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Suburban residents slow to jump on vanpool bandwagon: Neither cost nor environmental advantages stir the masses; advocate says ’employers need to get smarter’

The federally funded Central Indiana Commuter Services has finally won over a dozen workers to share a van to and from work-somewhat of a feat in a region where a vanpool might as well be a bathing option for a conversion van. Besides a vanpool program that runs between Cloverdale and Indianapolis, CICS recently signed on a handful of Fishers residents to share a seven-passenger van between the Hamilton County town and downtown Indianapolis. Lately, CICS has been trying to…

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Keeping up with CEDIA: Group’s new boss shares successes, challenges

The locally based Certified Electronics Designers & Installers Association recently selected Don Gilpin as its new executive director. Gilpin, 42, is an eightyear veteran of the trade group and had served as executive vice president. The Minnesota native and Franklin College graduate spoke with IBJ about his appointment and the issues facing the organization. IBJ: As executive director of CEDIA, what is your role? GILPIN: CEDIA has different departments within it, and they range from expo to marketing to legislative…

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Clinic can’t pull its weight: Forest Health leaves behind $11M hospital

“They’re not the most communicative people in the world, so I don’t really have a good reason, other than the fact that I think at one point they thought they had a group of doctors to operate the clinic with, and it fell through,” said Jack Hogan, a senior vice president for Indianapolis-based Lauth. Forest Health corporate attorney Marie Paratto referred questions to Laurence H. Lenz Jr., an A bariatric surgery center built for roughly $11 million a couple years…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: A silent productivity killer: executives with addictions

Productivity losses-every business executive looks for ways to avoid them. Yet, an astonishing $40 billion in productivity gains were lost last year due to preventable selfinflicted behavior. This productivity killer typically openly manifests itself on days like Jan. 2, or more recently, on the Monday after the Super Bowl, when an estimated 1.4 million Americans called in sick after a Sunday of intense partying. A big loser? Indiana’s economy This major loss in productivity reflects rapidly growing excessive alcohol use…

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Repairs to tower may take months: Tenants scramble for other arrangements

It was a symbol of his success. For the last three years, environmental attorney Robert Clark has relished the view from his corner office in One Indiana Square, high above the streets of Indianapolis. But on Sunday, April 2, tornadoforce winds left it in tatters. His family photos are gone. Likewise his case files and the many gifts he’d received over the years from friends or clients. “I understand there are no exterior walls,” he said. “My desk is still…

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TAWN PARENT Commentary: Valued employees go the extra mile

Tawn Parent is on vacation. In her absence, this column, which appeared on May 9, 2005, is being reprinted. I fought through Castleton traffic recently to pick up a few bottles of wine at Trader Joe’s. It was a brand I’d bought before and liked. But the first bottle I opened was spoiled. So was the second bottle. I called Trader Joe’s. They said to bring the bottles back. I told them I hadn’t saved my receipt. “It doesn’t matter,”…

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Shared patient rooms in hospitals soon to be history: Guidelines call for private quarters in all new facilities

New guidelines due out in June will call for newly constructed hospitals to come equipped with all private patient rooms, the first time such a minimum requirement has been issued. The guidelines, published every four years by the Facilities Guidelines Institute and the American Institute of Architects’ Academy of Health, are used by nearly 40 state governments-including Indiana-to set regulations, approve construction plans and license hospitals to operate. And hospitals nationwide-including those in Indiana-are expected to embrace the guidelines that…

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BRIAN WILLIAMS Commentary: Legislators should address insurance costs

Members of the Indiana General Assembly resolved some contentious issues in 2006, including property tax relief, telecommunications reform and the long-term leasing of public infrastructure. U n f o r t u n a t e l y, they did not have an opportunity to debate Senate Bill 124, which, if measured on the basis of the value per page, would have exceeded the much-heralded “Major Moves” transportation initiative. Introduced by Sen. Beverly Gard, a Greenfield Republican who has been…

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Tourism’s new buzz: Product development: Officials want to build on Indiana’s unique assets

Billboards in southern Indiana used to tug spelunkers in four different directions. Come to Marengo Caves. Spend an afternoon at Bluespring Caverns. Visit Wyandotte Caves. Don a headlamp at Squire Boone Caverns. Two years ago, however, operators at the four attractions decided it might be a better use of cash to market the area as a single attraction. They pooled their advertising budgets and printed a brochure that listed all four destinations. They also created a passport that visitors could…

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City gives cultural trail green light: Long-anticipated project could cost $35M to $42M

The long-discussed trail will loop through downtown and cost $35 million to $42 million. All the money will come from federal transportation dollars and private contributions. “The trail has been officially approved,” said Brian Payne, president of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, the project’s lead managing partner. “It’s definitely a project that’s going to happen now.” Tourism officials greeted the news with enthusiasm. It’s a “huge win for White River State Park as well as the city,” said Bob Whitt,…

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Indiana Avenue looks for revival: Cultural plan: stresses retail, residential growth, and a possible extension

Indiana Avenue looks for revival Cultural plan stresses retail, residential growth, and a possible extension Indiana Avenue’s glory days as a haven for black-owned businesses and vibrant nightclubs exists only in the history books. But a plan to revitalize the city’s newest cultural district could restore some of the luster. City leaders completed the blueprint for redevelopment early this year and now are in the early stages of executing a plan that organizers say could take 20 years to play…

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VIEWPOINT: ‘Eating our young’ as a way of mentoring?

