Officials grappling with a water utility deep in debt and a sewer infrastructure needing upwards of $2 billion in
upgrades were swamped with proposals about how to fix the mess.
The Indianapolis Department of Waterworks today unveiled a capital-improvements proposal that would raise water rates for
the average residential customer by 35 percent, or $8 a month.
Indianapolis is the new operating headquarters of a Ukrainian-American venture producing refrigeration units for semi trailers.
The move comes with the naming this spring of Thomas Roller as president and CEO of Ukram Industries. Roller is known locally
as former CEO of Indianapolis-based Norwood Promotional Products and of Fruehauf Trailer, which was based here in the 1990s.
Among 23 firms that have expressed interest in operating Indianapolis’ water and sewer systems is Macquarie, the Australian
firm that operates the Indiana Toll Road under a 75-year, $3.8 billion lease. In July, the city asked companies to express
interest in operating the systems.
John Hancock Life Insurance Co. today asked a federal judge to force Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative to post an
additional $20 million in escrow as the utility continues to challenge a $125 million claim against it by the New York-based
insurer.
Already swamped with higher debt costs due to a bond refinancing fiasco, the city’s Department of Waterworks is asking
the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to OK a rate hike to pay for capital projects.
Two former Klipsch Group engineers plan to return to the market a brand of amplifiers famous among audio enthusiasts. Indy
Audio Labs, owned by Rick Santiago and Ted Moore, bought the Aragon and Acurus brands of amps, pre-amps and sound processors
from Klipsch and are planning a
2010 launch.
Mobi Wireless is targeting medium-size to large companies needing more control of wireless expenses
and fewer internal resources dedicated to the task.
An urban advocacy group is trying to bring a big-city concept to Indianapolis: car sharing. People for Urban
Progress cites environmental benefits as well as cost savings for urban dwellers who might find it practical to ditch their
seldom-used vehicles.
Locally based Republic Airways Holdings, which earlier this month said it could move up to 400 jobs gained through its
Frontier Airlines acquisition to Indianapolis or Milwaukee, has hinted it may move nearly twice that number to its headquarters
city.
The mammoth facility near Indianapolis International Airport now employs as many people as it did when United Airlines abandoned it
six years ago, but its new tenants are contending with struggles of their own.
After two years of fruitless negotiations, the Crawfordsville steel mill has asked the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission
to intervene. More than 700 jobs depend on Nucor and Duke striking a deal.
Raytheon Technical Services Co. LLC today eliminated 77 jobs at its avionics development center at 6125 E. 21st St. in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis truck dealer Utility-Peterbilt leased its first hybrid medium-duty truck this summer after enduring months of
tire-kicking but no action from fleet buyers and plenty of interest from television-news types.
A company founded by a Westfield chiropractor is in talks to license to automakers software that’s designed to produce
a less-fatiguing ride. Comfort Motion Technologies also wants to make aftermarket versions of the software as add-on modules
that could be used in most any car with a power seat.
Bright Automotive and EnerDel are well known for their development of components for hybrid cars, but the region has several
other players poised to be big players in the sector. In fact, few realize that North America’s largest producer
of electric motors for hybrid vehicles is based northeast of Indianapolis, in Pendleton.
Veolia Water Indianapolis, which manages the city’s water utility, has appealed an order issued by state utility regulators
that limited a major rate increase sought by the city.
Industry groups in the life sciences, medical and information technology realms have helped lure companies to the region
and foster upstarts. Funding is almost always an issue, but it’s not the only barrier. Getting medical
devices to market often requires product design, development and marketing resources that aren’t
always apparent to upstarts.
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.
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.
