With a season-ticket waiting list of more than 13,000–and growing by the hour–the Indianapolis Colts marketing team can
settle into cruise control, right? Owner Jim Irsay thinks not.
No more. In Miami, the daunting requirements for hosting the game began to make more sense. The city’s strengths came into focus. Extensive tours of the stadium, media center, team hotels and practice facilities, along with hours of meetings with NFL brass and officials with other host cities, left the contingent feeling Indianapolis is ready for a Super Bowl. The group hopes to raise $25 million in private funds to host the game in 2011. “It was a terrific trip…
While he was a student at Indiana University, Tim Worthington spent summers washing dishes, cooking breakfast and delivering room service for locally based General Hotels Corp. It was the beginning of a 31-year career that would include 14 years as president of the company. Worthington, 60, retired last February but quickly realized he wanted back in the action. So he and partner Michael Arnold, also a former employee at General Hotels and a 20-year veteran of the hotel industry, launched…
Indianapolis-based Norwood Promotional Products is facing legal challenges from a half-dozen former executives who say board
members and investors conspired to fire them, withhold severance pay and cheat them out of as much as $3.6 million in company
stock.
As struggling General Motors Corp. tries to raise cash by unloading Allison Transmission, the fate of the city’s third-largest
manufacturer hangs in the balance. But analysts say its market dominance, strong management team and abundance of private
equity could spare it the fate of other auto plants here.
A week or so ago, I spent a few lovely days at a conference in sunny San Diego while the mercury dropped below zero in the Midwest. For once, my timing was excellent. Weather aside, the days were filled with several thought-provoking speakers. Below is a smattering of takeaways that were interesting enough to share. Paul McCulley, an economist muckitymuck who sits at the right hand of bond investment guru Bill Gross at Pimco, made the observation that the world…
Downtown developments soon will come under extra scrutiny, once new design guidelines are approved in the spring. Known as Urban Design Indianapolis, the process of developing the criteria fell on the shoulders of several groups: the Department of Metropolitan Development, Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Ball State University’s architectural school and the Urban Design Oversight Committee. The intent is not to mandate to developers that their buildings meet certain design standards, but rather that the cosmetics coalesce with the existing…
Indianapolis not-for-profits are growing as more universities embrace service learning–an educational approach that encourages
students to incorporate academics into community service.
Two massive developments with sizable retail components along the Interstate 69 corridor in Hamilton County are helping to spur the construction of several nearby distribution centers. The light industrial space rising near Fishers and Noblesville is unlike the monstrous warehouse projects prevalent west of Indianapolis in Plainfield and popping up within the Anson project near Whitestown. They instead are mediumsize warehouse or showroom space meant for small businesses expected to populate Hamilton Town Center and Saxony at the Exit 10…
To do so the Indianapolis-based health insurer is moving to start its own bank, whose initial role will be to hold and manage its customers’ health savings accounts. An HSA is a relatively new breed of health insurance that places money-and more responsibility-in consumers’ hands. Well-Point bets more and more of its customers will start such accounts in the future. “We expect to see continued strong growth for these products. There is a tremendous amount of interest in the marketplace…
Indiana University appears poised to choose an internal candidate as president for the first time in 35 years . The decision
could be announced within days. Two IU trustees confirmed that finalists include Michael McRobbie and Ora Pescovitz, well-known
IU administrators.
Utility ratepayer groups say House Bill 1496, which is stuck in committee, is typical of what they see as a disturbing trend:
allowing utilities to pass the cost of mandates directly to consumers. HB 1496 would require Indiana’s coal-reliant electric
utilities to generate at least 10 percent of their power from renewable energy sources like wind and landfill gas.
Buckingham Cos., the Indianapolis-based owner/manager of more than 60 apartment complexes in five states, has broadened its
development sphere to include three square blocks of downtown real estate.
There are no longer any for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance plans for WellPoint Inc. to acquire as a means of growth.
State governments have effectively stopped those plans from converting to for-profits. That means new CEO Angela F. Braly
can’t keep WellPoint growing by gobbling up competitors.
I n d i a n a p o l i s – based Finish Line Inc. already had enough challenges, but here’s another: Nike Inc., Finish Line’s largest supplier, is revving up its own retail ambitions. Analysts, at least, see the Oregonbased company’s move as a competitive threat. For its part, Finish Line notes that Nike plans to open just 100 of its own stores over the next three years, and only 50 would be in the United States,…
D o u b l e – c l i c k , open, read and delete. Does this sequence for reading e-mail look familiar? Whether you work for a small- to medium-size business with few employees and a basic network of computers or part of a large corporation with its own technology department, if your company is electronic forms of communications, so has electronic evidence become a regular part of most business litigation. Not long ago, if your business…
Marvin Miller is representing a landowner trying to sell 125 acres just north of Indianapolis International Airport. But Miller
wants him to give away some of the property to persuade California-based Lucas Oil to move its headquarters there, jump-starting
the stagnant area in the process.
Not only did airport tenant FedEx cancel its order for the cargo version of the “superjumbo” last November, but no other carriers have indicated they’ll likely use the super-jumbo here, said airport Director Patrick Dooley. Nor, Dooley added, is there a compelling case to be made for taxiway upgrades merely as a contingency for A380’s being diverted here occasionally from Chicago’s O’Hare International or other airports. So managers are removing all references to the A380 in a long-range airport plan…
Harry & Izzy’s, a spinoff to St. Elmo Steak House slated to open in mid-April at Circle Centre mall, is the city’s most anticipated
new restaurant in years–a casual cousin to St. Elmo,
with lunch service and a wider menu, including salads, pastas and pizzas, along with standbys like the famous shrimp cocktail.
Feb. 4, 2007, will be a day fondly remembered in Indianapolis for generations to come. It was the day the Indianapolis Colts emerged victorious from Super Bowl XLI. The Super Bowl media exposure, combined with the city’s proud history of organizing and hosting some of the world’s largest sporting events, should position us well to serve as host for the 2011 Super Bowl. Already, a host committee has been formed and seed funds committed. The General Assembly has passed legislation…
