U.S. celebrities making pitches for large corporations is nothing new. But John Mellencamp has been long known as an artistic purist with a disdain for commercialism. His debut this fall as a pitchman for Chevrolet’s Silverado pickup truck has surprised many and touched off a torrent of criticism.
Organizational development isn’t usually my bag, but when I heard people using words like uplifting, inspiring, astonishing, cool, infectious and dynamite to describe an up-and-coming method, I decided to check it out. The method is appreciative inquiry, which is billed as a way of transforming organizations by trying to build on what’s right instead of analyzing what’s wrong. “You motivate people more through engaging in what’s positive,” said Ruth Purcell-Jones, president of Trustee Leadership Development Inc., a local organization that…
The rebuilding of Interstate 70 between downtown and Interstate 465 six miles to the east, starting in February, threatens to devastate a part of town already struggling economically, businesses and community groups warn.
Indiana’s wineries faced potential ruin in early 2006. The U.S. Supreme Court had handed down a decision requiring states to treat in-state and out-ofstate wineries the same. That meant if Indiana wineries were allowed to continue to ship directly to Indiana consumers, out-of-state wineries would be entitled to the same access. Or the state could ban all direct shipments of wine to Hoosier consumers. That’s exactly what wholesalers wanted. But that would have spelled disaster for Hoosier wineries. The wineries…
Techpoint, a locally based technology trade group that represents the interests of about 330 members statewide, is undergoing a transition in leadership. Jim Jay, 37, has been named interim CEO following the resignation of Cameron Carter, who has led the organization since 2003. Directors should begin a formal search for a permanent replacement the first of the year. Whether Jay lands the top job remains to be seen. But in the meantime, the Butler University graduate with an entrepreneurial spirit…
Yvonne Shaheen, retired CEO of Long Electric Co., is the winner of the 2006 Michael A. Carroll award, given annually in memory of the former deputy mayor to a person who embodies determination, devotion, humility and community.
In an 80-grit patch of the city fluent in poverty and despair, the Rev. Father Boniface Hardin lectures a visitor on how businesspeople need to learn the language and culture of countries where they operate. If not out of deference, then do it for practical reasons, he says, painting a picture of foreign business partners who “bow their heads and say, ‘This guy is one big sucker and we can rip him off,’ in their language.” What at first sounds…
There’s nothing better than Friday night at a high school football game. Unless it’s Saturday afternoon at a college football game (even if it is Indiana University). Or Sunday afternoon at an NFL game. Then again, how about all the above on an idyllic late-summer weekend? So, my wife, Sherry, and I set out for a tripleheader gridiron adventure. And before I proceed, let me say it’s terrific to have a bride who will happily endure three football games in…
ATA, the incredibly shrinking airline that once was the busiest at Indianapolis International Airport, appears to have shrunk in a favorable category-its financial losses. The Indianapolis-based carrier that ended scheduled service here in January had a loss of $5.27 million in the second quarter, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Now privately owned, ATA Holdings Corp. lost $26.3 million during the second quarter in its domestic operations, according to DOT. But it earned $21 million in…
Last month, I picked up my boys in Fort Wayne, drove north on Interstate 69, hooked a left at Interstate 94, and got off at the Portage, Mich., exit. There, we whiled away the weekend at a family reunion. The grownups ate too much, caught up on gossip and puttered around the lake in the speedboat. The teenagers, whom we rarely saw, did X-Box battle in the basement. On Sunday, after the kids had surfaced for lunch and the grandparents…
Real estate agents pushing to keep homes moving in a slowing market are increasingly looking for divine intervention. Local religious supply stores say sales are up for 4-inch-tall plastic figurines of St. Joseph. Some Catholics believe that burying the statues in a yard helps sell a house. St. Joseph statues have always sold well, but they’ve moved even faster in recent months, said Beth Kuczkowski, president of the Village Dove Inc., with stores in Broad Ripple, Fishers and on the…
I’ve been scanning laptop buyer’s guides lately, and I have to say that many magazine test labs seem utterly out of touch with business users. They extol the big screens, fast multimedia and other capabilities business users just don’t care about. They act as if weight is a big factor for those of us who have to cart our hightech symbiotes around with us, but laptops long ago dropped below that critical barrier. Hewlett-Packard had a little notebook unit in…
Since 1821, when Alexander Ralston first began incorporating spaces for public art in his design of Indianapolis, the city has been able to maintain a strong tradition of public art. Today is a good time to evaluate what must be done now to sustain and enhance that 185-year tradition. Public art also bolsters an area’s economic value and makes it more appealing for investors. Outside businesses looking to relocate a branch or headquarters will look more favorably on a community…
Entrepreneur J. Smoke Wallin, bestknown as CEO of software maker eSkye Solutions, hopes to raise $60 million in an initial public offering for a new Indianapolis company that doesn’t yet own anything. Sound bizarre? Perhaps. But Wallin’s Taliera Corp. is just the latest in a long line of so-called “blank check” companies that raise money with the intention of going out and purchasing an operating business. In this case, Wallin has his sights on the alcoholic-beverage industry, though the company…
For the last half-decade, Indianapolis has shown greater job gains than any other large city in the Midwest. During the same period, the Indy Partnership has been responsible for the area’s economic development.
National Wine and Spirits Inc., Indianapolis’ eighthlargest private company, in early June sued accounting giant Ernst & Young, charging “fraud and deception.” But don’t expect to peek into the court file to get the juicy details. Marion Superior Court Judge S.K. Reid on June 20 granted National Wine’s motion to seal the complaint. Court filings suggest the liquor distributor filed the motion at the behest of E&Y-which argued that because the dispute arose out of arbitration, and that process is…
My brother Bryan called the other day. He asked if I’d like to join him at the Music Mill to see an up-ancoming singer-songwriter he’d heard about. He said the critics have compared her rock-funksoul sound to the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Tina Turner and Janis Joplin. Pretty high praise. So last Tuesday we 40-something guys and a few hundred other people went to hear 22-year-old Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Before Grace took the stage, we sat in the…
How much should an executive be paid? More or less than a professional athlete? How much medical care is a person entitled to receive? Does that depend on his or her age or the genetic code that she or he carries? We love to agonize over these questions. To the pure of spirit, all people are worth the same. To the pure of thought, all are worth the value they contribute to satisfy the wants of others. Since few of…
Gas station and convenience store owners are seeking permits to sell alcohol at an unprecedented clip this year, alarming operators of traditional liquor stores. The Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, which represents liquor stores, counts 102 permit applications in the state so far this year, d o u b l e t h e n u m b e r f o r all of 2005. Speedway gas stations alone have filed 40 permit applications, including 19 in Marion County,…
It’s 9 a.m. midweek in late May. While it’s cool enough to warrant the wearing of wool socks, faded jeans and an old sweatshirt, the sun shines from a cloudless sky into my little downtown courtyard. After ostensible eons of dreary, drizzly, rainy days, the bright stuff factors mightily into my mood this morning. In its midst, I write to you from my living room sofa, my feet propped on a colorful, oversized ottoman piled neatly with magazines, newspapers and…
