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EYE ON THE PIE: What politicians don’t know can hurt us

Last week in Jefferson City, I heard Missouri’s governor outline his economic and budgetary concerns. It sounded very much like a speech I could have heard in Indiana. His speech went something like this: Medicare is about to eat up the state budget. We have to find ways to use school funds more effectively because our education system is not sufficient for the needs of our citizens. We have to protect taxpayers from the burdens of new taxes. We need…

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City ups charter aid: Loan program to help schools land financing for facilities

Indianapolis leaders are lending a helping hand-and the city’s strong credit rating-to charter school operators intent on building a different kind of educational environment, often from scratch. Charters receive tuition support payments from the state, but unlike other public schools, they do not get any tax revenue for their buildings. “The facility issue is a big issue,” said Mayor Bart Peterson, the only municipal leader in the country with the power to grant charters. “If we are committed to seeing…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Statehouse battles brew as session winds down

An awful lot of things need to fall into place between now and April 29 for lawmakers to exit Indianapolis with their heads held high over their ability to get things done this session. Some may quibble (and others flat-out argue) about whether the legislative agenda this session has been active-positive or active-negative. However, there is no question that, to this point at least, lawmakers-mirroring the new governor-have been proactive. It’s a stark contrast to the passive stance of the…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Pondering the world from an economist’s viewpoint

In case you’ve ever wondered what it is like to look at life through the eyes of an economist, here are some questions to ponder: Has anyone else noticed that public schools these days are in the transportation business, the sports entertainment business, the restaurant business, the health care business, not to mention the day care business? It’s no wonder their jobs are so difficult. To those who decry the risk of diverting Social Security revenue towards personal accounts in…

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Center offers businesses a challenging experience: Year-old school program adds corporate component to build community awareness and financial support

Simulating the events of a real-life space mission is not just child’s play anymore. Decatur Township Schools’ Indianapolis Challenger Learning Center now allows area businesses to participate, too. The center, in Ameriplex Business Park, has been hosting field trips and summer camps for children for about a year. An adult program lifted off last fall. “We do not just want to do school-oriented projects,” said Director Gary Pellico. “We want to be a part of this community and we are…

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Design firms involved in midfield terminal project merge:

After working together on the midfield terminal project at the Indianapolis International Airport, CSO Architects Inc. and SchenkelShultz Architecture have joined to become CSO SchenkelShultz. Executives of the two announced the merger to employees April 12 during a staff meeting at CSO’s headquarters on East 96th Street. Terms of the deal were not released. “By working together, we found that we have a lot in common,” said James Schellinger, a managing partner at CSO. “We both work in a lot…

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Mission to Mexico to promote business: City officials, corporate leaders to take part in trip

Most Hoosiers visiting Mexico spend their time on the beaches of Cancun, Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Vallarta. But this fall, an excursion of a different kind will take local business and civic leaders south of the border to explore new opportunities for commerce and trade with Mexico. The week-long mission, scheduled for early September, is the brainchild of Sergio Aguilera, Mexico’s consul general for Indianapolis. He hopes that exposing Hoosiers to all facets of Mexican life-from government and the…

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Special Report: Flawed funding: Years of guaranteed increases set stage for school crisis

Indiana’s decades-long effort to protect shrinking school corporations from drastic cutbacks may well backfire on the very districts that most depend on it-including Indianapolis Public Schools. Critics say the promise of more money regardless of enrollment has allowed some school systems to bloat their budgets, and now state legislators are poised to let the air out. School funding already represents more than one-third of Indiana’s $24 billion, twoyear budget, and lawmakers want to rein in expenses and eliminate a projected…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Great Lakes board battled for sweet price from suitor Bulriss not talking Legal costs singe ITT

Great Lakes Chemical Corp. shareholders have had a lot to feel disappointed about in recent years. But there’s no way they can feel let down over the board’s handling of the company’s $1.5 billion sale to Connecticut-based Crompton Corp. A new regulatory filing shows directors of Indianapolis-based Great Lakes went to extraordinary lengths to extract every penny possible from Crompton before sealing the sale March 8. A blow-by-blow account contained in the filing shows the Great Lakes board first began…

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Accounting firm looks overseas for help: Sarbanes-Oxley business sparks need for extra hands

Zietsman is one of several employees of PricewaterhouseCoopers who are in the United States to temporarily help the global accounting firm complete client audit work created by the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-accountability law. One rule, Section 404, requires corporations to assess the internal accounting controls they have in place to ensure their financial reporting is accurate and reliable-and requires accounting firms to vouch for those controls. Many public companies had to devote thousands of employee hours and millions of dollars to…

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WIP Downtown: Salon combines talented stylist, savvy tech guy 40 percent of appointments are made online

