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Education programs provide job opportunities: Career Connections aims to curb turnover at entry level

When Luvinia Hollis moved to Indianapolis from Kentucky about five years ago, the then-42-year-old had few skills, so landing a job was difficult. She lived with her sisters and got some help from her ex-husband, but trying to make ends meet on $100 a week was nearly impossible. “It was so horrible for me, you wouldn’t believe,” Hollis said. She worked odd jobs for the next few years, making barely more than minimum wage. Eventually, she found her way to…

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Builders pine for acreage: Earlham expects big bucks from land freed by deal

Like vultures circling a lone man in the desert, local developers and home builders are jockeying to swoop in and take 413 acres of prime Carmel land when owner Earlham College gives it up following its settlement with Conner Prairie. But Earlham, recognizing the prominence of the last large undeveloped tract in eastern Carmel, isn’t going gently. Interested parties-more than two dozen, at last count-will be required to undergo a formal proposal process before one can feast on the farmland….

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AES stock on slow return: But share price of IPALCO’s parent company still off 75 percent from electrifying peak

A volatile utility stock that shorted retirement savings and generated lawsuits against former IPALCO Enterprises insiders is lighting up on Wall Street. AES Corp. shares have risen 60 percent over the last year. Analysts point to debt reduction and moves to rein in what some viewed as an absurdly decentralized management structure at the Arlington, Va.-based energy giant with operations in 27 countries. Even with the stock and analyst projections looking brighter, AES shares remain a pariah to many local…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Attention to diversity should extend beyond the office

When people think of workplace diversity, they usually think co-worker relationships-how people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs work together. This focus is important but it’s also incomplete. It fails to take into account another key diversity issue: The way businesses interact with diverse customers or clients. Today’s consumer market is segmented into identifiable groups: Gen X-ers, or boomers, racial and ethnic minority groups, women, Americans with disabilities, etc. As the buying power of these groups grows, many successsful businesses are…

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Director leaves small-biz agency: Disagreement over host sponsor helped sway decision

The head of the Central Indiana Small Business Development Center resigned this month following a rift over who might host the agency. Mary Jane Gonzalez, who came on board as executive director of the Central Indiana SBDC in July 2003, left to become director of business development at Mezzetta Construction Inc. Gonzalez’s departure leaves the Central Indiana SBDC, where budding entrepreneurs can seek advice without paying high consulting fees, without a leader for the third time in roughly three years….

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‘Clean’ manufacturing center seeking cash to survive: General Assembly kills funding for Purdue program

The center created by the Legislature to help manufacturers use environmentally friendly materials and production methods is scrambling for cash to keep stamping out solutions. The Indiana Clean Manufacturing Technology & Safe Materials Institute lost its $475,000 annual state subsidy-a little over half its income-amid budget cutting in the last session of the General Assembly. Industry and environmental groups are lamenting the potential scale-back or even closure of the institute if new funding isn’t found by August. “We certainly feel…

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VIEWPOINT: We have a lot to learn from Henry Ford

When Henry Ford installed the world’s first moving assembly line in 1913, he changed the auto industry. Little did he know that nearly a century later, the same tools used to create the production line would pave the way for innovations in health care delivery. First implemented at the Highland Park Ford Plant in Detroit, the assembly line allowed individual workers to remain stationary while performing the same task repeatedly on multiple vehicles. The line proved tremendously efficient, helping Ford…

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Cancer society scouts Clarian property for development: Former retirement home may serve as a Hope Lodge

An empty retirement home near Methodist Hospital may turn into a lodge that gives cancer patients a place to rest while they receive treatment in Indianapolis. The American Cancer Society is talking with Clarian Health Partners about planting a Hope Lodge on the site of the former Indianapolis Retirement Home, which sits across from Methodist on busy North Capitol Avenue. The cancer society operates 23 of these lodges in several states, but this would be the first Indiana location, according…

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Taking the pulse of life sciences: Experts weigh in on whether Indiana is keeping up in the economic development race

IBJ: Is Indiana gaining ground against other states in the race to grow as a life sciences hub? What are some specific benchmarks that underscore your opinion? JOHNSON: Indiana is gaining ground, but Indiana already starts on really very substantial ground. There are a lot of outside validations of that and I think it’s important for this audience to hear a couple of them because there is nothing like having people on the outside pay attention to what we’re doing…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Use of commissioned staff sets Gregg apart from rivals

H.H. Gregg may be a pipsqueak compared to goliath Best Buy Inc. But a peek into the Indianapolis company’s financial statements shows it’s no alsoran when it comes to profit margins. In its latest fiscal year, the electronics and appliance retailer posted an operating profit (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of 4.8 cents for every dollar in revenue, according to IBJ’s analysis of the private company’s financial statements. That margin is just shy of the 5.2 cents reported…

