Indianapolis fought long and hard to earn a reputation as a safe place to live and conduct business. But police statistics
show that local security is eroding. Crime has risen to the highest levels seen during Mayor Bart Peterson’s administration.
Legislators are weighing a measure that would offer taxpayer-funded rebates to production companies willing to make movie
magic in Indiana–giving a boost to an industry that’s been asking for help since 2004.
The first version of the $25.6 billion state budget, passed by the Democratic majority in the Indiana House of Representatives
Feb. 22, didn’t include any money for the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which provides financial assistance
to promising high-tech startups.
In the eyes of many at a rezoning hearing late last month, the developers from locally based Mann Properties were bad guys.
They wanted to build homes and a retail center
on 71 mostly wooded acres north of Crown Hill Cemetery. So when the Metropolitan Development Commission denied Mann’s request,
the crowd erupted in applause.
After about seven months without a leader, the Indiana Small Business Development Center network has found one in Jeff Heinzmann. An attorney by training, the 39-year-old is charged with getting the statewide system of 11 regional centers on track in their efforts to help entrepreneurs get started and grow. Despite their connection, the Indiana centers for the most part have operated independently, and some-like the central Indiana office serving Marion and the surrounding counties-have struggled for stability. Heinzmann aims to…
County health inspectors have hardly blown the door down on huffers and puffers a year into the city’s smoking ordinance.
The Marion County Health Department took 209 complaints and issued citations against only nine businesses for fines totaling
$1,000 during the first year of the law.
In the Democrats’ field of potential candidates to unseat Gov. Mitch Daniels, there are few household names. That’s why they’re
preparing to spend the next 19 months introducing you to Jim Schellinger.
Hoosiers wanting to avoid the hassle of waiting in line at the BMV will soon have an option, but will have to pay about $20
to use it. The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles is launching a project to allow automobile dealers across the state to provide
title and license-plate registrations.
The Indiana National Guard wants to build a downtown monument to commemorate its centuries of history. But concerns over design
threaten to derail the $2.5 million proposal before it gets off the drawing board.
A former U.S. attorney and self-proclaimed “policy wonk” has been charged with growing the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research’s
Midwestern roots. Krieg DeVault LLP lawyer Deborah Daniels became Sagamore’s second president last month.
To make the hefty payments to the state Gov. Mitch Daniels demands and still turn a profit, a private operator taking over
the Hoosier Lottery would need to boost revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Legislators in the upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly are gearing up for a gunfight with high-caliber business
implications. On one side are employees who prefer to pack heat during their commute. On the other are executives who see
guns as a liability nightmare–even if they’re locked in cars parked outside.
The merger of four of central Indiana’s biggest business development organizations might achieve only modest cost savings,
or even be more expensive than the status quo, a confidential financial analysis obtained by IBJ shows.
Since the inception of the state’s Venture Capital Investment Tax Credit in late 2003, investors have claimed only about one-third of the $37.5 million in credits available, according to an IBJ analysis of the program.
Center Township has real estate holdings worth more than $10 million, according to IBJ research. The township’s robust real estate portfolio—highly unusual for an Indiana township—fits Trustee Carl L. Drummer's vision for his taxpayer-supported office. But it makes others see red.
In the overcrowded Marion County Jail, early release of dangerous inmates has become an unpleasant fact of life. To slow the tide, Sheriff Frank Anderson is considering a radical new solution: full privatization.
For the last half-decade, Indianapolis has shown greater job gains than any other large city in the Midwest. During the same period, the Indy Partnership has been responsible for the area’s economic development.
The idea of rapid transit is popular locally, but there’s no consensus on how to finance it. For construction alone, it would cost at least $546 million for suburban express bus service up to $1.4 billion for an "automated guideway" system similar to a monorail. And that's for only one corridor.
Local officials say a new state law that caps property tax bills for homeowners and businesses will send the city into a financial tailspin if legislators don’t modify it in an upcoming session.
