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Pools of Fun: Diving in the deep end Homebuilder’s ‘experiment’ still paying off 25 years later

In 1981, few central Indiana residents considered an inground pool a backyard necessity, but Plainfield custom homebuilder Larry Good added one to a spec home anyway-and jumped into the deep end of a new enterprise. “After it was installed, the home sold immediately,” said Bruce Holmes, CEO of the company Good launched. Pools of Fun started with one location and four employees. Today, it has five locations, a range of products and 90 full-time employees who share ownership of the…

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INVESTING: Lessons to draw from the new slide in transport stocks

One of the staples of a bear market is the futile attempt investors make to rationalize why they are staying invested. (This happens, of course, until it is far too late to do anything about remaining in the market). After the June 14 market low, one of the common rationalizations I heard was that the Dow Jones Transportation Index was nearing an all-time high. But like visions of a dying man wandering in the desert, it turned out be another…

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Bonds’ shaky support threatens Crane biz park: Region attempts to build on base’s stay of execution

During his first months in office, Gov. Mitch Daniels’ top priority was engineering a stay of execution for the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center, 90 miles southwest of Indianapolis. Losing its 5,200 employees and contractors would have been a devastating blow to the region. Daniels’ lobbying effort in Washington, D.C., was so successful that the Association of Defense Communities last month recognized him as “2006 Public Official of the Year.” But troubles with local financing for a new business park…

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Let’s throw energy into public safety: We ignore crime at our peril

When yet another media story appears about jail overcrowding, it’s tempting to look away, to focus instead on rising gas prices, out-of-control health insurance costs or other pressing problems confronting your company. But make no mistake: Crime is a business issue. And it is escalating. Major offenses reported to the Indianapolis Police Department through April were up 22 percent over the first four months of 2005. Probably fueling that increase are the growing numbers of inmates being released early from…

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WellPoint putting members’ medical records online: Access to electronic medical information could reduce health care errrors and avoid unneccesary procedures

A benefits package WellPoint Inc. unveiled in July includes an ambitious effort that enables its 34 million members to access their medical records online. WellPoint’s initiative to make the records available electronically is but one example of a national movement, backed by President Bush, to make all medical records available online within the next 10 years. Advocates say online systems can reduce medical errors and avoid unnecessary procedures by making patients’ medical needs and histories available to doctors instantaneously. Indianapolis-based…

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E-tailers playing their cards right: CPAs-turned-entrepreneurs launch Web sites to cash in on poker craze

Talk about irony. Buoyed by success playing online poker, local accountant Jeff Smith quit his day job three years ago to sell poker chips and playing cards for live games. Now he and business partner Knute Lentz are too busy filling orders to deal themselves in. Once colleagues at national accounting firm BKD LLC, the men, both 33, said they saw the game’s potential long before amateur Chris Moneymaker’s victory in the 2003 World Series of Poker made it a…

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TAWN PARENT Commentary: In defense of daydreaming

In addition to standbys like Little League and Girl Scouts, our children have the opportunity to learn sailing at Geist Reservoir, strut their stuff at the Jewish Community Center’s Broadway camp, or try medieval fantasy drawing at the Indianapolis Art Center. With such an appetizing array of choices, it’s hard to resist serving our kids a heaping plateful. Most of us want to give our children advantages we were not afforded, and “Mixed Media for Preschoolers” certainly qualifies. Besides, who…

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Hispanic radio stations are singing new song: New general manager making major changes

Russ Dodge is used to scaling cultural barriers. For 17 years, Dodge, who is white, was a sales manager at WTLC, one of Indianapolis’ top radio stations targeting blacks. Dodge was central in numerous community outreach efforts at WTLC. As the new general manager of two Indianapolis Hispanic radio stations, Dodge is attempting to hurdle not only another cultural divide, but a language barrier to boot. Dodge, 54, took the helm of WEDJFM 107.1 and WSYW-AM 810 in April, and…

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INVESTING: The bearish American shopper will punish retail stocks

I don’t like to shop. I do know, however, that I am in the tiny minority in this regard. We’ve elevated shopping in this country to a level that probably ranks higher in importance than family, religion and health. The American consumer is such a force that we make up 20 percent of global GDP. That’s right, for the entire world! I should think, then, that slowdowns announced by companies like Wal-Mart and Target would be headline news. Of all…

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Investment firm taps local talent: Riderwood opens office, targets mid-size companies

An East Coast investment-banking firm is opening an Indianapolis office and has recruited three high-profile professionals who bring a wealth of experience to manage operations. Towson, Md.-based The Riderwood Group Inc. wants to help midsize companies raise $5 million to $200 million in capital, a range largely ignored here by outside rivals, firm executives said. “There really is not a national mid-market investment bank [in Indianapolis],” company President Mitchell Fillet said. “This is a place where the big firms have…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Is becoming a podcaster dream marketing?

