Regional economic development experts say cities must woo talented people while they’re young–in
their 20s or early 30s–because, after that age, people tend to hunker down. The Indianapolis area apparently appeals to at
least two key groups of young people–particularly those already married, according to a new study by researchers at IUPUI.
Gibson Insurance Group is the latest benefits broker to get more serious about wellness. The South Bend-based firm, which has an office in Indianapolis, has hired a dedicated wellness director to help its clients refine and assess their wellness programs for workers. Nicole Fallowfield, the former vice president of sales for Principal Wellness Co. in Indianapolis, will work out of Gibson’s downtown Indianapolis office but serve Gibson’s clients throughout Indiana. By hiring Fallowfield, Gibson joins a budding trend among brokers…
Years ago, I wrote an article about Sheila Suess Kennedy, an Indianapolis author who’d written a book called “What’s a Nice Republican Girl Like Me Doing in the ACLU?” I didn’t know Sheila. I didn’t know much about the American Civil Liberties Union, either. So I stopped by her office (she directed the organization’s Indiana chapter back then) for an education. Sheila, now a faculty member at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, explained to…
Attorney pay at top-tier firms is like compensation for executives of public companies. Amid hand-wringing, the numbers keep going up and up. The reasons are understandable. Law firm managers feel pressure to raise compensation to attract and retain the best attorneys-and to keep up with what other firms are doling out. The people running those competing firms feel the same pressures, accelerating the upward spiral. Hence, top attorneys in Indianapolis in the most complex practice areas now have hourly rates…
Cities and counties are looking for alternatives to asphalt as the price soars for the oil-based material and threatens
to bring paving projects and contractors skidding to a halt. The city of Indianapolis may have just found
one viable alternative that goes down like asphalt: roller-compacted concrete, or "rollcrete."
The completion of $2 billion in city construction projects has left a gaping hole in contractor job schedules-as wide as when the roof opens at Lucas Oil Stadium. Even so, industry leaders remain optimistic about staying busy despite the combination of a tepid economy and the end of a local boom that stretched the limits of the labor pool. The $1.1 billion airport midfield terminal project, the $715 million stadium and $150 million Central Library expansion helped to create so…
Have you read the Ke r n a n – S h e p a r d report? Don’t feel guilty, few have. Its more formal name is, “Streamlining Local Government; We’ve got to stop governing like this.” It’s a very strong, readable statement for reforming local government. Unfortunately, it does not get to our root problem: Local governments are creatures trained for obedience by their master, the Indiana General Assembly. Although the report does not say it, there will…
Fans walking into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the First MotoGP race there Sept. 14 likely won’t recognize the place. Sponsor ads will hang on the inside walls of the track. There will be a host of companies in the hospitality area–including Yamaha, Kawasaki, Ducati and Repsol–that have never set foot inside the Speedway’s grounds. The motorcycle-specific nature of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP will permeate every facet of the event and affects all elements of the host city’s planning.
Riley Children's Foundation has received a $1 million gift from Jim Irsay and the Indianapolis Colts, the foundation announced this afternoon. The foundation supports Riley Hospital for Children. The foundation also announced that Lucas Oil Products founder Forrest Lucas, who bought naming rights to the new Colts stadium, has joined the foundation board.
Pressure is mounting on the Indianapolis Colts as this Sunday’s season opener against the Chicago Bears looms. Yes, there’s pressure to win on the field. But there’s even more pressure to make the…
First Merchants Corp. announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to buy Plainfield-based Lincoln Bancorp. The move thrusts the growing Muncie bank further into the state’s largest market and sheds light on the travails of the banking industry. First Merchants valued the acquisition at $74 million to $77 million, depending on its stock […]
The Indiana Pacers and Indianapolis Colts have long been thought to be competitors. They compete with each other for fans, sponsors, public and private support for their respective playing venues among other things in…
With the books just closed on the Indianapolis Indians’ 2008 season, the team’s front office is already looking forward to next season. And why not? This team is hot. Red hot. And I’m…
Organizers of the inaugural World Class Driving Festival at the West Baden Springs Hotel Sept. 3-7 hope to put Indiana
on the map when it comes to exotic cars and potentially lucrative business opportunities surrounding the accompanying lifestyle.
EYE ON THE PIE What projects should public finance? You name it, Rusty Knale will argue against it. We’re at the delicatessen. He buys the hot pastrami on rye. I’m going for the chopped liver on pumpernickel. “I’m wondering,” I say, “if the new Honda plant at Greensburg is going to do more for the people of Indiana than Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy.” “No,” he answers quickly. “Remember that Dean Martin song, ‘Memories are made of this’? How many…
Re-entry key in city’s plot to fight crime Mayor makes push, hires director to help more ex-convicts find work Makeba Averitte spent more than seven years incarcerated in Indiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma prisons paying for the robbery he committed as a young man with few prospects. Since his release in 2004, the 32-year-old has obtained a driver’s license and insurance on his automobile, not to mention a bit more wisdom. But what eludes him most-even more so now as a…
Carmel startup wades into Florida hurricane market Firm pioneers product to cover insurance deductibles The turbulent winds that hit the property-casualty insurance market after the destructive Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 have blown over Indiana with hardly a bent weather vane. But that hasn’t stopped a new Carmel company from trying to make a buck helping Florida homeowners and businesses handle their now-staggering insurance costs. This month, Citon Group Inc. started marketing its new breed of insurance-designed to…
Doug Logan, new CEO of locally based USA Track & Field, knows the organization’s challenges reach beyond the disappointments
of dropped batons at last month’s Beijing Olympics. He wants to review the sport from top to bottom, and plans to announce
in the next few weeks formation of a task force that will look at everything from team training camps and the time of the
Olympic trials, to forming a series of events in the United States culminating in a series championship.
Carmel-based ChaCha Search Inc. has been winning accolades and enough teen fans to rival Hannah Montana. But none of that makes it apparent how the company can make money giving free answers to random cell phone queries.
SPORTS These football dreams give way to football reality How about this? The Indianapolis Colts inaugurate Lucas Oil Stadium with another Super Bowlwinning season. Indiana and Purdue meet in the Old Oaken Bucket game for a Rose Bowl berth. Notre Dame authors the greatest turnaround in school history and plays in the BCS national championship game. Ball State’s Nate Davis makes a run for the Heisman Trophy. Well, a guy can dream, can’t he? Truth is, all I’m hoping for…
