In the recession, folks with former big-company careers
are increasingly taking jobs with small businesses. For some downsized executives, it’s about the desperate need for
a paycheck. Others, who felt impotent and pigeonholed in corporations, discover they prefer the challenge of entrepreneurship.
There are plenty of “low-tech” companies exploring ways to build social media into their marketing strategies
with outstanding results.
Cristi Melson started Purrs & Gurrs 2-1/2 years ago with an idea and some fliers she distributed door to door. She
didn’t have a formal business plan then and still doesn’t.
At first, small-business owner Jim Dodson figured the problem must be a technical glitch. During a routine analysis of
aging unpaid invoices last September, one of his employees couldn’t tie the latest figures to the company’s ledger.
Accounts receivable for his company,
the Dodson Group, had been overstated by $2.7 million—double their true value. And $422,539 was missing from the firm’s
coffers.
Industry groups in the life sciences, medical and information technology realms have helped lure companies to the region
and foster upstarts. Funding is almost always an issue, but it’s not the only barrier. Getting medical
devices to market often requires product design, development and marketing resources that aren’t
always apparent to upstarts.
Best Chocolate in Town is expanding beyond its original store on Massachusetts Ave.
Eighteen students from Indianapolis’ Haughville neighborhood sold their wares— ranging from caps and sunglasses
to purses
to home-baked cookies—as part of a summer business-education program
for low-income youth.
For a city feverishly growing its technology and life sciences sectors, it seemed a bit anticlimactic last January when
Purdue University dedicated its new technology center with only one tenant. But the lone tenant in the $12.8
million complex, FlamencoNets, a high-tech telecommunications firm, is about to get some company.
The Promotion Co Inc., an Indianapolis-based event promoter, said today that it has acquired the Monster Nationals series
of monster-truck shows from Image Promotions Inc. in Chardon, Ohio.
Idaho-based MWI Veterinary Supply Inc. said today it will establish distribution operations in Indiana by leasing space in
Whitestown, creating more than 30 new jobs by the end of the year.
Federal stimulus funds and greenhouse-gas legislation have the potential to spark a green version of the Gold Rush. Many Indiana
firms are retooling to sell products or services that are or might soon be in demand.
Sales Diesel, a Carmel company that provided salespeople for technology companies, appears to be out of business. The firm’s Web site was taken down last week and calls to its 11590 N. Meridian St. offices were not returned.
The Hamilton County Alliance economic development group has spun off its Entrepreneurship Advancement Center, which serves
fast-growing startup businesses in Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield and the rest of Hamilton County.
Mike Shumaker’s Brownsburg firm Driven Auto Detail spiffed up a Porsche for the upcoming movie “Whistleblower,” starring Matt
Damon.
Many young women who have participated in the Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship program have landed at high-flying local technology firms.
More emerging life science companies have found life in the form of federal
Small Business Innovation Research grants.
The economic slump is giving independent local restaurants a shot at prime locations that in good times would be snapped up
by chains.
The barter network Tradebank has opened a franchise in Indianapolis with two veterans from Louisville.
Art-show organizers are getting creative to keep their events alive as they struggle to attract sponsors and participating artists.
Carmel-based Dormir LLC’s announcement July 29 of $12 million in venture financing was the second local life sciences
deal announced in July. It could suggest a turnaround from a woeful second-quarter performance, when Indiana life
sciences firms announced zero venture capital deals.