Imagine that your customers are so eager to hear from you that you don’t even need to send them newsletters or e-mails, that they check each day, or even several times a day, to see if you have anything to tell them. What a dream marketing campaign, eh? There are catches, of course. Lots of them. But in the right circumstances, this come-and-get-it approach can work. It’s known as “podcasting,” a name that’s a linguistic weld job so common in…

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Hotel art adds more than ambiance: Local gallery offers work from Picasso to Perrin for sale at Conrad Indianapolis

An international crowd in for the Formula One race milled through a sold-out Conrad Indianapolis downtown on a recent weekend. As they jutted off to their spa appointments and dinner reservations, some may have spared a glance at artwork that sprinkles the walls of the first and mezzanine floor-an interesting mix of modern art from the likes of Pablo Picasso to Indianapolis artist Lois Main Templeton. The collection of 18 pieces was selected under an agreement between the hotel and…

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TOM HARTON Commentary: Driving the distance for the basics

I recently called my doctor’s office hoping he could squeeze me in to diagnose a minor, but annoying, health problem. His nurse informed me I wouldn’t be able to get an appointment for at least three days. She suggested I go to an immediate-care facility if I needed attention right away. I was surprised the doctor couldn’t see me, but I appreciated the nurse’s candor. She knew better than to cheerfully suggest an appointment days in the future, by which…

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Signs of change dot local television landscape: Tribune could sell local stations; Lin changes format

One local television station is preparing for a radical format change, and there’s talk that another station could be for sale. Officials for Chicago-based Tribune Co. are sending mixed signals about the possibility that its two Indianapolis stations-WTTV-TV Channel 4 and WXIN-TV Channel 59-are on the block. Meanwhile, Rhode Island-based Lin TV Corp. confirmed that a major programming change is on the way for its WNDY-TV Channel 23. Tribune Chairman and CEO Dennis FitzSimmons’ recent proclamation that the media company…

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Indiana midwife debate headed for another round: Committee to study issue; bill set to be reintroduced

A bill that would give women what some say is their right to choose where and how they can give birth has been incubating in the state’s General Assembly for eight years. But hopes are running high for the proposed law that would regulate and expand midwifery in Indiana because it will be studied by a special committee this summer for a possible reintroduction in the 2007 legislative session. Under current Indiana law, only doctors and registered nurses are able…

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INVESTING: Don’t wait for the market to reward strong earnings

Analysts are once again telling us the S&P 500 will post double-digit earnings growth, continuing a streak from early 2003. And I am going to continue with a theme I’ve been bringing up here lately: If earnings are up double digits for the last few years, why isn’t the stock market following suit? Waiting for the earnings, then making an investment decision, will never give you the returns you want. The last time the S&P 500 was up double digits…

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Alley’s new aim: Consolidate electronics industry: Ex-banker shooting for $170M in revenue by 2012

Since purchasing Escient Solutions in early 2003 and changing its name to Electronic Evolutions Inc., Mike Alley has increased revenue 35 percent, to $6.5 million. That’ll be small potatoes if Alley’s dreams for the company pan out. Alley, former Fifth Third Bank of Central Indiana president and CEO, wants to be a consolidator in the fragmented electronics and automation design and installation industry. Toward that end, he partnered in late June with electronics industry veteran Daniel Knotts and formed E2…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: New law requires disclosure of business security breaches

A new law that’s designed to protect Indiana consumers changes the way businesses interact with their customers living in Indiana. Public Law 125, passed in the last session of the Indiana General Assembly and effective as of July 1, requires businesses to notify customers that reside in Indiana if there’s been a security breach in which personal data has been stolen. The law defines “personal information” as a Social Security number that is not encrypted or redacted, or a person’s…

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Animated startup foresees big growth in life sciences: Company produces 3-D graphics with young talent

Harlon Wilson and Kurtis Rush originally intended their Indianapolis-based upstart business to provide 3-D animation for use in court cases. But if they had stuck to that business plan, Medical Animatics Inc. could not have produced the video to the hilarious “Urine Stream,” a song parody of Abba’s “Dancing Queen.” Here’s a sample of the chorus: So when you get the chance, undo your pants … And make a urine stream, gold and clean, oh it’s such a dream. Urine…

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NOTIONS: Hailing the hare in the land of the tepid tortoise

I was going to play smart aleck this week. I was going to write in hick dialect. I was going to lambaste us Hoosiers over our stubborn adherence to the status quo, our penchant to take things slow, our preference for partisanship, our pooh-poohing of progress and our bull-headed gumption to go it alone in a global economy. Then news broke that Indiana has the highest high school dropout rate in America. So I figured that for two reasons, I’d…

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