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Carving a niche outside Louisville: Hoosier Bat Co. finds success with Major Leaguers, amateur baseball players

A three-piece wooden bat David Cook developed in 1989 became popular among professional baseball players, but ended up nearly devastating his upstart manufacturing company. Major League Baseball banned the bat just a year later after what Cook contends was a fierce lobbying effort from his largest rival, Louisville Slugger. The bat-made of ash, hickory and maple-is fused by finger jointing and remains in use at the amateur levels. The durability of the bat rivals that of an aluminum model, Cook…

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Hoosier Tire still racing: For nearly a half-century, Lakeville company has competed with the big boys

When the rubber meets the road, auto racing experts say there are few-if any-companies that outperform Lakeville-based Hoosier Racing Tire. Hoosier tires, industry sources said, are equal to their better-known brethren in racing-related sales and on-track performance. “This company has gone head-to-head with Goodyear on the biggest of all racing circuits,” said Dick Berggren, editor of Speedway Illustrated and a retired racer. “I can’t think of a business where the costs of entry are steeper or the level of technology…

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Marketing firm targets tech types: Seven-figure deal shows DGS’ diversification is working

When DGS Marketing Engineers signed a blockbuster deal this September with one of the nation’s largest industrial chemical companies, owners of the ad agency knew making their micro-niche just a little broader was going to pay big dividends. The local marketing and advertising agency recently decided to step outside its super-specific niche of working with companies that make machine tools to target companies working in just about any technical field. “This is a specialized advertising field that goes beyond mere…

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PROFILE: Roby’s Plumbing and Heating Co. Inc.: Plumber survived by staying flexible Firm entered new market, shifted business priorities

Roby’s Plumbing and Heating Co. Inc. Plumber survived by staying flexible Firm entered new market, shifted business priorities Those “big box” home-supply stores make the world a scary place for independent companies such as Roby’s Plumbing and Heating Co. Inc. No way can businesses like Roby compete with the big boxes’ prices on pipes and other plumbing materials, owner Brad Roby said, but they can offer something the others don’t-service. “Home centers provide cheap products but poor service,” Roby said….

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EYE ON THE PIE: Indiana: a primer for the Legislature

The General Assembly is organizing itself. This is more difficult than getting fleas to join a union. But I am being disrespectful. My purpose this week is benign. I present for the consideration of our 150 legislators certain facts about Indiana and where it ranks nationally. The data are from the 2005 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. First, let’s consider sex. Of the 6.1 million Hoosiers, 50.9 percent are females, which leaves 49.1 percent…

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Schools warm to economic development: Colleges crank out programs to fit latest initiatives

Academic purists often hold contempt for politicians and executives seeking help with economic development initiatives. It doesn’t take a political science degree to wonder if someone is trying to stoke votes, ambitions or profits-on the cheap. But in Indiana, more colleges are tailoring their curriculum to support economic development priorities, realizing what’s good for the region can be good for their enrollment. “An increasing number of universities don’t view themselves as ivory towers anymore,” said Uday Sukhatme, executive vice chancellor…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: After taking blows, bank repairs relations with Lilly family

No bank wants to leave a customer steamed, especially when that customer is the mighty Lilly family. Great news for National City Bank of Indiana: It’s finally back on the family’s good side. Court papers filed in Marion Superior Court in recent months show the six nieces and nephews of heiress Ruth Lilly are increasingly satisfied with the bank’s handling of her financial affairs. Lilly, 91, is the sole surviving greatgrandchild of the pharmaceutical firm’s founder. The bank, part of…

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Techpoint’s new leader sees room to grow: Indiana making progress, but could do better, he says

Techpoint, a locally based technology trade group that represents the interests of about 330 members statewide, is undergoing a transition in leadership. Jim Jay, 37, has been named interim CEO following the resignation of Cameron Carter, who has led the organization since 2003. Directors should begin a formal search for a permanent replacement the first of the year. Whether Jay lands the top job remains to be seen. But in the meantime, the Butler University graduate with an entrepreneurial spirit…

