AUGUST 17-23, 2009
This week in business news...
From a glut of office space to Indy's own Max Schumacher and his legendary run as chairman and president of the Indianapolis Indian's there's a lot going on in the business world in Central Indiana. The struggles of the once proud Marsh family have been well-documented, and continue with David Marsh's Geist mansion in question...and don't miss Lou Harry's take on the Indiana State Fair and tomatoes.
Front PageBack to Top
Glut of downtown office space grows
Safeco is leaving a five-building complex on North Meridian Street, and Eli Lilly and Co. has offered for lease its entire
four-building Faris campus.
Schumacher prepares for eventual Indians exit
Max Schumacher is healthy, feels good and wants to continue working for the Indianapolis Indians full time. But
with his 77th birthday approaching in October, Schumacher, chairman and president of the team, needs a succession plan.
Schumacher leads Indians to 33 straight years of profits
Max Schumacher, now in his 52nd year with the Indians, runs a tight ship. His attention to detail and strategic thinking have
served the city’s minor league baseball team well.
Top StoriesBack to Top
Loan defaults could cost David Marsh his Geist home
David A. Marsh, the former supermarket executive and current president of the Crystal Flash convenience store chain, could
lose his 11,800-square-foot mansion on Geist Reservoir over three defaulted loans.
Plethora of candidates likely for symphony post
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s messy split with Mario Venzago is not expected to hamstring its search for a new music
director.
Q&A with Indianapolis Airport Authority CEO John Clark
Clark talks to IBJ about how the airport can increase revenue by diversifying its sources of income. The airport can’t rely
on higher passenger counts to boost its bottom line.
Lauth Group’s collapse offers a lesson in hubris
Since key Lauth Group subsidiaries landed in bankruptcy in May, the company has described its misfortune almost as if it
were an act of God.
Tenants trickling in to Purdue’s technology center
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.
Butler launches search for more money
In five years, Butler University President Bobby Fong wants to vault his school into the top 10 of the nation’s master’s
universities—schools that offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees but few doctorates.
Summer program turns teens into entrepreneurs
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.
FocusBack to Top
Ron Henriksen has accumulated a lifetime of mergers and acquisitions
A light touch and an eye for detail have brought Ron Henriksen riches and adventure in a humble life of deal-making. And at
age 70, he has no plans to stop.
SCOLNIK: Indianapolis in dire need of more investment banks
A scarcity of investment bankers is hurting business growth in the Indianapolis area. Investment bankers play a crucial role
in helping businesses find growth financing.
CARUSO: Real estate buyers, sellers, must recalibrate expectations
Mergers and acquisitions have all but ground to a halt because of lack of credit, disparate expectations between buyers and
sellers, and hesitance on the part of buyers to deploy their capital.
OpinionBack to Top
EDITORIAL: Partisan games plague council
The City-County Council wisely averted disaster for the Capital Improvement Board Aug. 10 by voting to raise the city’s
hotel tax from 9 percent to 10 percent, but the razor-thin vote was another disappointing case of elected officials making
decisions based on partisanship rather than good judgment.
EDITORIAL: An economic silver lining
The local eateries are suffering along with everyone else, but those that have
the wherewithal are taking a chance by expanding into bargain-priced locations.
DAVIS: Looming deadline not so big now
The exact words the doctor used that day are forever lost in a blur of
hospital gowns and ultrasound gel and post-biopsy instructions.
MARCUS: Changing roles cause conflict
Americans are uncomfortable when responsibilities between the public and private sectors shift.
Read MoreJOSEPH: Don’t repeat Marsh’s mistake
Marsh Supermarkets quickly realized it could not honor the flood of redemptions of the $10 coupon it recently offered to its
Facebook friends.
Indiana is lucky to have toll lease
The facts are that toll increases are strictly limited
in the contract and cars using electronic tolling have had no increase and are still paying the $4.65 toll rate set in
1985, one of the lowest per-mile tolls in the nation.
Toll road was good deal for state
I cannot help but agree with the author’s assessment:
the state of Indiana got a pretty good deal on the lease-sales agreement.
HICKS: Health care experts make poor economists
In almost every place that two or more Americans gather, health care is debated. Because the bills before Congress are
inaccessible, the debate has shifted instead to principles such as the role of government and individual freedoms. I think this a healthy thing.
HAUKE: Storybook market may last a bit longer
People keep asking me
to explain the stock market advance over the past five months. There are usually comments at the end of the question, like,
“The economy sucks. How can the market go up when there is nothing going on out there?”
In BriefBack to Top
Lilly pays $224,000 to area doctors
It’s no secret that Eli Lilly and Co. is the biggest private employer in the Indianapolis area. But
Lilly also supplemented the incomes of a few dozen local doctors — to the tune of more than $224,000 in just the first
quarter.
Airport taxi times improve
Passengers at Indianapolis International Airport are spending less time on the ground since the opening of the new midfield
terminal.
Two more bars go smoke-free
Gregs and the Talbott Street Nightclub, two prominent bars that cater to gay and lesbian crowds, went smoke-free Aug. 1.
Read MoreNorthwest-side theater closes after 25 years of operation
Locally based Sandor Development Co. is looking for a new tenant for the old AMC Loews College Park 14 movie theater, after
the screens went dark for good in July after a 25-year run at West 86th Street and Michigan Road.
Western art buyers gear up for Eiteljorg show
The museum’s annual sale for collectors, one of its biggest annual fund-raisers, is seeing strong advance registration. The
Eiteljorg also has a new head of fund-raising.
Fast-growing Harrison College hires Trinkle as provost
Harrison College, formerly Indiana Business College, hired its first provost and chief academic officer as the for-profit
educator experiences rapid growth.
PricewaterhouseCoopers adds BearingPoint consultants
The Indianapolis office of New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers is adding 20 consultants following the accounting firm’s
purchase of a portion of McLean, Va.-based BearingPoint Inc.
Kentucky Lottery chooses ad agency with Indy presence
Louisville-based Bandy Carroll Hellige, an advertising and public relations agency that also has a significant presence in Indianapolis, has been named agency of record for the Kentucky Lottery Corp. BCH will develop and execute marketing, advertising and interactive campaigns and programs for the organization. These services were previously provided by Northlich, a Cincinnati-based agency. BCH […]
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