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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: It’s high time for us to seek alternative energy sources

The Ghawar oil field is the jewel of the Saudi treasure chest. Sometimes called “The King” because of its oil production, this field has yielded more than 55 billion barrels of oil since the early 1950s-more than half of all Saudi oil exports. Today, it still produces about 5 million barrels of oil each day, or about 6 percent of the world’s daily supply of petroleum. But all’s not well at Ghawar. In August, The New York Times Magazine featured…

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There’s more to logistics than forklifts and sweat: Colleges offer degrees for white-collar jobs in the field

It’s not sexy, but it’s where the jobs are. Ivy Tech Community College will offer an associate’s degree in logistics management, the latest effort in Indiana aimed at cultivating a work force for the transportation-distribution-logistics sector, known as TDL. Meanwhile, the University of Indianapolis is preparing a concentration in supply chain management that will have key applications in logistics careers. Experts say the educational push is sorely needed, yet it’s still a challenge to get young people interested in the…

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PLAN OF ATTACK: Anderson’s leaders are working to exorcise the ghosts of GM

Four miles and decades of history separate the Anderson exits along Interstate 69 northeast of Indianapolis. Empty General Motors Corp. plants-as much a thing of the past as single-class basketball-cast ominous shadows at Exit 26, once Anderson’s front door. To the west, closer to Indianapolis, is Exit 22 and the trappings of the future: millions of dollars in new infrastructure, a new business park, and the state’s largest business incubator-tools Anderson officials think they need to turn this rust-belt poster…

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Court battles widen for ProLiance Energy: Gas marketer sues its insurer for millions in legal fees

ProLiance Energy LLC, already facing a $38.9 million judgment under a federal racketeering law, now is battling its insurer in court to collect more than $2 million in legal fees for its defense. New Jersey-based Executive Risk Specialty Insurance Co. not only refuses to pay the claim but also wants ProLiance to return $1.3 million in defense expenses paid before the February verdict on behalf of Huntsville Utilities in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The jury…

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Ahnafield helps disabled achieve self-dependence: 34-year-old firm makes high-tech mobility products

Driving a road sweeper when he was 18 years old, Ryan Kruse never saw the train that slammed into his vehicle and turned him into a quadriplegic. College and other plans for the future seemed out of reach for Kruse, who was paralyzed from his chest down that day 13 years ago. But recently, Kruse, who is working on a second bachelor’s degree at IUPUI, traveled to Georgia to celebrate his grandmother’s 80th birthday. He drove. With only limited use…

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Hot mod madness: Customizer Kenny Brown enjoys performance-car revival

In a dark corner of the Kenny Brown Performance garage is the 2005 Mustang Ford Motor Co. should have built. Supercharger. Disc brakes as big as the tires of some cars. All hung on a chassis that’s Prince Charles stiff. And shrouding its meaty tires are a protruding rear fender and a filled-in quarter window raked all the way back to the taillights, akin to the 1967 Mustang fastback. “It’s kind of like the marriage of heritage and technology,” said…

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COLD PROSPECT?: New stadium may not overcome climate, lack of corporate clout as city vies for Super Bowl

Did NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue do a snow job on Indiana legislators? Tagliabue dangled visions of Indianapolis’ hosting a Super Bowl when he made the case for a $625 million stadium before Indiana lawmakers earlier this year. Now construction is under way, and local officials are watching 2006 host city Detroit to see if it can warm skeptics to the idea of playing the Super Bowl in a cold-weather city. But some observers of the big game doubt Indianapolis has…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Let’s make Indiana a true hub

Sometimes, the obvious is ignored. It is obvious that, geographically, Indiana holds a central position in North America. But when we think about economic development, we take this obvious point for granted. As business grows and incomes rise across the world, the demand for transportation increases. The question for Indiana becomes, “How much does this increase in demand translate into jobs and income for our citizens?” Most people understand that Indiana does not gain anything by having airplanes cross our…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Bubble won’t burst on commercial real estate investors

Winding down his remarkable tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan seems to have chosen “real estate bubble” as one of the themes of his swan song. And with housing prices in some cities soaring, the rest of us as mere mortals can reasonably wonder how long it will be before the bubble bursts and what will be the fallout if and when that happens. Many private equity investors with holdings in commercial real estate are beginning to…

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Child-safety concerns lead to new division: Company uses R&D to manufacture innovative car seat

Indiana Mills & Manufacturing Inc. is creating a new division, launching a new product, and cutting a new path straight to retail consumers. It’s a big departure from the 45-year-old company’s historical path to profitability. Westfield-based IMMI has long made its money supplying a lengthy list of manufacturers and distributors in the transportation and heavy-equipment sectors with its innovative seat belts, rollover systems for heavy trucks, and restraint systems for school buses and on- and off-road commercial vehicles. But company…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Is our child care ‘industry’ up to snuff?

