders announced in 2004 they hoped to raise $50 million to build the Indiana Museum of African American History in White River State Park by 2008. On the eve of the museum’s first public fund-raiser-a black-tie dinner at the downtown Westin Hotel on Feb. 4-officials acknowledge plans have changed for the 120,000-square-foot building. In 2004, a feasibility study, paid for with $800,000 in seed money raised from groups including Lilly Endowment Inc., showed the aggressive fund-raising and construction schedule…

Firms face choice: Spend or be swallowed: Independent third-party benefits administrators watch consolidation wave sweep through state

For small companies, “their systems costs are just eating them alive,” said Donley, president of Donley & Co. Inc. “If they lose a couple large clients, all of a sudden they go from being in the black to being in the red.” Donley and others say the skyrocketing cost of doing business has triggered a wave of consolidation in the Indiana market for benefits administration. Since 2003, larger companies have gobbled or plan to gobble at least seven independently owned…

NOTIONS: Will House protect Hoosier families?

Last fall, the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce invited members to an event called “Pancakes and Politics.” The invitation said that Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma would preview the upcoming legislative session. Ever curious, I e- mailed the Chamber and said I’d attend. When I arrived, I was puzzled. There were, indeed, pancakes. Bosma was working the crowd. But instead of signaling a legislative overview, the PowerPoint slide on the screen said we’d be hearing about the accomplishments and goals…

VIEWPOINT: Our schools let talent go to waste

We have two kinds of schools: those that encourage each child to be all he/she can be and those that focus on being efficient institutions for groups of children. The first kind of school finds ways to help each child who struggles, meets each child’s educational needs, and finds ways to provide each child with the context to achieve as much as he/she can at the most appropriate pace. The second kind of school is focused on making sure as…

Bedroom community awakens to growth nightmare: McCordsville land use, design standards put to test

This town is grateful just to have had a dentist hang out a shingle along its main drag the other day. McCordsville even held a ribbon cutting for a gas station-that remodeled. It’s hard to figure the locals would be uptight about much in the way of development. But, recently, the folks at Mc-Cordsville’s veterinary-clinic-turnedtown-hall took a long look a couple of miles north, to Fishers-the poster-child for explosive residential development-and they winced. So McCordsville recently adopted a land use…