I recently came across an insightful publication by the Center for the Development of Peace and Well-Being at the University of California, Berkley, called Greater Good. One article especially caught my attention: “Inspiring Good Work” (spring-summer 2005 issue) by researchers Wendy Fischman and Howard Garner, of Harvard University’s GoodWork Project. As highlighted in the article, the GoodWork Project’s research, under way for the past decade, has revealed that young people leaving college and embarking on their professional careers are finding…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Green building trend should be here to stay

Trends come and go all the time in the architecture and construction fields. But one movement that is proving to be steadfast and is gaining momentum is called “green architecture.” Simply stated, it is the effort to minimize the effect of new and refurbished buildings on their environment. The green approach to building design is often seen by many as merely focusing on the recycling of building materials, but in fact addresses multiple aspects of the construction process. Green design…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Short but historic session produces election plot lines

You can go home now (unless you live in Perry Township) and rest somewhat assured that the governor and state lawmakers won’t do anything untoward to you until, at the soonest, November. Yes, the 2006 short session of the Indiana General Assembly has run its course, and left the state with some key policy and economic legacies. Not the least of them, as we have discussed at length in this column, and has been covered elsewhere in these pages, are…

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IDEM pollution fines fall: Violators assessed lowest amount since ’99, but Daniels administration speeds up process

Under Republican control for the first time in 16 years, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in 2005 handed out $2.03 million in fines for pollution violations, the lowest annual assessment since at least 1999. The 2005 penalties were down nearly $600,000 from a year earlier, when the department was under the administration of Gov. Joe Kernan. But IDEM records show Gov. Mitch Daniels’ team had comparatively little patience for unresolved cases, in which the commission and alleged violators couldn’t…

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Art Institute students face changing world of design: Businesses should keep interior designers in demand

Facing an expanding world of corporate rebranding, homier hospital rooms and high-tech theaters in every suburb, students entering the field of interior design know they’ll be doing more than redecorating high-end homes. What once was considered predominantly a luxury service for wealthy homeowners wanting to expand their drawing rooms, interior design became a necessity in business years ago. Today, a majority of interior designers handle both residential and commercial work. And a growing number of firms that specialize in commercial…

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INVESTING: Consumer staples aren’t flashy, but they are safe

The stock market did a great job in January of getting investors to focus on the energy sector when they should have been looking at the good, old-fashioned Dow Jones industrial average. In the last two months, energy stocks have become serious dogs, and the Dow has posted a series of five-year highs. They don’t ring a bell, folks. This stuff just kind of creeps up on you. The market prefers subtlety. It rewards hard work, patience and the willingness…

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Steel Dynamics seeks part of former Olin site: Metal recycling operation would serve expanding Hendricks County mill

The site of the former Olin Brass factory on the near-west side might soon roar to life again if a plan to erect a metal recycling operation there comes through. A joint venture between Fort Waynebased Steel Dynamics Inc., Chicagobased Metal Management Inc. and local hauler Ray’s Trash is seeking city approval to install a metal shredder and recycling operation on about 40 acres at Holt Road and Airport Expressway. The venture, called Metal Dynamics LLC, would accept scrap metal…

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TOM HARTON Commentary: Kids were pawns in an adult game

Judge S. Hugh Dillin is dead, but the negative consequences of his school desegregation orders are still with us. Dillin, who died March 13, didn’t invent white flight, suburban sprawl or broken urban school systems, but if those problems were smoldering in 1970s Indianapolis, Dillin’s decisions poured gasoline on the fire. This column is not a diatribe against Dillin. His decisions were only interpretations of the law, after all, and the highest court in the land affirmed them. Based on…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Mediocre planning efforts don’t invite people to stay

Analysts say the housing market is slowing in Indianapolis and across the nation. Perhaps that’s why three significant, real estate developments have attracted so much local media coverage recently. In one story, the City-County Council approved the development of 28 condos in Broad Ripple, despite strong resistance from the neighborhood association. Meanwhile, local planning councils easily approved two new developments-a subdivision on the far northeast side of town that will feature almost 2,000 homes and a large condominium complex in…

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