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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Economy is doing great, but what about next year?

Here’s a question the visually oriented news media face all the time-what does a strong economy look like? Belching smokestacks and humming assembly lines are the clichés of yesteryear, now that we’ve entered an era when knowledge and services account for more output than do physical goods. But somehow the picture of an office worker tapping on a keyboard or a group of executives huddled around a conference table doesn’t quite convey the vitality and power of the world’s largest…

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Landlords may face big holes: If groceries close, centers would suffer

Marsh Supermarkets Inc. serves as an anchor tenant for dozens of central Indiana shopping centers. So if the company or a buyer ends up closing stores, centers across the region could be left with gaping holes. Not only can large vacant spaces in shopping centers make them look blighted. They also reduce customer counts at smaller retailers that feed off grocery store traffic, retail experts say. “People go to the grocery store once or twice or three times in a…

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Pass the sushi, boss; it’s time to celebrate: Corporate holiday events are less common, more fun

Surveys may point to a decrease in corporate parties this holiday season, but party planners say those who attend them are likely to have more fun. The trend is shifting away from stuffy, business-focused affairs. More parties are including live music and other entertainment, said Joe Husar, co-owner of Kahn’s Katering and meeting venue Montage at Allison Pointe. Still, this year could mark the first decrease in corporate holiday events since 2001, according to a national survey. Eighty-seven percent of…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Farming on decline, but ag still offers opportunity

Drive less than 20 minutes from almost any crossroads in Indiana and you’ll come across a feature of the Midwest landscape we take for granted: farmland. The vast open space in abundance between our state’s urban areas remains dominated by the industry that once employed more people than any other: agriculture. And while the sights of barns, cropland and animals grazing in pastures are familiar to us all, we should remember that looks can be deceiving. Plenty of changes are…

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BULLS & BEARS: Slowing inflation may mean good news ahead for stocks

Despite natural disasters, war and oil shocks, the U.S. economy has had a good year, with the gross domestic product posting growth of 3.8 percent. Corporate profits will grow this year at a doubledigit rate. And yet the U.S. stock market, as measured by the Dow Jones industrials, has done next to nothing. Here’s one big reason: fear of inflation. It’s slowed the economic sprint and caused investors to reach for their worry beads. We all know Alan Greenspan has…

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Race against crime: As public safety becomes a business issue, much is riding on battle for prosecutor

The dust has settled on Mayor Bart Peterson’s failed police merger. Meanwhile, local crime is surging, up 11 percent from 2002 to 2004. The next bellwether on how to turn the tide will be the 2006 Marion County prosecutor’s race. The contest, pitting Melina Maniatis Kennedy against incumbent Carl Brizzi, already is drawing the attention of community and business leaders, who say the stakes are huge: Rampant crime can cripple a local economy. “Where there’s crime-scene tape, there are not…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Growth disparity challenges Indiana

But to understand, we need to do some work, to dig into some numbers. How is Indiana’s economy doing? In May 2000, we had 3.01 million jobs in the state, an all-time high, according to the Indiana Department of Work Force Development. This number bottomed out in July 2003 at 2.89 million (a loss of 4.3 percent). This September, we had 2.97 million jobs, so we had regained 65 percent of what we had lost. But we are still 45,000…

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NOTIONS: Putting human rights bill to the test

A few weeks ago, my son Zach was named a Student Rotarian by his high school in Fort Wayne. He was invited to be honored at a downtown Rotary Club luncheon in that city, and asked me to attend. The Rotarians met on the second floor of the Summit City’s downtown Holiday Inn. Zach and I went through the buffet line and sat down at a round table with the superintendent of his school system and four other Rotarians. The…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: States shed differences, except those in Midwest

What can we say about the business climate in Indiana that other states aren’t already saying about themselves? We think we have a great quality of life, good access to transportation, and a hardworking labor force. So do they. We have a variety of tax incentives, training grants and infrastructure improvements that we tout aggressively to those who would build or expand here. So do they. In fact, one of the most remarkable trends over the last few decades has…

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Fine-tuning a business strategy: Local violinmaker finds success by raising prices

F ine-tuning a business strategy Local violinmaker finds success by raising prices John Welch made a counterintuitive business decision two years ago. The violin business was in decline. Asian manufacturers were turning out high-quality stringed instruments for a fraction of the price of their American competitors. Welch decided to swim against the current. He raised prices. “We realized the only way to compete with the Chinese was to improve our quality,” said Welch, CEO of Indianapolis-based Sofia Violins. “We realized…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: If sales fall short, retailers will have explanations aplenty

