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BEHIND THE NEWS: Hat World helps propel parent’s stock out of slumber

When Indianapolis-based Hat World Corp. announced its $165 million sale to a Tennessee firm 17 months ago, it had posted increases in same-store sales for an impressive 27 months in a row. Now, make that 42 and counting. Such a streak is almost unheard of in the rough-and-tumble retail world, especially for a firm wrestling with the inevitable distractions that go along with the transition from independence to ownership by a publicly traded company. “We have maintained the same momentum…

Incentives take aim at rising fuel costs: State pumps out grants for company vehicles using alternative fuels

A combination of soaring gasoline prices, state grants and environmental idealism have whet appetites among businesses for “alternative fuel vehicles” such as this batterypowered Global Electric Motorcars model. A $3,996 grant from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office paid for about one-third the cost of the Pizza Express vehicle, manufactured by a DaimlerChrysler subsidiary. “Industries such as ours should be pioneers in the electric vehicle frontier,” said Gabe Connell, franchisee of the Pizza Express restaurants near IUPUI and in Broad Ripple. As…

Firm plans to get personal with clients’ home pages: Former gubernatorial candidate runs Web business

Developing an Internet home page that gives users more options for content than what behemoths such as America Online and Yahoo! offer through their syndicated selections has become the ambition of George Witwer. The 46-year-old Bluffton native, who once aspired to be Indiana governor, launched the northwest-side Humanizing Technologies in January 2000. With much of the product’s research and development in the can, the venture is close to weaning itself from investors and, for the first time, could turn a…

Scammer targets local trust: E-mail scheme seeks data from Pulliam grant recipients

An Internet scammer borrowed the identity of a high-profile local foundation this month, blasting out an error-riddled e-mail message that solicited personal information from former grant recipients. Leaders of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust responded by sending its own e-mail to all 2,400 individuals on its electronic contact list, instructing them to disregard the fake missive that promised a $2.5 million grant. Fallout from the so-called phishing attack appears to be minimal so far, trust CEO Harriet M. Ivey…

Speculator’s personal bankruptcy may tinge spouse: Trustee sorting through assets of real estate investor Marten, jeweler wife

A real estate speculator whose wife owns a prominent Carmel jewelry store has filed for personal bankruptcy, spawning an inquiry into whether her assets should be available to repay his creditors. On April 27, Christopher Marten filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, listing assets of $1.03 million and liabilities of $2.56 million. The case is pending in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis. Marten’s 26 creditors include six banks and credit unions. Christopher Marten is married to Jan Marten, owner of…

Prime property can mend fences: Earlham land sale on right course

The process Earlham College has set up to sell 413 acres of prime Hamilton County acreage it expects to receive in its settlement with the Conner Prairie living-history museum is a silver lining to this otherwise stormy saga. In the more than two years since Earlham touched off the Conner Prairie drama by firing the museum’s board, we’ve had nothing good to say in this space about Earlham’s handling of the situation, but the land sale is shaping up as…

NOTIONS: Time to ponder the proverbial, ‘How ARE you?’

I went to the bookstore the other day to buy a condolence card. A friend’s mom had died. There weren’t many choices. Most offered poems or Bible verses that didn’t seem right for me or the recipient. So I chose the simplest card. It featured an abstract image of light breaking through darkness. Inside, it said, “Thinking of you with deepest sympathy.” I was thinking of him. And the families of London bombing victims. And the widows, widowers and children…

Program hopes to boost women in science: IUPUI to put female science students under one roof to nurture their interest in field often dominated by men

The “girls aren’t good at science” myth still exists, according to many science educators. That is why a new School of Science program at IUPUI hopes to do its part to dispel the label many say is created as early as elementary school. IUPUI’s Women in Science House will literally house together women studying science, providing a nurturing environ ment for female students who often feel isolated, a factor that can cause them to change majors, said Pam Crowell, director…

BULLS & BEARS: Analyzing ‘free cash flow’ key to valuing businesses

Companies report their earnings as net income, a figure calculated according to generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. But that number often provides the investor with a distorted picture of what really took place. Net income often includes various non-cash items that obscure the actual cash flows within the company. Because of this problem with reported earnings, analysts often turn to a company’s “statement of cash flows” and retrieve a figure called “cash flow from operations” or “operating cash flow.”…

