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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Does growth in health care drive our state’s economy?

Indiana households, businesses and governments spent more than $33 billion on health care products and services in 2004. We don’t have current data yet, but you can be sure the amount is higher today. That’s because growth in health care expenditures in the state has averaged a whopping 8.6 percent per year since 1980. In 2004, spending on hospital care, physician services, prescription drugs, nursing homes, and every other kind of health care product or service gobbled up 14.4 percent…

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VC expert: Businesses enjoy ‘seller’s market’: In Q&A, private-equity veteran Scolnik discusses industry trends

With $116.5 million in capital under management, Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co. Inc. is Indiana’s largest private equity firm focused on mergers and acquisitions. It regularly creates $5 million to $15 million deals to buy small and middle-market manufacturing companies with low risk of technical obsolescence. Founded in 1903, HKW maintains its headquarters in New York, but the bulk of its operations and activities are in Indiana. Its portfolio includes the Indianapolis-based centrifuge-maker CentraSep Technologies and corrugated sheet manufacturer Flutes…

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Pension changes fill state’s VC coffer: Indiana Investment Fund has $155 million to pour into Hoosier companies

The diversification of the state’s two enormous public pension funds into private equity is transforming Indiana’s venture capital sector. And their $155 million Indiana Investment Fund is the largest factor in the equation. If it’s successful, the Indiana Public Employees’ Retirement Fund and the Indiana State Teachers’ Retirement Fund will save Hoosiers untold millions of dollars and help launch a host of new high-tech companies. If it’s not, taxpayers will one day have to foot the bill. Indiana State Budget…

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Minimum wage set to increase: Small-business owners bracing themselves for change

Jeff Coppinger just can’t support legislative efforts to raise the minimum wage. Part-time employees at his Lazy Daze Coffee House in Irvington start at $6 an hour and top out at about $8-well over the $5.15 hourly minimum. But he knows that won’t be good enough if a pending federal rate change passes. “In the past, I’ve always been a champion for raising the minimum wage,” said Coppinger, who opened his business in 2003. “But now that I’m in business,…

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EYE ON THE PIE: For sale: an American house of cards

A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. Herbert Hoover never said those words, but they were part of his presidential campaign literature in 1928. Should they be the goals of American politics? Should we subsidize the price of chicken to keep poultry and grain farmers happy while consumers pay less at the grocery? How about lowering the cost of owning an automobile by allowing automobile interest payments to be refunded as tax credits? Along with these…

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Trio of women drivers drawing new fan attention to IRL:

Though she’s stirred a ripple of interest in several markets, most Indy Racing League fans don’t know Milka Duno-yet. Many sports business experts think the first Hispanic woman to race in the openwheel series will turn heads, as much for her ability to drive and her unusual professional and academic background as anything else. Duno also becomes part of a fascinating story involving established IRL drivers Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher. “The Indy Racing League is becoming the one place…

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Ivy Tech: new community college with long history:

Indiana was on the verge of creating a statewide community college system 40 years ago, but Hoosier politics and university turf wars got in the way-stomping a seed that in recent years has flourished in other states as a sort of economic tree of life. Community colleges increasingly are called on to train new workers and retrain existing ones for a high-tech economy. But the thinking back in the 1960s, said then-freshman legislator John Mutz, was that a community college…

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Downtown hot for apartments: Developers of new multifamily projects encouraged by high occupancy rates, rising rents, waiting lists

Justin Williams and Meredith Barrett grew up on the south side, but that’s not where they’ll live after getting married in September. They’re looking for an apartment downtown. It’s the only neighborhood they’re considering. “I love being right in the middle of everything,” said Williams, 25, a server at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro in Circle Centre. Barrett, a 22-year-old nurse at Wishard Hospital, said she “just likes to be able to walk everywhere.” The couple is part of a growing…

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City buildings save money while gaining ‘Star’ status: EPA program gives tax breaks for energy efficiency

Thomson Inc. building, 10330 N. Meridian St. In 2006 alone, the EPA awarded more than 3,400 buildings nationwide with the Energy Star designation. Buildings can achieve the status by adopting an energy-management strategy and tracking the results during a 12-month period using an EPA rating system. Results need to be verified by a professional engineer. All Energy Star products qualify for a tax credit. A deduction of up to $1.80 a square foot is available to owners and designers of…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Key issues all entangled as Legislature heads to wire

Longtime readers of this column will recall how we traditionally analogize conference committee time to the NBA playoffs, and compare some of the legislative players to Indiana Pacers great Reggie Miller in the closing minutes of a finals game. With Reggie retired and the Pacers out of the playoff picture this year, those analogies don’t seem quite so appropriate. But we still can talk some hoops. A sage Hoosier native, speaking about a tradition sacred to generations of Hoosiers, once…