Here’s the good news for Indianabased retailers: Even if the crucial holiday shopping season doesn’t go well, they’ll have plenty of excuses for the lackluster performance. High gas prices kept shoppers at home. High heating prices ate up their disposable income. And any extremes on the weather front could prove handy, too. Who wants to buy sweaters when it’s 60 degrees outside, or venture to the mall on ice-slickened roads? Indeed, it’s not all spin. Take the Indianapolis-based electronics and…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: State economy looks good, but clouds are on horizon

It’s the time of year to get out our crystal balls and ask this deceptively simple question: What kind of year will 2006 be for the Indiana economy? This year, like any other, finds us making lists of what’s going right, and what’s going wrong, in our economic environment. Let’s start with the good news. It may surprise some of you to know there is plenty to choose from. Topping the list has to be the surprisingly robust health of…

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‘Backward’ thinking seen as key to future: Students hope experiential history puts them on promising career path

As counterintuitive as it sounds, “experiential history” is one of seven key careers, besides usual suspects like logistics and bioinformatics, that are the focus of the University of Indianapolis’ Institute for Emerging Careers. No, drug testing of college faculty isn’t among the emerging careers. The institute was formed last year with a $750,000 Lilly Endowment grant. It aims to stem the so-called “brain drain” of Indiana’s college graduates to other states in search of work-in part by pointing them in…

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Incentive search shot down: University Loft eyes Tennessee after Hancock County spurns request to create a TIF district

Hancock County Commissioners’ unwillingness to consider creating a Tax Increment Financing district has sent a growing Indianapolis-based manufacturer looking for a new expansion site, possibly out of state. University Loft Co. CEO James N. Jannetides said he was continually rebuffed over a months-long process to get the tax incentives his company needed to bring 200-plus jobs to the county directly east of Marion County. Now Jannetides said he might look to consolidate manufacturing in Tennessee where he opened a plant…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: We need to push harder to foster a tech economy

You have to give the folks at Techpoint, the advocacy group for technology-oriented business in Indiana, plenty of credit for stamina. For eight years, these f o r wa r d – l o o k i n g folks have been carefully measuring the state’s progress in what was once called the high-tech economy. And for each of those eight years, the message has been depressingly consistent: We remain at the back of the pack. That’s not for lack…

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State revamps I-Light expansion project: Funding restored, but network limited to universities

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has given high-speed Internet project I-Light the green light, but with a twist from its original intent. He agreed this month to support the final stages of funding for the project, which began in 1999 and connected supercomputers at Indiana University, Purdue University and IUPUI. The aim was to expand Indiana’s digital infrastructure by connecting 15 cities via a fiber-optic network. Under his directive, though, only universities and related research parks can tap into the network,…

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BULLS & BEARS: Problems look daunting? A lesson from Granddad

Granddad rocked back and said, “The news is pretty tough to read these days. Makes me want to sit on the porch and just watch the leaves turn.” He shook his head and mentioned all sorts of events that made him wonder if the United States could ever bounce back. First, he brought up the battles for control in the Gaza strip and the fierce fighting over Palestinian areas. Then came speculation on how the United States was going to…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Economics and intelligent design

It felt strange sitting before an interim committee of the Indiana General Assembly. The questions were coming quickly and with a decided passion. “Mr. Marcus,” Rep. Rottweiler demanded, “did you teach economics at Indiana University between 1970 and 2003?” “Yes,” I confirmed. “During that time, did you teach the socalled ‘Law of Demand’?” he boomed. “If you mean did I teach that when the price falls, more will be taken, other factors being held constant, yes, I did teach that…

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BULLS & BEARS: Furniture-maker Kimball may be solid investment

It can take a while to rein in investor expectations after a time like the high-return 1990s. As Jeremy Grantham of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo notes in his quarterly letter, “Even today, with long bonds at 4.5 percent and the earnings yield (on stocks) at under 5.5 percent, the assumption for longterm pension returns is still showing its bullish bias at over 8 percent.” So what does an investor do in an environment that requires more humble expectations for investment…

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HVAC specialists see rise in energy-saving interest: Anticipated price spikes spur demand for revamps

Many plant managers consider it a lost cause to combat thermostat wars, factoring it in as a normal cost of doing business. Or they just don’t think about it all. Even before hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused natural gas prices to soar, an energy price problem was already in full swing. Engineering, construction and energy management firms were already addressing concerns from clients over how to combat rising energy bills. While soaring prices are expected to wreak havoc on residential…

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