Eli Lilly and Co. was among 40 companies cited in a study by Clarity! Communications of Canada Inc. for describing executive pay in prose that’s all but indecipherable to the common person. As a result, the companies in the study violated new securities rules that prevent companies from using jargon to report how top executives […]
A new National Football League policy could cost the Indianapolis Colts $56 million in league revenue sharing in the decade
following the opening of Lucas Oil Stadium. The policy
puts more pressure on the Colts to compete with revenue-generating giants such as the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys.
Taliera Corp. plan to raise $60 million through an initial public offering was withdrawn March 27, but Taliera isn’t going
away. It’s simply trying a different approach. CEO J. Smoke Wallin said he and his team of eight beverage industry veterans
still believe their business plan is right.
Krom River Partners, Mother Earth Investment AG and other investment firms are snapping up corn contracts as prices slip, according to Bloomberg. Corn prices fell after a March 30 report showed farmers plan a big increase in planting. However, large investors are turning bullish because the increase is not as large as traders expected. […]
I could see she was mad when I walked in the coffee shop. State representative Roberta Righteous was adding packet after packet of sugar substitute to her extra large macho mocha. As I sat down with my cup of regular, she blurted, “Your column last week was another cruel attack on the General Assembly. All criticism, all sarcasm, but no constructive suggestions for progress.” “You want constructive ideas,” I said, “I’ll give you some. “First, Indiana abandons partisan redistricting. When…
Do you even know that there’s a browser in common use besides Microsoft’s Internet Explorer? If not, don’t feel bad. IE has some 80 percent of the browser market, if “market” can be defined as “where you give everything away to get mind share.” Frustrated with Microsoft and IE, the techies of the world have written their own browser through a mighty effort coordinated by Mozilla, a California-based not-forprofit (www.mozilla.com). It’s called “Firefox.” Currently, it has roughly 15 percent of…
“Pat Miller is a classy dame.” Michael S. Maurer, Indianapolis Star, Dec. 13, 2005 The above response to an Indianapolis Star reporter on the occasion of Pat Miller’s resignation as secretary of commerce was meant with all sincerity to be complimentary but was morphed by Indianapolis Star columnist John Ketzenberger into a slur on the order of Don Imus or Howard Stern. The Star piled on with a letter to the editor from someone who does not even live in…
“It’s Everywhere, In Everything: The First Truly Global Bubble.” The title of this recent newsletter sounds a lot like one of those “doom and gloom” books out to make a quick buck playing on investor emotions. The only thing is, those kinds of books only show up in bear markets, because that’s when they sell-when investors are already depressed. Thus, their message is useless, for the damage has already been done to investors’ portfolios-and, ironically, their appearance on bookshelves usually…
The rally off the March low was powerful, and a few things happened that might reveal a change in the nature of this bull market. If there is an evolution and we’ve identified it, a rotation is called for that will keep us in the sweet spot of this market run. If we’re wrong, we have to be quick to readjust. By the third week of April, the Dow Jones broke out to an all-time high, taking with it the…
John Delaney, a second-tier Brightpoint Inc. executive convicted of securities fraud last year, charges in a newly public
letter that upper management was in on the scheme. The 2004 letter implicates former Chief Financial Officer Phil Bounsall,
now executive vice president of locally based Walker Information.
Four years after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Harcharik of committing securities fraud at Brightpoint Inc.,
he finally has his day in court. A civil jury trial is scheduled to start May 21 in Manhattan. It could last as long as three
weeks.
I left Indianapolis for New York City. Flying home for holidays, I never thought I could live here again. A nice place to grow up, Indianapolis gave me those wholesome Midwestern manners, recalled whenever a New Yorker asked, “You’re not from here, are you? You’re just too nice.” Indianapolis also gave me a successful career start, circa 1982. My partners and I later sold an OfficePlus location to a group in Manhattan in 1997. They invited me to move and…
Of all the components of finding and hiring the right employees, employers consider interviewing job candidates the most difficult. If not done well, interviews can lead an employer to make the wrong decision. Why? Because job candidates rehearse their answers to the traditional interview questions, telling the employers what they want to hear. However, if employers ask behavioral based questions, job candidates can’t manipulate their answers as easily. Perhaps a scenario-a composite taken from typical real-life episodes-will illustrate the difference…
Five leaders of Indiana’s life sciences industry offered their perspectives at the Indiana Convention Center June 26 as part of the Indianapolis Business Journal’s Power Breakfast Series. The panelists: Mike Arpey, managing director of global investment bank Credit Suisse’s Asset Management Division and manager of the $73 million Indiana Future Fund for BioCrossroads, the state’s life sciences economicdevelopment initiative. Ron Ellis, co-founder, president and CEO of Lafayettebased Endocyte Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the treatment of cancer through receptor-targeted…
I am struggling Q: with a major organizational change. I believe it will be beneficial in the long run, but implementing this change will cause considerable turmoil. How do I know if this is the right step for my company? The only way A:to know for sure is to make the change and then assess the result. A good business-planning process that forecasts how the changes will affect the company should be done beforehand, but no matter how good the…
Invoke In addition to the yoga and pilates classes offered at Invoke, owner Amy Peddycord has added clothing from Lululemon, a popular Canadian apparel brand. She also has established a relationship with Santa Monica, Calif.-based Yoga Works, which has 14 studios throughout California and New York. Yoga Works will lead a teacher training program at Invoke in 2008. Peddycord says hiring an office manager in 2006 was the best thing she’s done. “Nicole [Schoville] quickly grew into the role and…
Giving out awards can be a tricky business. To wit, news broke Aug. 13 that CEO Peter Dunn has left Steak n Shake, a company we honored in 2005 with our annual Enterprise Award. A good chunk of the credit in our article profiling the company two years ago was directed at Dunn, an MBA and food-industry veteran who had energized the company with a philosophy that was producing results. Now he’s gone. Do his departure and a decline in…
In the less than two years since Mark Miles, 53, took over the CEO-driven Central Indiana Corporate Partnership in 2006, he’s
transformed it into an economic development powerhouse for life sciences, information technology and advanced manufacturing.
How so fast? He started networking with Indiana’s political heavyweights more than 30 years ago. And he never stopped.
In the June 4 IBJ, Mickey Maurer wrote an insightful commentary on some of the difficulties faced by ex-offenders returning to their communities. An editorial in the July 9 issue called for ex-offender re-entry into the work force as an important next step for the city of Indianapolis. IBJ has focused on a critical issue, and has correctly identified several obstacles faced by returning offenders seeking to reintegrate into society-from housing to willing employers to the need for mentors. But…
It’s unlikely that anyone attended Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (which ran Aug. 17-18 at the Pike Performing Arts Center) with any goal in mind except to see choreographed dancers in graceful, compelling action. Yet other factors come into play beyond the foot- and body-work, and those factors, for good or ill, can enhance or undermine the dancers’ work. Take lighting design. In this case, the masterful work of lighting designer Ryan Koharchik turned a minimal…