VIEWPOINT: Hoosiers gave tech transfer a big boost

Today, we take for granted that our state universities play a role far beyond their traditional educational mission-especially in the economic arena. University-sponsored research is being licensed to the private sector, or used to form new companies. Universities are managing business incubators. Consulting partnerships between academia and industry are commonplace. It wasn’t always this way. Not long ago, university officials were skeptical of becoming too involved with the private sector. Business leaders and investors didn’t recognize the value of innovation…

Music events seeking rhythm: Midwest Music Summit picks up the beat for industry convention expected to draw 23,000

The Midwest Music Summit is approaching its fifth year bigger than ever as organizers fine-tune an event they hope will find harmony with a massive convention planned for the same weekend. More than 400 artists are slated to perform at 35 venues throughout the city during the July 21-23 summit-scheduled this year to coincide with International Music Products Association’s NAMM Summer Session, an annual gathering expected to draw 23,000 music aficionados for its first stop in Indianapolis. The timing is…

Narrow Gate Media LLC: Brothers help others sell via the Web They’ve developed a template that can be tweaked to create unique sites

“People would always tell me I had the personality and social skills that made me a good salesman,” said Vaught, who, with his older brother Tim Vaught, founded Narrow Gate Media LLC in January 2000 in Indianapolis. For example, when Tom Vaught bought a motor scooter for his paper route, all his friends wanted to ride it, and he let them-in exchange for delivering the newspapers. “They got to ride the scooter and I still collected the money” from the…

Court files grow thick against Guidant: Shareholders, patients, employees air their grievances

“Attention, patients with Guidant heart defibrillators,” the announcer’s voice booms as the television commercial begins. Nearly 50,000 of the devices were recalled June 17, and people using one may be at risk, according to the ad, which has run in Tennessee, Kentucky and central Indiana so far. It ends by urging viewers to call the Becker Law Office in Louisville for a free consultation. That ad could spawn at least 10 wrongful-death lawsuits, according to Gregory Bubalo, a Louisville-based lawyer…

Man Alive plans big growth: Chain expects stores to double by 2007

Locally based athletic apparel giant Finish Line Inc. is laying plans for an aggressive expansion of Man Alive, the local hip-hop clothing chain it bought in a surprise move six months ago. Man Alive is expected to balloon from 38 stores to 78 by the end of next year. Eventually, Finish Line CEO Alan Cohen said, Man Alive could grow to 400 stores nationwide, providing Finish Line with an avenue for growth as its own rapid expansion begins to play…

FOR SALE?: Churchill Downs may be ready to sell struggling Hoosier Park

“I’m not sure Churchill Downs has put a deadline on this issue, but rest assured, they’re constantly evaluating their portfolio,” said Ed Feigenbaum, publisher of Indiana Gaming Insight. Churchill Downs sold Hollywood Park for $260 million to San Francisco-based Bay Meadow Land Co. The lofty price was based largely on the value of land in southern California. Analysts say Hoosier Park, which sits on 100 acres rented from the city of Anderson, would fetch a fraction of that price. Industry…

Researchers seek fuel-cell answers: Universities, companies see long-term potential in alternative power device

The figure-eight slot-car track in the basement laboratory at IUPUI looks out of place amid the expensive computer equipment surrounding it. But when research assistant Alan Benedict fumbles with a few wires and the cars come to life, it becomes clear the racetrack is more than just a toy. The miniature cars operate on fuel cells and are part of Purdue University’s exploration into the alternative power source. Scientists across the country are studying the clean power alternative, stoked by…

Fever reverse attendance slide, grow sponsorships: League still working to stabilize, diversify fan base

The Indiana Fever have reversed a fouryear attendance slide at a time when most WNBA teams are sliding backward. The team, owned by Pacers Sports & Entertainment, has seen average per-game attendance grow from 7,589 last year to 7,926 this year. With the Fever in the playoff hunt in second place in the Eastern Conference and several promotions planned, team officials expect average attendance to climb higher the second half of the season. “The lifeblood of the WNBA is ticket…

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…