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Bridge project not too far for Zionsville firm: Timber-frame specialist has big role in rebuilding Parke County landmark

The Bridgeton Grist Mill in southern Parke County sat so close to a covered bridge that was destroyed by arson last year that firefighters hosed down the historic structure to keep it from burning, too. The mill, which has churned out flour since 1863, predated by five years the wooden trestle considered one of the most scenic of the 31 covered bridges in the western Indiana county. But a replicated bridge finished in early October resembles the original so closely…

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NaClor picks spot for $40 million plant: South-side parcel considered for chemical factory

Backers of a proposed $40 million Indianapolis chemical plant are eyeing a south-side parcel near White River, but neighbors worry fumes from the facility will drag down property values nearby. In the spring, local economic development groups trumpeted Indianapolisbased NaClor Inc.’s decision to build the plant here. In return for the 53 new jobs-making bleach and other chemicals used in soaps, detergents and water quality treatment-the state promised $2.8 million in tax cuts and training grants, and the city offered…

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Foreign auto plants-yes, foreign automobiles-no: Ford and Chevy tops in all 92 Indiana counties

Hoosier workers and community leaders want Honda and Toyota jobs, but the vast majority of them don’t want their cars, at least not yet. At a time when employment by the Big Three automakers is plummeting throughout the state, 80.6 percent of Indiana vehicles registered by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles are domestic. Hoosiers’ taste for domestic models is in stark contrast with the rest of the country. Nationwide, domestics account for just 51 percent of the market. “I…

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Lucas Oil launches high-end motorcycle biz in Indy

Little known in this market less than a year ago, Lucas Oil Products is roaring into town with its first brick-and-mortar operation. Founder Forrest Lucas has set up a sister company, Lucas Cycles, to make fancy, fuel-injected motorcycles.

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Developer has big plans for long-vacant drive-in: N.Y. firm has 93-acre Lawrence site under contract

A 93-acre former drive-in south of the former Fort Benjamin Harrison has sat vacant since the theater closed in 1993. But now a Rochester, N.Y., developer has agreed to buy the property and envisions building retail space plus either a light-industrial business park or a medical campus. If it comes to pass, the large development could kick-start Lawrence’s efforts to revitalize struggling portions of Pendleton Pike. Norry Management Corp. has had the land under contract since spring and is preparing…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Another daunting challenge for veteran exec Cornelius

Anyone surprised that at age 62, Jim Cornelius would take on the bruising job of leading embattled drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb shouldn’t be. After all, the Zionsville businessman has surprised observers before. This is an executive who 12 years ago gave up one of the top jobs in corporate America-chief financial officer of Eli Lilly and Co.-to become chairman of Guidant Corp., then a much-maligned collection of medical-device firms that Lilly was spinning off into a stand-alone company. A risky move,…

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Service an edge for small firms: Make most of ‘moments of truth’:

“If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will.” This unattributed quote sums up the challenge facing every business, and especially small companies in the service and retail sectors. It’s difficult for them to compete with their large counterparts on price-the neighborhood hardware store simply can’t sell as cheaply as Wal-Mart. But they can win on customer service by seizing critical moments where customers can walk away delighted or disappointed. Successful service encounters, where these “moments of truth”…

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Office furniture dealers experience sales rebound: Better economy, more moves give industry a boost

Indianapolis-area office furniture dealers are awash with business, following a robust national trend that has lifted the industry beyond its lows of a few years ago. As businesses have begun to move into bigger quarters since 2003, they’ve naturally ordered desks, chairs and filing cabinets to fill the bigger space, local dealers said. “The industry is closer to where it used to be, but I don’t think we’ll ever again see the kind of activity we had in the mid-…

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Cummins learned lessons after getting battered by recession

Little more than six months after Theodore M. “Tim” Solso took the CEO reins at Columbus, Ind.-based Cummins Inc. from James Henderson in January 2000, Cummins was slammed by “the deepest and longest recession in the history of the company.” Those days are ancient history.

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