He’s called The Peanut King, but these days Richard Green, president of the Indianapolis-based Richard Green Co., offers a lot more than just goobers. His company, founded in 1957, is a mini-conglomerate of sorts, selling pretty much anything necessary for work in the food-concessions business. From a nondescript cluster of buildings on South Meridian Street, […]
The portfolios of local architectural firms are beginning to boast more ecofriendly projects. But it hasn’t been that way for long. The trend to seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification is a recent phenomenon that appeals not only to the tree-hugging crowd but corporations and government entities, too. “We’re definitely getting to the point where clients are asking us about the LEED process,” said Eric Anderson, a project architect at Axis Architecture + Interiors. “Whereas before, even [as…
Ron Pearson said business at his Indianapolis-based advertising agency over the last year has been “stellar.” Exaggeration or not, any growth at Pearson Partners is a 180-degree reversal from the dire situation the firm faced just a year ago. In April 2007, Pearson’s firm-then called Pearson McMahon Fletcher England-lost its biggest client, HHGregg. Last summer, Pearson cut nearly half its work force, paring the agency down to about 20 employees in the wake of losing the $20-million-plus account. Pearson’s capitalized…
A local firm plans to break ground soon on two new infill buildings in Fletcher Place. The $1.7-million development, called Fletcher Place Terrace, will be built on…
The developing story in Kentucky about its new governorâ??s attempt to legalize casinos isnâ??t getting a lot
of play in Indianapolis, but the fallout could be huge if he succeeds.
Steve Beshear wants a dozen casinos to try to stop gamblers…
The Nature Conservancy has agreed to buy a blighted industrial property on the eastern edge of downtown to develop a new Indiana
headquarters. The $4.5 million project–which will revitalize or replace the former home of Nemec Heating & Supply Co. at
614 E. Ohio St.–should provide another boost to an area that has been bulking up on development, mainly residential.
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.
Ad agency Publicis Indianapolis is suddenly scoring with sports. Though it was not known for sports marketing before this year, Publicis’ local office has nabbed two high-profile sports clients in recent months, with the Indiana Fever announcing yesterday they have struck an agency-of-record deal with the firm. Earlier this year, Publicis replaced Pearson Partners-formerly Pearson […]
The Indiana Pacers recently rolled out a marketing initiative that was in sharp contrast to last year’s campaign, which prominently
featured players and proclaimed, “It’s up to us.” This year’s new television, radio and print advertisements appear with not
a whisper from or mention of anyone actually wearing the blue and gold.
Whitfield, owner of Indianapolis-based Fletcher Communications Inc., was a freelance television news producer working for CNN, Reuters News and the Christian Broadcasting Network’s news division in Washington, D.C., when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. Four years later, Whitfield crashed emotionally and was hospitalized suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. The daughter of a retired Army officer, Whitfield, 39, had moved many times as a child before settling in Columbia, S.C. She graduated from high school in 1986, but…
Huntington Bancshares is giving up its local headquarters in Capital Center downtown now that it has completed its $3.6 billion purchase of Sky Financial Group. The 100 employees based at Capital Center, 201 N. Illinois St., will move to a Sky-owned office building at 45 N. Pennsylvania St. Sky bought the building last year as part of its $321 million purchase of locally based Union Federal Savings Bank. Bowling Green, Ohio-based Sky announced it was being purchased by Columbus, Ohio-based…
Hhgregg’s decision to take its $20-million-plus advertising account out of state is sending shock waves through the local
creative community. The Indianapolis-based electronics and appliance retailer’s longtime agency of record, Pearson McMahon
Fletcher England, will lose a third of its staff as a result, including three of five active partners.
About 15 of the 44 employees at Pearson McMahon Fletcher England will lose jobs by the end of June due to a decision by the Indianapolis advertising firm not to pursue a renewal of its long-time HH Gregg account. Included in the 15 are Executive Vice President Larry Fletcher and Chief Financial Officer Terri Brown, […]
Hhgregg Inc. has committed to negotiating a contract with Zimmerman Advertising of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to take over one of Indiana’s largest advertising accounts, the Indianapolis company said today. The agency that handled the account for 24 years, Pearson McMahon Fletcher England in Indianapolis, decided earlier this year to not pursue the contract. Gregg said […]
Revitalization efforts had been plodding along for years in the triangleshaped historic neighborhood known as Fletcher Place. The slower pace of development gave the neighborhood just southeast of downtown a lower profile than places like Chatham Arch and Lockerbie Square. But Fletcher Place is under the radar no more, thanks to a massive eight-story condo project known as Villaggio at Page Pointe. The 64-unit building-now the neighborhood’s tallest structure-looks like it could be in Florida, except its panoramic views capitalize…
The Columbia Club, the tradition-rich enclave where the city’s business elite have gathered and cut deals for more than a
century, is facing declining membership, the departure of its longtime general manager, and looming financial challenges–including
a $5.5 million loan that comes due this summer.
Bank mergers have proven lucrative for local sign companies over the years. A string of mergers in the late 1980s and early
1990s wiped out the city’s three big national banks–American Fletcher, Merchants National and Indiana National. In the years
since, the industry has continued to consolidate, spawning a flurry of additional name changes.
Maybe you’ve already heard. Mickey Maurer’s column will return to this space in a few weeks. After two years serving as Gov. Mitch Daniels’ go-to economic development guy, Mickey should have plenty of stories to tell. And Associate Editor Tawn Parent and I, as his trusty substitute columnists, should have a bit more time to devote to our behind-the-scenes work at IBJ. I’m closing out my brief columnwriting career by addressing a handful of topics-some of them new, some of…
If State and English avenues in the Fountain Square district were on a Monopoly board, they would probably be the ones available immediately after passing “Go.” But after the Southeast Neighborhood Development Inc. is finished there, the intersection will move several spaces closer to Park Place. The not-for-profit is investing $1 million to renovate three dilapidated buildings it bought to convert them to residential/work spaces as part of its Fountain Square Corners development. A local photographer who will live in…
An in-your-face ad campaign that First Indiana Corp. rolled out last month highlights the Indianapolisbased bank’s local roots and leaves the distinct impression it won’t be accepting a buyout offer anytime soon. Rhetoric or reality? Time will tell. “If you run an Indiana business, you need an Indiana bank,” reads one of the ads. It continues: “Remember when your local bank was actually local?” First Indiana executives and directors are savoring the sale of Union Federal Bank, which leaves First…
