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Local corporations maintain FFA convention funding: Main goal: getting attention of future leaders

Indianapolis-area companies are ponying up $1.15 million to help put on this month’s National FFA convention, an event expected to draw more than 55,000 members and their chaperones to the city. They’re backing the bigbudget affair largely because of the access it gives them to future leaders-from tomorrow’s policymakers to those who could someday work at these local firms. And the city is putting on quite a show to get the attention of the roughly 46,000 12-to 21-year-old members and…

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Half-billion-dollar traffic plan considered for northeast side

Whether it’s southbound I-69 traffic backed up almost to Noblesville, or northbound I-465 traffic a parking lot all the way
to 56th Street, the northeast highway system is grossly inadequate at peak hours. But a report issued last month by an INDOT
consultant shows a radical, $600 million reconfiguration is in the works.

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Try your hand at running McDonald’s

It’s always fun when I find something on the Web that’s highly critical, vaguely disgusting, entertaining and informative, all at once. Mollieindustria has created an online video game at w w w. m c v i d e o game.comthat lets you run the burger giant McDonald’s, and while it’s not sparing of the company’s faults, it’s a great study in how hard it is to keep the sandwich empire going. The creators say on the site that they built…

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Experts look into the future of health care: Industry panelists disagree on whether current system needs radical changes

Five local industry leaders conducted a serious debate over problems and issues facing our health care system during the most recent installment in Indianapolis Business Journal’s Power Breakfast series. The event took place at the Downtown Marriott hotel on Sept. 21 The panelists: Robert Brody, president and CEO of St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers, the Indianapolis-area’s fourth-largest hospital system. Brody has been chief executive at St. Francis since 1996. Dr. Robert Mouser, a primary care physician at Cornerstone Family…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Long road ahead for financing transportation

The recent Indiana Logistics Summit framed a number of issues that matter to Hoosiers young and old. I’ve done a fair amount of transportation and economic development research, but this conference held in Indianapolis was a chance for me to listen and learn. Here’s my take on some of the issues: Nationally, a significant piece of the public transportation infrastructure (roads and bridges, for example) has already outlived its anticipated life span. Solid engineering and construction coupled with continual maintenance…

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Commentary: Here’s the skinny on why we’re fat

A week rarely passes without news of our obesity epidemic. Fattest-state rankings and the like are a staple of our news diet. These stories are often served with dire health warnings, which politicians invoke when they encourage us to eat less and exercise more. But does anyone really stop to think about why obesity has become our national obsession? Our infamous rotundness isn’t only a byproduct of poor eating habits and a reluctance to hit the gym. Chalk some of…

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Post-bankruptcy turnaround not taking off for ATA

More than 18 months after flying out of a bankruptcy reorganization that unloaded $1 billion of debt and costly aircraft leases,
the parent of ATA Airlines still finds landing a profit elusive. Indianapolis-based Global Aero Logistics posted a loss of
$46.1 million in the first half of 2007, according to documents it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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NOTIONS: Musings from a cross-country drive

In the waning days of August, my son and I drove across America. With Zach’s jam-packed Honda sedan bearing everything a college freshman could possibly need, we left Indianapolis on a Thursday morning and arrived in Santa Barbara, Calif., the following Monday afternoon. In the 2,465 intervening miles, we got a five-day dose of what modern air transportation has denied too many for too long: a chance to think, to listen and talk, and to marvel at this nation’s diverse…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Upon further review … new reasons for old buildings

Buildings, just like people, have lives. They’re born, they do their jobs, they take on new roles and, after about 75 years, most of them reach the end. Sadly, some beautiful ones die too soon, while a few ugly ones live too long. How should we decide when to save a building or when to tear it down? And have the reasons changed? The terms of renovation are well-known (adaptive re-use, mixed-use development and historic preservation). When our actions meet…

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Will hefty Hoosiers get up for green, healthy event?: Former producer of state flower and patio show plans first-ever Natural Living Expo in January

Todd Jameson knows how to get Hoosiers off the sofa. Up until two years ago, he was producer of the Indiana Flower and Patio Show and the Christmas Gift and Hobby Show-two of the most popular annual events in Indianapolis. But a dollar to a cholesterol-laden doughnut says his next gig will be his most difficult: getting some of the nation’s heaviest, most cigarette-addicted people off the couch and to the firstever Natural Living Expo, next January. Jameson figures the…

