Members of the Red Hat Society get together monthly to celebrate life after 50, a demographic marketers often overlook. But
these women-and their spending habits-are attracting attention as the California-based club gains traction.
Entering her third year as Ball State University’s president, Jo Ann Gora has earned a reputation in business and political
circles as a shrewd, aggressive ambassador for the 19,500-student university. And by all measures, she’s just gotten started.
The news of a potential merger between New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and Washington, D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. comes at a critical time for local radio station operators. If the merger draws more listeners, that clearly would be bad news for terrestrial radio stations already dealing with the Internet and Ipod, and could imperil their fledgling high-definition initiative. Already, the proposed $11.4 billion merger is getting lots of media attention, and that’s bound to raise satellite radio’s…
Recently, I attended a Stanley K. Lacy Leadership Seminar at the Downtown Marriott. Members of the socalled “City Committee”-a group that convened three decades ago to brainstorm and map the future of India n a p o l i s – w e r e addressing younger professionals who well could be involved in determining the direction for our city over the next 30 years. Louis Mahern, who was then a leading state Democratic senator helping to push bipartisan support…
Despite moving their headquarters from Tulsa to Indianapolis last year, the organizers of the NFL Scouting Combine said the event could move following 2008. “We’re still in the midst of data collection, so it’s difficult to evaluate this year’s event,” said Jeffrey Foster, president of National Invitational Camp, which runs the Combine from its office at Pan Am Plaza. While the primary concern of agents and players-the speed of the 40-yard dash track-was worked out, a new set of concerns…
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.
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.
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…
Let’s see now … The city of Indianapolis announces it is formally pursuing the 2011 Super Bowl. Indiana University defeats second-ranked University of Wisconsin in Assembly Hall, ending the Badgers’ chances of becoming the first team since IU in 1976 to go through the league unbeaten. North Central High School’s Eric Gordon goes for 43 points in a nationally televised game against a Chicago high school team featuring the two sons of Michael Jordan, who watches from the bleachers. Butler…
