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PROFILE: Moondance Enterprises LLC: Rental firm offers ‘marvelous’ nights Search for vacation retreat led to career change

Moondance Enterprises LLC Rental firm offers ‘marvelous’ nights Search for vacation retreat led to career change Indiana natives Doug and Nancy Tracey visited Brown County one autumn night in October 1988, looking to buy a vacation retreat. The strains of Van Morrison’s “Moondance” played on the car radio-“a marvelous night for a moondance ‘neath the cover of October skies.” So when the couple purchased their rural hideaway, they christened it Moondance. And now they run a Nashville-based vacation-home rental and…

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Arcadia Resources HQ lured to city by central location:

Arcadia Resources Inc. CEO Marvin Richardson, an Anderson native and Purdue University pharmacy graduate, said Indianapolis was chosen for the company’s new headquarters because the city’s central location will create an advantage when it launches a new drug-packaging system. The system, called DailyMed, will help patients manage their prescription pills. The company plans to open a distribution center for DailyMed in the near future that eventually could employ 300 or more. Arcadia will move from the Detroit suburb of Southfield….

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IU business incubator partners with Siberian school: Reciprocal visits could lead to high-tech opportunities

After unwrapping his luggage from its seal of shrink-wrap, Mark Long reviewed his notes for the upcoming seminar. He hardly needed them. Long, CEO of Indiana University’s Research and Technology Corp., has spoken many times about how academics transfer their research discoveries to the market. But this was the first time he ever delivered the speech in Siberia. The audience-a group of business and academic leaders-ultimately could help Hoosiers access a treasure-trove of Russian technologies. “They have a lot of…

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Experts look into the future of health care: Industry panelists disagree on whether current system needs radical changes

Five local industry leaders conducted a serious debate over problems and issues facing our health care system during the most recent installment in Indianapolis Business Journal’s Power Breakfast series. The event took place at the Downtown Marriott hotel on Sept. 21 The panelists: Robert Brody, president and CEO of St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers, the Indianapolis-area’s fourth-largest hospital system. Brody has been chief executive at St. Francis since 1996. Dr. Robert Mouser, a primary care physician at Cornerstone Family…

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PEOs bouncing back following shakeout: Professional employer organizations enjoying growth as companies seek better ways to manage benefits

Even though Sentelligence Inc. in Noblesville has only five employees, the tiny tech firm offers an appealing benefits package rivaling that of a large corporation. The designer of diagnostic sensing devices for diesel engines has not discovered the Holy Grail of human resources. Rather, it’s using what’s known as a professional employer organization. Companies contract with PEOs to handle all the headaches of human resources, including payroll, payroll taxes, Worker’s Compensation claims, health plans, and other employee benefits, not to…

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Commentary: Region is missing benefits of planning

Good urban design can create value for communities, individuals, the economy and the environment. The potential benefits include better public health, greater social equity, enhanced land values, a more vibrant local economy, reduced vehicle emissions and a more sustainable use of non-renewable resources. Central Indiana lacks geographical barriers to growth. Land is abundant and reasonably priced. However, the region lacks a cross-jurisdictional plan to manage growth and maximize the benefits from it. Instead, fields grow corn one season and homes…

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Capital key topic at forum: Fourth life sciences event grows with local industry

The pulse of Indiana’s fledgling life sciences sector will be taken later this month at an annual conference featuring some of the industry’s strongest advocates. Experts will weigh in on several topics ranging from the discovery of technology to accessing capital, which is a growing concern for the earliest-stage companies that are riskier investments. In its fourth year, the Indiana Life Sciences Forum will take place Oct. 22-23 at the Westin Indianapolis and will be hosted by Indiana business-development initiative…

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Commentary: Here’s the skinny on why we’re fat

A week rarely passes without news of our obesity epidemic. Fattest-state rankings and the like are a staple of our news diet. These stories are often served with dire health warnings, which politicians invoke when they encourage us to eat less and exercise more. But does anyone really stop to think about why obesity has become our national obsession? Our infamous rotundness isn’t only a byproduct of poor eating habits and a reluctance to hit the gym. Chalk some of…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: It’s OK for philanthropic motivations to be a little selfish

It probably goes without saying that New Yorkers can be, well, a bit difficult. As a fund-raiser for a NYC-based not-forprofit for many years, I encountered my fair share of these folks, which is one reason why I really looked forward to coming back to my home state of Indiana. Having grown up in Indiana, I knew of the kindness and generosity shown to me by neighbors, teachers-even complete strangers-but I’d never lived and worked here as an adult. More…

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Commentary: Get the smoke out of our eyes

Andy Jacobs Jr. wrote in an IBJ column that smoking is an expensive and painful way to commit suicide. He’s right. But he didn’t go far enough. Breathing secondhand smoke at one’s place of employment is also an expensive and painful way to go. The world is beginning to read the smoke signals. Many countries have passed laws to protect their work force from secondhand smoke. Today, you cannot smoke even in an Irish pub. In our country, 22 states…

