Prices of an alternative fuel that’s had patriotic and environmental appeal–but not an economic one for motorists–have been
flirting this month with gasoline on an energy-equivalent cost basis. The sudden but often fleeting price appeal of fuel “E85,”
a blend of ethanol with a dash of gasoline, is due largely to gas prices soaring to nearly $4 a gallon.
Joe Ruffolo learned a great deal over 35 years as an executive at PepsiCo., Squibb Corp., Reynolds Aluminum and North American Van Lines. Now running his own investment banking company, Fort Wayne-based Ruffolo Benson LLC, Ruffolo also holds seats on a halfdozen company boards. Executive compensation experts say that’s too much on one plate. Ruffolo is one of a handful of Hoosiers who serve as independent board directors of more than one Indiana-based public company. Experts say it’s an increasingly…
Most public companies say they tie executive compensation to performance, but an IBJ review of pay data from 65 Indiana-based
firms shows otherwise. Last year, more than two-thirds of Indiana-based public companies saw their share prices decline, yet
many continued to award eye-popping compensation to their executives.
On June 18, CNN (www.cnn.com) had a story about a study in CyberPsychology and Behavior Journal (www.liebertpub.com) that examined how people use the Internet for personal use at work. It was supposed to be eye-opening, but it wasn’t to me. The study showed that managers who fret and make rules about Internet use by employees are probably using it themselves for the same purposes. Of course, no manager would ever let himself be seduced into wasting company time, would he?…
It is likely that “Chakaia Booker: Mass Transit,” the 10-piece exhibition running through April 1, will invite a greater negative reaction than the two previous public art shows that dotted downtown. Unlike Tom Otterness-with his rounded smileys masking money-is-evil messages-and Julian Opie-many of whose “Signs” could have served as, well, signs-Booker creates work that is abstract, defiant and unpolished. The pieces-constructed from tires-aren’t pretty, they aren’t funny, they aren’t slick and they don’t seem aimed to please. As such, they…
Continental Enterprises, an intellectual property consulting firm, launched a service this summer to help area high schools register their logos, names and mascots as trademarks and establish licensing programs, assuring that schools will get a cut of all merchandise sales bearing their mark. This month, North Central High School, one of the state’s largest, signed with Continental, and six to eight more schools are expected to follow suit within 60 days.
A fast-growing Carmel startup is using a blend of innovative software and human guides to answer questions over the phone.
The company could have located on either coast, but instead chose Carmel’s Clay Terrace. And the company, Interactions Corp.,
has raised more than twice as much money as ChaCha Search Inc., a higher-profile startup in a similar business that’s also
housed in Clay Terrace.
Mike’s Express Carwash makes money the old-fashioned way. The second-generation family affair, now celebrating its 60th
year, has invested its reserves in steady expansion, becoming a model for the $23.4 billion industry in
the process. And its owners still sweat the small stuff.
The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the widespread stock sell-off it engendered is a bit scary. It shows those of us on Main Street that more than a year after the subprime mess became daily news, significant and sophisticated financiers still grapple with the effect on their firms. They are now far less significant and sophisticated than they once believed. I’m still uncertain as to how this will end. The U.S. and world economies will emerge stronger, more vibrant and…
Pathway Productions, one of the city’s highest-profile video production firms, has a new owner, a new CEO and a new plan to blaze a trail to prosperity. Michael Husain, who founded the company from his basement in 1996, earlier this year quietly sold a majority stake to Mays Chemical Co. President William Mays, who in turn named Jerald Harkness the new CEO.
For corporations with a global presence, the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards should streamline
the world’s financial reporting system.
Three university projects, two of which contain green-building elements, dominated the most recent design awards presented
by the American Institute of Architects Indiana chapter. Of the four award winners, three involved college buildings: the
Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University, the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering at Purdue University, and
the Straw Bale Eco Center at Ball State University.
Last month, Purdue University launched the Center for Energy Systems and Policy to make sure its researchers
are working early in the process with business and public-policy experts at the university.
A timber investment firm has bought nearly 12,000 acres of Kentucky woodland owned by Jasper-based furniture and electronics manufacturer Kimball International Inc. The auction yielded $24.5 million for the property, which fronts the Ohio River near Evansville and has been the scene of numerous outdoor and hunting television shows. Buying the entire tract was Forest […]
In January, St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M will release “Clinpro 5000,” a specialty toothpaste Indiana Nanotech developed.
A state fund supporting an 18-cent-a-gallon tax credit for gas stations selling E85 ethanol was exhausted in the first three
months of the state’s new fiscal year.
This week, the debut of a new sketch comedy group, a good enough bedroom farce, dancing to the Beatles, and a word about “Happy Days: A New Musical.” Big laughs erupted repeatedly from the overflowing crowd on opening night of sketch comedy group Three Dollar Bill’s premiere revue “Fiddle Schticks.” Now, big laughs can be a […]
This week, the debut of a new sketch comedy group, a good enough bedroom farce, dancing to the Beatles, and a word about “Happy Days: A New Musical.” Big laughs erupted repeatedly from the overflowing crowd on opening night of sketch comedy group Three Dollar Bill’s premiere revue “Fiddle Schticks.” Now, big laughs can be a […]
First the good news about Indiana’s insolvent Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund: As part of its $787 billion stimulus, the federal government has just agreed to stop charging interest on its loans to pay benefits to the jobless. President Obama’s package allows Indiana to continue zero-percent borrowing for unemployment insurance through 2010, a provision that will […]
Shoring up the state’s jobless-fund shortfall likely will cost employers and employees more.
