Articles

Steak n Shake thrown for loss

Indianapolis-based Steak n Shake Co. Inc. reported a $1.2 million loss in its first fiscal quarter after having shown a $4.2 million profit a year earlier. The loss of 4 cents per share was greater than the 2-cent loss expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Revenue in the period ended Dec. 19 slipped 7.4 […]

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Warner buys Metro fabrication division

Noblesville-based Warner Bodies Inc. said today that it has acquired the fabrication division of Metro Products, an Indianapolis company that makes a variety of products, for $850,000. The 15 workers at Metro have been asked to join Warner, a longtime maker of truck bodies.

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Plainfield retail spurs plans in Terre Haute

Terre Haute is losing shoppers to Plainfield and Evansville, so two developers want to attract more stores to the western Indiana city. To make room for the stores, the Terre Haute-based developers, Thompson Thrift and Gibson Development, want land now occupied by the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds, according to the Tribune-Star. In exchange, the fairgrounds would […]

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UPDATE: Cummins stock leaps

Shares of Cummins Inc. shot up more than 6 percent late this afternoon after the Columbus, Ind., diesel engine maker announced it would add 500 engineering and other professional positions in the next two years. The stock closed at $45.33, up $2.71 a share, then edged up 13 cents more in after-hours trading. The 500 […]

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BREAKING: Cummins creates 500 jobs in Columbus

Columbus diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. announced today it will add 500 jobs near its downtown headquarters in the next two years. The positions will be engineers and other professional employees. They will be located in a 100,000-square-foot building under construction in the Commons Mall redevelopment project. Cummins currently has 5,500 workers in Columbus, plus […]

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Water firm to add 200 jobs at Mount Comfort

Freije Treatment Systems Inc. plans to move its headquarters and product development to Mount Comfort Industrial Park east of Indianapolis from the Eagle Creek Park area. The expansion is expected to boost the company’s employment from a dozen to 200 by 2010. Freije, based at 6450 Guion Road, develops and sells salt-free water softeners for […]

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$1M Tobias gift to help theater

Randall and Marianne Tobias have donated $1 million to the Indianapolis Museum of Art to renovate the museum’s 604-seat namesake theater. The newly polished venue will open this fall and IMA plans to screen films and bring in speakers on topics dear to the museum’s new focus on design and the interaction of art and […]

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BioCrossroads gets $2.5M grant from Fairbanks

BioCrossroads, the not-for-profit that promotes life sciences in the state, has received a $2.5-million grant from Indianapolis-based Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation Inc. to underwrite a series of health care information projects through 2010. Established in 1986, the Fairbanks Foundation awards grants to Indianapolis not-for-profits that research or deliver projects related to health care, community vitality […]

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Key Martinsville employer to close

Harman-Becker Automotive Systems Inc. plans to shut down its operation in Martinsville in phases this year, and close completely by next January, according to The Reporter Times. The first cuts will begin in April. The plant, which makes Infinity, JBL, Harman Kardon speakers and speaker systems, employs about 340. Last year, the company cut about […]

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Roche to buy Ventana Medical for $3.4B

Roche has successfully turned a hostile takeover bid into a friendly one, winning over the board of Ventana Medical Systems Inc. by hiking the price it would pay by 19 percent. Swiss-based Roche, which operates its North American diagnostic division out of Indianapolis, would pay $3.4 billion under a merger agreement signed by the boards […]

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Local tech leaders speaking today at IU

A pair of local high-tech heavyweights are scheduled to speak today at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Bob Laikin, CEO of Plainfield-based wireless device distributor Brightpoint Inc., will visit the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Bloomington as a distinguished entrepreneur-in-residence. Laikin will speak at a faculty lunch, then spend the afternoon visiting […]

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Motor maker lays off 52 in southern Indiana

Emerson Motor Co. has laid off nearly a third of the workers at an electric motor plant in the southern Indiana town of Princeton, the St. Louis company said late last week. Fifty-two of the 170 employees were put on temporary layoff after the market softened, Emerson said. The plant makes motors for hospital beds […]

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Johnson County hospital board: no sale

Board members of Johnson Memorial Hospital in Franklin are willing to work with outside parties but have no plans to sell or merge the facility, the Daily Journal of Franklin reported today. In a statement, the board of the 149-bed, county-owned hospital asked Johnson County residents for patience as it evaluates its short- and long-term […]

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GE closing could hurt Bloomington nonprofits

If General Electric Co. follows through on its plan to close its Bloomington refrigerator plant, local not-for-profits are likely to feel pain. Employees at the sprawling facility donated $54,000 and the company gave $21,500 last year to the Monroe County United Way. That made GE the second-largest work place contributor, according to The Herald-Times of […]

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Delphi fighting to boost image

Civic boosters in Delphi fear the town northeast of Lafayette will become just another bedroom community, so they’re fighting back. They want the town, population 2,977, to become more of a destination for shoppers and tourists, according to the Journal & Courier of Lafayette. Once a commercial hub on the Wabash and Erie Canal, Delphi […]

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IBM, Sallie Mae squeezing small firms in Muncie

Small businesses in the Muncie area are struggling to compete for employees against IBM and Sallie Mae now that the giants have opened locations in the region. Sallie Mae has hired 70 workers since opening a call center in Muncie in late 2006, and an IBM customer service center in Daleville has hired about 200 […]

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Columbus enjoying strong housing market

While the rest of the state struggles to hold its own through the national housing downturn, the Columbus area is thriving. Bartholomew County, where Columbus is the seat, saw the median house price rise 8.7 percent, to $139,000, in the third quarter, according to The Republic, the city’s daily newspaper. Nationally, the median price fell […]

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NE Indiana aluminum firm to expand

Columbia City-based 80/20 Inc., which makes modular aluminum framing for industry, plans to spend $5 million to expand its manufacturing and distribution center and add at least 40 jobs by 2010. Machining and manufacturing technology will be upgraded as part of the project. 80/20 Inc. employs 210 workers in its design, manufacturing and distribution center […]

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Lafayette Square owners to add entertainment

The new owners of Lafayette Square Mall plan to add entertainment on weekends as part of their efforts to revitalize the property, the mall said today. New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition, which closed the deal early this month, has set about filling the empty space. But it also wants to rejuvenate the property to make it […]

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Interactive Intelligence shares hit skids

Just when Interactive Intelligence Inc. was enjoying an extended run up in its stock price, more than half its value has been lost in the past few weeks. Shares in the Indianapolis-based software firm have fallen to $13, down from $28 in late December. The stock had undergone a sustained recovery after the technology bust […]

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