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NOTIONS: Health: another troubled bridge over U.S. waters

On a bookshelf in my office, I display a box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, three packs of Benson & Hedges cigarettes and the program from my late wife’s memorial service. I display the pasta because, until the company was spun off earlier this year, Kraft Foods was part of Altria Group. I display the Benson & Hedges because that brand is part of Phillip Morris USA, which is also part of Altria Group. I display the memorial-service program because…

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Deals give Brightpoint world lead in wireless logistics: Cell phone distributor begins integration of former European rival

For wireless phone distributor Brightpoint Inc., CellStar was the appetizer. Dangaard was the main course. The next nine months will be all about avoiding indigestion. Brightpoint CEO Bob Laikin is ready. He’s been preparing for the meal for more than a decade. “In the mid-’90s, it was ‘shoot, shoot, shoot and then aim,'” Laikin said. “Now it’s ‘aim, aim shoot.'” On March 30, Plainfield-based Brightpoint completed its acquisition of the U.S. and Latin American operations of Texasbased rival CellStar Corp….

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INVESTING: Strange time for business: Bad, good news abounds

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says, “May you live in interesting times.” The saying possesses a sort of electric connotation, with hopes that one experiences an exciting lifetime. Yet in the historical use of this proverb, the interpretation of “interesting times” hasn’t always meant “good times,” with some recitals implying “dangerous times.” For investors, our times are certainly interesting. We have a global economy that is booming. Economic growth across the planet has never been in such harmony….

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Inventory tax repeal still being hailed as good decision: Amid rising property taxes, economic development officials and brokers say taxing inventory was bad policy

With the state in an uproar over soaring property taxes, some have wondered whether phasing out Indiana’s business inventory tax was a good idea. The phase-out process began in 2002 before completely eliminating the inventory tax this year, taking with it roughly $380 million in tax revenue shared annually by local governments. Supporters of the move insist lawmakers made the right decision. And they say Indiana has become more attractive to business as a result. Marion County property-tax bills were…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Property tax isn’t evil, it’s abused

There are two books I want to call to your attention. They are both written by Hoosiers and are both vitally important to Indiana at this time. But this column, again, must be about property taxes because that is the compelling issue of the day. One book is “I Never Worked a Day in My Life,” by Bill Haeberle, the retired IU business professor who has started and aided hundreds of businesses. The other is “Performance is the Best Politics,”…

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Local elder care service courts working care givers: My Health Care Manager partners with local firms to reach children of aging parents on the job

Local startup My Health Care Manager has found a faster way to get its elder-care message out. It has persuaded five local employers to direct their workers to My Health Care Manager if they need help finding and coordinating care for one of their aging parents. As of Aug. 1, law firms Barnes & Thornburg, Ice Miller and Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman, accounting firm Katz Sapper & Miller and the Indianapolis office of the Publicis advertising firm all…

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Airport prepared to fly solo after departure of BAA

The Indianapolis Airport Authority’s management contract with British firm BAA unceremoniously expired July 15, and authority
officials taking the helm for the first time since 1995 say they’re confident they are prepared to continue to innovate as
they prepare to open a new terminal.

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EYE ON THE PIE: Health care and the pursuit of happiness

Some people believe the Fourth of July grants them liberty to disturb the night with their firecrackers. My pursuit of happiness is in conflict with theirs and I want them jailed. We all gladly infringe on the liberties of others while in pursuit of our own happiness. For example, should motorcyclists wear helmets? Yes, if all of us expect to pay their hospital bills (through higher premiums) and maintain them on disability after they have head injuries that might be…

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City steps up effort to help immigrants: Mayor’s wife spearheading program to better acclimate newcomers

The burgeoning number of immigrants arriving in Indianapolis have a new source available to help them navigate unfamiliar surroundings and the kaleidoscope of social support systems available. The Immigrant Welcome Center is a program launched in October that uses volunteers dubbed “natural helpers” to link foreign newcomers to such basic needs as health care, government and transportation services. Although the effort is nearly 9 months old, it’s just now getting up to speed as organizers are interviewing candidates to lead…

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