Articles

Elanco exec named to state agriculture office

The president of Elanco Animal Health, a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Co., will leave to become a special adviser on corporate development to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Lilly announced today. Pat James had led Lilly’s animal health division since 2001 and worked at Lilly since 1978. He will be replaced Jan. 1 […]

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Borshoff lands White River marketing contract

White River State Park has selected Indianapolis-based Borshoff Inc. to handle its public relations and marketing for the next two years. The contract is for a minimum of $382,000, including a $312,000 advertising budget from the Imax Theater and $70,000 in dollars pooled from all the park’s venues. The co-op pool may increase its funding […]

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Slowing sales spark layoff at tank car maker

Chicago-based Union Tank Car is laying off 100 of its 472 production workers, according to the Post-Tribune of Merrillville. The layoffs will be split between its plants in East Chicago and Sheldon, Texas. The manufacturer said the market weakened after the ethanol boom prompted a surge in production of cars to carry the fuel. As […]

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Mansur chosen as Speedway developer

Locally based Mansur Real Estate Services Inc. has been picked by the Speedway Redevelopment Commission to be master developer for the $500 million “Speed Zone” redevelopment project. Mansur President Charles R. Cagann said in a statement that the project would be “…one of the most ambitious, exciting and challenging we will ever have the privilege […]

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Health Systems lands investment

Health Systems International LLC has received an equity investment from Great Point Partners LLC, a private investment firm headquartered in Greenwich, Conn., that focuses on health care. The amount was not disclosed, but Great Point said today that the funding will help the Indianapolis company bankroll acquisitions. Great Point Managing Directors Christopher M. Laitala and […]

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Subaru receives final approval for tax abatement

Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. has received approval from the Lafayette City Council for two tax abatements on more than $100 million in new equipment and real estate investments at its Lafayette plant, according to the Journal & Courier. The 10-year abatements will save the automaker nearly $1.2 million in the first year of the […]

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Mishawaka to gain 45 auto parts jobs

Forty-five jobs from a Nyloncraft Inc. operation in Bowling Green, Ky., will be shifted to a plant in the company’s headquarters city of Mishawaka in northern Indiana, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. said yesterday. Nyloncraft will invest $2 million in the Mishawaka plant and receive $150,000 in state incentives. The autoparts supplier makes plastic components […]

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Non-union workers claim ‘attack’ at project

Pickets at the construction site of a Hilton Garden Inn in the northwestern Indiana town of Hobart slashed 14 tires, cut a telephone line to a trailer and put glue in locks late last week, the project superintendent claims. The superintendent, Kim Lackey, also said the union-based picket line hurled racial and sexual slurs at […]

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Indiana History Center to broaden programs

Indiana Historical Society leaders are scheduled to make a major announcement tonight about an expansion of programs at its Indiana History Center downtown. The local not-for-profit maintains an extensive research library and archives on the history of Indiana, among other activities. Details will be available at IBJ.com this evening.

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Cohesant to be sold for $35 million

Indianapolis-based Cohesant Technologies Inc. has agreed to be acquired by Graco Inc. of Minnesota for $35 million. Graco said it intends to keep Cohesant’s largest unit, GlasCraft, while spinning off the rest of the company. Among other products, GlasCraft makes equipment that sprays polyurethane foams. Under the deal, shareholders of publicly traded Cohesant would receive […]

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U.S. corporations in recession, report says

Companies are reporting declining profits and sales, which indicates they are in a recession, and the entire economy may follow suit, according to Bloomberg. Profit generated by American companies fell at an annual rate of $19.3 billion in the third quarter, said the report, which cited Commerce Department figures. Profit for companies in the Standard […]

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Deal to buy Aqua Indiana moves forward

The Fort Wayne City Council has approved the city’s purchase of Aqua Indiana Inc., a water and sewer utility owned by Pennsylvania-based Aqua America Inc. Fort Wayne City Utilities has offered $16.9 million for the private utility, although the seller says the price is too low. The city says it is taking over the utility […]

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Fiscal Policy Institute board to retrench

About three months after the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute quietly closed its doors, the board has decided to make a comeback with a new leader charged with fewer duties. Board President Bob Kraft said the organization hopes to hire an executive director – who will oversee research and policy development – by February. Fund raising […]

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Marriott to add West Lafayette hotels

Marriott International Inc., the Bethesda, Md., hotel chain, plans to construct a building near the Purdue University campus in West Lafayette that will house two hotels, the city announced Nov. 27. The building, which is to be completed by December 2009, will have a 151-room Spring Hill Suites and a Fairfield Inn & Suites with […]

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Growth slowing in Midwest, Fed says

A chunk of the Midwest saw economic growth slow in October and early November, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said yesterday in its Beige Book report. However, even though businesses ratcheted back spending, spending by consumers was mixed. The report is issued eight times a year based on interviews and other means of gathering […]

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Billionaire raises stake in barge builder

Sam Zell, the Chicago billionaire who in April paid $8.2 billion to win a bidding war for Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co., has accumulated more stock in Jefferson barge builder American Commercial Lines Inc. Nine of Zell’s affiliates, including Chai Trust Co., increased their position to 25.5 percent of American Commercial Lines, from 24.5 percent […]

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Fortune Industries profit moves up

Profit in Fortune Industries Inc.’s fiscal fourth quarter rose to $602,000, from $536,000 in the same period a year earlier, the Indianapolis-based technology holding company reported today. Revenue in the period ended Aug. 31 fell 9.8 percent, to $43.1 million. For the fiscal year, the company lost $7.8 million on $158.3 million in revenue, partly […]

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Cheap dollar lures German firm to New Castle

A German company that makes pipes, containers and other plastic parts for the auto, heating and medical industries is opening a plant in New Castle because the weak value of the American dollar lowers the cost of the investment. Founder Claus Koetke told The Star-Press of Muncie that he located the facility in the eastern […]

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Hilbert: I’m not buying back my house

Former Conseco Inc. CEO Steve Hilbert says he isn’t the as-yet-unidentified individual who has reached an agreement to buy the Carmel mansion that he built in the 1990s. “We are not involved whatsoever in the purchase,” Hilbert told IBJ. “I have people on the street every day say, ‘Hey, are you going to buy that […]

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OneAmerica signs deal with Japanese insurer

OneAmerica Financial Partners Inc. says it has reached an agreement to provide administration and marketing for a big Japanese insurer that’s entering the medical stop-loss market in the U.S. Locally based OneAmerica’s agreement with a subsidiary of Nippon Life Insurance Co. takes effect Jan. 1. Medical stop-loss insurance limits losses on self-funded insurance plans. A […]

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