You won’t find People magazine in the waiting room at the WIP Downtown hair salon. “That magazine just encourages gossip,” explained co-owner Jeff Demaree. Contrary to the stereotype of hairdresser as therapist, Demaree wants his staff “to avoid discussing personal problems with customers because it makes the atmosphere more stressful.” Instead, Jeff and his wife, co-owner Kimberly Demaree, suggest discussing current events, politics-if they know they agree with the customer-TV, or recent WIP accomplishments such as photo shoots. “We want…

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Charter school leaving train station location for its own ’empowerment center’:

21st Century Charter School is pulling away from Union Station. Nearly three years after reinventing 17,000 square feet of space that once housed a bar and Hooter’s restaurant, school sponsor Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation has plans to build a stand-alone facility about five miles to the north. GEO has agreed to buy a two-acre parcel at 25th Street and Capitol Avenue that was to be the site of the Fall Creek Retail Center, an ill-fated project that fell apart in…

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Wellness provider expands: Summex Health planning bigger HQ on NW side

A leading provider of wellness programs for large companies will triple its office space in June to meet demand from employers eager to save on soaring health care costs. Indianapolis-based Summex Health Management Inc. and its 55 employees will vacate 10,000 square feet of office space in The Morley Group building on the northwest side and take up residence in roomier digs in nearby Woodland Corporate Park. The Duke Realty Corp. property provides Summex nearly 30,000 square feet, or the…

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Banker fits bill at art museum: Ex-Bank One CEO O’Connor leads facility through final stages of $74M expansion

Just over a year after retiring from the top position at central Indiana’s largest bank, former Bank One of Indiana CEO Lawrence A. O’Connor Jr. found himself giving up his newfound freedom to run another big business-the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Making the jump from financial services to arts and culture might seem unlikely, but O’Connor, who’s been serving as IMA’s interim executive director since November, finds himself at home running Indianapolis’ largest arts-related not-for-profit. “This is a wonderful place,”…

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IUPUI discovers Office for Women still needs to exist: Program uses workshops, discussions and awards to keep the issues affecting women in the forefront

While many universities have programs dedicated to women’s equality, the IUPUI Office for Women is not taken for granted by the administration there. “It is important as part of the university’s diversity department,” said Kathy Grove, director of the IUPUI Office for Women. “It helps women to fulfill their potential and ensure that we have an environment free of harassment based on gender.” Established in October 1996 under the leadership of Dr. Kathleen Warfel, who was a professor of pathology…

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Are you tough enough?: Women learn how to be hardy so they can compete with the guys in any field of endeavor

Dr. Mary Reilly sometimes gets emotional on the job. But the emergency physician also knows how to turn it off. “In the middle of a ‘code,’ I can’t be breaking down in tears,” said Reilly, who works with Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Emergency Physicians Inc. “I put a wall up in some situations and try not to think about these people as people. That’s the only way emotionally I can get through [it].” Reilly is among the many women who’ve learned…

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ROSE Awards ceremonies honor hospitality workers: A dozen employees commended for top-level service

Vickie English, night auditor, Courtyard by Marriott at the Capitol In her eighth year as night auditor at the Courtyard at the Capitol, English was honored for providing outstanding service, including driving to the airport to deliver an airline ticket a guest left at the hotel. Robert Diaz, chauffeur, Carey Indiana A 17-year employee with Carey Indiana, Diaz was praised for going out of his way to be helpful. When one one client requested food from a popular restaurant in…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH Ed Feigenbaum: Competing interests emerge to cloud coming budget tiff

At the beginning of the legislative session, you probably thought that given Republicans were firmly in charge at the Statehouse for the first time in 20 years, bu d g e t – m a k i n g would be easy. Guess again. And gear up for a major budget battle. When Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed his budget ideas, lawmakers immediately shot down the most visible and memorable feature: the 1-percent surtax on higher-income Hoosiers. House members then passed…

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BULLS & BEARS: Investors’ actions mean lower investment returns

Have you been an investor in stocks for 20 years? Since the demographics of this paper show that the average subscriber has household income of more than $220,000 and is 48 years old, the answer is probably, “yes.” Over 20 years, the S&P 500 has returned 10.3 percent per year, which means that $40,000 invested in stocks in 1984 would now be worth $280,000. The problem, though, is the market returned 10 percent, but Average Joe Investor only earned 7.9…

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Sweet Spot: Local philanthropists plan $15M chocolate facility on Indianapolis’ north side

Local philanthropists plan $15M chocolate facility on Indianapolis’ north side Two local philanthropists have bought 51 percent of Endangered Species Chocolate Co., based in Talent, Ore., and plan to move production of the company’s gour met dark chocolate to Indianapolis. Randy Deer and Wayne Zink, founders of the Back Home Again Foundation, paid $3 million in January for majority control of Endangered Species and plan to invest another $15 million in a manufacturing facility and new marketing strategy. “We wanted a…

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