I’ve seen the picture of the proposed ginormous art installation for downtown, and I think I speak for many of us when I say … Well, come to think of it, I better not say that, seeing as how many of us do not use that kind of language. In case you missed it, here’s the deal: There’s a movement afoot to erect a large, circular, steel, Dairy Queen curlicue over at 11th and West streets-a $10 million large, circular,…
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been interviewed by reporters from both the Kansas City Star and the Baltimore Sun. Both were pursuing the same angle: Indianapolis as a pro football town vis a vis Kansas City and Baltimore, and support for the notion that our citizenry in general and Colts fans in particular are “just too darn nice.” My response to both was, well, yes, our folks and fans are nice, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing…
Last week, I reviewed the ups and downs of Indy sports in 2006. Here’s a look at what might transpire this year. I hope the Indianapolis Colts make it to the Super Bowl. I want to see this not so much for the city and Colts fans-although it would be great for both-but because I want to see Colts coach Tony Dungy recognized for the fine man he is without that “can’t win the big one” asterisk (same goes for…
Sexier industry sectors like life sciences or motorsports get all the press. But to remain robust, the Indianapolis Private Industry Council believes, the area economy needs diversification. The 23-year-old work-force-training not-for-profit believes the nine-county area also should target three tried-and-true industries: finance and insurance; retail, hospitality and restaurants; and construction. IPIC, whose $9 million annual budget comes from public and private grants, plans to spend $200,000 during the first quarter studying the three sectors, which collectively employ 270,000 people in…
What a mixed bag 2006 was. For every yin, there was yang. Yin: The Indianapolis Colts claimed home-field advantage in the NFL playoffs. Yang: They then lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers when mouthy M i ke Va n d e r j a g t gagged on the gametyin kick. Yin: The city hosted a simply extraordinary Final Four at the RCA Dome and welcomed to town a genuine Cinderella, George Mason. Yang: The games were one-sided, and, speaking of…
Recent weakness in a major U.S. stock index has some experts and investors calling the bear out of hibernation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average probably is more closely followed than any other market indicator in the world, but the index creating the stir is the Dow Jones Transportation Index. The creator of these indicators, Charles Dow, saw them as a means to get a quick understanding of the general economic conditions in America. Today, market analysts combine the two into…
This has been a strong year for your local business weekly. We take seriously our mission of providing readers with the best, most in-depth coverage of local business, so it is with a sense of both pride and gratitude that I report on our most successful year ever. Editor Tom Harton has called 2006 the Year of the Award. This year, IBJ won 18 news awards-eight of them gold-from three different organizations. Our coverage was recognized nine times by our…
Almost a year ago, IBJ asked me to write a column that placed sports in an educational context. Obviously, I have great passion for the topic, having spent my life writing about sports, those who play the games, and the lessons that can be learned through participation. Sure, there are plentiful examples of excesses, and we certainly just had another in New York’s Madison Square Garden. But I maintain those incidents are not reflective of sports as a whole, any…
The Indianapolis Indians saw attendance, profit and dividend payments shrink in 2006. But a recent stock buyback program launched by the baseball franchise to boost the value of its shares is the biggest in the team’s long history. Whether the offer price is big enough is an open question. Market observers don’t think so. With 799 shares outstanding when the buyback was announced Nov. 16, the offer price of $15,329 per share put a $12.2 million price tag on the…
An enclosed connector is set to be built, partly underground, that will link Lucas Oil Stadium to the soon-to-be expanded
Indiana Convention Center. It will span about a quarter of a mile and cost more than $10 million.
I have a close friend with whom I can discuss amicably any subject under the sun. Except one: Bob Knight. My pal considers the hiring of Knight one of the greatest deeds in the history of Indiana University, and the firing of Knight one of its worst. He believes former IU President Myles Brand is the devil and former Athletic Director Clarence Doninger was an incompetent boob. My friend traces virtually all of IU’s athletic and academic shortcomings to that…
It might seem as though the low cost of labor overseas has shifted the entire U.S. textile industry to Asia, never to return. Indianapolis-based leotard-maker Motionwear Inc. proves otherwise. The 120-employee company was acquired this month by the Italian sportswear firm FILA for an undisclosed sum and, as a result, it’s poised to expand locally. Tom Wilson started the company in his attic in 1988 because his daughter Erin, an aspiring dancer, couldn’t find performance apparel she liked in retail…
When I stop and think about my own life, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched. I went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant near my office last week, and most of the people in line were Indian. Driving through my formerly whitebread neighborhood, I see buildings painted in bold yellows and reds with signs saying, “Tienda Morelos,” “Supermercado” and “Estetica Latina.” My son’s elementary school celebrates Chinese New Year with a big parade and lessons about eating with chopsticks and keeping…
“Nursing’s a lot harder than coaching, I can tell you that,” Keady, 70, said from his Tippecanoe County home, not far from Purdue University where the basketball court in Mackey Arena bears his name. After 25 years on the Purdue sidelines in a storied career that had almost everything except the storybook ending, Keady signed on last year as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. This year, Raptors management changed and his contract was not renewed. Just as…
The guitar straps Terry Misner creates for musicians worldwide are the canvas for his artwork. In his specialty, though, the tapestry is really soft leather he uses to combine comfort and custom designs for performers such as Jimmy Buffett and Keith Urban. “It’s like sewing silk rather than sewing canvas,” he said. “You can rip through canvas in a hurry, but what would you rather feel?” The 56-year-old Misner operates Action Custom Straps with wife, Dena, and daughter Nikki O’Neal….
City and state officials are igniting a souped-up effort to draw motorsports-related companies here, and they’re enlisting
Hoosier-born NASCAR champ Tony Stewart to help drive their message home.
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…
I was quarterback for the Colts once. I was about 9 years old and I was playing pee-wee football at Meridian Street Methodist Church. As all the kids gathered to be selected for a team on the first morning, I somehow finagled my way on to the Colts. I had to, because the Baltimore Colts were my favorite NFL team at the time. My hero was Johnny Unitas, thought by some even today to be the best quarterback ever to…
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…
Scott Wise compares his Scotty’s Brewhouse expansion to a washed-up college band that finally hits it big after 10 years. If that’s the case, his fourth location-and first in Indianapolis-just might go platinum. Before it opened Oct. 30, Wise estimated the 96th Street restaurant would gross $3.5 million in its first year; it’s already on track to reach $5 million. Wise, 33, tapped the college-town markets of Muncie, Bloomington and West Lafayette before taking on Indianapolis. He hopes the name…