Recently, I have been part of a study for the Indiana Child Care Fund. It has been a learning experience. The first thing I learned is that virtually nothing is known about child care. We do not really know how many child care facilities exist in Indiana. Data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census suggest there are more than 16,000. However, fewer than 5,800 are licensed or recognized by the state. In addition, there are informal child care arrangements…

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How Clarian funds building projects:

Clarian Health Partners CEO Dan Evans offers a simple explanation for how the People Mover, Clarian’s futuristic rail system, came to be a few years ago. “People ask me all the time how we paid for it. I said, ‘Thank the stock market,'” he said. The bull market of the late 1990s allowed Clarian to use mostly investment income to fund the $40 million transportation project that opened in 2003 and connects its three downtown hospitals: Methodist, IU and Riley…

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Fly by security – for a price: ‘Registered traveler’ program to let passengers pay to avoid long lines

Business fliers accustomed to first-class seating will soon be eligible for privileged security screening at Indianapolis International Airport. Airport operator BAA Indianapolis is about to seek proposals from firms to operate a “registered traveler” program. It will entitle any frequent travelers who pass a government background check to use special security checkpoints-bypassing long lines and trouserloosening “secondary screening” passengers must sometimes endure. No more suffering in line behind bubble-gum-popping teens headed for Aruba. Show your registered traveler ID card and…

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VIEWPOINT: We all pay the price of homelessness

“The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.” -Hubert H. Humphrey The most recent sessions of the Indiana General Assembly and the U.S. Congress have focused significant efforts on addressing the needs of children through education and the elderly through prescription drug…

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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Beware the creep of urban sprawl

I’m happy for the city of Carmel that it wants to be a city in its own right, and not just a bedroom community of Indianapolis. I’m not so happy about some of its development practices. Up in my neck of the woods-western Clay Township-new subdivisions have sprung up like weeds, with little or no improvement to roads that support them. The resulting traffic delays have been maddening, to say the least. It’s not uncommon these days for me to…

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Private high school set: Cristo Rey to open downtown with 46 companies behind it

A private high school that relies on business participation, the first of its kind in Indiana, is set to open downtown in the fall of 2006. A work-study program designed to help lowincome students pay for tuition and give them corporate work experience is what will set Providence Cristo Rey High School apart from its private and public counterparts throughout the state. Corporate sponsors said it will also give promising students a local business connection, which could help keep them…

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Interest high for soon-to-be-shuttered foundry: Size, location make redevelopment promising

When the workers at DaimlerChrysler Corp.’s Indianapolis Foundry clock out for the last time at the end of the month, they’ll leave behind 756,000 square feet of factory space, tons of equipment, and more than 52 acres of industrial land on the city’s west side. Rather than becoming a rusting industrial relic along Interstate 70, however, the buildings will be razed and real estate experts expect the land will soon find a new use, albeit likely not for a factory….

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IPS seeks property swap: School district will trade prime Mass Ave land if deal is right

But an unusual component of the soon-to-be-released request for proposals by Indianapolis Public Schools, the property’s owner, has many wondering if anyone has what it will take to win the coveted piece of real estate. What it’ll take is the offering of a replacement facility where IPS can move its central transportation facility and other school district operations. “That’s the general concept,” said SteveYoung, chief of facilities management for IPS. “We’re not looking to sell it. We would have to…

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Basic utility vehicle rolling ahead-slowly: Assembly would happen in developing nations

A not-for-profit group developing vehicles for use in the Third World plans to open a “micro-factory” next month near 65th Street and Binford Boulevard. But the Institute for Affordable Transportation site won’t mass-produce its diminutive vehicles, powered by lawn tractor engines. Rather, the donated space will become a lab for working out methods to help those in developing countries assemble the so-called “basic utility vehicles.” The facility “is to basically prepare the way for this technology transfer package so it…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Façade of confidence saves us from anarchy

You may not know this, but every banker and policymaker does. If every one of us got out of bed tomorrow morning, drove to our banks or financial institutions, and tried to withdraw our money, the system that seems so solid today would suffer a complete collapse. The same thing would happen to the electrical grid if every device that could draw power were switched on at once. In fact, if every one of us decided today to fill up…

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