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Health care fix may wait for ’08: But other federal bills important to small business are making headway

That’s not what many NFIB members wanted to hear. “I’ve been a member of [the advocacy group] since 1985, and since 1985 the top issue has been health care that is affordable for businesses and employees,” said Barbara Quandt of Indianapolis-based Quality Environmental Professionals Inc. The firm’s health insurance costs increased by 33 percent in 2007, and Quandt said company leaders are “quaking” with dread over what will happen in 2008. QEPI covers 75 percent of insurance costs for its…

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Options sparse for Finish Line as dubious deal nears close:

Finish Line Inc. officials are mum these days, but you can be sure they’re exploring every option they can imagine to avoid closing on the acquisition of Tennessee-based Genesco Inc., at least at the $1.5 billion price they’d agreed to pay. Trouble is, they may not have an out, said John Shanley, an analyst with Susquehanna International Group LLP in New York City. “As far as we can determine, the deal they signed with Genesco is pretty ironclad,” Shanley said….

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Heart or head?: Intellect, emotions play role in most biz-location decisions

Ithe process of f n theory, retail, office or industrial location as should putting be as rational and unemotional reality, emotions together a spreadsheet. But in as hard data. can carry just as much weight “People use very sophisticated uildings processes , but in and evaluations to compare b ,” s as much of an art as a science the end, it’ . Smith, CEO eteran Samuel F said industry v Commercial of Indianapolis-based Resource aspect of it Real Estate…

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BRIAN WILLIAMS: Indiana needs to get energy-wise

As the 14th-mostpopulous state in the union, Indiana generates a gross state product that is 16th-largest of the 50 states. Unfortunately, despite significant investments in equipment and processes by manufacturers and public-policy efforts to encourage the attraction and growth of knowledgeand technology-focused industries, our economy remains energy-inefficient. In 2003, Indiana was the country’s sixthlargest consumer of energy per capita, according to the Indiana Energy Report. Ninety-seven percent of Indiana’s electricity is generated by coal. Indiana is the fifthlargest emitter of…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Here’s where Hoosiers get it right

We don’t have to be obsessed with property taxes. All is not dreadful despite the clamor of some disaffected taxpayers. For example, La-Porte has two operating barbershops on the same street downtown. This warms the heart. Equally positive is finding an excellent housing stock in LaPorte, with many beautiful homes painted in a joyous, imaginative fashion. Can you believe the McDonald’s in Winamac opens at 4:30 a.m. and keeps its drive-through open 24 hours a day? That alone suggests a…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Upon further review … new reasons for old buildings

Buildings, just like people, have lives. They’re born, they do their jobs, they take on new roles and, after about 75 years, most of them reach the end. Sadly, some beautiful ones die too soon, while a few ugly ones live too long. How should we decide when to save a building or when to tear it down? And have the reasons changed? The terms of renovation are well-known (adaptive re-use, mixed-use development and historic preservation). When our actions meet…

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Will hefty Hoosiers get up for green, healthy event?: Former producer of state flower and patio show plans first-ever Natural Living Expo in January

Todd Jameson knows how to get Hoosiers off the sofa. Up until two years ago, he was producer of the Indiana Flower and Patio Show and the Christmas Gift and Hobby Show-two of the most popular annual events in Indianapolis. But a dollar to a cholesterol-laden doughnut says his next gig will be his most difficult: getting some of the nation’s heaviest, most cigarette-addicted people off the couch and to the firstever Natural Living Expo, next January. Jameson figures the…

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PROFILE: Electro-Spec: Aerospace niche helped business’ revenue skyrocket Decades later, Franklin electroplating firm working to diversify its customer base

Electro-Spec Aerospace niche helped business’ revenue skyrocket Decades later, Franklin electroplating firm working to diversify its customer base It all started with spoons. These days, Franklin-based Electro-Spec is a $5 million a year electroplating company that produces components for the automotive, telecommunications and medicaldevice industries. That’s quite a change from its origins in 1959, when the company focused on spiffing up antique silverware. “It did silver and gold plating of family heirlooms,” said President Jeff Smith, who bought the company…

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When it comes to LEED, Indiana trailing: But area designers, contractors see green progress

No environmentalist would mistake Indianapolis for the poster child of green building, but local designers and contractors are preparing themselves to capture a market they expect will become an integral piece of their portfolios. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard, better known as LEED, is a benchmark of sorts for designing, building and operating environmentally friendly buildings. At least 16 projects in the metropolitan area are seeking the LEED certification, but only one so far has achieved green…

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Charter designs require creativity: Local architect Axis building school niche

Much of what defines a charter school is in sharp contrast with the traditional model found in public school districts. And the differences start with the structure itself. Charter schools, due to budget restraints, typically involve renovations of a buildings once used for entirely different purposes. From there, the architecture and interior design must create a look and functionality educators say enhances learning and instills in students a sense of ownership and pride in their eventual alma mater. “No one…

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