Articles

Brightpoint profit rises, growth anticipated

Fourth-quarter profit increased sharply for Brightpoint Inc. The Plainfield cell phone distributor reported late yesterday that earnings of $14.9 million were up more than 53 percent from a year earlier as it benefited from its acquisition of Denmark-based Dangaard Telecom. Profit from continuing operations of $14.1 million improved from the $10 million in the year-ago […]

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Kite Realty posts gains in funds from operations

Kite Realty Group Trust posted fourth-quarter funds from operations of $12.7 million, up from $11.8 million a year ago. For the year, Kite had $47.2 million in funds from operations, compared with $43.3 million in 2006. As of the end of the year, Kite had an ownership interest in 50 retail properties. Those properties totaled […]

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Adesa buys Pennsylvania car auction

Carmel-based auto auction company Adesa Inc. said yesterday it has acquired a used-vehicle auction in York, Penn., for an undisclosed price. Pennsylvania Auto Dealers’ Exchange, one of the nation’s largest and oldest independent auctions, will be renamed Adesa. The 140-acre site north of Washington, D.C., has 11 automated auction lanes and an 8,000-square-foot facility for […]

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Truck trailer makers continue layoffs

The slowing economy has prompted two manufacturers of semi-truck trailers to lay off workers. Wabash National Corp. in Lafayette has temporarily laid off 150 of its 3,265 workers due to receiving fewer orders over the holidays, according to the Journal & Courier of Lafayette. Great Dane Trailers is laying off 54 workers at its Terre […]

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Prime earning group to shrink, report says

The number of Hoosiers in their top earning years will shrink as the baby-boom generation retires, a new study shows. By 2025, the state will have 2.6 million people between the ages of 25 and 54, according to the study by the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University. That’s a 1.7-percent decline from 2005. […]

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Cabela’s cost Greenwood $130,000

Greenwood‘s attempt to land a Cabela’s outdoor store cost $130,000 in attorney and consulting fees, according to the Daily Journal of Franklin. Those fees include $68,000 to the Indianapolis law firm of Ice Miller, which drafted bonds offered to the Nebraska-based retailer, and $28,000 to O.W. Krohn & Associates, an accounting and consulting firm in […]

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Ethanol production could harm water quality

A Purdue University agricultural economist is worried that the push to raise more corn to feed the expanding number of ethanol plants will harm soil and water quality. Otto Doering said during a recent conference that farmers lured by higher corn prices will feel compelled to bring highly erodible and environmentally sensitive land out of […]

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AT&T to add 150 jobs in Evansville

AT&T plans to hire 150 workers at its Evansville call center this year, reports the Evansville Business Journal. The new jobs will pay an average of $11.60 an hour. About 600 people now are employed at the call center, which opened last year.

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Schellinger calls for restored bargaining

Jim Schellinger, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to unseat Gov. Mitch Daniels in his attempt at a second term, told a group of retired United Auto Workers members yesterday that in his first hour as governor he would reinstate the ability of unions to bargain collectively. Speaking in Marion, Schellinger also said he would […]

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Collection agency to create 220 jobs

An expansion of an Indianapolis collection agency is expected to result in 220 workers being added to the roughly 100 already employed by the company. Premiere Credit said this afternoon that 120 of the jobs will be located at its location at 2002 Wellesley Boulevard near interstates 70 and 465 on the east side and […]

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Steel Dynamics caused $1B loss, suit claims

A lawsuit filed in Steel Dynamics Inc.’s headquarters city of Fort Wayne accuses the steelmaker of causing a steel company in Thailand to lose $1 billion. Prime Eagle Group Ltd., owner of the Thai steel company, claims investors abandoned Nakornthai Strip Mill after Steel Dynamics publicly criticized the project while acting as a consultant to […]

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Value City store in Greenwood to close

The new owner of Value City Department Stores is closing the location at 1230 U.S. 31 North in Greenwood. VCHI Acquisition Co., headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, will shutter the store within eight weeks along with other stores deemed non-core in its turnaround plan. A total of 30 of the 113 Value City stores will be […]

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Cook expansion to cost $80M, create 200 jobs

Cook Pharmica said today it will spend $80 million to expand its contract drug manufacturing operation to include formulation, filling and finishing. The project will create 200 jobs, said the company, a division of Bloomington medical device giant Cook Medical. Cook Pharmica currently develops and manufactures cell culture-based products. The expansion will have two lines […]

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Airline to cut workers at Fort Wayne airport

Utah-based SkyWest Airlines will cut 15 jobs at Fort Wayne International Airport after it lost a ground-handling contract, reports The Journal Gazette, citing a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed with the state. The job cuts, which include customer service and ramp agents, are slated to begin in April.

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Oops! E-mail leaks Lilly settlement talks

At least the lawyer got the same last name right. New York Times reporter Alex Berenson was able to break the story last week that Eli Lilly and Co. was secretly negotiating a $1 billion settlement with the government because an outside Lilly lawyer accidentally emailed him the details. The lawyer at Pepper Hamilton in […]

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Economy, competition hit Kimball profit

The slowing economy and rising competition drove down overall profit for Kimball International Inc. in its second fiscal quarter. The Jasper furniture and electronics maker reported today that profit fell 41 percent in the period ended Dec. 31, to $4.2 million. The weakening economy prompted companies to cut back purchases of new furniture and office […]

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Browning stakes 150 acres in Hancock County

Indianapolis developer Browning Investments is planning a business park on about 150 acres south of Mount Comfort Airport, said Dale Pfeifer, a developer with Browning. The site is north of County Road 300 North and west of County Road 500 West, and is to have four warehouses with space ranging from 270,000 to 753,000 square […]

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Steelmaker questions railroad acquisition

ArcelorMittal, the biggest steelmaker in northwest Indiana, is worried about the future of a railroad it uses to annually ship 5 million tons of steel and receive $2 million tons of raw materials. ArcelorMittal competitor U.S. Steel Corp. is selling most of the 198-mile EJ&E Railway, which serves industrial customers in the Chicago area, to […]

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Steel processor to expand, add 100 workers

Indiana Steel and Tube, a steel processor in the southern Indiana community of Brownstown, plans to expand and hire 100 extra workers by 2010, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. announced yesterday. The $8 million plant will begin making about 2,500 tons of steel coil this year. The state offered nearly $975,000 in incentives, and the […]

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Supplier bankruptcy casts shadow over Chrysler

The immediate future of Chrysler’s operations in Indiana is open to question now that a supplier to the Detroit automaker has sought bankruptcy protection. Friday’s Chapter 11 filing by Plastech Engineered Products Inc. suddenly cut off a stream of plastic parts to Chrysler’s 14 assembly plants, according to the trade publication Automotive News. All 14 […]

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