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Watchdogs wishing for tough IURC: Consumer, biz groups hope Daniels picks commissioner who’ll say ‘no’ to utilities

Industrial and consumer interests say Gov. Mitch Daniels needs to fill a pending vacancy at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission with a regulator “able to say no” to utility companies. The IURC has too often allowed utilities to pass on increased costs for fuel or purchased power, for example, through so-called tracking mechanisms rather than through traditional rate cases that take into consideration offsetting reductions in other costs, they complain. “It’s important to be able to say no to the…

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Repellent debate causes buzz at Reilly Industries: CDC recommendation could hurt company’s revenue

A recent recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has the potential to slow a significant revenue stream for Indianapolis-based Reilly Industries Inc., but company officials insist they’re not worried. This spring, CDC for the first time recommended two alternatives to DEET in the fight against mosquito bites and the diseases they carry. Picaridin and the oil of lemon eucalyptus were recommended as alternatives to DEET, which is manufactured by a Reilly subsidiary and is the active ingredient…

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VIEWPOINT: Creativity is key to competitive advantage

Central Indiana is flat as a result of the Laurentide ice sheet that surged toward Indianapolis 17,000 years ago. Today, the whole world is flat as a result of the technological and social seismic shifts that effectively leveled the economic world, and “accidentally made Beijing, Bangalore and Bethesda next-door neighbors,” says Thomas L. Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times. Richard Florida, researcher on regional economic development, challenges Friedman’s metaphor. Florida says, “The world is even more concentrated,…

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TAWN PARENT Commentary: This is no time for Hoosier hysteria

Some big decisions this spring have not made me particularly proud to be a Hoosier or a resident of Indianapolis. Sure, we got funding for a new stadium and a convention center expansion. That will bring more visitors to our community, and it says we care about sports and tourism. And glory hallelujah! We finally got daylight-saving time, the economic benefits of which are unproven. That says we care about being like everyone else, whether it makes any sense or…

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Seed funding falling short: BioCrossroads to offer $6 million less than originally hoped

It’s the Catch-22 of entrepreneurship. Attracting investment money is most difficult during the earliest days, exactly when startups need it most. BioCrossroads hopes to break that tricky cycle with its new $4 million seed-stage venture capital fund, Indiana Seed Fund I. But when fund raising was launched last year, the life sciences initiative aimed for $10 million. At about $250,000 per deal, BioCrossroads can do up to 15 deals-or two dozen fewer than it had intended. “We would certainly have…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: If you’ve got the culture, you can share knowledge online

There’s a new buzzword just aching to make its way into your vocabulary. It’s “distributed cognition.” It means two or more heads are better than one. Nobody knows everything, so it’s a good idea to hook everybody together in big webs of knowledge. For many knowledge-management vendors, it’s a recycling of their sales pitches for knowledge bases and the like. The theory is that if you can get everybody busily contributing knowledge to an online location where others can use…

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VIEWPOINT: Arts are a good investment for business

This summer, there are two red-letter days for the arts and cultural scene as well as our city and state: the official opening of the new home of the Herron School of Art on the IUPUI campus, which was set for June 3, and the dedication of the Indianapolis Art Center’s ARTSPARK Aug. 21. These events are only two of the many activities in 2005 that will help position Indianapolis as an arts and cultural destination, a goal set by…

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Interns follow unique paths: Some internships offer more freedom, creativity

Internships can offer valuable learning experiences for college students looking to land the ideal job following graduation. But few provide an opportunity quite like the one extended by the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission in its quest to market the city as a cultural destination. By summer’s end, three undergrads will have traipsed the Hoosier state visiting fairs and festivals in a van decorated with the large, red arrow becoming synonymous with the promotional campaign. Whether their itinerary includes stops at…

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State targets salvage yards: 44 violations cited, but no fines so far

Indiana auto salvage yards are finding themselves in the crusher-in the clutch of regulatory jaws bent on reducing salvage-yard pollutants. In barely two years, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has issued violation notices to 44 salvage yards, according to state records. While historical numbers weren’t immediately available, “before, we were sporadic and really didn’t have a widespread effort,” said Amy Hartsock, an IDEM spokeswoman. While on the prowl lately, the agency’s jaws have been padded with rich Corinthian leather:…

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A ‘little’ oil boom: More drilling expected in state as prices stay near record

“There is increased drilling. There’s a lot of broke-ass oil producers down here that are experiencing a little boom,” said Andrews, president of Vincennes-based Andrews Oil Properties. Oil producers like Andrews, “still driving the same Cadillac I had 15 years ago,” know bet- ter than to entertain fantasies of striking it rich, however. Indiana oil production has been on the wane since a 12.6-million-barrel peak in 1956. Last year, only 1.75 million barrels were extracted from Indiana’s sedimentary rock, according…

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