Local radio icons Big John Gillis and Jeff Pibeon will be broadcasting live this year from the Indiana State Fair. But
you won’t find their show on any radio station. Gillis and Pigeon have been hired by locally based Compton Strategies to create
audio-only, Internet-based shows for area events, companies and entertainment venues.
In the midst of a down economy and tepid interest in tennis, the only problem the Indianapolis Racquet Club Pro Shop has is where to expand next. Pushed by double-digit-percentage sales growth in nine of the last 12 years, the IRC Pro Shop has expanded from a 750-square-foot shoebox to become an industry giant in the specialty tennis category. Most tennis club pro shops are breakeven operations, but IRC officials said they have seen profit grow each of the last…
Ron Pearson said business at his Indianapolis-based advertising agency over the last year has been “stellar.” Exaggeration or not, any growth at Pearson Partners is a 180-degree reversal from the dire situation the firm faced just a year ago. In April 2007, Pearson’s firm-then called Pearson McMahon Fletcher England-lost its biggest client, HHGregg. Last summer, Pearson cut nearly half its work force, paring the agency down to about 20 employees in the wake of losing the $20-million-plus account. Pearson’s capitalized…
Nathan’s Battle Foundation, led by Phil Milto–who has two sons afflicted with the disease–has evolved over 10 years into
what Milto calls a not-for-profit biotech company that has raised money and guided research that resulted in a promising treatment
for Batten disease. Now, some of the gene therapy techniques researchers developed are being applied to other disorders.
A dearth of name players, slumping attendance and an outdated venue have some in the local tennis community wondering if the
Indianapolis Tennis Championships–formerly known as the RCA Championships–needs some serious re-stringing. Attendance at
the nine-day event, which ran July 12-20 this year, was on pace through July 16 to be at a 20-year low.
But attendance is far from the tournament’s only challenge.
Sports agent Andrew “Buddy” Baker has left locally based law firm Ice Miller and is taking with him the firm’s sports division,
IM Sports Services, which he wants to develop into a giant agency with a national reach. Baker’s new firm, Exclusive Sports
Group, starts with a list of high-profile clients.
A federal mandate will kill analog television broadcasts early next year, but it won’t kill analog once and for all. How much longer analog will survive is largely a question for cable TV companies, and they’re struggling with the decision. The Federal Communications Commission is forcing all broadcasters-including locals such as WISH-TV Channel 8 and national broadcasters such as NBC-to stop broadcasting in analog and air only in digital by February 2009. But that mandate doesn’t affect cable companies, which…
FC Indiana, a United Soccer League W-League women’s team, says it is in early discussions with the city of Indianapolis to help develop a plan to renovate Bush Stadium for use during its home games. The Lafayette-based professional team currently plays at Kuntz Stadium, which is across 16th Street from the old baseball stadium. The […]
Well-known names are bubbling to the top as speculation heats up about who will replace embattled Indiana University Athletic
Director Rick Greenspan and how much money the job will command. Greenspan announced June 26 that he’ll step down at the end
of the year. The decision came after the NCAA added to the list of charges facing IU’s men’s basketball program over rules
violations under former Coach Kelvin Sampson.
Herb Simon is taking a new hands-on approach
with the Indiana Pacers, which he co-owns with his brother, Melvin. In response to a string of losing seasons and off-court
mishaps involving players, Simon is transforming himself from a behind-the-scenes owner into a visible figure intent on reconnecting
the franchise with the community that once adored it.
Local advertising powerhouse Young & Laramore signed a new contract with Steak n Shake, one of its flagship clients, just
two weeks ago, but ad industry observers can’t help but wonder if the 18-year-old relationship is about to run its course.
Before the ink on the contract was dry, the struggling hamburger chain had a new board chairman who is likely to shuffle Steak
n Shake’s executive suite and take the company in a new direction.
Barbara Henry abruptly resigned today as publisher and president of The Indianapolis Star, notifying the paper’s employees by e-mail shortly after 1 p.m. Even Star Editor Dennis Ryerson said he was caught off guard by the resignation. Her departure is effective Aug. 1. Henry, 55, did not indicate why she was resigning, but said in […]
The NCAA is considering bringing its men’s and women’s Division I, II and III championships together for one big festival
of swimming, and the IUPUI Natatorium is a leading candidate to be the permanent site of the annual event.
If there’s a silver lining to high winds and torrential rain, it can be found in the bank accounts of companies called upon to clean up the mess. For the dozens of tree cutting, trimming and hauling firms that fill up seven pages in the local Yellow Pages, the storms of late spring came at just the right time. “We didn’t get one call for three weeks prior to the storms hitting,” said Russell Goodman, owner of locally based All…
In 2000, gasoline cost 99 cents a gallon, you could barely give recyclable plastic away and the idea of manufacturers “going green” was a pioneering thought. Allegiant Global started that same year as Heritage Interactive Services, with one client and little market awareness of what industrial recycling and reuse initiatives meant. Heritage Interactive was started by principals of locally based Heritage Environmental Services, which was-and still is-involved in more traditional waste-disposal services. When one of Heritage Environmental’s clients, Michigan-based Lear…
After the checkered flag dropped on this year’s Indianapolis 500, the green flag fell on negotiations for a new television contract between the Indy Racing League and ABC/ESPN. The current deal doesn’t expire until the end of next season, but the contract calls for the parties to discuss an extension starting this month. Sources close to both sides said ABC/ESPN pays the IRL about $10 million annually, but getting that kind of guaranteed cash beyond 2009 could be difficult. Still,…
The Indiana Pacers got an assist recently from other National Basketball Association owners that could push the team out of the red. In April, the league’s board of governors approved a 63-percent increase in the amount of revenue shared among teams after a letter signed by Pacers co-owner Herb Simon and seven other small-market teams urged the change. The revenue challenges faced by smallmarket teams can no longer be ignored, said the letter signed by Simon in late 2006. Though…
Williams Randall Marketing Communications pulled a surprise victory by snatching the $2.5 million Indiana Office of Tourism
Development advertising account away from incumbent Hirons & Co. and eight other bidders, most of which were larger than Williams
Randall. The two-year contract starts July 1.
While landing another Super Bowl may be a long shot, local leaders clearly intend to show what Indianapolis is capable of accomplishing. “Our perspective is that this is a one-shot deal,” said local attorney Jack Swarbrick, who was part of a small contingency that traveled to Atlanta last week for the bid presentation to NFL owners. “But if we do this, and we do it well, the world will know we can do anything. If you’re thinking of Indianapolis hosting…
ATLANTA – A surprise boost in the quality of Phoenix’s bid for the 2012 Super Bowl nearly up-ended what had been expected to be a reasonably easy catch by Indianapolis at the NFL team owners meeting yesterday. Owners hesitate to discuss the vote, which eliminated Houston’s bid early and finally handed the event to Indianapolis […]