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FUNNY BUSINESS: New plate options better than the ‘Wander’ years

The state of Indiana (For Sale Or Lease: Ask Mitch About A Privatization Plan To Suit You And Your Budget) came up with four proposed designs for license plates, and you know, they didn’t look half bad. In fact, all four were fairly attractive. Which, of course, leaves us to ask, “How did that happen?” Let’s face it: This state hasn’t had a greatlooking license plate since … well, ever. From the minimalist plates of my youth, blue and maroon…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: The Great Society meets fiscal reality

Someone wise in matters of politics once said programs for the poor are poor programs. It remains true today-initiatives aimed at helping the most vulnerable in our society, be they privately or publicly funded, seem to be perpetually starved for funds. And so the genius of those who created the Social Security system-originally aimed at older Americans whose assets were devastated by the Great Depression in 1935-was to make the program available to all, regardless of income. In a few…

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Canal could be home to new hotels or condos: Requirement for retail could jump-start slow effort

State and city officials have begun evaluating four groups that want to develop an acre of prime real estate along the Central Canal downtown. The property, which covers about a third of the block stretching from Ohio Street to New York Street, will feature canal-level retail-a requirement of all potential developments there. It also could be home to a hotel or condominium complex, based on plans from two local developers. Two other groups also are in the running for the…

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Local companies get Taiwanese perspective: Butler University program brings 23 interns to Indy

The java stands Hubbard & Cravens Coffee Co. opened a year ago within Clarian Health Partners’ three downtown hospitals are brewing a rich aroma of results. Yet executives of the locally based coffee retailer and wholesaler know sales could be sweeter. “The hospitals are so huge that we don’t capture even a third of what we could,” said Marcie Hubbard, director of store operations. “So the question is, how do you reach everybody in that entire hospital?” The 23 Taiwanese…

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PROFILE: ISA Forensics: Digging up dirt Forensics firm recovers evidence from computers, analyzes audio Much like his counterparts on TV’s “CSI” or “Law & Order,” Darren Miller ferrets out forensic information in pursuit of justice.

ISA Forensics Digging up dirt Forensics firm recovers evidence from computers, analyzes audio Much like his counterparts on TV’s “CSI” or “Law & Order,” Darren Miller ferrets out forensic information in pursuit of justice. But unlike his fictional colleagues who work for prosecutors, Miller and his ISA Forensics team work mostly with defense attorneys, looking for exculpatory and incriminating evidence that will help or hurt their clients. Their crime scene: computers, tapes, disks and other data devices. Using the same…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Time to stop being timid and tell the truth

The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show that Indiana ranks 33rd in per capita personal income. Fifty years earlier, in 1956, Indiana ranked 17th in the nation. Our state is in long-term economic freefall and we suffer with representatives who piddle away their time on raising revenue through gambling. Per capita personal income in Indiana has not been on par with the nation since 1966. We have a record of ongoing decline, interrupted briefly from time…

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INVESTING: Here’s where to find peace of mind in a risky world

I know risk is a four-letter word to many of you, and most investors prefer not to think about it at all. But it’s a favorite topic in our shop, and with the Iranian capture of 15 British sailors, the risk discussion here definitely stepped up. You have your pick of conspiracy theories over why Iran took the sailors, who were recently released. I read speculation that the capture was retaliation for an American capture of six Iranian Guards in…

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NOTIONS: In God We Trust; all others risk their civil liberties

The other night, while my wife Cherí attended class, I ate out with a copy of NUVO to keep me company. In the “letters” section, an atheist complained about Indiana’s new “In God We Trust” license plate. He said government shouldn’t promote religion, especially via a plate that requires no additional contribution, as do other “specialty” plates. When I got home, I found an e-mail from a friend wondering why these plates are so popular and whether taxpayers should bear…

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Waiting for a sensible transportation plan: Commentary

The Indiana Commerce Connector, those 75 miles of concrete through the Indiana countryside, was announced with great fanfare at the start of the 2007 legislative session and recently disappeared with equal aplomb. Thanks to the efforts of state Rep. Terri Austin, chairwoman of the House Roads and Transportation Committee, and the other members of that committee, the citizens of Indiana had ample opportunity to express their opinions on Indiana’s transportation needs. While the governor’s specific proposals for the Indiana Commerce…

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Purdue professor developing weapon for AIDS battle: Lower-cost testing device could save money for more treatment in disease-ravaged Africa, other countries

The professor of cytomics-the study of cell systems-is leading an effort to develop a low-cost device that would help more Africans get tested for the deadly disease. His goal, bolstered by his Cytometry for Life not-for-profit, is to build thousands of units that can be delivered to third-world countries around the globe. Robinson has completed the prototype and returned in March from a weeklong trip to Nigeria, where he and fellow university researchers met with government and health care officials…

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